Native American Medicine Man Mask

Referred to as healers, Medicine Men, or Medicine Women by their tribes, they have also been called shamans by people of European descent, though this term was not used by the Native Americans. These many healersE?? primary role was to secure the help of the spirit world for the benefit of the community or an individual. The Medicine Man was also a priest in addition to being a doctor. Believing that disease could be caused by human, supernatural, or natural causes, the healer was equipped to treat illness in any of these categories. Masks, which were often grotesque and hideous, were worn by healers to frighten away the spirit causing the disease or pain. Beating drums and shaking rattles while dancing around the patient were also used to exorcise the demons. Paul Kane (September 3, 1810 - February 20, 1871) was an Irish-born Canadian painter famous for his paintings of First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and in the Columbia District

Picture No

12697816

Media ID

47675277

Size

3156px x 4350px (7.5MB)

Credit

Science Source/Mary Evans