Haida Art

The abundant red cedars were used to make huge dugout canoes, multifamily plank houses, numerous splendidly carved totem poles as memorials and as portal poles, and carved boxes and dishes. Chiefs gave potlatches to guests of the opposite moiety, displaying hereditary crests and dances. Shamans wore masks indicative of their spirit powers in curing. A lot of the everyday tools and artifacts these tribes used we today consider very valuable and precious art.

The uses and purposes of masks range from selling for money or trading for goods to tribal rituals and ceremonies. The ones for sale today or which were made for sale had small differences then the ones actually used for ceremonies. Masks without working eyeholes or any eyeholes at all were most likely crafted

The masks of the Kwakiutl, were dramatically displayed in the rich culture of their people. An abundance of food and material for carving (red and yellow cedar) make an elaborate social and ceremonial structure possible. Masks were used for virtually every occasion. The Kwakiutl borrowed many themes for which they adapted into a complex series of dances, ceremonies, and theatrical performances. Masks were a very important part of these activities since they gave life to various mythological, figures which the people claimed as their ancestors from the early days. These supernatural beings had given privileges and special powers to families, often in the form of a family crest, song, or dance. The family would then portray a particular mythological figure as a part of their heritage.

One ceremony the Haida tribe had was when they were having trouble hunting or couldn’t find enough animals to hunt they would contact a Shaman to help them with their difficulties. A shaman was one who had a gift or power from some supernatural being who "possessed" him, or who chose him as the path through which to make his existence felt in the world of men. Very few men had this gift. When the spirit was present, the shaman's own identity was almost gone for the time he was the supernatural being himself. The shaman would call upon the god or supernatural being who controlled the element the tribe was having problems with. In this case the tribe is having difficulty hunting so the shaman would call upon the man in the moon since they believed a man in the moon controlled the animals spirits and when the ritual was done the difficulties were no more.

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Some topics in this essay:
Northwest Coast, Northwest Indian, , totem poles, rich culture, difficulties shaman, shaman call, form mask, form line, spoon handles, tribes northwest, haida artists,