TITLE: Ticuna Caiman Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Brazil
SUBREGION: Amazonas
ETHNICITY: Ticuna
DESCRIPTION: Caiman Funerary Mask
CATALOG ID: LABR005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral
AGE: 2009
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: llanchama bark cloth; pigment
The Ticuna people of the Amazon rain forest populate large parts of the Amazonas state of Brazil, as well as parts of Colombia and Peru. Brazil finally recognized the Ticuna right to control over some of their historic lands in 1990. Men make and use all Ticuna masks, are used primarily in adult initiation rituals for girls and in funerals. Funeral masks like this one always represent animals that the deceased would want to hunt in the next life.
