In their ceremonies the modern Hopi priests use in great numbers a kind
of prayer offering called _nakwakwoci_, consisting of breast feathers
tied in a prescribed way to the ends of strings. The same type of prayer
offerings is one of the most common designs on Sikyatki pottery. Various
modifications of it are shown in the accompanying illustration (fig. 62).
[Illustration: FIG. 61.—Conventional feathers.]
This use of the feather string as a decorative device is seemingly
peculiar to prehistoric Hopi pottery, not having been found in the
pictography of the people formerly inhabiting the valleys of San Juan and
Little Colorado Rivers. This restriction in its use indicates its local
origin and application, although descendants of clans from both the San
Juan and the Little Colorado are represented among the Hopi.
[Illustration: FIG. 62.—Parallel lines representing feathers.]
In one of the simplest forms of the stringed-feather designs is a
line (pl. 78, _b_, _c_, _d_) sometimes taking the form of an elongate
triangle, terminating in a ball from which spring three or more diverging
or parallel lines. This enlargement on stringed-feather designs may
represent a knot, as will appear from certain variations in the form of
the feathered string to which attention will be given later.
In some cases (_e_, _l_) two knots appear between the string and the
attached feathers, while in another instance (_f_) one of the knots or
balls is replaced by two triangles.
Other representations of stringed-feather or _nakwakwoci_ designs show
modifications in each of the three elements mentioned, the line (string),
the enlargement (knot), and the terminal projections (feathers). The
occurrence of crossbars near the dot (_g_, _h_, _i_) vary in number
from one to four, and are always parallel, but usually are placed on
one side of the knot, although in some cases (_i_) they appear on both
sides. In one example (_j_) no ball or knot is provided, the _nakwakwoci_
consisting merely of the string intersected by pairs of equidistant
crosslines. A special modification of the dot with crosslines is shown in
the figure with the leaflike attachment (_q_).
One of the most significant of the stringed-feather designs is shown
in _a_, where a feather of the first type is attached to the string
intersected by crosslines. As a terminal element in corresponding designs
is a typical feather symbol, this figure is also identical. The figure of
a string with enlargements and a pair of lines (_g_) probably represents
that form of stringed feather called by the Hopi a _purhu_, “road,”
an offering laid by the Hopi on the trails approaching the pueblo to
indicate that ceremonies are being performed, or on altars to show the
pathway of blessings.
In another stringed-feather design (_n_) appears a triangular symbol
attached to the enlargement, the string terminating in radiating lines.
The feather sometimes preserves its triangular form (_m_). These
variations in the drawings of stringed feathers and the modifications of
the knot, string, and terminal attachments, are constantly repeated in
Sikyatki pottery decoration.