Dance Mask

Who is this visiting spirit with its two inverted, crescent-shaped eyes, its fur trim, and its three split quills designed to bob and bend during the dance? A narrow vertical cleft, daubed with red ochre, divides its face in half, or into two. Its mouth, as was common on the front and the back of Yup’ik masks, has been rimmed with red ochre — the paint was often made by mixing powdered ochre with blood — and, mysteriously, a wedge of red ochre paint expands from a point on the left side of the mouth to the edge of the face. The surface of the mask, possibly carved from a cottonwood stump, would have gleamed with white a buffed-up coat of white clay, possibly fetched from Nelson Island.

Many dance masks of a similar nature were made in the districts around St. Michael in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Strategically located in Norton Sound, St. Michael was established by Russian fur traders in 1833 and soon became a destination for Inupiak in the north and Yup’ik in the south. As the trappers and their families intermingled, traditions became blended, and masks associated with St. Michael are often said to share characteristics of both cultures.

The downturned crescent eyes, its features, and its similarity to owl masks from the St. Michael area suggest that this mask may represent an owl or, more accurately, the yua, or spirit of an owl. The yua in this case reveals itself as a “human” face while retaining some characteristics of the bird.The mouth is wide open, as if singing, hooting, or calling out; it is likely the mask would have been carved to communicate song. Danced as one of a pair, the presentation of this mask, and the story told by the shaman to those watching and listening in the ceremonial house, would have provided an explanation.

— Colin Browne