In ancient times, while yet all beings belonged to one family,
Po-shai-a[n,]-k'ia, the father of our sacred bands, lived with his
children (disciples) in the City of the Mists, the middle place (center)
of the Medicine societies of the world. There he was guarded on all
sides by his six warriors, A-pi-thlan shi-wa-ni (_pi-thlan_=bow,
_shi-wa-ni_=priests), the prey gods; toward the North by the Mountain
Lion (Long Tail); toward the West by the Bear (Clumsy Foot); toward the
South by the Badger (Black Mark Face); toward the East by the Wolf (Hang
Tail); above by the Eagle (White Cap); and below by the Mole. When he
was about to go forth into the world, he divided the universe into six
regions, namely, the North (Pi[']sh-lan-kwin tah-na=Direction of the
Swept or Barren place); the West (K'iae[']-li-shi-in-kwin
tah-na=Direction of the Home of the Waters); the South (A-la-ho-in-kwin
tah-na=Direction of the Place of the Beautiful Bed); the East
(Te-lu-a-in-kwin tah-na=Direction of the Home of Day); the Upper Regions
(I-ya-ma-in-kwin tah-na=Direction of the Home of the High); and the
Lower Regions (Ma-ne-lam-in-kwin tah-na=Direction of the Home of the
Low)."
[Illustration: PREY GOD FETICHES OF THE SIX REGIONS.]
All, save the first of these terms, are archaic. The modern names for
the West, South, East, Upper and Lower Regions signifying
respectively--"The Place of Evening," "The Place of the Salt Lake" (Las
Salinas), "The Place whence comes the Day," "The Above," and "The
Below."
In the center of the great sea of each of these regions stood a very
ancient sacred place (Te-thlae-shi-na-kwin), a great mountain peak. In
the North was the Mountain Yellow, in the West the Mountain Blue, in the
South the Mountain Red, in the East the Mountain White, above the
Mountain All-color, and below the Mountain Black.
We do not fail to see in this clear reference to the natural colors of
the regions referred to--to the barren north and its auroral hues, the
west with its blue Pacific, the rosy south, the white daylight of the
east, the many hues of the clouded sky, and the black darkness of the
"caves and holes of earth." Indeed, these colors are used in the
pictographs and in all the mythic symbolism of the Zunis, to indicate
the directions or regions respectively referred to as connected with
them.
Then said Po-shai-a[n,]-k'ia to the Mountain Lion (Plate II, Fig. 1),
"Long Tail, thou art stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore give I
unto thee and unto thy children forever the mastership of the gods of
prey, and the guardianship of the great Northern World (for thy coat is
of yellow), that thou guard from that quarter the coming of evil upon my
children of men, that thou receive in that quarter their messages to me,
that thou become the father in the North of the sacred medicine orders
all, that thou become a Maker of the Paths (of men's lives)."
Thither went the Mountain Lion. Then said Po-shai-a[n,]-k'ia to the Bear
(Plate II, Fig. 2), "Black Bear, thou art stout of heart and strong of
will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Mountain Lion,
the guardian and master of the West, for thy coat is of the color of the
land of night," etc.
To the Badger (Plate II, Fig. 3), "Thou art stout of heart but _not_
strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Bear,
the guardian and master of the South, for thy coat is ruddy and marked
with black and white equally, the colors of the land of summer, which is
red, and stands between the day and the night, and thy homes are on the
sunny sides of the hills," etc.
To the White Wolf (Plate II, Fig. 4), "Thou art stout of heart and
strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Badger,
the guardian and master of the East, for thy coat is white and gray, the
color of the day and dawn," etc.
And to the Eagle (Plate II, Fig. 5), he said: "White Cap (Bald Eagle),
thou art passing stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore make I
thee the younger brother of the Wolf, the guardian and master of the
Upper regions, for thou fliest through the skies without tiring, and thy
coat is speckled like the clouds," etc.
"Prey Mole (Plate II, Fig. 6), thou art stout of heart and strong of
will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Eagle, the
guardian and master of the Lower regions, for thou burrowest through the
earth without tiring, and thy coat is of black, the color of the holes
and caves of earth," etc.