Finished Birds

I finally managed to get photos today of the three bird masks, now finished. The first of the birds is the "Snowy Owl Inhua" below. I think I described the mask pretty thoroughly in my earlier post a few weeks ago. But this shows the Snowy Owl with her 'yua' or human being (spirit). She's made of cottonwood bark and glass beads. Size: 10"h x 10"w.




Below is the "Diving Loon" mask. She has a shark fin on her back, protruding from a long toothed mouth-like opening. She has human legs and arms - depicting a shaman in transformation. On the right and left are ulus, or women's knives. They are attached with baleen, which makes them springy. Their curved blades are ideal for fileting and cutting meat. (I use mine for cutting pizza and veggies, as well as skinning fish! ) The toothy mouth and mixture of human and animal parts are typical of shamanic masks. Material: cottonwood bark, spruce and alder root, feathers, glass beads, baleen. Size: 12"h x 15"w.



Below are two views of the "Murre with Kayaker", which isn't a mask, but a dance object or sculpture. It was designed to hang from the ceiling of the community house with gut or twine. I haven't yet figured out how I'll display my piece - I think I'll use some sort of twine, which will require drilling a hole through the head and tail. The murre carries a man in a kayak that looks like a sei whale. The Eskimo and Aleut kayaks did look like whales, with turned up double prows, and often had eyes painted on either side of the front. The man is using a leaf-bladed paddle, and wears a traditional hunting hat (Aleut/Koniag style). These were made of bentwood, and decorated profusely with stylized drawings and designs of waves, sea mammals, hunters, and flowers. Size: 15" long x 17" wide wingspan.



This photo shows the Murre in 'flight' (I just jury-rigged it using heavy monofilament). In this shot, you can see the ulu blade mounted in her belly. I am not happy with the photo, but after I figure out how to hang this piece, I'll get some more photos.