GENERAL EXPLANATIONS RELATIVE TO THE TEXT

As

thespaceoriginally apportioned to thismerely preliminaryessay

on

the

Myths

of Creation has alreadybeen greatly exceeded, thecon- sideration eveninoutlineof the cultural characteristics of the Zuiiis,

which would

do

much

tofurther illuminethe

meaning

of the myths,

must

be ^lefttothe second jjaperof the series. Thiswill constitutea

key

or appendix tothe present paper,

and

willcontain suchglossaries

and

detailedexplanations aswillrender,itishoped,allobsciu'epassages

clear, and will at the

same

time give

my

authority forframing

and

translatingthe

myths

as Ihave.

Chiefly,however,itwillin turn introduce athirdpaper onthe sacred dances or creation

dramas

of the Ka'ka,

which

originallythe

myths

themselves (as the source of the songs, rituals,

and

^{forms of these} dramas) were designedtointroduce. Lastly,thewhole ^{series are} but preliminaryto a very extensive

work

on the subject

which

I contem- plate producingsosoon as health

and

opiiortunity forfurther researches

among

the Zuhiswillpermit.

As

^{inclusive of} the dramaturgies or dances,

and

nearly all other ceremonials of the Zuiiis,thissubject of their creation

myths

is almost inexhaustible. I, at least, can not hope to complete it,

and

I have

374 ^ZUNI CREATION MYTHS.

[eth.ahn.13 therefore choseuto treat it iu its relatiou especially to^{tlieir so-}called dances,particularly to those of the Ka'ka.

With

other primitive peoples as with the Zunis, there seems to be nobent oftheir

minds

so strong or pervasive of

and

influential

upon

their livesas thedramaturgictendency.

That

tendencytosupposethat eventhe

phenomena

of naturecanbecontrolled

and made

toact

more

orless

by

men,ifsymbolicallytheydofirst

what

theywish the elements to do, according tothe

ways

iu which, as taught

by

theirmystic loi-e,

theysupposethese thingswere

done

or

made

^tobe

done by

the ances- tralgodsofcreation time.

And

^this

may

beseeniuasearchinganalysis not only of the incidents

and

symbolismsinfolktales aswell as

myths

ofsuch primitive peoples, but also iu-a study of the

moods

in which they

do

the ordinary things oflife; asinbelievingthatbecausea stone often struck wears

away

faster than

wheu

^first struck it is therefore helpful iuovercoming- its obduracyto strikeit

— ^work

^it

— ^by

^ajirelinii-

nary dramatic

and

ritualisticstriking,

whereupon

itwill

work

asthough already actually

worked

over,

and

^willbeless liable tobreakage,etc.

All this

and much more

tothe

same

effect will

be

illustratedin the papers whichI

have

mentioned asdesigned to follow theijresent one.

There remain ^stilla fewpointsin this preliminarypaper

which must

be

commented upon —

^{pointsregarding}

^{my own hand}

^inthe

^work

^chiefly.

I use very freely such terms as "religious," "sacred," "priest,"

and

"god,"not because they always express exactly the native meaning, but forthe reason thattheydo so

more

approximately than

any

other terms I could select.

The

^fearful

and

mysterious, the magical

and

occult, all these

and many

other elements are usually included in the primitive man's religion,

and

hence terms^like "sacred"

must

be given aless restricted valuethan they

have

inour speech orculture.

Again, while the ^Zufii

word

shiioani, "priest," literally signifies

guardian

and

possessor, aswell as

maker

or keeperoftheflesh,or seed oflifeof the Zuiiis,it

must

not be supposed to represent a medicine- man, shaman, orsorcerer

—

^{for allof whichthere are}specific differenti- ated terms in the Zuiii tongue.

Those who

bear that title are also divided intofourclasses,but

among

^allthesethe functions ofpossess- ingashrine,beingritualists, performing beforethe altars,

and

leading as well as ordering all organized sacerdotal ceremonials, is

common.

Therefore the simxile term"priest," in the

Pagan

rather than in the Christiansense,is the best

and

truestthatcan befound.

FrequentlyI

have

occasion toreproduceportions of songsor rituals, or,again,

words

of the

Uanami

or

"Beloved

Gods." Inthe originals these are almost always in faultless blank verse meter,

and

^{are often} even grandly^{poetic. I} donothesitateeither toreproduceasnearly as possibletheirform, orto taxtotheuttermost

my

^grower of expression in rendering the meanings of

them where

Iquote, clear

and

^effective

and

in intelligible English.

Yet

in doing this T donothavetodepart veryfarfrom"scientific" accuracy, even inthe linguisticsense.

cusBiNQ)

CHARACTER OF ZUNI CEREMONIALS. 375

Fiually, I haveeutitlecl the originativedivisionof this paper "Out- linesof ZuiiiCreation Myths,"becanse,inthe firstplace, this is but a preliminaryrendering of these,and, properly speaking,theyareaseries of explanation-myths.

Now,

while such

myths

are generally discon- nected, often, indeed,

somewhat

contradictory episode-legends with primitivepeoples,theyare,with theZuiais,already

become

serial,

and

it is in their serial or epic form (but merely in outline) that I here give them.

Although

eachiscalled atalk,

and

^isheld specificallyby apar- ticular organization or social division,yetall arecalled " the speech."

This

comes

aboutin Zuni

by

^thepresence in the^tribal organization, as already explained, of a classof

men and

prieststherecalledthe ^"Mid- most," or the "All,"becausehereditaryin a single clan(the

Macaw),

yet representative sacerdotally ofallthe clans

and

allthe priesthoods,

which

theyout-rank as

"Masters

of the

House

of Houses."

With them

^allthese various

myths

are held in brief

and

repeatedin setform

and

one sequence as are placed thebeads of arosary oron a string, eachentire, yetall

making

a connectedstrand. Here,then,

we

seetherudimentor

embryo

ofa sacred epicsuchas that of the Kya'klu or ^"Speakerof all timeswhensoever."

As

finallypublished,this paper willcontain the

most ample

explana- tionof allthese points

and many

others,

and

will not ask, as it does today,catholic

judgment and

charitable interpretation.

The

^{so-calleddances}of the Zunis,

and presumably

those ofallsimilar primitive peoples, are essentially religio-sociologic in character

and

alwaysat least dramatic,or,

more

properlyspeaking, dramaturgic. It followsthat toendeavortodescribe

and

treat atall adequatelyof

any

one such ceremonial

becomes

a matter of exceeding difiiculty, for ^it should involve afar

more

perfectscheme of the sociologicorganization as well as at least a general survey ofthe

mythology and

religious institutionsof thetribe to which itrelates, such as I here present, as well as an absolutelysearching description of ^{all details} in both the preparation for

and

theperformanceof suchceremonial.

For

example, the celebrated

Ka'ka

ormythic drama-danceorganiza- tionof the Zuiiis,

and

for that matter all other of their ceremonials, are,

any

oneof them,

made up

in personnel from specific clans.

Thus

formed,they are organized,

and

the actors

and

theirparts dividedin accordancewiththegroupingsofthese clansinrelation tothesymbolic regions of the world, ^{or in this} caseliterally septs. Finally, the para- phernalia

and

costumings, noless than theactions, songs,

and

rituals, are as distinctly founded on

and

related to the legend or legends dramatized.

At

^{thispoint it seems desirable that the sense inwhich theterms}

"drama," "dramatic,"

and

"dramaturgic" are

employed

in relation to these ceremonialsbe explained. This

may

best be done, perhaps,

by

contrasting the

drama

of primitivepeoples, asI conceive^it, withthat of civilized peoples.

While

the latter is essentiallyspectacular, the

376 ZUNI CREATION MYTHS.

ieth.ann.13

formerhasforits chief motivethe absolute

and

faithful reproduction of creativeepisodes

—

^one

^may

^{almost say,} iudeed, the revivification of theancient.

That

thisis attempted

and

^is regarded aspossibleby primitive

man

is nottobe

wondered

at

when we

considerhis peculiar

modes

of con- ception. I

have

said of the Zufiis that theirs ^is a science of appear- ancesand a philosophy of analogies.

The

primitiveman, noless than thechild, isthe

most

com^jrehensive of observers, because hislooking atand intothingsis notself-conscious, butinstinctive

and

undirected, thereforecomprehensive

and

searching. Unacquainted as he is with rationalexplanations of the thingshe sees,he isgiven, ashas been the race throughoutalltime,to symbolicinterpretation

and

mysticexj)res- sion thereof,as even todayare those

who

deal with the

domain

of the purely si)eculative. It follows that his organizations are symbolic;

that his actions within these organizations are also symbolic. Con- sequently, as a child atplay on the floor finds sticks all-sutficientfor the personages of bis play-drama, chairs for his houses,

and

^lines of thefloorforthe rivers that none but his eyes can see, so does the primitive

man

regard the mute, but to

him

personified, appliances of hisdance

and

the actionsthereof,otherthan theyseem tous.

I can perhaps

make my meaning more

clear

by

analyzing suchacon- ception

common

to the Zuni nund.

The

Zuni has observed thatthe corn plant isjointed; thatits leavessj)ringfrom thesejointsnotregu- larly,but spirally; that stripped of the leaves thestalk is found tobe indented, not regularly at opposite sides, but also spirally; that the

matured

plant is characterized, as no other plant is,

by two

sets of seeds,the ears of corn springing outfrom it two-thirds

down and

the tasselsof seeds,sometimes earlets, at the top; also that thesetassels resemble the seed-spikes of thesj)ring-grass or pigeon-grass; that the leavesthemselveswhilehke broadblades of grass arefluted likeplumes,

and

that

amongst

the ears of corn ever

and

anon arefound bunches of soot; and, finally, thatthe colors of the corn are as the colorsofthe woi'ld

—

^{seven in} number. Lateron it

may

be seen to

what

extenthe haslegendized these characteristics, thusaccountingfor them,

and

to

what

extent, also, he has dramatized this,his natural philosophy of the corn

and

its origin. Nothing in this world or universe having occurred

by

accident

—

^{so it seems to the Zuni mind,}

—

^{buteverything}

having been started

by

a personal agencyor su2)ernal, he immediately begins tosee inthese characteristics ofthe corn plantthe tracesof the actionsof the peoplesin his

myths

of the olden time. Lo!

men

lived on grass seeds at ^first, but, as rel.ated in the course of the legends whichfollow,there

came

a timewhen,

by

^the potencies of thegods and the

magic

of his

own

i>riests orshamans,

man

modified the food offirst

7nen into the food of men'schildren. Itneeded only a youth

and

a maiden, continent

and

pure,tograspatoppositesides

and

successively theblades of grassplanted with plumesof supplication,

and

walking

cusHiNo] ORIGIN

OF THE CORN DRAMA. 377

or dancing aronud tbeiu, holding

them

firmly to

draw them upward

until they

had

^rapidly

grown

to the tallness of themselves, then to

embrace them

together. Behold! the grasses were jointed

where

grasped four timesor six accordingto their tallness; yea,

and marked

with the

thumb-marks

of those

who

grasped them; twisted

by

their grasp while circling around

them and

leaved with plume-like blades

and

tasseledwith grass-likespikes at the tops.

More

wonderful than

all,wheretheirpersons

had

touchedthe plantsat theirmiddles,behold

!

new

seed of

human

origin

and

productive of continuedlife

had

sprung forth insemblanceof their parentage

and

draped withthe verypile of their generation. For lo! that

when

theworld

was new

all things iu it

were

k'yamua,or formative, as

now

is thechild inthemother's

womb

orthe clay

by

thethoughtsof thepotter.

That

the seed of seedsthus

made

benotlostitneededthat Paiyatuma, the

God

of

Dew and

the

Dawn,

freshen these

new-made

plants withhis breath; thatTenatsali, the

God

of

Time and

theSeasons,mature

them

^instantlywithhistouch

and

breath; thatKwelele, the

God

of Heat, ripen

them

with the touch of hisFire-brother'storch

and

confirm to

them

the

warmth

ofa lifeof their own. Nevertheless,with the

coming

of each season,the creation

is ever repeated, forthe philosophy ofecclesiasticism ^is farolder than ecclesiastics ortheir writings,

and

since

man

aided in the creation of thecorn,so

must

he

now

ever aid in each

new

creation of the seed of seeds.

Whence

the

drama

ofthe originofcornisnotmerelyreenacted, but^isrevived

and

reproduced in all its

many

^details with scrupulous fidelityeach

summer

as the

new

seed is ripening.

And now

I

may add

intelligibly that the

drama

of primitive

man

^is performed in an equallydramaturgicspirit, whether seen, as in itsmerely culminating or finalenactment, or unseen

and

often secret, asin its long-continued preparations. In this a given piece of^it

may

be likened toa piece of Orientalcarving or of Japanese joinery, in which the parts not to be seen are as scrupulouslyfinished asare the partsseen, thewhich^is like- wisecharacteristic ofourtheme, for it is

due

to the ^like dramaturgic

spirit

which

dominates even theworks,no less than the ceremonials, ofall primitive

and

seniiprimitivepeoples.

So also itseemsto the Zuni that no lessessential is it that all the long periods of creation

up

to the time

when

cornitself

was

created fromthe grasses

must

be reproduced, even though hastily

and by mere

signs, as aretheforms throughwhichagiven species inanimal lifehas been evolved,rapidly repeatediueach embryo.

The

significanceof such studies as these of a little tribe like the Zufiis,

and

especiallyof suchfuller studies as^will,itis hoped,follow iu due course, is not restricted totheir bearingon ^{thetribe itself.}

They

bear on the histoiy of

man

theworld over. I

have become

convinced that theythus bear on

human

^history,especiallyon that of

human

cul- ture growth,verydirectlj',too,forthe Zunis,say,withalltheirstrange, apparently local customs

and

institutions and the lore thereof, are

378

ZUNI

CREATION MYTHS.

[eth.ann.13

representativein a

more

than merelygeneral

way

ofaphaseof culture throughwhichall desert peoples, in the Old

World

as well as inthe Isew,

must

sometime have ^jiassed.

Thus my

researches

among

these Zunis

and my

experimental researches

upon

myself,with

my own

hands, understrictlyprimitiveconditions,

have

togethergiven

me

^insight

and power

to interpret their

myths and

old arts,asI could never otherwise

have

hopedtodo;

and

it has also enlarged

my

understanding of the earliestconditionsof

man

everywhereasnothingelsecould havedone.

The

leisure for this long continued research has been due to the generosity, scicjutific disinterestedness,

and

personal kindness of

my

formerchief. Professor Spencer F. Baird,

and

^of

my

present revered director. MajorJ.

W,

^Powell,

whose

patience

and

helpfulnessthrough years of struggle, ill-health,

and

delay could not adequately be repaid

by

eventhe complete carryingout of the seriesof

works

herein pro- jected

and

prefaced.

To them and

to Professor

W ^{J McGee, who}

^has

aided

and

fostered this

work

in every possible way, I

owe

^continual

gratitude.