oall.1 TL1NKIT AND HAIDA MASKS. 115 



21573 (Plate XVIII, figs. 42-42).— Another incomplete or unfinished 

 dancing mask, probably of Haida make, obtained by Dr. White, of the 

 United States Army, in Alaska, for the National Museum. This one was 

 evidently made for sale, and had never been used or made fit for use. 

 The wood was fresh and unstained, and no peep-holes or breathing holes 

 or arrangement for fastening the mask on a wearer's head had been 

 made. It represents a face with a tiaraof bear's claws over the forehead. 

 The lips, ears, nostrils, and baud below the tiara are red, colored with oil 

 paint obtained from the whites, as is the rest of the painted work. The 

 bear's claws, pupils of the eyes, and the hair are black ; the irides green- 

 ish ; and the dark tracery on the face, shown in the figure, as well as 

 the upper bar of the head-dress are blue. The light parts of the figure 

 in the original show the uncolored natural wood. This is one specimen 

 of many which have of late years been brought from the northwest 

 coast, which have been made expressly for sale as curiosities, and which 

 want essential parts which should be found in an article used or in- 

 tended for use. A ring made of brass wire is inserted in the nasal sep- 

 tum, but such is rarely, if ever, now worn by the people of the Archi- 

 pelago. The figure is one-fifth the linear size of the original. 



20570 (Plate XVI, figs. 28-29).— Dancing mask from Bellabella, Brit- 

 ish Columbia, collected by J. G. Swan. The upper mandible was carved 

 separately and permanently pegged to the face. The lower mandible is 

 movable, and was made to rise and fall by pulling a line of twisted sinew 

 which passes back and out behind over a rounded stick, pulley-fashion. 

 The mask was held on by cords behind. The interior is quite roughly hol- 

 lowed out. The surface of the face was whitened before being painted ; 

 that of the bill is bare wood, except where painted. The eyebrows and 

 pupils are painted black ; the eyes, inner edges of the mandibles and nos- 

 trils aud light lines on the forehead, red ; the quadrangular figures on 

 the forehead, blue; other painted parts, bluish green. The mask is 

 probably a conventional representation of the head of the sea-eagle or 

 " Thunder bird " of Tlinkit mythology, of which mention is made else- 

 whei-e. It is not possible to determine exactly the meaning of some of 

 these carvings, for, as observed by Swan, the Indians allow their fancy 

 the wildest flights in the manufacture of dancing masks, while the con- 

 ventional figures, having tolemic or ritualistic function, are quite care- 

 fully maintained in their chief characteristics. The figure is on a scale 

 of one-fifth, linear. 



30200 (Plate XVII, figs. 33-34).— Dancing mask, representing a death's 

 head, bought at Barclay Sound, Vancouver Island, of the natives be- 

 longing to the tribe usually termed Nutka, by J. G. Swan. This is an 

 extremely old mask, and the soft spruce wood of which it is made shows 

 signs of decay ; perhaps was selected as appropriate for the purpose on 

 that account. It bears a ghastly resemblance to the visage of a dried-up 

 corpse. The inside of the mouth is black ; the general surface has been 

 rubbed with a whitish earth, giving it a moldy appearance. It is pro- 



