{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70166/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70166","id":"gutenberg_70166","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70166","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Hopi Indians -- Religion","Hopi mythology"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n  Italic text displayed as: _italic_\n\n\n\n\n  THE KATCINA ALTARS IN\n  HOPI WORSHIP\n\n  BY\n\n  J. WALTER FEWKES\n  _Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology_\n\n\n  FROM THE SMITHSONIAN REPORT FOR 1926, PAGES 469-486\n  (WITH 3 PLATES)\n\n  [Illustration: Decoration]\n\n  (PUBLICATION 2904)\n\n\n  UNITED STATES\n  GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE\n  WASHINGTON\n  1927\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  PLATE 1\n\nWALPI SIX DIRECTIONS ALTAR]\n\n\n\n\nTHE KATCINA ALTARS IN HOPI WORSHIP\n\nBy J. WALTER FEWKES, _Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology_\n\n[With 3 plates]\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nThe present article is the fifth of a series published in the\nannual reports of the Smithsonian Institution on the composition of\nHopi worship. The Hopi, the name meaning peaceful, belong to the\nPueblo stock and are agricultural Indians. They are descendants of\nthe Arizona cliff dwellers and have preserved to the present many\nsurvivals of their ancient worship. The object of the series of five\npapers above referred to is to record a few of their rites in sun,\nfire, and ancestor ceremonies that have survived to the present time.\nThe Pueblos performed their secret ceremonies in subterranean rooms\ncalled kivas that were entered from the roof.\n\nIt is customary for the priest in the course of the ceremonies to\nerect an altar, so called, on which is placed their _tiponi_, or\nsacred badge of office, surrounded by various fetishes, idols, and\nwooden objects bearing symbols. Here are placed all sacred objects\npossessed by the fraternity of priests who celebrate the rite.\nThere are four Hopi villages or pueblos that perform the rituals\nindependently, the sacred paraphernalia differing in each. From a\nstudy of these altars it is possible for us to learn the aim of their\nvarious ceremonies. The present paper compares the four Katcina\naltars for this purpose.\n\nThat element of pueblo worship known as the Katcina forms fully\none-half of the Hopi ritual, beginning with the arrival of the\nKatcinas or masked dancers in January or February, and lasting until\ntheir departure in July, inclusive. It is distinguished from other\ncomponents by the presence of masked participants called Katcinas,\nsupposed to be personators of the ancients, or \u201cothers.\u201d The yearly\ndeparture of these worthies from the villages is celebrated in July\nby a great religious observance called the Niman or Farewell Katcina\nceremony; their arrival by several rites, one of the most striking\nof which is called Powamu, or \u201cBean Planting.\u201d At the times of their\narrival and departure there are erected in the kiva of each of the\nfour villages which celebrate them, the same altars, about which\ncertain secret rites are performed. Our knowledge thus far is limited\nto four of the five Katcina altars,[1] and there still remains the\naltar of Cu\u00f1opavi, regarding which nothing has yet been recorded.[2]\n\n[Illustration: EXPLANATION OF PLATE 2\u2014Katcina Altar at Oraibi\n\n_a_, Tunwup, or Sun Katcina; _as_, Aspergill; _b_, Tcuelawu; _c_,\nCorn mound; _co_, Cotokinungwu; _g_, Gourd; _h_, Planting stick;\n_l_, Lightning symbols; _m_, Ears of maize; _mb_, Medicine bowl;\n_p_, Prayer sticks; _ph_, God of war; _pm_, Prayer meal; _ps_,\nPrayer sticks in basket; _pt_, Gourd (netted) for sacred water; _r_,\nRattles; _rc_, Rain _clouds_; _sc_, Sun emblems; _t_, Tiponi.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  PLATE 2\n\nKATCINA ALTAR AT ORAIBI]\n\nOur knowledge of Katcina altars of the Rio Grande in the other\npueblos is very scanty, owing largely to the exclusion of\nethnologists from the kivas. Katcina dances in the open plazas are\nrepeatedly figured but the secret rites and accompanying altars, if\nany, are not known.\n\nIn the following pages the author presents a morphological study of\nthe four known Katcina altars of Hopi. The illustrations of the most\ncomplex, that of Oraibi, have been taken from the excellent memoir\nof Voth on the Powamu of that pueblo; the others are from personal\nstudies made in 1890-1895.\n\nThe structure of the Oraibi Katcina altar is as follows: The reredos\nconsists of two upright wooden slats united above by a crosspiece\nwhich in the illustration (pl. 2) is surmounted by a row of four\nsegments of circles with rain cloud pictures representing the four\ndirections, and colored with appropriate pigments, beginning with\nyellow or north at the right. The decoration of the crosspiece is\nobscure, but on the uprights there are figures recalling sprouting\nvegetation, and circles with differently colored quadrants.\n\nTwo idols, probably of wood, stand between the vertical slats of the\naltar, filling nearly the whole space. That on the left evidently\nrepresents the Sky God (Cotokinungwu) for it has a conical apex to\nthe head, a painted chin, and near its left hand stands a wooden slat\nof zigzag form, a prescribed symbol of lightning.[3] This image has\nseveral short parallel marks of different colors on the body, and\nwears horsehair, stained red, about the loins.\n\nThe other figurine wears a coronet with triangular-shaped rain cloud\nsymbols, which remind one of the headdress of the Lakonemana,\na tutelary goddess of the woman\u2019s society, the Lalakontu, whose\nceremonials in September have been described elsewhere.[4]\n\nThe two vertical wooden slats, one on each side of the uprights, bear\npictures of the same personage, probably Tunwupkatcina, on whose head\nis a fan-shaped crest of feathers. On each side the head has a horn,\nat the extremity of which hangs a symbolic feather.\n\nThe human figures have characteristic markings on their foreheads,\nand their bodies are black, dotted with white spots.\n\nThere is no mistaking the symbolism of the remaining idol standing at\nthe right of the altar, as an image of Puukonhoya, the \u201cLittle War\nGod,\u201d whose characteristic features are the parallel marks on the\nbody, and the weapons of war in his hands.\n\nSeveral sticks, cut in zigzag shapes with curved appendages and short\ncrossbars at one end, stand between the uprights of the reredos. From\ntheir forms, these objects may readily be identified as lightning\nsymbols so common in all Tusayan altars. One of these, which has a\ncomplicated tip or head, is placed close to the outstretched arm of\nCotokinungwu, with whom it is naturally associated. The straight rod\nleaning on the same arm is possibly a cornstalk symbol. The rounded\nstick, tapering at one end, which stands under the extended left hand\nof the image on the left, is probably a symbol of maize. A somewhat\nlarger pointed object, painted at its base with zones of yellow,\ngreen, red and white, and surmounted by a feather, is called \u201cthe\nmound\u201d and suggests the kaetukwi or Corn Mound of the Lalakontu,\nbeing similarly situated to an image on the left of this altar. The\nsurface of the latter object, however, instead of being painted, is\nencrusted[5] with clay covered with different kinds of seeds.\n\nThe crook at the extreme left of the altar has attached to it an\nobject which resembles the paddle carried by a participant in the\nHeheakatcina, or public ceremonial of the Niman at Walpi.\n\nFour pahos, or prayer-sticks, are placed at intervals in hillocks of\nsand before the images on the altar. The Katcina tiponi,[6] or badge\nof the chief, stands on the floor before the altar.\n\nJust in advance of the left-hand idol\u2014the image with a coronet\u2014there\nis a small oblong basket in which are laid a number of sticks with\nfeathers, seeds, and pinches of meal. This is called the \u201cMother,\u201d\nand recalls similar objects which have been observed on the Lalakontu\naltar, whose contents have been described elsewhere.[7]\n\nI need not dwell on the other accessories of the Powamu altar at\nOraibi save to note that they are common to other altars, and in no\nrespect characteristic. I refer to the basket tray of sacred meal,\nthe rattles, a medicine bowl, aspergill, and six ears of corn used in\nspecial rites.\n\nThe strange object at the extreme right, surrounded by a tablet,\nsymbolic of a rain cloud, bears the picture of the head of\nHo\u2019katcina. It is supported on a pedestal, and appears to be peculiar\nto Oraibi.[8]\n\n\nCOMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN ALTAR AT CIPAULOVI\n\nCipaulovi, the smallest of all the Hopi pueblos, is situated on the\nMiddle Mesa, and its Katcina altar is the poorest in paraphernalia,\nas shown by a comparison with the altar at Oraibi, the most\ncomplicated in Tusayan.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 1.\u2014Cipaulovi Niman Katcina altar]\n\nOmitting the medicine bowl, rattles, sacred meal, and pahos, the\nCipaulovi Niman altar consists of a figure of seven rain clouds, with\nparallel lines representing falling rain, drawn on the floor with\nsacred meal, and a row of five vertical sticks, symbols of growing\ncorn. Upon the meal picture which represents the falling rain, there\nare four stone implements arranged in a row. The tiponi, or palladium\nof the Katcinas is placed on a hillock of sand at the right of\nthe same picture. There are no idols or images of anthropomorphic\nforms on this altar, and unless the stone implements may be so\ninterpreted, no lightning symbols. The Niman altar at Cipaulovi[9]\nis very simple, but the essentials of a Katcina altar are included.\nThe two prominent symbols are those representing rain clouds and\ngrowing corn, which are elaborated in the more complicated Katcina\naltars and may be regarded as embodying the two main aims of Katcina\ncelebrations.[10]\n\n[Illustration: EXPLANATION OF PLATE 3\u2014Walpi Niman Katcina altar\n\n_a_, Tunwup, or Sun Katcina; _b_, Tcuelawu; _c_, Corn mound; _l_,\nLightning symbols; _m_, Ears of maize; _mb_, Medicine bowl; _pb_,\nPath of blessing; _pm_, Prayer meal; _ps_, Prayer sticks in baskets;\n_r_, Rattles; _rc_, Rain clouds; _t_, Tiponi.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  PLATE 3\n\nWALPI NIMAN KATCINA ALTAR]\n\n\nCOMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN KATCINA ALTAR AT WALPI\n\nThe Walpi Katcina is next in simplicity to that of Cipaulovi. It has\ninstead of a meal picture, however, a reredos upon which are depicted\nrain and rain cloud symbols, and the two supplementary uprights, with\npictures of Tunwup referred to in the Oraibi altar. There are zigzag\nslats, symbols of lightning, and rounded sticks with emblematic corn\ndesigns, neither of which, however, is as complicated as at Oraibi.\n\nThe Katcina tiponi is prominent, but there are no images on the\naltar, no basket with seeds and feathered sticks, and no crook with\nattached handle. While, therefore, the altar of the Walpi Niman\nKatcina is more complicated than at Cipaulovi, it is not as rich in\naccessories as that at Oraibi.[11]\n\n\nCOMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN KATCINA ALTAR AT MICONINOVI\n\nThe Katcina altar in this, the most populous village at the Middle\nMesa, is simpler than at Oraibi, but more complicated than the Walpi\nrepresentative. It has, in addition to the objects found on the Walpi\naltar, two idols or images, one on each side. The zigzag sticks are\nlacking, but stone implements similar to those on the far simpler\nCipaulovi altar are present. There are two emblems of maize, as at\nWalpi, and numerous sticks, representing growing corn, recalling the\nsame symbols of the Cipaulovi equivalent.\n\nIt will be seen, therefore, that while it is the nearest of all to\nthe Oraibi altar, an additional idol, the \u201cMother\u201d or basket of\nseeds, etc., the crook (naluchoya), and the picture of Ho\u2019katcina are\nunrepresented at Miconinovi.\n\nThe two images of the Miconinovi altar are apparently the Little\nWar God and the Germ Maid. There may be a doubt of the accuracy in\nidentification of the latter, but she has the symbols of rain clouds\non the head and in the hand. The other image has the parallel marks\non the body, symbols of Puukonhoya, but it must be confessed that the\nsame marks are found on the Cotokinungwu idol although the latter\nimage has the characteristic cone on the head which is not present in\nthe Miconinovi image. The evidence would thus favor the conclusion\nthat the right hand figurine of the Miconinovi altar represents\nPuukonhoya rather than Cotokinungwu, and as far as known Oraibi\nis the sole pueblo which has an idol of Cotokinungwu on the flute\naltars, of which those of four pueblos are known.[12]\n\nA comparative study of the symbolism, simple and elaborate, of the\nKatcina altars leads me to the conclusion that the most complicated\naltar, that at Oraibi, is the result simply of elaboration of the\nless developed altars, of the introduction of new elements. Analysis\nreduces this composite symbolism to rain clouds, fertilization,\ngrowth, and maturity of corn, the elements which dominate the whole\nHopi ritual.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 2.\u2014Miconinovi Niman Katcina altar]\n\nA somewhat more detailed statement of this point is perhaps\ndesirable. In the Hopi ritual three methods of representing\nsupernatural personages are adopted. First, personifications by men,\nwomen, and children. Second, representations by images or idols.\nThird, representations by pictures, conventionalized objects, or\nsymbols. These three methods may coexist; they are interchangeable,\nand may be phylogenetically connected in the development of rituals.\nIn the public ceremonials the first method is almost invariably\nadopted, but in secret rites all three are employed.[13] The\nrepresentations on the Katcina altars at Cipaulovi and Walpi are\nlimited to the third method; those at Miconinovi and Oraibi include\nlikewise the second.\n\nThere is no need of going into detail regarding the meanings of the\nsymbols of the third method of representation as used on Katcina\naltars. The simplicity of this method, here applied, is apparent, and\nthe symbols are those of rain clouds, lightning, and corn in various\nstages of growth.\n\nA discussion of the second method, or representation by images and\nwhat they mean when used on Katcina altars, will bring out several\npoints of interest. These images, commonly called idols,[14] occur\non the Katcina altars of Oraibi and Miconinovi and represent the\nsame conceptions as the symbols. The idol with the raincloud coronet\nis a representation of a corn-rain supernatural personage who has\nmany names and appears in ceremonials both public and secret of many\ndifferent priesthoods. In the ceremony called the Lalakontu she is\neither personated by women in the public dance or represented by\nimages on the altar and is called Lakonemana (Lakone Maid). In the\nOctober ceremony, called Mamzrauti, she is likewise represented by\nthe first and second methods,[15] and is called Mamzraumana.[16] The\nsame is true of the Owakulti, still performed at Oraibi, although\nextinct at Walpi, where she is known as Owakulmana.\n\nDuring the dramatization in the Antelope kiva of the Snake\nCeremonials at Walpi she is personated by a maid called the\nTcuamana[17] (Snake Maid) and no effigy of her is employed in this\narchaic ceremony. The Flute Society represent her in their rites\nin both the first and second ways, with two girls in the public\ndance, and images on the altars in the secret observances, where she\nis called Lenyamana (Flute Maid).[18] In Pal\u00fcl\u00fckonti[19] she is\npersonated by the first method, and is called Calakomana. The most\nelaborate images of this being, also called Calakomanas, are secular\nin character, and are used as dolls. All her different names, and\nsome others which might be mentioned, are aliases, sacerdotal society\nnames of the same mythological conception, which may more accurately\nbe called Muiyinwu, the Germ Goddess, who is likewise associated with\nrain.\n\nThe symbolism of images on the left side of the Katcina altars of\nMiconinovi and of Oraibi is highly conventionalized, but clearly\nenough developed to show that the images represent the same Rain-Germ\nGoddess who, in some ceremonials, is personified by a girl; in others\nby a similar image. This image is called the Rain-Germ (Corn)[20]\nMaid because in the most elaborate representations of her this bifid\nnature is strongly indicated by symbolism. Her idol on the Miconinovi\nFlute altar has four symbols of corn on the body, and bears three\nrain cloud tablets on the head. In numerous dolls[21] she has a\nsymbol of an ear of corn on the forehead and an elaborate raincloud\ntablet with a rainbow on the head.\n\nThe other idol, likewise known in various ceremonials by tutelary\nsacerdotal aliases, is the male cultus hero, the fructifying\nprinciple symbolized by lightning and personified according to the\nsociety, by such supernaturals as Cotokinungwu, Puukonhoya, Tcuatiyo,\nLentiyo, and the like.\n\nIn this totem-pole-like doll we have Hehea, the male, with two\nCalakos, females, as their symbolism clearly indicates. The Hopi\nhave a legend that the Calako maids brought the first corn to their\nancestors, and in that legend it is said that Calakotaka, or the male\nCalako, a sun god, initiated the youth into the Katcinas by flogging\nthem, as Tunwup still functions in Powamu.\n\nThe etymology of the word Calako is unknown to me, and it may have\nbeen derived from the same source as the Zu\u00f1i word. A corn husk, and\nby derivation a cigarette paper, is called by the Hopi a calakabu.\n\nThe symbolism of the male Calako is identical with that of Tunwup\nand resembles that of the Zu\u00f1i Shalako. The Hopi celebrate their\nsun-prayer-stick making in July, the Zu\u00f1i in December, or at\ndifferent solstices. The Hopi say that they derived their celebration\nfrom the Zu\u00f1i (see Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.). When\nthis interesting ceremonial is performed at Sitcomovi the Calako\nmaids do not appear, and the four giants with avian symbolism\napparently personate a sun drama, but as a derivative from Zu\u00f1i we\nmust await an interpretation of the original for conclusive evidence\nof its meaning.\n\nThe images of the altars as well as symbolic designs depicted upon\nthem show us that fructification, growth and maturing of corn, and\nrain clouds are predominant in representations on Niman Katcina\naltars.\n\nI have not offered a suggestion in regard to the identity of\nthe strange being, Tunwup, nor am I quite sure that he can be\ninterpreted, but I strongly suspect that he is none other than the\nSun, a worship of whom pervades the whole Katcina ritual.[22]\n\nThe element which predominates in the worship at the Powamu ceremony\nis the fructification of germs; and as beans figure so conspicuously\nin it as symbols, it\u2019s popularly called the \u201cBean Planting,\u201d while a\nceremony following it is Pal\u00fcl\u00fckonti,[23] in which corn is sprouted,\nis called the \u201cCorn Planting.\u201d As in Hopi conceptions the Sun is\nfather of all life, a ceremony called the Powalawu, appropriate\nto the object or aim of Powamu, precedes the planting of beans in\nthe kivas. The ceremony is strictly a part of Powamu, showing it\nis a form of direct sun worship. In it a special sun altar is made\nof a sand mosaic upon which, during ceremonial songs, a tray of\nmeal composed of all kinds of seeds used by the Hopi is copiously\nsprinkled on the picture of the sun; medicine water is then thrown\nupon the same to typify the rains which under the sun\u2019s action causes\nthese seeds to germinate and grow.\n\nMy comparative study of the Hopi Katcina altars has therefore led me\nto the following conclusions: Their symbolism, whether in pictures,\nrites, or of images, refer to two elements, or supernaturals, which\ncontrol rain and growth of corn. The latter are male and female,\nrepresenting the sky god and the earth goddess, the father and the\nmother, the lightning and the earth, the two sexes without whose\nunion life is impossible.[24]\n\nThe ceremonials performed about the Katcina altars admit of the same\ninterpretation, and it remains for me to indicate their nature and\nbearing on the above conclusions.\n\n\nALTAR OF ORAIBI POWALAWU\n\nA sand picture of the great paternal deity, Tawa, the Sun, has never\nbeen reported from any Tusayan altar except Oraibi. Such a picture is\nmade in Powalawu, the opening ceremony of Powamu and described by Mr.\nVoth.\n\nThe altar is made on the floor of the kiva, and is placed on a layer\nof valley sand on which are made four concentric zones of different\ncolored sands surrounding a middle circle of white sand on which is\ndrawn a stellate figure of the sun. These different concentric zones\nare yellow, green, red, and white, beginning with the smallest, and\nending with a peripheral in white. They are separated by black lines,\nand a quartz crystal[25] to which a string, with attached feather, is\ntied, is placed in the middle of the picture of the sun. A quadrant\napart on the periphery of the picture, beyond the white zone, there\nare four arrow-shaped projections, colored yellow, green, red, and\nwhite, following a circuit with the center of the whole sand painting\non the left hand. These, like the zones, are made of differently\ncolored sands and are rimmed with black. Across the yellow\narrow-headed figure extend several parallel red lines of sand; across\nthe green, white; across the red, yellow; and across the white, green.\n\nOn the supposition that the inner figure represents the sun, the four\nperipheral arrow-shaped appendages are supposed to represent heads of\nthe lightning snakes of the four cardinal points, north, west, south,\nand east, as their colors indicate.[26]\n\nThe accessories used in the celebration of the Powalawu are arranged\non the floor radially about this sand picture, and fall into two\ngroups, one on lines in continuation of the rays of the central\nfigure, the others on intermediary lines. There are, therefore, four\nsets of both groups alternating with each other.\n\nThe objects which form a single group of the former in this\nquaternary arrangement are as follows: A yellow reed, a paho-stand,\nand a ball made of powdered pikumi.[27] Intermediate between these,\nalso with a quaternary arrangement, there is a ball made of clay\npainted black in which a feather is attached, a blackened reed, and\na stone arrow point. The paho-stand with these objects consists\nof a cubical block in which the following objects are inserted in\nline: A small crook, a green double paho, several sticks (called\ncivapi, howapki, honyi, masiswapi), a black eagle feather with four\nnakwakwocis tied to it and a ring with netted cord, and finally a\npaho of a color corresponding to the cardinal direction in which the\npaho-stand is placed.\n\nThe details of the Powalawu ceremony have been described by Voth,\nfrom whose account I will mention a few generalities.\n\nThe celebrants gathered at the altar at about noon and sang many\nsongs with accompanying events which were performed by Siima, the\nchief, now dead.\n\n1. White earth, roots, and honey added to the medicine bowl.\n\n2. Meal made of watermelon, melon, squash, bean, and corn seeds,\nsprinkled carefully over the sand picture.\n\n3. Charm liquid stirred and sprinkled on sand altar.\n\n4. Priest ascended ladder of the kiva and blew a yellow feather\nthrough a reed from the north paho-stand out of the hatch toward the\nnorth, after which he blew a whistle pointing it the same way. This\nwas done in sequence to the west, south, and east, taking objects\nfrom the altar each time.\n\n5. Priest ascended ladder with a black reed from north cluster,\nand blew from it, toward the north, a small feather. He then blew\na feather in sequence from the four stones, ascending the ladder\neach time.[28] He licked honey from the stones and spat to the four\ncardinal points.\n\n6. Couriers carried the clay balls to distant shrines, and four\npriests bore the four paho-stands, reeds, and yellow balls to other\nshrines, also at cardinal points.\n\nWhile the above events were transpiring songs were sung by the\nassembled priests, and at the close the quartz crystal on the Sun\npicture was raised from the stand and handled by each priest, who\nsucked it, and pressed it to his heart.\n\n7. Ceremonial smoke.\n\n8. Prayers.\n\n9. The sand gathered up and carried outside the kiva.\n\n10. Feast.\n\nThe aim of the ceremony appears clear. Meal of all kinds of seed\nsprinkled on the Sun typifies fructification of all Hopi food plants.\nWater is poured on the meal as symbolic of the rains which the\ncelebrants hope will increase their crops.\n\nThe details of the nine days\u2019 ceremonials of the Powamu at Oraibi\nneed not be described here, but it may be well to indicate their\ngeneral character.[29]\n\nBeans were planted in boxes in all the kivas on the day after\nPowalawu (February 5, 1894) and were forced to germinate in the\nheated rooms, where they grew for 16 days. From February 13 (the\nfirst day of the nine days\u2019 ceremony) until the 17th, Siima, the\nchief, visited all these kivas, and when not so employed passed his\ntime in one of the rooms fasting, or making prayer objects.\n\nI am indebted to Mr. Voth for my knowledge of the secret rites of\nthe Powamu at Oraibi. They supplement that which I have published\nelsewhere on the Walpi representation, from which, however, it\ndiffers very considerably. (See Fifteenth Ann. Rept., Bur. Amer.\nEthnol.; also Amer. Anthrop., Vol. VII, No. 1, 1894, and Int. Archiv\nf\u00fcr Ethnog., Band VIII, 1895.)\n\nThe Powamu altar was erected on February 17, and from that day until\nthe ninth (February 21) daily songs of interesting character were\nsung about it.\n\nMany dolls, bows and arrows[30] for children are likewise made in the\nkivas, and the chiefs prepared prayer emblems and other ceremonial\nobjects.\n\nThe culmination of Powamu, when we should expect the acme of the\nseries of rites, occurred on the afternoon of the ninth day (February\n21), when the sprouting beans were pulled up, and distributed with\ndolls and other presents, and when certain personages of supernatural\ncharacter brought significant gifts to the priests. It is the last\nevent to which I wish especially to call the reader\u2019s attention.\n\nThis episode, which seems to me to bring out clearly the aim of\nthe Powamu ceremony, may be called the advent and departure of\nHahaiwuqti[31] followed by the Eototo and other supernaturals. The\nmain events of this episode were as follows: The man who personified\nthe \u201cOld Woman\u201d (Hahaiwuqti) having masked and otherwise arrayed\nhimself at a shrine[32] outside the pueblo, began to howl vigorously.\nSiima the chief of Powamu, made offerings at this shrine and drew on\nthe ground, with sacred meal, several figures of rain clouds about\n20 yards nearer the village. Hahaiwuqti, as if tolled along by this\nmystic sign, moved to it and again began to howl. Siima made another\nset of rain cloud figures, again about 20 yards nearer the village,\nand the howling Hahaiwuqti advanced to the second meal figures.\nHalting thus at intervals, and howling as she went, the \u201cOld Woman\u201d\nat last stood in the public plaza of Oraibi, and in answer to her\ncries people came to her, sprinkled her with pinches of meal and took\nobjects from the basket she bore.\n\nShe then sought the entrance to the kiva in which the priests were\nengaged in ceremonial smoking and singing. She stood like a statue\nat the hatch, howling as if to announce her coming to the priests\nwithin the room below. They soon responded, and came out of the kiva\nheaded by Siima with a bowl of medicine and an aspergill, followed by\na second priest with a reed cigarette and a coal of fire, and others\nwith bags of sacred meal. Hahaiwuqti was asperged, smoked upon and\nsprinkled with meal, and presented with a paho accompanied with a\nprayer, after which the priests returned to their room and the \u201cOld\nWoman\u201d went away to the west. A few minutes later men disguised as\nEototo and Ahul approached the kiva hatch near which some unknown\nKatcina had made in meal on the ground a cross and rain cloud. Eototo\nrubbed meal on each of the four sides of the kiva hatchway[33]\nand poured water into the kiva entrance from the sides, as I have\ndescribed in my accounts of the Walpi and Cipaulovi Niman Katcina.\nAhul followed his example, whereupon the priests again emerged from\nthe kiva and treated these two visitors in the same way they had used\nHahaiwuqti. They received corn in return, after which the visitors\nretired, following the \u201cOld Woman.\u201d\n\nAfter their departure, two \u201cmudheads\u201d (Koyimse) and three Katcinas,\ntwo men wearing Humis, Jemes, Katcina masks and one the maskette\nand apparel of the female Humis, approached the kiva entrance.[34]\nThen came personifications of Ana, Hehea, and two Tacab Katcinas.\nFollowing these were three lame Howaik Katcinas, masked as their\npredecessors, and clearly designated by appropriate symbolism.\n\nAt each new arrival the priests in the kiva responded, emerged from\ntheir room, and treated these visitors as they had their leader,\nHahaiwuqti.\n\nAs the masked personages left the village they passed westward.[35]\n\nWhen the priests had retired to their kiva for the last time they\nsmoked on the presents left by their strange visitors, and the\nchief divided the gift Eototo had brought into 10 bundles, and gave\none package to each Powamu priest. Then followed minor events, as\ntaking down the altar, which do not now concern us. The departure of\nHahaiwuqti and her band closed the main ceremony.[36]\n\nIt certainly seems legitimate to conclude that this acme of the\nPowamu is a dramatic representation embodying the aim of the whole\nceremony. It is a visit of Hahaiwuqti in her disguise as known to\nKatcinas, followed by her children bringing gifts and receiving\nprayers. What other prayers are more appropriate to Hahaiwuqti\nthan petitions for abundant crops, or what gifts more desirable\nthan those Eototo[37] gave in a symbolic way, viz: water and\nsprouting vegetation? The rejuvenescence of nature is always to a\nprimitive mind akin to sorcery, and believed to be brought about\nby the sorcerer\u2019s arts, and hence this ceremony takes place in\nthe Powako-muyamuh, or Wizard Moon, which gives it its name by\nsyncopation, Powamu.[38]\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE PLACE OF KATCINAS IN TUSAYAN WORSHIP\n\nWe are justified in regarding the Katcinas as spirits of the dead, or\ndivinized ancestors, shades or breath-bodies of those who once lived,\nas mortuary prayers clearly indicate. The theory of ancestor worship\ngives us a ready explanation for the fact that ancestral spirits\nare represented by masked persons, and as a corollary, a suggestion\nregarding the significance of the different symbolism of those masks.\n\nThe Hopi, like many people, look back to mythic times when they\nbelieve their ancestors lived in a \u201cparadise,\u201d or state or place\nwhere food (corn) was plenty and rains abundant, a world of perpetual\nsummer and flowers. Their legends recount how, when corn failed or\nrain ceased, cultus heroes have sought these imaginary or ideal\nancestral homes to learn the \u201cmedicine,\u201d songs, prayers, fetishes,\nand charms efficacious to influence or control supernaturals, which\nblessed these happy lands. Each sacerdotal society tells the story\nof its own hero bringing from that land a bride, who transmitted to\nher son the knowledge of the altars, songs, and prayers, which forced\nthe crops to grow and the rains to fall in her native country. To\nbecome thoroughly conversant with the rites he is said to marry the\nmaid; otherwise at his death they would be lost, since knowledge\nof the \u201cmedicine\u201d is believed to be transmitted, not through his\nclan, but that of his wife. So the Snake hero brought the Snake-Maid\n(corn-rain girl) from the underworld; the Flute hero, her sister,\nthe Flute-Maid; the Little War God, the Lakonemana and other\nsupernaturals.\n\nA Katcina hero in the old times, \u201con a rabbit hunt came to a region\nwhere there was no snow. There he saw other Katcina people dancing\namidst beautiful gardens. He received melons from them and carrying\nthem home told a strange story of the people who inhabited a country\nwhere there were flowering plants in midwinter. The hero and a\ncomrade were sent back, and they stayed with their people, returning\nhome loaded with fruit in February. They had learned the songs of\nthose with whom they had lived, and taught them in the kiva of their\nown people.\u201d[39]\n\nIn the ceremonies with unmasked personifications, or those celebrated\nyearly between July and January which are not Katcinas, an attempt is\nmade to reproduce rites which legends declare the cultus or ancestral\nheroes saw in the lands they visited, which lands are reputed to\nbe variously situated, but generally in the underworld, to augment\nthe efficacy of the ceremonies. In the ceremonies between January\nand August, or those called Katcinas, the same feeling is dominant.\nEach performance is an endeavor to reproduce a traditional ancestral\nKatcina celebration. The performers are masked because, according to\ntheir stories, the participants in those ancient rites are reputed\nto have had zoomorphic, or at least only partially anthropomorphic\nforms. The symbolism of the mask portrays the totems of those\nlegendary participants, and those of corn, rain, water-loving\nanimals, lightning and the like, therefore predominate.\n\nI have shown in preceding papers that both the symbols and\nfigurines on Katcina altars refer to the sun, rain clouds, and the\nfertilization, growth and maturation of corn. It has likewise been\nmade evident that the ceremonial acts of the priests are employed to\naffect the supernaturals who control these elements or produce these\nnecessities.\n\nThe priests strive to reproduce traditional ceremonials without\ninnovations, and are guided in their presentation by current legends.\nMasked personations of ancestral spirits are, therefore, introduced\nthat the performance may be more realistic, or closer to the reputed\nancestral ceremony. This feeling is at base the reason why the\npriests, unable to explain why they perform certain rites in certain\nways, respond, \u201cwe make our altars, sing our songs, and say our\nprayers in this way because our old people did so, and surely they\nknew how to make the corn grow and the rains fall.\u201d\n\nIt appears from what is written above that the cosmic supernaturals\nwhich appear on the Hopi Katcina altars are the same as pointed out\nin the previous article, the Sun, the Sky, Earth, Fire, Ancestors,\nand that idols are likewise prominent. The Hopi, like all the\npueblos, are commonly called sun worshippers, but the relations of\nthe altars of the Katcina cult to Sky God (Sun) worship is very\ninstructive.\n\nIn conclusion it should be said that, although the ceremonial\npractices of the Hopi Katcinas appear very complicated, they are in\nreality simpler than the literature of them would seem to indicate.\nIn the first place, we must bear in mind that in the Hopi religion\nthe association of religion and ethics is very weak, the duty of\nthe priest being to perform his part of the ceremony as nearly as\npossible in the traditional way it was inherited from his ancestors.\nSecondly, the rite and ceremony show that the main object desired is\na material not a spiritual one, primarily to fertilize Indian corn,\nhis national food, and incidentally to protect his own life and that\nof his family. The objects of his worship form together a complex\ncomposed of closely allied elements in which the supernatural powers\nthat control the food are preemiment.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1. Sitcomovi and\nHano have no Niman Katcina, nor do they celebrate the Tusayan ritual\nin its entirety. The word Katcina is used to designate both a dance\nand a participant in a dance. Between July and January there are no\nKatcina rites in Tusayan.\n\n[2] I have been interested to discover what proportion of the whole\nnumber of Hopi ceremonials have been described, and the results are\nsuch as to allay any conceit that we know much about the subject.\nWithout considering the abbreviated ceremonials there are in the\nritual 12 which are of nine days duration. There are five variants of\nthis ritual, differing in altars, paraphernalia, and rites, so that\nwe may say there are performed in Tusayan about 60 ceremonials, each\nnine days long, to be investigated. Of these there are 40 of which\nwe know nothing, save their existence; 15, fragments of which have\nbeen described; and 5 which have been fairly well studied. There are\nabout 30 Hopi altars which have never been figured or described, or\nas far as I know seen by ethnologists. It thus appears that there\nis plenty of material in this province to occupy the students of\nprimitive ritual for some time to come. An adequate comprehension of\nthe Hopi Katcina ritual requires a consideration of five different\nmodifications of the same altars.\n\n[3] The image of Cotokinungwu in the Oraibi flute altar (q. v.) has\nzigzag figures down the legs, which would appear to associate this\ndeity with lightning.\n\n[4] Amer. Anthrop., Vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892, Pl. I, fig. 1; Pl.\nIII, figs. 1 and 2.\n\n[5] The Hopi, ancient and modern, were adepts in this craft of mosaic\nencrustations, using for that purpose turquoises, shells, and other\nsubstances.\n\n[6] The chief who flogs the children in the initiation, which occurs\nin Powamu, holds this object in his hand. This flogging at Walpi\nis performed by a man masked to represent Tunwup. Int. Archiv f\u00fcr\nEthnog., Band viii, 1895. 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pp.\n283-284.\n\n[7] Amer. Anthrop., Vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892.\n\n[8] A great many observations remain to be made before any one can\nclaim to know the exact meaning of pueblo rites, but the material\nawaits investigation, and can be obtained by persistent work in the\nfield. The time, however, is past when any compiler can write an\naccount of the aboriginal religions of America and neglect the Hopi\nfor want of published material.\n\n[9] For Niman altars of Cipaulovi, Miconinovi, and Walpi, see Journ.\nAmer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1.\n\n[10] The character of the public ceremonials of the Katcinas, even\nwhen abbreviated, as in the so-called rain dances, justifies the\ntheory that their main objects are the two above mentioned. Even the\nclowns, a priesthood directly connected with Katcinas and absent in\nall other ceremonies, are concerned with the growth of seeds.\n\n[11] It may be borne in mind that the same altar is made in Powamu\nand Niman, and whether called by one or the other of these names it\nis the same thing\u2014a Katcina altar.\n\n[12] Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. VIII, No. XXXI. The conical\nprolongation of the head is also found in many figurines and images\nand while the similarity of symbolism would lead to the belief that\nthe two supernaturals are identical, the presence of two similar\nimages on an altar indicates that they are distinct.\n\n[13] In other secret rites, not considered in this article, the first\nmethod is employed as in Powamu. Personifications in public dances\nare ordinarily masked, and as a rule Katcinas doff their masks when\nthey dance in kivas. In certain instances, however, the mask is worn\nin kiva ceremonials.\n\n[14] I regard them as complicated symbols, not intrinsically objects\nof worship.\n\n[15] In the public dance she is represented by a girl, but there\nis a beautiful instance in this ceremony where the third method\nis substituted for the first in the public dance. For some reason\nunknown to me, in the 1891 exhibit at Walpi no girl performed this\npart, but her place was taken by a participant in the dance who\nbore in her hands a flat board with a picture of the Germ Maid (see\nMamzrauti, Amer. Anthrop., Vol. V, No. 3, 1892, Pl. IV, figs. 9,\n10). The picture, not the bearer, represented the Germ Maid. It\nis a remarkable confirmation of my theory that Mamzraumana is the\nsame personation as Calakomana; that this picture is identical in\nsymbolism with pictures of the latter, and was so called by the\npriests. Comparing the picture Mamzraumana on the Mamzrau altar and\nof the same on this tablet we see differences in old and new Hopi\nart. The picture publicly exhibited conforms to modern conception of\nher symbolism, as shown in dolls, etc.; that on the altar, which the\nuninitiated can not see, is the older form, before innovations and\nmodifications.\n\n[16] Amer. Anthrop., Vol. V, No. 3, 1892.\n\n[17] Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. IV.\n\n[18] Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II; Journ. Amer.\nFolk-Lore, Vol. VIII, No. XXXI; Vol. IX, No. XXV.\n\n[19] Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. VI, No. XXIII.\n\n[20] As maize is the most important food of the Pueblo Indians there\nis a tendency to make this name more specific, \u201cCorn Maid.\u201d This\nappears to be the name of the doll Calakomana, \u201cCorn Maid.\u201d\n\n[21] The range of variation of the dolls of the Calakomana may be\nseen by consultation of my memoir on Tusayan Dolls (Int. Archiv f\u00fcr\nEthnog., Band VII, pp. 45-74, 1894). One of the strangest of these\nrepresents two Germ Maids, one above the other, surmounted by a male\nfigurine, Hehea Katcina, which has lightning emblems on the cheeks\nand phallic symbols on the body.\n\n[22] He is intimately connected with the \u201cflogging\u201d ceremony, when\nchildren are \u201cintroduced\u201d to the Katcinas (see Fifteenth Ann. Rep.\nBur. Amer. Ethnol., pp. 283-284). The radiating crown of feathers and\nthe two horns on the head, together with the symbol on the forehead,\nally him with Calakotaka (male Calako) whose kinship with the\nSun-bird is elsewhere referred to. Tunwup appears to be a local name\nof this worthy in Walpi kivas.\n\n[23] In the so-called \u201cscreen drama\u201d of this ceremony, we have\npictures of the Sun painted on disks. On the theory that Pal\u00fcl\u00fckonti\nis a fertilization ceremony, it would be explained as referring to\ncorn, and the thrusting of the snake effigies through openings closed\nby Sun-disk symbols connected with this event.\n\n[24] In the same way that I have compared the Little War Gods and\nthe Germ Maids of Katcina altars we might also compare the male and\nfemale figures of the flute altars which we know from variants. The\nsame will be possible with the cultus hero and his female double of\nLalakontu, Mamzrauti, etc. There is a striking morphological identity\nin many altars of different societies.\n\n[25] A quartz crystal is used to deflect the light of the sun\ninto the medicine bowl in Niman Katcina. Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and\nArch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1.\n\n[26] Similar projections at intervals a quadrant apart are common on\nsymbols of the sun, and I have found them on ancient pottery from\nHomolobi. The arrow-headed appendages are not, as far as I know,\nfound in any other instance of pal\u00e6ography.\n\n[27] Pikumi is a kind of hasty pudding, a favorite dish in ceremonial\nfeasts. It is baked in small pits lined with corn husks, which have\npreviously been heated by building fires within them. The coals are\nraked out, the mush put in, and a stone slab luted over the pit.\nUpon this a fire is maintained over night, and on the morning of the\nfinal day of a great ceremonial they are opened. The soft part is\neaten immediately, but the mush which has caked to the corn husks is\nreground and made into other forms of food. The above-mentioned balls\nare made of the latter products.\n\n[28] Evidently this and the following acts are to bring the summer\nbirds.\n\n[29] The Oraibi Powalawu, witnessed twice, took place Feb. 4, 1894,\nand Jan. 14, 1896. The chronology of the succeeding events in 1894\nwas as follows:\n\nFeb. 5-9, bean planting in all kivas.\n\nFeb. 13-21, nine active days of Powamu ceremony, q. v. The Powamu,\naccording to my enumerations, includes not only the nine active days\nbut also several preceding in which the beans are planted, beginning\nwith Powalawu, and making a complete ceremony of 16 days.\n\n[30] These gifts for little girls were made in the Niman Powamu and\nPal\u00fcl\u00fckonti at Walpi. They were fashioned in the form of Katcinas.\n(Int. Archiv f\u00fcr Ethnog., Band VII, 1894.)\n\nOn the eighth pahos were made for Hahaiwuqti and Eototo, who visit\nthe kiva on the ninth day. The former personage appears to be known\nby different names in Oraibi and Walpi, but I believe the same\npersonage is intended by both names.\n\n[31] For a picture of Hahaiwuqti, see Amer. Anthrop., Vol. VII, No.\n1, 1894. For symbolism of Eototo, see Int. Archiv f\u00fcr Ethnog., Band\nVII, 1894.\n\n[32] In the shrine he put a paho, several nakwakwocis, and meal,\nafter which he took a little honey in his mouth and spat to the four\ncardinal points. He gave a basket with a paho, sprouted beans, and\nother objects to Hahaiwuqti after he left him at the second meal\nfigures.\n\nThis method of tolling the gods is practiced in the march of the\nFlute priests from the spring to the pueblo. (Journ. Amer. Ethnol.\nand Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II; in Lalakontu, and in Mamzrauti, op. cit.)\n\nThe Katcinas are tolled along by meal deposited on the trail by the\npriests. A trail is closed by a line of meal at right angles to the\nsame.\n\n[33] Those in one of the kivas received meal (prayers) and\nnakwakwocis (personal prayers). Hahaiwuqti gave them the basket she\nbore and the objects remaining in it, upon which at the close of the\nceremony, all the priests smoked (prayed).\n\n[34] From the belts of Humis the priests took a sprig of spruce.\nThis is only customary after the Humis Katcina dance. (Journ. Amer.\nEthnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1.)\n\nThe Humis (humita, corn) wear terraced (rain cloud) tablets on the\nmask. (Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1.)\n\n[35] For symbolism of their masks and dress see Journ. Amer. Ethnol.\nand Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1; Int. Archiv f\u00fcr Ethnog., Band VII.\nAna wears a long beard and is therefore called the bearded Katcina.\nHehea has zigzag marks on the cheeks. The symbolism of Tacab varies\nconsiderably, but is readily recognized.\n\n[36] A Hopi prayer combines two elements of ceremony\u2014prayer proper\nand sacrifice, the former spoken or not, the latter always expressed\nby symbols. As they are an agricultural people, their aboriginal\nwealth is an agricultural product, as corn. Their poverty of corn\nand the requirement of their ritual necessitated sacrifices of meal,\na highly practical substitution. So likewise tobacco smoke is a\nsacrifice, the burning of rare herbs, or the pine needles in the \u201cNew\nFire\u201d ceremony.\n\nThe act of sacrificing animals or human beings is not a part of their\npresent ritual, but a knowledge of its efficacy exists. They have\nlegends of human sacrifice on rare occasions in the past. The killing\nof an animal and smearing the body of the man representing Masawuh\nwith its blood, at the time of Lieutenant Brett\u2019s visit to Oraibi in\n1891, is an instance of animal sacrifice. Several survivals of animal\nsacrifices in warrior ceremonies might be quoted from legends.\n\n[37] Eototo is believed to be a god of metamorphism, or growth,\nintimately associated with germination, a sacerdotal equivalent of\nMasawuh, as far as these functions are concerned.\n\n[38] I have elsewhere called Powamu a purification ceremony or\nlustral observance, which it is in certain particulars, but I am now\nconvinced that its main object is to further the fructification of\nvegetation.\n\n[39] Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Arch\u00e6ol., Vol. II, No. 1, p. 152. The\nKatcina hero in this story would appear not to have brought a wife\nfrom this people.\n\n[Illustration: Decoration]\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n  pg 470 Changed: pt, Guord (netted) for sacred water\n              to: pt, Gourd (netted) for sacred water\n\n  pg 471 Changed: os as far as I know seen by ethnologists.\n              to: or as far as I know seen by ethnologists.\n\n  pg 471 Changed: It thus appears that there it plenty\n              to: It thus appears that there is plenty\n\n  pg 472 Captialized vol. to Vol. (2 times in Footnotes)\n\n  pg 475 Changed: recall the same symbols of the Cipaulovi equivalent\n              to: recalling the same symbols of the Cipaulovi equivalent\n\n  pg 478 Changed: In Palulukonti[19] she is personated by\n              to: In Pal\u00fcl\u00fckonti[19] she is personated by\n\n  pg 479 Changed: its popularly called the \u201cBean Planting,\u201d\n              to: it\u2019s popularly called the \u201cBean Planting,\u201d\n\n  pg 481 Changed: also with a quarternary arrangement\n              to: also with a quaternary arrangement\n\n  pg 484 Changed: From the belts of Humis the priets\n              to: From the belts of Humis the priests\n\n  pg 484 Changed: a sacerdotal equivalent of Masauwuh\n              to: a sacerdotal equivalent of Masawuh","title":"The Katcina altars in Hopi worship","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":8004}