'Ma'ma'k'wagamhl (mask of the Moon)

ca. 1945

Kwakwaka'wakw, 'Nak'waxda'xw, Blunden Harbour, 1910-1983

Son of famed carver Willie Seaweed, Joe Seaweed creates a representation of the full moon. During the tla’sala ceremonial, full- and crescent moon-masked dancers—using whistles for their voices—comically argue over which moon brings forth the largest fish run.

Red cedar, red cedar bark, mink pelts, paint, plywood

18 7/8 x 7 7/8 x 4 7/8 in. (47.94 x 20 x 12.38 cm)

Gift of John H. Hauberg

91.1.3

Provenance: Micheal R. Johnson, Seattle, Washington, until 1973; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1973-1991; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryPacific Science Center, Seattle, Washington, Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed, September 1983 - February 1984

Published ReferencesThe Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pg. 236; Holm, Bill, Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed, University of Washington Press, 1983, fig. 125.

Other Documentation: Shown in photograph of Willie Seaweed with Tom Patch Wamiss and hid wife, Charlie George, Jr., George Scow, and Charles Nowell, Riveredge Foundation (Holm 1983: 31)

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