Magnificent Kwakiutl Dzunukwa Mask
Quatsino Sound, North Vancouver Island. British Columbia, Canada
Red cedar wood, native natural pigments
Height: 32 inches
19th century – prior to 1880
Provenance: Jay T. Last - Los Angeles, CA.
Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00249361
The Kwakiutl historically lived along the shorelines of northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent coastal mainland, in a region of dramatic fjords and inlets, and innumerable smaller islands. Kwakiutl ceremonial life was extremely elaborate, sophisticated, and complex and was based upon an equally elaborate mythology that reflected and reinforced the Kwakiutl world view. Kwakiutl creation myths, known as transformation stories, tell of ancient ancestors traveling the world transforming nature or themselves into new beings, some taking off their animal masks to reveal their human selves. These ancestors imparted their animal masks as crests for their numaym – or lineages, thus identifying some numaym with specific animals, such as the killer whale, wolf, bear, or raven. Rank and wealth were also important components of Kwakiutl social life, yet for the Kwakiutl, these forms of status took on a distinct form of social practice and were perhaps most explicit in the inheritance and performance of masks and dances.
The year was generally divided into two ceremonial periods, summer and winter, which consisted of a series of dance cycles that culminated in a potlatch ceremony. During this ceremony, noble families invited guests to celebrate special events and to witness a display of wealth and status of the host’s family lineage. These special events could include the transfer of marriage privileges and the naming of children, the acquisition of new rank, or the initiation of a dancer into a dancing society. The chief or head of the lineage distributed an array of gifts including blankets and copper, to friends and neighboring clans in a display of generosity that helped establish bonds and social obligations between attendants and the wealthy chief. The potlatch ceremony could sometimes create significant tensions owing to the indebtedness of attendants to the chief, who expected some form of future repayments for his generosity. This repayment could include high rates of interest that might take years to repay and could outweigh the value of the initial gift. However, it was this custom of ever-increasing reciprocity that served as an important foundation for the community’s social cohesion. Later, it was the growing threat of colonial conflict that encouraged Kwakiutl communities to create new alliances with other Kwakiutl clans, and thus prompted the expansion of the potlatch and joint winter season ceremonies.
Masks featured prominently in both potlatch and seasonal ceremonies and were highly valued by the Kwakiutl, for they served as potent embodiments of ancestral spirits and supernatural beings and provided these entities a way of communication through dance and other modes of performance. Masks also enabled the wearer to undergo spiritual and social renewal and so they served as an outward manifestation of the wearer’s inner transformation. Each mask and accompanying dance were owned by a particular family and were passed down by elders and chiefs to their immediate and extended families to be used in future ceremonies. Thus, these masks accumulated social histories that transformed and enhanced their value. The magnificent variety of masks produced by the Kwakiutl permits us a glimpse into the diverse array of characters and ideas that constituted the heart of their social, religious, and political life.
The powerful mask presented here portrays one of these supernatural characters, called Dzunukwa or Tsonoqua by the Kwakiutl, an important mythological creature for which they had developed a rich folklore, much of which was recorded and compiled by the renowned German American anthropologist Franz Boas during his extensive field work among the Kwakiutl beginning in 1885. Known as the “Cannibal Giant of the Woods” or the “Wild Woman of the Forest”, Dzunukwa was believed to be a member of a large family of giants that made their home in the distant mountains and forests. Unlike many Kwakiutl mythological characters that were thought to have fled the physical world, retreating from the machinations of human society, Dzunukwa was thought to still be physically present in the world. Towering in height and dark in color with bushy, unkempt hair resembling that of a bear, and a distinct pursed mouth through which she uttered the cry “Hu Hu!”, she was often viewed as a terrifying and threatening creature and was described as carrying a large basket on her back in which she placed disobedient children that she stole, taking them to her home to eat them. However, in the various stories, the children often outwitted her, as she was said to be vain, stupid and clumsy. In another aspect, Dzunukwa carried a large basin of Kwala’sta, or the Water of Life, that could magically revive the dead or transform the ugly to beautiful; one of the many gifts that she would bestow on people fortunate enough to encounter and befriend her. The Kwakiutl considered her most important role to be the bringer of wealth and good fortune, granted to those who could outwit her. Portrayed with this complex dualistic nature, Dzunukwa can be considered the embodiment of Kwakiutl thought in that she represented both parsimony and generosity, fear and mirth, ignorance and astuteness, and power with her limitless sources of wealth.
During the winter season ceremonies, the dancer’s portrayal of Dzunukwa was performed primarily within the Tseka ceremonies. The word Tseka implies imitation, double meanings, trickery, deceit, and hidden meanings obscured by surface appearances. The Dzunukwa perfectly embodied these ideas and so was the most important figure portrayed during the winter ceremonies. Dzunukwa additionally made appearances during potlatch ceremonies and during the Ta’sala “Peace Dances”. In each of these ceremonial contexts, the dancer would appear, supporting an oversized mask portraying the cannibal giant Dzunukwa, paired with a longhaired full-bodied costume comprised of bear skin, and often carrying a large basket strapped to their back. With large eyes set deep within round sockets, and hollowed cheeks and pursed lips rendered to evoke the sounds of her haunting cry, the masks, illuminated by the light of the central fire, provided attendees with a convincing impression of the half animal, half human creature of the forest. Oversized hands, either carved or woven, were often worn by the dancer to help mimic the great size of the cannibal giant and to add to the theatrics of the costume. The dancer in deep trance, often aided by other Hamatsa Society members to help support the mask and guide him, appeared from behind a curtain which signified emergence from the forest. The dancer would then move about very slowly and lumbering and would rub the eyes of the mask, portraying Dzunukwa as visibly tired and narcoleptic. Embodying popular stories, the dancer would motion to the floor as if picking up children and placing them in her basket. Dzunukwa was thought not alert enough to dance the standard four circuits around the fire, so rather she staggered in the wrong direction, and when escorted to her seat by the assistants, she proceeded to fall asleep. These Dzunukwa or “cannibal giant” dances could last for as long as five days, during which she was portrayed reenacting various mythical stories. Franz Boas noted a song performed during these ceremonial appearances of Dzunukwa in which attendees chanted “Great bringer of nightmares; Great one who makes us faint; Terrible Dzunukwa.” In contrasting roles performed during potlatch ceremonies, she was portrayed carrying a basket of copper wealth that she generously gives away to the chief who in turn gifted to his guests, emphasizing Dzunukwa’s role as keeper of the wealth of the forest.
This imposing mask presents a powerful depiction of Dzunukwa. Rendered from red cedar, the mask is masterfully carved utilizing highly sculpted features defined by contrasting planes and elegant contours. The sheer scale of the mask was intended to reflect the fearsome size of the cannibal giant, said to be the size of three men. Like other 19th century examples, the pursed mouth is deep and tubular, and the cheeks are deeply hollowed, together evoking the haunting cry of Dzunukwa. The round eyes are sunken deep within large, exaggerated eye sockets. The mask was likely adorned with removeable wooden ears during ceremonial performances. These were often attached with flexible animal hide and nails, the pierced indentations from which can still be seen at the back of the mask. The complex facial planes of the mask are further highlighted by opposing pigments derived from traditional native mineral sources of red ocher, blue Vivianite, green Celadonite, and white lime. With the establishment of companies like the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Trading Company near Fort Rupert on the northern tip of Vancouver Island in the second half of the 19th century, modern supplies were quickly implemented into traditional Kwakiutl crafts and regalia. This included modern synthetic pigments such as Reckitt’s Blue, which was greatly favored for its more vivid blue and durable coloration and was used nearly exclusively by the Kwakiutl from the 1880’s onwards. The traditional Kwakiutl blue pigment Vivianite (an iron phosphate mineral) by contrast was generally duller and darker with varying gray undertones and was difficult and laborious to extract. The presence of this distinctive mineral blue Vivianite around the eye sockets of the mask as well as traces of the green mineral Celadonite found around the edges of the mouth, further establish the mask as a 19th century example. The mask most closely resembles two other early examples; a Dzunukwa mask photographed in situ (with accompanying bear skin suit) by Edward Curtis in 1914, and another Dzunukwa mask collected by Franz Boas and gifted by him in 1897 to Ethnological Museum of Berlin (formerly Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin-Dahlem)
Quatsino Sound, North Vancouver Island. British Columbia, Canada
Red cedar wood, native natural pigments
Height: 32 inches
19th century – prior to 1880
Provenance: Jay T. Last - Los Angeles, CA.
Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00249361
The Kwakiutl historically lived along the shorelines of northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent coastal mainland, in a region of dramatic fjords and inlets, and innumerable smaller islands. Kwakiutl ceremonial life was extremely elaborate, sophisticated, and complex and was based upon an equally elaborate mythology that reflected and reinforced the Kwakiutl world view. Kwakiutl creation myths, known as transformation stories, tell of ancient ancestors traveling the world transforming nature or themselves into new beings, some taking off their animal masks to reveal their human selves. These ancestors imparted their animal masks as crests for their numaym – or lineages, thus identifying some numaym with specific animals, such as the killer whale, wolf, bear, or raven. Rank and wealth were also important components of Kwakiutl social life, yet for the Kwakiutl, these forms of status took on a distinct form of social practice and were perhaps most explicit in the inheritance and performance of masks and dances.
The year was generally divided into two ceremonial periods, summer and winter, which consisted of a series of dance cycles that culminated in a potlatch ceremony. During this ceremony, noble families invited guests to celebrate special events and to witness a display of wealth and status of the host’s family lineage. These special events could include the transfer of marriage privileges and the naming of children, the acquisition of new rank, or the initiation of a dancer into a dancing society. The chief or head of the lineage distributed an array of gifts including blankets and copper, to friends and neighboring clans in a display of generosity that helped establish bonds and social obligations between attendants and the wealthy chief. The potlatch ceremony could sometimes create significant tensions owing to the indebtedness of attendants to the chief, who expected some form of future repayments for his generosity. This repayment could include high rates of interest that might take years to repay and could outweigh the value of the initial gift. However, it was this custom of ever-increasing reciprocity that served as an important foundation for the community’s social cohesion. Later, it was the growing threat of colonial conflict that encouraged Kwakiutl communities to create new alliances with other Kwakiutl clans, and thus prompted the expansion of the potlatch and joint winter season ceremonies.
Masks featured prominently in both potlatch and seasonal ceremonies and were highly valued by the Kwakiutl, for they served as potent embodiments of ancestral spirits and supernatural beings and provided these entities a way of communication through dance and other modes of performance. Masks also enabled the wearer to undergo spiritual and social renewal and so they served as an outward manifestation of the wearer’s inner transformation. Each mask and accompanying dance were owned by a particular family and were passed down by elders and chiefs to their immediate and extended families to be used in future ceremonies. Thus, these masks accumulated social histories that transformed and enhanced their value. The magnificent variety of masks produced by the Kwakiutl permits us a glimpse into the diverse array of characters and ideas that constituted the heart of their social, religious, and political life.
The powerful mask presented here portrays one of these supernatural characters, called Dzunukwa or Tsonoqua by the Kwakiutl, an important mythological creature for which they had developed a rich folklore, much of which was recorded and compiled by the renowned German American anthropologist Franz Boas during his extensive field work among the Kwakiutl beginning in 1885. Known as the “Cannibal Giant of the Woods” or the “Wild Woman of the Forest”, Dzunukwa was believed to be a member of a large family of giants that made their home in the distant mountains and forests. Unlike many Kwakiutl mythological characters that were thought to have fled the physical world, retreating from the machinations of human society, Dzunukwa was thought to still be physically present in the world. Towering in height and dark in color with bushy, unkempt hair resembling that of a bear, and a distinct pursed mouth through which she uttered the cry “Hu Hu!”, she was often viewed as a terrifying and threatening creature and was described as carrying a large basket on her back in which she placed disobedient children that she stole, taking them to her home to eat them. However, in the various stories, the children often outwitted her, as she was said to be vain, stupid and clumsy. In another aspect, Dzunukwa carried a large basin of Kwala’sta, or the Water of Life, that could magically revive the dead or transform the ugly to beautiful; one of the many gifts that she would bestow on people fortunate enough to encounter and befriend her. The Kwakiutl considered her most important role to be the bringer of wealth and good fortune, granted to those who could outwit her. Portrayed with this complex dualistic nature, Dzunukwa can be considered the embodiment of Kwakiutl thought in that she represented both parsimony and generosity, fear and mirth, ignorance and astuteness, and power with her limitless sources of wealth.
During the winter season ceremonies, the dancer’s portrayal of Dzunukwa was performed primarily within the Tseka ceremonies. The word Tseka implies imitation, double meanings, trickery, deceit, and hidden meanings obscured by surface appearances. The Dzunukwa perfectly embodied these ideas and so was the most important figure portrayed during the winter ceremonies. Dzunukwa additionally made appearances during potlatch ceremonies and during the Ta’sala “Peace Dances”. In each of these ceremonial contexts, the dancer would appear, supporting an oversized mask portraying the cannibal giant Dzunukwa, paired with a longhaired full-bodied costume comprised of bear skin, and often carrying a large basket strapped to their back. With large eyes set deep within round sockets, and hollowed cheeks and pursed lips rendered to evoke the sounds of her haunting cry, the masks, illuminated by the light of the central fire, provided attendees with a convincing impression of the half animal, half human creature of the forest. Oversized hands, either carved or woven, were often worn by the dancer to help mimic the great size of the cannibal giant and to add to the theatrics of the costume. The dancer in deep trance, often aided by other Hamatsa Society members to help support the mask and guide him, appeared from behind a curtain which signified emergence from the forest. The dancer would then move about very slowly and lumbering and would rub the eyes of the mask, portraying Dzunukwa as visibly tired and narcoleptic. Embodying popular stories, the dancer would motion to the floor as if picking up children and placing them in her basket. Dzunukwa was thought not alert enough to dance the standard four circuits around the fire, so rather she staggered in the wrong direction, and when escorted to her seat by the assistants, she proceeded to fall asleep. These Dzunukwa or “cannibal giant” dances could last for as long as five days, during which she was portrayed reenacting various mythical stories. Franz Boas noted a song performed during these ceremonial appearances of Dzunukwa in which attendees chanted “Great bringer of nightmares; Great one who makes us faint; Terrible Dzunukwa.” In contrasting roles performed during potlatch ceremonies, she was portrayed carrying a basket of copper wealth that she generously gives away to the chief who in turn gifted to his guests, emphasizing Dzunukwa’s role as keeper of the wealth of the forest.
This imposing mask presents a powerful depiction of Dzunukwa. Rendered from red cedar, the mask is masterfully carved utilizing highly sculpted features defined by contrasting planes and elegant contours. The sheer scale of the mask was intended to reflect the fearsome size of the cannibal giant, said to be the size of three men. Like other 19th century examples, the pursed mouth is deep and tubular, and the cheeks are deeply hollowed, together evoking the haunting cry of Dzunukwa. The round eyes are sunken deep within large, exaggerated eye sockets. The mask was likely adorned with removeable wooden ears during ceremonial performances. These were often attached with flexible animal hide and nails, the pierced indentations from which can still be seen at the back of the mask. The complex facial planes of the mask are further highlighted by opposing pigments derived from traditional native mineral sources of red ocher, blue Vivianite, green Celadonite, and white lime. With the establishment of companies like the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Trading Company near Fort Rupert on the northern tip of Vancouver Island in the second half of the 19th century, modern supplies were quickly implemented into traditional Kwakiutl crafts and regalia. This included modern synthetic pigments such as Reckitt’s Blue, which was greatly favored for its more vivid blue and durable coloration and was used nearly exclusively by the Kwakiutl from the 1880’s onwards. The traditional Kwakiutl blue pigment Vivianite (an iron phosphate mineral) by contrast was generally duller and darker with varying gray undertones and was difficult and laborious to extract. The presence of this distinctive mineral blue Vivianite around the eye sockets of the mask as well as traces of the green mineral Celadonite found around the edges of the mouth, further establish the mask as a 19th century example. The mask most closely resembles two other early examples; a Dzunukwa mask photographed in situ (with accompanying bear skin suit) by Edward Curtis in 1914, and another Dzunukwa mask collected by Franz Boas and gifted by him in 1897 to Ethnological Museum of Berlin (formerly Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin-Dahlem)
Quatsino Sound, North Vancouver Island. British Columbia, Canada
Red cedar wood, native natural pigments
Height: 32 inches
19th century – prior to 1880
Provenance: Jay T. Last - Los Angeles, CA.
Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00249361
The Kwakiutl historically lived along the shorelines of northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent coastal mainland, in a region of dramatic fjords and inlets, and innumerable smaller islands. Kwakiutl ceremonial life was extremely elaborate, sophisticated, and complex and was based upon an equally elaborate mythology that reflected and reinforced the Kwakiutl world view. Kwakiutl creation myths, known as transformation stories, tell of ancient ancestors traveling the world transforming nature or themselves into new beings, some taking off their animal masks to reveal their human selves. These ancestors imparted their animal masks as crests for their numaym – or lineages, thus identifying some numaym with specific animals, such as the killer whale, wolf, bear, or raven. Rank and wealth were also important components of Kwakiutl social life, yet for the Kwakiutl, these forms of status took on a distinct form of social practice and were perhaps most explicit in the inheritance and performance of masks and dances.
The year was generally divided into two ceremonial periods, summer and winter, which consisted of a series of dance cycles that culminated in a potlatch ceremony. During this ceremony, noble families invited guests to celebrate special events and to witness a display of wealth and status of the host’s family lineage. These special events could include the transfer of marriage privileges and the naming of children, the acquisition of new rank, or the initiation of a dancer into a dancing society. The chief or head of the lineage distributed an array of gifts including blankets and copper, to friends and neighboring clans in a display of generosity that helped establish bonds and social obligations between attendants and the wealthy chief. The potlatch ceremony could sometimes create significant tensions owing to the indebtedness of attendants to the chief, who expected some form of future repayments for his generosity. This repayment could include high rates of interest that might take years to repay and could outweigh the value of the initial gift. However, it was this custom of ever-increasing reciprocity that served as an important foundation for the community’s social cohesion. Later, it was the growing threat of colonial conflict that encouraged Kwakiutl communities to create new alliances with other Kwakiutl clans, and thus prompted the expansion of the potlatch and joint winter season ceremonies.
Masks featured prominently in both potlatch and seasonal ceremonies and were highly valued by the Kwakiutl, for they served as potent embodiments of ancestral spirits and supernatural beings and provided these entities a way of communication through dance and other modes of performance. Masks also enabled the wearer to undergo spiritual and social renewal and so they served as an outward manifestation of the wearer’s inner transformation. Each mask and accompanying dance were owned by a particular family and were passed down by elders and chiefs to their immediate and extended families to be used in future ceremonies. Thus, these masks accumulated social histories that transformed and enhanced their value. The magnificent variety of masks produced by the Kwakiutl permits us a glimpse into the diverse array of characters and ideas that constituted the heart of their social, religious, and political life.
The powerful mask presented here portrays one of these supernatural characters, called Dzunukwa or Tsonoqua by the Kwakiutl, an important mythological creature for which they had developed a rich folklore, much of which was recorded and compiled by the renowned German American anthropologist Franz Boas during his extensive field work among the Kwakiutl beginning in 1885. Known as the “Cannibal Giant of the Woods” or the “Wild Woman of the Forest”, Dzunukwa was believed to be a member of a large family of giants that made their home in the distant mountains and forests. Unlike many Kwakiutl mythological characters that were thought to have fled the physical world, retreating from the machinations of human society, Dzunukwa was thought to still be physically present in the world. Towering in height and dark in color with bushy, unkempt hair resembling that of a bear, and a distinct pursed mouth through which she uttered the cry “Hu Hu!”, she was often viewed as a terrifying and threatening creature and was described as carrying a large basket on her back in which she placed disobedient children that she stole, taking them to her home to eat them. However, in the various stories, the children often outwitted her, as she was said to be vain, stupid and clumsy. In another aspect, Dzunukwa carried a large basin of Kwala’sta, or the Water of Life, that could magically revive the dead or transform the ugly to beautiful; one of the many gifts that she would bestow on people fortunate enough to encounter and befriend her. The Kwakiutl considered her most important role to be the bringer of wealth and good fortune, granted to those who could outwit her. Portrayed with this complex dualistic nature, Dzunukwa can be considered the embodiment of Kwakiutl thought in that she represented both parsimony and generosity, fear and mirth, ignorance and astuteness, and power with her limitless sources of wealth.
During the winter season ceremonies, the dancer’s portrayal of Dzunukwa was performed primarily within the Tseka ceremonies. The word Tseka implies imitation, double meanings, trickery, deceit, and hidden meanings obscured by surface appearances. The Dzunukwa perfectly embodied these ideas and so was the most important figure portrayed during the winter ceremonies. Dzunukwa additionally made appearances during potlatch ceremonies and during the Ta’sala “Peace Dances”. In each of these ceremonial contexts, the dancer would appear, supporting an oversized mask portraying the cannibal giant Dzunukwa, paired with a longhaired full-bodied costume comprised of bear skin, and often carrying a large basket strapped to their back. With large eyes set deep within round sockets, and hollowed cheeks and pursed lips rendered to evoke the sounds of her haunting cry, the masks, illuminated by the light of the central fire, provided attendees with a convincing impression of the half animal, half human creature of the forest. Oversized hands, either carved or woven, were often worn by the dancer to help mimic the great size of the cannibal giant and to add to the theatrics of the costume. The dancer in deep trance, often aided by other Hamatsa Society members to help support the mask and guide him, appeared from behind a curtain which signified emergence from the forest. The dancer would then move about very slowly and lumbering and would rub the eyes of the mask, portraying Dzunukwa as visibly tired and narcoleptic. Embodying popular stories, the dancer would motion to the floor as if picking up children and placing them in her basket. Dzunukwa was thought not alert enough to dance the standard four circuits around the fire, so rather she staggered in the wrong direction, and when escorted to her seat by the assistants, she proceeded to fall asleep. These Dzunukwa or “cannibal giant” dances could last for as long as five days, during which she was portrayed reenacting various mythical stories. Franz Boas noted a song performed during these ceremonial appearances of Dzunukwa in which attendees chanted “Great bringer of nightmares; Great one who makes us faint; Terrible Dzunukwa.” In contrasting roles performed during potlatch ceremonies, she was portrayed carrying a basket of copper wealth that she generously gives away to the chief who in turn gifted to his guests, emphasizing Dzunukwa’s role as keeper of the wealth of the forest.
This imposing mask presents a powerful depiction of Dzunukwa. Rendered from red cedar, the mask is masterfully carved utilizing highly sculpted features defined by contrasting planes and elegant contours. The sheer scale of the mask was intended to reflect the fearsome size of the cannibal giant, said to be the size of three men. Like other 19th century examples, the pursed mouth is deep and tubular, and the cheeks are deeply hollowed, together evoking the haunting cry of Dzunukwa. The round eyes are sunken deep within large, exaggerated eye sockets. The mask was likely adorned with removeable wooden ears during ceremonial performances. These were often attached with flexible animal hide and nails, the pierced indentations from which can still be seen at the back of the mask. The complex facial planes of the mask are further highlighted by opposing pigments derived from traditional native mineral sources of red ocher, blue Vivianite, green Celadonite, and white lime. With the establishment of companies like the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Trading Company near Fort Rupert on the northern tip of Vancouver Island in the second half of the 19th century, modern supplies were quickly implemented into traditional Kwakiutl crafts and regalia. This included modern synthetic pigments such as Reckitt’s Blue, which was greatly favored for its more vivid blue and durable coloration and was used nearly exclusively by the Kwakiutl from the 1880’s onwards. The traditional Kwakiutl blue pigment Vivianite (an iron phosphate mineral) by contrast was generally duller and darker with varying gray undertones and was difficult and laborious to extract. The presence of this distinctive mineral blue Vivianite around the eye sockets of the mask as well as traces of the green mineral Celadonite found around the edges of the mouth, further establish the mask as a 19th century example. The mask most closely resembles two other early examples; a Dzunukwa mask photographed in situ (with accompanying bear skin suit) by Edward Curtis in 1914, and another Dzunukwa mask collected by Franz Boas and gifted by him in 1897 to Ethnological Museum of Berlin (formerly Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin-Dahlem)