Among the most significant mortuary objects used by the ancient
Tusayan people may be mentioned the so-called prayer-sticks or pahos.
These were found in several graves, placed on the breast, in the hand,
or at the side of the person interred, and have a variety of form, as
shown in the accompanying illustrations (plates CLXXIV, CLXXV). As I
shall discuss the forms and meaning of prayer-sticks in my account of
Sikyatki, where a much larger number were found, I will simply mention
a few of the more striking varieties from Awatobi.
One of the most instructive of these objects is flat in shape, painted
green, and decorated with figures of a dragon-fly. As this insect is a
symbol of rain, its occurrence on mortuary objects is in harmony with
the Hopi conception of the dead which will later be explained.
Pahos, in the form of flat slats with a notched extension at one end
were common, but generally were poorly preserved. The prayer-sticks
from the shrine in the middle of the rooms in the plaza of the eastern
section crumbled into fragments when exposed to the air, but they were
apparently small, painted green, and decorated with black spots. On
several of the prayer-sticks the impressions of the string and
feathers that were formerly attached are still readily seen. It is
probable that the solution of a carbonate of copper, with which the
green pahos were so colored, contributed to the preservation of the
wood of which they had been manufactured.
The only pigments detected on the prayer-sticks are black, red, and
green, and traces of red are found also on the inner surface of a
stone implement from a grave at the base of the mesa. All the pigments
used by the modern Tusayan Indians were found in the intramural burial
already described. My Hopi workmen urged me to give them small
fragments of these paints, regarding them efficacious in their
ceremonials.