Harry Williams – Bukwas (Wild Man of the Woods)
Bukwas by Harry Williams
Red Cedar, Cedar Bark, Paint
8 inches by 5 inches Wood Mask
14 inches long with cedar bark
$680.00
Bukwas, or wild man of the woods, is a significant supernatural spirit being of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation and casts a haunting figure in their great annual winter dance. Bukwas is linked with the underworld of the dead and with ghosts — especially the spirits of the drowned who hover near him. This mysterious and illusive wild man lurks near the edge of the dark forest where he lives, offering food to lost humans, luring them to become spirits in his shadowy underworld. This figure represents a Kwakwaka’wakw dancer wearing a carefully carved cedar mask, portraying Bukwas creeping to a sand bank on a sunny morning to dig for cockles, which is his favourite food. He is very shy and looks about to see if he is being watched, shading his face from the sun with his hands. Suddenly he leaps forward, settles on one knee searching for cockles, and devours them quickly, occasionally uttering a high pitched whoop or shriek from a concealed whistle.