Boas and Hunt (1897): A Prototype Digital EditionMain MenuThe Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians by Franz BoasAn Annotated Digital Edition (in Prototype) With Notes By George HuntAnnotations to the Digital EditionTimelinesMaps
Nootka Sound
12022-02-15T22:24:40+00:00Bill Kennedy15318238463d5962ca788c0c4e0c237d293d0f9e35google_maps2022-02-15T22:28:16+00:0049.6843,-126.7895Bill Kennedy15318238463d5962ca788c0c4e0c237d293d0f9e49.6843° N, 126.7895° W
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12021-07-29T21:03:39+00:00Annotation 8.7 | Object (Pl. 37)17plain2022-03-07T16:07:55+00:00AnnotationBoas illustrates this mask as belonging to the ’Walasa’ax̱a in particular, though there is no evidence for this. Hunt’s caption correction simply identifies it as a xisiwe’, the Kwak’wala term for a wolf mask or headdress. Moreover, the pictured mask is not Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw but Nuu-chah-nulth, having been collected by Captain Cook among the Mowachaht around 1778 (AFig. 8.7.1). Contemporary Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw distinguish between at least two different Wolf Dances, of which the ’Walasa’ax̱a is characterized by the use of a large number of masked dancers (more typical Wolf Dances are called Długwala; see pp. 478-79). It seems as if Boas, in his early typological mode, did not yet recognize distinctions between mask variations; on pg. 478, he simply points out the material similarity of wolf masks across time and space. Nuu-chah-nulth historian Haa’yuups (Ron Hamilton, personal communication) identifies this piece as a sa-aky'ak (crawling wolf headdress or frontlet) belonging to a fully initiated member of the Tluukwaana (Wolf) Society (see pp. 632-44; see Drucker 1951:386-442; Ernst 1952). It is adorned with mica flakes, sea otter teeth, and dentalia shells—all symbols of wealth and authority. [BM Am,NWC.71]
