Tomanik
Mask
This countenance of the potent spirit Tomanik, Windmaker, was
one of more than thirty paired masks dreamed by a Napaskiagmut Eskimo
shaman from the Kuskokwim River, Alaska and used in a single great shamanistic
dance drama around the turn of the century. The paired tubes represent
the blowing of the winds of winter and summer, respectively; the slender
danglers at the bottom represent the spirits of air bubbles rising from
submerged seals; and the concentric rings symbolize the different levels
of the Eskimo universe.
The original is in the National Museum of the American Indian in New York.
24" wide x 41" high
