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Artist Unknown (American, Yupik, 19th century),
Visor
, n.d.,
wood, ivory, paint, feathers, plant and animal fiber, 7¼ x 13¼ x 9¾ inches, 16.83 cm long
Gift of Mrs. A.F. Jonas, 1952.45
The wooden hats and visors worn by Native Alaskan hunters provided protection from the glare of water and ice, while the beak-like appearance might have made a hunter in a kayak less noticeable to his prey. Further, the visor may have been spiritually as well as physically transformational, giving a hunter supernatural strengths and skills as well as masking his human identity.
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