92 THE SIA

child brought the

hauk

from the farther end of the

room

to the

woman,

who, taking a needle of the yucca,

wound

^itfourtimes around her

thumb and

index finger; then wrapping this

mth

an extra thread of yucca formed the ring.

When

the four rings were completed thechild took

them

to the paint stone,whichthe

woman had removed

tothe farend of the room,

and

dipped

them

^into theyellow paint

and

laid

them by

^the

woman, who

tied three of the piles of plumes to-

gether

and

afterwards

handed

the riugs totheho'naaite,

who

added to each ring a

plume

fromthe

wing

of a

humming

bird. Theseringswere oflerings to the cloud children emblematic of the wheels

upon

wnich theyrideoverti'nia.

In attaching the illume oflerings to the hii'chamoni, the latter are held between the large

and

second toes of therightfoot of the

men and woman.

There weretenha'chamoni tobearmessagesto thecloud rulers of thecardinal points

—

Ho'chiinni,high rulerofthe cloud people ofthe world, Sus'sistinnako, t)^t's6t,

and

the sun, the extrabunches of plumes beingtied pendenttothose already attachedtotheha'chamoni

forSus'sistinnako, Crt'set,

and

thesun.

The

ho'naaiteplaced the ha'chamoni

and

rings in a flat basket

and

setitbefore the ^{altar in} fi-out of the cloud bowl,

and

posted a stiiffed parrot

upon

thecentral slatof thealtar.

At

^thistime the otherofficial

members

appeared, and,

unwrapping

their ya'ya,

handed them

^to the ho'naaite,

who

stood

them

beforethealtar (PI. xix).

The woman

then brought a vaseof water

and

gourd from thefar end of the room,

and

the ho'naaiteemptiedfour gourdfiils into the medicinebowl

and

then sprinkledcorn pollen

upon

thewater,and,dippinghistwoeagleplumes intothe bowl, hesprinkled the altar

and

offerings.

He

didnot speak a word,buttook hisseat

by

thefire and

began

smoking, awaiting the hour for theevening ceremonial.

The

ho'naaite

and

vicar

had

^their meals served, inthe ceremonialchamber,andaftereating, theremainder ofthebasketofbread

and

bowlof

meat was

placed before thealtar.

The

nightcerenumy opened with the ho'naaite (PI. xx)

and

hisvicar dippingtheirplumesintothemedicinewater

and

sprinklingthealtar

and

the foodwhich

had

beenplaced beforeit; the ho'naaite then, sittingin front

and

tothenorth side ofthe altar,repeated a long prayer, suppli- cating Mo'kaitc, (Jougar of the North,to intercedewith the cloud people ofthenorthtowaterthe earth that the crops might grow; Ko'hai, the Bear, to intercede withthecloudpeo])le of thewestto waterthe earth that the crops might grow; a smilar invocation

was made

to the Tuo'pe,

Badger

ofthe South, Ka'kanna,

Wolf

ofthe East, Tiii'mi, Eagleofthe Heaven, and Mai'tubo,

Shrew

ofthe Earth.

The

vicarthen gathered abitof bread from thebasket

and

of

meat

from thebowl and

handed

ittotheho'naaite,

who

leftthe house with the food in his lefthand, holdinghiseagleplumes inhis right; he cast the food to the animal Ko'pishtaia of the cardinal points, begging thatthey

would

intercede with the cloud people to

come and

waterthe earth; then, returningto

STEVENSON.]

THE GIANT

SOCIETY.

93

the ceremouial chamber, he stooped before thealtar

and

to the south side of the line of meal aud prayed to the Ko'pishtaia, closing with thesewords: "I have ^offered

you

food,our food,that

you may

eat,

and

Ipray

you

to exhort the Ko'pishtaia of ti'nia [referring to the cloud people] to

come

and watertheearth.''

The

male

members

ofthesociety each

smoked

acigarette,

and

afterward ^tlu> bowlofstew

and

basketof bread were deposited in the center of the room, and all gathered around and ate.

The men

thensatoneitherside ofthe

room and

again indulgediua smoke, the

woman and

girl sittingon thenorth sidenear the west end. After the cigarettes were finished the vicar

drew

a fresh line of meal fromthe altar tothe (k)orsitiiated on the southside

and

near the west end,

and

the

members

formed in line back of the altar.

(An

explanation of the

drawing

of the line of meal

and

the relative positions of theline of

men back

ofthealtarhas already been given,

and

is applicabletotherainceremonials ofallthecultsocieties.) Tlie

woman

took her seaton the north sideoftheroom, near thealtar, the little girl sitting opposite toher onthe south side.

The

ho'uaaite

and

theti'iimoni (the latter'sposition as ti'amoui has nothing whatevertodowith his relations inthecult societies inwhich he holds membership) wore white

Tusayan

cotton breechcloths elab- oratelyembroideredinbright^colors; thevicar's

was

darkblue

and

the others white cotton; each

man

held two eagle plumes

and

a goiud rattle inthe ^lefthand.

The woman and

littlegirl woretheir ordinary dresses, the high-neck calico

gowns

being omitted,

aud

they held a turkey

wand

tipped with fluffy eagle plumes

dyed

a lemon color, in either hand.

The

vicar gavea pinch of meal to the ho'naaite from the pottery meal

bowl by

the altar,

who

withoutrisingfrom hisseatsprinkled the altar.

The

song then openedtothe

accompaniment

oftherattle,which

had

been transferred to the right hand, the eagle plumes still being held in theleft,

and

keepingtime with the rattle.

Each

stanza closed with a short

and

rapid shake of the rattle. (The writer noticedin the ceremonials of thecult societies of the Sia the absenceof the pottery drum,

which

is such an importantfeaturewiththeZufu

and

Tusayan.)

With

the

commencement

of theritual the

men

from eitherend of the line

moved

tothefireplace, and lifting ashes with their plumes, depos- ited

them

beforethe altar

and

north

and

south of the meal line,

and

after dancing

and

gesticulating for a

moment

or

two

theyagain lifted ashes

and

sprinkledtoward thealtar, theunder sideof the

plume

held in the left

hand

being struck with the one held in the right; again lifting ashesonesprinkledtothe north

and

the othertothesouth,

and

passing

down

on either side of the meal line they sprinkled to the west,

and

crossing the.y passed

up

the line

and when midway

one sprinkled to the north, the other to the south; again dipping ashes they sprinkled tothe zenitli and with

more

ashes they sprinkledtothe niidir. Tliis sprinkling of the cardinal points

was

repeated four times.