The Cheyenne Massaum Ceremony: A reenaction the initial moment of creation. According to Cheyenne Tsistsistas cosmology, all that existed before creation was a “singularity” of pure energy—with the word energy meaning “spirit.” From his interviews with the Cheyenne Keeper of the Arrows, Karl Schlesier used the term singularity three times in his book for what he was told existed before creation. When the singularity split, it created the universe into three parts. The Massaum ceremony was a formal process to connect with the three created worlds: the upper world, the lower world, and the Earth (the middle world). The Massaum allowed communion with the spiritual powers of all three worlds and maintained a balance and harmony among the powers of all three. It was a way to allow spiritual powers to interact with humans so that balance and harmony could be maintained. The idea of communing with the powers of the spiritual world was taken literally by the tribe and it took a reenactment of the moment of creation to produce the communion. That means that the spiritual powers could manifest visibly and physically to the tribal members. This was accomplished through a long set of intricate rituals performed by members of the secret societies who acted in specific roles after going through a spiritual cleansing. The playing of "roles" activated the spiritual forces of all three worlds and allowed them to manifest under what could be described as controlled circumstances. The ceremony was complicated and took a lot of time, but it allowed the forces of the spiritual powers of the three worlds to gather together and harmonize their activities and purposes. It was a mandatory obligation to conduct the ceremony or the harmony of the universe would suffer and the tribe would experience calamity. The fate of the tribe was held in the balance, and the successful performance of the Massaum ceremony ensured the tribe’s fate as a good one. From: Origins of the Gods (2022).

About 700 years ago on Marco Island, a Calusa artist carved this deer head from wood, painted it blue, black and white, inlaid the eyes, and attached the ears so they could actually move on cords. Ancient Florida had moving wooden masks.