False Face Society
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The False Face Society is the best known of many medicinal societies among the Iroquois in New York, USA. The society is best known for its dramatic wooden masks, the "false faces." The masks are used in healing rituals which invoke spirits and a dream world. Those cured by the society become members. Also, echoing the significance of dreams to the Iroquois, anyone who dreams that they should be a member of the society may join.
In modern times, the masks have been a contentious subject among the Iroquois. Many Iroquois have produced and sold the masks to Western tourists and collectors. The Iroquois leadership responded to the commercialization of this tradition and released a statement against the sale of these sacred masks. They also called for the return of the masks from collectors and museums. Iroquois traditionalists object to labeling the "False Faces" as masks since they are not objects but the living representation of spirits.
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[edit] Masks
The masks are considered to be "living" and are "fed" with tobacco. The design of the masks is somewhat variable, but most share certain features. The masks have long, black or white horse hair. Before the introduction of horses by the Europeans, corn husks and buffalo hair were used. The eyes are deep-set and accented by metal. The noses are bent and crooked. The other facial features are variable. The masks are painted red and black. Basswood is usually used for the masks although other types of wood are often used. When making a mask, an Iroquois walks through the woods until he is moved by a spirit to carve a mask from the tree. The spirit inspires the unique elements of the mask's design and the resulting product represents the spirit itself. The masks are carved directly on the tree and only removed when completed. Masks are painted red if they were begun in the morning or black if they were begun in the afternoon. Red masks are thought to be more powerful. Masks with both colors represent spirits with "divided bodies."
[edit] Origin myth
Iroquois tradition records the legendary beginning of the False Face tradition. According to the accounts, the "Spirit Medicine Man", a man blessed with healing powers in response to his love of living things, encountered a stranger and faced him in a competition to see who could move a mountain. The stranger managed to make the mountain quake. Spirit Medicine Man declared the stranger had skill but not enough faith to move the mountain. He proceeded to move the mountain suddenly, striking the stranger in the face with it and leaving him disfigured. The Spirit Medicine Man healed the stranger and taught him the ways of medicine. The stranger became a great healer known as "Old Broken Nose". The False Face rituals honor Old Broken Nose and the masks represent his smashed face. In various versions of the story, the Spirit Medicine Man is a creator god while Old Broken Nose is known by other names such as "False Face" and the "Great Face".
[edit] Ritual
The False Face Society performs a ritual to promote health using the masks. The ceremony usually contains a telling of the False Face myth, an invocation to the spirits using tobacco, the main False Face ritual, and a feast at the end. During the main part of the ritual, the False Face members go through every house in the entire town searching for disease and illness. The False Face members also use turtle shell rattles, a reference to Iroquois cosmology which see our world resting on the back of a giant turtle. The arrival of the False Faces is heralded by another medicine society that uses corn husk masks. If a sick person is found, a healing ritual is performed using tobacco and singing. The tobacco is burned, and the ashes are blown over the sick person. The community then gathers at the long house where the False Faces enter and move towards the central fire. Here individuals may request healing. The ritual continues with dancing and ends with a ceremonial ash blowing and a feast. The ritual is performed during the spring, fall, midwinter, and smaller versions of the ceremony are performed whenever a sick individual requires it.
