﻿No. 
  122.] 
  . 
  90 
  

  

  Upon 
  this 
  belief 
  was 
  founded 
  a 
  regular 
  secret 
  organization 
  call- 
  

   ed 
  tlie 
  Falseface 
  band, 
  members 
  of 
  which 
  can 
  now 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  

   every 
  Iroquois 
  village 
  both 
  in 
  this 
  State 
  and 
  Canada, 
  where 
  the 
  

   -old 
  modes 
  of 
  life 
  are 
  still 
  preserved. 
  This 
  society 
  has 
  a 
  species 
  

   of 
  initiation, 
  and 
  regular 
  forms, 
  ceremonies 
  and 
  dances. 
  In 
  ac- 
  

   quiring 
  or 
  relinquishing 
  a 
  membership 
  their 
  superstitious 
  notions 
  

   were 
  still 
  further 
  illustrated, 
  for 
  it 
  depended 
  entirely 
  upon 
  the 
  

   omen 
  of 
  a 
  dream. 
  If 
  any 
  one 
  dreamed 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  Falseface, 
  it 
  was 
  

   only 
  necessary 
  to 
  signify 
  his 
  dream 
  to 
  the 
  proper 
  person, 
  and 
  give 
  

   a 
  feast, 
  to 
  be 
  at 
  once 
  initiated 
  ; 
  and 
  so 
  any 
  one 
  dreaming 
  that 
  he^ 
  

   had 
  ceased 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  False 
  face, 
  had 
  but 
  to 
  make 
  known 
  his 
  dream, 
  

   and 
  give 
  a 
  similar 
  entertainment 
  to 
  effect 
  his 
  exodus. 
  In 
  no 
  oth- 
  

   er 
  way 
  could 
  a 
  membership 
  be 
  acquired 
  or 
  surrendered. 
  Upon 
  

   all 
  occasions 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  members 
  appeared 
  in 
  character 
  they 
  

   wore 
  False-faces 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  figure, 
  the 
  masks 
  

   being 
  diversified 
  in 
  color, 
  style 
  and 
  configuration, 
  but 
  all 
  agree- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  their 
  equally 
  liidcous 
  appearance. 
  The 
  members 
  were 
  all 
  

   males 
  save 
  one, 
  who 
  was 
  a 
  female, 
  and 
  the 
  Mistress 
  of 
  the 
  Band. 
  

   She 
  was 
  called 
  Gd-go-sd 
  Ho-nun-nas-tase-tdj 
  or 
  the 
  keeper 
  of 
  the 
  

   Falsefaees 
  ; 
  and 
  not 
  only 
  had 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  regalia 
  of 
  the 
  band, 
  

   but 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  organ 
  of 
  communication 
  with 
  the 
  members, 
  for 
  

   their 
  names 
  continued 
  unknown. 
  

  

  The 
  prime 
  motive 
  in 
  the 
  establishmenf 
  of 
  this 
  organization 
  

   was 
  to 
  propitiate 
  those 
  demons 
  called 
  Falsefaees, 
  and 
  -among 
  oth- 
  

   er 
  good 
  ' 
  results 
  to 
  arrest 
  pestilence 
  and 
  disease. 
  * 
  In 
  course 
  of 
  

   time 
  the 
  band 
  itself 
  was 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  control 
  over 
  

   diseases, 
  and 
  over 
  the 
  healing 
  art; 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  often 
  invoked 
  

   for 
  the 
  cure 
  of 
  simple 
  diseases, 
  and 
  to 
  drive 
  away, 
  or 
  exorcise 
  the 
  ' 
  

   plague, 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  actually 
  broken 
  out 
  in 
  their 
  midst. 
  As 
  recently 
  

   as 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1849, 
  when 
  the 
  cholera 
  prevailed 
  through 
  the 
  

   State, 
  the 
  Falsefaees, 
  in 
  appropriate 
  costume, 
  went 
  from 
  house 
  to 
  

   house 
  at 
  Tonawanda, 
  through 
  the 
  old 
  school 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  vil- 
  

   lage, 
  and 
  performed 
  the 
  usual 
  ceremonies 
  prescribed 
  for 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   pulsion 
  of 
  the 
  pestilence. 
  ' 
  , 
  

  

  When 
  any 
  one 
  was 
  sick 
  with 
  a 
  complaint 
  within 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  

   their 
  healing 
  powers, 
  and 
  dreamed 
  that 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  Falseface, 
  this 
  

   .was 
  interpreted 
  to 
  signify 
  that 
  through 
  their 
  instrumentality 
  he 
  

  

  