Mama'yutlamalagaml (Atlak'im Woman Giving Birth mask)

Photo: Paul Macapia

Mama'yutlamalagaml (Atlak'im Woman Giving Birth mask)

ca. 1940

Mungo Martin (Nakapankam)

Kwakwaka'wakw, Kwagu'l, Fort Rupert, British Columbia, ca. 1884-1962

The atlak’im follows the hamat’sa dances, and can include forty masks representing forest beings and others. It is an inherited privilege that recreates an auspicious encounter between an ancestor and the assembled creatures, resulting in a gift to that ancestor of the dance, songs and regalia, including this Woman Giving Birth mask.
Red cedar, red cedar bark, enamel paint, cotton cord, wool cloth, nails, and cotton cloth
13 x 11 x 3 1/2 in. (33.02 x 27.94 x 8.89 cm)
Gift of John H. Hauberg
91.1.7
Provenance: Micheal R. Johnson, Seattle, Washington, until 1973; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1973-1991; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Published ReferencesThe Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pg. 232

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.

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