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This is an otter mask. The face on the otter's
back shows its yua ( special person), which was said to be the shaman's helping spirit.
Jasper Louise explains that shamans were like medical doctors, they placed their hands directly on the flesh where there was pain. The pain would leave the place where they put their hand. That was the way our ancestors dealt with their illnesses." Mary Mike explains: "it appears to me that they would reveal their helping spirits in the form of masks." This mask may have been created and presented to demonstrate the shaman's helping spirit.
Paul John explains another reason Yup'iks created and presented masks. "It seems that our ancestors chose designs that represent things that were desirable to acquire. The person who made that particular mask made it to represent something from the ocean that he was able to pursue in the hunt. Others made different animal designs depending on what represented desirable acquisitions for them."
 Otters are related to weasels. In fact they look very similar-- lithe, slender bodies, long necks, small ears, and short legs. Otters, however are semi-aquatic mammals. Few other animals produce a fur so highly valued by man and so durable.
Otters swim easily with webbed feet, and can travel underwater for 0.4 kilometer (1/4 mile) without surfacing for air. They prefer to travel by water but, they can travel on land faster than a man can run.
Otters eat all manner of small
aquatic animals, including fish, which they catch sometimes by teamwork. They also prey on
other small mammals.
Unlike almost all other wild animals, adult otters are playful. A favorite sport is sliding down a steep bank of mud or snow and plunging into water or a snowdrift. Otters are intelligent, friendly, and inquisitive.
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