The False Face Society is probably the best known of the medicinal societies among the Iroquois, especially for its dramatic wooden masks. The design of the masks is somewhat variable, but most share certain features. The eyes are deep-set and accented by metal. The noses are bent and crooked. The other facial features are variable. The masks are painted red and black. Most often they have pouches of tobacco tied onto the hair above their foreheads. Basswood is usually used for the masks although other types of wood are sometimes used. Horse tail hair is used for the hair, which can be black, reddish brown, brown, grey or white. The…

Q: Here’s one I stumbled upon at a thrift shop. It appears to be Pueblo-inspired. It also appears to be a recent creation, perhaps crafted for the tourist trade. Regardless, I think it’s special and wanted to share it with you. Any input you may have is welcomed. Eric, 1516 A: It certainly is special if you collect Native American masks. Though you knew it was a cheap replica, I don’t think you would mortgage your house for the authentic mask I posted at the end. Worse than the high price, you might also be sued by the Hopi people. The following appeared in the press six years ago. “Dozens…

Q: I found this stone mask in Barrow, Alaska, on the beach and I was wondering if you could help me identify it. It is five inches high. Mechelle, 1501 A: A small stone face found of the beach in Barrow (in the far north) would likely have been made by the Inupiaq people. It is too small to be a real mask. It could have been made by a shaman and placed in a kayak for protection or good luck. Lots of small stone sculptures are made by the Inupiaq for different purposes, the most common being sale to tourists. More information is needed to determine value.

This Apache Gaan dance mask consists of a black cloth head cover with small eye openings and metal outer ‘eyes’. The top tablita part of the dance mask is inventively made of corrugated cardboard with paint. On the lower portion is circular cotton cord with drops holding small feathers. This mask has definitely been danced. It is about 25 inches high. The Apache people are generally thought to be a single tribe of Native American’s, but in actuality, the Apaches are an assimilation of various Apachean tribes that are thought to be a subgroup of Athabaskans, migrating south from Canada and Alaskan regions. While most of these bands of Apache…

There were people in Alaska and Northern Canada before the Inuit and other Eskimos. They are called Tunit and are long gone. But they have left behind a great deal of artifacts. This very old mask is one of them. The following is from Passing Strangeness– a very interesting website. The first hints that there was once an ancient culture in Canada’s north came from the Inuit who have replaced them. Until modern times they used boulder weirs and caribou channels for hunting, and Inuit folklore says they’d been built by another people whom they called the Tunit. The Tunit themselves appeared in some stories as peaceful giants who would…

An Exceptional Northwest Coast Bella Coola mask British Columbia in the 19th century. Finely carved and quite old, with remains of paint, stabilized insect damage consistent with age and use. Old museum numbers on the back. Provenance: Private Collection, Leipzig, Germany. The price realized by the Cobb Auctioneers was $14,000. Here is some history:  During the 1800s collectors and ethnographers from around the world came to the Northwest Coast of British Columbia to collect items of material culture from what they believed to be the dying races of people who lived there. This process transformed the meaning of ceremonial objects, such as masks, for the people who lived there. Masks…

A wooden mask from the Yukon River region of Alaska (ca. 1890–1910). To its right: Francis Picabia’s painting, Monstre (1946). The French artist André Breton once owned the Alaskan wooden mask (ca. 1890–1910) that a gallery paired alongside one of Francis Picabia’s monster paintings. Surrealist artists long admired these Yup’ik masks from the central Alaskan coast, which were made in the hopes of divining bountiful hunts. Breton, Man Ray, and Yves Tanguy all collected the masks beginning in 1934. They saw it as Surrealism from another time and place. African masks are not the only tribal art that had an influence on the modern art of Europe. The second mask…

Q:  I believe you may have used my King Island mask in your book. You were impressed with it front and back. In any case I just bought a mask and would like you to look at it. It was on eBay and I made an offer as he sent an appraisal letter. Not sure what to think about it and wanted another set of eyes to look at it. Thank you, Jim, 1298 A:  I question whether this mask is from the late 19th century or was ever used in ceremony. Appraisals like the one you got are meant to please the customer. Accuracy is not guaranteed. Regardless, this…

In Siberia, wood masks were used only by the Koryak people and were of simple construction, usually depicting gaunt-faced men. Animal masks or masks of semi-human beings, so widely used in North America, were not known. The reduced importance of masquerade in Northeastern Siberia as compared with northwestern America makes them hard to find. Koryak masks are most similar to masks of Native Americans from Barrow, Alaska.  Bob, 1286