Masks among Eskimo peoples served a variety of functions. Masks were made out of driftwood

Driftwood

Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea or river by the action of winds, tides, waves or man. It is a form of marine debris or tidewrack....

, animal skins, bones and feathers. They were often painted using bright colors. There are archeological miniature maskettes made of walrus ivory

Walrus ivory

Walrus tusk ivory comes from two modified upper canines. The tusks of a Pacific walrus may attain a length of one meter. Walrus teeth are also commercially carved and traded. The average walrus tooth has a rounded, irregular peg shape and is approximately 5cm in length.The tip of a walrus tusk has...

, coming from early Paleo-Eskimo

Paleo-Eskimo

The Paleo-Eskimo were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the rise of the modern Inuit and/or Eskimo and related cultures...

 and from early Dorset culture

Dorset culture

The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...

 period.

Despite some similarities in the cultures of the Eskimo peoples, their cultural diversity makes it hard to generalise how Eskimo

Eskimo

Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....

s and Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 used masks. The sustenance, mythology

Inuit mythology

Inuit mythology has many similarities to the religions of other polar regions. Inuit traditional religious practices could be very briefly summarised as a form of shamanism based on animist principles....

, soul concepts, even the language of the different communities were often very different.

Early masks

Archeological masks have been found from early Paleo-Eskimo and from early Dorset culture period. It is believed that these masks served several functions including being used in rituals representing animals in personalized form; being used by shaman in ceremonies relating to spirits (as in the case of a wooden mask from southwestern Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

).; it is also suggested that they could be worn during song contest ceremonials;

Associated beliefs

Although beliefs about unity between human and animal did not extend to that of absolute interchangeability, several Eskimo peoples had sophisticated soul concepts (including variants of soul dualism

Soul dualism

Soul dualism or a dualistic soul concept is a range of beliefs that a person has two kinds of souls. In many cases, one of the souls is associated with body functions and the other one can leave the body . Sometimes the plethora of soul types can be even more complex...

) that linked living humans, their ancestors, and their prey. Besides synchronical beliefs, there were also notions of unity between human and animal, and myths about an ancient time when the animal could take on human form at will. Traditional transformation masks reflected this unity. Ritual ceremonies could enable the community to enact these stories with the help of masks, sometimes with the masked person representing the animal.

Yup'ik masks

The Yup'ik are Eskimos of Western Alaska whose masks vary enormously but are characterised by great invention. They differ in size from forehead and finger 'maskettes' to enormous constructions that dancers need external supports to perform with. Many of these mask were used almost as stage props, some which imbued the dancer with the spirit that they represented - and most were often destroyed after use. Others represented animal people, (yuit), and insects, berries, plants, ice and objects of everyday life..

Note

Eskimo groups comprise a huge area stretching from Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada

Northern Canada

Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...

 (including Nunatsiavut

Nunatsiavut

Nunatsiavut is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inuit Association submitted a proposal for limited autonomy to the government of Newfoundland and...

 in Labrador

Labrador

Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

 and Nunavik

Nunavik

Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...

 in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

) to Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. The term Eskimo has fallen out of favour in Canada and Greenland, where it is considered pejorative

Pejorative

Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...

 and the term Inuit has become more common. However, Eskimo is still considered acceptable among Alaska Natives

Alaska Natives

Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...

 of Yupik and Inupiat (Inuit) heritage, and is preferred over Inuit as a collective reference.

Further reading

The tale title means: “The way life appeared”; the book title means: “Eskimo tales”; the series means: “The tales of world literature”. Translation of the original: