Hamsamala (Dance of the Hamatsa Masks)

This Hamsamala dance (Dance of the Hamatsa Birds) was performed at the potlatch of Chief Alan Hunt at the Tsaxis Big house in Fort Rupert in September 2016. During the ceremony Alan was inaugurated as a potlatch chief and received the name Hamasaḵa. The Hamsamala is the third part of the Hamatsa initiation ceremony, a highly sacred rite. The three birds you see dancing are  Qoaxqoaxualanuxsiwae (Raven-of-the-North-End-of-the-World), Gelogudzayae (Crooked-Beak-of-the-Sky) and Hoxhogwaxtewae (Hoxhok-of-the-Sky). They are the consorts of Baxbakwalanuksiwae, the Man-Eater at the North End of the World, whose body is covered in gaping, bloody mouths, and whose house billows red smoke. Their legend is closely associated with the Hamatsa secret society, members of which you can see directing the dancers with their rattles. The Hamatsa in the white shirt is Beau Dick, the great Kwakwaka’wakw artist, who sadly passed away in March 2017.