Fig. 3.—Charm representing Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn. (Height, 1.9 in.)
Among the Minsi there are considerable differences in belief and in practice, their masks resembling those of the Iroquois in many particulars. The late James Wolf said that “Mizinkhâliʹkŭn” was supposed to live among the rocks on a hill, where he was first seen, and told the people how to obtain his power. The mask owners formed a society, which had a special meeting-house and ceremonies, and whose chief function it was to expell disease. This will be discussed further in another paper. Peter Jones[25] illustrates two Minsi masks in use in the first part of the nineteenth century, and these are here reproduced ([pl. III]). The first he calls a “Muncey idol,” and says that it was “delivered up by Joe Nicholas on his Conversion to Christianity,” and that “Me Zeengk is the name of this God”; while the second, which he names “a Muncey devil idol,” “formerly belonging to the Logan family,” was “delivered up on the 26th of Jan. 1842.” Jones does not refer to these “idols” in the text. The second mask illustrated seems to have a turtleshell rattle tied on its back, the handle projecting downward. Another mask, found by the writer among the Lenape at Grand river, Ontario, and apparently of Minsi type, is shown in [fig. 4]. It was collected for Mr. E. T. Tefft, of New York, but is now in the American Museum of Natural History.
PL. III
MASKS OF THE MINSI (AFTER PETER JONES)
Some of our best evidence indicating the early existence of belief in this Mask Being among the Lenape is furnished by archeology—by the finding of a number of heads or masks of stone ([pl. IV]) within the boundaries of their former domain in New Jersey and the vicinity,[26] which, when the rarity of such objects in the surrounding regions is also considered, seems quite significant. Such stone heads even mark the trail of the Lenape withdrawal westward through Pennsylvania,[27] and have even been found in Ohio, where they lingered for a time ([fig. 5]).
Fig. 4.—Mask from the Canadian Lenape. E. T. Tefft collection, American Museum of Natural History. (Height of head, 14 in.)