78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



face covered except for the eyes ; those so dressed acted only as door- 

 keepers or jesters and took part in the dance only at intervals, being 

 there for a different purpose [see below for other such masking] .^^ 

 On one occasion, while a dance was going on, one of these jesters 

 entered the house carrying on his shoulders a big dog which had its 

 legs tied and was muzzled. In the middle of the house, he took it by the 

 2 hind legs and dashed it on the ground several times until 

 it was dead. Then he handed it to another person who took it to 

 another house to prepare it for the feast at the end of the dance 

 (S117). 



When the dance was ordered on behalf of a sick woman, she was 

 brought to it on the third or last afternoon, if it was so ordered by the 

 ohi?^ During the first verses or repetitions of the song, they carried 

 her ; during the second, they made her walk and dance a little, holding 

 her up under the arms ; during the third, if she was able, they made her 

 dance a little by herself (S 117). Throughout this they cried loudly 

 etsagon outsahonne^ achieteq anatetsence^ 'Take courage, woman, and 

 you will be cured tomorrow.' After the dances were over, those who 

 were asked to the feast went to it and the others returned home 

 (S118). 



^ It is difficult to know -what the comparable custom is, if any, in present Iroquois 

 culture. Certain of the False Paces act as "doorkeepers," preventing people from freely 

 coming and going during certain of their rituals, but now, at least, the False Faces do not 

 wear bearskins. (It is possible, of course, that they did in the past when bearskins were 

 more easily obtainable). Some False Faces also are clowns, and the more serious Faces 

 may on occasion engage in clowning, as when performing the serious rite of blowing ashes 

 on the patient (see note 1, p. 108, for masks). For such reasons, Fenton (1937: 218; 

 1940 b: 413) thinks this passage refers to the False Faces and Husk Faces. Finley 

 (1840: 57) mentions a doorkeeper in connection with the Wyandot spring ceremonial 

 devoted to the recitations of the traditions of the people. 



^ On the basis of the material in the Jesuit Relations alone, the best translation of oftf 

 would seem to be spirit, with the secondary meaning of medicine man or a person or thing 

 endowed with more than usual talents or power (see passim below). In Wyandot, this 

 word, transcribed as uki, has been defined as essentially supernatural beings who are 

 endowed with power that may be either harmful or useful to man. They are the super- 

 natural guardians of individuals (they may appear during the puberty seclusi:)n) and of 

 clans and societies. Rivers, rocks, and other natural objects possess similar personal 

 spirits (Barbeau 1915: 9-10). Hewitt, however, equates the Huron word oM, and its 

 variants with the Iroquois word otkon and says that this "name is applied to any ob.iect 

 or being which performs its functions and exercises its assumed magic power or orenda 

 in such a manner as to be not only inimical to human welfare, but hostile to and destruc- 

 tive of human life" (Hewitt 1910 b; see also Hewitt 1902: 37 n.). The Iroquois call 

 witches, for example, agotJcon or honnatkon, 'They are otkons' (Hewitt 1910 c : 180)i. 

 Hewitt contrasts otkon with oyaron, individual, clan, and tribal guardian spirits. A 

 person's oyaron was revealed in a vision or dream, before or after birth. Sacrifices and 

 offerings of dogs, other animals, food, clothing, etc. were made to oyaron. Warriors 

 carried their personal oyaron wrapped in a sacred skin and invoked it to give victory, and 

 a shaman's oyaron aided him in all things. But, if one failed to make a feast in its honor 

 or give it an offering to keep it alive and to renew its strength, the oyaron would become 

 angry and cause its owner trouble, illness, or even death (Hewitt 1910 c: 178-179). This 

 description of oyaron sounds rather like that of the Huron oki. The apparent lack of 

 linguistic distinction between good and bad power of the Huron-Wyandot oki (and the 

 general lack of such a distinction among North American Indians) would seem to indicate 

 that Hewitt's distinction between otkon (bad power) and oyaron (good power) is a recent 

 one among the Iroquois and perhaps one influenced by Christian thought. 



