Forensic visualization of two Kwakwaka’wakw ḱiḱw

This study presents a forensic reconstruction of two Kwakwaka’wakw house posts (ḱiḱw) digitally reconstructed and visualized in their original viewing conditions. After demonstrating how the visual parameters of winter ceremonial activity would have significantly altered the appearance of the posts, I use research in optics and neuroscience to explain how light-dependent features of colour perception and face recognition facilitate such transformations.