Si! This day, my fathers, ye animal gods, although this country be
filled with enemies, render me precious. That my existence may not be in
any way so ever unexpectedly dared by the enemy, thus, O! shelter give
ye to me (from them). (In order) that none of the enemy may pass through
(this line) hence, O! shelter give ye to me (from them). Long Tail
[Mountain Lion], Knife-feathered [God of the Knife Wings], O! give ye
shelter of my heart from them.
On the conclusion of this prayer the fetich is breathed upon and
replaced, or sometimes withheld until after the completion of the
war-song and other chants in which the three gods mentioned above are,
with others, named and exhorted, thereby, in the native belief,
rendering protection doubly certain. I am of course thoroughly familiar
with these war chants, rituals, etc. They abound in archaic terms and
are fraught with great interest, but belong more properly to another
department of Zuni worship than that of the mere fetichism; as, indeed,
do most other recitations, chants, etc., of the War society, in any way
connected with this worship.
Before following the trail of an enemy, on rinding his camp, or on
overtaking and destroying him, many ceremonials are performed, many
prayers are uttered, much the same as those described relative to the
chase, save that they are more elaborate and more irrelevant to the
subject in hand. As with the Hunter, so with the Warrior, the fetich is
fed on the life-blood of the slain.