The figures on the vessel shown in plate CLXVII are so arranged that
there can be little question of their homologies, and from comparisons
it is clear that they should all be regarded as representations of
birds. There appears no necessity of discussing figures _a_ and
_b_ of the plate in this interpretation. In figure _c_ the center of
the design becomes circular, recalling certain sun symbols, and the
tail-feathers are readily recognized on one side. I am by no means
sure, however, that the lateral terraced appendages at the opposite
pole are representations of wings, but such an interpretation can not
be regarded as a forced one. Figure _d_ shows the three tail-feathers,
lateral appendages suggestive of wings, and a square body with the
usual decorations of the body and head of a bird. The design shown in
figure _f_ suggests in many ways a sun-bird, and is comparable with
those previously studied and illustrated. There is no question of the
homologues of tail, head, and wings. The meridional band across the
bowl is similar to those already discussed, and its relationship to
the head and tail of the bird identical. This design is interpreted as
that of one of the numerous birds associated with the sun. The
crescentic extension above what is apparently the head occurs in many
bird figures and may represent a beak.
Many food bowls from Sikyatki are ornamented on their interior with
highly conventionalized figures, generally of curved form, in which
the feather is predominant. Many of these are shown in plates CXLVIII
to CLVII, inclusive, and in studying them I have found it very
difficult to interpret the symbolism, although the figures of feathers
are easy to find in many of them. While my attempt at decipherment is
not regarded as final, it is hoped that it may at least reveal the
important place which the feather plays in Tusayan ceramic decoration.
Plate CXLVIII, _a_, shows the spiral ornament worn down to its lowest
terms, with no hint of the feather appendage, but its likeness in
outline to those designs where the feather occurs leads me to
introduce it in connection with those in which the feather is more
prominent. Figure _b_ of the same plate represents a spiral figure
with a bird form at the inner end, and a bundle of tail-feathers at
the outer extremity. On this design there is likewise a figure of the
dragon-fly and several unknown emblems. Figure _c_ has at one
extremity a trifid appendage, recalling a feather ornament on the head
of a bird shown in plate CXXXVIII, _a_. Figure _d_ has no
conventionalized feather decoration, but the curved line terminates
with a triangle. Its signification is unknown to me. For several
reasons the design in _e_ reminds me of a bird; it is accompanied by
three crosses, which are almost invariably found in connection with
bird figures, and at the inner end there is attached a breath feather.
This end of the figure is supposed to be the head, as will appear by
later comparative studies. The bird form is masked in _f_, but the
feather designs are prominent. This bowl is exceptional in having an
encircling band broken at two points, one of the components of which
is red, the other black.
Feather designs are conspicuous in plate CXLIX, _a_, _b_, in the
former of which curved incised lines are successfully used. In _c_,
however, is found the best example of the use of incised work as an
aid in pottery decoration, for in this specimen there are semicircles,
and rings with four triangles, straight lines, and circles. The
symbolism of the whole figure has eluded analysis. Figure _d_ has no
feather symbols, but _e_ may later be reduced to a circle with
feathers. The only symbols in the design shown in _f_ which are at all
recognizable are the two zigzag figures which may have been intended
to represent snakes, lightning, or tadpoles.
When the design in plate CL, _a_, is compared with the beautiful bowl
shown in plate CXLVI, _d_, a treatment of somewhat similar nature is
found. It is believed that both represent birds drawn in profile; the
four bands (_a_) are tail-feathers, while the rectangle represents the
body and the curved appendage a part of the head. From a similarity to
modern figures of a turkey feather, it is possible that the triangle
at the end of the curved appendage is the feather of this bird. An
examination of _b_ leads to the conclusion that the inner end of the
spiral represents a bird's head. Two eyes are represented therein, and
from it feathers are appended. The parallel marks on the body are
suggestive of similar decorations on the figure of the Plumed Snake
painted on the kilts of the Snake priests of Walpi. The star emblems
are constant accompaniments of bird designs. Figure _c_ has, in
addition to the spiral, the star symbols and what appears to be a
flower. The design shown in _d_ is so exceptional that it is here
represented with the circular forms. It will be seen that there are
well-marked feathers in its composition. Figure _f_ is made up of
several bird forms, feathers, rectangles, and triangles, combined in a
complicated design, the parts of which may readily be interpreted in
the light of what has already been recorded.
The significance of the spiral in the design on plate CLI, _a_, is
unknown. It is found in several pictures, in some of which it appears
to have avian relationship. Figure _b_ of the same plate is a square
terraced design appended to the median line, on which symbolic stars
are depicted. As in many bird figures, a star is found on the opposite
semicircle. There is a remote likeness between this figure and that of
the head of the bird shown in plate CXLV, _d_. Plate CLI, _c_, is a
compound figure, with four feathers arranged in two pairs at right
angles to a median band. The triangular figure associated with them is
sometimes found in symbols of the sun. Figure _d_ is undoubtedly a
bird symbol, as may be seen by a comparison of it with the bird
figures shown in plate CXXXVIII, _a-f_. There are two tail-feathers,
two outstretched wings, and a head which is rectangular, with terraced
designs. The cross is triple, and occupies the opposite segment, which
is finely spattered with pigment. This trifid cross represents a game
played by the Hopi with reeds and is depicted on many objects of
pottery. As representations of it sometimes accompany those of birds I
am led to interpret the figure (plate CLVII, _c_) as that of a bird,
which it somewhat resembles. The two designs shown in plate CLI, _e_,
_f_, are believed to be decorative, or, if symbolic, they have been so
worn by the constant use of the vessel that it is impossible to
determine their meaning by comparative methods. Both of these figures
show the "line of life" in a somewhat better way than any yet
considered.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY