Arts Premiers - Tajan

hunter, in killing, had destroyed the balance of nature : the success of the
predator had for consequence the loss of a living being through the death
of the animal. Then, it was necessary to do everything to restore the original
harmony: through ceremonies, offerings, through the observation of
taboos one sought to compensate the loss of this life. Certain bones, or the
bladder, seat of the soul, were returned to the nature.
On our mask one can recognize the figure of a seal. Bladders of the killed
seals were returned to the sea by the procession of the hunters. The soul
of the animal returned to the sea could regain a body there, therefore reappear,
and thus, restore the original harmony.
The mask presented here, discloses a gaping orifice (the black blue surface,
on the top and bottom), through this opening appears the face of the
seal (painted in white), (and) lower, a large, voracious, monstrous mouth. It
is famished, as the number of the teeth shows it, but these teeth are also
the sign of its power. To be able to eat much is a guarantee of survival. The
seal being a peaceful animal, if it has here a threatening mouth, it is to recall
the hunter its obligations towards the killed animal. One shall respect the
traditions, if one wants to secure in the future the goodwill and co-operation
of the animals. The latter let their flesh, their skin, their bones, their
organs, their defenses (for the walrus) at men’s disposal, all these parts of
the body are precious and are used in various ways by the Yupik Eskimos.
In return, the spirit of the animal expects devotion, respect, recognition, and
also to be amused during its time spent with men.
This very beautiful mask of the end of 19th century, of polychrome wood,
as shows it the bores on its periphery, has a long history and the traces of
adze on its back. Indeed, these marks bear witness to added, removed and
replaced elements, following the needs of the rite in which was presented
the mask.
There are a lot of woods in the deltas of Yukon
and of Kuskokwim, (and) the debacle, in the
Spring, brings thousands of trunks torn from the
boreal forest. The shallow waters of the delta of
Kuskokwim isolated this coast during the Russian
colonization (until 1867), (and) because they
could not find a point of anchoring, the ships
would pass without stopping. With the gold diggers
(Yukon, Klondike, Nome) of the end of the
19th century, many adventurers and fur merchants
come there to seek fortune., arrive the
missionaries who convert to Christianity a country
until then very traditional. The masks, still of use,
cause the admiration of the newcomers who hasten
to decorate their houses with them. With the
christianization of the indigenous population, the
desacralized masks are quickly the subject of a
trade. At the beginning of 20th century, the rich
newcomers ask their agents on the field to buy
masks for them.
At the end of the Thirties and during World War II,
the Museum of the American Indian of New York
City sells gradually a part of its funds, which
allows, among other things, the surrealist refugees
in New York City to acquire some of them,
which arrived later to Europe.
The mask is in general used in a ceremony telling
an episode of mythology. By doing so, the participants
want to recall the ancestors and the spirits
the needs of men for food, or, after hunting, to
thank those ancestors and spirits for the success
of it. But testifying its recognition was not all; the
128 Art d’Asie du Sud Est, Art Amérindien