Moon Mask: She Pulls the Tides, 2022

Kwakwaka’wakw / Gitksan
Birch
12.5” x 12.25” x 6”

The sun and the moon are a very important part of our creation story, as Weget brought us light.  The moon mask is titled “She Pulls the Tides.”  The tides are pulled, and food is distributed to all of the water creatures.  The moon gives salmon people a signal as to when they need to return to the ocean to feed.  At the end of their four year cycle, moon encourages them to return to the rivers, their birth place, and they start the cycle all over again.

Salmon are integral to the lives of the First Peoples.  Each year, when the first salmon find their way back to their birth place, the first peoples are blessed with food.  They celebrate the first fish of the season.  I was taught that it is important to return the bones of the salmon back to the river.  What little meat on the bones becomes food for the small salmon.  It ensures growth, and that they will continue to return in the following years.

- Virginia Morgan