Female Mask with Labret

Female Mask with Labret, Jenny Cass, 1826

This carved wooden mask is an image of the Haida ancestress, Djilakons. The mask was not intended to be used in ritual, but rather to be sold to fur traders. Djilakons is a female ancestor who is the guardian of forest spirits is believed to live in stream headwaters.

The labret attached to the bottom lip denotes the high rank of the individual. Labrets were worn by women of the Haida culture and were expressions of beauty and nobility. Women who wore the largest labrets were considered to be the most elite. The Haida follow matrilineal descent and the women mediate or agitate relations between clans. The labret is symbolic of this female power of mediation because it is put into action through oral language which is physically manifested in the mouth.