TITLE: Mama Negra Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Ecuador
SUBREGION: Cotopaxi
ETHNICITY: Mestizo
DESCRIPTION: Mama Negra (Black mother)
CATALOG ID: LAEC006
MAKER: César Ugsha (Tigua, Pujilí, date of birth unknown)
CEREMONY: Fiesta de la Mama Negra
AGE: 2012
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil-based paint

The Fiesta de la Mama Negra (Festival of the Black Mama) is a celebration held in September and again in early November in Latacunga, Ecuador. The event originates in pre-colonial indigenous practices and was adapted to honor the Virgin of Mercy (Virgen de la Merced) after Catholic conversion, in thanks for her supposed  intervention to protect the population from eruptions from the nearby Cotopaxi volcano.  The festival has become one of the most important in Latacunga, and includes a parade (comparsa) featuring the Mama Negra prominently as an African version of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Other important masks include animals, the Rey Moro (King Moor, showing the influence of the Conquistadors), angels, clowns (payasos abanderados), shamans (huacos), and miscellaneous other characters.

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TITLE: Bobo Fing Antelope Mask
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Burkina Faso
ETHNICITY: Bobo Fing
DESCRIPTION: Antelope Mask
CATALOG ID: AFBF006
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Adult Initiation; Agriculture; Funeral; Purification; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 2000-2009
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay; pigment

The Bobo Fing are a Mande-speaking ethnic group inhabit farming communities in Burkina Faso. They share with their neighbors, the Bwa, Nuna, Nunuma, and Winiama peoples, a highly geometrical masking style. Although their masks appear similar, the Bobo Fing are not closely related to these groups, who speak a different family of languages.

Masks such as this one are used to celebrate many important village events, including funerals, the initiation of boys into adulthood and the purification of the region to ensure good rainfall and fruitful crops at planting time. Masked dances erase human evils by restoring a connection to and balance with the sun, rain, and earth. The masks typically represent protective bush spirits such as the warthog, buffalo, fish, antelope, serpent, or hawk. All such masks incarnate the spirits of fertility, fecundity, and growth. The wearer of the mask is considered to embody the sacred spirit during the masquerade.

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TITLE: Tami Island Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Papua New Guinea
SUBREGION: Siassi Island
ETHNICITY: Tami (Melanesian)
DESCRIPTION: Tago helmet mask
CATALOG ID: OCPG010
MAKER: Unknown
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 1990
MAIN MATERIAL: sago palm tapa cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: rattan; wood; berry and tree sap pigments; feathers

The Tami people inhabit a small collection of islands in Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Province. They number fewer than one thousand individuals today. The Tami masquerade is part of the adult initiation (circumcision) ritual for boys and men. The tago simultaneously represents a spirit of a dead ancestor and the more recently, spirit of kani, a dragonlike monster that eats children and is invisible to women.

Tago masks are kept in bush huts off limits to women and children, who are forbidden to see tago masks and performance on some islands. On others, such as Siassi, women do attend the performance. In practice, women on all the islands all have seen tago performances and merely feign ignorance for form’s sake.

Each tago mask belongs to a family and has an identifiable design. They are acquired through marriage from the maternal uncle and passed down to the children.

The tago initiation ceremony was formerly performed every ten or twelve years, accompanied by the loud noise of a bullroarer (a carved piece of wood or rattan swung in circles on a string to make loud wind sounds). During that time, a taboo was placed on coconuts for one year and war was banned. More recently, it has been performed every two decades.

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TITLE: Kalaallit Inuit Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: Greenland
SUBREGION: Western Greenland
ETHNICITY: Kalaallit Inuit
DESCRIPTION: Distorted story-telling mask
CATALOG ID: NAGL001
MAKER: Unknown maker
CEREMONY: Uaajeerneq
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: red cedar wood
OTHER MATERIALS: animal fur; pigment; sperm whale tooth

Uaajeerneq (pronounced ūa-ayernerk) is an ancient ritual in which an individual dresses in a mask and possibly a woman’s clothing and sings, drums, and dances for the entertainment of the tribe. The dance drama also served to reinforce traditional Inuit values and teach the young lessons about survival and morality. It was formerly part of the Aasivik, a summer gathering of distant tribes that resolved important social issues.

This mask originates with the Kalaallit Inuit, the largest indigenous group on the massive island of Greenland and inhabitants of its western portion. Today, the Tunumiit Inuit of eastern Greenland are the most active practitioners of Uaajeerneq, although the traditional masquerade is increasingly replaced by less expensive face painting.

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TITLE: Halloween Indian Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
ETHNICITY: Mixed
DESCRIPTION: Buckram Native American mask
CATALOG ID: NAUS018
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Halloween
AGE: ca. 1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: buckram
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

Halloween is one of the major secular festivals in the United States, celebrated on October 31st each year.  It originated in pre-Christian times, possibly among the ancient Celts, who practiced Samhain in late fall by wearing frightening costumes and lighting bonfires in mid-autumn to scare away ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1st as a day to honor all the saints collectively. The celebration prior to this All Saints Day became known as All Hallows’ Eve (hence the shortened name, All Hallowe’en, eventually elided to Halloween), and involved many of the same traditions practiced by the Celts.

Halloween formerly had many traditions that varied by region.  In modern and relatively homogenized practice, Halloween generally has three main components: costumed parties, “trick-or-treating,” and haunted houses.  Costumed parties are the modern descendant of social activities designed to honor the saints and create solidarity in the community. Children’s parties typically involved games with prizes, such as bobbing for apples and carving pumpkins and other relatively dry squash into frightening “jack-o-lanterns” with candles inside for illumination.  Adult parties commonly involve less innocent games and elaborate decorations to create a scary mood.

Trick-or-treating is the children’s practice of wearing scary costumes to extort candy and other sweets from neighbors. Like roaming goblins, the monsters visiting the house would demand a treat or threaten to play a nasty trick on the neighbor. The threat is of course a formality, as sharing candy with trick-or-treaters is considered a mandatory practice for friendly and community-spirited neighbors. In modern practice, many children have abandoned the tradition of wearing frightening costumes and have leaned toward fantasy characters such as superheroes, princesses, and fairies.

Haunted houses are a relatively modern innovation.  They may be designed and staffed by volunteers or for profit, and generally take the form of a decrepit mansion haunted by ghosts, mad scientists, monsters, the walking dead, etc. The idea is to inspire terror and wonder in a factually safe environment.

In addition, many Americans celebrate by watching horror movies (the release of which Hollywood times to coincide with the Halloween season), and in some regions, most notably Greenwich Village, Manhattan in New York and Salem, Massachusetts, major costumed parades are organized each year.  In many cities, “zombie walks” composed of masses of costumed zombies have been organized as well.

Popular masks and costumes include devils, zombies, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, mummies, witches, pirates, political figures, and characters from popular culture, such as Frankenstein’s monster. However, Halloween costumes can include almost anything, including inanimate objects and abstractions.  The choice is limited only by the imagination of the masquerader.  Masks such as this one, depicting offensive racial stereotypes, popular prior to the 1980s, are no longer widely used.

This specific mask, representing a generic stereotyped Native American, was made from buckram, moistened and dried over a form, then hand painted with details. Such mass-produced masks were popular among the middle class in the 1920s to 1950s, when they were replaced by vacuformed plastic.

For more on 20th century American Halloween costumes, see Phyllis Galembo, Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2002).

Click above to watch a documentary about Halloween in the United States.

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TITLE: Payaso Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Veracruz
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: Payaso (Clown) mask with star glasses
CATALOG ID: LAMX150
MAKER: Unknown maker in Teocelo
CEREMONY: Santo Entierro de Cristo; Fiesta de la Asunción; Carnival
AGE: 2016
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil-based paint

Santo Entierro de Cristo (“Sacred Burial of Christ”) is an important festival in parts of Veracruz, particularly in the region of Teocelo, and is celebrated on the last Sunday in January. During the festival, clowns wearing red-nosed masks, animals, devils, and other characters dance to drum and trumpet music along a parade route, clicking castanets, and accompanying an image of the burial of Jesus of Nazareth. The route proceeds from the local church to a large floral arch dubbed El Calvario, where mass is held. The procession is accompanied by drums and trumpets. Sometimes other masked characters, such as animals, tourists, and cartoon characters accompany the parade.  Such masks are also worn at other celebrations, most prominently Carnival and the Asunción (“Assumption,” referring to Jesus’ mother Mary passing into Heaven), held on August 15th.

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TITLE: Yei Bi Chei Ganaskidi
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: North American
COUNTRY: United States of America
SUBREGION: Arizona
ETHNICITY: Diné (Navajo)
DESCRIPTION: Ganaskidi Mask
CATALOG ID: NAUS032
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Yei Bi Chei Dance
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: antelope leather
OTHER MATERIALS: wood; pigment; dyed wool

The Yei Bi Chei (also spelled Yébichai) is a sacred night dance of the Diné (commonly but improperly called Navajo) people of the southwestern United States. The ceremony lasts nine days and has a healing function for tribe members and is generally performed in the winter. The masked dancer personifies the god represented.

Yei Bi Chei masks are always made by skilled medicine men.  In a healing ritual, the patient is sweated, and then songs are sung.  During the singing, the Yei Bi Chei representing the gods treat the patient while calling “wu-hu-hu-hu-u.” The gods represented are speechless and live in sacred caves, mountains and canyons. The male gods wear full leather helmet masks like this one with a ruff of spruce twigs (formerly furs) around the neck.  Female Yei wear square half-masks. Both wear ceremonial regalia and paint their bodies white with clay. On the ninth night, a public dance including six men and six women dance as Yei Bi Chei. There is also a leader, Talking God, and a fourteenth Yei, the Water Sprinkler.  Talking God is distinguished by his white mask with eagle feathers.  The six male Yei carry gourd rattles and spruce twigs or feathers, and make the “hu” call periodically during the dance.

This specific mask represents Ganaskidi, a god of the abundant harvest.

For more on the Yei Bi Chei, see Berard Haile, Head and Face Masks in Navaho Ceremonialism (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1996).

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TITLE: Santiago Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Veracruz
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: Santiago (Saint) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX158
MAKER: Lino Mora Rivera (Naolinco de Victoria, 1956- )
CEREMONY: Fiesta de San Mateo (Danza de los Pilatos)
AGE: 2017
MAIN MATERIAL: equimite wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil-based paint; lacquer; string

The Danza de los Pilatos, also called La Danza de los Moros y Cristianos (Dance of the Moors and Christians), is an important celebration in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The dance reenacts the reconquest Spain from the Saracens by the European Christians. The dance arose from the teachings of missionaries as part of an effort to instill respect for and fear of the Spaniards in the indigenous peoples, and to convince them that the victory of Christianity over other faiths—by violence whenever necessary—was inevitable.

The dance is still performed widely in Mexico, including in Mexico State, Michoacán, Puebla, and Veracruz. Characters vary depending on locality, although they always include “Christians” or “Spaniards” and Moors. In Naolinco, Veracruz, the dance is performed on the holiday of the town patron saint, St. Matthew (Fiesta de San Mateo), celebrated on Sept. 20-21 every year.  There, Moors take many forms, including devils, pirates, clowns, or, as here, skeletons. This mask represents a santiago, also called a santiaguero, who is a warrior-disciple of St. James. The santiagos fight the Moors with wooden swords and small shields.

For more on masks from Veracruz, see Bryan J. Stevens, Mexican Masks and Puppets: Master Carvers of the Sierra de Puebla (Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Pub’g, 2012).


A brief video with highlights of the Danza de los Moros y Cristianos from Naolinco’s 2018 Fiesta de San Mateo.

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TITLE: Flores Island Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Flores Island
ETHNICITY: Ngada
DESCRIPTION: Harvest ceremony mask
CATALOG ID: OCID004
MAKER: Unknown maker near Bajawa, Ngada
FUNCTION: Agriculture; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 1920s-1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: ijuk fiber eyebrows; buffalo bone teeth

Little is known about the traditional animist beliefs of the Ngada (also known as Rokka) people of Flores Island. All that is known about this mask is that it was used in harvest ceremonies in a village near Bajawa, probably to invoke a god or spirit to ensure a fruitful harvest.

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TITLE: Moor Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Puebla
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: “Cardface” Moor mask in yellow, red and black
CATALOG ID: LAMX154
MAKER: Pedro Sol Sánchez (Tuzamapán de Galeana, 1945- )
CEREMONY: Danza de los Moros y Cristianos
AGE: 2016
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil-based paint; hardware

The Danza de los Moros y Cristianos (Dance of the Moors and Christians) reenacts the reconquest of Spain by the Christians from the Muslim Saracens.  The story was taught by missionaries as part of an effort to instill respect for and fear of the Spaniards in the indigenous peoples, and to convince them that the victory of Christianity over other faiths—by violence whenever necessary—was inevitable.

The dance is still performed widely in Mexico, including in Mexico State, Michoacán, Puebla, and Veracruz. Important characters include Spaniards, Moors, saints, angels, and devils. This Moro takes a form typical only in the village of Tuzamapan and is commonly known as an “enamorado” (lover) or “card face” Moor, because the makers there often include symbols from playing cards (hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs). More recently, designs like this one have been inspired by the masks used in the popular lucha libre (wrestling).

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