Parker-4/5

Iroquois False Face Society

The False Face Society was an Iroquois healing group. They had an important job, to get rid of bad spirits, such as the flying head. They used masks, chants, rattles and dance to scare evil spirits away.

The False Face Society wore masks carved from wood. The mask maker walked through the woods until he found a tree whose spirit spoke to him. Some Iroquois carve their mask directly on the tree and only remove it when completed, while others carve an outline of the face, cut out that section of the tree, and carve their mask in secluded shelter until it is complete. The mask was polished then decorated with hair, feathers, and other adornments.

After learning about the False Face Society, students wrote about what they learned and created their own False Face Society masks.

Iroquois Bowl Games

The Iroquois played the Sacred Bowl Game during the last day of the "Ceremonial of Midwinter" which marked the end of the year. The wooden bowl was decorated with clan symbols. To play the game a player placed six nuts, which were colored on one side, inside the bowl and hit the bowl against the ground. If five of the six nuts turned up the same color, the player scored and took another turn. The first player to reach 10 points won the game.

After learning about Iroquois sports and games, partners worked together to create and play Iroquois Bowl Games. They choose clan animals for their bowls and wrote about what each one symbolized.

Native American Medicine Bags

You might think that a medicine is only carried by a Native American Medicine Man or Healer. That was one type of medicine bag - quite large as it would contain many herbs and items, sometimes as many as fifty items.

But there is a personal type of Medicine Bag carried by many Native Americans, including the Iroquois. It can range in size from a small pouch to a long bag. A personal medicine bag was not for healing others but to maintain personal harmony - with the physical, spiritual, and supernatural. A youth might have a small medicine bag. As they added experiences, they also added things to their bag, so over the years, they often needed to replace the smaller bag with one larger in size.

These bags were used to carry plants for medicine and also to hold personal items and good luck charms.

The 4/5 students created their own Native Americans Medicine Bags, thought about what items they would include in their bags, then wrote about the importance of each item they chose.

The 4/5 students created their own Native Americans Medicine Bags, thought about items they would include in their bag and wrote about the importance of each item they chose.