Upon completion, fetishes are often decorated with prized beads, feathers, and arrowheads as offerings to sweeten the requests made of the gods. The assistance of a fetish has been requested for fertility, successful farming and hunting, protection from enemies, and abundant rainfall. But the use of a fetish alone does not insure the desired results. One's heart must also be pure and one's appeal appropriate. If the fetish has been offended, or if the supplicant does not have a pure heart, the petition will not reach the gods.
Invididual fetishes appear to have few universal meanings.
A bear fetish, for example, may mean one thing to the carver, another thing to a healer, and something else to a person gathering food or embarking upon a journey. Meanings and uses vary from clan to clan and society to society within the tribe. There is agreement, however, on the most powerful animal fetishes. In Zuni cosmology, these animals are each charged with the responsibility and guardianship of their sacred regions. Other creatures are also prized.