a mask that sticks out its tongue....

Transformation mask which would have been worn by a dancer in a ritual or a celebration.
 Made by a citizen of one of the west coast First Nations. UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC.

I don't know why it is we always think that the artifacts left to us by earlier peoples are venerable, revealing a depth and wisdom no longer evident in the human species.

This is a transformation mask. When closed it would have looked like a bird's beak or a bear's snout, perhaps. Open, it reveals a face sticking out its tongue, eyes slightly crossed, hands up! Maybe those big brown ears even waggled.

It's the mask of a jester; the mask of a clown. It's a mask that makes a fool of those who take the dance too seriously.

Perhaps wisdom lies in the foolishness; god in the laughter.

Bill Reid ~ Raven and the First Men

Bill Reid. Raven and the First Men. Cedar. 1980

“The great flood, which had covered the earth for so long, had at last receded and the sand at Rose Spit, Haida Gwaii, lay dry. Raven walked along the sand, eyes and ears alert for any unusual sight or sound to break the monotony. A flash of white caught his eye, and there, right at his feet, half buried in the sand, was a gigantic clamshell. He looked more closely and saw that the shell was full of little creatures cowering in terror in his enormous shadow. He leaned his great head close and, with his smooth trickster’s tongue, coaxed and cajoled and coerced them to come out and play in his wonderful new shiny world. These little dwellers were the original Haida, the first humans.”   Bill Reid


Bill Reid. Raven and the First Men. Cedar. 1980

Bill Reid. Raven and the First Men. Cedar. 1980