Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu

Hinkeet'sam—Wolf or Serpent

Photo: Paul Macapia

Hinkeet'sam—Wolf or Serpent

ca. 1930

The headdress form is called hinkeet’sam, meaning “for around the head” because it is worn on top of the head and not over the face as a mask would be. Headdresses are made in pairs, sometimes with one worn by a woman and the other worn by a man. Both naturalistic and abstract elements may appear simultaneously, suggesting the ever-present unity of the natural and supernatural worlds.
Red cedar, red cedar bark, and paint
27 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (69.9 x 24.8 cm)
Gift of John H. Hauberg
91.1.26
Provenance: Micheal R. Johnson, Seattle, Washington, until 1971; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1971-1991; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Not currently on view

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM