Mesingw, whose name is glossed 'living solid face' or 'masked being,' is the Lenape spirit-keeper of the forest and master of the game animals, especially the deer. Appointed by the Creator among the manitowak, he is described as a being who rides through the woods on the back of a buck, herding the deer, rewarding respectful hunters and punishing those who waste or despoil the forest. He is embodied in ceremony by a dancer wearing the distinctive wooden Mesingw mask painted half red and half black; this masked figure appeared at the Big House Ceremony and in hunting and curing rites. Documented in detail by M. R. Harrington and Frank Speck, Mesingw remains one of the most recognizable figures of Lenape religion and gives the Delaware Tribe its tribal seal.