TUSAYAN KATCINAS
BY
JESSE WALTER FEWKES
EXTRACT FROM THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY
[Illustration]
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1897
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 251
Tabular view of the sequence of Tusayan celebrations 255
Names of months and corresponding ceremonials 256
Means of determining the time for ceremonials 258
Classification of ceremonials 260
Discussion of previous descriptions of Katcinas 264
Classification of Katcinas 265
Elaborate Katcinas 268
Soyáluña 268
Katcina’s return 273
Powámû 274
Pálülükoñti 291
Nimánkatcina 292
Abbreviated Katcinas 292
Characteristics 292
Síocálako 296
Pawíkkatcina 299
Áñakatcina 303
Comparative study of Katcina dances in Cibola and Tusayan 304
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
PLATE CIV. _A_, Shield with star symbol; _B_, Soyáluña shield
with star and unknown symbol; _C_, Symbolic sun shield 262
CV. The Natácka ceremony at Walpi 267
CVI. Hahaíwüqti, Natácka, and Soyókmana 272
CVII. Doll of Cálakomana 278
CVIII. Katcina mask with squash-blossom appendage and
rain-cloud symbolism 286
CIX. Doll of Cálakomana (mistakenly given on the plate as
Cálakotaka) 294
CX. Head-dress of Alosaka 301
CXI. A Powámû mask 306
FIGURE 39. Tablet of the Palahíkomana mask 262
40. The Áñakatcina 294
41. Maskette of Áñakatcinamana 295
42. Position of celebrants in the court of Sitcomovi in
Síocálako 298
43. Mask of Pawíkkatcina (front view) 299
44. Mask of Pawíkkatcina (side view) 300
45. Mask of Pawíkkatcinamana 301
46. Staff of Pawíkkatcina 301
47. Helmets, ear of corn, and spruce bough arranged for
reception ceremony 302
48. Symbolism of the helmet of Húmiskatcina (tablet
removed) 307
THE GROUP OF TUSAYAN CEREMONIALS CALLED KATCINAS[1]
By JESSE WALTER FEWKES
INTRODUCTION
In their use of the word Katcina[2] the Hopi or Moki apply the term to
supernatural beings impersonated by men wearing masks or by statuettes
in imitation of the same. The dances in which the former appear are
likewise called by the same name which with the orthography “Cachena”
is used in descriptions of these dances in the valley of the upper
Rio Grande. The present use of the term among the Tusayan Indians
leads me to consider it as almost a synonym of a supernatural being of
subordinate rank to the great deities. Ancestral worship plays a not
inconspicuous part in the Hopi conception of a Katcina.
When we endeavor to classify the ceremonials which form the ritual
practiced by the Tusayan villagers, the subject is found to be
so complex that it can be adequately treated only by the help of
observations extending through many years. The plan which I have
followed in my work, as will be seen in previous publications, has
been to gather and record data in regard to the details of individual
observances as a basis for generalization.
My former publications on this subject have therefore been simply
records of observations.[3] For various reasons it has seemed well
to anticipate a final and general account and interpretation, with
tentative efforts at a classification to serve as a stepping-stone
to a more exhaustive and complete discussion of the relationship of
these observances, which would naturally appear in an elaborate memoir
necessitating a broader method of treatment than any yet adopted.
At the present stage of my researches it would be too early to
write such an account of the ceremonial calendar of the Tusayan
villagers, but it has been deemed well to put on record, with many new
observations, this preliminary outline of what may be a portion of a
general system, to aid other investigators in kindred fields of study.
When I began my work, four years ago, the task of bringing order out of
what appeared to be a hopeless confusion seemed well nigh impossible,
but as one ceremony after another was studied it was found that the
exactness of the ritual as exemplified in ceremonial presentations
pertained even to details, and that there was a logical connection
running throughout all the religious observances of the Tusayan
Indians, the presentations of which were practically little influenced
by white races with whom the people had been brought in contact. As
these ceremonials were studied more sympathetically I discovered a
unity throughout them which, whatever their origin may have been,
placed them in marked contrast to those of the nomads by whom they were
surrounded. They were found to belong to a type or ceremonial area in
which the other Pueblos are embraced, the affinities of which carry us
into different geographic regions of the American continent.
But while this type differs or differed in ancient times from those of
Athapascan or Shoshonean aborigines, it bears evidence of a composite
nature. It had become so by contributions from many sources, and had
in turn left its impress on other areas, so that as a type the Pueblo
culture was the only one of its kind in aboriginal America. With strong
affinities on all sides it was unique, having nearest kinship with
those of Mexico and Central America.
The geographic extension of the Pueblo type of culture was no doubt
formerly much greater than it is at the present time. What its
original boundaries were future investigation will no doubt help us
to decide, but the problem at present before us is the determination
of its characteristics as a survival in our times. When once this
is satisfactorily known, and not until then, can we advance with
confidence to wider generalizations as to its past distribution and
offer theories regarding its affinities with other ceremonial areas of
the American race.
It is doubtless true that we are not progressing beyond what can be
claimed to be known when we say that all the Pueblo peoples belong to
the same ceremonial type. I am sure that in prehistoric and historic
times delegations from the Rio Grande country have settled among
the Tusayan villagers, and that many families of the latter have
migrated back to the Rio Grande again to make permanent homes in that
section. The most western and the most eastern peoples of this Pueblo
culture-stock have been repeatedly united in marriage, bringing about a
consequent commingling of blood, and the legends of both tell of their
common character. It is too early in research to inject into science
the idea that the Pueblos are modified Indians of other stocks, and
we outstrip our knowledge of facts if we ascribe to any one village or
group of villages the implication involved in the expression, “Father
of the Pueblos.” Part of the Pueblo culture is autochthonal, but its
germ may have originated elsewhere, and no one existing Pueblo people
is able satisfactorily to support the claim that it is ancestral
outside of a very limited area.
In the present article I have tried to present a picture of one of the
two great natural groups of ceremonials into which the Tusayan ritual
is divided. I have sought also to lay a foundation for comparative
studies of the same group as it exists in other pueblos, but have
not found sufficient data in regard to these celebrations in other
villages to carry this comparative research very far. Notwithstanding
these dances occur in most of the pueblos, the published data about
them is too meager for comparative uses. No connected description of
these ceremonies in other pueblos has been published; of theoretical
explanations we have more than are profitable. It is to be hoped that
the ever-increasing interest in the ceremonials of the Pueblos of the
southwest will lead to didactic, exoteric accounts of the rituals of
all these peoples, for a great field for research in this direction is
yet to be tilled.
In the use, throughout this article, of the words “gods,” “deities,”
and “worship” we undoubtedly endow the subject with conceptions
which do not exist in the Indian mind, but spring from philosophic
ideas resulting from our higher culture. For the first two the more
cumbersome term “supernatural beings”[4] is more expressive, and the
word “spirit” is perhaps more convenient, except from the fact that it
likewise has come to have a definite meaning unknown to the primitive
mind.
Worship, as we understand it, is not a proper term to use in the
description of the Indian’s methods of approaching his supernal beings.
It involves much which is unknown to him, and implies the existence
of that which is foreign to his conceptions. Still, until some better
nomenclature, more exactly defining his methods, is suggested, these
terms from their convenience will still continue in common use.
The dramatic element which is ascribed to the Katcina[5] ritual is more
prominent in the elaborate than in the abbreviated presentations, as
would naturally be the case, but even there it is believed to be less
striking than in the second group or those in which the performers are
without masks.
There exists in Hopi mythology many stories of the old times which form
an accompanying body of tradition explaining much of the symbolism
and some of the ritual, but nowhere have I found the sequence of the
ceremonials to closely correspond with the episodes of the myth. In
the Snake or the Flute dramatizations this coincidence of myth and
ritual is more striking, but in them it has not gone so far as to be
comparable with religious dramatizations of more cultured peoples.
Among the Katcinas, however, it is more obscure or even very limited.
While an abbreviated Katcina may be regarded as a reproduction of the
celebrations recounted in legends of times when real supernatural
beings visited the pueblos, and thus dramatizes semimythic stories, I
fail to see aught else in them of the dramatic element.
The characteristic symbolism is prescribed and strictly conforms to the
legends. Explanations of why each Katcina is marked this or that way
can be gathered from legends, but the continuous carrying out of the
sequence of events in the life of any Katcina, or any story of creation
or migration, did not appear in any abbreviated[6] Katcina which was
studied. In this subdivision a dramatic element is present, but only
in the crudest form. In the elaborate Katcinas, however, we find an
advance in the amount of dramatization, or an attempt to represent a
story or parts of the same. Thus we can in Soyáluña follow a dramatic
presentation of the legend of the conflict of the sun with hostile
deities or powers, in which both are personified.
I must plead ignorance of the esoteric aspect of the Tusayan
conceptions of the Katcinas when such exists. This want of knowledge
is immaterial, for the object of this article is simply to record what
has been seen and goes no further. I will not say that a complete
account of the Katcinas can be given by such a treatment, and do not
know how much or how little of their esoterism has eluded me, but
these observations are wholly exoteric records of events rather than
esoteric explanations of causes. It is thought that such a treatment of
the subject will be an important contribution to the appreciation of
explanations which it naturally precedes.
Although it seems probable that the ritual of primitive man contains
elements of a more or less perfect dramatization of his mythology, I
incline to the opinion that the ritual is the least variable and from
it has grown the legend as we now know it. The question, Which came
first, myth or ritual? is outside the scope of this article.
Any one who has studied the ceremonial system of the Tusayan Indians
will have noticed the predominance of great ceremonials in winter.
From harvest time to planting there is a succession of celebrations of
most complicated and varied nature, but from planting to harvesting
all these rites are much curtailed. The simplest explanation of this
condition would be, and probably is, necessity. There is not time
enough to devote to great and elaborate ceremonials when the corn must
be cared for. Time is then too precious, but when the corn is high and
the crop is in sight, or during the long winter when the agriculturist
is at home unemployed, then the superstitious mind has freedom to carry
on elaborate rites and observances, and then naturally he takes part
in the complex ceremonies. Hence the spring and early summer religious
observances are abbreviated. Although the Pueblo farmer may thoroughly
believe in his ceremonial system as efficacious, his human nature is
too practical to consume the precious planting time with elaborate
ceremonials. But when he sees that the crop is coming and harvest is at
hand, then he begins the series of, to him, magnificent pageants which
extend from the latter part of August until March of the following year.
It has been proven by repeated observations of the same ceremonials
that there is great constancy in the way successive presentations
of the ritual are carried out year after year. The inevitable
modifications resulting from the death of old priests undoubtedly in
course of time affect individual observances, but their ritual is never
voluntarily changed. The ceremonials which I have here and elsewhere
described were not invented by them to show to me, nor will any
religious society of the Hopi at the present day get up a ceremony to
please the white man. Each observance is traditional and prescribed for
a certain time of the year.
TABULAR VIEW OF THE SEQUENCE OF TUSAYAN CELEBRATIONS[7]
The following tabular view of the sequence of ceremonials may aid in
the study of the Hopi calendar, and indicate the ceremonials presented
to us for classification:
{ Katcina’s return.
_A_[8] { Powámû.
{ Pálülükoñti.
The abbreviated Katcinas commonly come in the interval, and vary
somewhat from year to year.
{ Nimán (Katcina’s departure).
{ Snake or Flute (alternating).
{ Lálakoñti.
_B_ { Mamzraúti.
{ Wüwütcímti[9] (sometimes Naácnaiya).
{ Soyáluña.
_Masked or Katcina Ceremonials_
+------------+-----------+------------+--------------+--------------+---------+
| _December_ | _January_ | _February_ | _March_ | _April–June_ | _July_ |
+------------+-----------+------------+--------------+--------------+---------+
| Soyáluña. | Pa. | Powámû. | Pálülükoñti. | Variable | Nimán. |
| | | | | abbreviated | |
| | | | | Katcinas. | |
+------------+-----------+------------+--------------+--------------+---------+
_Unmasked or Nine Days’ Ceremonials_
+-----------------+-------------+------------+---------------+
| _August_ | _September_ | _October_ | _November_ |
+-----------------+-------------+------------+---------------+
| Snake or Flute. | Lálakoñti. | Mamzraúti. | Wüwütcímti or |
| | | | Naácnaiya. |
+-----------------+-------------+------------+---------------+
The Katcina chief, Íntiwa, erects his altar every year in the Móñkiva,
but different kivas by rotation or otherwise celebrate the dance of
the Nimán by their appropriate presentation, thus: The men of the
Wikwáliobikiva celebrated the dance in 1891; those of Nacábkiva in
1892; those of the Álkiva in 1893, and probably in 1894 the men of the
Tcivatokiva will personate the last Katcina of the summer. It thus will
appear that the special supernatural personage represented varies from
year to year within certain limits, and the variations mean nothing
more than that the members of the different kivas participate in
rotation.
NAMES OF MONTHS AND CORRESPONDING CEREMONIALS
The Tusayan names of the months are as follows:
+---------------------+------------------+
| _Months_ | _Ceremonials_ |
+---------------------+------------------+
| 1. Powámü′iyawû[10] | Powámû. |
| 2. Ü′cümü′iyawû | Pálülükoñti. |
| 3. Kwiyaomü′iyawû. | |
| 4. Hakitonmü′iyawû. | |
| 5. Kelemü′iyawû. | |
| 6. Kyamü′iyawû | Nimán. |
| 7. Pamü′iyawû | (Snake, Flute.) |
| 8. Powa′mü′iyawû | Lálakoñti. |
| 9. Hüükmü′iyawû | |
|10. Ü′cümü′iyawû | Mamzraúti. |
|11. Kelemü′iyawû | Wüwütcímti. |
|12. Kyamü′iyawû | Soyáluña. |
|13. Pamü′iyawû | Katcina’s return. |
+---------------------+------------------+
The second part of the October (Ü′cü) is said to be called Tü′hoe. If
this is recognized as a lunar period we would have 14 divisions to
the ceremonial year. In the Pamü′iyawû, the Snake ceremony, and the
Katcina’s return, the same Nüitiwa (struggle of maids for bowls, etc)
occurs.
It will be noticed that the five summer moons have the same names as
those of the winter; by that I do not mean to discard the divisions
“named” and “nameless,” elsewhere used on good authority. The questions
regarding the nomenclature of the different moons and their number are
very perplexing and not yet satisfactorily answered.
The determination of the number of moons recognized in the year or
the interval between the successive reappearance of the sun in his
house (Táwaki) at the summer solstitial rising is a most important
question, for a satisfactory answer to which my researches thus far
are insufficient. Several of the priests have told me that there were
13, as given above; but others say there are 12, and still others, 14.
The comparative ethnologist, familiar with Mexican calendars, would be
glad to accept the report that there were 13, in which case there would
be introduced a remarkable harmony between peoples akin in many ways.
Although, however, there is good evidence that 13 is recognized by some
priests, the negative evidence must be mentioned, especially as it is
derived from men whose knowledge of Hopi lore I have come to respect.
I have, however, provisionally followed the opinion of those who hold
that the Hopi recognize 13 ceremonial months in their calendar.
If the second part of the Ü′cü moon be called Tü′hoe, we would have
14 moons, which would give 6 between 2 Pówa, or 2 Pa, Kéle, Kyá,
and divide the ceremonial year into two parts of 7 moons each. The
Katcina’s return (Ükine), or the beginning of the Katcinas, then occurs
in the Pa moon; they end in Kyá at the Nimán (last, farewell). The
group of unmasked ceremonials (nine days) likewise begins at the Pa
moon in the Snake or Flute, and ends at the winter, Kyá, or Soyáluña.
In endeavoring to find some reason for the similarity of names in the
two groups of months which compose the ceremonial year I have this
interesting hint, dropped by one of the priests: “When we of the upper
world,” he said, “are celebrating the winter Pa moon the people of the
under world are engaged in the observance of the Snake or Flute, and
vice versa.” The ceremonials in the two worlds are synchronous. “That
is the reason,” said my informant, “that we make the Snake or Flute
pahos during the winter season, although the dance is not celebrated
until the corresponding month of the following summer.”[11]
MEANS OF DETERMINING THE TIME FOR CEREMONIALS
Among the Hopi Indians there are priests (tawawympkiyas) skilled in the
lore of the sun, who determine, by observations of the points on the
horizon, where the sun rises or sets, the time of the year proper for
religious ceremonials. Two of these points are called sun houses, one
at tátyüka,[12] which is called the sun house (táwaki) par excellence,
another at kwiníwi, which also is called táwaki, or sun house.
The points on the horizon used in the determination of ceremonial
events are as follows:
1. Táwaki (hütca, opening). The horizon point properly called savwúwee
marks the cardinal point tátyüka or place of sunrise at the winter
solstice. The winter ceremony Soyáluña is determined not by sunrise,
but by sunset, although, as a general thing, the time of summer
ceremonials is determined by observations of sunrise.
2. Másnamüzrü (mási, drab or gray; namüzrü, wooded ridge). This point
is the ridge or crest of the mesa, east of Püp′ce.
3. Pavüñ′tcómo (pavüñ, young corn; tcómo, mound). A point on the old
wagon trail to Fort Defiance, a little beyond the head of Keams canyon.
4. Hoñwítcomo (derivation obscure; hóñwi, erect).
5. Nüváktcomo (nüvák, snow; tcómo, mound). When the sun reaches here on
its northern journey the Honáni or Badger people plant corn; the other
Hopi people plant melons, squashes, and gourds.
6. Pülhomotaka (pülü, round, hump; hómo, obscure; táka, man; possibly
many hump-back men). When the sun reaches here the Pátki or Water
people plant corn. When the sun returns here the Snake-Antelope
fraternities assemble for the Snake dance.
7. Kwitcála.[13] When the sun rises at this point on his northward
journey general planting begins, which continues until the summer
solstice. When the sun returns to this point on his southerly journey
the Nimánkatcina is celebrated.
8. Taíovi (?).
9. Owátcoki (owa, rock; tcóki, mound house).
10. Wü′nacakabi (wü′na, pole; cáka, ladder).
11. Wakácva, cattle spring, 12 miles north of Keams canyon.
12. Paváukyaki, swallow house.
13. Tüyüka, summer solstice.
We are justified in accepting the theory that sun and moon[14]
worship is usual among primitive men. Whether that of the sun or
of our satellite was the earlier it is not in the province of this
article to discuss, but it is doubtless true that sun worship is a
very ancient cult among most primitive peoples. The Pueblos are not
exceptions, and while we can not say that their adoration is limited
to the sun, it forms an essential element of their ritual, while their
anhydrous environment has led them into a rain-cloud worship and other
complexities. I think we can safely say, however, that the germ of
their astronomy sprang from observations of the sun, and while yet in
a most primitive condition they noticed the fact that this celestial
body did not always rise or set at the same points on the horizon. The
connection between these facts and the seasons of the year must have
been noted early in their history, and have led to orientation, which
plays such an important part in all their rituals. Thus the approach
of the sun to a more vertical position in the sky in summer and its
recession in winter led to the association of time when the earth
yielded them their crops with its approach, and the time when the earth
was barren with its recession. These epochs were noticed, however, not
by the position of the sun at midday, but at risings and settings,
or the horizon points. The two great epochs, summer and winter,
were, it is believed, connected with solstitial amplitudes, and the
equinoctial, horizontal points, unconnected with important times to
agriculturists, were not considered as of much worth. There is every
evidence, however, that the time of day was early indicated by the
altitude of the sun, although the connection of the altitude at midday
with the time of year was subordinated to observations on the horizon.
CLASSIFICATION OF CEREMONIALS
In attempting to make out the annual cycle of ceremonial observances,
as determined by observations made during the last three years, I
recognize two groups, the differences between which may be more or less
arbitrary. These groups are called—
I. The Katcinas.
II. The Nine days’ ceremonials.
The former of these groups, which is the subject of this article,
begins with the Katcinas’ return,[15] and ends with their departure
(Nimán). It is not my purpose here to do more than refer to the latter
group, as a short reference to them may be of value for a proper
understanding of the Katcinas.
There are significant likenesses between different members of the
series of nine days’ ceremonials, and they may be grouped in several
pairs, of which the following may be mentioned:
I. Snake or Flute.[16]
II. Lálakoñti and Mamzraúti.
III. Powámû and Pálülükoñti.
IV. Wüwütcímti and Naácnaiya.
The likenesses are built on the similarity of the rites practiced in
both members of each pair. The Hopi priests recognize another kinship
which does not appear in the nature of the ceremonies as much as in
the subordinate parts. Thus, Lálakoñti and Pálülükoñti, Wüwütcímti
and Mamzraúti are brother and sister ceremonials, according to their
conceptions. This kinship is said to account for certain events in the
ceremonials, and friendly feeling manifested between certain societies,
but much obscurity envelops this whole subject of relationships.
The term “Nine days’ ceremonies” refers to the active[17] ceremonial
days, including those in which the chiefs perform the secret observance
and the open dance of the last days. Strictly speaking, the ceremonial
smoke to determine the time is a part of the observance, and from this
date to the final public exhibition there are sixteen days, a multiple
of the omnipresent number four.
Some of the Katcinas have nine days of ceremonials, counting the
assembly and the final purification.
The inception of the ceremony is called tcótcoñ yüñya, smoking
assembly, in which the chiefs (moñ′mowitû) meet together in the evening
at a prescribed house. The meeting places are as follows:
Tcütcüb (Snake-Antelope fraternity) Snake chief’s mother’s house.
Mamzraú Sálako’s.
Lálakoñ Kótcnümsi’s.
Soyáluña Vénsi’s.
Wüwütcím Tcíwüqti’s.
Lénya (Flute) Talásvensi’s.
Nimán Kwümaletci’s.
On the day following this smoke the speaker chief (tcaákmoñwi) at early
sunrise announces to the public that the ceremony is to begin, and to
the six direction deities (nananivo moñ′mowitû) that the priests are
about to assemble to pray for rain. Eight days after the announcement
the chiefs gather in the kiva, and that day is called yüñya,
assemblage, but is not counted in the sequence of ceremonial days. The
first ceremonial day is Cüctála, after which follow the remaining days
as already explained in my account of the Snake ceremonials. Counting
the days from the commencement, the Snake, Flute, Nimán, Lálakoñti, and
Mamzraúti are always celebrated in extenso sixteen days, or nine days
of active ceremonies, as shown in articles elsewhere. When Naácnaiya
is not celebrated, Wüwütcímti, Powámû, Soyáluña, and Pálülükoñti are
abbreviated to four days of active ceremonials.
The following diagnosis may be made of these great nine days’
ceremonials: Duration of the ceremony, nine consecutive days and
nights; no masked dancers in secret or public exhibitions; no Katcinas;
no Tcukúwympkiyas.[18] Altars and sand mosaics generally present.
Individual ceremonials either annual or biennial, but in either case at
approximately the same time of the year; sequence constant. Típoni[19]
generally brought out in the public dance. Many páhos,[20] ordinarily
of different length (Snake, Flute, Lálakoñti, Mamzraúti), to deposit
in shrines at varying distances from the town. Ceremonial racing,
generally in the morning of the eighth and ninth days.
The following are the important nine days’ ceremonies:
1. The Antelope-Snake celebration, alternating biennially with the
Lélenti or Flute observance.
2. The Lálakoñti. This ceremony lasts nine days and as many nights,
and is celebrated by women. The details of the celebration at Walpi in
1891, together with the altars, fetiches, and the like have already
been published.[21] It has some likenesses with the Mamzraúti, which
follows it in sequence. There are four priestesses, the chief of whom
is Kótcnümsi. Three típonis were laid on the altar in the celebration
of 1891, although it is customary for each society to have but one
típoni, which, with the other paraphernalia, is in the keeping of the
chief priest.
[Illustration: FIG. 39—Tablet of the Palahíkomana mask.]
3. The Mamzraúti. This ceremonial has likewise been described.[22] In
some celebrations of this festival girls appear with tablets on their
heads personifying maids called Palahíkomanas. In 1891 these personages
were represented by pictures[23] of the same on slabs carried in the
hands of girls. In this way the variations of their celebrations in
different years may be explained; sometimes women are dressed to
impersonate the Palahíkomanas, at others only pictures of the same are
carried.
[Illustration: PL. CIV.
SHIELD WITH STAR SYMBOL.
SOYALUNA SHIELD WITH UNKNOWN SYMBOL.
SYMBOLIC SUN SHIELD.
DRAWN BY MARY M. MITCHELL. A. HOEN & CO., LITH.]
4. The Wüwütcímti. The Naácnaiya, of which this is an abbreviated
observance, has been described.[24] One of the most prominent events
is the ceremonial making of the new fire; and as this is in a measure
distinctive of these two, it is proper to designate them the New Fire
ceremonies.
In essentials the Naácnaiya and the Wüwütcímti are the same, but the
former appears to be of less constant appearance and more complicated.
In it, as elsewhere described, the statuette of Talátumsi is brought
into the pueblo, but in the abbreviated form offerings are made at her
shrine down the trail. During the making of the new fire Ánawita,[25]
personifying Masauwûh, is hidden behind a blanket held by two
assistants.
The second group, called the Katcinas, which may be divided into two
smaller divisions, known as the elaborate and the abbreviated, fills
out the sequence of religious ceremonials between the Soyáluña and the
Nimánkatcina. These celebrations are distinguished from those of the
former group by the presence of masked personages to whom is given the
name of Katcinas. By the use of these masks or helmets the participant
is supposed to be transformed into the deity represented, and women and
children avoid looking at Katcinas when unmasked. The main symbolism of
the deity is depicted on the helmet or head, and varies in different
presentations, but the remaining paraphernalia is constant, whatever
personage is represented.[26]
The mask (kü′ĭtü, head) is often addressed as íkwatci, “my friend
or double.” Prescriptively it must be put on and taken off with the
left hand.[27] It is of helmet shape, fitting closely to the head and
resting on the shoulders. These masks or helmets are repainted at
each presentation with the symbolism of the personage intended to be
represented. They are ordinarily made of leather, portions of boot legs
or saddles, and in one or two instances I have found on their inside
the embossed or incised markings characteristic of Spanish saddles. Old
felt hats are sometimes used in the manufacture of the simpler masks
and those of the mud-heads are of coarse cloth. Few of the helmets now
used give evidence of very great antiquity, although some are made of
the skin of the bison. One can seldom purchase these helmets, as their
manufacture is difficult, and instead of being discarded after use in
one ceremony they are repainted for other presentations.
There is a similar uniformity year by year in the time of the
celebration of the extended or elaborate Katcinas called Nimán,
Powámû, Pálülükoñti, Soyáluña, and the Pa or Katcina’s return. Their
sequence is always the same, but in the abbreviated Katcinas or masked
dances this uniformity is not adhered to. A certain number of these
are celebrated each spring and summer, but the particular abbreviated
Katcina[28] which is presented varies from year to year, and may or may
not be reproduced.
While Katcinas or masked dances do not generally occur during the
interval of the nine days’ ceremonials (autumn and early winter), I
have notes on one of these which indicate that they sometimes take
place in this epoch.
On September 20, 1893, a Katcina called Áñakatcina[29] was performed
in Hano after the Nimán had been celebrated in Walpi. Theoretically it
would not be expected, as the farewell Katcina is universally said to
be a celebration of the departure of these personages to their distant
home, an event which does not occur at Hano. It would be strange if
later observations should show that Katcinas are celebrated in other
villages between the departure and return of these personages.
DISCUSSION OF PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF KATCINAS
Our exact knowledge of the character of the Hopi Katcinas dates back to
Schoolcraft’s valuable compilation. While the existence of these dances
was known previously to that time, and several references to similar
dances among the other Pueblos might be quoted from the writings of
Spanish visitors, our information of the Katcina celebrations in
Tusayan previously to 1852 is so fragmentary that it is hardly of
value in comparative studies. In the year named Dr P. S. G. Ten Broeck
visited Tusayan and published a description of what was probably a
Katcina dance at Sitcomovi. Although his account is so imperfect that
we can not definitely say what Katcina was personated, his description
was the first important contribution to our knowledge of the character
of these dances among the Hopi Indians. It will be noticed in a general
way that the personation differed but slightly from those of the
present day. Ten Broeck noted that the male dancers, Katcinas, wore
on their heads “large pasteboard towers” (náktci?), and “visors[30]
made of small willows, with the bark peeled off and dyed a deep
brown.” He recognized that the female dancers (Katcinamanas) were men
dressed as women and that they wore yellow “visors” and dressed their
hair in whorls as at the present time. He described the musical (?)
accompaniment of the dance with the scapula of an animal rubbed over a
“ground piece of wood.” He likewise noticed the priests who sprinkled
the dancers with sacred meal, and speaks of two small boys painted
black with white rings who accompanied the dance. The latter may have
been personifications of the Little Fire Gods.
The Hopi clowns, Tcukúwympkiyas, were likewise seen by Ten Broeck, who
described their comical actions. From his description of the byplay of
their “assistants,” I find very little change has taken place since his
time. In the Katcina which he observed food was distributed during the
dance, as I have elsewhere described is the case today. Although much
might be added to Ten Broeck’s description, his observations were the
most important which had been made known up to his time, and continued
for forty years the most valuable record of this group[31] of dances
among the Tusayan Indians.
CLASSIFICATION OF KATCINAS
Before considering the various ceremonials in which the Katcinas
appear, it may be well to say something of the nature of these
supernatural beings which figure in them as made known by the testimony
of some of the best-informed men of the tribe. The various legends
which are told about them are numerous and can not be repeated here,
but a few notions gathered from them may render it possible for the
reader to better understand the character of the ceremonials in which
they appear.
These deities are generally regarded as animistic and subordinate to
the greater gods.[32] They have been called intercessors between man
and the highest supernatural beings. There are misty legends that
long ago the Katcinas, like men, came from the under world and brought
with them various charms or náhü with which the Hopi are familiar. By
some it is said that a Honáni (Badger) chief came up from the Átkyaa,
or under world, in the center of a square whose four sides were formed
of lines of Katcinas, and that he bore in his left hand a buzzard
wing feather and a bundle of medicine hats on his back. The Katcinas
recognized him as their chief, and became Katcina Honáni, Badger
Katcinas.
The legend runs that in ancient times Hahaíwüqti[33] emerged from the
under world followed by four sons, who were Katcinas, each bearing in
his arms a pet called pálülükoñûh, plumed serpent. Following these four
came other Katcinas with pets (pókomatü), of whom the following are
mentioned:
One bearing pákwa, frog (water-eagle).
One bearing pátsro, water-bird.
One bearing pawíkya, duck.
One bearing pavákiyuta, water on the backs bearers, aquatic animals.
One bearing yüñ′ocona, turtle.
One bearing zrána, bullfrog.
One bearing pavátiya, young water bearer (tadpole).
The others with kwáhü (eagle), parrot, crow, cooper’s hawk, swallow,
and night hawk.
The Súmaíkoli pets for the six directions are:
Sowüñwû, deer Kwiníwi.
Pañ′wû, mountain sheep Tevyüña.
Tcü′bio, antelope Tatyúka.
Tcaízrisa, elk Hópoka.
Sówi, hare Omyúka.
Tábo, cottontail rabbit Atkyántuka.
The first four Katcinas bear a startling yet foreign resemblance to the
Navaho Etsuthçle.[34] The word pókomatü is difficult to translate, but
“pets” seems a good rendering. Its usage is similar to that of certain
Navaho words. A Navaho woman speaks of a favorite child as ciliⁿ; a man
calls his pet horse ciliⁿ, and the shaman designates his fetich-emblem
of a nature deity bĭliⁿ; a Hopi calls his dog póko. The pet of Tuñwup
is depicted on the altar as elsewhere mentioned in my account of the
reredos of the farewell Katcina at Walpi.[35]
[Illustration: PL. CV.
THE NATACKA CEREMONY AT WALPI]
In the Hopi conception of the All Katcina there seems to be an idea
that they dwell in four terrestrial places or world-quarters.[36] This
may be looked on as an application of a general idea of world-quarter
deities so common among them.
Northwest, kwiníwi Kicyúba.
Southwest, tevyüña Nüvatikyaubi, San Francisco mountains.
Southeast, tatyúka Wénima.
Northeast, hópoko Nüvatikyaubi, San Mateo mountains.
If there is any one feature which distinguishes a Katcina it is the
use, by some or all of the participants, of a mask or ceremonial
helmet. The Katcinas are divided into two groups, the complete and
the abbreviated; the former is constant year by year, the latter
varying. Altars are present in the complete, absent in abbreviated
presentations. A cloud-charm altar or invocation to the six
world-quarter deities is sometimes made. Public announcements are
not prescribed. The Tcukúwympkiya or clowns are generally present.
Abbreviated Katcinas consist mainly of public dances in which Katcinas,
Katcinamanas, and clowns take part. The páhos or prayer offerings
are few in number. Ceremony ends with a feast; generally no altars.
Típoni[37] is not brought out in public. It is possible that the
fox-skin so universally worn by the animistic personifications called
Katcinas hanging from the belt behind, is a survival comparable with
the skin of the animal in which formerly, as in Nahuatl ceremonials,
the whole body was clothed. In the case of Natácka, for instance,
a skin is still worn over the shoulders. Conservatism in dress is
tenaciously adhered to in religious paraphernalia among all peoples.
Roughly speaking we may say that the Katcina celebrations are
characterized by the presence of the Tcukúwympkiyas (Tatcükti,
Tcückütû, Paikyamû or clowns), which do not appear in the unmasked
or nine days’ ceremonials. The epoch in which they remain among the
Hopi is therefore approximately that from the winter to the summer
solstices; that in which they are absent, from the summer to the
winter solstices.[38]
I classify the Katcina celebrations into two large groups, which may be
called the elaborate and the abbreviated, and have considered them in
the following pages.
ELABORATE KATCINAS
Under the head of elaborate Katcinas[39] may be included:
Soyáluña.
Katcina’s return.[40]
Powámû,
Pálülükoñti.
Nimánkacma.
SOYÁLUÑA
The celebration in the December moon has not as yet been described,[41]
but a large body of material relating thereto is in my hands. In
order to give a general idea of its character a brief outline of a
characteristic portion of it is inserted in this place. Soyáluña is
distinctly a warriors’ observance, and has been called the Return
Katcina. In one sense it may be so designated, but more strictly it
is the return of the War god, regarded as a leader of the gods, and
in that recalls the Nahuatl Teotleco, as elsewhere pointed out. The
singing of the night songs of the warriors is one of the most effective
archaic episodes of the ceremonial of the winter solstice.
In the following account a description of a few events in the
celebration of 1891 is introduced:
On the 22d of December of that year most of the men of the villages
prepared cotton strings, to the end of which they tied feathers and
piñon needles. These were given away during the day to different
persons, some receiving from one to two dozen, which they tied in
their hair. When a maker of these feathered strings presented one to
a friend, he said, as translated, “Tomorrow all the Katcinas to you
grant your wishes,” holding his bundle vertically and moving it with
a horizontal motion. At nightfall each man procured a willow wand
from 3 to 4 feet long and looped upon it all the strings which he had
received. He then carried his stick to the Móñkiva and placed it in the
rafters, thus imparting to the ceiling the appearance of a bower of
feathers and piñon needles.
All the kivas were meeting places of the participants, but the
Tátaukyamû met at the Móñkiva, where the principal festivities took
place. Their chief wore a head-dress decorated with symbols of
rain-clouds (plate CVIII), and carried a shield upon which was depicted
the sun (plate CIV). The chief of a second society carried a shield
upon which was drawn a star (plate CIV), and a third chief bore a
shield with an antelope drawn upon it. The head-dress of the chief
of the Aáwympkiya was adorned with glistening triplex horns, and on
his shield was represented an unknown Katcina (plate CIV). The fifth
society was Kwákwantû, or warrior, whose chief carried in his hand an
effigy of the great snake (Pálülükoñûh) which was carved from the woody
stalk of the agave (kwan), from which the society was named. He came
from the Tcivato-kiva and on his shield was depicted a Kwákwantû in
full costume. The sixth society was the Tatcü′kti or “knobbed heads;”
their shield-bearer wore a head-dress like a coronet, while on his
shield was drawn a black figure with lozenge-shape eyes. The shield
of the chief of the seventh society was adorned with a picture of the
Táwamoñwi or sun chief.
After the societies had entered the kiva an invocation to the cardinal
points was chanted, and the shield-bearers, in turn, standing over the
sípapû, stamped on it. At a signal the society arranged itself into
two irregular groups, one on the north, the other on the south side
of the main floor. All then vehemently burst forth into a song, the
shield-bearer making eccentric dashes among his associates, first to
one side and then to the other.
While the song lasted the shield-bearer continued these short, swift
rushes, and the assembled groups crouched down and met his dashes by
rising and driving him back to the sípapû. He madly oscillated from
right to left, that is, from the north to the south side of the room,
and swung his shield in rhythm, while those near him beat their feet in
time. The shield was dashed from face to face, and the groups made many
motions as if to seize it, but no one did more than to touch it with
outstretched hands. The movements on both sides were highly suggestive
of attack and defense.
At 8 p. m. about one dozen men were collected in the Móñkiva, among
whom was Lésma playing a flageolet. The hatchway was guarded by a
tyler, and for a nátci there was placed there a wicker skullcap
ornamented with a pair of imitation mountain-sheep horns (plate CX),
Two hours later the room was densely packed with naked men, their
bodies undecorated, wearing small eagle plumes attached to the crown
of the head. Two women were present. Anawíta, chief of the Kwákwantû,
sat alone on the southern side of the main floor which was clear in the
middle, and twelve chiefs, among them Címo, Súpela, and Tcubéma, sat
opposite him.
Ten novices from the other kivas entered gorgeously arrayed in white
kilts, brilliant crowns of feathers, white body decorations, bearing
an imitation squash blossom, with spruce sprigs in their left hands
and corn in their right hands. As the chiefs took their places Lésma
sprinkled the floor of the room near the ladder with moist valley sand,
about an inch deep. The novices stepped from the ladder upon this sand
and passed up in front of the chiefs, then squatted before them facing
the south, their kilts having been lifted so that they sat on the cold
floor.
Anawíta then crossed over to the south side of the room and seated
himself at the east end of the line of chiefs.
At the west wall of the kiva a strange altar had been erected. Lésma
had piled against the ledge of this part of the kiva a stack of corn,
two or more ears of which had been contributed by the maternal head of
each family in the pueblo. At either side and in front of the stack of
corn shrubbery had been placed. In the space between the top of the
corn pile and the roof wands were placed, and to these wands had been
fastened many artificial flowers, 4 or 5 inches in diameter, set close
together but in no regular lines. There were over 200 of these flowers
of different colors, dark-red and white predominating. Nearly in the
center of this artificial shrubbery there was a large gourd shell with
the convex side turned toward the audience and having an aperture
about 8 inches in diameter in its center. Through this opening had
been thrust the head of an effigy[42] of Pálülükoñûh, the plumed-head
snake, painted black, with a tongue-like appendage protruding from the
mouth. When all the assembled priests were seated a moment of solemn
stillness ensued, after which Súpela arose, cast a handful of meal
toward the effigy of the snake, and said a short prayer in a reverent
tone.[43] Then the head of the snake, which was manipulated by an
unseen person behind the altar, was observed to rise slowly to the
center of the aperture, and a mellow sounding roar like a blast through
a conch appeared to come from the mouth, while the whole head was made
to quiver and wave. The sound was of short duration, repeated four
times, and then the head reposed again on the lower rim of the ground
shell. Presently was heard a sound as of a scapula drawn across a
notched stick six times. All the old chiefs in succession cast meal to
the effigy and prayed, and in response to each the great snake emitted
sounds identical with those mentioned above. The spectators then left
the kiva, and a frenzied dance of strange character occurred. The
societies from other kivas came in, and the chief of each declaimed in
a half-chanting voice which rose to a shriek at the close of a stanza.
First, he drew back to the fireplace, and then with a shuffling gait
approached the symbolic opening in the floor called the sípapû.
Anawíta then shouted at the top of his voice, and the shuffler sprang
in the air and vaulted over the sípapû. Then everybody in the room
shouted loudly and a song in concert followed. A moment later the
visiting societies dashed down the ladder, each bearing a splendid
shield ornamented with the figure of the sun and a rim of radiating
eagle feathers. Each society had its distinctive sun shield, which on
entering was handed to the chief. As he received it he stamped on the
sípapú and a fierce song was sung. Meanwhile two members of the society
stood apart from their fellows against the southern wall facing each
other, each holding a squash flower emblem in a bouquet of spruce twigs
and an ear of corn in his left hand.