Dancer wearing double cannibal-bird mask. Willie Seaweed seated in center. Seaweed carved mask in 1915. Mask combines Crooked Beak of Heaven and Raven. Per Door Book/Accession Record: Dancer with double cannibal bird mask.
Donor:
William R. Heick
Collection place:
Blunden Harbor, British Columbia, Canada
Culture or time period:
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)
Collector:
William R. Heick
Collection date:
1951
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Masks (costume)
Accession date:
March 22, 2000
Department:
Still and motion photography
Dimensions:
length 35.56 centimeters and width 27.94 centimeters
Comment:
Per labels provided by Ira Jacknis: Dancer wearing a double cannibal-bird mask. Willie Seaweed at center. Blunden Harbour, B.C.; 1951. These dance scenes, included in the Gardner films, were shot in the large plank house. In order to get enough light some of the roof planks had to be pushed aside. Willie Seaweed carved this large mask, combining Crooked Beak of Heaven and Raven, about 1915. Now in the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology, it weighs about 20 pounds. Behind the dancers are painted muslin screens, which replaced versions of cedar planks around the turn of the century.