This mask, gifted to the IGNCA by the Canadian Embassy, is a replica of one of a pair of very old stone masks of indeterminate date made by the Tshmshian people of the Northwest Coast. The other mask in this matched pair nests inside of this one and has closed eyes. While masks of this type are not in current use, it has been surmised that they were used within a trance ceremony, during which the “seeing” mask would be removed in order to reveal the mask with shut eyes. The implication of this act would be that the entranced performer, perhaps a shaman, would have access to a world unknown to everyday sight.