Among the forms of geometric designs on ancient Tusayan pottery there
are many jars, bowls, and other objects on which a crook, variously
modified, is the essential type. This figure is so constant that it
must have had a symbolic as well as a decorative meaning. The crook
plays an important part in the modern ritual, and is prominent on many
Tusayan altars. Around the sand picture of the rain-cloud, for
example, we find a row of wooden rods with curved ends, and in the
public Snake dance these are carried by participants called the
Antelopes. A crook in the form of a staff to which an ear of corn and
several feathers are attached is borne by _katcinas_ or masked
participants in certain rain dances. It is held in the hand by a
personage who flogs the children when they are initiated into certain
religious societies. Many other instances might be mentioned in which
this crozier-like object is carried by important personages. While it
is not entirely clear to me that in all instances this crook is a
badge of authority, in some cases it undoubtedly represents the
standing of the bearer. There are, likewise, prayer offerings in the
form of crooks, and even common forms of prayer-sticks have miniature
curved sticks attached to them.
Some of the warrior societies are said to make offerings in the form
of a crook, and a stick of similar form is associated with the gods of
war. There is little doubt that some of the crook-form decorations on
ancient vessels may have been used as symbols with the same intent as
the sticks referred to above. The majority of the figures of this
shape elude interpretation. Many of them have probably no definite
meaning, but are simply an effective motive of decoration.
In some instances the figure of the crook on old pottery is a symbol
of a prayer offering of a warrior society, made in the form of an
ancient weapon, allied to a bow.