A Native American Shell Mask

By
Clifford C. Richey
May 2009
The illustrated shell mask was obtained from a large mound, known as the Ely Mound, near Kose Hill,
Lee County, Virginia1 Although described as a gorget it does not seem to have been strung by a cord.
At about 5 inches in width it appears to be a minature mask. Similar items have been found near the
head and chest of the deceased in mound burials.

The overall Initial Form of tis artifact is one of a square (found by drawing only straight lines around
it). The Secondary Form is that of the sign for a male-spirit (the rounded sign based on the head of the
phallus). There is a double line with another line within it that covers the top of the head, a covered,
unseen, pathway. The Nose and Forehead are created from the shape of a Tumi knife, meaning a
warrior. The Nose itself is created from a place sign The Eyes are the signs for hills with the
perforations creating the sign for a hole. Thus holes in the hills. From the side of the hills descend the
zigzag signs for water while the multiple lines mean a flow. The direction is downward. The other
compound signs emanating from the Eyes are the signs for turning-female. The Three signs combined
(the hole sign, the flowing water sign, and the turning -female sign form the image of a Bird indicating
flights (from the holes). The perforation (another hole) forms the Mouth of the Face. As we know from
previous translaions the Mouth is a source of moisture or water such as a spring. Below the Mouth is
an arrow shaped sign with another line within it. This indicates an unseen pathway to a distant-place-
below (the tapering of the place sign indicates a place in the distance). The Eyes and Mouth
perforations are in the Form of the triangular female-spirit sign.

Now, the overall imagery of the object below the Mouth is that of a Mosquito Hawk (a Dragonfly). The
1 Holmes, William H. 1883 Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
1880-81, pp 295-296
four Wings (flights) are made up of the signs for (reading from the outside of the wing tips inward) on-
the side, a place, and the house or abode. The Mosquito Hawk, The one that tranforms below in the
water and rises up to fly away.

The entire message would read something like this:

The House, The Abode

of
the Water-Spirit*

ItsFace,
Its Appearance
a
Female-Earth-Spirit

(The three triangular holes)

Covered
within
a
Hidden Pathway

The Place
of
The Knife, The Warrior

The Eyes
(of the Sun)
Their Flights
from
the Holes
in the Hills

The Flowing Water

far below

Unseen
Turning-Female

from

The Hole, The Mouth

The Spring
The Unseen Pathway
Far Below

The Mosquito Hawk

The One Who

 Transforms
in
The Water Below
and
Arises
to
Fly away

The Flights
from
The Sides
(of the earth)
Their Places
Their Abodes

These little shell masks, placed in the burials, explain what will happen to the Warriors of the Sun in
the afterlife. Shell imagery is often used in Native American compositions to indicate water (as shells
are found in the water) . The shell mask is in the Form of a Human Face but because it is created out of
Shell* the meaning would seem to imply a water-spirit.