82 THE SIA

gathered beforethe altar,

and

each, taking apinch of meal from the mealbowl,.sprinkled thealtar and returnedto theirseats.

The

ya'ni-

*siwittaniii liftedtheshell of pollenfrom before thealtar,and,passing totheentrance

and

openingthedoor,

waved

his rattlealong thelineof meal

and

out of the door. After repeating the

waving

of the rattle

he passed his

hand

over theline

and

threwout the pollen from his fingers, asoffering tothe

Snake

ho'naaite. Returningtothealtar, he stood while the ho'naaite dippedhis plumes intothe medicine water

and

sprinkled thealtar

by

strikingtheplumes withtherattle. After the ya'ni'siwittaniii

and

ho'naaite

had

returnedto the line,thecloud-

maker

(a

member

of the Spider Society),

who

sat at thenorth end, crossedthelineofmeal, and,holdinghiseagleplumes

and

rattle inhis left hand, lifted with his right the reed wluch lay across the cloud bowl, and,transferringitto hisleft,heheldit

and

theplumes vertically whilehe prayed. ^.

The

viceho'naaite dipped ashes fiomthefire-place with hiseagle plumes,holdingoneineither hand,sprinkled thecloud-

mak*r

forpurification,

and

threw the remainder of the ashes toward the choir.

During

his prayer,which continued foreight minutes, the cloud-maker appeared like a statue.

At

the close of the prayer he dropped into the cloud bowl a quantity of to'chainitiwa (a certain rootused

by

thecult societies toproducesuds, symbolic of theclouds),

and

.sprinkled with corn polleu the surface of the water,

which was

already quite coveredwith it; then,taking the reed in hisright

hand

and ^stillholdingit vertically, hebegan aregular

and

rapid

movement

with the reed, in a short time producinga .snowy-whitefroth,which, underhis dextrous manipulation, rapidly rosehigh abovethe bowl,and

fell from^itin cascades tothefloor.

The

bowl stoodon a cincture

pad

ofyucca, acircleofmealsymbolic of the heartorlifeofthewaterhaving been first made.

The

reed

was

never raised from thebowl during the stirringofthe water.

When

the cloudswei-eperfectedthesongceased,

and

the cloud-makerstood thereed in the center of the .suds,

which now

wholly concealed the bowl.

He

then rose, and,after holding his two eagle ijlumes in his left

hand

^fora

moment,

he

changed

one to theright

hand and began

dancing before the altar; presentlyhe dipped a quantity of suds from theba.seof thebowl withhistwo eagle plumes, and threw tliem to the north of the altar; again dipping the suds,he threw

them

to the south; continuingto danceto themusic of therattle

and

thesong,he dippedthe suds and threw

them

^to thefire- place; dipping

them

again,he threw

them

tothe earth,each timewitli

aninvocation tothe cloudijeo^jle.

As

hethrew thesudstothe earth twoof the choirdipped their plumesinto the

bowl

ofmedicinewater

and

sprinkled thealtar

by

strikingtheupper sides of theplumes with their rattles.

The

cloud-maker again dipped up thesuds, and, facing east,threw

them

towardthe zenith; he then dipped the suds

and

de- posited

them

inthe center of the basket containing the

phrme

offer- ings; then

waving

hiseagle plumes from northto south, he continued

STEVENSON.]

RAIN CEREMONIAL. 83

dancing,raising firstone

plume and

then the other ashepointed

them

toward the altar. In a

moment

or

two

hedipped snds

and

threw

them

toward the

women

on the north side of the room,

and

dipping

them

again threw

them

toward the

women

ofthe south side; at the

same

time themale

members

reachedforward, and,dippingtheirplumes into the medicine bowl, sprinkled the^altar,each timepetitioning the cloud peopleto gather.

The

cloud-makerthenthrew suds tothe west; again he dippedthe suds

and

threw

them

to thezenith,then tothe altar; a portion

was

then placed on the frontya'ya; again hedanced,foratime extendinghis eagleidumes and withdrawingthem, and dippedthesuds

and

threw

them upward and

toward the

man

on the northend of the line; atthe

same

timethe ho'naaitedipped hisplumes intothe medi- cine bowl and si)riiikled the altar as heretofore described; and the cloud-maker dippedthe suds,throwing

them

towardthe vice ho'naaite, and, againdipping them,hethrew

them

towardtheya'ni'siwittaniii; he thenlifted suds

and

threw

them

to the west, then tothe zenith,never failing to callthe cloud ijeople together.

The

ho'naaite,keeping his position

back

of thealtar, dipped hisplumesinto the medicine water

and

sprinkled the

members;

again the cloud

maker

^lifted suds

and

threw

them

to the zenith; at the

same

time the second

woman

at the westendof thelineonthenorth sidedippedher

wand

intothemedicine water,with acry forthe cloud people to gather; the cloud-makei-then threw the suds to the westand the ho'naaite sprinkled the

members

withthe medicinewater,

and

thecloud-makerplaced the suds

upon

the heads of the white bearand parrot; and stooping he ^stirredthe suds briskly.

The

ti'iimoni lighted a cigarette from a coal at the fireplace

and handed

itto the cloud-maker,

who

stood the reed in the center of the sudsbeforereceiving thecigarette^; he blewthefirstfewwhiffsover the suds and then

smoked

a

moment

or

two and

laid about one- third ofthe cigarettebythesideofthecloud bowl.

The

song, which

had

continued almost incessantlyforthree hours,

now

ceased,

and

thecloud-makerre-

turnedto hisseat inthe line.

The

ti'amonisat

by

thefire

and

smoked, severaljoining

him

fora short time; butallsoon returned totheirseats inthe line

and

continuedtheirsmoke.

At

the beginning of the succeedingsong thetwo

women

atthe east

end

ofthe southlinedanced before thealtar

and

sprinkledit

by

strik- ing the

wand

^{held in}theleft

hand

onthetop with theoneheld in the right.

One

of the

women was

^frequentlydebarred taking part inthe

ceremony owing

to theattention required

by

herinfant,

who was

at times ^fr'etful.

Two women

from theeast endof the north line joinedinthe dance, and then a third

woman

from thesouth line; threeofthe

women

formed in linerunning north

and

south^; an aged

woman

atthewest end of the south line danced, but did not leave her place at the end of the

line. Shepulled the

young boy who

satnear her forward, telling

him