"The head-dress is a 'dancing hat,' and consists of a carved wooden mask surmounted by numerous sea-lion bristles and with many pendent strips of ermine-skin." - Edward Curtis
"Seaweed of the genus Porphyra is a favorite food among all the tribes of the North Pacific coast. The green, membranous fronds are gathered in the spring from tidal rocks and are pressed into flat cakes and dried." - Edward Curtis
A representation of the painting that once adorned the house of Kyoti, chief of the raven clan of the Tsawatenok at Kwaustums. The upper figure is sisiutl, the double-headed sea serpent; the lower is qiqis, a sea eagle.
"The girl wears the cedar-bark ornaments that are tied to the hair of virgins on the fifth morning of their puberty ceremony" - Edward Curtis
The Fire Drill - Koskimo (1914)
"The two long beams in the middle are twin ridge timbers, which are supported in the rear, as in the front, by a transverse beam resting on two uprights. At the extreme right and left are eaves timbers. The longitudinal and circular flutes of the columns are laboriously produced by means of a small hand-adze of primitive form." - Edward Curtis
The Kwakiutl sub-tribe of the Tsawatenok spent their winters in the ancient village of Kwaustums on Gilford Island, British Columbia.
"The primitive Kwakiutl sail for canoes was a sheet of cedar-bark matting, and on catamarans a large, square section of thin boards was propped up against the wind. Canvas is now used. The painting on the canoe at the left represents sisiutl, the mythical, double-headed serpent. The carved figure-heads of the middle canoe and the one at the right are respectively an eagle and a bear. The bear canoe is further embellished with highly conventionalized paintings of the head, flipper, and tail of a whale." - Edward Curtis
The mask of Hami, meaning dangerous thing, was used in the Nunhlim dance. This dance was performed on the final night of the Tlu'wulahu, a four day ceremony that preceded the Winter Dance.
The Nuhlimahla were one of the most numerous characters in the Kwakiutl Winter Dance ceremony. They impersonated fools and were characterized by their devotion to filth and disorder.
The figure illustrated here depicts an hamatsa (shaman) who has become possessed by supernatural madness after spending many days in the woods as part of the hamatsa initiation ceremony.
"This mask is called Há'wa'nahat ('always ready to feed'). The original Há'wa'nahat, according to mythology, was one of four slaves who were transformed into speaking house-posts in the first winter-dance house." - Edward Curtis
"It is thought that an eclipse is the result of an attempt of some creature in the sky to swallow the luminary. In order to compel the monster to disgorge it, the people dance round a smouldering fire of old clothing and hair, the stench of which, rising to his nostrils, is expected to cause him to sneeze and disgorge the moon."- Edward Curtis
"Two Hesquiat women are homeward bound with the product of their day's labor in gathering food, and cedar-bark to be used in making mats." - Edward Curtis
In Kwakiutl mythology the raven has the ability to transform itself into a man. The figure in this image represents the raven in its human form.
"This 'raven mask' is provided with a coat of cormorant-skins, which completely covers the figure of the dancer. It is used in the numhlim ceremony." - Edward Curtis
"These two masked performers in the Winter Dance represent huge, mythical birds. Kotsuis (the Nakoaktok equivalent of the Qagyuhl Kaloqutsuis) and Hohhuq are servitors in the house of the man-eating monster Pahpaqalanohsiwi. The mandibles of these tremendous wooden masks are controlled by strings." - Edward Curtis
"The dancer personates one of the mythic ancestors who descended from the sky. Note the huge, carved house-post at the right." - Edward Curtis
The dancer wearing this mask performed the role of the hunter who killed the giant man-eating octopus of Bella Bella mythology. This particular dance was performed in the Tlu'wulahu, a four day ceremony that preceeded the Winter Dance.