Evening star., 1899-01-28

half minute longer before flame was per-
ceptible.
The chanting continued until the sacred
lame blazed to the ceiling. A courier then
lighted a torch from It, sprang up the lad
der ana fastened to the kivas Of the other
three societies. leaving a glowing fire i'm
each. These four sacred fires could not be
put 10 any secular use. For instance, il
was forbidden that pipe should be h-hted
therefrom. The ceremony was concluded
by procession of the naked priests TO a
shrine built upon the first settlement Of
Walpi and In which had been erected a
wooden idol carved and dressed To repre-
sent woman. The solemn procession
wound four times around this sacred place
before II halted, when each participant
made to the idol offering of sacred meal.
1t was 10 O'Clock in the night when ID"
naked priests returned TO their homes and
the air was uncomfortably chill to the eth
nologfst. who was permitted to violate the
sacred restrictions as to apparel and ta
and sweater.
Immensely sacred.
DR.. Fewkes was told that every four
years this ceremony becomes so sacred that
no living thing. insect. reptile, beast or
man, is allowed to enter the village If not
already within. A line is drawn across the
trail which leads up the mesa and by an
ancient law any life which shall dare TO
cross 1t must be sacrificed. In 1870 the
Spaniards were thus quarantined. and the
instant one of their horses lay foot over the
line there was fierce outbreak of hosil-
tiles.
/ was shown a notebook containing page
after page of Hopi genealogies and rough
charts based upon traditions relating TO the
wanderings of the ancestors of their vari-
GUS clans These sketches are expected to
lead to the discovery of the lost cities which
the government hopes soon TO excavate. The
traditions are interspersed with accounts
of afaF,-. ,-1aa
example. one clan believes that its ances-
tors first ascended from the under world
through the Grand Canyon OF the Colorado.
and that various wanderings commenced
Fewkes carefully recorded their supposed
stopping places upon chart, which may
lead to some valuable finds.
After Death.
The Hopi believe that their dead friends,
who have preceded them to the under
world, continue to respect the ceremonies
observed upon cart but that these are
held in the lower realm at the season of the
year directly opposite to that which marks
each sacred rite here. Hence a ceremony
celebrated at Walpi at midsummer is re-
peated in the world below the following
midwinter, when a second celebration by
certain selected priests .lust be repeated
simultaneously in Their village, "A mark
of respect.
DR.. Fewkes finds the Hopi women to have
privileges much higher than those of tho
average squaw. They have their separate
societies in whose deliberations no men are
allowed to participate. Moreover, the es.
teen with which they are regarded by their
husbands is emphasized by the fact that
poly ygamy-practiced by the majority of In
dians-is not tolerated. The Hopl wife
takes the initiative i'm divorce whose cere-
mony consists solely of the wifes throwing
all of her husbands belongings out of the
house, which by right is her property.
Previous TO her wedding a Hopis fiancee
gees to the house of -er future mother-in-
law, where she grinds corn unnterrupIndly
for four days and four nights The bride
groom's family weave blankets during the
same time Upon the day of the wedding
the mother of the bride cuts her front tair
off at the level of her chin and dresses the
longer locks in two coils which she must
always wear over her breast TO emphasize
that she Is no longer a maiden
Funeral Services.
The Hopi place their dead in sitting DOS
lures with heads between their knees and
cotton masks with eyeholes .over their
faces. They are then sewed fast in blan-
kets, care being taken to sprinkle them
first with the sacred meal. A gruesome
bundle thus prepared is borne down ths
mesa upon the back of a friend and buried
in the earth, at the base of the rock For
four days the relatives visit the grave and
place upon IL bowls containing morsels OF
FOOD; also prayer sticks"-little wands
the four days the breath body descenSs
into the underworld, whence il came Here
1t Is met by the judge of that realm. who
throws Ii into a fire. II containing little
evll this evil in time becomes burned away
III there be too much evil the breath body
takes the form of lower animal
Ihe Hopi would not admit to the ethnolo-
gist that smallpox was among them
though he knew of at least eighteen cases
They said that long ago when there was
an epidemic of the disease their medicine
men buried IL in the earth so deep that IL
was impossible for 1t to rise again. They
have several orders of physicians among
them-those who cover wounds with soof
hose who detect foreign bodies entering the
flesh, those who treat with herbs and
others who employ songs. incantations ana
passes of the hands. Belief in these doe.
tors doubtless has sort of hypnotic effect
In eases of severe epidemic the priests erect
special altars that the gods may be pre-
vailed upon to Danish the scource
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS. JR
The Revolt of the Swiss xka,x.