Welcome
to the Native Art Site of Shirley Babcock
In the Spirit of the Ancestors
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The Kwakwaka'wakw (also known as Kwakiutl / Kwagiulth) tribal lands are located on the northern part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and are renowned for carving. They are considered the most theatrical of all of the northwest coast tribes. The Kwakwaka'wakw have many ceremonies practiced by different secret societies with four main cultures: The war society (Winalagalis), e magical society (Matem), the society of the afterlife (Bakwas), and the cannibal society (Hamatsa) which is the most prestigious of all. The Kwakwaka'wakw use the winter as the ceremonial season for the Kwakwaka'wakw mask tradition.
During the hamatsa dance (as shown in above photograph by Edward S. Curtis), many masks transform from one character to another, demonstrating the transformations that the dancer is undergoing. The Kwakwaka'wakw carving style is bold with bright colors combined with white paint to highlight dramatic expressions intensifying the features in firelight
dance performance. Among the most recognized masks of the Kwakwaka'wakw are the massive Hamatsa bird masks:
- Crooked Beak (Galokwudzuwis) - a monsterous human eating bird that produces great fear.
- Huk-huk (Huxwhukw) - uses long beak to crack open human skulls and suck out brains.
- Raven (Baxbaxwalanuksiwe) - eats his victim's eyeballs.
These masks are used for the initiation ceremony of new Hamatsa Society members which dramatizes the struggle of good and evil forces for the young
initiate's soul. The giant Hamatsa birds are the earthly representatives of Baxwbakwalanuxwsiwe', the massive cannibal spirit in the the sky world.
The enormous birds try to lure the young person into the dark realm, while the family and tribe work tirelessly to liberate the forces of evil
from the young person's soul. When the initiation ceremony concludes (which can take several days), the forces of good, with any luck, have
prevailed and the young initiate is ready to be a productive, positive contributing member to the Hamatsa society and the tribe. |
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Historically, the Kwakwaka'wakw have had an unbroken cultural legacy of carving despite outside oppression. In 1870, the Canadian Government
enacted the "Potlatch Ban" which prohibited any native peoples from participating in traditional native ceremony. This was the beginning of
a dark period of cultural prohibition, during which only a few determined carvers continued stealthily to create objects for ceremonial purposes.
Their resolve not to surrender their traditional way of life in favor of embracing colonial religious customs insures that the sacred, spiritual
life of the Kwakwaka'wakw would be preserved and passed down to future generations. The Canadian Government repealed the potlatch ban in 1951.
Today the carving tradition is flourishing and continued building of cultural centers and Longhouses on tribal lands on North Vancouver Island
also help to maintain Kwakwaka'wakw cultural tradition. They offer visitors to the region an opportunity to gain a better understanding of
Kwakwaka'wakw history and culture. |
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