'ko

TOWII'SAS, SISTERS OF THE DIO`HE:'KO

This society is composed of a body of women whose special duty is to offer thanks to the spirits of the corn, the beans, and the squashes, Dio`he:'ko (these sustain our lives). By their ceremonies of thanksgiving the Towii'sas propitiate the spirits of growth, and people are assured of a good harvest. The Towii'sas have a ceremonial song and a march, but no dances. The legend of the society relates that the entire band of Towii'sas, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, was captured by the Cherokee and carried down the Ohio river. Thereafter two men were admitted as escorts in their march through the Woods. At the closing of the ceremony the head-woman chants the Dio`he:'ko song as she leads her band about a kettle of corn pudding. She carries an armful of corn on the cob; in her right hand she holds some loose beans, and in her left some squash seeds, the emblems of fertility. The Towii'sas hold one ceremony each year, unless some calamity threatens the harvest. The rattle of this society is made of a land tortoise (box-turtle) shell. These are often found in graves, but their exact use in the Iroquois territory has not generally been known to archeologists. The leg rattle is another variety having several perforations.