Kwakwaka’wakw masks from the Northwest Coast

Contemporary objects created by Indigenous people are helping us to grow our understanding of other cultures and build stronger links with communities around the world.

Two masks worn during a ceremonial dance by members of the Kwakwaka’wakw community have been acquired for our collections. The carved cedar wood pieces were created by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Hereditary Chief Alan Hunt.

On Tuesday 25 February 2020, members of the Kwakwaka’wakw community from the Northwest Coast of Canada performed the Atlakim or ‘Dance of the Forest Spirits’ ceremony at St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh. This may only be the second time it has been performed outside The Big House, in Alert Bay, on Vancouver Island. The Atlakim is part of Hereditary Chief William Hawkins Box of Treasures and it is thanks to his kind permission this ceremony was able to be performed. Throughout the video below Hereditary Chief Alan Hunt and Patricia Nolie introduce each of the various sections. They tell the story of the Atlakim as well as providing broader insights into Kwakwaka’wakw ways of life.

This event, and a subsequent visit to the National Museums Collections Centre, led our Department of World Cultures to acquire two of the masks worn in the ceremony. They were chosen because of their significance within the Atlakim ceremony and their links to Scotland.

The masks were made specifically for the Pine’s Eye exhibition at the Talbot Rice Gallery. Its curator, James Clegg, described the show as exploring how “the environmental crisis we face today is bound up with a longer history of colonialism through the repression of Indigenous cultures, the loss of wisdom derived from animals and plants, and the industrial exploitation of people and resources”.

Alan Hunt, and Kwakwaka’wakw community members Terena Hunt, Corinne Hunt and Michelle George also visited the Kwakwaka’wakw collections at the National Museums Collections Centre in early 2020. They were able to describe how many of the historic masks in the collections would have been made and used.

Masks were used in ceremonies as part of potlatch (gift giving feasts) to invoke spirits. Potlatch were banned in Canada between 1884–1951, reflecting a misunderstanding of Indigenous culture. Today, the carving of masks and the continuance of potlatch reflects resilience and revitalisation in Indigenous communities along the Northwest Coast of Canada.

The Kwakwaka’wakw community visit to Scotland with these masks and their generous sharing of cultural knowledge was a special and significant event for all involved. This acquisition commemorates this visit as well as the historic performance of the Atlakim ceremony in Edinburgh and continues an ongoing relationship between National Museums Scotland and Kwakwaka’wakw communities.

The Atlakim ceremony was made possible thanks to the kind support of Canada Council for the Arts and the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom.