Masks among Eskimo peoples served a variety of functions. Masks were made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers. Driftwood is Wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea or river by the action of winds tides waves or man They were often painted using bright colors. There are archeological miniature maskettes made of walrus ivory, coming from early Paleo-Eskimo and from early Dorset culture period. Walrus tusk Ivory comes from two modified upper canines The tusks of a Pacific walrus may attain a length of one meter. The Thule (ˈtuːli or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Canadian Inuit. The Dorset culture (also called the Dorset Tradition were a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. [2]
Despite some similarities in the cultures of the Eskimo peoples,[3][4][5][6][7] their cultural diversity[8] makes it hard to generalise how Eskimos and Inuit used masks. Eskimos or Esquimaux are Indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia ( Russia) across Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting The sustenance, mythology, soul concepts, even the language[9] of the different communities were often very different. Inuit mythology has many similarities to the Religions of other Polar regions Inuit traditional religious practices could be very briefly summarised as a
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Early masks
Archeological masks have been found from early Paleo-Eskimo and from early Dorset culture period. [10] It is believed that these masks served several functions including being used in rituals representing animals in personalized form[11]; being used by shaman in ceremonies relating to spirits (as in the case of a wooden mask from southwestern Alaska). Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent [12]; it is also suggested that they could be worn during song contest ceremonials;[13]
Associated beliefs
Although beliefs about unity between human and animal did not extend to that of absolute interchangeability,[14] several Eskimo peoples had sophisticated soul concepts (including variants of soul dualism) that linked living humans, their ancestors, and their prey. A mask is an artefact normally worn on the face typically for protection concealment performance or amusement The Yupik or in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik, are a group of indigenous or aboriginal peoples of western southwestern and southcentral Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Soul dualism or a dualistic soul concept is a range of beliefs that a person has two (or more kinds of Souls In many cases the one of the souls [15][16] Besides synchronical beliefs, there were also notions of unity between human and animal, and myths about an ancient time when the animal could take on human form at will. [17][18] Traditional transformation masks reflected this unity. [19] Ritual ceremonies could enable the community to enact these stories with the help of masks, sometimes with the masked person representing the animal.
Yup'ik masks
The Yup'ik are Eskimos of Western Alaska whose masks vary enormously but are characterised by great invention. The Yupik or in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik, are a group of indigenous or aboriginal peoples of western southwestern and southcentral A mask is an artefact normally worn on the face typically for protection concealment performance or amusement The Yup'ik people (also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, plural Yupiit) are an Eskimo people of western and southwestern Alaska ranging from southern They differ is size from forehead and finger 'maskettes' to enormous constructions that dancers need external supports to perform with. [20] Many of these mask were used almost as stage props, some which imbued the dancer with the spirit that they represented - and most were often destroyed after use. Others represented animal people, (yuit), and insects, berries, plants, ice and objects of everyday life. . [21]
Note
Eskimo groups comprise a huge area stretching from Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada (including Nunatsiavut in Labrador and Nunavik in Quebec) to Greenland. Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Northern Canada is the vast Northernmost Region of Canada variously defined by Geography and Politics. Modern Labrador Just like its island neighbour Newfoundland early settlement in Labrador was tied to the sea as demonstrated by the Montagnais, Innu and Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the The term Eskimo has fallen out of favour in Canada and Greenland, where it is considered pejorative and the term Inuit has become more common. Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt However, Eskimo is still considered acceptable among Alaska Natives of Yupik and Inupiat (Inuit) heritage, and is preferred over Inuit as a collective reference. Alaska Natives are Indigenous peoples of the Americas native to the state of Alaska within the United States. The Yupik or in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik, are a group of indigenous or aboriginal peoples of western southwestern and southcentral The Inupiat or Iñupiaq (from inuit- people - and piaq/t real i
References
- ^ Fienup-Riordan 1994: 206
- ^ Hessel & Hessel 1998: 12–13
- ^ Kleivan 1985:8
- ^ Rasmussen 1965:366 (ch. XXIII)
- ^ Rasmussen 1965:166 (ch. XIII)
- ^ Rasmussen 1965:110 (ch. VIII)
- ^ Mauss 1979
- ^ Kleivan 1985:26
- ^ Lawrence Kaplan: Comparative Yupik and Inuit (found on the site of Alaska Native Language Center)
- ^ Hessel & Hessel 1998: 12–13
- ^ Oosten 1997: 90–91
- ^ Burch & Forman 1988: 90–91
- ^ Burch & Forman 1988: 30–31
- ^ Oosten 1997: 99
- ^ Oosten 1997: 86
- ^ Vitebsky 1996:14
- ^ Oosten 1997: 90–91
- ^ Barüske 1969: 7, 9
- ^ Thomas 2008: +4 (= third page after the opening page of the article)
- ^ The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks; Ann Feinup-Riordan; University of Washington Press, Seattle 1996. ISBN 0295975016
- ^ The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks; Ann Feinup-Riordan; University of Washington Press, Seattle 1996. ISBN 0295975016
See also
Further reading
- Barüske, Heinz (1969). Inuit art refers to Artwork produced by Inuit, that is the people of the Arctic sometimes known as Eskimos "Wie das Leben entstand", Eskimo Märchen, Die Märchen der Weltliteratur (in German). Düsseldorf • Köln: Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 6–13. The tale title means: “The way life appeared”; the book title means: “Eskimo tales”; the series means: “The tales of world literature”.
- Burch, Ernest S. (junior); Forman, Werner (1988). The Eskimos. Norman, Oklahoma 73018, USA: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2126-2.
- Fienup-Riordan, Ann (1994). Ann Fienup-Riordan (born 1948 is an American Cultural anthropologist known for her work with Yup'ik Eskimo peoples of western Alaska, particularly Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Hessel, Ingo; Hessel, Dieter (1998). Inuit Art. An introduction, foreword by George Swinton, 46 Bloomsbury Street, London WCIB 3QQ: British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-2545-8.
- Kleivan, Inge; B. Sonne (1985). Eskimos: Greenland and Canada, Iconography of religions, section VIII, "Arctic Peoples", fascicle 2. Leiden, The Netherlands: Institute of Religious Iconography • State University Groningen. E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-07160-1.
- Mauss, Marcel [c1950] (1979). Marcel Mauss ( May 10, 1872 &ndash February 10, 1950) was a French Sociologist. Seasonal variations of the Eskimo: a study in social morphology, in collab. with Henri Beuchat; translated, with a foreword, by James J. Fox, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0415330351.
- Oosten, Jarich G. (1997). "Cosmological Cycles and the Constituents of the Person", in S. A. Mousalimas: Arctic Ecology and Identity, ISTOR Books 8. Budapest • Los Angeles: Akadémiai Kiadó • International Society for Trans-Oceanic Research, 85–101. ISBN 963 05 6629 X.
- Thomas, Lesley (2008). "Visions of the End of Days. Eskimo Shamanism in Northwest Alaska" (PDF). Sacred Hoop (59). ISSN 1364-2219. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
- Vitebsky, Piers (1996). Piers Vitebsky is an Anthropologist and is the Head of Social Science at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, England A sámán, Bölcsesség • hit • mítosz (in Hungarian). Budapest: Magyar Könyvklub • Helikon Kiadó. ISBN 963 208 361 X. Translation of the original: (1995) The Shaman (Living Wisdom). Duncan Baird.
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