Shamanic Ritual Mask, Yup’ik Culture

ca. 1890-1910

Made of driftwood under the supervision of a shaman, this mask was used in rituals to ask the forgiveness of the spirits of animals hunted and slain. It reveals the dual nature of the man wearing it and his animal double (angoak), in the same way that every animal also has an element of human spirit (inua), both of which were originally capable of metamorphosis. Yup’ik masks, constructed like symbolic riddles imbued with shamanic energy, fascinated the Surrealists.