Kwakwaka'wakw. <em>Dzunuk'wa Cannibal Woman Mask</em>, 19th century. Cedar wood, fur (black bear?), hide, pigment, iron nails, 19 1/2 x 14 x 7 3/4 in. (49.5 x 35.6 x 19.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Herman Stutzer, Esq., 15.513.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.513.1_SL1.jpg)

Kwakwaka'wakw. Dzunuk'wa Cannibal Woman Mask, 19th century. Cedar wood, fur (black bear?), hide, pigment, iron nails, 19 1/2 x 14 x 7 3/4 in. (49.5 x 35.6 x 19.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Herman Stutzer, Esq., 15.513.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.513.1_SL1.jpg)

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Cannibal woman mask. Worn by a cannibal woman?

Well...worn to depict a cannibal woman! We aren't sure how often, if ever, women performed this mask. The Kwakwaka'wakw tribe and many other Pacific Northwest coast tribes have stories and ancestral traditions involving the "Dzunuk'wa" variously translated as: "Wild Woman of the Woods, "Giant of the Woods," or "Cannibal Woman." The Dzunuk̕wa are a large family of giants that live in homes in the far away mountains and forests. Although they can be male or female, in most stories a female is mentioned...

She is a large, terrifying, and quite hairy creature traveling through the Northwest Coast forests crying "Hoo Hoo Hoo" through her pursed lips and carrying a large woven basket with her. If she finds a child who has disobeyed by stealing or by entering the woods without an adult, she scoops them up into her basket and takes them to her den to eat them! (However, the children usually outwit her, as she is supposedly vain, stupid and clumsy.) In another aspect, however, Dzunuk̕wa is the owner of the K̕wala’sta "Water of Life", one of many gifts that she would bestow on people fortunate enough to encounter and befriend her. Amongst the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw, her most important role is the bringer of wealth and good fortune. Some chief masks, with a different style than this one, depict her or her male counterpart and are worn by hereditary chiefs when the enact the intense "copper-breaking" ceremony.

Dzunuk'wa Cannibal Woman Mask

Arts of the Americas

CULTURE Kwakwaka'wakw

MEDIUM Cedar wood, fur (black bear?), hide, pigment, iron nails

Place Made: Vancouver Island, Knights Inlet, British Columbia, Canada

DATES 19th century

DIMENSIONS 19 1/2 x 14 x 7 3/4 in. (49.5 x 35.6 x 19.7 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 15.513.1

CREDIT LINE Gift of Herman Stutzer, Esq.

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION The Dzunuk'wa, or Cannibal women is a figure important to those Kwakwaka'wakw people who have an ancestral relationship to the stories involving her. She is a large, cumbersome figure, looking very bear like with shaggy fur over her body. She is clumsy and lumbers through the Northwest Coast cedar forests crying "Hoo Hoo Hoo" through her pursed lips. She is thought to carry a large woven basket with her. Should she discover a child who has disobeyed their parents and entered the woods without an adult she scoops them up into her basket and takes them to her den to eat them! Thus children are always warned against entering the forests without permission! Her mask is a large, and wooden, painted shiny black with spattered white pigment overall and accents of red pigment and fur. The mouth has a large round opening that is surrounded by prominent red lips. Pursed as if she is crying "hoo hoo." The interior of the eyes and nostrils that are large round holes painted red. Fur, possibly bear, attached with iron nails, surrounds the lips and forms the eyebrows. A previous application of fur on these areas is suggested by the appearance of corroded nails holding down remnants of fur plus extraneous nail holes. Used originally to secure the mask are leather thongs at the eyes, the back surface just below the eyes, and at the chin where they were attached to a leather strap. The ritual dance performed with this mask continues today by an individual who inherits the privilege. On the body of the dancer would be bear like regalia and the dancer mimics the clumsy gait of the real Dzunuk'wa. Some feast dishes have forms similar to those contained in these masks. The object is stable and in fair condition. Along the edges, especially on the lower, proper right side is old insect damage. Long vertical cracks are present in the wood, but appear stable.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Kwakwaka'wakw. Dzunuk'wa Cannibal Woman Mask, 19th century. Cedar wood, fur (black bear?), hide, pigment, iron nails, 19 1/2 x 14 x 7 3/4 in. (49.5 x 35.6 x 19.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Herman Stutzer, Esq., 15.513.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.513.1_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE front, 15.513.1_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Cannibal woman mask. Worn by a cannibal woman?