frighten
both children and...adults: "The
Danish botanist Christian Kruuse lived in Ammassalik from 1898 to 1902
and made a number of observations about masks, the presence of which
in Ammassalik were a revelation to the ethnological world. He wrote that:
'the inhabitants of Ammasalik carved masks in driftwood…they are
not used as one could think it…for religious reasons…If they
had such a value, it has been lost…they are now toys which are
used to frighten children….'" R.Gessain, "Dance Masks
of Ammassalik" (East Coast of Greenland) Arctic Anthropology Vol
21. No
2, 1984.
The
had masks with them: "To
understand Kruuse’s statements, one needs to place them in the
context of Ammassilik culture at the very beginning of the twentieth
century.The missionary F.C.P. Rüttel, established there since 1894,
had acquired enough influence to forbid the use of every drum, dance,
and mask, which he considered
inimical to his evangelization. He demanded that all things that he considered
to be pagan were to be thrown into the fire or the sea." Ibid.
This big face: The
mask is from, R. Gessain, “Dance Masks of Ammassalik" (East
Coast of Greenland) Arctic Anthropology Vol 21. No.2,
1984.
The
missionary Rüttel: The
missionary F.C.P. Rüttel,
established there since 1894, had acquired enough influence to
forbid the use of every drum, dance, and mask, which he considered
inimical to his evangelization. He demanded that all things that
he considered to be pagan were to be thrown into the fire or the
sea.” R.Gessain, “Dance Masks of Ammassalik" (East
Coast of Greenland) Arctic Anthropology Vol 21. No 2,
1984.