From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism
there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended
to represent this monster, of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and
then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise
represent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so
closely to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the
Tusayan villages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and
consequently figures of him are commonly associated with star and
cloud emblems; he is a god of luck or chance, hence it is not
exceptional to find figures of gaming implements[149] in certain
elaborate figures of this monster.
By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, I
believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the
United States, is that figured in plate CXLVI, _d_. This remarkable
object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this
pueblo, several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly
conventional figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is
difficult to determine the different parts. The four appendages to the
left represent the tail; the two knobs at the right the head, but the
remaining parts are not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed
crosshatching on the body is astonishing, considering that it was
drawn freehand and without pattern. The coloring is bright and the
surface glossy.
The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into
sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag
diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the
bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its
decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in
design. Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this
specimen, and so fresh are the colors that some have found it
difficult to believe it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The
specimen itself, now on exhibition in the National Museum, gives a
better idea of its excellence than any figure which could be made.
This specimen, like all the others, is in exactly the same condition
as when exhumed, save that it has been wiped with a moist cloth to
clean the traces of food from its inner surface. All the pottery found
in the same grave is of the finest character, and although no two
specimens are alike in decoration, their general resemblances point to
the same maker. This fact has been noticed in several instances,
although there were many exceptional cases where the coarsest and most
rudely painted vessels were associated with the finest and most
elaborately decorated ware.
The ladle illustrated in plate CXLII, _e_, is one of the most
beautiful in the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an
unknown animal with a single feather on the head. The eyes are double
and the snout continued into a long stick or tube, on which the animal
stands. While the appendage to the head is undoubtedly a feather and
the animal recalls a bird, I am in doubt as to its true
identification. The star emblems on the handle of the ladle are in
harmony with known pictures of birds.
The feather decoration on the broken ladle shown in plate CXXXI, _f_,
is of more than usual interest, although it is not wholly
comprehensible. The representations include rain-cloud symbols, birds,
feathers, and falling rain. The medially placed design, with four
parallel lines arising from a round spot, is interpreted as a feather
design, and the two triangular figures, one on each side, are believed
to represent birds.
The design on the food bowl depicted in plate CXXXI, _e_, is obscure,
but in it feather and star symbols predominate. On the inside of the
ladle shown in plate CXXXI, _c_, there is a rectangular design with a
conventionalized bird at each angle. The reduction of the figure of a
bird to head, body, and two or more tail-feathers occurs very
constantly in decorations, and in many instances nothing remains save
a crook with appended parallel lines representing feathers. Examples
of this kind occur on several vessels, of which that shown in plate
CXLV, _a_, is an example.
[Illustration: FIG. 276--Decoration on the bottom of plate CXLVI, _f_]
There are many pictures of birds and feathers where the design has
become so conventionalized that it is very difficult to recognize the
intention of the decorator. Plate CXLVII, _f_, shows one of these in
which the feather motive is prominent and an approximation to a bird
form evident. The wings are shown with a symmetric arrangement on the
sides of the tail, while the latter member has the three feathers
which form so constant a feature in many bird symbols. In _b_ of the
same plate there is shown a more elaborated bird figure, also highly
modified, yet preserving many of the parts which have been identified
in the design last described.
The beautiful design shown in plate CXLVI, _e_, represents a large
breath feather with triangular appendages on the sides, recalling the
posterior end of the body of the bird figures above discussed.
The interior of the saucer illustrated in plate CLXVI, _f_, is
decorated with feather symbols and four triangles. The remaining
figures of this plate have already been considered.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY