e tongue sticking out. The mask was carved out of a living basswood tree. While the carver worked on the face, a priest of the Society chanted in front of the tree. He was calling the spirit of the “flying head” to enter the face in the tree. When the carver was finished, the tree was cut down. The carver took the face home and continued to shape the face so it could be worn as a mask. He also added hair and painted the face black or red.The Iroquois believed the face was a living thing that had to be protected and respected. Each mask was a reminiscence of the original False Face. The False Face was believed to be a mythical creature who had been punished by the Great Spirit. His punishment was to spend eternity healing the sick.In comparison to my life and the Iroquois way of living, I found many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of the Iroquois were that they had an excellent food supply and system of government. It was extremely difficult for the Iroquois to run out of food because of their superior way of food collection. Their system of government was great because it pleased everyone and they knew they could get rid of the chief if they needed to. The disadvantages of the Iroquois was that they had very little medicine and medical care and they didn’t have an advanced system of warfare. They didn’t really have good weapons in a fight and could be defeated easily. I would prefer my current life because there is much better medical care and with computers, fighting a war is easier then ever before.In doing this report I learned many thing about the Iroquois I never knew before. I did not know about their False Face Society and how important it was to them. They were a lot more interesting then I thought and were more intelligent then I anticipated. The things I learned are very important because they will give me a better understanding of the Native Americans. The Iroquois are probably the most in...
