Indians 101: Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) medicine societies

Long before the European invasion of North America, five Iroquois-speaking Indian nations had formed a confederacy or league. These five nations included: Seneca (the big hill people, or the people of the big mountain); Cayuga (the people at the landing, in reference to portaging a canoe); Mohawk (the people of the flint, in reference to the flint quarries in their territory); Onondaga(the people of the hill, in reference to the hill where a woman long ago had appeared to give the people corn, beans, squash, and tobacco); and Oneida (the people of the standing stone, in reference to the supernatural stone which followed them). Following the European invasion, the Tuscarora joined the Iroquois Confederacy in 1722 as its sixth nation. While the designation Iroquois is often used to refer to the Five or Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, it should be remembered that not all Iroquois-speaking nations in the Northeast were members of the Confederacy.

The term Iroquois comes from the French modification of the Algonquian word Irinkhoiw which means “real adders.” The members of the Iroquois Confederacy refer to themselves collectively as Haudenosaunee in reference to the longhouses in their villages which serve as communal and ceremonial buildings. The Iroquois Confederacy is seen as a longhouse with the sky as its roof, the earth as its floor, and the council fires of the five nations burning within.

The Iroquois were an agricultural people who raised maize (corn), beans, and squash. A small Iroquois village might have only four or five longhouses, while a large village would have more than 100. The larger villages were sometimes called “castles” by the European immigrants and had populations of about 3,000 people.

The Iroquois tribes, like many other Indian cultures, viewed themselves as a part of nature: neither subordinate to it nor in dominion over it. Seneca archaeologist Arthur Caswell Parker, in his biography Red Jacket: Seneca Chief, writes:

“Life was like water; it flowed on like a river and then entered a great sea and mingled in a vast pool of life. Old age was like a tree whose branches had been broken by storms and whose trunk had become weather-beaten and decayed. Good words were like flowers that bloomed and bore seed that lived on after the flowers had withered.”

The Iroquois tribes had a number of different medicine societies which performed different curing rites. These societies served as trustees of rituals for the community. In their book The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions, Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“They act as intermediaries between spirit tutelaries and an individual who needs their help. Each society honors different animal spirits and calls on the power of its tutelary to cure disease, chase witches and divert natural catastrophe (such as drought).”

Some of the Iroquois medicine societies are briefly described below. There was some overlap between societies in the disorders treated.

False Face Society

This society dates back to a time during creation when the world was ruled by mythical beings. Writing in his 1851 book League of the Ho-Dé-No-Sau-Nee or Iroquois, Lewis Henry Morgan reports:

“The prime motive in the establishment of this organization was to propitiate those demons called Falsefaces, and among other good results to arrest pestilence and disease.”

Forest spirits are the teachers for this society. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“The society holds a special meeting at the Midwinter Ceremony for all its members and masks, and its major public performance takes place in the longhouse during this ceremony, the day varying according to the locality and longhouse.”

During the Green Corn Ceremony, the members impersonate spirits and perform purification rites to cleanse the longhouses of disease. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin also report:

“They conduct public exorcisms of disease, tornados, high winds and witches from the entire village and conduct curing rituals in homes in response to patient dreams or the diagnosis of sickness by a clairvoyant.”

Both men and women were members of the False Face Society. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“Membership includes persons cured from disease by the False Faces or persons who dream about membership in the society.”

Wooden masks are one of the important features of the ceremonial paraphernalia used by society members. The wooden False Face masks were made from white pine, maple, basswood, and poplar. To make a mask, the features were first carved in a living tree. During the process of carving the mask and cutting it free, a prayer was addressed to the evolving mask and to the spirit forces which it represented. The mask was then painted and adorned with horsehair. The new mask was consecrated to human service by placing it in the hot coals and ashes of the longhouse fire.

Regarding the symbolism of the masks, Christian Feest, in his book Native Arts of North America, writes that the masks:

“…portray first of all the Great Doctor, dwelling at the world’s rim, whose broken nose and twisted mouth derive from a mythical struggle with the Creator for control of the world; then there are the forest-dwelling ‘Common-faces’ seen in dreams; and finally, a countless multitude of beggar masks which caricature neighbours and strangers alike.”

All the masks were characterized with distorted features and deep-set eyes.

Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“Members wearing masks have special powers and can handle hot coals without being burned. They dip their hands into hot ashes and blow or rub them on a patient to cure him or her.”

Anthropologist Frank Speck writes:

“The Cayuga believe that the False Face images are very powerful and must be treated with respect, lest the power which they represent be turned against those who do not observe the rules regarding their care.”

One of the rules governing the care of the masks was the need to periodically anoint them with a mixture of sunflower seed oil and animal grease. At the same time, the masks were “fed”, tobacco was burned for them and small bags of tobacco were tied to them.

This society performed healing ceremonies only in cases of serious illness when other medicine societies had failed to bring about a cure. Among the illnesses treated by the False Face Society: hemorrhages of the nose; facial paralysis with the mouth drawn to one side; dream persecution by visions; annoyance by a False Face spirit; and frights in the forest.

Bear Society

The Bear Society treated howling hysteria and attacks of dementia. This was one of the medicine societies which was condemned by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake. In their healing rites, the members danced counterclockwise around the patient. The curing ceremonies were held in the longhouse during the Midwinter Ceremony. Both men and women belonged to the society and people cured by the society became members.

Otter Society

The Otter Society treated nervous tremors and associated afflictions. There was no singing or dancing in these healing rites. Water was an important ceremonial element. Only women belonged to this society. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“Members spray water at ceremonies by dipping a corn husk splasher in buckets of medicine water and shaking them at people. The members of this society were organized to give thanks to water animals and to retain their favor.”

White Buffalo Society

The White Buffalo Society treated dementia, convulsions, and bellowing hysteria. The water drum and horn rattle were used in these healing rites.

Corn-Husk Mask Society

The Corn-Husk Mask Society (Husk Face Society) treated illness from afflicting dreams or hallucinations. This society was symbolically linked with spirits associated with corn. Both men and women were members. The Husk Faces were mute and therefore they required someone to speak for them. The Husk Faces traditionally participated in the Fish Dance, the Women’s Dance, and the Great Father Dance.

Big Rattle Society

The Big Rattle Society treated illnesses from bodily injury, including wounds. The society also provided immunization against sickness foretold by dreams. This medicine man’s society was called Big Rattle because of the large pumpkin rattles which its members used. It is an ancient society which was also called “the keeper of the bones of the animal” in reference to the bones of a mythical horned animal.

Little People Society

The major ceremony of this society was the Dark Dance, a curing ceremony which calls upon the Little People. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“The dance is performed at night, in darkness, in private homes, not the longhouse, at any time of year.”

The Little People are important and powerful people.

Little Water Society

The Little Water Society treated general sickness. This society was called upon when the patient had a vision of the dwarf spirits. Members of this society were people who had benefited from the society’s healing rites. The healing rite began by placing tobacco on the fire and calling for the spirits of the dwarfs. This society had no public ceremonies or dances. Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin report:

“Of all the medicine, Little Water is depicted as the strongest and most dangerous.”

Eagle Society

The Eagle Society treated nervous debility. Both men and women were members of this society, and rituals were held in the longhouse during the Midwinter Ceremony. According to anthropologist Frank Speck:

“A person dreams of an eagle and as a result becomes nervous or suffers from general debility.”

End of the Medicine Societies

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a new indigenous religion emerged among the Iroquois, brought to them by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake (see Indians 201: Handsome Lake, Seneca Prophet for more information). While Handsome Lake had been instructed in his visions to maintain traditional ceremonies, such as the Midwinter Ceremony, the medicine societies were to be disbanded.

According to the oral tradition of the Cayuga, the prophet Handsome Lake was told by the Creator that the medicine societies were to be disbanded after a final ceremony in which tobacco was to be burned. This final ceremony was held, but the tobacco was not burned and thus the act of dissolution was not binding. The members continued to meet in secret, and then, after a while, the societies were openly reinstated.