New Britain Herald Newspaper, November 19, 1926, Page 31

On the right, the unearthly mask worn by the dancer who impersonated the devil himself. Note the toads sit- ting one on each side of his mouth, one on his protrud- ing tongue and one on his nose. Twe serpents are twined around the devil’s horns, the head of one projecting be- tween his teeth and that of the other resting on the back of the toad squat- ting on his nose the Kekchi Indians in Central America, along the boundary be- tween British Honduras and the Repub- lic of Guatemala, have long been inter- ested in the strange devil dances which until recently these savages performed at regular intervals and with great en- thusiasm. Now it has been discovered that these dances are undoubtedly the survival of the religious rites practiced by the highly civilized Mayas in Chichen-Itza and the other great cities which they built in Central America. The dances are be- lieved to be practically the same as those which the Mayan priests performed in honor of the conquering devil who had put humanity in slavery to him. The Kekchis are descended-in part from the Mayas but they have degen- erated so sadly that they are yery un~ worthy representatives of thg'.mighty race which gave America its first great civilization—a civilization which, in the opinion of many scholars, rivals that of ancient Egypt. Of all the wealth of art, scientific knowledge and curious mythology which the Mayas possessed, the devil dances seem to be about the only thing that has been handed down to these savages. And now, since the Kekchis are being rapidly Christianized, the devil dances have fallen into disuse. The missionaries naturally discourage them as being the survival of a heathen re- ligion from which they are trying to win the In- dians. On a recent visit to this region Dr. Thomas Gann, the distinguished English scientist, succeeded in get- ting possession of a com- plete oulfit of masks, cos- tumes and musical instru- ments used in the deyil dances. The collection which Dr. Gann secured and carried back to England with him has been handed down from father to son for many gerenations. Study of the masks, costumes and instruments makes Dr. Gann feel very certain that they all ga back to the Mayas for their original models and that parts of some of them may actually date from Mayan times. The devil dance outfit which is of such extraordinary interest to science be- longed to the father of the young man from whom Dr. Gann purchased it. The father was a celebrated specialist in the art of devil dancing and had devoted years of his life to perfecting himself in the curious chants, songs, contortions and instrumental music which it called for. He died about two years ago. For six years previous to his death he had not dared to take part in one of the devil dances on account of the opposi- tion of the missionaries. The son was only too glad to dispose of the things which his father used in the dances. They were of no use to him, for he had become a Christian and would never dare to attempt another perform- ance with themn. Also he knew that they were dangerous objects to be found in the possession of an Indian who wished to keep on good terms with the church. There was a good deal of ceremony involved in the delivery of the things to Or. Gann, for although the young man who sold them had been converted to Christianity he had not yet rid himself of many of his ancestral superstitions in TRAVELERS visiting the home of Mask of sow that formed part of the army with which the devil spread greed and lust through the world regard to Satan and his malevolent power over mankind. Ever since the death of their original owner the relics of the devil dancers had been carefully wrapped up and stored in a little hut which they occupied all by themselves. Around them there had grown up among the Indians a certain feeling of mystery and dread and a be- lief that each of the strange masks in the hut was haunted by the actual dvil it represented and that when the right opportunity presented itself he might appear in person. So the uncovering of the thing and their delivery to Dr. Gann was accomplished by many heathen rites intended to ward off evil conse- quences. During the unwrapping of the articles three black \\'ax.\caudlvs were kept burn- Mask representing the devil’'s wife—very meek and harmless by compari- son with the fearsome ap- pearance made by the devil himself This is the mask which represents the devil’s father. Snakes are coiled around his horns and in his whiskers and the head of one appears between his teeth S Kekchi Indians of British Honduras and Guate- mala dressed for the extraordinary devil dance which they perform to-day just as their Mayan ancestors did 1,500 years ago ing continuously. When each of the unearthly masks was stripped off its cov- ering it was prompt- ly fumigated with incense such as is used in the church. When the last of the arti- cles had been handed over and the purchase money agreed upon paid, the former owner rhtfully gave Dr. Gann a couple of the black candles whieh he urged him to keep burn when the devils were installed in their new home in order to keep off evil influences! From a very aged member of the In- i tribe Dr. Gann managed to get a very good idea of the religious legend which inspired the devil dances. According to the legend, many, many ago the world was a very different t it is to-day. Everybody and contented, joyful and were seen on every face, 1 scowl or a frown or a tear or a heartache. Nobody thought evil thoughts or com- mitted evil deeds, nor did they have the slightest desire to do so. In fact, in those delightful times there was no such Goodness and happiness death was un- thing as evil reigned and known. But the king of the devils who lived his court in the hell which the called Metnal didn’t care at all te of affairs and determined to change it just as soon as he could. So the devil organized an army for supreme with Ma for this s Covyrint, the conquest of the world. It included his wife, his father and mother, four devils whom he regarded as his chief assistants, a boar, five sows, a monkey and the sinister figure of death. The members of this strangely as- sorted army all had different methods to follow in getting the human race under the devil's power. The women n bers were to introduce into the world quarrels, jealousies and lust; the swine, greed and selfishness; the monkey, mis- chief, and death was to spread fear among men. At this point Dr. Gann says that he interrupted the old man who was telling the legend and reminded him that there were not supposed to be any women in the Maya hell. The old Indian only grinned and said, “If there were no women there would be no hell.” The king of the devils led his army in person. It visited every village and town throughout the length and breadth of the earth and wherever it went its mem- bers amazed mankind with their vulgar songs, lewd dances and disgusting drunken orgies. At the same time they introduced among men everywhere lust, drunkenness, hatred, greed, dishonesty and death. At last the whole world was corrupted and became as we know it to-day. But the cunning devil was afraid that the human race might tire of the evils he had brought and go back to its previ- ous virtuous and innocent we order to prevent this he commanded the children of men to hold frequent devil dances as a constant reminder that they 1926, by Johnson Features. ne On the right, mask of a boar’s head, this being one of the various animals sup- posed to com- pose the army the devil col- lected for the purpose of corrupting hu- manity Strange Rites Symbolizing the Belief That All Mankind Is in Helpless Slavery to Satan, and How They Survive to This Day Among the Wild K ekchi Indians of Central America Mazk representing the devil’s chiex licutenant, his high rank being indicated by the little bell on his central horn were his slaves and must remain subject to evil forever. During the celebration of these dances he ordered that all the evil impulses which he and his army had introduced into the world should be loosed and that lust, kenness and debauchery of every kind should reign supreme. he dance supposed to have been ated by the king of the devils was performed by men and women dressed to represent him and the various char- acters who had composed his conquering army. The man who represented death was dressed in . long white robe with a skeleton painted on it. All the dancers wore large and very terrible looking wooden masks. These were carved rather nicely from a very light wood and were painted red, black and yellow. As if the distorted faces of the masks were not terrifying enough, their makers had added to them toads and ugly serpents with green heads and red bodies. There were fifteen dancers in all and when they were arrayed in their masks and robes they presented an appearance cal- culated to thrill people much more highly civilized than the Kekchi Indians, Before the advent of Chris- tianity among the Indians this party of dancers used to visit all the houses, sometimes of one vil- lage and sometimes of another, at a specified time each year. The king of the devils and his wife each played on an instrument made from a gourd and looking something like a huge man- dolin, The four assistant devils pro- duced harsh noises by scraping on the ridged sides of long calabashes. The monkey carried a large rattle which he shook continuously. To the din supplied by these instru- ments the dancers chanted monotonously a number of songs of the most vulgar and obscene character. They also danced a grotesque dance that frequently was rather lewd in its suggestion, The first song sung by the king of the devils began, “I am the king of the devils and I come in victory and in glory.” Before leaving each house in the village the dancers joined in a song which ended with the words, “The devils are off, but not to hell.”