Description
King Vulture
This king vulture mask was created for the annually celebrated, socio-historic indigenous ceremony, danza/juego de los diablitos, and the mask’s design represents an historic ancestor. It was worn in the Danza de los Diablitos of 2022-2023 in the principal Brunka tribal village of Boruca. Carved from one piece of balsa wood, this mask features the visage of the venerated king vulture – a bird often depicted in their ancestral gold and jade work. These personages are called in the Brunkajk language: kagbrú – known in Spanish as a diablito (‘little devil’) which symbolically represents the tribe’s ancestral defenders of their territory and lifeways..
The mask symbolizes the Native people in their struggle and resistance post-European contact. .
- Tribe: Brunka (Boruca)
- Size: 9 3/4” x 23”
- Artist: Alberto Leiva Morales
