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Kwakwaka’wakw (ławiťsis or ‘Namgis) Sisiyutł Carving, 19th century
Supernatural double-headed serpent carvingThunderbird Park, ca 1949. RBCM PN 13259.
Charles F. Newcombe purchased this representation of a Sisiyutł, a supernatural double-headed serpent, in 1913, either at the ławiťsis village of Kalugwis on Tournour Island or at the ‘Namgis community of ‘Yalis (Alert Bay). He recorded that it was part of a chief’s settee and depicts an incident in the life of a man called Kasayapa-loqu, who was an ancestor of the seller’s family: Kasayapa-loqu came across a Sisiyutł while hunting in the woods. He saw four horns coming out of the ground, then the double heads, and fell down ‘as if dead.’ A man came to him in a dream and explained that the Sisiyutł was given to him to use in feasts and potlatches. When he awoke, the Sisiyutł had disappeared but Kasayapa-loqu made a copy in wood and placed it at the rear of his house. Then, he gave a grease feast (featuring the valuable oil of the eulachon fish) and invited all the people. He was the first person to bring the people together for a feast. The Sisiyutł carving was moved to Wawadiťła, the Mungo Martin House in Thunderbird Park, when it was constructed in 1953.
RBCM 1857.
Close up of the head of the serpentThunderbird Park. Trio Crocker photograph. RBCM PN 11688.
 Sisiyutł, a supernatural double-headed snake. Each head has horns that curl at the ends, a mouth with teeth and a protruding tongue.
Close up of the head of the serpentThunderbird Park. Trio Crocker photograph.
RBCM PN 11688.
 The U-shaped forms on its body indicate scales.
Close up of the third head of the serpentThunderbird Park. Trio Crocker photograph.
RBCM PN 11688.
 As is customary in representations of the Sisiyutł, a third head appears in the centre of the creature. Here, the central head is part of a human-like figure with upraised hands.
Thunderbird Park. Trio Crocker photograph.
RBCM PN 11688.
 A Sisiyutł can cause death for people who do not have supernatural protection but it can also bestow wealth and power. Its blood can make skin as hard as stone; it can become a canoe; its eyes, when thrown from a sling, can kill whales.
The serpent attached to the Open Sided BuildingThunderbird Park, ca 1949. RBCM PN 13259.

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