Mask: wood

Mask: wood

Cherokee Indians

Handicraft

Indigenous American masks

Indigenous American wood-carving

Woodwork -- Appalachian Region, Southern

This undated photograph shows a Cherokee dance mask that was carved around 1940 by renowned Cherokee woodcarver Will West Long. In addition to being known for his talent at woodworking, Long was a widely respected authority on Cherokee culture and folklore, especially concerning medicine and spiritual practices, and was recorded singing traditional Cherokee dance songs in the 1930s. Cherokee masks were typically carved from buckeye or poplar, but were also be made from hornets' nests, animal hides, or gourds. This wood mask features heavy black eyebrows and a dark hairline. Dark-colored pigments on masks like this one were made with charcoal from chestnut or poplar wood. Masks were used by Cherokees for a variety of traditionally ceremonial purposes and were made in a wide range of styles, from variations on the “booger” mask, to depictions of animals, including bear and deer, and the seven Cherokee clans.

Unknown

West Long, Will

Photograph Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

unknown

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg

photographs

StillImage

16211

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/16211

2009-01-15

All rights reserved. For permissions and use, contact Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, NC 28719;

Qualla Boundary

Appalachian Region, Southern

7" x 5"(dimension)

Craft Revival