Northwest Coast Native Sun Mask Red Cedar

Description

This hand-carved First Nations Indigenous 'Sun' mask by Kwakwaka'wakw artist Ross Henderson measures appx 32 inches by 29 inches. It is ready to hang and is made from kiln-dried red cedar.
While significance varies Nation to Nation, there are associated traits and representational qualities of the Sun that remain intact cross-culturally. The sun is known as a powerful life force: strong, invigorating, and vital. It is often viewed as a counterpoint to Moon and representative of a male/female dichotomy. In most cultures, the Sun is seen as the male counterpart to the female Moon with some exceptions; in Nuu-chah-nulth culture, for instance, the Sun is personified as female to the male Moon. Among the Nuxalk, Sun is sometimes represented as being the master of sky world who, at the beginning of the world, placed four master carpenters on four separate mountain peaks to collectively create the world and found the Nuxalk clans. Some Salish cultures regard the Day, Daylight or the Sky to be the supreme supernatural being that will sometimes reveal itself to people disguised in human or animal form to bestow a great spirit power. One Kwakwaka’wakw story represents the Sun as an old man who adorns himself with abalone shell every morning and walks across the firmament – representing the arc of the sun across the sky. Similarly, the Sun is sometimes personified as a very elderly man: the old man Sun will appear dressed for ceremony (adorned in coppers and abalone) and walk very slowly across the stage. Many stories tell of when the Sun was young and reckless, and moved across the sky very quickly – scorching and burning parts of the land and its inhabitants. Often, hero figures are represented in these stories creating clouds, fog, mist, and night to protect the Earth’s surface. In art, Sun is characterized by a round face with any number of rays.
"haida sun mask", "sun mask", "native sun", "sun totem"