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Secret society mask with face painting and copper inlay; it was
probably made in the 1850s and extensively trimmed with fur to form a
goatee, fringe beard and hairline, but only the leather that once held
the fur remains. Collected at Masset before 1884 by Alexander McKenzie
of the Hudson's Bay Company. CMC VII-B-1554
This very fine mask made in the middle of the 19th century once had
a moustache and goatee made of bear fur. Collected on Haida Gwaii
(probably Skidegate) in 1879 by Israel W. Powell. CMC VII-B-3
Secret society mask made by Simeon Stiltla (1833-1883). Raven feather
patterns are painted around the mouth. Collected at Masset before 1884 by
Alexander McKenzie of the Hudson's Bay Company.CMC VII-B-1
Portrait mask by Simeon Stiltla of an old woman wearing a large labret.
Collected at Masset before 1884 by Alexander McKenzie of the Hudson's Bay
Company. CMC VII-B-7
This mask represents a gagiid, someone who narrowly escaped
drowning but whose flesh has changed colour from long exposure in cold
water. Collected on Haida Gwaii in 1879 by Israel W. Powell. CMC VII-B-109
An unusual dance mask of a supernatural being whose identity is now
lost. The lips are edged with copper and the beard is bear fur. A wig
of human hair completes the eclectic effect. Collected on Haida Gwaii
in 1879 by Israel W. Powell. CMC VII-B-10
Secret society dance mask portraying a Mosquito; nail holes at the
top indicate it once had fur or feather attachments. Purchased from the
A. Aaronson collection in 1899 but probably acquired earlier at Masset
by James Deans. CMC VII-B-704
Secular power in Haida
society was wielded by the chiefs, who, unlike their
Kwakwaka'wakw neighbours
to the south, never yielded their power each winter to the heads of the
secret societies. Nevertheless, by the mid-eighteenth century, the Haida
began to practise much weaker forms of secret society winter dances, which
they learned from captives taken in wars. They performed the dances at
all winter festivities, including those to mark the raising of a totem
pole or the building of a house. Secret societies and their performances
began to disappear with the arrival of the missionaries in the mid-1870s.
Among the Haida, masks were used mostly by members of the secret societies.
Secret society dances frequently used both masks and puppets to represent
wild spirits of the woods, which the Haida called gagiid. The
Haida also employed masks in potlatch performances to illustrate the
spirit beings encountered by their ancestors.
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