122 THE SIA

his vicar. After encirclingthe villagefromrighttoleft, thepartyen- ters the ceremonial chamber, Avheu the scalp ^is deposited before the mealjiaiuting,the ho'naaite of the Knife Society having preparedthe painting

and

arranged thefetichesaboutitinthe

morning

beforegoing to

meet

the victor.

The two

large stone images of

Ma'asewe

and U'yuuyewe, which arebroughtout only

upon

theinitiation of a victor intothe Society of Warriors, arekeptina

room

exclusively theiro^\'n

;

thesei)articu]arfetiches of the

war

heroes are never looked

upon by women,

conse(iuently they have remained undisturbedin theirabiding placea

number

of years, theexception being

when

all thefetiches

and

paraphernalia of thecult of the Sia were displayed in 1887 for Mr.

StevensoD's

and

the writer's ins])ection.

The members

of the Knife Society siton thewest sideof the

room and

theWarriors on the east side,the ho'uaaites of the societies sitting at the north endofeither line, each ho'naaitehavinghisvicar

by

his side,

and

thevictor

by

the sideofthe vicarofthe Warriors; he doesnotjoin inthe song, but^sits perfectly still.

At

sunrisethe scalpis

washed

in yucca suds

and

cold water

by

each

member

oftheKnife Society,

and

thevictor's

hands

are then bathed for the firsttime since the scalping,

and

he proceeds to painthisbody.

The

^face

and

lower portion ofthelegs are colored red

and

theremainder black, and galena isthen spread over the greater portion oftheface.

The

KnifeSocietywears whitecottonembroidered

Tusayau

^kilts

and

moccasins,

and

theWarriors

wear

kilts of unorna-

mented

buckskin, excepting the fringes atthe bottom

and

thepouch

made

fromthebuckskin apparelcapturedfromtheenemy.

The

victor wears thebuckskin kilt, moccasins,

and

pouch,

and

lie carries a

bow and

arrows in his lefthand,

and

the pole with the scalpattachedto it in theright.

Each member

ofthe society also carriesa

bow and

arrows

inthe^left

hand and

a single arrowintheright.

The members

of the Knife Society have gourd rattles in their right hands

and bows and

arrowsintheleft.

The

hair ofall is left flowing.

An

arrowpoint isplaced in the

mouth

ofthevictor

by

the ho'naaite of the KnifeSociety,

and

they all then i)roceed to the plaza, the

mem-

bers of each society formingin aline

and

thevictor dancing to and

frobetween the^lines, raising the scalp as high as the polewillreach, but he does not singor speak a word.

The numbers

in the lines are increased

by

the

men

of thevillagecarrying

war

clubs and firearms, keeping

up

a continual volley withtheir pistols

and

guns until the closeof the dance ^at sundown.

The women

are not debarred trom exhibitingtheir enthusiasm, and theyjoin in the dance.

Upon

their return to the ceiemonial

chamber

the scalp is again deposited before themealpainting

and

the ho'naaite ofthe Knife Society proceeds with the^final epic ritual which completes theinitiation of the victor into the Society of Warriors, closingwith these words^:

"You

are

now

a

member

of the Society of Warriors,"

and

he then removes thearrow pointfrom thevictor's mouth.

The

members,in conjunction with thevictor, respond "Yes! Yes!^"

STEVENSON.] SONGS.

123 The

^{cotton shirt} and trousers arethen

douned and

the scalp is carried tothescalp-house (a cavityiuthe earth covered with a

mound

of stone) and deposited with foodfor the spiritofthedepartedeuemj'.

Again

returning tothe ceremonial chamber, fastis brokenfor the first

time during the day,

when

afeast, which ^is served

by

thefemale rela- tives ofthe victor,is enjoyed. After the meal theygototheriverand

remove

all evidences of the paint

upon

their bodies. Continency ^is observedfourdays.

The

few songs of the cultwhich thewriter

was

ableto collect are direct invocations forrain, orfor the presence of zoomorphicbeingsin ceremonials forhealingthe sick, afew

words

sufficingfor

many

unex- pressed ideas.

The

epic ritual ofthe Siais soelaborate that

much

time

and

careful instructionare re(iuiredtoimpressituponthe mind,

and

the younger

men

either have not the

mind

necessaryfortheretention of theritual orwill nottaxtheirmemories;therefore the

web

ofSia

myth and

religion is

woven

^intothe

minds

of butfew.

The

agedtheui-gists wereeager to intrust to the writer thekeeping oftheir songs,which areanelaborate record of thelivesoftheir mytliic heroes

and

ofthe Sia themselves.

The

Sia sometimes adoptthe poet's license in their songs

and

alter a word; forexample, the

name

for

"badger"

is tuo'pi,butischanged

in the sko'yo song forrain to tupi'na,because,theysay,thelatter

word

renders the stanza

more

rhythmical.

And,

again, differentwords are synonymously used.

The

^his'tiiin

and

quer'ranna

have

each a similar songof petition for rain, thissonghaving beengiven tothehis'tiiin

by

the sun. It willbe

remembered

that the

name

of this society indicates the knives or arrows oflightning given to the heroes

by

their sunfather.