Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-27


and test their ingenuity for extremes
Of folly they cut no capers that sur
pass those that have been performed
irl1mC1noriaIIy in the wigwams of the
native Am Sricans-
\ civilized people. tracing The origin o.
is customs into the djrnness of Il rnytho-
logical origin IS unable to find basis
for This. one OF it's pretticst of cclebra-
tons that equals in alleSorical beauty
the story upon which is based the False
Face Society OF the IroGuois Indians.
The lore OF the false faces of the Amer
lean Indians is being compiled by the
bu-ca,, OF American ethnOloEy. that gov
eminent institution which. under tho
direction % the Smithsonian Institution, Is
.rdearo rine 20 chronicle the big facts with
relation 10 The american Indian before
the race rasses O. loses its individuality
throu@., contact with other races Already
ter. are great stores 81 information in
l.and that Indicate that civilized man is a
poor competitor with his brother who is
uos.1e- to nature when it comes 10 simu-
latinc the mysticaliy unreal.
PROBABLY the greatest of the celebra-
tio'5e . the Indians that Parallel our own
e.
are annually -,i;t on 10y the lroGuoiS. that
greatest IraEUc Of Indians that was ever
kn,5.,ii. TIE League of the lroquols, with
tr,,. ia 50 in the valley Of the SuSquen ma
and another i'll The valley OF the ONO,
dominating six S:eat tribes. had a colo
MA policy before Great Britain had one.
in that trb. tie recall of ofhclalS has
been in practice :ur Il thousand years.
Suffrage IS granted only IL the mothers
Of babcs. and thus is recognition extend
cd To the greatest OF acts. the reproduc-
ton of kind. and thus is the ban placed
upon The barren.
Bur Of the many institutions that were
developed by the Iroauois that. when I'M
lerstood, might he envied by the whites
the one OF especial interest here is the
False Face Society, with its strange an
tics. its alIegorical origin and its care
fully guarded secrets. The False Face
Society Of these Indians is d secret organ
ization that IS as exclusive as any of the
secret societies OF civilized man. Only
the tried men of unGuestioned standing
are initiated and there are strange Sc
crets that even science has seen and is
unable to explain
The False Face Society holds its cere-
monies once Year. The object or the
celebration is to Brighten away the evil
of the wilGS today mingleS with his fel-
low who has adopted civilized ways. put
or, the white man 5 clothes and graduated
from his colleges These two extremes
NAV toiay he seen DOMINIC their masks
or coming for the fire cure at the hands
Of the society.
DR. i y r. HeWett. who is engaged in
scientific research for the bureau of eth
nology was born an lroquois, though but
part blood. and is today pa!nStaklnS
scientist like the others of his kind He
knows tie Iroduois language and has
translated much OF the literature of the
trio. into English. Recently he visited
his tribe at the False Face celebration.
w.tne sscd the antics and the applications
Of the IRE cure.
The society meets in the council house.
All who are afflicted are invited to come
ar.I b. cured Always there are present
!4ncs Cf the lame and halt and OF those
Ia-ked w..A disease lorg before the cele-
ilat.on begins Finally there is an out
laaTer VINO announces tie approach of
I.t False Faces Then they arrive, be
Gecie.. fantastic ally and wearing masks
that rcpT6sen the countenances of man
aud beast grotesquely twisted into strange
shapes.
The wearers of these Sarbs enter the
room Tr.G-lng on the floor or hopping on
two feet and one hand Their antics are
weird ana terrible. They approach
great fire taat has been heaped high with
wood. hut which has burned down until
il is mass OF glowing Goals. Here it is
that the greatest Of the secrets of the
order is shown. These WearerS OF the
false faces plunge their hands into these
Goals and take up double hanifuls of
them These they carry To the afflicted
wi.O may be at another end Of the room
During the time that i takes to walk
Of . hetH
in the hands a one might hold apples
When the afflicted are reached the Goals
are dumped precipitately upon their
heads. Yet the hair of these heads is