Forehead Mask, Nuxalk, ca. 1880, Alder, red cedar bark, copper, pins, paint, 4 1/8 x 11 3/8 x 5 1/8 inches, Gift of John H. Hauberg 91.1.71, is shown in this handout photo. It was supposed to be a lighthearted cultural exchange between the museums of Seattle and Denver as their football teams prepared to meet in the Super Bowl. The Seattle Art Museum pledged to send colleagues in Denver a forehead mask of a raven carved by the Nuxalk Nation of Bella Coola, on B.C.'s central coast, if the Seahawks lost Sunday. But the Seattle museum announced Wednesday it was withdrawing the mask from the friendly wager because the Nuxalk Nation asked it not be loaned in conjunction with the Super Bowl. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Seattle Art Museum
January 29, 2014 - 3:12 PM
VANCOUVER - It was to a lighthearted cultural exchange between the museums of Seattle and Denver as their football teams prepare to meet in the Super Bowl.
But the Seattle Art Museum now says it will not loan a mask by a British Columbia First Nation to the Denver Museum if the Seahawks lose to the Broncos on Sunday.
The Seattle museum initially offered to send Denver a forehead mask of a raven by the Nuxalk (new-halk) Nation of Bella Coola, B.C., while Denver would send The Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington.
But the Seattle museum says the First Nation has asked it not to loan the mask in conjunction with the Super Bowl.
The museum says it has the "greatest respect" for the Nuxalk's art and culture and will honour the request.
If the Seahawks lose, the museum says it will instead send Denver a six-panelled Japanese screen with a picture of a powerful eagle with outstretched wings.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014