![Kwakwaka'wakw_transformation_mask](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Kwakwaka%27wakw_transformation_mask.jpg)
A transformation mask, also known as an opening mask, is a type of
mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...
used by
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the
Northwest Coast and
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., ...
in ritual dances. These masks usually depict an outer, animal visage, which the performer can open by pulling a string to reveal an inner human face carved in wood to symbolize the wearer moving from the natural world to a supernatural realm. Northwest coast peoples generally use them in
potlatches to illustrate myths, while they are used by
Alaska natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
for shamanic rituals.
Transformation
Transformation masks are used to embody the act of transforming. These transformations usually portray an animal becoming another animal or an animal transforming into a fabled creature.
Myths and animals
During ceremonies and rituals, the transformation masks would sometimes be used to transform indigenous people of the Northwest Coast into animals or mythic creatures. According to native legends, transformation was often related to supernatural creatures such as
trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...
s - typically a god or goddess who uses their knowledge to cause chaos among humans.
Potlatches and ceremonies
As a way of honouring the natural milestones of Native American life, the Kwakwaka'wakw people, a Native American tribe that originates in the Pacific Northwest Coast, celebrates Potlatch. Potlatch is a tradition that includes wearing transformation masks, singing, and dancing. The ceremony is meant to celebrate the rituals of name-giving, inducting a new chief of the tribe, and honoring a death or marriage.
Potlatch ceremonies were used to establish social order, distribute resources and convey information to the clan. Typically, these masks were carved by master carvers of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coastal region.
The word “Potlatch” comes from the Chinook word “to give." Potlatch ceremonies were conducted in a big community space called the Big House. Frequently, these ceremonies involve the telling of the origin story of the first Nations' group or clan.
Settlers, missionaries and the Canadian government sought to end the Potlatch because they wanted the indigenous people to assimilate to Anglo-Saxon beliefs and customs. In 1884, the Canadian government started a ban on Potlatch ceremonies that lasted until 1969.
Materials and design
To make the masks, natural, organic materials are used such as red cedar bark and other types of wood that are commonly used by these tribes to construct buildings and other structures. The masks are usually made using a color palette of earthy tones such as red, blue, green, and black, though other colors are sometimes used as well. The colors are made by using plants and minerals that were available to them in their natural surroundings.
Modern transformation masks
While very little seems to be known about the original masks and how they were used, one artist,
Shawn Hunt, wanted to recreate a mask with the assistance of modern technology. ''Transformation Mask'', a
3D-printed, meter-long replica of the Raven was released in 2018 with the help of
Microsoft Vancouver. The wearer of the mask experiences it opening and closing, along with ambient light and sound coupled with
holographics.
Seattle Seahawks logo
Before the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
took part in 2014's Super Bowl, Robin K. Wright, Curator of Native American Art at Burke Museum, questioned the inspiration behind the design of the American football team's logo. Wright met with Burke Museum Curator Emeritus Bill Holm, who then showed her a picture of a Kwakwaka'wakw eagle mask displayed in ''Art of the Northwest Coast Indians'' by Robert Bruce Inverarity. Wright noticed that the transformation mask was almost identical to the team's original logo from 1976.
When the Seattle Seahawks discovered a forgotten newspaper article in their database from 1975, John Thompson, the Seahawks General Manager from 1976 to 1982, officially confirmed the influence behind the design for the team's 1976 logo.
Marvin Oliver, an artist who once worked alongside Holm, was inspired by the football team's first logo and created a redesign in 1975 that followed a more traditional form of the northern Northwest Coast principles. During the creation of the logo's original design in 1975, traditional art from tribes such as Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and Kwakwaka'wakw were becoming more and more familiar along the Pacific Northwest Coast. The reason for the art's familiarity dates back to the 19th century. On steam ship trips, American travelers passed by totem poles, a popularity during this time. In 1899, a design was stolen from one of the poles and later became an icon for Seattle, Washington.
The original eagle mask that influenced the Seattle Seahawks' 1976 logo was discovered in the northeast side of Vancouver Island.
In 2014, The University of Maine's Hudson Museum held the original, eagle mask in their collection. Hudson Museum then heard news that Burke Museum was searching for the location of the inspired Seattle Seahawk's logo. Upon hearing this news, they offered the mask to Burke Museum. Shortly after the mask's arrival, Wright and her team of artists were accompanied by artist Bruce Alfred, a member of the Namgis Band of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nations, to examine the transformation mask.
Upon examination, the mask revealed marks that proved the origin of the mask, along with evidence that the mask was used in Native American ceremonies. The mask, presented as an eagle or thunderbird, was meant to portray an animal to human transformation.
Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington displayed the original transformation mask as part of an exhibit inspired by Native American artists from November 22, 2014, to July 27, 2015.
Gallery
File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Raven Sisutl transformation mask - overall.jpg, Raven/Sisutl transformation mask by Oscar Matilpi, Kwakwaka'wakw Nation, 1997. In the permanent collection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American ...
File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Raven Sisutl transformation mask - detail.jpg, The same Raven/Sisutl transformation mask, open, by Oscar Matilpi, Kwakwaka'wakw Nation, 1996. In the permanent collection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American ...
File:Namgis (Native American). Thunderbird Transformation Mask, 19th century.jpg, ‘Namgis artist (of the Kwakwaka’wakw), ''Thunderbird Mask'' open, 19th c., from Alert Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Located at the Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
)
File:Whale Transformation Mask by Matthew Bisanz.JPG, Kwakwaka’wakw artist, ''Whale Mask'', 19th c., from Alert Bay
Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island (British Columbia), Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada.
Demographics
In the 2021 Can ...
, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Located at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...
)
See also
*
Masks among Eskimo peoples
Masks among Eskimo peoples served a variety of functions. Masks were made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers. They were often painted using bright colors. There are archeological miniature maskettes made of walrus ivory, dating from ...
References
*Davidson, Sarah and Robert Davidson. ''Potlach as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony''. Portage & Main Publishing , 2018. Print.
*Edson, Gary. ''Masks and Masking: Faces of Tradition and Belief Worldwide''. McFarland, 2015. Print.
*Garage, Microsoft and Shawn Hunt. "''Transformation Mask''." ''Leonardo'', vol. 51 no. 4, 2018, p. 435-436. ''Project MUSE'' muse.jhu.edu/article/702032.
*“Origin of the Seahawks Logo: The Story Unfolds.” ''Burke Museum'', Burke Museum, 27 Jan. 2015,
https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/origin-seahawks-logo-story-unfolds.
*“The History of the Potlatch Collection.” U'mista Cultural Centre, www.umista.ca/pages/collection-history.
*“Transformation Masks.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/indigenous-americas/a/transformation-masks.
*{{cite book , last = Shearar , first = Cheryl , title = Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings and Symbols , publisher = Douglas and McIntyre , date = 2000 , location = Vancouver , isbn = 1-55054-782-8
*Wright, Robin K. “The Mask That Inspired the Seahawks Logo.” ''Burke Museum'', Burke Museum, 28 Jan. 2014,
https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/mask-inspired-seahawks-logo.
External links
Entry on the website of the Minneapolis Institute of ArtsCanadian Museum of Civilization example
Pacific Northwest art
Indigenous woodcarving of the Americas
Masks in the Americas