Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-06

| SShS, tHt SHlclQ bearer making eccentric
dashes among his associates, first to one
size and then to the other. The dashes
and the rushes on both sides were highly
suggestive of attack and defense.
The principal ceremonies began about 8
O'Clock, when the majority of the partici-
| pants gathered in the monkiva. The hatch
way was guarded by a tiler. Two hours
| later the room was densely packed with
naked men, their bodies undecorated; wear
| ing small eagle plumes attached to the
crowns of their heads. There was only one
girl who took part in the ceremonies. She
performed dance.
Ten novices from the other kivas en-
tered, gorgeously arrayed in white kills,
brilliant crowns of feathers, white body
decorations. bearing an imitation squash
blossom. with spruce sprigs in their left
| ands and corn in their right hands, As
the chiefs took their places a priest sprin-
killed. the floor of the room near the ladder
with moist valley sand, about an inch
deep. The novices stepped from the lad
der upon this sand and passed up in front
Of the chiefs, then squatted before them
facing the south, their kits having been
The chief priest then crossed over to
the south side of the room and seated
himself at the east end of the line of
chiefs
Strange Altar.
cat the west wall of the kiva strange
altar had been erected. A priest had piled
against The ledge of this part of the kiva
stack of torn, two or more ears of which
had been contributed by the maternal
head of each family in the pueblo. AT
eltEer side and in front of the stack of
corn shrubbery had been placed. In the
space between the top of the corn pile
and the roof wands were placed and to
these wands had been fastened many arti-
fetal flowers, four or five inches in diam
eter, set close together, but in no regular
lines There We're over 200 of these flow
ers of different colors, dark red and white
preQOmlnating, Nearlv in Of
this artificial shrubbery there was large
gourd shell with the convex side turned
toward the audience and having an aper-
ture about eight inches in diameter in it's
center. Through this opening had been
thrust the head of an eff1gy of Palulu-
konuh, the pumed-head snake, painted
black, with a tonsue-like appendage pro-
truding from the mouth. When all the
assembled priests were seated a moment
of solemn stiffness ensued, after which one
arose. cast a handful of meal toward the
etf1gy OF the snake. and said short
prayer in reverent tone Then the head
OF the snake, which was manipulated by
an unseen person behind the altar, was
observed to rise slowly to the center of
the aperture, and a mellow sounding roa:
like blast through a conch appea red to
come from the mouth, while the whole
head was made to culver and wave. The
sound was Of short duration, repeated
lour times, and then the head reoosed
again on the lower rim of the GROUND
shell. Presently was heard sound as of a
scapula drawn across a notched stick six
times. All the old chiefs in succession
cast meal to the effigy and prayed, and IN
response to each the great snake EMIT ed
sounds identical with those mentioned
above. The spectators then left the kva
and frenzied dance of strange character
occurred. The societies from other kivas
came in, and the chief of each acclaimed
m matchmaking voice, which rose to a
shrek at the close of a stanza
The Visitors Enter
After some ceremonies of short duration
the visiting societies dashed down the lad
der, each bearing a splendid shield, orna-
nented with the figure of the sun and a
rim of radlated eagle feathers. Each So
ciety had its distinctive sun shield, which,
on entering, was handed to the chief. AS
he received it he stamped on the. siDapu
ana fierce song was sung. Meanwhile
two members of the society stood apart
from their fellows against the southern
wall, facing each other, each holding a
squash Hover emblem in u bouquet of
spruce twigs and an ear Of corn i'll his left
hand.
Suddenly the fifteen or twenty members
OF the society drew back from their chief,
who then sprang upon the spapu plank,
and, quickly turning, faced them as all
burst forth in an ecstatic shouting. with
wild tiinging of their arms as they APP
preached the shield bearers. They nat
urally formed two clusters, and as the
shield bearer dashed his shield in their
faces they surged back, to leap again to-
ward him. This seeming assault villa
thought appeared, was maintained in time
with the song. The two chieftains joinec
their men, all in ecstatic frenzy, and one O.
them, shaking his shield, sprang from rigl
to left. drawing back his assistants
rhythm with the beating Of the feet of a.
on the floor.
After few moments of most exhaust
i've movements some Of the weaker stag
gered up the ladder. and shortly after one
of the chiefs fell fainting to the floor, over
come by exhaustion and the intense heat of
the room. One splendid athlete danced
with vigor for fully five minutes. and then
swept toward the ladder. where the assist
ant was standing in readiness to receive
his shield. Another stride and he reacher.
the foot of the ladder, and suddenly be-
came rigid a corpse. The men who
belonged to the Monkiva took no part in
this exhaustive dance, but stood In readi-
ness to carry those who tainted up the lad
der to the cool air outside.
at has been suggested that this assault
OF the neil on the bearer of the sun-shield
dramatiZes the attack of hostile powers
on the sun, and that the object is to Offset
n.align influences or to draw back the sun
from a disappearance suggested by its
southern declination. In this possible in
depreciation it is well to consider that i'm
mediately preceding 1t the archaic offer
irgs and prayers to the great snake were
made. as described, in the presence of spec
tators.
Offerings to Sun God.
when the sun rose, the warriors dashed
out Of the chambers, naked as they WERE
and presented their charms as offerings to
the sun god.'
The meaning of the ceremony is described
by the professor as follows:
At the winter soltice the sun and his at
tendant dieties have reached their most
distant point and turn to come back to the
pueblOs. In the midsummer the solar diety
approached them, and in appreciation of
this fact, which means blessing the snake
dance was performed requesting the snake
to bring rain. believing he WAS 10 longer
at enrnity with the sun. The Katcras
gods departed. Summer gave place TO cold
dreary winter life was replaced by death
1T. this critical epoch the warriors, recog-
Liked as the most potent human powers of
the pueblo, performed their ceremony to
bring back the god and his train. Every
effort is made to induce him to return and
this is the real meaning Of the ceremony
Professor Fewkes visited the Moqul town
Cf Oraibi December %, and Witnessed the
mi fhnrn ole Nhrfc do,