The Penn's Grove record., 1894-09-28
A RAIN DANCE.
AN ANNUAL CEREMONY OF THY
PUEBLO INDIANS.
The Procession Of the Mudheads and
Other Quaint Customs OF New
Mexico Aborigines-A Wild,
Weird Spectacle.

- kAV GAuuhC0Nb ana
Other Quaint Customs OF New
Mexico Aborigines-A Wild,
Weird Spectacle.
TN front of each of the Indian viii
lagos Of New Mexico an OBJ.
serving traveller will notice q
10 small post, about two feet
high, usually petrifed, standing
always to tho eastward of the
entrance of the pueblo. This
is called the ''gnomon,"' and it il
both a clock and an almanac. Such @
stone stands in the accustomed place
before the ancient city of Isleta, which
is situated on the banks of the Rio
Grande, end is supposed to be built on
the site of one of the "Seven Cities OF
Cibola," whose tabled richness brought
the Spaniards to this country.
Each morning the ''Cacigne OF the
Sun" takes his stand at this post and
watches the sun rise from behind the
~"rllrnder Mountain" The priest notes
the divergence Of the sun as the time
of the summer s~olstice approaches, and
then counts the days before the coming
OF the "rain Dance" which is held ON
the eve of the 22d of June.
The s~olstice days of both winter an1
summer are marked on the Zuni cal
endar as sacred, and on each there ID
o solemn dance. For four days pre-
ceding the rain dance in the summer
season the Pueblo Indian will not trade
In any manner, and no abstains for
seven days before the coming Of the
winter. On the day before the sum-
mer rain dance is held the priests of
each village plant prayer plumes"
here and there, in what they deem to
be the most effective spots. A prayer
plume is a small stick ten or twelve
inches long, prettily shaped, and
tipped with bright feathers of all
colors-but never black. An Indian
with black feathers in his possession
would be considered q witch, and
would be punished terribly by being
hung up by the arms and beaten With
clubs. sometimes to his death.
The Cacigne, or sun priest, fasts for
two OF three days in advance, and on
the evening before the dance he takes
o position in the middle of the dry,
sandy bed of the Colorado River and
prays for rain. In the mean time the
official town crier has announced
throughout the village in q deep bass
voice that the rain dance will begin the
next evening. On this day Of prepare
ton three medicine men are detailed
IS official bearers of offerings to the
sacred lake to the southwest of the vii
lage, from which direction the rain
comes. The delegates proceed with
prayer plumes, which they cast into
the lake. Each then fills an earthen
jar with the sacred water, and the
solemn procession moves back to the
village, and the jars of precious fluid
are carefully deposited in the %estufc,
OF Indian church.
The great dance is preceded at 4
o'clock in the afternoon by a curtain
raiser known as the procession of the
"Mudheads." This is an old organi-
zation-a sort of Ancient and Honora-
Bile Order Of Buffoons-and is sup
posed to antedate the m~errymaking
clowns of the Italian carnival and the
French Mardi-Gras. There are ten OF
them, the leader being called the
Father. Each is painted mud-colored,
and wears on the head q cloth mask, on
which are plastered figures in adobe, q
huge nose, great circular eyes md
mouth like that of the end man of the
minstrel shows. A short blanket
covers the loins, and o shell necklace
is worn around the neck. A small
sprig of cedar is attached to each
mask, the Father being designated by
1.-TWO.
These ten clowns form in procession,
with their bodies bent forward. The
first one stoops over with his hands
on his knees, and each Of the OTHERS
places his hands on the hips of the one
in front. Then, in a half trot, half
walk, they make the circuit of the vii
Ilage, under the caves of the houses.
The people of the village crowd upon
THE flat roofs, and, as the "Mudheads"
pass beneath, drench them with water
Iron great jars. AS the clowns feel
The water they dance the harder, and
each vies with the others in agility
and in the ~eccentricity Of step and
Igrimace. They accompany their move
Iments with o monotonous song or
chant appropriate to the occasion,
sprinkled with local hits and gags,
and here the "Mudheads" have q
chance to fling back at their drenchers
on the. roofs.
The rain dance proper, which follows
Immediately after this ~buffoonery, Is a
weird spectacle. All of the dancers Of
the Pueblo Indians are ssmi-religious.
He v smiles or laughs during his
song or dance.
As in the case of King Rex, who
rules at carnival season, the particle
pants in the dance in the Pueblo are
supposed to come from q distance, and
SO during the afternoon the perform
ers, who have been selected by h
| Caeigne of the Sun, leave the village
with their toggery-simple, but efec-
tiye-and assemble on the foothills to
tho southwest of the Pueblo. The
costume consists of a fox skin hung
from the rear, a turtle shell rattle worn
on the inside of the knee, a belt of
sholls for the neck end loins, a narrow
cloth, about the width of a ballet
dancers skirt. about the loins. The
dancers gather about q sacred fire that
has been previously kindled by priestly
hands at the rendezvous, and there is
| chanted the song of the rain dance.
At sundownthe dancers march chant
ing toward the village in single file. As
they ascend the little hill overlooking
the village on the west they form in
line and begin to dance, facing the sun,
their strange dark figures outlined
against the bright sky, and presenting
a most weird and uncanny appearance.
From the west the line moves to the
north of the pueblo, and dances On that
tide and thence to the plaza, makinga
|~Eircuit of the village. Then they file
Into the estufa, where only q few priv
hH