Wolf Bear Mask

• Main Author: Wassilie, Moses
• Other Authors: Given to the University of Washington Libraries by Norman Jenisch Rose and Louise R. Rose
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Fairbanks; Anchorage; Moses; King Island; eskimo*; Ketchikan; polar bear; wolverine; Yupik; Alaska; walrus*
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/p16786coll14/id/64

Moses Wassilie is a Yupik living in Anchorage, Alaska. Information provided by the artist: Materials list: "Red Cedar from Master carver Nathan Jackson in Ketchikan; Zebrawood from Africa for the five feathers, as the wood is hard and maybe will last longer than real feathers and has a beautiful natural laminate look when finished; driftwood for the snow goggles which were originally designed to accommodate a small motion sensing device to lift it up when someone came within a few feet of the mask or a light sensor to lift it up when the light was low; walrus ivory for the nose guard and three "paw prints" above the goggles; young bowhead baleen eyes for the wolf which can be seen when the goggles are up; wolverine fur headband so the mask can absorb the fearless nature of the animal; decorated with glass beads in the pattern of Yupik beaded color pattern; white polar bear fur whiskers were added in the end to denote the aging of the artist and validate the bear Inua (Spirit)." "WolfBear Inua .was inspired from a Wolf mask on display at the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, Alaska. This was my son, Michelangelo Wassilie's introduction to the world of mask-making; he did the rough cutting of all the pieces, and I did the detail work. The design features the Inua or human alter ego of the Wolf & Bear when the snow goggles are down, and the Wolf when tilted up to show the eyes. The human is also manifest in the five carved feathers, the animals are represented in the ivory paws, wolverine fur in the zebrawood forest and the baleen eyes and root whisker hair and the polar bear whiskers. The three eyes of awareness symbols carved in the ivory nose represent the subjects connected in spirit as all living things in our natural world are: Father Bear, Son Wolf & Human Spirit." "The artist was born in a sod house at Nunapitchuk in Southwest Alaska in 1946; mother is Lucy Jacob, traditional Yupik dancer and subsistence trained woman and father was Wassilie B. Evan, subsistence Hunter and Fisherman and leader from Napapskiak. As a young boy, Moses spent his grade school years at the Moravian Children's Home in Kwethluk .graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe boarding school in 1967 where he started painting portraits using charcoal on Sitka pulp mill paper. Other schools include the Institute of Alaska Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico to study painting and the University of Alaska Fairbanks under Ron Senungetuck to study carving. The artist paints with pastel, acrylic and oil; was also trained by Paul Tiulana to produce King Island style drums, driftwood carvings and masks, and self-taught ivory jewelry." [e-mail] Phone: [phone] PO Box 211224, Anchorage, AK 99521-1224. This is one of several pieces of Mr. Wassilie's donated to the Bothell Campus Library by Norman and Louse Rose. Others are "Sweet Lips," "Raven's Final Transformation," and "Harpoon."