Dzunukwa or wild woman of the woods mask, deep carved, dark smoky paint with dark red on nose and pursed lips, tufts of hair falling to one side

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Dzunuk´wa

Wild Woman of the Woods

In most Dzunuk´wa legends, this giant of the woods is female, black in colour, with messy hair, exposed breasts and a puckered mouth. She is a terrifying and threatening creature who carries a huge basket on her back into which she puts the mischievous children she captures. Although Dzunuk´wa is a giant, she is easily out-witted by children as she is not so smart and very clumsy.

Owner

T´sandigan ’Nage’, Harry Mountain, Mamalilikala (Village Island)

Dzunuk´wa by Pauline Alfred

Kwak´wala Transcript

k´a’yolatsa Dzunuk´waka’s. ‘Waladzi bagwanamida Dzunuk´wa. p´ap´as Halsala’am Dukwala’! Am hayulis ax’ige’sa Laxe’. ’Walas am’xa’e’ U’yida Dzunuk´wa gayula’s lame’ alax p´ap´asa’. Gax’naxwa ke’nakwala kax’s aliya xa ganganam kax’s galutła’. La naxwa’eda Dzunuk´wa, napt´sola sa gangananam laxa laxe’ laxis awige’. Kax’s le’s laxis gukw laxa at´łi. Loł’leda Dzunuk´wa dax’i xa gangananam. ‘Namuxw’la’eda gananam. I’s hiłk´olam amła dła’wis ‘wi’wa’okw Gayules udzałe’es samses. Gax’mi Dzunuk´wa daxi’d galagawe’ dax’i xa udzałe’ sams. Napt´sude’s laxa laxe’. He’am dax’i xa ‘wi’wa’okw gangananam ka’s napt´sude’s. La’am ik´i’stala laxa at´łi laxis gukw. K´awayu’nukwida gananam xa udzałe sams. La’am t´us’i xa laxe’. La’am daxwałt´so’wida gangananam ka’s dzalxw’ide’. La’amk´wak´walasus sa gananam yaxis a’amłałasu’xwdi. ‘Walas iki noke’se gangananam. Ix’idi ni’noka’yes ka’eda gananamx xa udzałes sams. Hiłk´olam amła dła’wi gayula’s la k´wak´walax.

English Transcript

The Dzunuk´wa is a big man who lives way up in the woods. He’s almost blind, and moves very slowly. He always carries a basket on his back cause he will come down from his house way up in the forest to collect children. There was a bunch of children playing, but they wouldn’t let this one boy play with them because he had deformed lips. So, the boy with deformed lips was sitting on a log trying to carve a stick with his knife. Dzunuk´wa got there and he threw the boy with the knife in his basket. Then he went over to grab all the other kids and threw them in the basket too. Then the Dzunuk´wa started to walk up to his house way up in the forest. The boy with the deformed lips used his knife to cut a whole in the basket and him and the other children escaped and ran home. After that the children treated him really well because he was a hero and saved their lives.

Catalogue Information

Provenance

Owned by Harry Mountain until its forced surrender to Indian Agent William Halliday on March 25, 1922. Halliday later displayed and photographed the seized pieces at the Parish Hall in Alert Bay. After doing an inventory, he crated the items in June, and at the end of September he shipped them to Edward Sapir at the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of History). They remained the property of the NMM until their repatriation by the U’mista and Nuyumbalees Cultural Societies in 1979.

Materials

Wood, Cedar; Paint, Graphite; Paint; Hair, Horse; Metal, Iron; Fibre, Cotton

Dimensions

32.0 cm (without hair)

Accession Number

80.01.027

Physical Description

Dzunuk´wa Wild Woman of the Woods mask carved from one piece of red cedar and painted black graphite (worn at places) and red with natural pigment paints. Lips and nares are painted red. The mask is plain and is small compared to other Dzunukwamł in the Potlatch Collection. It has a bulbous prominent brow that connects to overhanging eyebrows. The nose is quite human-like, while the cheeks and jaw line are very fine and almost skeletal or slender. The eyes are the usual sleepy slit-like eyeholes for the dancer's visibility and the mouth is carved through to utter the sound of the Dzunuk´wa, which is "Huuu!" Eight (originally nine) large tufts of horse hair are inserted into holes in the top of the head. The harness is missing, however there are pairs of nails on the side and top edges, one of which has a strip of cloth attached; these possibly formed the original harness attachments.