2019 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention
Alaska Native Customary Art Show 2019
Thursday, Friday, Saturday... October 17, 18, 19,
Carlson Center in Fairbanks
http:///www.nativefederation.org/annual-convention/alaska-native-customary-art-show
OUR RETIREMENT began in 2017
Thanks to all who have shared interest in Dave's Carvings and Art &Crafts through five decades…
*Spirit Masks
*Small Face Ornaments *Small Face and Mini Face: Pins, and Magnets
*Plaques: Three Generations, Mother and Child, Single or Double on Bark,
Large Ceremonial Masks
Oosiks, Antler Buttons and Boxes...
Mukluks and Mittens Sets
AlaskanMasks.com
alaskanmasks@gmail.com
Alaska 19th Century Spirit Masks exhibited one of the broadest imaginative vista of Native Art.
Masks, as a whole, represented the complete range of Native Cosmology .
Dancers acted out stories of tradition, history, hunting, religion, comedy, medicine and other life's many events.
Native Art attained a high degree of artistic achievement.
Check out web pages ...
Ceremonial Masks and Spirit Masks Through the Years
More will be added...
HAIR SEAL
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NORTH WIND
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BUBBLE MASK
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Seal YuaSeal Yua,
its Spirit, peering from its mouth Seal a graceful swimmer skilled at fishing. SPIRIT of the Seal teaches us to swim and to conquer our fears, especially regarding the sea. Seal shares its skills and is a symbol of wealth Collected by Ellis Allen Goodnews,1912 AGAYULIYARARPUT Our Way of Making Prayer |
Owl InuaOwl Mask Spirit peering from its back Coastal communities of Quissunaq, Chevak,and Hooper Bay were among the most isolated in the region. Masked dancing were celebrated well on into 1929 and found its way back in the mid forties. Some villages... Nunivak Island and Bethel made mask for commercial sales. Others like Chevak and Hooper Bay carvers used their masks for dancing... Waskey, 1946 AGAYULIYARAPUT, Our Way of Making Prayers |
"Chirpy" OwlForehead Mask
Protruding eyes, Open mouth, with a chirpy look.. Originally it was trimmed with caribou ruff held in place with wooden pegs. Feathers were spaced on the rim. Angalquq's helping spirits were often the owl with birds of many kinds which were the common embodiment of the helping spirits who were known to be able to move between the world of air, land,and water. Collected on the Kuskokwim Jacobsen 1883 AGAYULIYARAPUT, Our Way of Making Prayers |
Spotted MaskWide mouth
showing two rows of wooden teeth, a long face smeared with spots , decorated with feathers. Spots were important in number of festivals, but little is known concerning their meaning. Similar to a "sculpin mask" collected by H.M.W. Edmonds, St. Michael 1890's AGAYULIYARAPUT, Our Way of Making Prayers & Crosssroads of the Continents |
WOLFLoyal, Dependable,
WOLVES Unlike many other animal share in the care of their young They work and hunt together for the pack. By wearing the wolf mask and petitioning his Helping Spirit, the shaman asked to receive the skills and the attributes of the wolf. Numerous types of wolf masks were found throughtut Alaska 1800-1900s |
BLACK BEAR INUAThe Shaman danced...
part Man and part Bear spirit and sang his song to the booming of the drums and the howling of the cold winter winds. The Shaman enacts the unusual encounter with the Black Bear. There in the forest he had experienced a Humanllike Spirit, partly concealed in the area of the bear's right eye, behind the bear's dark hair. Nelson 1899 Sabonisky Inua Spirit World, Spirit World of the Beriing Sea Eskimo |