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Golden Tear Mask
(Great Gratitude)

A Tribute Mask

In the early 1870s Alphonse Pinart, a 19-year-old linguist and ethnographer from France, spent 13 months on the Kodiak Archipelago learning about the Alutiiq people. He recorded their rituals and stories and gathered artifacts. This mask is a tribute to him. For over one hundred years, more than 300 Kodiak Alutiiq objects have survived in museums because of his collection and the unwavering commitment of the French to preserving the art and history of the Alutiiq people.

This mask was designed after a small Alutiiq flat mask style.