Transformations of meaning: The life history of a Nuxalk mask

As items of material culture are exchanged between two different cultures t he cultural perception and meaning of those objects is transformed. During the 1800s collectors and ethnographers from around the world came to the No rthwest Coast of British Columbia to collect items of material culture from what they believed to be the dying races of people who lived there. This p rocess transformed the meaning of ceremonial objects, such as masks, for th e people who lived there. Masks that were once sacred ceremonial items, kep t hidden except during special ceremonies, became specimens of Native art t o be put on display in museums. The life history of one Nuxalk mask caught up in this process is presented here. The paper is a biography of a mask of Alk'unta'm, one of the most important of Nuxalk supernaturals. It traces t he life of Alk'unta'm as it moved from a small village in the Bella Coola V alley to New York, one of the largest cities in the world.