Jay Model Mask is beautifully carved and decorated in bright blue and black, with some subtle sparkle too, and hand-worked traditional red cedar bark fringe. Priced at $795, measures 12l x 5h x 3w.

The artist only identified himself as “Patrick”, and we have no known tribal affiliation.

Don’t miss the Kingfisher Model Mask, companion piece to this one, sold separately.

Many Native American tribes have negative opinions about bluejays because of their noisy, aggressive behavior. In legends, bluejays often play the role of nosy gossip, bully, or selfish thief. But in some Northwestern tribes, Bluejay is a more ambivalent trickster character– still selfish, greedy, and mischievous most of the time, but also clever, entertaining, and helpful to humankind.

Blue Jay Finds A Wife

Blue Jay was a trickster who enjoyed playing clever tricks on everyone, especially his sister Ioi. As she was the eldest sister, Blue Jay was supposed to obey her. But he deliberately misinterpreted what she said, excusing himself by saying, “Ioi always tells lies.”
Ioi decided that it was high time for Blue Jay to quit his playful life of trickery and settle down with a wife. She told him that he must select a wife from the people of the land of the dead, who were called the “Supernatural People.”

Ioi recommended that Blue Jay choose an old woman for a wife and suggested the recently deceased wife of a chief. But Blue Jay balked; he wanted a young and attractive woman. He found the corpse of a beautiful young girl and took it to Ioi, who advised him to take the body to the land of the dead to be revived.

Blue Jay set out on this journey and arrived at the first village of the Supernatural People. They asked him, “How long has she been dead?” “Only a day,” he answered. The Supernatural People of the first village then informed him that there was nothing they could do to help him; he must go on to the village where people who were dead for exactly one day were revived.

Blue Jay arrived at the second village the next day and asked the people to revive his wife. The people here too asked him how long she had been dead. “Two days now,” he replied. “There is nothing we can do; we only revive those who were dead exactly one day.” So Blue Jay went on.

He reached the third village on the day after that and asked the people to revive this wife. “How long has she been dead?” they asked. “Exactly three days now.” “Most unfortunate,” they replied. “We can only revive those who have been dead exactly two days.” And so it went on from village to village until Blue Jay finally came to the fifth village, where the people could at last help him. The people of the fifth village liked Blue Jay and made him a chief. But the trickster tired of the Underworld and wanted to take his newly revived wife back to the land of the living.

When Blue Jay arrived at home with his wife, her brother saw she was alive once more and ran to tell their father, an old chief, who demanded that Blue Jay cut off all of his hair as a gift to his new in-laws. When there was no response from Blue Jay, the chief became angry and led a party of male relatives to find him. Just as they nearly caught him, Blue Jay assumed the form of a bird and flew off again to the land of the dead.

At this, his wife’s body fell to the ground, lifeless. She went to meet her husband in the land where he was now an exile.

Thank you bigorrin.org and nativelanguages.org