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spiral or upturned noses, with crescents along the body. Among
Pacific Northwest cultures, horns or plumes indicate a supernatural being. The spiral nose (or "inflated nostrils") motif is used on Hamatsa masks depicting Baxbaxwalanuksiwe, where it indicates hunger (dilated nostrils to sniff out food). The protruding tongue is associated with lightning, supernatural power, and the transfer of power from an animal source to a novice. Crescents may represent stylised scales or the segments of a caterpillar.
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The sisiutl is typically depicted as a double-headed serpent, although it is sometimes shown with just one head. Kwakwaka'wakw depictions often show a central, humanoid face between the double heads. All three heads are usually horned, and the serpent heads typically have protruding tongues and
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Shamans of various indigenous tribes believed that killing the sisiutl would transfer its healing magic to them. Warriors similarly believed that its blood would make them invincible in battle, and they would often accessorize their cultural garb with images of the sisiutl for this magical
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Where a central humanoid head is depicted, it most often is taken to represent
Baxbaxwalanuksiwe, although it has also been associated with Qomoqua. In the northern grubworm variant, the central head is believed to be the princess who suckled the grubworm.
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The sisiutl also sometimes takes the form of a canoe, as in a myth where it returns a woman from
Qomoqua's spiritual realm to her home village, or a squirrel.
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protection. Similar designs were painted onto canoes or carved into wooden entrances to ward off evil spirits. For some tribes, the beach mineral
169:"grubworm" or "woodworm" (caterpillar) is a "peculiarly northern" variation that lacks the central head, and has an insatiable appetite.
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was believed to be the scales of the sisiutl, and as such would be incorporated into these aforementioned traditions accordingly.
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Other depictions, by the
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because both are seen as mediators between the natural and supernatural worlds.
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A Kwakwaka'wakw
Sisiutl dance mask made of cedar by Oscar Matilpi.
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Legendary creature in indigenous cultures of the
Pacific Northwest
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Legendary creatures of the indigenous peoples of North
America
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139:Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
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145:. Typically, it is depicted as a double-headed
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226:"The Sisiutl or Sea Serpent Symbol"
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370:Mythical many-headed creatures
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315:Sisiutl as Archetypal Image
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289:Alert Bay grave totem pole
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299:Headdress painting.
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199:Winalagalis
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324:Categories
306:(pre 1900)
235:2024-06-17
210:References
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58:"Sisiutl"
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193:See also
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