Wild Man Mask
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Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
This mask represents Bak’was, a malevolent, ghostly spirit and the keeper of drowned souls in Kwakwaka’wakw culture. Although he is diminutive, his stride is four times the length of a man’s. He has a green, hairy body and a skeletal visage. Those drawn into the forest by him or who eat his food go mad, losing their souls and becoming part of his ghostly retinue. A soul can be saved by subduing Bak’was with menstrual blood. Bak’was appears when family ancestral masks are worn during performances of Tla’sala potlatch ceremonies, special tribal celebrations.
Esta máscara representa a Bak’was, un espíritu fantasmal malévolo, guardián de las almas ahogadas en la cultura Kwakwaka’wakw. Aunque diminuto, sus pasos son cuatro veces el largo de los de un hombre. Tiene un cuerpo verde y peludo y rasgos esqueléticos. Aquellos empujados al bosque por él, o los que han comido de su comida enloquecen, perdiendo sus almas y volviéndose parte de su séquito fantasmal. El alma puede salvarse sometiendo a Bak’was con sangre menstrual. Bak’was aparece cuando máscaras ancestrales familiares se utilizan en actos de ceremonias de potlatch Tla’sala, celebraciones tribales especiales.
Caption
John H. Livingston. Wild Man Mask, 1970. Cedar wood, pigment, hair, 11 5/8 x 7 1/2 x 8 1/8 in. (29.5 x 19.1 x 20.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Fred Nihda, 1996.203. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.203_transp3546.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Maker
Title
Wild Man Mask
Date
1970
Geography
Place made: Canada
Medium
Cedar wood, pigment, hair
Classification
Dimensions
11 5/8 x 7 1/2 x 8 1/8 in. (29.5 x 19.1 x 20.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Fred Nihda
Accession Number
1996.203
Rights
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.
Frequent Art Questions
Who made this?
This Wild Man Mask, carved in 1970, maintains the Kwakwaka'wakw tradition even today. John H. Livingston was not born into the Kwakwaka'wakw community, which originates in the Pacific Northwest, but was adopted by them and became close to native artists who gave him permission to carve masks and poles.
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