The society had a meeting-house of its own where its dances, Mizinkĭʹntĭka, were held, for, unlike the Unami custom, no Mizink ever appeared in the Big House. The members appeared wearing their masks and clad in rough bearskin and deerskin costumes, while some, at least, were provided with a turtleshell rattle which they would rub on a long pole, crying “Oⁿ-oⁿ-oⁿ!” the while.
Ceremonies.—While no consecutive account of their ceremonies is now remembered, it was said that they sometimes put down their rattles, heaped up the ashes from the two fires, then threw the ashes all over the house to prevent the people assembled from having disease.
Should any sick person appear, he or she would be especially treated with ashes. Sometimes the performers would pick up live coals and throw them about, frightening the people. At other times the whole company of them would go around to the different houses begging for tobacco, and would dance in any house where someone was willing to sing for them.
Nothing was said among the Minsi about the Mizink bringing back stray stock or driving deer, characteristic attributes of the Mask Being of the Unami. The writer obtained but one mask among the Canadian Lenape, and this was from the Grand River band ([fig. 4]); it has been described by him[54] in the following words:
“But one mask (mizink) was obtained. It differed from those of the Iroquois chiefly in being cruder, and also in decoration, the lines being burnt into the wood instead of being painted or carved. The original use of the mask had to do, in part at least, with healing the sick, but Isaac Montour (Kaʹpyŭ‛hŭm), from whom I bought it, failed to make himself clear as to the details.”
It will be seen that the Minsi beliefs and practices noted above resemble those of the False Face Company of the Iroquois tribes much more than they do the customs connected with Mĭsiʹngʷ‛ among the Unami.
In fact, a vague tradition exists to the effect that the False Face Company of the Cayuga once put a stop to an epidemic of cholera among the Minsi. While this was not given to account for the origin of the society among the Minsi, it at least shows that they were familiar with the Iroquois practices in this line.