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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



7 Its chief is said to be a man who is possessed of clairvoyant 

 powers, being- able to see through a wooden mask which has no 

 openings and discover the ceremonial doll wherever it be hidden 

 in the lodge. This chief is also able to juggle with fire while wear- 

 ing his mask. 



8 The ceremonies of the Ie'dos are said to be a cure for fever 

 and skin diseases. 



9 After the ceremonies the members feast on the head of a bear, 

 the chief passing it around while each member tears off a mouthful 

 with his teeth. 



Additional notes on the Ie'dos Company 



1 The Ie"dos Company is a band of " medicine " people whose 

 object is to preserve and perform the rites thought necessary to 

 keep the continued good will of the " medicine " animals. Accord- 

 ing to the traditions of the company these animals entered in 

 ancient times into a league with them. The animals taught them 

 the ceremonies necessary to please them and said that should these 

 be faithfully performed they would continue to be of service to 

 mankind. They would cure disease, banish pain, displace the causes 

 of the disasters of nature and overcome ill luck. 



2 Every member of the company has an individual song to sing 

 in the ceremonies and thus the length of the ceremony depends 

 on the number of the members. When a person enters the Ie"dos 

 he is given a gourd rattle and a song. These he must keep with 

 care, not forgetting the song or losing the rattle. 



3 The head singers of the Ie"dos are two men who chant the 

 dance song. This chant relates the marvels that the medicine man 

 is able to do and as they sing he proceeds to do as the song directs. 

 He lifts a red-hot stone from the lodge fire and tosses it like a ball 

 in his naked hands. He demonstrates that he can see through a 

 mask carved from wood and having no eyeholes by finding various 

 things about the lodge. He causes a doll to appear as a living being 

 and mystifies the company in other ways. It is related that new 

 members sometimes doubt the power of the mystery man and 

 laugh outright at some of the claims which he boasts. In such a 

 case lie approaches the doll and though his face be covered by a 

 wooden mask cuts the string that holds its skirt on. The skirt 

 drops exposing the legs of the doll. Then the doubting woman 

 laughs for every one else is laughing, at the doll she supposes, 

 but she shortly notices that every one is looking at her, and to 



