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Iroquois Indians: Corn
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The Iroquois Indians held six big festivals each year. Each festival lasted several days. During these festivals music was made by shaking rattles and beating drums. Rattles were made from gourds and turtle shells. The festivals included the New Year Festival in the winter, the Maple Festival in spring, the Corn Planting Festival, the Strawberry Festival, the Green Corn Festival, and the Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving. The festivals were held to give thanks to the good spirits for health, clothes, food, and happiness.
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Eventually, the Onondaga discovered that non-Indians would be willing to pay to see their ceremonial dances, and they experimented with public performances. In 1893 the annual Green Corn Festival was delayed several weeks for the convenience of the audience, and the council house was filled three times with spectators who paid 15 cents admission. The contemporary historian William M. Beauchamp wrote, "Of course, this deprived the feast of all religious force, and made it a mere show; nor did it quite satisfy those who saw it" ("Notes on Onondaga Dances," An Iroquois Source Book, Volume 2, edited by Elisabeth Tooker. [New York: Garland Publishing, 1985] p. 183).
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Sometimes the Indians wore corn husks masks or painted their faces to frighten away the evil spirits. The False Face Society was a group of medicine men who wore frightening masks made of wood. They were thought to posses special powers when they put on their masks.
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