Ah! Thanks, my father (or, my mother), this day I shall follow (thee)
forth over the trails. Prayerfully over the trails I shall go out.
Should a party be going to the hunt together, all repair to the House of
the Deer Medicine, repeating, one by one, the above prayers and
ceremonial as the fetiches are drawn.
The fetich is then placed in a little crescent-shaped bag of buckskin
which the hunter wears suspended over the left breast (or heart) by a
buckskin thong, which is tied above the right shoulder. With it he
returns home, where he hangs it up in his room and awaits a favorable
rain or snow storm, meanwhile, if but a few days elapse, retaining the
fetich in his own house. If a hunter be not a member of the orders above
mentioned, while he must ask a member to secure a fetich for him, in the
manner described, still he is quite as privileged to use it as is the
member himself, although his chances for success are not supposed to be
so good as those of the proper owner.
During his journey out the hunter picks from the heart of the _yucca_,
or Spanish bayonet, a few thin leaves, and, on reaching the point where
an animal which he wishes to capture has rested, or whence it has newly
taken flight, he deposits, together with sacrifices hereinafter to be
mentioned, a spider knot (ho-tsa-na mu kwi-ton-ne), made of four strands
of these yucca leaves. This knot must be tied like the ordinary
cat-knot, but invariably from right to left, so that the ends of the
four strands shall spread out from the center as the legs of a spider
from its body. The knot is further characterized by being tied quite
awkwardly, as if by a mere child. It is deposited on the spot over which
the heart of the animal is supposed to have rested or passed. Then a
forked twig of cedar is cut and stuck very obliquely into the ground, so
that the prongs stand in a direction opposite to that of the course
taken by the animal, and immediately in front, as it were, of the fore
part of its heart, which is represented as entangled in the knot.
This process, in conjunction with the roar of the animal, which the
fetich represents, and which is imitated by the hunter on the conclusion
of these various ceremonials, is supposed to limit the power of flight
of the animal sought, to confine him within a narrow circle, and,
together with an additional ceremonial which is invariably performed,
even without the other, is supposed to render it a sure prey. This is
performed only after the track has been followed until either the animal
is in sight, or a place is discovered where it has lain down. Then, in
exactly the spot over which the heart of the animal is supposed to have
rested, he deposits a sacrifice of corn pollen (ta-on-ia), sacred black
war paint (tsu-ha-pa)--a kind of plumbago, containing shining particles,
and procured by barter from the Ha-va-su-pai (Coconinos), and from
sacred mines toward the west--and prayer or sacred meal, made from white
seed-corn (emblematic of terrestrial life or of the foods of mankind),
fragments of shell, sand from the ocean, and sometimes turkois or
green-stone, ground very fine, and invariably carried in pouches by all
members of the sacred societies of Zuni. To this mixture sacred shell
beads or coral are sometimes added. Then, taking out the fetich, he
breathes on it and from it, and exclaims "Si!", which signifies "the
time has come," or that everything is in readiness. The exact meaning
may, perhaps, be made clearer by an example. When all preparations have
been made complete for a ceremonial, the word "Si!", uttered by the
master priest of the occasion, is a signal for the commencement of the
ceremonials. It is therefore substituted for "Ma!", used in the
foregoing prayer, whenever any preparations, like sacrifices and
ceremonials, precede the prayer.
With this introduction he utters the accompanying prayer:
Lu-k'ia yaet ton-ne, hom tae-tchu k'ia-pin ha-i, to-pin-te yaet-ton-ne,
This day my father game being, one day
raw
to-pin-te teh-thli-na-ne, tom an o-ne yaethl u-lap-nap-te. Hothl
one night thy own trail over round about However
(even) though.
yam a-wi-te-lin tsi-tau-an to-pin-te i-te-tchu-na hom ta
to me earth mother (with) one step to me thou
your
an-k'o-ha-ti-na. Tom an k'iah-kwin an-ti-shi-ma-na, tom an
shalt grant(favor). Thy own blood wanting, thy own
life-fluid
shi-i-nan an-ti-shi-man a-k'ia tom lithl ha hael-lo-wa-ti-nan
flesh wanting, hence to thee, here I good fortunes
a-thle-a-u thla a-thle-a-u. Le-we ta-kuthl po-ti['] hom
(ad)dress, treasure (ad)dress. Thus much woods round filled to me
all the about
an tom yae[']t-ti-na tsu-ma-k'ie-na. Hom a-tae-tchu, hom ton
mine you grasping strong shall. My all-fathers, to me you
an-k'o-ha-ti-na-wa. Hom ton te-k'o-ha-na an-ik-tchi-a-nap-tu.
favor do (all). To me you light (favor) meet with _do_.