Zeisberger[29] also refers to the masks in these words:
“The only idol which the Indians have, and which may properly be called an idol, is their Wsinkhoalican, that is image. It is an image cut in wood, representing a human head in miniature, which they always carry about them either on a string around their neck or in a bag. They often bring offerings to it. In their houses of sacrifice they have a head of this idol as large as life put upon a pole in the middle of the room.”
In his Dictionary, Zeisberger gives the word for “idol” as mĕsinkʹ, so it seems probable that the W in “Wsinkhoalikan” is a misprint for M.
MOTHER CORN
One of the important manĭʹtowŭk of the old days was the Corn Goddess, known as “Mother Corn” of whom one of the Unami legends collected by the writer relates that “It was God’s will that the Corn Spirit abide in the far heavenly region in the image of an aged woman, with dominion over all vegetation.” Although little remembrance of the details of her worship can now be found among the Oklahoma Lenape, she is mentioned as a Guardian Spirit; while at the Minsi ceremonies at Grand River Reserve in Ontario, she was one of the twelve benefactors of mankind to whom the thanks of the people were offered, and Minsi women mentioned “Sister Corn” in praying for good crops in the corn fields; while Zeisberger[30] says that the presiding Manĭʹto of Indian Corn or maize was spoken of as the “wife” of the Indian, and was offered bear’s flesh.
CHAPTER II
Minor Deities
DOLL BEING
The masks described in the last chapter are merely representations of a supernatural being, and are not supposed to be the dwellings of a spirit or spirits except when worn by an impersonator, who is said to become imbued with the spirit when the mask is donned; nor are they usually supposed to possess inherent power, except as symbols of Mĭsinghâliʹkŭn. But the Lenape had also a class of images, usually of wood, representing the human form, which were supposed to possess life, or at least to be the residence of spirits, which, so far as can be learned, had no separate existence. They were supposed to understand what was said to them, and to have the power of protecting the owner’s health, to enjoy offerings, resent ill-treatment, and in fact seem to fall into the class of true fetishes. Usually, but not always, representing the female figure, they were kept as a rule by women, and were given yearly feasts, at which outfits of new clothes were put on them. The native name in Unami is O‛ʹdas; in Minsi, Naniʹtĭs. The ceremonies and beliefs associated with them will be described later, in the chapter on minor ceremonies. Most of the early writers seem to have overlooked them, which is not surprising, since they were matters of personal and not of public concern, and their rites were held in private. John Brainerd, however, mentions an “idol image”[31] which seems to be of this class, and a Minsi specimen is figured by Peter Jones[32] and mentioned by him in a footnote. This was afterward procured by the writer from Jones’ son, and is now in the American Museum of Natural History ([pl. VIII]). John Brainerd (brother of the better known David) made his note of the custom about the middle of the eighteenth century, while that of Jones dates from about a century later.