"Anybody Want an Ugly 15-Foot Indian Mask?"

The death of one of Brantford's landmarks and pigeon roosts seems inevitable.

An Iroquois medicine mask that has come to be the trade mark of the Brant Historical Society Museum may soon have a new home in another city.

The Brant Historical Society executive decided the mask had served its purpose and would be offered to another organization, preferably a museum or historical group.

Constructed for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the 15-foot-tall face advertised a display of early Indian carved medicine masks. More than a year ago, the mask was hung in the front of the museum here.

Since then, it has been the home of pigeons, starlings and other birds. Efforts were made to prevent birds from meeting in the inside of the mask. The back of the face was covered with fine wire.

Mrs. Harold Disher, president of the historical society, said the face was used to attract notice to the museum; it has served the purpose.

"However we aren't too sure how the public will feel about losing the landmark," she said. "We received some complaints that the mask was horribly grotesque and ugly. Birds were nesting inside the face and children were throwing stones at it. We were afraid the building might be damaged by the children."

"Should the people in Brantford want the medicine mask to stay at the museum, I'm sure public opinion could sway us," she said.

One resident who lives across from the museum does not mind the face. It stares directly into Mrs. James Forte's home at 58 Charlotte Street, but Mrs. Forte said "the mask is okay by me."

The historical society believes the mask helped to bring notice to the museum. "We are trying to bring tourists to Brantford," Mrs. Disher said, "and we will keep the museum open every afternoon except Monday during June, July and August.

Mrs. Disher feels the Iroquois medicine mask could help advertise Brantford, since the Six Nations Reserve is only a short distance away and Brantford's early history is woven around the Indians.

"If the mask stays, it will require funds to restore it to its original condition."