Komina (Rich Woman), ca. 2000

Beau Dick (Kwakwaka’wakw, Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation),Komina (Rich Woman), ca. 2000.

Cedar, horsehair, copper and acrylic paint, 45 x 37 x 13 in.

Komina Woman or "Komunokas", also known as "Qominaga", "Copper Woman" and "Rich Woman" is a quintessential Beau Dick mask. In Kwakwaka’wakw legend, "Rich Woman" is a powerful, pan-cultural female spirit who is the wife of the fearsome Baxwbakwalanuxwsiwe’, the Cannibal-at-the-North-End-of-the-World. Her presence is associated with Frog and Coppers and often accompanied by the cannibal birds at a Hamatsa ceremony. She symbolizes both material wealth and the wealth of wisdom that comes with age. Her greed-repelling grimace immortalizes Dick’s commitment to Potlatch values, where to be rich means to give it all away.