^°No.°74f^^" IROQUOIS MASKS AT ONONDAGA — ^HENDRY 387 



extent he is directly responsible for the preservation of the False Face 

 Society it is difficult to judge. However, he is certainly an important 

 influence in shaping the attitudes and actions of the younger men. 

 As one informant put it, "If Pete Hest is not ashamed to act like an 

 Indian, we should not be." 



The carvers' reaction to Whites who show a familiarity with 

 Iroquois ethnography is, to a lesser degree, similar to their reaction 

 to Hest. The willingness of the younger men to explain the purpose 

 of the masks and describe the rituals in which they are used contrasts 

 sharply with the behavior of the older ones— who, for the most part, 

 refused to talk to me at all — and seems to indicate a desire on the part 

 of the former to prove themselves "real Indians." A concrete in- 

 stance of their efforts to make what they consider to be the proper 

 responses occurred when I inquired if the masks in the community 

 center should be hung facing out, as they were when I first saw them. 

 Allison Thomas, to whom I made this remark, then admitted that he 

 was breaking the rules, and the next time I came to the center, each 

 mask was hanging with its face turned to the wall. Several of my 

 other informants seemed almost apologetic because they could not 

 fulfill the expectations of the White visitor. One explained that he 

 could give me very little information because he had not "studied up 

 lately," whUe another said that he did not know much about masks 

 but "If I had education, I could tell you more." 



The material which has been presented does not permit a definitive 

 statement as to the attitude of the modern Onondagas toward then- 

 masks. The problem of ascertaining belief is always difficult, and in 

 this case particularly so, since the Indians themselves are probably 

 not completely conscious of their own convictions. However, the fact 

 that most of the older men wUl not discuss the masks and their rituals 

 with outsiders suggests that they may have retained their faith in the 

 curative powers of the carvings, whereas the beliefs of the younger 

 men seem to have changed. Although conviction may be acquired 

 with age or experience with illness interpreted as due to the False 

 Faces, I feel that the majority of the men carving today do not regard 

 the masks as sacred but simply know that they should so regard them. 

 Their actions, insofar as I was able to observe them, and their state- 

 ments to me seem to add up to a self-conscious effort to adhere to those 

 patterns of behavior which they have learned are appropriate for 

 Indians. 



LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 



Maskmaking is regarded by the Onondaga as a skill which requires 

 no training or instruction of any sort. The reaction of the carvers 

 when they were asked who had taught them the art was one of astonish- 



