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 Tlingit Clan House
Tlingit, Grizzly Bear
House
-partition screen c 1840 cedar paint and human hair 15'x8' |
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Kwakiutl Culture, Photos of Dance Feast, Dance Societies of the Hamatsa, |
potlatch
1. (among American Indians of the
northern Pacific coast, especially the Kwakiutl) a ceremonial festival
at which gifts are bestowed on the guests and property is destroyed by
its owner in a show of wealth that the guests later attempt to surpass.
2. Pacific Northwest . a party
or celebration.
Kwakiutl Culture Photos of Dance Feast, Dance Societies of the Hamatsa Potlatch |
Hamatsa Emerging from the Woods (1914) Photogravure |
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Hamatsa Emerging from
the Woods (1914)
The figure illustrated here depicts a hamatsa (an initiate of special society that does the hamatsa dance) who has become possessed by supernatural forces after spending many days in the woods as part of the hamatsa initiation ceremony. |
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Tlingit, Grizzly Bear
House
-partition screen c 1840 cedar paint and human hair 15'x8' |
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Bookwus,(Bakwas) the Wildman of the Woods, is a supernatural character who lives on the edge of the forest near the ocean shore. He lurks at the mouths of creeks where he entices the souls of drowned humans, persuading them with ghost food to come and live with him. He lives in an invisible house in the woods where he communicated with the dead and brought them back to life during the winter dance season. |
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Title Bukwas (Bookwus) Region/Country NW Coast America period/style name NATIVE AMERICANS of NORTH WEST COAST approximate dates c. 20th Century |
period, style, culture, civilization
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Historic Era Neolithic Technology Cultures 1125-1200 CE Ansazi
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Photos of Dance Feast, Dance Societies of the Hamatsa |
Gwaxwiwe' Hamsiwe' Raven Man-eater Forehead mask Kwakwaka'wakw, Kwagu'l band Mungo Martin, ca. 1940 Red cedar, red cedar bark, enamel |
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Tsonokwa Transformation Mask
c1980 by Simon James Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw) Hand carved and painted red cedar 15" x 9" x 8 1/2" |
Tsonokwa Feast Dish 8 meters long,
carved wood, Salish or Kwakiutl
NATIVE
AMERICANS of NORTH WEST COAST
By Kwakwaka'wakw artist Calvin Hunt. About 8 metres long, it rivals in size the large, traditional feast dishes. The food at feasts was often placed in a large dish carved in the form of an animal or supernatural being. The abdomen of the Tsonoqua is the main part of the feast dish, while the face can be removed to reveal another dish. Associated with the feast dish are six small bowls, in the form of red snappers, seals and frogs, which, when the dish is completely assembled, rest on the knees and other parts of Tsonoqua's body.
Grease dish in form of a boat with
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Anthropomorphic Bowl c1900 animorphic
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Chilkat blanket, 19th century mountain
goat wool, cedar bark and sinew
thread
51 x 64 (129.5 x 162.6 cm) inches
NATIVE
AMERICANS of NORTH WEST COAST
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Tell me what you know.I am your little brother who knows nothing.
We have just walked into the Museum of Natural History in New York and you want to share some culture with me.
I'd much rather go see the Yankees.
What will you tell me about these things that will get me interested in looking at these exhibits?
We walk into the entrance and the first things you see are these big boats. What can you tell me?
Huh?
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