What is the Kwakiutl tribe known for?

The Kwakiutl were widely known for their totem poles, elaborate wooden houses, and seaworthy log canoes, as well as for dramatizing myths and performing magic tricks.

What resources did the Kwakiutl use?

They ate beaver, deer, rabbit, and fish. Caribou was a major source of food. They also used the skins, antlers, and bones. Women gathered roots and berries from the forests.

What did Kwakiutl men wear?

Kwakiutl men didn’t usually wear clothing at all, though some men wore a breech clout. Women wore short skirts made of cedar bark. In colder weather, both genders wore knee-length tunics, long cloaks of shredded cedar bark, and moccasins on their feet.

Are the Kwakiutl still alive?

The Kwakiutl people are indigenous (native) North Americans who live mostly along the coasts of British Columbia, which is located in the northwest corner of Canada. Today, there are about 5,500 Kwakiutls living here on the tribe’s own reserve, which is land specially designated for Native American tribes.

Why did the Kwakiutl make masks?

Masks are highly valued by the Kwakiutl, serving as potent manifestations of ancestral spirits and supernatural beings and offering these supernatural entities temporary embodiment and communication through dance and other kinds of performance (Greenville 1998: 14).

What is Kwakiutl art?

Kwakwaka’wakw art describes the art of the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples of British Columbia. It encompasses a wide variety of woodcarving, sculpture, painting, weaving and dance. Kwakwaka’wakw arts are exemplified in totem poles, masks, wooden carvings, jewelry and woven blankets.

How is wealth measured in Kwakiutl culture?

Life was organized on a village basis, with status dependent on both hereditary rank and wealth, measured by ostentatious giving at potlatches (q.v.).

What materials did the Kwakiutl homes?

The Kwakiutls lived in coastal villages of rectangular cedar-plank houses with bark roofs. Usually these houses were large (up to 100 feet long) and each one housed several familes from the same clan (as many as 50 people.)

What materials are used in indigenous masks?

Original and authentic Native American masks from the Pacific Northwest Coast are usually carved from yellow cedar, red cedar, and alder. As these are based on a living tradition, most contemporary West Coast Native artists focus on, and interpret the stories as well as the totems to which they have hereditary rights.

What are Kwakiutl masks made of?

Whale Transformation Mask 19th century. The impressive whale masks of the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples are grand constructions in which the mouth, fins, and tail of a sea mammal are made to move in imitation of a whale swimming.

What type of crafts did the Kwakiutl make?

The crafts of the Kwakwaka’wakw are made out of extensive woodwork, and include a wide variety of objects, from masks, effigies, rattles, storage boxes, food vessels to large totems and house posts.

What were Kwakiutl masks used for?

What materials were used to build plank houses?

Definition: The Plank House is a dwelling made from the red cedar trees consisting timber of hand-split planks a log framework over with an interior pit. Plank Houses were used by various tribes along the Pacific Northwest Coast from northern California all the way up to Alaska.

What were plank houses used for?

Many were constructed from red cedar trees that were cut down and shaped into planks. The planks were then used to build the flooring, roof, and walls. Plank houses were built in this region due to its wet springs and winters, when people needed indoor sleeping and working arrangements.

What are moon masks?

The Moon Mask The features of a moon mask are often carved in such a way that the face appears flatter than is typical of other masks, reduced in prominence to suggest a face in the moon. The moon is responsible for controlling the tides. This moon mask shows the halo constructed from wood and is painted red.

What were masks used for?

Many masks are primarily associated with ceremonies that have religious and social significance or are concerned with funerary customs, fertility rites, or the curing of sickness. Other masks are used on festive occasions or to portray characters in a dramatic performance and in reenactments of mythological events.

What was Kwakiutl mask used for?

What is a brush house made of?

A brush shelter is made of a simple wooden frame covered with brush (branches, leaves, and grass.) The frame can be cone-shaped, with one side left open as a door, or tent-shaped, with both ends left open.

What is wigwam house?

A wigwam is a domed or cone-shaped house that was historically used by Indigenous peoples. It was prevalent in the eastern half of North America before the era of colonization. Today, wigwams are used for cultural functions and ceremonial purposes.

What is a brush house?

Paleoindian houses were simple, temporary structures called “brush shelters.” This type of house made sense for people who led a nomadic lifestyle. Although Paleoindian houses were very simple, they were also strong enough to withstand harsh weather.