🎬 See all available Tlingit masks & drums: https://youtube.com/shorts/JWy0A8GkXsA
"Another Bigfoot-Sasquatch mask I was inspired to carve — this one from Old Growth Laax/Red Cedar. The grain and color of the cedar gives it an entirely different look and feel, more Ancient just like the cedar itself-Old Growth Laax/Red Cedar."
— Fred Fulmer, Xuna/Hoonah Tlingit Elder and Cultural Bearer ANV Alaska Native Voices Educational Institute- Tlingit Cultural Interpreter representing the Xuna/Hoonah Tlingits 2024-2026
The Story Behind Mask No. 2
Cedar Bark Hair — shown wet after being soaked and attached to the mask. The rope helps shape and hold the hair in place while it dries into its final position.
After carving Bigfoot No. 1 from Keishish/Alder, I felt pulled to carve a second Bigfoot mask — this time from Old Growth Laax/Red Cedar. The grain is more natural that only cedar wood can give in my opinion. Which gives this mask a distinctive different character and look which naturally happens when creating a 2nd mask or 3-4 mask. Because they are not replicas. They are "One Of A Kind". What No. 1. Bigfoot mask and no.2 have in common is they share the same subject, same cultural truth — and the wood presents a unique look in a different way. That's what being a creator, carver, artist is about and happens in this generation as much as it did in my Ancestors generation. I Isxia'an/Love the process for sure!
Drawing the profile onto the first side of the mask blank — the next step is transferring the design to the left side before carving begins.
I began shaping this mask during Season 2025 aboard cruise ships in SE Alaska — one of four masks I started that season in our Ancestral homeland. My wife Ivy was with me, working alongside me as we showcased Tlingit culture for cruise ship passengers and shared the stories of the Xuna/Hoonah Tlingit people.
Like all the carvings I make, I get connected through the process of getting into that creative zone. Many artist I talk to experience that creative zone as well. I use the expression “Finding My Way” — because that is exactly what happens. I don’t even know what the finished mask is going to look like, until it’s done. I always say “I’m just a guy who likes to make wood chips”.
Cedar Bark Hair · A Natural Element
I wanted to add natural elements to this mask — so I soaked inner red cedar bark and hand-formed it into cedar bark hair. I have used cedar bark hair on other masks over the years. It connects the finished piece back to the living forest — the same world that Bigfoot inhabits in our oral stories. The natural bark hair makes this mask unlike anything commercially produced. It is irreplaceable.
Bigfoot/Sasquatch in Tlingit Tradition
Bigfoot is not a modern mystery to the Tlingit people. These beings have long been part of the oral traditions of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples — known, respected, and acknowledged as part of the natural and spiritual world. In our oral stories they are forest dwellers, ancient beings who move among the old growth trees, unseen but present. Our people have always known they are here.
Watch the Carving · Season 2025 · Siteeyi Gheeyi/Glacier Bay
This video documents all four masks started in Glacier Bay during Season 2025 — including this mask, Bigfoot No. 1, the Humpback, and the Brown Bear Mauling mask. It also features the 4.5 ft tall Laax/Red Cedar mask at 95% completion:
Kooxe'edaa/Paint Brushes Are Out · Fred Fulmer’s Most-Watched Video
With over 9,100 views since July 2023, this is where thousands of collectors and cultural learners first discovered Fred Fulmer’s studio practice — a rare window into a working Tlingit carver’s world.
🎬 Kooxe'edaa/Paint Brushes Are Out Ready To Xeet/Paint · Fred Fulmer Tlingit Elder-Cultural Bearer
Other Masks From This Season
These masks were started alongside this one in Siteeyi Gheeyi/Glacier Bay during Season 2025:
• Keishish/Alder Bigfoot-Sasquatch Mask No. 1 · Season 2025
• Voice/Satu’ For The Yaay/Humpback Mask · Season 2025
• Tlingit Brown Bear Mauling Mask · Season 2025
• See All Tlingit Kaats’/Masks by Fred Fulmer →
Acquire This Mask
"Priced to be accessible. Valued as the irreplaceable, hand-carved Indigenous art it is."
Tlingit Laax/Red Cedar Bigfoot-Sasquatch Mask No. 2 With Cedar Bark Hair · $1,700.00
Dimensions: 21 in H × 10 in W × 3 in D
Materials: Old Growth Laax/Red Cedar, inner cedar bark hair, acrylic paint, tung oil
Carved in Siteeyi Gheeyi/Glacier Bay, Alaska · Season 2025
Interested in a commission? Contact Fred or Ivy →
