Religion and ceremonies of the LenapeHarrington, M. R. (Mark Raymond)
Religion
Religion and ceremonies of the Lenape
Harrington, M. R. (Mark Raymond)
Delaware Indians -- Religion
Such masks were made to represent Mizinkhâliʹkŭn, who was “something like
a person, but different from the Indians, and was powerful. They saw him
first among the rocks on a hill, and he spoke to them and told them what
to do to get his power. When a man put on a Mizink he received the power
of this person or spirit; he could even see behind him, and could cure
diseases.”
_The Mask Society._—The men who owned these masks formed a kind of
society which Nellis Timothy says originally had twelve members, but
which, before it disbanded, dwindled to about five. Sometimes only two
appeared in costume.
The society had a meeting-house of its own where its dances,
_Mizinkĭʹntĭka_, were held, for, unlike the Unami custom, no Mizink ever
appeared in the Big House. The members appeared wearing their masks and
clad in rough bearskin and deerskin costumes, while some, at least, were
provided with a turtleshell rattle which they would rub on a long pole,
crying “_Oⁿ-oⁿ-oⁿ!_” the while.
_Ceremonies._—While no consecutive account of their ceremonies is now
remembered, it was said that they sometimes put down their rattles,
heaped up the ashes from the two fires, then threw the ashes all over
the house to prevent the people assembled from having disease.
Should any sick person appear, he or she would be especially treated with
ashes. Sometimes the performers would pick up live coals and throw them
about, frightening the people. At other times the whole company of them
would go around to the different houses begging for tobacco, and would
dance in any house where someone was willing to sing for them.
Nothing was said among the Minsi about the Mizink bringing back stray
stock or driving deer, characteristic attributes of the Mask Being of the
Unami. The writer obtained but one mask among the Canadian Lenape, and
this was from the Grand River band (fig. 4); it has been described by
him[54] in the following words:
“But one mask (_mizink_) was obtained. It differed from
those of the Iroquois chiefly in being cruder, and also in
decoration, the lines being burnt into the wood instead of
being painted or carved. The original use of the mask had to
do, in part at least, with healing the sick, but Isaac Montour
(_Kaʹpyŭ‛hŭm_), from whom I bought it, failed to make himself
clear as to the details.”
It will be seen that the Minsi beliefs and practices noted above resemble
those of the False Face Company of the Iroquois tribes much more than
they do the customs connected with Mĭsiʹngʷ‛ among the Unami.
In fact, a vague tradition exists to the effect that the False Face
Company of the Cayuga once put a stop to an epidemic of cholera among the
Minsi. While this was not given to account for the origin of the society
among the Minsi, it at least shows that they were familiar with the
Iroquois practices in this line.
CHAPTER VIII
MINOR CEREMONIES
THE DOLL BEING
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