Vintage, Danced, Ethnographic, Yaqui Indian Pascola Dance Mask, Sonora, Mexico

Description

• Danced, used, Ethnographic, mask with patina - ca 1980s
• The Mayo Indians are an indigenous group living in the Río Mayo valley in Southern Sonora and the Río Fuerte valley in Northern Sinaloa, Mexico
• Their tradition of mask carving goes back more than a century.
• The pascola is the "old man of the fiesta" that is the literal translation of the Yaqui word Pahko'ola.
• He is at once the old man, wise, and the clown who keeps the participants entertained throughout the ceremony.
• The ceremony does not start until he enters the ramada and it ends with him giving a closing "sermon."
• The masks that have been produced in this region usually depict males with a goat or horse hair beard and long eyebrows which cover the face.
• Pascola masks almost always exhibit a cross on the forehead. (i.e. The absence of a cross usually indicates that the mask was made for a tourist.)
• The cross has European influences, however, the Yaqui/Mayo Indians say that the cross is a symbol of the "four directions". The cross represents a  protection and blessing for the pascola.
• Scorpion; No the dancer does not become a scorpion;  The carver/pascolas show their respect for that world by putting the animals/insects on their masks.
• This Mayo Pascola mask was skillfully carved, with long tufts of goat-hair, and painted with a thick polychrome paint.
• 7.5 inches tall x 5 inches wide (not including goat hair).
• Many of my other ethnographic mask collecton is currently listed. Check out my other items!