An unusual Dzunuḵ̓wa, or Wild Woman of the Woods, mask by the Gilford Island-based Kwakwaka’wakw carver Jack James. He was a highly prolific artist known for making masks for both community use and sale, and for his complex model poles that feature a white ground paint. In addition to masks and model poles, James also made figural feast dishes, plaques, dance headdresses, and monumental poles. On James’ carving and painting style, Steve Brown has noted “The influence of Henry Speck and other flamboyant artists of this period can be seen in the repetitive use of a white background design in the painted composition” and that this emphasis on white paint is “attributable to a Gilford Island style of the 1960s and 1970s…” [1] Like other masks by James, this one is carved in old growth red cedar and painted with a white ground, over which he has applied black, red, burgundy, and orange paint.

Although still identifiable by the red, pursed lips and wide, flat nose, this Dzunuḵ̓wa mask displays several features that distinguish it from other examples. Most prominently, while many Dzunuḵ̓wa masks emphasize the giantess’ simian appearance, here James has leaned into a more impish countenance, with a broader face and upturned eyebrows that are pinched at their tips, implying horns. The oversized ears of this Dzunuḵ̓wa are formed from large, complex u-forms emerging from the side of the head which, like the eyebrows, are upturned and pinched in their upper corners, giving the impression of horns. Those details, combined with this mask’s sculpturally complex face and intricately painted forms, create a Dzunuḵ̓wa mask that incorporates many of the features typically associated with Bak’was, the Wild Man of the Woods, into James’ vision.

1. Brown, Steven. 1998. Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: Seattle Art Museum in association with Douglas & McIntyre, 155.

Christopher W. Smith