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"Curator's Choice"
Shaman's mask
Alaska, Lower Yukon (att.), Eskimo
2-5854
"With his bow (and arrow) the shaman—who is seen in the skeletal form necessary for supernatural voyages—has overcome the sea goddess. The shaman danced with this mask seemingly stuck to his face-whereas in reality he gripped it from behind with his teeth, and looked out through the 'nostril.' Some of the wooden pegged teeth and other appendages on the outer rim are missing. This mask is typical of those from the lower Yukon River. The long curved mouth and the single eye, as well as the use of white wash (paint), ochre and the blue-green shade around the eye are so similar to two others in the Hearst collections that we believe they were all made by the same artist." (Nelson Graburn, Curator of North American Ethnology).
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