The symbolism of Püükoñhoya at the present day consists of parallel
marks on the face or body, and when personated by a man the figure
is always represented as carrying weapons of war, such as a bow and
arrows. Images of the same hero are used in ceremonies, and are
sometimes found as household gods or penates, which are fed as if
human beings. A fragment of pottery represented in the accompanying
illustration (figure 263), shows enough of the head of a personage to
indicate that Püükoñhoya was intended, for it bears on the cheek the
two parallel marks symbolic of that deity, while in his hands he holds
a bow and a jointed arrow as if shooting an unknown animal. All of
these features are in harmony with the identification of the figure
with that of the cultus-hero mentioned, and seem to indicate the truth
of the current legend that as a mythologic conception he is of great
antiquity in Tusayan.
[Illustration: FIG. 263--War god shooting an animal. (Fragment of food
bowl.)]
In this connection it may be instructive to call attention to two
figures on a food bowl collected by Mr H. R. Voth from a ruin near
Oraibi. It represents a man and a woman, the former with two horns, a
crescent on the forehead, and holding in his outstretched hand a
staff. The woman has a curious gorget, similar to some which I have
found in ruins near Tusayan, and a belt like those still worn by
Pueblo Indians. This smaller figure likewise has a crescent on its
face and three strange appendages on each side of the head.
Another food basin in Mr Voth's collection is also instructive, and is
different in its decoration from any which I have found. The character
of the ware is ancient, but the figure is decidedly modern. If,
however, it should prove to be an ancient vessel it would carry back
to the time of its manufacture the existence of the _katcina_ cult in
Tusayan, no actual proof of the existence of which, at a time when
Sikyatki was in its prime, has yet been discovered.
The three figures represent Hahaiwüqti, Hewüqti, and Natacka exactly
as these supernatural beings are now personated at Walpi in the
_Powamû_, as described and figured in a former memoir.[133]
It is unfortunate that the antiquity of this specimen, suggestive as
it is, must be regarded as doubtful, for it was not exhumed from the
ruin by an archeologist, and the exact locality in which it was found
is not known.