28 INDIANS OF THE WOODLANDS 



On the loft is a collection of grotesque masks. Those were worn by 



the False Face Societies. The Indians were verv super- 

 "False " r 



P ,, stitioiis and l)olie\'cd in the existence of demons or e\il 



sj)irits who won^ without bodies, legs or arms, and possessing 



hideous faces only, wore characterized as "false faces." There eventually 



grow up a society calling itself the "False Face Band" wliose members 



were supposed to ha\'o power to counteract the evil done by these demons 



and to possess the capacity to heal sickness. Pictures by De Cost Smith 



illustrating the performances of this society are on exhibition in the cases. 



The earliest Indians of the vicinity of New York City are represented 



by the archjjeological collections in the first alcove on the 



^?^^ ^r , left. Here will be seen remnants of their crude potterv, 



New York , . ., , . . , , " » 



Indians weapons, cookmg utensils, and various implements made of 



stone, wood or bone, collected chiefly from burial sites on 



Manhattan Island, Staten Island and Long Island. In one of the cases 



is a portion of an original dugout canoe which was excavated in Oliver 



Street in 1906 when a telephone conduit was being laid. This canoe and a 



large earthen pot are among the very few good specimens that have been 



found representative of New York City Indians. 



Among the Delaware collections is a doll that was worshipped by this 

 ^ , tribe as the guardian of health. Indians of the vicinity of 



New York City mostly belonged to this tribe. 



In other parts of the hall, in approximate geographical order will be 

 found typical exhibits from the Penobscot, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawa- 

 tomi, Ojibwa, Menomini, Saulteaux, Eastern Cree, Winnebago, and Sauk 

 and Fox of the Eastern Woodland Area, and the Seminole, Cherokee, and 

 Yuchi of the Southeastern Area. In the south wall cases are small exhibits 

 from the Mackenzie and Plateau culture areas for which a special hall will 

 be provided in the future. The Seminole have never been entirely con- 

 quered. A part of them escaped deportation to Oklahoma and fled to 

 Florida and have taken up their abode in the Everglades, hostile to the 

 white men whom they will not allow to enter their domain. This exhibit 

 is one of the three existing collections from the Seminole Indians. 



Among the Menomini specimens there is an excellent collection of 

 medicine bags, porcupine quill work and a buffalo skin headdress worn 

 by the noted chief Oshkosh. The Menomini have always been friendly 

 to the Americans. 



The Ojibway and Menomini are typical Woodland Indians. They 

 made maple sugar, gathered wild rice, worked in birch bark, and practiced 

 a rather complex religion. 



At the rear of the hall will be found collections from the Eastern Cree 

 of James Bay and vicinity. While these people live in the woodlands 

 and have a culture of that type, another division of the same people lives 



