IDNO

P.8494.ACH1

Description

On Catalogue Card: "Man wearing mask.”

First Nations man from the Northwest Coast of Canada demonstrating the use of an articulated whale mask. [RT 9/16/1998]

Posed portrait of Xi'xa'niyus (or Xa'niyus, also known as Bob Harris), Kwakwaka'wakw, wearing a articulated orca (killer whale) mask at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition, by Charles Carpenter, 1904.
The Killer Whale headdress was made of wood with moveable jaw, flippers and tail. 170cm long. [JD 5/19/2017]

Place

N America; Canada; United States of America; Northwest Coast; British Columbia; ?Knight Inlet; Louisiana; St Louis

Cultural Affliation

Kwakwaka’wakw [historically Kwakiutl]

Named Person

Xi'xa'niyus (or Xa'niyus, also known as Bob Harris)

Photographer

Carpenter, Charles Henry

Collector / Expedition

Date

1904

Collection Name

Mounted Haddon Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This photograph was taken at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition by a photographer from the Columbian Museum of Chicago (later the Field Museum) and sent as gift to Haddon.

CUMAA Exhibition: This print was displayed in Collected Sights in the section Photography and Art with the descriptive label:
"First Nations man from the Northwest Coast of Canada demonstrating the use of an articulated whale mask. Romanticised studio photographs of indigenous North Americans were common during the period when they were suffering from forced acculturation and devastating population decline. This photograph was taken at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition by a photographer from the Columbian Museum of Chicago (later the Field Museum) and sent as a gift to Haddon.” [Sudeshna Guha 26/11/02]

Publication: The photograph has been digitised for the European Collected Library of Artistic Performance (ECLAP) and is accessible on the portal http://www.eclap.eu/drupal/. [SG 30/10/2012]

Related Image: Same image held at The Field Museum, Chicago, reference CSA13597, with the following informaiton: Xa'niyus (Bob Harris), Kwakwaka'wakw, wearing whale mask at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition, by Charles Carpenter, 1904.
The Killer Whale headdress is made of wood with moveable jaw, flippers and tail. 170cm long.
The Killer Whale Headdress is probably also at the Filed Museum, reference 85812.nosub[1], with the following information:
"Catalog Number: 85812.nosub[1]
Description: mask
Materials: whale bone
Cultural Attribution: Kwakiutl, Tsawataineuk
Locality: North America, Canada, British Columbia, Knight Inlet?
Accession Number: [883] C. F. Newcombe (Expedition)
Accession Year: 1904
Other Numbers: 1523
Continent: North America
Country: Canada
Province/State: British Columbia
District/County: Knight Inlet?
Collector/Source: C. F. Newcombe, Ethnological Expedition to the North Pacific Coast - Tsimshian - 1904-1905
IRN: 1443379
GUID: 230d605e-19e1-41c6-902a-365b53af347f." [Source: http://collections-anthropology.fieldmuseum.org/catalogue/1443379, JD 5/19/2017]

MAA Facebook: Image published on 20/5/2017 with the caption: "This week we have a post by gallery attendant April, who chose this striking photo below:
"I chose this photo because of the dramatic image it portrays and because I have always been amazed with the culture and craftsmanship of the northwest North American First Nations groups. The headdress is being presented by a Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw) carver, Xa'niyus (also known as Bob Harris), at the St. Louis World’s Fair against a backdrop that certainly does not fit the use and purpose of the mask. Although indigenous peoples were paraded at the World’s Fair as novelties, the participants were there willing and compensated, and assumingly proud to share their cultures – even if during this time they were being forced to assimilate to western society. This headdress is impressive as its jaw, flippers, and tail are moveable, and was presumably used during Fair performances."
Xa'niyus (also known as Bob Harris),A Kwakiutl First Nations man from the Northwest Coast of Canada demonstrating the use of an articulated whale mask.
Photo by Charles Carpenter, St. Louis, United States, 1904
P.8494.ACH1"
38 Likes; 2 Shares; 0 Comments. [JD 22/08/2017]