The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-21
A C0LLEC ton OF
CURIOUS DOLLS
Nearly a Hundred Of Them Carved
Out Of Cotton Wood.
GODS OF THE MoKI INDIANS.
Nothing Can Be Imagined More Gro
tcsque Than These Figures
Which the Indians Use as
Symbols i'll Their Dances.

the most curious collections of dolls to
be found in the world has been arranged
III one OF the cases in the Peabod! Museum
at Harvard, comprising nearly WV hs
urlneS carved out of the root OIL tne GU
tonwood by the Moki Indians OF New
Mexico. Nothing can be imagined more
na!Vely Srotesque in form and coior!hs
than these little figures, when sylnoo!ize
indeed the katcinas or Mokl Sods, put
are none The less the genuine p!aEththSS
Of the little Mo1i girls.
they belong to the Mary Hemen"ay
CORRECTION of Tusayan objects, "ttch was
brought together from the ruined puebtos
of Arizona and the villages OF the Mok,
Indians by DR.. ]. Walter Fewkes ana
the late Frank H. Gushing, and deposited
oy Mrs. Hemenways executors WIN the
great chronological collectors OF harvard
University in the Peabody Museum. Most
of them were obtained from the Moki by
l. V. Aeam, a well-knoWn lndlan tfader
of keam's Canon, Arizona.
The great ceremonials OF the Mokl,
from which these dolls are derived, are
among the most interesting in the world;
and though the dolls are really dolls ana
not idols, they furnish the most complete
commentary possible on the religious pc
lefs and customs Of the Indians who
made them. The Moki dances-the great
Snake Dance IN particular-are well known.
In these dances the men OF the tribe ap-
pear in masks representing. 10y denlllte
symbolism, the gods in whose honor they
are held; and the dolls which are given
out to the children--wita the intention,
probably, of thus instruct!ng them in this
syrnbolisnl-not only are made to suggest
the dancers in their masks, but are them
selves distributed 1t the Farewell Dance,
So-caled, or katcina-for the word means
both the god and the ceremonial in his
honor-which takes place the last OF July
or the first of August.
IOKI MYTHOLOGY.
Moki mythology includes a great num-
Der and variety Of gods. There are the
great gods who dwell forever in the beau
tiful San Francisco mountains, the Moki
Olympus, 70 or 50 miles westward from
the AIol1i villages; and the lesser gods, who
come among the Moki in December, ana
leave them to return to the mountains in
midsummer. The latter are the k2tcnas.
The object OF their sojourn in the villages
is that they may learn the needs and wish
es of the Moki, and report them to the
great gods.
While the katcinas are in the Moki VII
lagos, the Inhabitants take every oppor-
tunity to please them and do them honor
In the course of the season half a dozen
festivals take place. not every year to
the same katcinas Except that the first
or return festival is always in honor
OF the war katcina), but so arranged that
in the course of a few years al! may re-
ceive their fair amount of worship.
There are something like Go or 20 of these
katc:nas, many of the the gods of
rain and water, as IS natural IN so dry ana
torrid country as Arizona, while others
are called after the commoner wild ami
mails as the antelope katcina. the wolf
katcina, or the mountain sheep katcina,
or after the staple articles of food as the
maize katcina.
The farewell katcina may be given in
honor of any one Of these gods. 1t lasts
nine days and nine nights There are
both secret and public ceremonies con-
nected with it, the former being carried
on by the priests or chiefs in an under
ground chamber called a ''kva," and the
latter consisting of dance in the village
in which 80 or 40 persons take part, each
dressed to represent the katcina who has
been chosen for worship.
While the priests are by themselves in
the kiva celebrating the rites of the god
the body of men who are to perform
the public dance retire into another kva
to prepare the paraphernala which they
must wear on the day Of their appearance
If it is the lightning katcina, for in
stance, that has been selected for this
occasion, each man is dressed to represent
him and no other divinity. In 1890, when
the members of the Hemenway expedition
observed the farewll dance, the antelope
katicna had been chosen The forty dane
ers-nlore or leSs-Who were to take part
retired into the kiVa allotted tnem ana
occupied several days in painting the
masks, kits and implements which they
were to wear or carry, with the symbols
proper to the antelope god There were
to be thirty-three man and six women rep
resented, but all the performers were men.
Each fashioned for himself a helmet Of
such odd pieces Of leather as he could pro
cure, or more often refurbished an old
one used before. The helmet amounted
to no more than rough mask, in the
form of a cylinder, which should rest upon
his shoulders so as completely to hide his
head and neck. a couple OF Sits were
cut for his eyes, and another tor MS
mouth, and the whole was appropriately
decorated with symbolical bands and spots
of paint in honor of the antelope katclna.
In addition. the dancer got ready long
kilt of cotton canvas. or, if ne were to
be a woman. a blanket.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
The musical instruments required by
each person consisted of a couple of rat
tles-one made of a dyed gourd contain
ing small stones, and fastened to a han
die; the other an arrangement made OF
tortoise shell, to be tied to the calf of the
left leg in such way that it would rattle
in the dance.
Besides making ready these parapher-
MALTA, the performers in this farewell
katcina must make a number of toys for
the children, miniature bows and arrows
for the boys, roasted ears OF corn and
cakes of meal, and, above all the dolls
for the little girls
Some of the dolls are so elaborate that
it is impossible for man to make one
of them in the few days that he spends
in retirement in the kiva. AS a matter
Of fact, therefore, he has been at work
on his doll, very likely, for some time be-
fore he finally goes into the klva; and If
he only puts the finishing touches on his
work while there, it is thought that he
has satisfied all religious requirements.
On the morning of the dance the per-
formers issue from their kiva, and go to
a recess in the rock called the house of
the katcnas," not far from the town. From
this rock-room which Lies TO the west
the dancers enter the village at daybreak.
each bearing in his left hand a doll or, it
may be, two dolls, and a twig OF spruce,
typifyng the mountains, to winch the
akatcinas are to return; and IN ms right,
his gourd rattle. During the morning they
dance from time tc time without attracting
any special attention from the villagers.
In the afternoon, however, the people,
dressed in their best clothes, gather to
watch the dancers. who appear bearing