Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1901-12-13
HOPI EAGLE HUNTS.
An Old Time Method of Capturing th .
Big Birds.


In a recent number of the American
Anlhropologist j. Walter Fewkes, in an
article on The Property Right in
Eagles Among the Hopi," writes 70.
garding their ancient eagle hunts rs
follows
1.-The ancient method of hunting wild
creatures is a most instructive chapter
/ in Hopi ceremonial customs, and merits
special treatment. Particularly compli.
Gated were the antelope hunts, which
of late years (since this animal has dl.
minished so greatly in number) have
been practically abandoned. Rabbit
hunts are still more or less popular.
and they retain a semblance of their
ancient ceremonial character; but even
these are declining as they are now
only fairly successful.
"The eagle was doubtless the only
bird which was Systematically hunted
by the Hopi in ancient times, but the
methods formerly employed have pass.
ed into legendary history.
"The ancient kwamakto, or eagle
hunt, was accompanied with cere-
monial rites, as were antelope hunts a
few generations ago, and as are the
rabbit hunts which still frequently
occur The method of conducting these
ancient eagle hunts is said to have been
as follows:
ION a distant mesa northwest of
Walpi, but in full view of the pueblo,
there is a small circular inclosure,
about four feet high, built of stones and
called by the Hopi the kwamaki, or
eagle-hunt house. The hunter hid him
self in this Enclosure, having previously
tied dead rabbits as bait to the beams
overhead. Several features of these
ancient Enclosures, or kwamakis, in
which the Hopi hunter Of eagles hid
| himself to capture these birds, recall
| the small stone towers so common
in some parts of the Southwest, espe.
cially along the Colorado and its tribu-
| taries These towers as rule are
SMALL they are situated on elevated
| Sites and bear little evidence of long
continued use as human habitations.
They are not large enough for perma-
nent dwellings, and the theory that
they were employed as outlooks is not
I wholly satisfactory; nor are they capa-
cious enough for the defense of any
considerable number of persons. 1t is
therefore suggested that they were
| kwamakis, or eagle-hunt houses, of the
former inhabitants Of the region. Many
are situated on crags which are known
to have been frequented by eagles,
and we have the assertion of the Hopi
that there were many eagle houses in
| the North.
"As in all pueblo customs, these eagle
| hunts were accompanied by certain
prescribed usages or rites. The hunter
first washed his head as bodily puri.
fication, and deposited prayer offer.
| ing in q shrine at or near the eagle
house. After these preliminaries he
stationed himself in the eagle house
and began to sing, accompanying his
songs with low calls. Soon an eagle,
attracted by the rabbits tied to the logs,
circled about, and finally alighted on
| the beams above him. when its legs
were seized by the concealed huntsman
| and the bird was drawn into the in
closure Other ceremonies followed,
concerning which there is little infor-
alton, but at each eagle hunt one Of
the birds was always released after
prayer stick had been attached to its
leg, 1t being supposed that the eagle
thus freed would return to its COM
rades, bearing the hunters prayer. The
| eagles captured by the methods de.
scribed We're not killed, but were car.
ried to the pueblos.
"The attachment of the prayer stick
to the leg of the eagle before being re-
leased is in harmony with present Hopi
practices. During the Soyaluna cere-
mony, for instance, prayer emblems are
tied to the tails or names of burros and
horses, and to the tails of chickens,
turkeys, dogs, cats, etc. 1t is the same
thought. A similar belief led to the
burial of prayer sticks with the human
dead-they We're expressions of prayer
to the GODS