Wild Man Mask
John H. Livingston
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
This mask represents Bak’was, a malevolent, ghostly spirit and the keeper of drowned souls in Kwakwaka’wakw culture. Although he is diminutive, his stride is four times the length of a man’s. He has a green, hairy body and a skeletal visage. Those drawn into the forest by him or who eat his food go mad, losing their souls and becoming part of his ghostly retinue. A soul can be saved by subduing Bak’was with menstrual blood. Bak’was appears when family ancestral masks are worn during performances of Tla’sala potlatch ceremonies, special tribal celebrations.
Caption
John H. Livingston. Wild Man Mask, 1970. Cedar wood, pigment, hair, 11 5/8 x 7 1/2 x 8 1/8 in. (29.5 x 19.1 x 20.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Fred Nihda, 1996.203. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Maker
Frequent Art Questions
Who made this?
This Wild Man Mask, carved in 1970, maintains the Kwakwaka'wakw tradition even today. John H. Livingston was not born into the Kwakwaka'wakw community, which originates in the Pacific Northwest, but was adopted by them and became close to native artists who gave him permission to carve masks and poles.
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