![Yupik shaman Nushagak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Yupik_shaman_Nushagak.jpg)
Masks among Eskimo peoples served a variety of functions. Masks were made out of
driftwood
__NOTOC__
Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves.
In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...
, animal skins, bones and feathers. They were often painted using bright colors. There are archeological miniature maskettes made of
walrus ivory
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...
, dating from early
Paleo-Eskimo
The Paleo-Eskimo (also pre-Thule or pre-Inuit) were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the arrival of the modern Inuit (Eskimo) and rel ...
and from early
Dorset culture
The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from to between and , that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in ...
period.
[ Hessel & Hessel 1998: 12–13]
Despite some similarities in the cultures of the
Eskimo peoples,
[ Rasmussen 1965:110 (ch. VIII)][ Mauss 1979] their cultural diversity makes it hard to generalize how different groups, like the
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
and
Yupik Yupik may refer to:
* Yupik peoples, a group of indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East
* Yupik languages, a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages
Yupꞌik (with the apostrophe) may refer to:
* Yup'ik people
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg ...
used masks. The sustenance,
Inuit religion
Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional I ...
, soul concepts, even the language
[Lawrence Kaplan: Comparative Yupik and Inuit]
(found on the site o
) of the different communities were often very different.
Eskimo groups comprise a huge area stretching from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
through Alaska and
Northern Canada (including
Nunatsiavut
Nunatsiavut (; iu, italics=no, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ) is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inui ...
in
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
and
Nunavik in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
) to
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
. The term ''Eskimo'' has fallen out of favor in Canada and Greenland, where it is considered
pejorative
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
and the term ''Inuit'' has become more common. However, ''Eskimo'' is still considered acceptable among
Alaska Natives of
Yupik Yupik may refer to:
* Yupik peoples, a group of indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East
* Yupik languages, a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages
Yupꞌik (with the apostrophe) may refer to:
* Yup'ik people
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg ...
and
Iñupiat
The Iñupiat (or Inupiat, Iñupiaq or Inupiaq;) are a group of Alaska Natives, whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States border. Their current ...
(Inuit) heritage, as well as
Siberian Yupik peoples, and is preferred over ''Inuit'' as a collective reference.
Early masks
Archaeological masks have been found from early Paleo-Eskimo and from early Dorset culture period.
It is believed that these masks served several functions, including being in rituals representing animals in personalized form;
[ Oosten 1997: 90–91] being used by
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
(
medicine man
A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...
or ''
angakkuq'') in ceremonies relating to spirits (as in the case of a wooden mask from southwestern
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
); it is also suggested that they could be worn during song contest ceremonials.
Associated beliefs
![Ivorymasks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ivorymasks.jpg)
Although beliefs about unity between human and animal did not extend to that of absolute interchangeability, several Eskimo peoples had sophisticated soul concepts (including variants of
soul dualism) that linked living humans, their ancestors, and their prey. Besides synchronous beliefs, there were also notions of unity between human and animal, and myths about an ancient time when the animal could take on human form at will.
[ Barüske 1969: 7, 9] Traditional ''
transformation mask''s reflected this unity.
[Thomas 2008](_blank)
: +4 (= third page after the opening page of the article) Ritual ceremonies could enable the community to enact these stories with the help of masks, sometimes with the masked person representing the animal.
Yup'ik masks
The
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
are Eskimos of western Alaska whose masks vary enormously but are characterised by great invention.
Yup'ik masks differ in size from forehead and finger 'maskettes', to enormous constructions that dancers need external supports to perform with.
[The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks; Ann Feinup-Riordan; University of Washington Press, Seattle 1996. ] Many of these masks were used almost as stage props, some of which imbued the dancer with the spirit that they represented - and most were often destroyed after use. Others represented animal people, ''(yuit)'', and insects, berries, plants, ice and objects of everyday life.
See also
*
Inuit art
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but s ...
References
Further reading
* The tale title means: "The way life appeared"; the book title means: "Eskimo tales"; the series means: "The tales of world literature".
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Hungarian translation of
Rasmussen 1926.
*
* Translation of the original:
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masks Among Eskimo Peoples
Eskimo
Eskimos
Inuit culture
Inuit art
Inuit shamanism
Indigenous woodcarving of the Americas
Masks in the Americas