This elaborate Inuit shaman's mask was worn during ceremonies and festivals. Carved by a shaman, and used when communing with the spirit world or visiting the land of the dead, the mask expresses the spiritual forces controlling people's lives.
The wooden mask shows a double-faced human, holding a fish and possibly a paddle in its mouths. Four projecting struts support two wooden hoops, and attached to these are a variety of objects, including feathers, miniature hands, legs, webbed feet, fish and seals.
Inuit shamans - people believed to have supernatural powers, and trained for many years - are important as mediators between the living and the spirit worlds, responsible for the community's health and spiritual welfare.
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