Living tradition of Eskimo masks - exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's Natl Museum of the American Indian's George Gustave Heye Center - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 1997

A traveling exhibition of Eskimo masks is on view at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian's George Gustave Heye Center, New York. The ceremonial traditions of the Central Yup'ik Eskimos of southwestern Alaska -- a culture still very much alive -- are among the most elaborate of any Arctic people. The ornate hooped masks, decorated with feather tufts and wooden appendages, are central to understanding the ceremonies and culture of the Yup'ik people.

Displays of regional and individual differences in carving styles represented by masks from the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Coastal regions are at the heart of the exhibition. There is great variety in Yup'ik carving styles -- both over time and in how common themes were handled by different carvers. The majority of masks in the exhibition were created and collected during the late 19th century, and two exhibit sub-themes concern the different circumstances that led non-Native Americans to amass these collections and the unique histories of the masks after th left Alaska.

"Agayuliyararput (Our Way of Making Prayer): The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks" will be at the National Museum of the American indian, New York, through Aug. 17. it will then travel to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. (Oct. 24-Jan. 2, 1998), and the Seattle (Wash.) Art Museum (Feb. 19-May 10, 1998). The exhibition will be shown at the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, and Alaska State Museum, Juneau, at dates to be announced.