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Doctor's Headdress (guk-tsu-shua)

Arts of the Americas

CULTURE Pomo
MEDIUM Crow feather, redbud or dogwood, wood, cotton string, Indian hemp
DATES 1906–1907
DIMENSIONS 25 x 39 x 29 in. (63.5 x 99.1 x 73.7 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER 08.491.8952
CREDIT LINE Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION This Doctor's headdress was probably made by Dr. Hudson using gull feathers his wife gathered with special permission from the game warden. The Big-Head headdress or Kuksu shna, a ceremony involving the impersonation of a god. The feathers are attached to a twined redbud or dogwood framework, and a projecting snout, representing the long nose of the Kuksu spirit, is composed of short feathers attached to a stick. There has been some confusion as to if this is made correctly or it may have been rendered slightly differently by Hudson after a particular Pomo group.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Pomo. Doctor's Headdress (guk-tsu-shua), 1906–1907. Crow feather, redbud or dogwood, wood, cotton string, Indian hemp, 25 x 39 x 29 in. (63.5 x 99.1 x 73.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund, 08.491.8952. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 08.491.8952.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 08.491.8952.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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Pomo. <em>Doctor's Headdress (guk-tsu-shua)</em>, 1906–1907. Crow feather, redbud or dogwood, wood, cotton string, Indian hemp, 25 x 39 x 29 in. (63.5 x 99.1 x 73.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund, 08.491.8952. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 08.491.8952.jpg)

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