Image of a darkened corner in the Potlatch Gallery with a cedar chest visible in the foreground. Corner of the Potlatch Gallery showing a large cedar post and a group of wolf masks. Corner of the Potlatch Gallery showing a group of masks and headdresses from the potlatch collection View from the west end of the Potlatch Gallery showing the north side and entrance wall.

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Atła'nam – Wolf

Black and white photograph of Atła'nam – Wolf mask shot against a black background

The Kwak´wala word for wolf headdress, xisiwe’ means, “bared teeth on the forehead.” Wolf dancers perform solo or in a pack with a leader, imitating a real wolf pack. In ceremonies, wolves can appear in three different ways; as a member of the tribe of the myth people, an ancestor of one of the ‘namima or extended family groups, or as a being who initiates apprentices.

Owner: Iwakalas, Harry Hanuse, Mamalilikala (Village Island)

Xisiwe’