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Condor Mask

TITLE: Condor Mask
TYPE: helmet mask; accessory
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Condor helmet mask
CATALOG ID: LABO018
MAKER: Hilarión Casas, La Paz
CEREMONY: Carnival (La Diablada)
AGE: early 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: tin sheet
OTHER MATERIALS: oil paint
MATERIALS (rattle): tin sheet; oil paint; wood handle; chicken feathers

The lone condor leads the Diablada, the dance of the devils, in the Bolivian Carnival at Oruro without interacting with the other characters.  The condor is the symbol of the Bolivian Republic, and so the character combines patriotism with pre-Christian totemism. The character wears a full body condor suit, usually with adornments of the Bolivian national colors (red, green, and yellow).

This specific mask was made in La Paz by a skilled caretero (mask maker) in the early 1980s.  It was repainted in 2017 to cover the chipping caused by years of active use. It includes an elaborate matraca (rattle) in the shape of a condor, used sometimes by the condor himself, and other times by a diablesa or other character.

For more on Bolivian masquerade, see Peter McFarren ed., Masks of the Bolivian Andes (La Paz: Editorial Quipus/Banco Mercantil SA, 1993).

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Ch’uta Mask

TITLE: Ch’uta Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: La Paz
ETHNICITY: Aymara
DESCRIPTION: White and blue Ch’uta mask
CATALOG  ID: LABO014
MAKER: Unknown maker in La Paz
CEREMONY: Carnival (Danza de las Ch’utas y Pepinos)
AGE: 2017
MAIN MATERIAL: wire mesh
OTHER MATERIALS: wire; ribbons; tassels; sequins; glue; plant fiber; paint

A ch’uta is an indigenous Aymara born and raised in La Paz. The Dance of the Ch’utas and Pepinos is therefore unique to the La Paz region.  The ch’uta wears a wire mesh mask, usually pink or white, decorated with three tassels on the chin (or, increasingly as here, under the mustache), and an elaborate costume with a native wool cap (lluch’u) or hat. They dance to an orchestra with their unmasked female counterpart, the cholita, who wears a traditional pleated skirt (pollera) and bowler hat. The elaborate costume derives from the historical prohibition by the Spanish colonizers on wearing native clothes. The Aymara had to wear European clothes, which the ch’uta elaborates with native additions to mock the colonizers.

For more on Bolivian masquerade, see Peter McFarren ed., Masks of the Bolivian Andes (La Paz: Editorial Quipus/Banco Mercantil SA, 1993).

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Ticuna Caiman Mask

TITLE: Ticuna Caiman Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Brazil
SUBREGION: Amazonas
ETHNICITY: Ticuna
DESCRIPTION: Caiman Funerary Mask
CATALOG ID: LABR005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral
AGE: 2009
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: llanchama bark cloth; pigment

The Ticuna people of the Amazon rain forest populate large parts of the Amazonas state of Brazil, as well as parts of Colombia and Peru.  Brazil finally recognized the Ticuna right to control over some of their historic lands in 1990.  Men make and use all Ticuna masks, are used primarily in adult initiation rituals for girls and in funerals.  Funeral masks like this one always represent animals that the deceased would want to hunt in the next life.

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Payaso Mask

TITLE: Payaso Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Chiapas
ETHNICITY: Mayan
DESCRIPTION: Leather payaso (clown) mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX006
MAKER: Unknown maker in Huistán
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: dyed cloth; metal grommets; ixtle fiber; plastic beads; brass bells; thread; string; pigment

Two types of clown participate in the Carnival of Huistán, Chiapas.  One wears white body paint and scarves over the face, and the other wears a distinctive leather mask like this one.  Both carry stalks of corn, suggesting the pre-Christian origin of the celebration in Mayan prayers for a bountiful harvest.

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Diablo Mask

TITLE: Diablo Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
SUBREGION: Totonicapán
ETHNICITY: Mayan
DESCRIPTION: Diablo (Devil) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAGT035
MAKER: Unknown maker in San Cristóbal Totonicapán
CEREMONY: Morality plays
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; nails; glass

Devil characters appear in several dance-dramas in Guatemala, mainly for entertainment or religious instruction.  In the Totonicapán region, the Corrida de los Diablos (run of the devils) is a masked ceremony in which young men in body paint with devil masks charge through town to frighten the crowd.  In  the city of San Cristóbal Totonicapán, where this mask originates, devils are used in morality plays, dealing with such Catholic Church-approved topics as the struggle between an angel and devil for the soul of a sinner.

For more on Guatemalan masks, see Jim Pieper, Guatemala’s Masks and Drama (University of New Mexico Press, 2006).

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Waka Waka

TITLE: Waka Waka
TYPE: body mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Waka Waka (Cattle) Body Mask
CATALOG ID: LABO005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival (Waka Tokhoris)
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: cattle leather
OTHER MATERIALS: wood frame; cattle horns; paint

In the Carnival of Oruro, Bolivia, many different kinds of masked dances parade through the city.  One such group is the Waka Tokhoris, composed of boys or men dressed as elaborately decorated bulls, and toreadores, or elaborately decorated bull-fighters.  The dance of the Waka Tokhoris mimics and pokes fun at the Spanish tradition of bull fighting, a common passion during the colonial era.  Variations on this dance are performed throughout the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands.

For more on Bolivian masquerade, see Peter McFarren ed., Masks of the Bolivian Andes (La Paz: Editorial Quipus/Banco Mercantil SA, 1993).

Dances of the waka waka are used throughout the Andean highlands. Here is a video of a version from the Peruvian community of Phinaya from 2010, called the Waka Tinti dance, and is performed on the holiday in honor of the local patron saint.


Click above to watch a short documentary on Corpus Christi in Cusco, Peru.

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Yaqui Pasko’ola Mask

TITLE: Yaqui Pasko’ola Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Sonora
ETHNICITY: Yaqui
DESCRIPTION: Mañor mask of a smiling goat
CATALOG ID: LAMX125
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Pasko’ola
FUNCTION: celebration; entertainment; funeral; protection
AGE: late 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: cottonwood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; string; horse hair

The Yaqui and related Mayo people inhabit the desert in the Mexican state of Sonora and southern Arizona. Their religious beliefs are a syncretic version of traditional animist practices and Jesuitical Catholicism. The pasko’olas (in the Spanish, pascolas) were malignant spirits, or children of the Devil, whom God won in a game. For that reason, their masks frequently have crucifixes and they wear a belt with twelve bells, each representing an apostle. To symbolize their evil origins, the masks have ugly expressions and vermin such as lizards, snakes and scorpions painted on them. In addition, dancers wear cords and butterfly cocoons on their legs, representing snakes and their rattles. They also wear a flower on their head, to symbolize rebirth and spring. They frequently play the role of clowns, provoking laughter in the audience by mimicking animals, reversing gender roles, organizing mock hunts, and making jokes.

Pasko’olas are danced at every major religious festival, as well as at birthdays, weddings, and funeral celebrations. For example, in Vicam, pasko’olas have traditionally danced on Día de San Juan Bautista (June 24). Sometimes a group of pasko’olas will be accompanied by a deer dancer, who dances with a taxidermy deer head as a crest. Generally, only men are pasko’ola dancers, but women have sometimes been allowed to dance with the permission of the male dancers.

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Cora Tiznado Mask

TITLE: Cora Tiznado Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Nayarit
ETHNICITY: Cora
DESCRIPTION: Tiznado (Judio) mask in the form of dragon
CATALOG ID: LAMX074
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Semana Santa (Holy Week)
AGE: late 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché
OTHER MATERIALS: watercolor paint; cotton cloth; cotton wadding; elastic straps

The Cora people of Nayarit resisted Spanish colonization and proselytization long after most of Mexico succumbed, and their pre-Christian traditions still survive with a thin veneer of Catholicism. Traditionally, the Cora worship three gods, associated with the sun, the moon, and corn.

During the Semana Santa (Holy Week), Cora men paint their bodies with black and white stripes and wear judio (Jew) masks (also called borrados) designed to look like monsters and devils that carry swords and persecute the sun god, who takes the Catholic form of Jesus of Nazareth. The characters are known as tiznados (“covered with ash”).  On Good Friday, the judios capture and kill the sun god, who is resurrected the next day and banishes the judios.

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Mestiza Qollacha

TITLE: Mestiza Qollacha
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Peru
SUBREGION: Jauja
ETHNICITY: Quechua; Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Mestiza Qollacha (Mixed Race Woman) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAPE022
MAKER: Unknown maker from Jauja
CEREMONY: Tunantada (Fiesta de San Sebastián y San Fabián)
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wire mesh
OTHER MATERIALS: metal strips; paint; elastic strap

The Tunantada dance is a major event during the Fiesta de San Sebastián y San Fabián, patron saints of the city of Jauja, as well as other parts of Peru, including Huaripampa, Mantaro Valley, Yanamarca Valley. In the dance, held every January, participants dress in elaborate European costumes and wear wire mesh masks to imitate and satirize Spaniards. Dancers are accompanied by music from a diverse orchestra. Characters include Spaniards, a prince, muleteers, an Indian women who becomes the lover of the Spaniards (the chupaquina or huanquita) and Indians called chutos and huatrilas. This mask represents a mestiza qollacha (also written qoyacha), or mixed race (Spanish and Quechua) woman, who dances with the españoles.  With the mask, the dancer wears a colorful and elaborately decorated hat and colorful dress.  In some parts of Peru, the dancer wears no mask.


Click above to watch a short documentary on Corpus Christi in Cusco, Peru.

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Waq’ollo

TITLE: Waq’ollo
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
ETHNICITY: Quechua
DESCRIPTION: White face rainbow Waq’ollo mask for Qhapaq Q’olla
CATALOG ID: LABO023
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Dance of the Qhapaq Q’olla (Qoyllur Rit’i; Corpus Christi; Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen)
AGE: 2016
MAIN MATERIAL: dyed and knitted wool-acrylic blend
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A

In the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru, the Quechua and Aymara descendants of the Incans still celebrate Qoyllur Rit’i, the Snow Star Festival in late May or early June to hale the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation and the harvest. Although the Catholic Church has attempted to co-opt the event, it maintains its essentially pre-Spanish conquest character.  Pilgrims from around Peru assemble in the Sinakara Valley in various costumes to dance in celebration. The Qhapaq Q’olla (“mighty Indian”) is one such character, dancing in the waq’ollo mask shown here with a hat, woven sling and a dried vicuña skin. Supposedly they represent a merchant who is half human and half llama, and who brings goods to the Cusco region for sale from the jungle and Paucartambo region, such as pisco liquor. Their roles are primarily that of clown, but they also dance and sing to the Virgin of Paucartambo. They sometimes wear a square flat hat called an aqarapi, and dance in a group.  The group is composed of a Mayor (alcalde), who carries a wooden staff of authority and a black crucifix on his mask, and his wife (la Imilla), a child (q’ollita), two captains, a llama herder (llamero), who wanders into the crowd to pretend to sell his goods, and a group of q’ollas dancing in two rows.  The imilla has a face covered by a black veil.  Qhapaq Q’olla also dance at Corpus Christi parades in Cusco and other religious celebrations.

The q’ollas, aligned according to their age, dance together, led by the captains. Sometimes children called chanako accompany them as well. The musical ensemble that accompanies them consists of a violin, an accordion, a bass drum and several Quena performers.  The q’ollas are always men born in Paucartambo. The costume consists of a flat, rectangular hat (aqarapi) decorated with sequins, old coins or beads; the waq’ollo; a lliclla skin made of vicuña wool, and the qepi that contains a young dead vicuña.  the dance, the collas sing Quechua songs about their commercial activity, their journey to Cusco, and their protective saints.


Click above to watch a short documentary on Corpus Christi in Cusco, Peru.

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