North American Masks Author(s): Claude Levi-Strauss and Yves Cantraine Source: The Drama Review: TDR, Vol.

26, No. 4, Masks (Winter, 1982), pp. 4-8 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1145509 Accessed: 11/02/2009 18:08
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In NorthAmerica,we shall only deal with three areas where masks are found:the the northwestseaside of the PacificOcean (Alaskaand British culture; east, in the Iroquois Columbia);and finally,the southwest of the United States (New Mexico and Arizona), includingPueblo, Navaho, and Apache Indians. masks:those of sculpted,paintedwood, often provided There are two types of Iroquois with hair, and those made of plaited corn straw. Each type is divided into a numberof Thoughdifferent sub-groupswhich correspondto classes of mythicalbeings or divinities. in style, these masks indicate the same inspiration. They have massive features, are heavily sculpted and their expressions are vehement, often caricatures. Their facial those fromGreenland,where similarnatuasymmetriesrecall Eskimomasks, particularly ralismand distortionscan be found. The most famous Iroquoismasks are those used by medicine-menbelongingto what the featuresof a mythical Americanethnologistscall "falsefacesocieties."They reproduce being who created all diseases, but who eventuallypromisedto heal them afterhis defeat theirfight,the evil being was knockedagainst a mountain, by the Demiurgecreator.During leaving him forever disfigured. There are manyothertypes of masks:"maternity masks,""counselor masks,""beggar masks," "tempest masks," and "scalp masks." Their use was prescribedaccording to type: birth,tribalquarrel,farcicalfeasts, bad weather, returnfromwar. The plaitedstraw masks were hung on a house's door to protectit whilea celebrationoccurredinside. They representedsupernatural beings withties to the earthwho taughtmen the arts of hunting and agriculture. The Iroquoisalso made small masks, a few centimeters long, which although less known, seem to have played the role of talisman. In exceptional cases, the Iroquois

THEDRAMA Volume26, Number4, Winter1982 (T96) REVIEW, 0012-5962/82/040004-05 $4.00/0 C 1982 by the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology fromLes Masques et leurs Fonctions,edited by CherifKhaznadar, Reprinted by permissionof CherifKhaznadar de Rennes, France. publishedby Maisonde la Culture

THE AMERICAS

sculpted a mask directlyon a tree's trunk,and cut it off when finished,duringan extremely complicated ritual. The sacred masks were treated like the divinitiesthemselves. Before they were put and had to be regularly"fed." on, they were consecrated by cleansing and purification, An ill-treatedmask was said to "sweat,"and requireda suitable expiationconsisting of prayers and offerings.A mask might also be "poisoned"by the person who wore it if he happened to be drunkor angry. If this happened, the mask was isolated for a time, then eventuallyscraped and re-paintedwhen the evil influences had disappeared. coast the plastic arts are Of all the regions of Northern America,in the northwestern the most highlydeveloped. Proofof this developmentare theirtall sculpted totemic poles, and their wooden masks, sculpted and painted,trimmedwith leatheror fur, and set with motherof pearl and animals'teeth. They often representedseveral charactersor different aspects of the same divinity,and were sometimes animatedby straps and strings. As a result, they could produce sensational effects in celebrations.The head of the mythical raven could be opened in two or four parts, revealing a human face which had been hidden from the spectators; cannibalisticbirds could clap their beaks; the Spiritof Sleep could alternatelyopen and close his eyelids, and rollhis eyes while movinghis jaws; and birds perched on an immobilehead could beat their wings. A bladderfilled with blood, to simulate the public severing of a burst, allowed the sorcerer-conjurer surreptitiously slave's head.

This Kwakiutlmask represents the sun or moon. Hinged triangularpieces close over the face. At one moment in the dance, the music stops and the dancer opens the mask by pulling on strings to reveal the human aspect of the mythical personage.

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These masks were worn duringprofanefeasts and religiouscelebrations.Duringthe former, nobles often wore masks representingeither the gods from which their line of descendants originated,or their illustriousancestors, or masks of clowns, heralds, messengers or orators. for exhibiting masks among the coast The winterritualprovidedthe main opportunity Tsimshian, Haida, Bella Coola, Nootka, and the various Salish groups). peoples (Tlingit, half-theatrical The masks were worn for half-religious, rituals,especially for the non-initiated's benefit. One might say the object of these seances was reallyto terrorizethem, worldinvadedthe villages. withseveral murdersif necessary. Beings fromthe supernatural In Kwakiutl culture,they capturedseveral noble adolescents, and led them into the forest. The boys returnedin a freneticcondition,changed into cannibalsgreedy for humanflesh. The officiatingpriests tried to capture them, to tame them and reintegratethem into the social order, where they were admittedto the secret societies of the "seals," guardians of the winterritual. The Kwakiutl divinities,half-human,half-animal,and always fantastic, have names which are particularlydifficultto spell: the cannibalistic gods Baxbakualanuxsiwae, the ogress (orogre) Tsonoqoa; Hamshamtses;the birdNanaqaualil; Qoaqoaxulanuxsiwae, lakim,the sea-monster;Sisiul, the two-headedserpent;and also, underalternatelyhuman or animalshapes, the Raven, the Eagle, the Falcon,the Grampus,the Stag, and the Bear. Less dramatic,butjust as important, were the mask celebrationsof the southwestern tribes:the variousPueblogroups (Hopi,Zuni,Twea, Keres)and theirneighborsthe Navaho and Apache. There, the masks have a totally differentlook. The Apache and Navaho masks for the masculine divinitieswere made of supple skin;the femininedivinitieswere represented by rigidmasks. The Pueblo masks were made of a cylinderor cone of rigid "mouth" made of leather,wood, leather, fastened with wooden "ears"and a protuberant or the end of a squash. The masks were painted,decorated withfeathers, and provided with a thick collar of fur, cloth, feathers, leaves or moss. Some masks represent gods; others are symbols of priests and dignities.The most numerous represent the Katshina(Hopi)and Koko (Zuni),the deified ancestors, or the divine associates of these ancestors. For half of the year, they visit the village, dance for the spectators' pleasure and play the role of benevolent fairies distributing gifts, or of children. bogey-men ready to punish the bad behaviorof the non-initiated Repertoriesof such masks have been published,butthey are all incomplete.However, there are more than a hundredidentified types. As the variouspeoples imitateeach other, and as new masks are created and older ones disappear, it is practically impossible to have a definite idea of this complex pantheon. These masks are humorousbecause of theirbeauty and the liveliness of theircolors. Yet the ingenuous and good-naturedaspect of the Pueblo masks must not hide the deep religiosity them. surrounding The raw materialfor each type of mask is prescribed:buck, elk, bison leather, or calabash. The priest-craftsmencover them with all kinds of previouslymasticated alimentaryseeds to give them life. The Zuniaddresses the mask as follows:"I have made you with alimentaryseeds, and I have given you life. Bringus the benedictionof your spiritual power, and when the day of dancing comes, provideus with rain,as long as you live. I made you into a person."The mask then receives its symbolicornament(tadpoles to conjure up spring rains;dragonfliesfor summer rains;frogs for those of fall; butterflies to urge dancing;corn to stimulateharvests; clouds; stars; rainbows;and the Milky Way), to each divinity and each symbol:groundcopper ore, exclusivelywith pigments attributed haematite, colored clay, and, accordingto a fixed symbolismfor black, coal, soot, burnt corn, and crushed black stone. The varnishes are extracted from various resins, egg whites or pollen thickened with plant saps. Each time the mask is worn, it is cleaned,

Hopi Indian mask of dyed leather and hair. scratched, and painted again. The remaindersare exposed on an altar. In effect, the paintingand ornamentation"gives life"to the mask. Masks are transmittedfromone generationto the other, or buriedwith their owner. Between the dance celebrations,they are kept in earthenwarejars and "fed"daily with offerings.Withoutthis care, the mask would take revenge and devour the corn reserves or leave the attics to the rodents. While "feeding"the mask, the wife or daughterof the owner offers it a prayer:"Myfather,there you are, motionless. Eat!Allowus to followour way to the end. Ourfather, see to it that it is long and we can reach its term."In wearing the mask, the represented divinityis assumed by the owner. Retreats, prayers, fasts, continence, and the soul's purityprepare him to take this role. An impuredancer brings a death threat upon himself. Masks to which one was not respectfulwould stick to the dancer's face, stranglingand suffocatinghim at the same time, and all offended masks could take revenge by provokingillness and misfortune. Giventhese conditions,the scarcityof Pueblo masks in museums or privatecollections should not be astonishing. Theirowner rarelyhas the rightor impietyto partwith them. Instead,they can be studied fromthe puppets-or rather,clay figures-representing the Katshina,who distributethem to childrenbefore leaving the village, duringthe annual farewell celebration called Niman by the Hopi. Among the Zuni, these clay figures are articulatedand dressed with rags. Among the Hopi, they are entirelypainted and made of one piece.

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Throughoutthe southwest, colors, includingthose on masks, are associated with spatial directions.The most frequentlyused system among the Pueblo is the following: The and black/nadir. blue/west; red/south;white/east; multi-colored/zenith; yellow/north; fromthe northcenturies ago, borrowedthis type of classification Navaho, who immigrated from the Pueblo, and made it considerablymore complicated.The attributions change accordingto the method of readingthe cardinalpoints. Hence, south is consistentlyblue, and west yellow, whereas east alternates between white and black, and north between black and pink. Navaho masks-at least those of masculine divinities-are made of supple skin or for the eyes, rectangularfor material,and resemble cowls with holes in them: triangular the mouth, or sometimes, uniformlyround. Masked characters embody gods, or ye-i, the Maleones are the Speaking-God,the Calling-God, among which the most important and the Red-God. Despite God, the Female-God,the Shooting-God,the Destructive-God, the names of the first two, they are supposed to be mute, except when singing certain sacred songs. If the masked person spoke "inthe mask,"he would be blinded,or would fall ill and die. Through breathingand incantation,these gods provoke meteorological phenomena correspondingto the spatial directions of which they are guardians. Each associated withone of the cardinal mask is also characterizedby a certainway of "calling" hawo wu-u-wu hawo wu-u-u-hu (west), (south), and lo-lo-looo (north). (east), points: However,these are only "calls,"or "voices,"accordingto indigenousterminology,not a "language." When the ye-i left man in mythicaltimes, they made an impressionof their faces in stones and other precious substances (motherof pearl,jet, turquoise,etc.), and ordered man to reproduceeach impressionin the formof masks. Masks are paintedon the model of these originaljewels. The skins must come from animals killedwithoutwounds, and accordingto its sex, are assigned to the frontor the back of each type of mask. the Apaches are relatedto the Navaho, and their masks and linguistically, Culturally have the same cowl shape. The Apache masks are topped witha wooden structure which the natives call "horns."The masked dancers represent, withoutembodying them, the mountains'spirits,guardiansof the tribalterritory, protectorsof men and healers of their illnesses.
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