Iroquois Corn Spirit

There are several versions of the corn spirit in the mythology of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Onatha, also reffered to as Deohako is the spirit of the corn. In the mythologies of the Seneca and Cayuga tribes, Onatha was one of the Deohako (the Life Supporters, or Three Sisters.) Onatah represented the spirit of the corn, while her two sisters represented beans and squash. In one common Iroquois legend, Onatah was stolen by Tawiscara and hidden underground, causing a great famine until she was found and freed.

In one Tuscarora legend, the Corn Spirit is portrayed as an elderly man as opposed to a young woman. In this legend, a Tuscarora village does not show respect for "...the corn that gives them life." They are immensely wasteful during harvest, left some corn unpicked and carelessly stored dried corn for the winter in poorly dug holes. The villagers were unconcerned about their wasteful harvest, assuming that they can always find game to hunt and plentiful fish. However, when winter came, there were no animals to hunt or fish in the streams. Only one man, named Dayohagwenda, remembered to show respect. He discovered an isolated lodge in the forest that was overgrown with weeds. The elderly inhabitant was the corn spirit, who was in poor health due to the villagers lack of respect for their crop. The spirit promised Dayohagwenda that if the people treated him with respect, he would not leave them.

The northeastern Iroquois weave many types of basketry including masks. Some masks are twined from corn husks but the majority use a braid foundation coiled and stitched together. The masks made of corn husks, also called bushy-heads or husk faces, are sometimes associated with the Husk Face Society. These masks usually embody, or are inhabited by spirits associated with the corn harvest or with growing grains.