Yup'ik and Inupiat Masks
traditional mask culture creation research performance
THE PERFORMANCE SPIRIT JOURNEY AND ORIGIN MYTHS
Nearly all of the Alaskan Eskimo theatre performances originated in visionary myths that involved an angatkok or spirit person. Many actual performances were inspired by direct physical interpretation of an angatkok's journey to a spiritual realm. Prior to each sacred performance, the angatkok would journey to the land of the spirits and return with fresh impressions of many new faces, which would in turn be carved into masks by himself or a woodcarver who had been given careful instructions as to how the spirit "face" must look. On the same journey the angatkok would learn new songs, stories and dances that would likewise reproduce scenes from the spirit world.
excerpt from Reimagining Alaska Native Performance
