Nineteenth Century Shaman Grave Guardians are Carved Fomitopsis Officinalis Sporophores

Abstract

Spirit figures placed on shaman graves were carved in the 19th century from large sporophores of the fungus Fomitopsis officinalis (Vill: Fr.) Bond. & Sing. (Basidiomycotina). The perennial basidiocarps were recognized by the Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast as objects with supernatural powers and were used during the shaman's life in various society rituals. After the death of a shaman, these carved sporophores were placed as guardians at the head of the grave. Collectors for various museums obtained these carved objects in the late 1800s, and they have been displayed or stored in various museum collections since that time. Fomitopsis officinalis, known to some Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast region of North America as 'bread of ghosts' had an important spiritual as well as a medicinal role in Indian society. Its supernatural powers were intensified through shamanic art forms. Society myths and rituals also are presented to demonstrate the supernatural prestige that forest fungi held among the Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast. The Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast used products of the temperate rain forest to provide many of the necessities for life. Forest fungi, as in other societies, were resources for dyes,