DepartmentTextiles-United States & Canada

Tegumiak (women’s dance fans)

NameDance fans

Artist Viva Smith

CultureYup'ik

Dateca. 2018

(not assigned)Mekoryuk, Nunivak Island, ALASKA, United States, North America

Mediumwolf, woverine, grass

Dimensions12 5/8 × 16 1/8 × 3/8 in. (32 × 41 × 1 cm)

Credit LineIFAF Collection

Object numberFA.2025.7.2ab

Collections

New Acquisitions: The Gift of Folk Art

ProvenanceArtist consigned to Alaska Native Medical Center Craft Shop Curatorial Field Purchase

DescriptionViva Smith created these traditional Yup’ik dance fans, or tegumiak, with the characteristic woven grass center surrounded by wolf and wolverine fur. The long fur of the handheld fans has movement as the Yup’ik dancer performs and sways her arms to the drumming. Men’s dance fans are a different style, featuring wood and bird feathers rather than grass and fur like women’s dance fans.