THE MĬSIʹNGʷ‛ OR MASK The Minsi version of the myth explaining the origin of their great ceremonies has been already related, but not that of the Unami, for the latter, which concerns itself with the origin of the Unami rites as now practised, is so intimately interwoven with the story of the _Mĭsiʹngʷ‛_, or mask (fig. 1), that it was thought best to place it in the chapter devoted to that curious being, with whose position in the Lenape pantheon, recorded history, and activities in the Annual Ceremony, we have already become acquainted. The myth is therefore presented herewith, as related by Chief Charley Elkhair, the Lenape master of ceremonies, with only such additions as later questioning brought forth. ORIGIN OF THE MASK, AND OF THE BIG HOUSE This is the way the Lenape found out that there is a living Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn above us. Many years ago, when the Delawares lived in the East, there were three boys who were not treated very well. Their relatives did not take care of them, and it seemed as if it made no difference whether the children died or not. These boys were out in the woods thinking about their troubles, when they saw the Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn or Living Solid Face. He came and spoke to them, and gave them strength so that nothing could hurt them again. To one of these boys he said, “You come along with me and I will show you the country I come from.” So he took the boy up in the air to the place whence he came, which is rocky mountains above us, reaching out from the north and extending toward the south. It is not the place where people go when they die, for it is not very far from this earth. A long time ago people could see this country of Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn, but none can see it now. While he was showing the boy his country, the Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn promised him that he would become stout and strong, and would have the power to get anything he wished. Then he brought the boy back. Afterward, when the boy grew up and went hunting, he used to see the Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn riding a buck around among the other deer, herding them together. Thus it happened that there were three men in the tribe, who knew that there is a Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn, because they had seen him with their own eyes.