Mask History Part 5

Mask History



So, in the previous part we looked at Masks in Japanese theatre. We travel back to about 13000 BCE and find ourselves in Norther America. Masks are believed to have been used during this time. The bering strait is the oceanic boundry between modern day Alaska of the United States and Russia. During this time period, the Strait was frozen over, and it is believed that many made they way form the Asian continent into North America. The Inuit are seen as of the oldest "named" people of the time, living in Alaska and the North West Territories of Canada. These people were using stone masks ads part of their own rituals, as stone artefacts have been found in this area dating to around 2000 BCE. As time moved so did the people, as more came into North America. As we move southward into the United States, the Hohokum people would populate what is now teh modern day Southwest-the dating for this time is between 1200-BCE-400 AD. People spread out into different regions. In the Pacific Northwest, the native people have used wooden masks of increasing complexity to tell stories of their history, of their gods and goddesses, and as a way of telling parables to teach lessons about life. These masks would get so involved that 2 or even three piece "mask within masks" were used to tell these stories. For example, a story teller might tell a story of a salmon, and have a mask showing the different parts of the salmon's life and experiences. These masks grew to be very large in size and are considered works of art in themselves. The use of these masks regularly occured until the Europeans started landing on North American shores in the 15th century. While the masks would still be used, the expansion of the settlers over the centuries would intermingle with the Native people, leading to less focus on all aspects of that life, including mask ritual.



In the next part, we will take a look at Mexico and Latin countries, and how their celebration of the dead has a strong mask influence.