Midwinter Rites of the Cayuga Long HouseU of Nebraska Press, 1995 M01 1 - 192 pages "The charm of [Dr. Speck's] book is matched only by the quiet dignity and poetic imagery of the Cayuga. Immersing himself in the native scene, the author entered sympathetically into the spirit of their thought. . . . Both the prayers and myths are remarkable for their power and loveliness".-Canadian Historical Review. "Since Speck's attitude towards native religion was charged with the highest respect and sympathy, he always was extremely successful in eliciting the cooperation of informants in securing reliable information. . . . Speck's linguistic gifts also facilitated such inquiries".-American Anthropologist. During his last years ethnohistorian Frank G. Speck turned to the study of Iroquois ceremonialism. This 1950 book investigates the religious rites of the Cayuga tribe, one of six in the Iroquois confederation that occupied upstate New York until the American Revolution. In the 1930s and the 1940s Frank Speck observed the Midwinter Ceremony, the Cayuga thanksgiving for the blessings of life and health, performed in long houses on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. Collaborating with Alexander General (Deskaheh), the noted Cayuga chief, Speck describes vividly the rites and dances giving thanks to all spiritual entities. Of special interest are the medicine societies that not only prescribed herbs but used powerfully evocative masks in treating the underlying causes of sickness. In a new introduction, William N. Fenton discusses Speck's distinguished career. Fenton, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of anthropology, SUNY at Albany, is the author of The False Faces of the Iroquois. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
PHONETIC NOTE | 10 |
COMPLEMENTARY DUAL FUNCTIONING OF THE MOIETIES | 20 |
CONTROLLING SPIRIT FORCES | 29 |
CEREMONIAL OFFICIARIES FOODS INSTRUMENTS AND COS | 39 |
TIMING AND PREPARATORY RITES OF THE MIDWINTER | 49 |
THE MEDICINE SOCIETIES | 56 |
THE RESTRICTED MEDICINE SOCIETIES AND THEIR RITES | 64 |
17 | 91 |
THE UNRESTRICTED SOCIETIES CURING RITES AND DANCES | 115 |
THE FOUR SACRED CEREMONIAL RITES | 127 |
31 | 139 |
WORSHIP RITES ADDRESSED TO FOOD SPIRITS | 147 |
22222 | 159 |
29 | 174 |
189 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Aaron Adgwa Adówa animals bench Bowl Game burned called Cayuga Long House chant chiefs Condolence contraclockwise corn soup Creator curing dancers Delaware Deskáheh Dream Guessing Rite earth Face Dance Face dancers False Face Society feast Feather Dance Fenton fire Fish Dance George Bumberry given hair Handsome Lake head horn rattle Husk husk-mask Indian Iroquois Jacob Isaac John Buck leader Lower Cayuga maskette Medicine Men's Society Medicine Societies Midwinter Ceremony Mohawk nose Onondaga opposite moiety origin Otter paddles patient performed person Pig Mask prayer referred relief representing requested ritual Round Dance sacred Seneca side singers singing Six Nations Reserve Skin Dance social dances Society Rite songs Sour Springs Cayuga Sour Springs Long speaker Speck Spirit Forces Springs Long House stirred the ashes Stirring Ashes Rite symbol Thanksgiving tobacco tribes Turtle moiety Tutelo wampum water-drum Wolf moiety women Wooden False Face