65. Sʻhagodiyoweqgowa

[Modern]

A number of Indians traveling northward from their village met a Sʻhagodiyoweqgowa, with whom they talked. He said, “Hawenniyo caused me to be around to assist you.” His mouth was drawn up on one side and down on the other. Continuing, he said: “If anyone mocks us in earnest, we will enchant him by sorcery. You may go to work making a mask representing a face like mine, and then you can cure by means of it the sick who are troubled by us, the Sʻhagodiyoweqgowa. In this way you may take my place.” So the people made wooden masks, to be used as directed. This, it is said, is the origin of the Society of False Faces, or Maskers, so prominent among the Seneca.[322]

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