1976.49 Mask depicting a bear 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 smiling bear. The circular holes 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

fiber: AAT: 300014024

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

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

underworld (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300343823

spirits: AAT: 300379007

souls (spirits / beings): AAT: 300379821

births (events): AAT: 300069672

deaths: AAT: 300151836

reincarnation: AAT: 300073437

festivals: AAT: 300073472

ceremonies: AAT: 300054754

hunting: AAT: 300239666

dance (discipline): AAT: 300054144

dancing: AAT: 300389779

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

suns (stars): AAT: 300379806

stars (extraterrestrial bodies): AAT: 300387654

snowflakes (motifs): AAT: 300009934

snow (precipitation): AAT: 300055381

faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798

animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395

bears (Ursidae family): AAT: 300266516

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], [3]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.  

[2] 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.

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

Apply to objects where number equals 1976.49