Mask
kegginaquq
“mask”
Language:
Central Yup'ik
Angalkut evaruciaritneng atuqatarluteng. (They are going to dance to the song that a shaman composed.)
—Neva Rivers, 2003
This mask is a black bear, from which the animal’s yua, or inner person, peers out. Tufts of human hair (some now missing) hang over the eye. The bear’s red tongue is attached by a flexible willow splint so that it would have bobbed up and down during the dance, perhaps representing the animal’s fatigue as hunters pursued it. A unique song-story and dance were composed for each mask.
Culture:
Yup’ik
Region:
Lower Yukon River, Alaska
Village:
Sabotnisky
Object Category:
Ceremony
Dimensions:
Width 52cm
Accession Date:
1882
Source:
Edward W. Nelson (donor)
Museum:
National Museum of Natural History
Museum ID Number:
E048985
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