False Face Ceremony
The False Face Ceremony is a significant ritual among the Iroquois tribes, also known as the Haudenosaunee, which involves members of the False Face Society donning specially crafted wooden masks. These masks, characterized by deep-set eyes and various facial features, are believed to possess the spiritual power to heal diseases. The ceremony is most prominently observed during the Midwinter Ceremony, where participants engage in a ritual called the Doorkeeper's Dance, allowing individuals to fulfill or renew personal dreams.
Central to the tradition is the figure of the Great False Face, a trickster linked to creation myths, who is tasked with ridding the earth of disease. Followers make offerings and create portrait masks in his honor, believing that this connection enables them to harness healing powers through the ritual of blowing or rubbing ashes on the sick. Even in the twenty-first century, the False Face Ceremony continues to be a vital practice, reflecting the cultural and spiritual heritage of Indigenous Americans while promoting physical and spiritual well-being within the community. The ceremony, while rooted in tradition, has adapted over time, emphasizing its enduring relevance and the importance of healing in Iroquois culture.
False Face Ceremony
- TRIBES AFFECTED: Iroquois tribes (six nations), also known as the Haudenosaunee
- SIGNIFICANCE: During the False Face Ceremony, certain tribal members don special masks that they believe give them the power to cure disease
The False Face Ceremony refers both to the rite performed by members of the False Face Society during the Midwinter Ceremony and to individual healing practices during which members of the society control sickness with the power of the spirit in the mask and the blowing or rubbing of ashes on the patient’s body. At midwinter, the society comes to the longhouse to enable people to fulfill particular dreams or to renew dreams during a ritual called the Doorkeeper’s Dance.
The False Face Society uses wooden masks with deep-set eyes; large, bent noses; arched eyebrows; and wrinkles. The mouths vary, but they are often "O" or spoon-shaped (a horizontal figure-eight shape). Spiny protrusions are often carved on the mask. The original “Great False Face” comes from an origin story and is depicted as a hunchback with a bent nose. His name links him to the legend of the test of moving a mountain, in which he engaged with Hawenio, or Creator. The Great False Face is a great trickster figure, although tricksters with many names and manifestations are mentioned in legends told by the Iroquois.
Hawenio, recognizing that Shagodyoweh-gowah (one of the names for the Great False Face) has tremendous power, tells the Great False Face that his job is to rid the earth of disease. Shagodyoweh-gowah agrees that if humans make portrait masks of him, call him “grandfather” or “great one” (gowa), make tobacco offerings, and feed him cornmeal mush, he will give the humans the power to cure disease by blowing hot ashes. Shagodyoweh-gowah travels the world using a great white pine as a cane, without which he would lose his balance. His movement is mimicked during the Doorkeeper’s Dance.
In the twenty-first century, many Iroquois continued to perform the False Face Ceremonies to protect against illness and promote healing. Although the ceremony has been adapted for more modern times, its focus continued to be on the physical and spiritual healing of the individual and the community. Tribes often chose specific times of year to perform the False Face Ceremony, although it could still be performed in times of individual sickness. Continuing the False Face Ceremony tradition represented the importance of recognizing Indigenous Americans' historical, cultural, and spiritual legacy.
Bibliography
Doueihi, A. "Trickster: On Inhabiting the Space Between Discourse and Story." Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 67, no. 3, 1984, pp. 283-311.
Fenton, William N. The False Faces of the Iroquois. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987.
Gadacz, René R. "False Face Society." The Canadian Encyclopedia, 20 Oct. 2014, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/false-face-society. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
"Iroquois False Face Mask – Second Face." The Museum of Cultural Masks, www.maskmuseum.org/mask/iroquois-false-face-1. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.