Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-10-03
A RAIN DANCE.
AN ANNUAL CEREMONY OF TED
PUEBLO INDIANS.

AN ANNUAL CEREMONY OF TED
PUEBLO INDIANS.
The Processioa of the AIudheads and
Other Quaint Customs Of New
Mexico Aborigines-A Wild,
Weird Spectacle.
TN front OF each of the Indian vi,
lagos Of New Mexico an OBJ
i serving traveller will notice .
small post, about two feet
high, usually petrifed, standing
always to the eastward Of the
entrance of the pueblo. This
| is called the ''gnomon. and # il
both q clock and an almanac. Such Q
stone stands in the accustomed place
before the ancient city of Isleta, which
is situated on the banks of the Rio
Grsnde, and 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
Thunder Mountain. The priest notes
the divergence of the sun as tho time
of the summer solstice 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 solstice days Of both winter anS
summer are marked ON the Zuni cali
endar as sacred, and on each there ID
q solemn dance. For four days pre-
ceding the rain dance in the summer
season the Pueblo Indian will not trade
in any manner, and he 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 small stick ten OF twelve
inches loHr, rrettily shaped, and
tipped with bright feathers Of ell
colors-but never black. An Indian
with black feathers in his possession
would be considered 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 or three days in advance, and ON
the evening before the dance he takes
q position in the middle of the dry,
sandy bed of the Colorado River and
prsys for rain. In the mean time the
official town crier has announced
throughout the village In deep bass
voice that the rain dance will begin the
next evening. On this day of prepara-
ton three medicine men are detailed
rs 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 estufs,
or 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-
bic Order of Buffoons is sup
posed to antedate the merrymaking
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 a cloth mask, on
which are plastered figures in adobe, a
huge nose, great circular eyes and
mouth like that of the end man of the
minstrel shows. A short blanket
covers the loins, and a shell necklace
is worn around the neck. A small
sprig of cedar Is attached to each
mask, the Father being designated by
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, i'll a half trot, half
walk, they make the circuit of the vii
Iage, under the caves of the houses.
The people of the village crowd upon
the fiat roofs, and, as the "Mudheads"
pass beneath, drench them with water
from 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
grimace. They accompany their move
ments with q monotonous song or
chant appropriate to the occasion,
sprinkled with local hits and gags,
and here the 'rMudheads" 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 semi-religious.
He never smiles or laughs during hif
song or dance.
As in the case of King Rex, who
rules at carnival season, the partici-
pants in the dance in the Pueblo are
supposed to come from distance, and
so during the afternoon the perform
ers. who have been selected by the
Cacigne of the Sun, leave the village
with their toggery-simple, but effec-
tive-and assemble on the foothills to
tho southwest of the Pueblo. Tho
costume Consists OF 1O4 SKIN nunS
from the rear, q turtle shell rattle worn
on the inside of the knee, q belt of
shells for the neck and loins, . marrow
cloth, about the width of ballet
dancers skirt. about the loins. The
tsnncers gather about a sacred FIRE that
has been previously kindled by priestly
hands at the rendezvous, and there is
chanted the song of the rain dance.
At sundown the 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
q most weird and uncanny appearance.
From &ha rac& 4ho lina xnoraa "a &ha