Fig. 5.—Stone head or Mĭsiʹngʷ‛ from Ohio. (Height, 13.9 in.)
The best early description is given by Brainerd,[28] who, in May 1745, while on the Susquehanna above the English settlements, saw a masked Indian who must have been an impersonator of Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn. It runs:
“But of all the sights I saw among them, or indeed anywhere else, none appeared so frightful ... as the appearance of one who was a devout and zealous Reformer, or rather, restorer of what he supposed was the ancient religion of the Indians. He made his appearance in his pontifical garb, which was a coat of bear skins, dressed with the hair on, and hanging down to his toes; a pair of bear skin stockings; and a great wooden face painted, the one half black, the other half tawny, about the color of an Indian’s skin, with an extravagant mouth, cut very much awry; the face fastened to a bear skin cap, which was drawn over his head. He advanced toward me with the instrument in his hand, which he used for music, in his idolatrous worship, which was a dry tortoise shell with some corn in it, and the neck of it drawn on to a piece of wood, which made a very convenient handle. As he came forward, he beat his tune with the rattle, and danced with all his might, but he did not suffer any part of his body, not so much as his fingers, to be seen.”
With the exception of one minor point, the “wry mouth,” this would be a good description of the Mĭsiʹngʷ‛ outfit used until recently by the Lenape in Oklahoma ([pl. II]). On the following page, Brainerd mentions “images” which seem to be the Mĭsiʹngʷ‛ faces carved on the posts of the Big House.
PL. IV
STONE HEAD OR MĬSIʹNGʷ‛, FROM STATEN ISLAND, N. Y.
(Staten Island Institute of Art and Science)