Tillicum Village Native American MasksMasks are an important part of the Northwest Coast Native Tribal Culture. Masks played a significant roll in the stories and legends that were passed down from generation to generation. Each Tribe or Band had masks that were unique to their group. The Nuu-chah-nulth people of the west coast of Vancouver Island have many different types of masks used for a variety of ceremonial purposes. These are often owned by an individual or family who possess the sole right to perform their specific dance and song. The Ancestral Mask Dance uses a large mask that honors the memory of the dancer's ancestors. Tillicum Village has received permission from the Ancestral Mask Dance owner, Nuu-chah-nulth Master Carver, George David, to share this wonderful dance that has been handed down from generation to generation within his family with our guests. In the winter, many gatherings would take place in the cedar longhouse. One of the most spectacular of these was the Hamatsa winter ceremonials of the Kwakwaka'wakw people of central British Columbia. Helpers of Baxbaxwalanuksiwe, the cannibal spitit of the far north, such as the "Crooked Beak of Heaven" or "Galokwudzuwis" pictured here, appear as fierce man-eating birds in the initiation rights of the Hamatsa Society. The Hamatsa society is the most prestigious of all secret dance societies along the Northwest Pacific Coast. (Some masks created by Robert Stauffer)
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