Kwakwaka’wakw Whale Transformation Mask The Kwakwaka’wakw whale transformation mask (portrayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) was created in the 19th century within the Alert Bay region, located in Vancouver Island, Canada. Since they generally portray a specific family’s genealogy through the display of intricate crest symbols, finding the specific artists of these masks are very hard to accomplish, as there tends to be very minimal amounts of indicators regarding their production. Therefore, there aren’t too many people that know what Kwakwaka’wakw transformation masks are, or where they even come from, let alone the cultural significance they portray. I personally believe that transformation masks are created and utilized by the Kwakwaka’wakw …show more content…
This is mainly because the owners of these masks must earn or inherit the right to make, wear, and perform with them during festivities, including potlatch ceremonies (which are gift-giving feasts). A cloak made of red cedar bark, which completes the costume and helps hide or “transform” the person wearing it, also accompanies them, creating a more drastic effect during performances. The mask itself is made of cedar wood, cord, metal, leather, denim and paint, and takes months or sometimes even years to create. When looking closely, you can see the brightly colored surfaces that portray complex forms and “Use elements of the formline style” (Khan Academy, 2015). The Killer Whale clan of the Kwakwaka’wakw is the only clan permitted to create whale transformation masks, which safeguarded their family’s crest symbols while also conveying their specific rights. They are built accordingly to portray a family’s genealogy, sacred position within the clan, as well as their wealth …show more content…
“These masks thus accumulate histories that transform and enhance their value” (Gosden and Marshall, 1999). They are used in both religious and theatrical ceremonies, that help in the telling of local myths and “Relate moments of transformation often involving trickster supernaturals (a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and conventional behavior)” (Khan Academy, 2015). The Kwakwaka’wakw whale transformation mask consists of multiple moving parts including the mouth, fins, and tail, which are made specifically in order to imitate a whale swimming. “The entire mechanism is rigged in such a way that the performer, while carrying the mask on back and shoulders, can manipulate it with his hands much like a puppet and mimic the gestures of a swimming whale” (Met museum, 2015). Within the whale’s mouth is a face with a large hooked nose, which is thought to be an ancestor who once had an important interaction with a whale in the mythical past, signifying the whale emblem of their family
The Kwakiutl Indian tribe existed before the discovery of North America by the European culture and inhabited the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia in Canada. The tribe is rich in tradition and culture and has remained steadfast in their beliefs, history, teachings and artisan skills which have been passed down generation to generation. The artisans in the Kwakiutl tribe mastered the art of creating special ceremonial masks that are not only beautiful and aesthetically interesting to the eye, but also mechanically intriguing in which the masks serve a specific purpose to a theme during different ceremonies that are conducted by tribal specialists during certain times throughout the year.
Since the Hmong have endured and survived as a culture, they believe in preservation of the entire traditions. Embroideries and methods have not changed much but the use of fabric has updated. Flower cloth has evolved to story cloths relating to all their past historic events. Although the Hmong have adjusted with certain changes, their preservation of their skillful handcraft has not. It is an important value, tradition, and ritual to their culture that has continued to exist even through American society.
Wallis, Wilson D. and Ruth Sawtell. The MicMac Indians of Eastern Canada. St. Paul, Minnesota: North Central Publishing Company, 1955. 14, 21-22, 27-28, 51, 68, 192-194.
Since the beginning of time, mankind began to expand on traditions of life out of which family and societal life surfaced. These traditions of life have been passed down over generations and centuries. Some of these kin and their interdependent ways of life have been upheld among particular people, and are known to contain key pieces of some civilizations.
“‘I thought, with modern technology,’ said my sister, ‘I could separate our parents from these large groups. I took these pictures to isolate our parents and then have their individual photographs enlarged…The photo studio tried, but it would not work. As the photographs became larger the individual features of their faces became more blurred. It was as if coming closer they became more indistinct. After a while I stopped. I left them with their group. It seemed the only thing to do’” (240-241). The inability to separate the parents from the group photograph shows how imbedded their family values were in their beings. By removing the rest of their family, they became less themselves. The parents become blurry, ambiguous shapes lacking distinct features that identify them as individuals. Family was an integral part of the parents’ lives. By removing their family, the sister is removing the context through which her parents lived and loved. This also shows clan members being valuable and discernible members of the clan when within its confines, but self-worth lessens the further they are from the clan. Once again, modernity collides with tradition. In this passage, it is the modern technology that the sister wanted to use to separate her parents from the rest of her family. This shows the modern
2) The mask represents values that the Chokwe people attach to the rite of passage and womanhood. Such values are introspection and wisdom. The mask conveys introspection and wisdom because the eyes and mouth are closed meaning the female is looking inward, thinking and reflecting. The woman that the mask represents is constructed this way because the women that it celebrates have already obtained wisdom and have no need to look outward for it.
Their dorsal fin is extremely long, tampered and pointed in a triangular shape or rounded and curved towards the end. The skull is oval shaped and the beak is extremely short and rounded at the end. The killer whale’s jaw is powerful with teeth that are able to tear apart flesh of their prey. They can withstand the jolting, wiggling and hurtling movements of prey that are trying to escape. The killer whale is born with a single blow hole instead of two. Their flippers are paddle shaped with rounded ends and flukes are tapered back and pointed at the end resembling to a triangle/pyramid
...d that is linked to the ‘Transformation’. Native Americas shared the transformation theme, and it was a common feature of Kwakwaka’wakw masks. The mask is designed to be opened and closed by a hidden string, which the dancer change their figures back and forth between an animal and a human spirit. (Kleiner, p. 864) By representing both human and animal figure at a time, the mask embodied mythological idea of appreciation and celebration of life and Kwakwaka’wakw people’s tries to interact with the world.
...ould estimate where they spent most of their time. By the length of the other skeletal bones, the size and shape of the animals could be determined, which also shared insight to its behavior. The largest primitive whales could indeed walk on land, but only did so for short periods because their legs could not take so much weight for long amounts of time. These behaviors allow scientists and paleontologists to understand even more as to how these fascinating and mysterious animals went from ruling on land to taking over the sea.
The tribe was divided into four social groups. At the top of the hierarchy were the relative...
As an act of frustration, they take their teeth and rake other whales’ bodies. They would be covered head to tail with rake marks. Park guests would sometimes recall that during shows they could see blood, due to severe rake marks
Though a mask may just be a paper cut out, a molded piece of plastic, or in the Lord of the Flies, a painted face, they all have the same ability to create a feeling of freedom from responsibility. They may make they wearer feel more important or powerful and too good for work, leading to a lack of fulfillment of their responsibility. This belief in freedom from responsibility is best exemplified by Jack, the first one on the island to begin wearing a mask. He used a mask because he felt it gave him power and skill, giving him reason to take up hunting as a prime responsibility, opposed to keeping the fire going. In their...
Part of the flesh and blubber is then returned to the ocean representing returning the whale’s spirit. Whaler’s believed that by returning the whale’s spirit they would be fortunate in future hunts and the animal would return
This heavy bone trait was carried on through generations eventually leading to the whale, now having the heaviest bones on earth. Compared to the elephant and hippopotamus which would be the second biggest animals on earth. These creatures, unlike the whale, are land dwelling creatures that are also herbivores just like the whale. The embryo of a whale sees the development of the embryo into a fetus. This process forms the basic shape of the whale and how it’s going to look like.
Humpback whales breath voluntarily, unlike humans. Since they have to remember to breath, researchers believe humpbacks sleep by shutting off half of their brain at a time. Like orcas and dolphins, humpback whales have noses at the top of their head called blowholes (Animal Planet). Humpback whale calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old (National Geographic). They breed, give birth and care for their newborn calves in the warm waters of Tonga. Instead of teeth, humpbacks have baleen plates, they are brush-like strands of bristle that trap there food until it is swallowed. They have very odd mouths that curve downwards, like an eternal frown. Humpback whales are amazing marine mammals (Big Animal Expeditions)