- Who created it
- Where the object is from
- When the object is from
- What drew you to this object
- What else would you like to know about this object or its maker?
This is a Yup’ik crow mask made in 1946 by Sam Hunter, a Yup’ik man from Hooper Bay. I was drawn to this object because of the seal coming out of the raven’s mouth. A lot of Yup’ik carvings depict a human form-or what appears to me as a human form- coming out of an animal body. This one was different because it was an animal coming out of another animal. I am curious about the significance of this. I also wonder if there has been a loss or weakening of the symbolic significance in native art work over time in order to make it more marketable to a white audience.
On the subject of marketing – did you by any chance see the ivory Donald Duck? I actually found it sort of charming, because I grew up on Donald Duck comics, but it definitely highlighted to me the way that outside demand can sometimes affect the subject matter of Native art.