Yup'ik masks (

Yup'ik The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...

''kegginaquq'' sg ''kegginaquk'' dual ''kegginaqut'' pl and ''nepcetaq'' sg ''nepcetat'' pl; in the Lower Yukon dialects ''avangcaq'' sg ''avangcak'' dual ''avangcat'' pl ; in Nunivak Cup'ig dialect ''agayu'') are expressive

shamanic Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spiri ...

ritual

masks A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

made by the

people of southwestern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Also known as Cup'ik masks for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking people of Chevak and Cup'ig masks for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking people of

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; ) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at a latitude of about 60°N. The ...

. They are typically made of wood, and painted with few colors. The Yup'ik masks were carved by men or women, but mainly were carved by the men. The shamans (''angalkuq'') were the ones that told the carvers how to make the masks. Yup'ik masks could be small three-inch finger masks or maskettes (or ''dance fans'', in the Lower Yukon Yup'ik dialects ''tegumiaq'' sg ''tegumiak'' dual ''tegumiat'' pl), but also ten-kilo masks hung from the ceiling or carried by several people. These masks are used to bring the person wearing it luck and good fortune in hunts. Over the long winter darkness

dances Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and storytelling took place in the

qasgiq Qargi (), Qasgi or Qasgiq (by the Yup'iks), Qaygiq (by the Cup'iks), Kashim (by the Russians), Kariyit, a traditional large semi-subterranean men's community house' (or "communal men's house, men's house, ceremonial house, council house, dance ...

using these masks. They most often create masks for ceremonies but the masks are traditionally destroyed after being used. After Christian contact in the late nineteenth century, masked dancing was suppressed, and today it is not practiced as it was before in the Yup'ik villages.Lynn Ager Wallen (1999)
The Milotte Mask Collection
Alaska State Museums Conceps, Second Reprint of Technical Paper Number 2, July 1999 While the Iñupiaq and Yup'ik are culturally and ethnically related, separated only by language differences and, often, hundreds of miles of territory, they have developed distinct versions of similar traditional mask forms. In the case of the Iñupiaq, masks are typically less elaborate than those made by their Yup'ik neighbors to the south-east, and usually smaller, covering only the face.Sean Mooney
The Art of the Spirit World: Volume III The ARCTIC
The Steven Michaan Collection of North American Tribal Arts Yup'ik masks are often compared to the European

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

tradition. A 2018 show in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

explored this comparison. The Surrealists’ Dance with the Yup’ik Mask
by Gini Alhadeff , New York Review of Books. Posted June 3, 2018

References

{{Commons category, Yupik masks

Mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

Masks in the Americas

See also

References