Lushootseed language, a common tongue with different dialects
spoken throughout the area. The discriminatory policies, enacted by
the government in the late 1800s and not repealed for another 50
years, were meant to replace tribal culture with a more “civilized”
way of life. They nearly succeeded. The fact they did not is a tribute
to the resiliency of these people.
Inside the longhouse, Mathers introduces me to the other
performers: a trio of young, sturdy men. Their ropy muscles are the
result of wearing large wooden masks onstage as many as three times a
day, seven days a week at the height of the season. The most challenging
mask in their repertoire is Huxhukw, or Big Beak, a man-eating bird
in the Kwakwaka’wakw tradition. At 6 feet long, the 55-pound mask
comes with a rope that wrenches the beak open and shut with a loud
clap. “Even though you’re only wearing it for two and a half minutes
on stage, it feels like 23 minutes,” says Mathers.
“It’s my third year doing it and I don’t feel like I’ve mastered it yet,”
says Fred Peña, who plays Big Beak. “And I’ve been doing it for the
entire three years I’ve been here.”
Aside from Mathers, who was raised by the Tsimshian Raven clan
on his father’s side, none of the dancers are directly descended from
tribes in the region. But Mathers doesn’t discriminate in who he
teaches, so long as they are respectful of the heritage. Each dance
is “owned” by a tribal family, and every dancer—even Mathers—
must get explicit permission from the families to perform them on
stage. Many, if not all, of the dances are recreations that would be
given at a potlatch: when storytellers, clad in distinct regalia, wouldA trio of young performers under
the tutelage of Frank Mathers
play multiple roles throughout the
performance.58