El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-24
Masks and Masqueraders

BY GARRETT P. sERvIss.

TOTHING is more curious than the
strange masks that were used By
4 y various indian tribes in their re-
Iigious and other ceremonies The
imagination Of the red man noted in
the invention OF these grotesque OBJ
5ects, and yet the play OF fancy exhi-
bited in them was not purely caprieious,
but was directed according to certain
fixed notions and beliefs concerning
the gods. demons. imps and other super
human powers and agents supposed to
watch over and interfere with the lives
OF human beings
The tendency TO represent the hui
man face under extraordinary dis
guises and in nondescript forms and
to imagine supernatural powers to be
concealed behind such masks is com
mon TO savages all over the world.
Among civilized people it shows itself.
without the superstitious element in
masquerades, carnivals and conven-
tionaI symbols. But even civilized or
partially civilized people, in some cases,
have not been free from the supersti-
tious practices connected with the use
Of masks. When DR.. Schiemann IN
covered the socalled royal graves Il
Mycenae. which he supposed 70 contain
the bodies Of Agamemnon and his com
panions, slain after their return from
the siege Of Troy, he found. in some OF
the graves. masks OF pure gold. fitted
Of. pressed over the faces Of the skele-
tons, and although these masks are
thought to have been intended for lor-
traits Of the persons on whose faces
they rested, yet there can be little
doubt that they had a ceremonial mean
ing. just as have the various objects
that nearly all primitive peoples de-
posit in graves Their grotesuue an
pearance may be due TO the lack Of skill
Of the makers and to the fact that the
graves caved in centuries ago, flat
tening out all their contents
The IrOquOis Indians, the original
Five Nations" Of Central New York,
had most peculiar institution called
the False Face Band" consisting of
certain members Of the tribe who wore
for ceremonial purposes erotes011e
masks, initiating the imagined faces Of
evil demons, who were believed TO in
habit the earth, and to be bodiless. ex-
cept that they possessed hideous faces
OF the human type Whether in visions
vi Us pure ADLEE DL fancy the INDIANS
had acquired definite ideas concerning
the aspects Of these demon faces, and
their typical forms we're closely MIN
licked in the masks. It was believed
that the maskers, By their mummeries,
were able to counterfeit, or render in
nOcuOus the evil influences Of the de-
mons The power to heal the sick was
also ascribed to the maskers, in which
case they reversed the magic Of the
false faces" as the demons were
called.
One OF these masks, which may be
seen IN the museum, has a curious story
connected with it that shows the reach
Of the indian Imagination. The face OF
the mask has one side singularly dis
torted. This was done in strict imita-
tion Of the fancied face Of the particu-
lar demon whose evil practices il was
intended TO render innocuous. Accord
ing 10 the legend. this demon one day
met the god HaWeniyu examining the
world which he had made, whereupon
the demon demanded of the god what
he was doing on his earth. They were
standing in the middle Of a valley.
and the indignant god, TO show his