It is only upon acquaintance with the secret cult societies that one may glean something of the Indians’ conception of disease, its cause and cure. It is supposed to be produced almost wholly through one or two agencies—the occult powers of wizards and witches, and the anger of certain animals, often insects. Therefore, though some plant medicines are known to these Indians, their materia medica may be said to be purely fetichistic; for when anything of a medicinal character is used by the theurgist it must be supplemented with fetich medicine and magical craft. While there are thirteen secret cult societies with the ZuÑi, there are but eight in Sia, some of these being reduced to a membership of two, and in one instance to one. While the ZuÑi and Sia each has its society of warriors, the functions of these societies are somewhat different. The cult societies of the Sia, as well as those of ZuÑi, have their altars and sand paintings; but while each ZuÑi altar, with its medicines and fetiches, is guarded during ceremonials by two members of the Society of Warriors, this entitling the members of this society to be present at the meetings of all the cult societies, the Sia have no such customs. Their altars and fetiches are not protected by others than the theurgists and vice-theurgists of their respective societies. At the present time, owing to the depleted numbers of the Society of Warriors of the ZuÑi, some of their altars have but one guardian. The Society of Warriors has for its director and vicar, like the ZuÑi and the other pueblos, the representatives of the mythologic war heroes, who, though small in stature, are invulnerable. “Their hearts are large, for they have the heart of the sun.” The head or director of a society is termed the elder brother; the vicar, younger brother. When the cult societies invoke the cloud people to water the earth, the presence of certain anthropomorphic and zoomorphic beings having potent influence over the cloud people is assured by the drawing of a line of meal from the altar to the entrance of the ceremonial chamber, In order to obtain their services the Sia compensate them. The hÄ´chamoni (notched stick), which is deposited to convey the message, invariably has plumes attached to it, these plume offerings being actual compensation for that which is desired. Other offerings are made, among which are gaming blocks, hoops for the cloud people to ride upon, and cigarettes filled with the down of humming birds, corn pollen, and bits of precious beads. (See Plate xi). Eagles are kept caged, and turkeys are domesticated for the purpose of obtaining plumes for these offerings. It is the prerogative of the ti´Ämoni to specify the time for the meetings of the cult societies, excepting ceremonials for the healing of the sick by the request of the patient or his friend. These meetings being entirely under the jurisdiction of the theurgist, who does not possess within himself the power of healing, he is simply the agent acting under the influence of those beings who are present in the stone images. The gala time is the beginning of the new year in December, when the cult societies hold synchronal ceremonials extending through a period of four days and nights, at which time the fetich medicines are prepared; and those possessing real or imaginary disease gather in the chamber of the society of which they are members, when the theurgists and their followers elaborate their practices of mysticism upon their subjects. The cult societies have two ways of retaining their complement of members. An adult or child joins a society after being restored to health by a theurgist; and a parent may enter a child into a society, or a boy or girl having arrived at years of discretion, may declare a desire to join a society. In the case of a young child the paternal or maternal parent calls upon the theurgist and, making known his wish, presents him with a handful of shell mixture,[15] saying, “I wish my child to become a member of your society that his mind and heart may be strong.” In the case of an elder boy or girl the clan is first notified, and the applicant then calls upon the theurgist and, presenting him a handful of the shell mixture, makes known his wish. Most of the societies are divided into two or more orders, the more important order being that in which the members are endowed with the anagogics of medicine, except in the Snake Society, when the snake Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XI Drawn by Mary Irvin Wright. GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. HÄ´-CHA-MO-NI BEFORE PLUME OFFERINGS ARE ATTACHED. Women may be members of the various orders, excepting in the societies of the Snake, Cougar, or Hunters and Warriors. The Snake division of the Snake Society has no female members, and the societies of the Cougar or Hunters and Warriors are composed entirely of men. When one makes known his desire to enter a society he states to the theurgist which division he wishes to join. The objection to handling the snakes keeps the Snake division of this society limited, though the honor is much greater in belonging to this division. Upon entering the medicine order of any society the new member is presented with the fetich ya´ya by the theurgist, who must practice continency four days previous to preparing the fetich. The cult societies observe two modes in curing disease: One is by sucking, and the other by brushing the body with straws and eagle plumes. The former mode is practiced when Ka-nat-kai-ya (witches) have caused the malady by casting into the body worms, stones, yarn, etc.; the latter mode is observed when one is afflicted through angry ants or other insects, which are thus drawn to the surface and brushed off. The medicine ceremonials of the cult societies are quite distinct from their ceremonials for rain. The only compensation made the theurgist for his practice upon invalids either in the ceremonial chamber or dwelling is the sacred shell mixture. It is quite the reverse with all other Indians with whom the writer is acquainted. The healing of the sick in the ceremonial chamber is with some of the peublos gratuitous, but generous compensation is required when the theurgist visits the house of the invalid. Continency is observed four days previous to a ceremonial, and an emetic is taken each morning for purification from conjugal relations. On the fourth day the married members bathe (the men going into the river) and have their heads washed in yucca suds. This is for physical purification. The exempting of those who have not been married and those who have lost a spouse seems a strange and unreasonable edict in a community where there is an indiscriminate living together of the people. The ceremonials here noted occurred after the planting of the grain. Several of the ordinances had been held previous to the arrival of the writer. She collected sufficient data, however, to demonstrate the analogy between the rain ceremonials of the secret cult societies, their songs bearing the one burden—supplication for rain. RAIN CEREMONIAL OF THE SNAKE SOCIETY.The morning was spent by the ho´naaite (theurgist) and his vicar in the preparation of hÄ´chamoni[16] and plume offerings. The hÄ´chamoni are symbolic of the beings to whom they are offered, the messages or prayers being conveyed through the notches upon the sticks. These symbols frequently have her´rotuma (more slender sticks representing the official staff) bound to them with threads of yucca; Pls. xi and xii show an incomplete set of hÄ´chamoni before the plume offerings are appended, which the Snake Society deposits when rain is desired; Pl. xiii, specimens of hÄ´chamoni with plume offerings attached. About 4 o’clock p.m. the ho´naaite and his younger brother were joined by the third member of the society, when the ho´naaite began the sand painting,[17] the first one being laid immediately before the Ä´?chÎn (slat altar), which had been erected earlier in the day, and the second in front of the former (Pl. xiv). Upon the completion of the paintings the ho´naaite deposited several long buckskin sacks upon the floor and the three proceeded to remove such articles as were to be placed before the altar. There were six ya´ya, four of these being the property of the ho´naaite, two having come to him through the Snake Society, and two through the Spider, he being also ho´naaite of the Spider Society, the others belonging to the vice ho´naaite and third member of the Snake Society. The ya´ya are most carefully preserved, not only on account of their sacred value, but also of their intrinsic worth, as the parrot plumes of which they are partially composed are very costly and difficult to obtain, they being procured from other Indians, who either make journeys into Mexico and trade for these plumes with the Indians of that country, or the Indians on the border secure them and bring them for traffic among their more northern brothers. The ya´ya are wrapped first with a piece of soft cloth, then with buckskin, and finally with another cloth; slender splints are placed around this outer covering and a long buckskin string secures the packages. Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XII Drawn by Mary Irvin Wright. GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. HÄ´-CHA-MO-NI BEFORE PLUME OFFERINGS ARE ATTACHED. After unwrapping the ya´ya the ho´naaite proceeds to arrange the fetiches. Three of the ya´ya are placed immediately in front of the altar upon a paralellogram of meal, which is always drawn at the base of the altars, and is emblematic of seats for the ya´ya. An image, 8 When the altar is completed the ho´naaite and his associates stand before it and supplicate the presence of the pai´ÄtÄmo and Ko´pishtaia, who are here represented by images of themselves, these images becoming the abiding places of the beings invoked. After the prayer, the ho´naaite and his vicar sit upon their folded blankets near the fireplace, where a low fire burns, and with a supply of tobacco and corn husks content themselves with cigarettes until the opening of the evening ceremony. By 9 o’clock the Snake society was joined in the chai-Än-ni-kai (ceremonial chamber) archaic, Su´?-ser-ra-kai by the Kapina, it being the prerogative of the hÓnaaite of one organization to invite other societies to take part in his ceremonies. They formed in line, sitting back of the altar; the hÓnaaite being in the rear of the central slat figure, which symbolized the hÓnaaite of the cult society of the cloud people. The other members were seated in the rear, as near as could be, of Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XIII Drawn by Mary Irvin Wright. GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. HÄ´-CHA-MO-NI WITH PLUMES ATTACHED. The women formed right angles with the line of men, four sitting on the north side of the room and four on the south side. The elder female member sat at the west end of the line on the north side of the room. The men wore breechcloths of white cotton; the hÓnaaite and the ti´Ämoni wore embroidered Tusayan kilts for breechcloths. The hair was done up as usual, but no headkerchief was worn. The boy and men held oh´-shi-e-kats (gourd rattles) in their right hands and hi´-shÄ-mi (two eagle plumes) in the left. The women were attired in their black wool dresses, the calico gown being discarded, and red sashes, wearing the conventional cue and bang. The neck and arms were exposed and the feet and lower limbs were bare. Each woman held two wands of turkey plumes in the right hand, and both men and women wore numerous strings of coral and kohaqua beads with bunches of turkis (properly earrings) attached pendent to the necklaces. The ceremonial opened with the rattle and song, the women accompanying the men in the song. After a short stanza, which closed, as all the stanzas do, with a rapid manipulation of the rattle, the second stanza was almost immediately begun, when the vicar (Pl. xvii) standing before the altar shook his rattle for a moment and then waved it in a circle over the altar. He repeated this motion six times, for the cardinal points, and returned to his seat before the closing of the stanza. The circle indicated that all the cloud people of the world were invoked to water the earth. On the opening of the third stanza all arose and the hÓnaaite reaching over the altar took a yÁ-ya in either hand, he having previously laid his rattle and eagle plumes by the altar. This stanza was sung with great vivacity by the men, who swayed their bodies to the right and left in rhythmical motion, while the women waved their wands monotonously. The movement of the arms of both the men and women was from the elbow, the upper arms being apparently pinioned to the sides; there was no raising of the feet, but simply the bending of the knees. At the close of the stanza, which continued thirty minutes, the hÓnaaite gave a weird call for the cloud people to gather; all, at the same instant, drew a breath from their plumes and took their seats. A woman then brought a vase of water and gourd from the northeast corner of the room and placed it in front of the altar. (Pl. xvi.) In a moment the song was resumed, and the yÁni-?si-wittÄÑi (maker of medicine In the administering of the water the women were helped first, a feature never before observed by the writer in aboriginal life. With the beginning of the sixth stanza the hÓnaaite arose, and leaning forward waved his plumes over the medicine bowl with a weird call, each member repeating the call, the women exhibiting more enthusiasm Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XIV GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. ALTAR AND SAND PAINTING OF SNAKE SOCIETY. The preparation of the medicine water began with the opening of the seventh stanza. The ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi danced before the altar, keeping south of the line of meal, and holding six pebble fetiches in either hand, which he had taken from two small sacks drawn from one of the bear-leg skins. He did not sing, but he kept time with the choir. Extending his right hand toward the altar, he touched the two front ya´ya, and then, placing his hands together, he again extended them, and, drawing closer still to the altar, he dropped a fetich from his right hand into the medicine bowl with a weird cry to the Snake ho´naaite of the north to invoke the cloud ruler of the north to send his people to water the earth; and after raising his hands above his head he again extended them toward the altar, and, leaning forward, dropped a fetich from his left hand into the cloud bowl. This was repeated four times with each bowl, with petitions to the Snake ho´naaites of the north, the west, the south, and the east to intercede with the cloud rulers to send their people to water the earth. Then, taking two large stone knives from before the altar, he struck them together, and, passing from the south of the line of meal to the north, he again brought the knives together. Recrossing the line of meal, he dipped the knives into the bowl of medicine water and sprinkled the altar; then, passing to the north of the line, he dipped the knives into the medicine water and repeated the sprinkling of the altar four times; again, standing south of the line, he dipped the knives into the water, throwing it to the east, and, crossing the line, dipped them into the bowl and repeated the motion to the east, and resumed his seat at the south end of the line of men. The ho´naaite then leaned over the altar, and, dipping his plumes into the medicine bowl, sprinkled the altar four times by striking the plumes on the top with the rattle held in the right hand. The song, which had continued for an hour without cessation, now closed, and the men gathered around the tobacco which lay near the fire-place, and, making cigarettes, returned to their seats and smoked. The boy ignited the fire-stick and held it for the men to light their cigarettes. He passed it first to the man at the north of the line. As each man took the first whiff of his cigarette he blew the smoke toward the altar and waved the cigarette in a circle as he extended it to the altar. After the smoke the song and rattle again resounded through the room, and at the close of a short stanza the man at the north end of the line cried out in a high tone and the women Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XV ALTAR OF SNAKE SOCIETY. The ti´Ämoni lighted a cigarette from a coal at the fireplace and handed it to the cloud-maker, who stood the reed in the center of the suds before receiving the cigarette; he blew the first few whiffs over the suds and then smoked a moment or two and laid about one-third of the cigarette by the side of the cloud bowl. The song, which had continued almost incessantly for three hours, now ceased, and the cloud-maker returned to his seat in the line. The ti´Ämoni sat by the fire and smoked, several joining him for a short time; but all soon returned to their seats in the line and continued their smoke. At the beginning of the succeeding song the two women at the east end of the south line danced before the altar and sprinkled it by striking the wand held in the left hand on the top with the one held in the right. One of the women was frequently debarred taking part in the ceremony owing to the attention required by her infant, who was at times fretful. Two women from the east end of the north line joined in the dance, and then a third woman from the south line; three of the women formed in line running north and south; an aged woman at the west end of the south line danced, but did not leave her place at the end of the line. She pulled the young boy who sat near her forward, telling him The dancers having taken their seats in the line the ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi removed the bowl of medicine water and placed it before the basket of plume offerings; then stooping, he took one of the ya´ya in his left hand and with the right administered the medicine water from an abalone shell to the women first, the infant in the mother’s arms receiving its portion; then to the boy and men. After each draft the hi´shÄmi and wands were touched to the ya´ya and the sacred breath drawn from them; the ho´naaite was the last to be served by the ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi, who in turn received the medicine water from the ho´naaite, who held the ya´ya while officiating. The ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi then left the chamber, carrying the ya´ya in his left hand and bowl of medicine water with both hands. When outside the house he sprinkled the six cardinal points, the water being taken into the mouth and thrown out between the teeth. The ho´naaite lifting the basket of plume offerings stooped north of the meal line and the ti´Ämoni and the younger member of the snake division stooped south of the line of meal. The necklaces of bears’ claws had been removed and all but the ho´naaite’s laid on a pile of bear-leg skins, he depositing his on the snake fetich at the north side of the altar. The two young men put on their moccasins and wrapped around them their blankets which had served as seats during the ceremonial before advancing to meet the ho´naaite, who, while the three held the basket repeated a long litany, responded to by the two young men. The women laughed and talked, paying little attention to this Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XVI Drawn by Mary M. Mitchell. GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. CEREMONIAL VASE. As the bearers of the offerings left the chamber the ho´naaite played upon a flute which was quite musical; and upon their return he received them standing in front of the altar, and north of the meal line; after a prayer by the ho´naaite the young men turned to the altar and the ti´Ämoni offered a prayer, which was responded to by the ho´naaite, who now sat back of the altar. The boy then made two cigarettes and, after lighting one, he handed it to the ti´Ämoni; the second he gave to the companion. After a feast of bread, stewed meat, and coffee, the ho´naaite stooped before the altar and, taking the ya´ya from the tail of the sand-painted cougar in his left hand, he pressed the palm of his right hand to the sand cougar, and drew a breath from it, and, raising the ya´ya to his lips, drew a breath from it, and clasped it close to his breast and passed behind the altar and, reaching over it, he moved the center one of the three ya´ya to the right, and substituted the one he carried, and resumed his seat. In a moment or two the ho´naaite removed the two large fetiches of the cougar to the back of the altar; and the vicar prayed and touched the four cardinal points of the sand painting with pollen, and then placed the palm of his right hand to the sand-painted cougar and, after drawing the sacred breath, rubbed his hand over his body, when all the members hastened to press their hands to the sand-painting, draw the breath, and rub their bodies for mental and physical purification; during which time the ti´Ämoni sat back of the altar holding his eagle plumes with both hands before his face, and silently prayed. The remaining sand was brushed together from the four points by a woman with an eagle plume, and lifted, with the plume, and emptied into the palm of her left hand and carried to her home and rubbed over the bodies of her male children. The ya´ya were collected by their individual owners, who blew the meal from the feathers and carefully inclosed them in their three wrappings. The four wands of turkey plumes in the clay holders concealed hÄ´chamoni for SÛs´sistinnako from the ho´naaite of the Spider Society; these were not deposited until sunrise, and then by such members of the The hÄ´chamoni convey to those to whom they are offered messages as clear to the Indian understanding as any document does to the civilized mind. The following account of the initiation of a member into the third degree of the Snake order was given the writer by the vicar of the Snake Society.
Such is the impression made upon these people by dreams. This man will be a novitiate for two years, as it requires that time to learn the songs which must be committed to memory before entering the third degree. He continued:
The ceremonials in which snakes are introduced are exclusively for the initiation of members into the third degree of the Snake division. These ordinances must be observed after the ripening of the corn. The day of the arrival of the society at the snake house (a log structure which stands upon a mound some 6 miles from the village) hÄ´chamoni are prepared by the ho´naaite and the other members of this division of the society; they are then dispatched by the ho´naaite to the north in search of snakes; and after the finding of the first snake the hÄ´chamoni are planted; the number of snakes required, depending upon the membership, the ratio being equal to the number of members; there must be a snake from each of the cardinal points, unless the membership is less than four, which is now the case. There being but three members at the present time, only the north, west, and south are visited for the purpose of collecting snakes, but the members must go to the east and deposit hÄ´chamoni to the Snake ho´naaite of the east. The war chief notifies the people each day that they must not visit the north, west, south, or east; should one disobey this command and Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XVII VICE HO´-NA-AI-TE OF SNAKE SOCIETY. An emetic is taken these four days for purification from conjugal relations, and continency is observed during this period. The emetic is composed of the stalks and roots of two plants, which are crushed on a stone slab by the ho´naaite and mixed with water when he designates the member to place it over the fire. It is drunk slightly warm. The decoction so constantly drank by the Tusayan Indians previous to their snake ceremonial is an emetic, and is taken for the same purpose, and not, as some suppose, to prevent the poisonous effect of snake bites. Medicine for the snake bite is employed only after one has been bitten; for this purpose the Sia use the plant Aplopapus spinulosus (Indian name ha´-ti-ni) in conjunction with ka´-wai-aite, a mixture of the pollen of edible and medicinal plants. An ounce of the plant medicine is put into a quart of water and boiled; about a gill is drunk warm, three times daily, during the four days and the afflicted part is bathed in the tea, and wrapped with a cloth wet with it. An hour after each draught of the tea a pinch of the ka´-wai-aite is drunk in a gill of water. The patient is secluded four days; should one suffering from a snake bite look upon a woman furnishing nourishment for an infant, death would be the result. The ZuÑi have the same superstition. The fifth day a conical structure of cornstalks bearing ripe fruit is erected some 70 feet east of the log house, in a ravine parallel with the side of the house, and a sand painting is made by the ho´naaite on the floor of the house; and when the painting is completed he takes his seat in the west end of the room (the entrance being in the east end), the male members of the society sitting on his right and left, and the women forming right angles at either end of the line. The novitiates are seated southwest of the sand painting, and all are necessarily close together, as the room is very small. The ritual begins with the rattle and song, and after the song the ho´naaite passing before the line of women on the north side takes a snake from a vase, and, holding it a hand’s span from the head, advances to the east of the sand painting (which is similar in Pl. xiv, with the addition of two slightly diverging lines, one of corn pollen, the other of black pigment, extending from the painting to the entrance of the house), and lays it between the lines, with its head to the east. There are two vases in niches in the north wall near the west end (Pl. xxxv); one holds the snakes, and the other receives them after they have been passed through the ceremony. At the close of the prayer now offered, he says, “Go to your home; go far; and remain there contentedly.” He then sprinkles corn pollen upon the snake’s head, which rite is repeated by each member; the snake, according to the vice-ho´naaite’s statement, extending its tongue and eating the pollen, “the snake having no hands, puts his food into his mouth with his tongue.” Though the snake can not speak, he hears all that is said, and when he is placed to the body he listens attentively to the words of the ho´naaite, who asks him to look upon the boy and give the boy wisdom like his own that the boy may grow to be wise and strong like himself, for he is now to become a member of the third degree of the Snake division of the society. The ho´naaite then prays to the snake that he will exhort the cloud rulers to send their people to water the earth, that she may bear to them the fruits of her being. The snake is not only implored to intercede with the cloud rulers to water the earth that the Sia may have abundant food, but he is invoked in conjunction with the sun father in the autumn and winter to provide them with blankets and all things necessary to keep them warm. Propitiatory prayers are not offered to the snakes, as, according to the Sia belief, the rattlesnake is a peaceful, and not an angry agent. They know he is friendly, because it is what the old men say, and their fathers’ fathers told them, and they also told them that it was the same with the snakes in Mexico. “In the summer the snake passes about to admire the flowers, the trees and crops, and all things beautiful.” The snake is afterwards placed in the empty vase, and the vice-ho´naaite repeats the ceremony with a second snake, and this rite is followed by each member of the Snake division of the society. The ho´naaite then directs his vicar and another member of the society to carry the vases to the grotto (the conical structure outside) and the latter to remain in the grotto with the snakes; he then with a novitiate by his side passes from the house, and approaching the grotto stands facing it while the vicar and other male members of the society form in line from east to west facing the north, the vice and novitiate standing at the west end of the line. Those of the Snake division wear fringed kilts of buckskin with the rattlesnake painted upon them, the fringes being tipped with conical bits of tin. The ho´naaite’s kilt is more elaborate than the others, the fringes having fawns’ toes in addition to the tin. Their moccasins are of fine buckskin painted with kaolin. The hair is flowing. The body of the one to receive the third degree is colored black with a fungus found on cornstalks, crushed and mixed with water. The face is painted red before it is colored black, and a red streak is painted under each eye, symbolic, they say, of the lines under the snakes’ eyes. A fluffy eagle plume is attached to the top of the head, and the face is encircled with down from the hawk’s breast. The hands and feet are painted red, and the body zigzagged with kaolin, symbolic of lightning. The buckskin kilt is painted white, with a snake upon it, and white moccasins are worn (Pl. x C). The other members of the society do not have their bodies Upon the opening of the song and dance the ho´naaite procures a snake at the entrance of the grotto and holding it horizontally with both hands presents it to the novitiate, who receives it in the same manner, clasping the throat with the right hand; the ho´naaite and novitiate pass back and forth north of the line from the grotto four times, now and then the novitiate allowing the snake to wrap itself around his throat. The ho´naaite then takes the snake and returns it to the man in the grotto. If there be a second novitiate he and the first one change places, and the ho´naaite inquires of the second whom he wishes for a father and companion; the boy designates a member of the Snake division, and the chosen one is required by the ho´naaite to take his place by the side of the novitiate and accompany him to the grotto; he again receives a snake which he hands to the boy and the former ceremony is repeated. When the novitiates have concluded, each member of the Snake division takes his turn in passing back and forth four times with a snake, the snake being handed him by a companion member. The song and dance does not cease until each snake has been passed through the ceremony. Two of the novitiates, if there be two or more, if not, a novitiate and a member, are requested by the ho´naaite to enter the grotto and receive the vases from the man inside. These they carry to a cave about half a mile distant, and here the bearers of the vases take out each snake separately and placing it upon the ground say: “Go to your home; go far and be contented.” The first snake is deposited to the north, the second to the west, the third to the south, and the fourth to the east; this is repeated until all the snakes are disposed of. The vases are then placed in the cave and the entrance covered with a large slab. The ho´naaite returning to the house takes the ya´ya from the tail of the sand-painted cougar and holding it in his left hand places the palm of his right hand to the cougar and draws from it a breath and rubs his hand over his breast, after which all evidences of the sand-painting are soon erased by the members who hasten forward and rub their bodies with the sand that they may be mentally and physically purified. When Mr. Stevenson discovered that the Sia held ceremonials with snakes he induced the vicar of the snake society to conduct him to the locality for that special rite. Leaving Sia in the early morning a ride of 6 miles over sand dunes and around bluffs brought the party, including the writer, to the structure known as the snake house, hid away among chaotic hills. Every precaution had been observed to maintain The night previous to the departure of the party from Sia the vicar of the Snake Society made several visits to the camp, but finding other Indians present he did not tarry. At midnight when the last Indian guest had left the camp he again appeared and hurriedly said, “I will come again,” and an hour later he returned. “Now,” said he, “closely fasten the tent, and one of you listen attentively all the while and tell me when you hear the first footstep;” and he then took from the sack one of the vases, he being in the meanwhile much excited and also distressed. He would not allow a close examination to be made of About noon the ho´naaite, who was nude except the breechcloth, left his seat by the fireside in the ceremonial chamber, where his vicar had been assisting him during the morning in cutting willows and preparing hÄ´chamoni, and proceeded to make a sand painting in the east end of the room, and when this was completed he erected the slat altar (Pl. xviii a). During the preparation of the sand painting (b) the vicar remained at his post at work upon the hÄ´chamoni. When the two female members, a woman and a little girl some 8 years of age, arrived, the ho´naaite took from the wall nine shabby-looking sacks, handing one to each person present, reserving two for himself and laying the remaining four to one side to be claimed by the other members of the medicine order of the society. These sacks contained the ya´ya, one of which, it is claimed, was captured from the Navajo by a former ho´naaite of this society, and this fetich is as precious as the others for the reason that it also represents Ût´set, the mother of all Indians. The five ya´ya were placed in line in front of the altar and on the sand-painting, and a miniature bow and arrow were laid before four of them, the captive one having none. Bear-leg skins with the claws were piled on either side of the altar, and upon these were laid necklaces of bears’ claws, each necklace having a reed whistle suspended midway, two fluffy eagle plumes, tipped with black, being attached to the end of the whistle. The medicine bowl was posted before the five ya´ya, the stone fetiches arranged about the sand painting, and the cloud bowl in front of the whole. The woman brought a triple cupped paint stone near the altar and ground a black pigment, yellow ocher, and an impure malachite; these powders were mixed with water, and the woman and girl painted the hÄ´chamoni, the child being quite as dextrous as her elder, and equally interested. While the hÄ´chamoni were being colored the ho´naaite was busy assorting plumes. He first laid thirteen turkey plumes separately upon the floor, forming two lines; upon each plume he laid a fluffy eagle feather, and then added successively to each group a plume from each of the birds of the cardinal points, turkey plumes being used instead of chapparal cocks’. A low weird chant was sung while the ho´naaite and his vicar tied each pile of plumes together with native cotton cord, the ho´naaite waving each group, as he completed it, in a circle from left to right before his face. The woman at the same time made four rings of yucca, 1¼ inches in diameter, some two dozen yucca needles having been wrapped in a hank and laid in a bowl of water. The In attaching the plume offerings to the hÄ´chamoni, the latter are held between the large and second toes of the right foot of the men and woman. There were ten hÄ´chamoni to bear messages to the cloud rulers of the cardinal points—Ho´chÄnni, high ruler of the cloud people of the world, SÛs´sistinnako, Ût´set, and the sun, the extra bunches of plumes being tied pendent to those already attached to the hÄ´chamoni for SÛs´sistinnako, Ût´set, and the sun. The ho´naaite placed the hÄ´chamoni and rings in a flat basket and set it before the altar in front of the cloud bowl, and posted a stuffed parrot upon the central slat of the altar. At this time the other official members appeared, and, unwrapping their ya´ya, handed them to the ho´naaite, who stood them before the altar (Pl. xix). The woman then brought a vase of water and gourd from the far end of the room, and the ho´naaite emptied four gourdfuls into the medicine bowl and then sprinkled corn pollen upon the water, and, dipping his two eagle plumes into the bowl, he sprinkled the altar and offerings. He did not speak a word, but took his seat by the fire and began smoking, awaiting the hour for the evening ceremonial. The ho´naaite and vicar had their meals served in the ceremonial chamber, and after eating, the remainder of the basket of bread and bowl of meat was placed before the altar. The night ceremony opened with the ho´naaite (Pl. xx) and his vicar dipping their plumes into the medicine water and sprinkling the altar and the food which had been placed before it; the ho´naaite then, sitting in front and to the north side of the altar, repeated a long prayer, supplicating Mo´kaitc, Cougar of the North, to intercede with the cloud people of the north to water the earth that the crops might grow; Ko´hai, the Bear, to intercede with the cloud people of the west to water the earth that the crops might grow; a similar invocation was made to the Tuo´pe, Badger of the South, Ka´kanna, Wolf of the East, TiÄ´mi, Eagle of the Heaven, and Mai´tubo, Shrew of the Earth. The vicar then gathered a bit of bread from the basket and of meat from the bowl and handed it to the ho´naaite, who left the house with the food in his left hand, holding his eagle plumes in his right; he cast the food to the animal Ko´pishtaia of the cardinal points, begging that they would intercede with the cloud people to come and water the earth; then, returning to Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XIX ALTAR OF GIANT SOCIETY, PHOTOGRAPHED DURING CEREMONIAL. The ho´naaite and the ti´Ämoni (the latter’s position as ti´Ämoni has nothing whatever to do with his relations in the cult societies in which he holds membership) wore white Tusayan cotton breechcloths elaborately embroidered in bright colors; the vicar’s was dark blue and the others white cotton; each man held two eagle plumes and a gourd rattle in the left hand. The woman and little girl wore their ordinary dresses, the high-neck calico gowns being omitted, and they held a turkey wand tipped with fluffy eagle plumes dyed a lemon color, in either hand. The vicar gave a pinch of meal to the ho´naaite from the pottery meal bowl by the altar, who without rising from his seat sprinkled the altar. The song then opened to the accompaniment of the rattle, which had been transferred to the right hand, the eagle plumes still being held in the left, and keeping time with the rattle. Each stanza closed with a short and rapid shake of the rattle. (The writer noticed in the ceremonials of the cult societies of the Sia the absence of the pottery drum, which is such an important feature with the ZuÑi and Tusayan.) With the commencement of the ritual the men from either end of the line moved to the fireplace, and lifting ashes with their plumes, deposited them before the altar and north and south of the meal line, and after dancing and gesticulating for a moment or two they again lifted ashes and sprinkled toward the altar, the under side of the plume held in the left hand being struck with the one held in the right; again lifting ashes one sprinkled to the north and the other to the south, and passing down on either side of the meal line they sprinkled to the west, and crossing they passed up the line and when midway one sprinkled to the north, the other to the south; again dipping ashes they sprinkled to the zenith and with more ashes they sprinkled to the nadir. This sprinkling of the cardinal points was repeated four times, When an especial appeal was to be made to Ût´set, the ho´naaite reached over the altar and took the Navajo ya´ya in his right hand and the one south of it in his left hand (he had deposited his eagle plumes by the altar, but he held his rattle). All now stood, the ho´naaite energetically swaying his body as he waved the ya´ya, holding them out, then drawing them in as he appealed to Ût´set to instruct the cloud people to come and water the earth. This petition concluded, the ho´naaite leaned over the altar, returning the ya´ya to their places, and the choir took their seats and smoked cigarettes of native tobacco wrapped in corn husks. In a few moments the song was resumed, when the woman sprinkled the altar with meal and passing to the west end of the room she lifted a vase of water, placing it on the line of meal, not far from the door, keeping time with the song with her two wands and moving her body up and down by bending her knees, her feet resting firmly on the floor and over the line of meal; again the bowl was raised and moved about 2 feet forward, and she repeated the motion. The bowl was in this way moved five times, the last time being placed immediately before the basket of offerings. As she placed the bowl for the last time she waved the wand held in her right hand twice over the altar, when the song closed only to begin again immediately. The ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi now appeared before the altar, north of the meal line and danced, holding two eagle plumes in the left hand and rattle in the right. After a time, transferring the rattle to his left hand, he lifted a gourd of water from the vase and, holding it for a moment, waved it before the altar and emptied it into the medicine bowl with an appeal to the cougar of the north to intercede with the cloud people that the earth might be watered; another gourdful immediately followed; he then took the rattle in the right hand and joined in the song, and danced. A third time he dipped a gourd of water, waved it toward the west with an exhortation to the bear of the west, and emptied it into the bowl, following this with another gourdful, when a weird call was given for the cloud people to come and water the earth. Again he danced and sang, and after a time a fifth gourdful was lifted and waved toward the south, with an appeal to the badger of the south, and emptied into the bowl, when another gourdful followed, and Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XX HO´-NA-AI-TE OF GIANT SOCIETY. The ti´Ämoni took from a bear-leg skin six small pebble fetiches, handing one to each man, who in turn passed it to the ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi. This recipient advanced to the front of the altar and danced to the music of the choir, and waving his left hand over the altar he dropped a fetich into the medicine bowl, at the same time waving the eagle plumes and rattle which he held in his right hand. After dancing awhile he dropped a fetich from his right hand into the medicine water, and, continuing to dance, he let fall the remaining four fetiches alternately from the left and right hand. Each time a fetich was dropped he gave a weird animal-like growl, which was a call upon the prey animals of the cardinal points to exhort the cloud people to gather and water the earth that she might be fruitful. He then returned to his seat, but almost immediately arose and, standing for a moment, advanced to the front of the altar, stirred the medicine water with the eagle plumes he held in the left hand and sprinkled the offerings by striking the plumes on the top with the rattle, held in the right hand. The sprinkling was repeated four times while the cloud people were invoked to water the earth; as the plumes were struck the fourth time the choir stood and sang and the ya´ni?siwittÄnÑi again dipped The ho´naaite gathering the hÄ´chamoni in his left hand and taking a pinch of meal with his right, stooped before the altar and south of the meal line and offered a silent prayer, and, after sprinkling the altar and hÄ´chamoni, he divided the offerings, holding a portion in either hand. The ti´Ämoni and a companion then stooped north of the line of meal and facing the ho´naaite, clasped his hands with their right hands, holding their eagle plumes in their left and responded to a low litany offered by the ho´naaite, who afterwards drawing a breath from the plumes laid them upon the blankets over their left arms, the two men having wrapped their blankets about them before advancing to the Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXI SICK BOY IN CEREMONIAL CHAMBER OF GIANT SOCIETY. FOUR NIGHTS’ CEREMONIAL OF THE GIANT SOCIETY FOR THE HEALING OF A SICK BOY.The night succeeding the ceremonial of the Sko´-yo-Chai´-Än (Giant Society) for rain the assembly began its ritualistic observances, which continue four consecutive nights, for the curing of the sick by the brushing process. During the afternoon a sand-painting was made in the east end of the room (compare sand-painting Giant Society, (Pl. xviiib); ya´ya and stone fetiches were grouped upon the painting; a medicine bowl was placed before the ya´ya; bear-leg skins were deposited on either side of the fetiches and a white embroidered sacred Tusayan blanket was folded and laid by the bear-leg skins south of the painting. The five male members of the medicine division of the society had refreshments served early in the evening by the female members, and after supper the ti´Ämoni, who is a member of the medicine division, placed a bowl of stewed meat and a basket of bread near the painting; the remainder of the food was stored in the northwest corner of the room for future consumption. The five men formed in line back of the fetiches, the ho´naaite being the central figure; they had scarcely taken their seats, however, before the ti´Ämoni brought a vase of water and a gourd from the west end of the room and set it before the sand-painting and returned to his seat; the ho´naaite, advancing, dipped six gourdfuls of water, emptying each one into the medicine bowl.[20] The ho´naaite then passing to the north side of the painting stooped with bended knees, holding in his left hand two eagle plumes, and repeated a low prayer; then, taking a small piece of the bread, he dipped it into the stew and scattered it before the fetiches; and, taking more bread and a bit of the meat, he left the ceremonial chamber and threw the food as an offering to the animals of the cardinal points. The ti´Ämoni then returned the bowl of meat and basket of bread to the far end of the room. Upon the return of the ho´naaite his vicar spread the Tusayan blanket upon the floor, some 5 feet in front of the painting. He next sprinkled a line of meal from the edge of the blanket nearest Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXII GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. ALTAR AND SAND PAINTING. KNIFE SOCIETY. The ho´naaite is not supposed to leave the ceremonial chamber throughout the four days and nights, as he must guard the animal fetiches and medicine. The other members are also supposed to spend much of the day and all of the night in watching the fetiches; but the writer is of the opinion that they all go to sleep after the feast, which is enjoyed as soon as the child leaves the chamber. The only variation in the ceremonial on the second night was that the vicar dipped the bit of bread into the bowl of stew and scattered it to the animal fetiches, having previously lifted ashes from the fireplace and sprinkled the altar with them by striking the plume held in the left hand on the under side with the plume held in the right; then holding the plumes between his hands he repeated a long and scarcely audible prayer. After scattering the food to the animal fetiches, he Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXIII ALTAR OF KNIFE SOCIETY, PHOTOGRAPHED DURING CEREMONIAL. The scenes on the third and fourth nights were coincident with those of the second, with a few variations. The man who sat between the ho´naaite and his vicar dipped the ashes with his plumes and sprinkled the altar, and, returning to his seat, the vicar laid the blanket and sprinkled the meal lines in the same manner as on the previous night; he also procured the child. When dancing before the altar two men wore bear-leg skins on their left arms, and two others wore them on their right arms. It was noticed that the skins were drawn over the arms upon which the amulets were worn. Their dancing and incantations were even more turbulent and more weird than on the two former nights. The songs the third night were addressed to the badger of the south and on the fourth to the wolf of the east. RAIN CEREMONIAL OF THE KNIFE SOCIETY.While the ho´naaite and his vicar sat during the morning making hÄ´chamoni they rehearsed in undertones the songs of their cult. The membership of this society consists at the present time of five men and two boys, and two novitiates, a man and a boy. The sun was far to the west when the members came straggling in and the ho´naaite proceeded to set up the slat altar (Pl. xxiia). Then each man took from the wall a soiled buckskin sack. The well-wrapped ya´ya was first taken out and then other fetiches. After the ho´naaite Fig. 17.—Sand painting as indicated in Pl. xxv. The ho´naaite consecrated the bowl of water by a prayer, and dropping in the six fetiches he dipped his eagle plumes into the water and striking them on the top with his rattle, sprinkled the altar; holding the plumes in the left hand and the rattle in the right, he sprinkled the cardinal points. The vicar formed a circle of meal, then sprinkled Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXIV HO´-NA-AI-TE OF KNIFE SOCIETY. Fig. 18.—Sand painting used in ceremonial for sick by Ant Society. The ho´naaite (Pl. xxiv) stooped and, praying, sprinkled corn pollen upon the bear and parrot. The bear and the bird had eagle plumes attached to their necks with cotton cord. Those on the bear were on the top of the neck and those of the parrot hung under the beak. After the prayer the ho´naaite lighted a cigarette of native tobacco and corn husk from a stick some 5 feet long, held by a boy member, and puffed the smoke over the bear and parrot. He then extended the cigarette over the altar, afterwards waving it to the cardinal points. The vicar and boy sprinkled the bear and parrot with pollen from an abalone shell and the vicar dipped his eagle plumes into the medicine bowl and sprinkled them four times, then the altar, by striking the plumes with the rattle held in his right hand. The ho´naaite then puffed smoke into the cloud bowl and over the bear and parrot, and extended his cigarette to the cardinal points, and over the altar. The vicar lighted a similar cigarette from the long stick held by the boy, and standing to the west of the altar blew smoke over it, the ho´naaite standing and smoking to the right of him. The vicar laid the end of his cigarette by the cloud bowl and to the east of the line of the meal. The shell of corn pollen was then placed back of the altar and the It will be noticed that the slat altar in Pl. xxv differs from that in Pl. xxiii. Both belong to the Knife Society and may be seen hanging side by side on the wall in the ceremonial chamber of the Quer´rÄnna, (Pl. xxviii) which is also the official chamber of the Knife Society. The second was made in case of failure of the first. The vicar of this society is also ho´naaite and only surviving member of the Ant Society, and he, being anxious that the writer should see the sand painting of the Ant Society, prepared the painting for this occasion instead of the ho´naaite (Fig. 17). He also drew her a sketch of the painting of Ant Society for ceremonial held for the sick, which is here introduced (Fig. 18). This last may be described as follows: a represents meal painting emblematic of the clouds, b and c bear-leg skins laid either side of it. The remainder of painting is in sand. d: Ant chief clad in buckskin fringed down the arms and legs; he carries lightning in his left hand; his words pass straight from his mouth, as indicated by a line, to the invalid e, who sits at the opening of the ceremonial to the right of the painting. The ant chief speaks that the malady may leave the invalid. A song of this character is sung by the members of the society. The invalid then passes to the front of the altar and stands upon a sacred Tusayan blanket (position indicated by f), when the ho´naaite and other members of the society proceed with their incantations over him, imploring the prey animals to draw the ants to the surface of the body. When the ants have appeared and been brushed from the body then a song is addressed to the eagle g to come and feed upon the ants. When the ants have been eaten by the eagle the invalid will be restored to health. The two circular spots h represent ant houses. These, with the paintings of the ant chief and eagle, are gathered into the blanket upon which the invalid stood and carried some distance north of the village and deposited. After the blanket has been taken from the chamber the meal painting is erased by the ho´naaite brushing the meal from each of the cardinal points to the center with his hand; he then rubs the invalid’s body with the meal, after which the members hasten to rub their bodies with it, that they may be purified not only of any physical malady but of all evil thoughts. When the writer entered the ceremonial chamber later in the evening food was being placed in line down the middle of the room. There were seven bowls, containing mutton stew, tortillas, waiavi, and hominy. There was also a large pot of coffee and a bowl of sugar. The ho´naaite, standing to the east of the meal line, which extended from the altar to the entrance, repeated a long grace, after which one of the boy members gathered a bit of food from each vessel, and standing on the opposite side of the line of meal, handed the food to the ho´naaite, who received it in his left hand, having transferred his eagle plumes to the “Ko´pishtaia! Here is food, come and eat; Ko´pishtaia, Cougar of the North, receive this food; Bear of the West, receive this food; Badger of the South, we offer you food, take it and eat; Wolf of the East, we give you food; Eagle of the Heavens, receive this food; Shrew of the Earth, receive this food. When you eat, then you will be contented, and you will pass over the straight road [referring to the passing of the beings of the ko´pishtaia over the line of meal to enter the images of themselves]. We pray you to bring to us, and to all peoples, food, good health, and prosperity, and to our animals bring good health and to our fields large crops; and we pray you to ask the cloud people to come to water the earth.” Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXV ALTAR OF KNIFE SOCIETY, WITH HO´-NA-AI-TE AND VICE HO´-NA-AI-TE ON EITHER SIDE. Upon returning to the ceremonial chamber, the ho´naaite, standing before the altar, prays to Ma´asewe, Úyuuyewe, and the six warriors of the mountains of the cardinal points to protect them from all enemies who might come to destroy their peace; and, standing at the end of the line of food, he offers a prayer of thanksgiving, holding his eagle plumes in his left hand. He then rolls his blanket into a cushion, sits upon it west of the line of meal and smokes a cigarette. The food having been brought in by the wives of the members, all present drew around and enjoyed the feast. That the minor members felt at liberty to join with their elders was indicated by the way in which they proceeded to help themselves. The war chief came into the room soon after the beginning of the meal, wrapped in a fine Navajo blanket, and carrying his bow and arrows. He stood in front of the altar, on the west side of the meal line, and prayed. The vice-ho´naaite administered to the war chief a draft of the medicine water which had been prepared in the afternoon, and then handed him the official staff of the society (a slender stick some 2 feet in length), which he held with his bow and arrows until the close of the ceremonial. The war chief sat for awhile at the south end of the room, and then left to patrol the town and to see that no one not privileged entered or came near the ceremonial chamber. After the meal was finished the three boys removed the bowls to another room, and, upon their return, one of them swept the middle of the floor, destroying most of the meal line, leaving but 2 feet of it undisturbed in front of the altar. This line, however, was renewed by the vice-ho´naaite, who carried two eagle feathers and the meal bowl in his left hand, while he sprinkled the meal with the right, not for the purpose of furnishing a road for the beings of pai´ÄtÄmo and ko´pishtaia to pass over, for they had previously come to the images of themselves, but that the songs might pass straight over and out of the house. The men now indulged in a smoke. The writer never observed Sia boys smoking in these ceremonials or at any other time. The cigarettes were After the sixteenth repetition he waved the rattle over the altar. The song during this time is an appeal to the cloud people of the north, west, south, east, and all the cloud peoples of the world, to gather and send rain to water the earth, that all mankind may have the fruits of the earth. The vicar then stood to the right of the ho´naaite, and the choir, rising, continued to sing. The ho´naaite, leaning over the altar, took two of the central ya´ya, one in either hand, and alternately raised them, keeping time with the song, now and then extending the ya´ya over the altar. The young novitiate held neither rattle or plumes. The boy at the east end of the line, having passed through two degrees, held his rattle in the right hand and in his left a miniature crook. The vicar who stood at the right of the ho´naaite and the man who stood to his left moved their rattles and feathers in harmony with his motion, the three swaying their bodies back and forth and extending their arms outward and upward. About this time it was noticed that the boys at the east end of the line had fallen asleep, and it was more than the man who sat next to them could do to keep them awake, although he was constantly brushing their faces with his eagle plumes. This little scene was something of a picture, as the boy whose shoulder acted as a support for the head of the other is the son of one of the most prominent and richest men in the pueblo, the other boy being the pauper referred to. The stanzas in this song were much longer than any before heard by the writer, and each closed with a quick shake of the rattle. The song continued an hour and a quarter, when the singers took a few moments’ rest, and again sang for thirty minutes; another few minutes’ rest, and the song again continued. In this way it ran from half past 9 o’clock until midnight. At its close one of the boys brought a vase of water and a gourd from the southwest corner of the room and placed it near the altar and west of the line of meal. The ya´ni?siwittÄnni stood before the vase, and, lifting two gourdfuls of water, emptied them into the medicine bowl; emptying two gourdfuls, also, into the cloud bowl, he danced for a time before the altar, waving his plumes and rattle over it; he then emptied two more gourdfuls into the medicine bowl and two more into the cloud bowl, and resumed his dance. He did not sing while performing this part of the ceremony, but when emptying the water into the bowls he gave bird-like trills, calling for the cloud people to gather. Again he emptied two gourdfuls into the medicine bowl and two in the cloud bowl; and after dancing a moment After each sprinkling a quick shake of the rattle was given. The ho´naaite then reached over the altar slats, taking a ya´ya in either hand, and all stood and sang. In a moment the man to the right of the ho´naaite leaned over the west side of the altar, and, dipping his plumes in the medicine water, sprinkled the altar; he repeated the sprinkling four times, and when the two ya´ya were returned to the altar the ho´naaite dipped his eagle plumes into the medicine water, and sprinkled the altar by striking them on the top with the rattle held in the right hand. Each member then sprinkled the altar four times, with a wild exhortation to the cloud people, all apparently exhibiting more enthusiasm when sprinkling the altar than at any other time during the ceremonial. When the song closed two of the boys proceeded to prepare cigarettes, taking their places before the fireplace, and, tearing off bits of corn husks of the proper size, they made them pliable by moistening them with saliva. One boy made his cigarettes of native tobacco, which he took from an old cloth hanging on the wall; the other filled his with commercial tobacco. As the boys made cigarettes they tied them with ribbons of corn husks, simply to keep them In fifteen minutes the song was resumed and the man west of the ho´naaite dipped his eagle plumes in the medicine water and sprinkled the altar, repeating the sprinkling four times. In twenty-five minutes the song closed and the men enjoyed a social smoke, each man after lighting his cigarette waving it towards the altar. In twenty-five minutes the choir again sang, two boys standing in front of the altar, one on either side of the line of meal. The one on the west side of the line dipped his plumes into the medicine water and sprinkled the altar, and the one on the east side of the line dipped his crook into the medicine water and sprinkled the altar. They then dipped into the cloud bowl and threw the suds to the north; dipping suds again the boy west of the line threw the suds to the west, and the one east of the line threw the suds to the east; again dipping medicine water they passed to the south and threw the water to that point, the boy west of the meal line crossed to the east, and the one on the east of the line of meal crossed to the west, and returning to the altar they dipped suds, the boy to the west of the line throwing suds in that direction, and the boy east of the line throwing suds to that point; again dipping the medicine water they sprinkled to the zenith, and dipping the suds they threw them to the nadir; then the boy on the west of the line crossed to the east, and the one on the east of the line crossed to the west, and thus reversing positions they repeated the sprinkling of the cardinal points, zenith and nadir, twelve times, dipping alternately into the medicine water and the cloud bowl. With the termination of the sprinkling the song ceased for a moment, and by command of the ho´naaite the boys, each taking a basket of hÄ´chamoni, which were resting on the backs of the cougar fetiches either side of the altar, stood in front of the altar, one on the west side of the meal line and the other on the east, and holding the baskets in their left hands shook their rattles; they then held the basket with both hands, moving them in time to the song and rattles of the choir. The ho´naaite directed them to wave the baskets to the north, west, south, and east, to the zenith and the nadir; this they repeated twelve times and then deposited the baskets either side of the cloud bowl, and the vicar placed the bowl of medicine water two feet in front of the cloud bowl, on the line of meal, and taking one of the ya´ya in his left hand, he passed east of the line and, stooping low, he stirred the medicine water with an abalone shell, and then passed his hand over the ya´ya and drew a breath from it. Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXVII SHRINE OF KNIFE SOCIETY. SOCIETY OF THE QUER´RÄNNA.The Society of the Quer´rÄnna has a reduced membership of three—the ho´naaite, vicar, and a woman; and there is at the present time a novitiate, a boy of 5 years. Three generations are represented in this society—father, son, and grandson. The elder man is one of the most aged in Sia, and, though ho´naaite of the Quer´rÄnna and vicar of the Society of Warriors, and reverenced by his people as being almost as wise as the “Oracle,” his family is the most destitute in Sia, being composed, as it is, of nonproducing members. His wife is an invalid; his eldest son, the vicar of the Quer´rÄnna Society, is a paralytic, and a younger son is a trifling fellow. The third child is a daughter who has been blind from infancy; she is the mother of two children, but has never been married. The fourth child is a 10-year-old girl, whose time is consumed in the care of the children of her blind sister, bringing the water for family use, and grinding the corn (the mother and sister occasionally assisting in the grinding) and preparing the meals, which consist, with rare exceptions, of a bowl of mush. During the planting and harvest times the father alone attends to the fields, which are their main dependence; and he seeks such employment as can be procured from his people, and in this way exchanges labor for food. Every blanket of value has been traded for nourishment, until the family is reduced to mere tatters for garments. For several years this family has been on the verge of starvation, and the meagerness of food and mental suffering tells the tale in the face of each member of the household, excepting the worthless fellow (who visits about the country, imposing upon his friends). Even the little ones are more sedate than the other children of the village. Nothing is done for this family by the clan. Close observation leads the writer to believe that the same ties of clanship do not exist with the Sia as with the other tribes. This, however, may be due to the long continued struggle for subsistence. Fathers and mothers look first to the needs of their children, then comes the child’s interest in parents, and brothers and sisters in one another. No lack of self-denial is found in the family. The ho´naaite of the Quer´rÄnna is the only surviving member of the Eagle clan, but his wife belongs to the Corn clan, and has a number of connections. When the writer chided a woman of this clan for not assisting the sufferers she replied: “I would help them if I could, but we have not enough for ourselves,” a confirmation of the opinion that the clan is here secondary to the nearer ties of consanguinity. The care of one’s immediate family is obligatory; it is not so with the clan. Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXVIII ALTAR OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY. The house in which this family lives is small and without means of ventilation, and the old man may be seen, on his return from his daily labors, assisting his invalid wife and paralytic son to some point where they may have a breath of pure air. They are usually accompanied by the little girl leading her blind sister and carrying the baby on her back by a bit of an old shawl which the girl holds tightly around her. Always patient, always loving, is the old man to those of his household, and the writer was ever sure of a greeting of smiles and fond words from each of these unfortunates. Not wanting in hospitality even in their extremity, they invited her to join them whenever she found them at their frugal meal. The only medicine possessed by the Quer´rÄnna is se´-wili, which is composed of the roots and blossoms of the six mythical medicine plants of the sun, archaic white shell and black stone beads, turkis, and a yellow stone. The preparation of this medicine and that of the other cult societies is similar to the mode observed by the ZuÑi. Women are dressed in sacred white embroidered Tusayan blankets, and they grind the medicine to a fine powder amid great ceremony. When a woman wishes to become pregnant this medicine is administered to her privately by the ho´naaite, a small quantity of the powder being put into cold water and a fetich of Quer´rÄnna dipped four times into the water. A dose of this medicine insures the realization of her wish; should it fail, then the woman’s heart is not good. This same medicine is also administered at the ceremonials to the members of the society for the perpetuation of their race; and the ho´naaite, taking a mouthful, throws it out through his teeth to the cardinal points, that the cloud people may gather and send rain that the earth may be fruitful. RAIN CEREMONIAL OF THE QUER´RÄNNA SOCIETY.During the day hÄ´chmoni and plume offerings are prepared by the ho´naaite, and in the afternoon he arranges the altar, which is quite different from those of the other cult societies, and makes a meal painting symbolic of clouds. Six fetiches of Quer´rÄnna are then arranged in line, the largest being about 6 inches, the smallest 3, the others graduating in size; a medicine bowl is set before the line of fetiches; antlers are stood to the east of the meal painting; and baskets of cereals, corn on the cob, medicine bags, and a basket of hÄ´chamoni and plume offerings are arranged about the painting. Pl. xxxviii shows photograph at time of ceremonial; Pl. xxix, made in case of failure of the first, shows the meal painting, symbolic of clouds, which is completely hidden in the first photograph, and illustrates more definitely the feather decoration of the altar. The birds surmounting the two posts are wood carvings of no mean pretensions; the feathers by the birds are eagle plumes, and the bunches of plumes suspended from The men and child have their forelocks drawn back and tied with ribbons of corn husks, the men each having a bunch of hawk and jay feathers attached pendent on the left side of the head. They wear white cotton breechcloths and necklaces of coral and kohaqua (archaic shell heads).[21] The woman wears her ordinary dress and several coral necklaces, her feet and limbs being bare. The ho´naaite, removing a bowl of meal from before the altar and holding it in his left hand, together with his eagle plumes and a wand,—the wand being a miniature crook elaborately decorated with feathers,—sprinkled a line of meal from the painting to the entrance of the chamber, for the being of Quer´rÄnna to pass over. The ho´naaite, his vicar, and the woman sat back of the altar, the ho´naaite to the west side, the vice to his right, and the woman to the east side. At this time a child was sleeping near the altar. The ho´naaite filled an abalone shell with corn pollen and holding the shell, his two eagle plumes, and wand in his left hand and rattle in the right, offered a long prayer to Quer´rÄnna to invoke the cloud people to water the earth, and sprinkled the altar several times with pollen. At the close of the prayer he handed the shell of pollen to the woman, who passed to the front of the altar and east of the meal line and sprinkled the altar with the pollen. The song now began, and the woman, retaining her position before the altar, kept time by moving her wand right and left, then extending it over the altar; each time before waving it over the altar she rested it on the shell for a moment; after repeating the motion several times, she extended the wand to the north, moving it right and left, and after resting it on the shell she extended it to the west, and the wand was in this way motioned to the cardinal points, zenith and nadir. The waving of the wand to the points was repeated four times; and the woman then returned the shell to the ho´naaite, who had at intervals waved his plumes and wand over the altar. At this time the child awoke, and making a wad of his blanket sat upon it between the ho´naaite and the vicar; the latter supplying the child with a wand and rattle, he joined in the song. The vicar being afflicted with paralysis could add little to the ceremony, though he made strenuous efforts to sing and sway his palsied body. The group presented a pitiful picture, but it exhibited a striking proof of the devotion of these people to the observance of their cult—the flickering fire-light playing in lights and shadows about the heads of the three members, over whom Time holds the scythe with grim menaces, while they strained every nerve to make all that was possible of the ritual they were celebrating; the boy, requiring no arousing to sing and bend his tiny body to the time of the rattle, joined in the calls Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXIX ALTAR OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY. The song continued, with all standing, without cessation for an hour. The woman then brought a vase of water and gourd from the southwest corner of the room and placed it in front of the altar on the line of meal, and the ho´naaite took from the west side of the altar four medicine bags, handing two to the man and two to the boy (pollen being in one bag and meal in the other), and giving the shell containing the pollen to the woman. She stood in front of the altar east of the line of meal swaying her body from side to side, holding her wand in the right hand and the shell in the left, keeping time to the rattle and the song. She emptied a gourd of water from the vase into the medicine bowl, imploring Quer´rÄnna to intercede with the cloud people to assemble; the ho´naaite then sprinkled se´wili into the medicine bowl; then the little boy sprinkled pollen into the bowl, invoking the cloud people to gather, and the vicar, with the same petition, sprinkled the pollen. The woman then emptied a second gourd of water, first waving it to the north, into the medicine bowl, with a call for the cloud people to gather; the ho´naaite again deposited a portion of the se´wili into the bowl and his vicar and the boy sprinkled in meal, with an appeal to the cloud people; again the woman lifted a gourdful of water and waved it toward the west and emptied it into the bowl, invoking the cloud people to gather; and the others sprinkled corn pollen, the vicar and boy calling upon the cloud people to gather; the woman then waved a gourd of water to the south and emptied it into the bowl, and again the others sprinkled pollen, the vicar and boy repeating their petition; another gourdful was lifted and waved to the east and emptied into the bowl and the sprinkling of the pollen was repeated. The woman returned the vase to the farther end of the room (she officiated in the making of the medicine water, as the vicar, being a paralytic, was unable to perform this duty), and resumed her seat back of the altar; reaching forward, she removed two small medicine bags, and taking a pinch of pollen from one and a pinch of meal from the other, sprinkled the medicine water; after repeating the sprinkling, she tied the bags and returned them to their place by the altar. The ho´naaite, dipping his plumes into the medicine bowl, sprinkled the altar three times by striking the top of the plumes held in the left hand with the rattle held in the right. The sprinkling was repeated three times by the others while the ho´naaite sang a low chant. All now rose, and the ho´naaite continuing the song, moved his body violently, the motion being from the knees; as he sang he extended his eagle plumes over the altar and dipped them into the medicine water with a call for the cloud people to gather; he then dipped the bird feathers attached to his wand into the medicine water with a similar exhortation; the boy dipped the feathers attached to his wand into the water, striking them with the rattle, calling upon the cloud people to gather and water the earth; the ho´naaite OTHER SOCIETIES.In addition to the thirteen cult societies of the ZuÑi they have the society of the Kok´-ko, the mythologic society. It is obligatory that all youths become members of this society to insure their admittance into the dance house in the lake of departed spirits; first by involuntary and later by voluntary initiation. Females sometimes, though seldom, join this order. While the Sia mythology abounds in these same anthropomorphic beings, their origin is accounted for in an entirely different manner from those of the ZuÑi. The Ka´?suna of the Sia were created by Ût´set in a single night in the lower world.[22] These beings accompanied the Sia to this world, and upon their advent here Ût´set directed them to go to the west and there make their home for all time to come. They are solicited to use their influence with the cloud people, and the dances of the Ka´?suna are usually held for rain or snow. It is the prerogative of the ti´Ämoni to control the appearance of the Ka´?suna. When a dance is to occur, the ho´naaite of the Society of Quer´rÄnna selects such men and women as he wishes to have dance and holds a number of rehearsals, both of the songs and dances. Those who are the most graceful, and who have the greatest powers of endurance and the most retentive memories for the songs, are chosen to personate the Ka´?suna regardless of any other consideration. Both sexes, however, must have been first initiated into the mysteries of the Ka´?suna. Previous to initiation the personators are believed by the Sia to be the actual Ka´?suna. The instruction continues from four to eight days, and during this period continency must be observed, and an emetic drank by the married men and women each morning for purification from conjugal relations. Whenever the Ka´?suna appear they are accompanied by their attendants, Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXX HO´-NA-AI-TE OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY. The Sia have a great variety of masks, which must be very old, judging from their appearance, and the priest of the Quer´rÄnna, who has them in charge, claims for them great antiquity. Pls. xxxi and xxxii illustrate some masks of the Ka´?suna. When a boy or girl reaches the time when, as their fathers say, they have a good head, some ten or twelve years of age, the father first suggests to the ho´naaite of the Quer´rÄnna (if the father is not living then the mother speaks) that he would like his son or daughter to become acquainted with the Ka´?suna; he then makes known his wish to the ti´Ämoni, and after these two have said, “It is well,” he says to his child, “My child, I think it is time for you to know the Ka´?suna,” and the child replies, “It is well, father.” The parent then informs the ho´naaite that his child wishes to know the Ka´?suna, and the ho´naaite replies, “It is well.” The next time the Ka´?suna come he may know them. The ho´naaite prepares a meal painting for the occasion, covering it for the time being with a blanket. Upon the arrival of the Ka´?suna the father and child, and, if the child be a member of a cult society, the theurgist of the society, proceed to the ceremonial house of the Quer´rÄnna. If the child possesses a fetich of the ya´ya he carries it pressed to his breast. Upon entering the ceremonial chamber the child and attendants take their seats at the north end of the room near the west side, the ho´naaite of the Quer´rÄnna sitting just west of the meal painting, the boy to his right, and the parent next to the boy. The ti´Ämoni and ho´naaite of warriors are present and sit on the west side of the room and about midway. The Sa´iahlia (two of the Ka´?suna) stamp about in the middle of the room for a time, then the ho´naaite leads the child before the meal painting, which is, however, still covered with the blanket, and says to the Ka´?suna, “A youth [or maiden, whichever it may be] has come to know you.” The Ka´?suna each carry a bunch of Spanish bayonet in either hand, and the child receives two strokes across the back from each of the Ka´?suna, unless he be an official member of a cult society; in this case he is exempt from the chastisement. A boy is nude excepting the breechcloth; a girl wears her ordinary clothing. The ho´naaite, addressing the Ka´?suna, says: “Now it is well for you to raise your masks that the child may see.” One of the Sa´iahlia places his mask over the child’s head and the other lays his by the meal painting, the ho´naaite having removed the blanket. The personators of the Ka?suna then say to the child: “Now you know the Ka´?suna you will henceforth have only good thoughts and a good heart; sometime, perhaps, you will be one of us. You must not speak of these things to anyone not initiated.” The mask is then taken from the child’s head and laid by the side of the other, SOCIETY OF THE COUGAR.This society is nearly extinct, its membership consisting of the ho´naaite (the oracle) and his vicar, the former being also ho´naaite of the society of warriors; though aged, he retains his faculties perfectly and performs his official and religious duties with the warmest interest. Previous to a hunt for game a two days’ ceremonial is held by this society, and on the third morning hÄ´chamoni and plume offerings are deposited by the vice ho´naaite. The cougar is appealed to, as he is the great father and master of all game; he draws game to him by simply sitting still, folding his arms, and mentally demanding the presence of the game; likewise when he wishes to send game to any particular people he controls it with his mind and not by spoken words. Though the cougar sends the game it is the sun who gives power to the Sia to capture it. It is the prerogative of the ho[naaite of this society to decide upon the time for the hunt. HÄ´chamoni are deposited to the cougar of the north, the west, the south, the east to convey the messages of the Sia. If a rabbit hunt is to occur a rabbit stick and an arrow point are deposited as offerings to the sun. The offerings to the cougar of the zenith are deposited to the north and those to the sun to the east. If the hunt is to be for larger game an arrow point only is deposited to the sun. The hunt may occur very soon after these offerings are made or not for some time, it being optional with the ho´naaite. He does not directly notify the people, but speaks to the war chief, who heralds his message. When announcement has been made of the prospective hunt a fire is made at night on the east side of the village and the selected huntsmen form in a circle around it; here the night is spent making plans for the hunt, in epic songs, and story telling, and, like other Indians, the Sia recount the valorous deeds of the mythical beings and their people in low, modulated tones. The hunt occurs four days from this time, and continency is observed until after the hunt. On the fifth morning, if the hunt be for rabbits, the men and women of the village prepare to join in the chase by first having their heads bathed Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXXI GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. SIA MASKS. A party of hunters which had been indicated by the war chief to hunt for deer and antelope left the village in the afternoon, the party being led by the vice war chief. The ti´Ämoni was a member of the party. The writer mentions this as it is unusual for a ti´Ämoni to participate in the hunt, and it is claimed by the Sia that if their ti´Ämoni were not a mere boy he would observe the custom of his predecessors and decline to join in the hunt. The scarcity of game in this part of the country necessitated a three days’ journey before any was obtained. Previous to the departure of the party the ho´naaite of the society of the cougar visited the house of each man who was to participate in the hunt and embraced him, repeating a short prayer for success. The prayer was addressed first to the cougar, father of game, that he might send his children about the country, and afterwards to the sun to give power to the hunters to secure the game. The wives and relatives of the hunting party had been busy preparing food for them; each man’s wife looked carefully after his personal needs. The wife handed the hunter’s gun to him after he had mounted his horse, the unmarried man of the party having his gun handed him by his father. The huntsmen were absent thirteen days, and upon their return a member of the party was sent in advance as courier to notify the war chief. The news brought general delight to the villagers, particularly to the wives of the hunters, who at once commenced preparing for their arrival. They reached the river about sundown, and upon crossing were received by the vice ho´naaite of the society of warriors and the war chief, who offered prayers and sprinkled meal in thanksgiving for the success and safe return of the hunters who grouped on the bank of the river. The younger children of the returning party were also on the river bank to meet their fathers, who at once took their little ones on the horses with them and expressed much delight at again seeing them. The huntsmen then in single file ascended the hill to the village, led by the vicar of the society of warriors and the war chief, the latter two being on foot, the war chief following the vicar. A man whose house was at the entrance of the plaza dropped out of the file to go to his home, and by the time he had reached the door his wife was outside to receive his gun and other luggage which he bore; this was the only greeting between the husband and wife. After the horsemen had crossed the plaza a second man entered his home, he being the vicar of the society of the cougar and son of the vicar of the society of warriors. The war chief then led the party until but one horseman remained, who upon reaching his home was assisted by the war chief in relieving himself and animal of their burden. Several of the women of the village embraced the ti´Ämoni after he had dismounted, who, however, The ho´naaite of the cougar society visited the houses of all the returned hunters, first entering the house of his vicar. The young man stood in the center of the room and the ho´naaite embraced him and repeated a prayer of thanksgiving for his success in the hunt and his safe return. The old man was then assisted to a seat upon a wadded blanket and the father of the hunter spread a sheepskin upon the floor, wool side down, and emptied the contents of the sack which was taken from the hunter’s horse upon it, which was nothing more than the desiccated meat and bones of an antelope. The aged man then took from his pouch a fetich of the cougar, about 3 inches long, and touching it to the meat of the antelope many times prayed most earnestly for several minutes. His prayers were addressed to the cougar, thanking him for his goodness in sending his children over the land that the Sia might secure them as payment to the cloud people for watering the earth. In the next house visited the meat of the antelope was spread upon a bear’s skin, the hair down. The skin of the antelope was folded lengthwise and laid by the side of the meat, and the skull and antlers placed at one end. The wife of the hunter laid over the skull many strings of coral, ko´haqua, and turkis beads, and afterwards spread a white embroidered Tusayan blanket over the carcass. A small bowl of sacred meal was deposited in front of the head. The aged ho´naaite repeated a prayer similar to the one he offered in the first house, not omitting placing the fetich to the antelope; he then clasped his hands four times over the skull of the antelope and drew a breath, after which the hunter lighted a cigarette for the ho´naaite who blew the first whiff over the antelope and extended the cigarette toward it. The ho´naaite repeated the prayer in the houses of the four successful hunters. The other two men were not overlooked, as he embraced them and repeated a prayer of thanksgiving for their safe return.[23] The war chief visited all of the houses, but did nothing more than sprinkle the antelope with corn pollen, drawing in a sacred breath from the game, puffing the first whiff of his cigarette over it and extending the cigarette toward it. When the game is shot, the hunter dips his fetich into the blood, telling it to drink. The blood is often scraped from fetiches and drunk in a little water to insure greater success in the hunt. There are specimens of such fetiches in Mr. Stevenson’s collection in the National Museum. Some students, through their imperfect knowledge, have been led into the error of supposing from their new appearance that these fetiches were of recent manufacture. The game is kept in the houses of the hunters until the following morning, when it is taken to the ceremonial house of the ti´Ämoni, the war chief deciding what day it shall Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXXII GAST LITH. CO. N.Y. SIA MASKS. SOCIETY OF WARRIORS.The Society of Warriors and the Knife Society have a ceremonial chamber in common; and in a certain sense these societies are closely allied, the former having had originally as its presiding officers Ma´asewe and U´yuuyewe, the twin children of the sun, the latter society having derived its name from the arrows which were given by the sun father to the invulnerable twins, and with which they destroyed the enemies of the earth. Each of these societies, therefore, has a share in the initiation of a victor. The killing of an enemy is not sufficient to admit a man into the Society of Warriors; he must return with such trophies as the scalp and buckskin apparel. The victor carries the scalp on an arrow until he draws near to the village, when he transfers it to a pole some 5 feet in length, the pole being held with both hands. The victor’s approach is heralded, and if it be after the sun has eaten his midday meal he must not enter the village, but remain near it until morning, food being carried to him by the war chief. In the morning the Society of the Knife, followed by the Warriors and the male populace of the town, join the victor. An extended prayer is offered by the ho´naaite of the Knife Society, and then, addressing the spirit of the enemy, he says: “You are now no longer our enemy; your scalp is here; you will no more destroy my people.” The ho´naaite of the Warriors and his vicar respond, “So! So!” The air is resonant the remainder of the day with the war song, there being occasional intermissions for prayers; and at sundown the ho´naaite of the Warriors and his vicar, with the victor, bearing the pole and scalp between them, lead the way to the village, followed by the members of the society, and then the Knife Society, led by its ho´naaite and An arrow point is placed in the mouth of the victor by the ho´naaite of the Knife Society, and they all then proceed to the plaza, the members of each society forming in a line and the victor dancing to and fro between the lines, raising the scalp as high as the pole will reach, but he does not sing or speak a word. The numbers in the lines are increased by the men of the village carrying war clubs and firearms, keeping up a continual volley with their pistols and guns until the close of the dance at sundown. The women are not debarred from exhibiting their enthusiasm, and they join in the dance. Upon their return to the ceremonial chamber the scalp is again deposited before the meal painting and the ho´naaite of the Knife Society proceeds with the final epic ritual which completes the initiation of the victor into the Society of Warriors, closing with these words: “You are now a member of the Society of Warriors,” and he then removes the arrow point from the victor’s mouth. The members, in conjunction with the victor, respond “Yes! Yes!” Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XXXIII PRAYER TO THE RISING SUN. The cotton shirt and trousers are then donned and the scalp is carried to the scalp-house (a cavity in the earth covered with a mound of stone) and deposited with food for the spirit of the departed enemy. Again returning to the ceremonial chamber, fast is broken for the first time during the day, when a feast, which is served by the female relatives of the victor, is enjoyed. After the meal they go to the river and remove all evidences of the paint upon their bodies. Continency is observed four days. The few songs of the cult which the writer was able to collect are direct invocations for rain, or for the presence of zoomorphic beings in ceremonials for healing the sick, a few words sufficing for many unexpressed ideas. The epic ritual of the Sia is so elaborate that much time and careful instruction are required to impress it upon the mind, and the younger men either have not the mind necessary for the retention of the ritual or will not tax their memories; therefore the web of Sia myth and religion is woven into the minds of but few. The aged theurgists were eager to intrust to the writer the keeping of their songs, which are an elaborate record of the lives of their mythic heroes and of the Sia themselves. The Sia sometimes adopt the poet’s license in their songs and alter a word; for example, the name for “badger” is tuo´pi, but is changed in the sko´yo song for rain to tupi´na, because, they say, the latter word renders the stanza more rhythmical. And, again, different words are synonymously used. The his´tiÄn and quer´rÄnna have each a similar song of petition for rain, this song having been given to the his´tiÄn by the sun. It will be remembered that the name of this society indicates the knives or arrows of lightning given to the heroes by their sun father. |