In carving this mask in 1985, the artist, Tim Paul, was inspired by a fairly rare motif in Nootka culture and was guided by the well-known original in the de Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. As the round, calling mouth indicates, this is a Tsonoquoa mask. The forest giantess was actually known only to the Kwakiutl, not to the Nootka. The northern Nootka, however, carried on commerce with the Nimkish Kwakiutl and also traded masks with them.
