Native American Masks

Native American Masks

This category represents all original and authentic Native American masks from the Pacific Northwest Coast that are carved from yellow cedar, red cedar and alder. Based on a very rich tradition most contemporary West Coast Native Artists focus on and interpret the stories as well as the totems to which they have hereditary rights.

West Coast Native American Masks

The following Indian face masks and dance masks are mainly inspired by the Haida and Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka'wakw traditions from Haida Gwaii, Vancouver Island and British Columbia's West Coast. Historically and increasingly today, Pacific Northwest Coast Native masks are mainly used for ceremonial purposes.

Native American Masks and Spirits.

The native masks often represented spirit creatures, animals and myths. When used in the Potlatch or other West Coast Native ceremonies, the native dancers would take on the personification of the creatures that the masks represented and enter the supernatural world during the dance. A West Coast Native transformation mask often represents the transformation of a human to a mythical creature or animal and vice versa.

Beaver Mask by Bill Henderson, Kwakwaka'wakw ( Kwakiutl )		Hamatsa Crooked Beak by Dave Jacobson, Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka´wakw
Hamatsa Huk Huk by Dave Jacobson, Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka´wakw		Hamatsa Raven by Dave Jacobson, Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka´wakw
Hawk Mask by Tyler Crosby, Haida		Large Moon Mask by Wayne Alfred, Kwakwaka'wakw ( Kwakiutl )
Moon Mask by Wayne Alfred, Kwakwaka'wakw ( Kwakiutl )		Nobel Woman by Jaalen Edenshaw, Haida
Raven by Vince Shaughnessy Kwakwaka´wakw (Kwakiutl)		Raven and Frog Mask by Garner Moody, Haida
Spirit Mask by Beau Dick, Kwakwaka'wakw ( Kwakiutl )		White Raven by Tyler Crosby, Haida
Young Thunderbird Mask by Vince Shaughnessy, Kwakwaka´wakw ( Kwakiutl)