1976.50 Mask with seal or sea otter spirit (Yup'ik, Yukon River area, Alaska)

The Yup'ik Eskimo of western Alaska, believe that everything has a spirit (or soul)—people, animals, and things—and all participate in an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The boundaries between the spirit world and the real world, and between the human world and the world of animals, are not always clear. This mask alludes to those boundaries and to the relationship between human beings and animals, who live together in reciprocity. 

The Yup’ik have seasonal festivals that honor the spirits of animals hunted during the previous year. Held in the men’s house, the social and ceremonial center of the village, these events often included masked dances. Masks with encircling hoops manifest shamanic visions of the spirit world, with the ringed center connoting movement between the human and supernatural worlds. The encircling hoops are called ellanguat, which means pretend cosmos or universe, while the feathers represent stars or snowflakes. At the center of the mask is a beaver with a fish in its mouth. The inua, or spirit of the sea otter, appears as a smiling face on the animal's back. The circular holes in the two white hands signify a passageway between worlds, the opening in the Sky World through which Tunghak, Keeper of the Game, allows animals to pass from the spirit world to the world of humans, to replenish the supply of game. This may be a reminder that animals give themselves to human beings, who must in turn respect animals.

Yup'ik: AAT: 300102489

Alaskan Native styles: AAT: 300102451

Arctic Native American styles: AAT: 300017444

Eskimo (culture or style): AAT: 300017447

Inuit (Canadian Arctic Native style): AAT: 300017455

Arctic (general region): TGN: 7593183

Alaska (state): TGN: 7006450

Yukon River (river): TGN: 7030951

wood: AAT: 300011914

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

feather (material): AAT: 300011809

gut (animal material): AAT: 300193289

intestines (animal components): AAT: 300191797

cord (fiber product): AAT: 300014247

carving (processes): AAT: 300053149

masks (costume): AAT: 300138758 

ritual objects: AAT: 300312158

ceremonial objects: AAT: 300234117

faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

animals: DMA

festivals: AAT: 300073472

ceremonies: AAT: 300054754

hunting: AAT: 300239666

dance: AAT: 300054144

dancing: AAT: 300389779

spirits: AAT: 300379007

shaman: AAT: 300218522

visions (life events): AAT: 300251603

geometric shape: AAT: 300263819

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

circular (shape): AAT: 300263827

cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294

hands (animal or human components): AAT: 300310193

fish (animals): AAT: 300266085

beaver (castor genus): AAT: 300250578

otters (sea otters / mustelidae family): 300250163

seals (animals): AAT: 300250867

souls (spirits / beings): AAT: 300379821

suns (stars): AAT: 300379806

stars (extraterrestrial bodies): AAT: 300387654

snowflakes (motifs): AAT: 300009934

snow (precipitation): AAT: 300055381

births (events): AAT: 300069672

deaths: AAT: 300151836

reincarnation: AAT: 300073437

Until 1976: Jonathan Holstein, New York [1]

From 1976: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Elizabeth H. Penn, purchased from the above [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated December 08, 1976, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Because they must hunt for food in the arctic world, the Eskimos have

developed a thorough knowledge of animals such as the sea otter, the seal,

and the bear. Since both humans and animals are a part of nature, the

relationship between man and animal is very close. Masks such as this

one show this closeness.

1. How many faces can you find? Do these faces connect to hands or feet? (You can see a fish face, a

seal/sea otter face, and a smiling face in the center of the mask. The brown, flipper-feet match the otter's

brown head and point in four directions. Two white hands with holes in them reach opposite ways.)

2. From looking at the slide, can you tell what materials were used to make the seal or sea otter mask?

(The materials include wood, paint, and feathers.) The feathers represent stars or snowflakes. Do you

think feathers make a good symbol for stars or snowflakes? Explain your answer.

3. The Eskimos depend upon animals like the sea otter and seal for food and clothing. How does the

Eskimos' relationship with animals compare to our relationship with animals in Dallas, Texas? (We only

have animals as pets. We do use animals like cattle for food, but we don't hunt them. We use other

materials besides leather for our clothes.) Although we don't usually think of animals as having souls, for

the Eskimos, everything in this world has a soul or spirit called an inua. For them, humans and animals

have souls; storms and mountains have souls as well. The smiling face in the center of the mask probably

represents the spirit of the sea otter. Why would an Eskimo work so hard to make a mask about an

animal? (He might want to show how important the animal is. He might want to make an object that

shows his beliefs about animal spirits.)

4. The Eskimo also believe that certain members of their people can communicate with the spirit world.

These persons are called "shamans," and they can pass between this material world into another one

where spirits reside. The holes in the white hands represent the doorways to this other world. Sometimes

hunting is poor, and the animals are scarce. A shaman may be called upon to go to the spirit world and

ask Tunghak, the Keeper of the Game, to allow more animals to pass through from the spirit world. This

mask may be a way of showing the harmony that can exist between man and animal.

Ken Kelsey, Gail Davitt, Mary Ann Allday, Troy Smythe, and Barbara Barrett, "Mask with seal or sea otter spirit (1976.50)," in Art of the Americas at the Dallas Museum of Art, DMA Teaching Packet (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 16.

Apply to objects where number equals 1976.50