[Mask] For the native peoples of the northwest coast, masks make the supernatural world visible. Masked dancers dramatize ancestral heroes' encounters with supernatural creatures, enhancing their families' prestige.

A Bella Coola sculptor made this human raven mask. In Bella Coola myths, animals could assume human form, and this mask probably represents that possibility. The raven is an important mythological figure, a trickster combining mischief and benevolence.

Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History
Human raven Mask, Bella Coola people, Pacific northwest coast, mid-19th century A.D., wood and pigment

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