One of the most striking instances of resemblance between the old and
the new is the likeness of some of these ancient pahos to those now
made by the Flute society, and if this resemblance is more than a
coincidence, the conclusion that the present flute paho is a survival
of the ancient form may be accepted. As adding weight to this theory
it may be mentioned that traditionally the Flute people claim to be
the ancient people of Tusayan, and possibly contemporaries, in that
province, with the ancient inhabitants of Sikyatki. There is likewise
a most suggestive resemblance between these pahos and certain similar
sticks from cliff dwellings, and it is a belief, which I can not yet
demonstrate as true, that kindred people, or the same sacerdotal
societies represented in cliff houses and in Sikyatki, manufactured
ceremonial prayer offerings which are identical in design. Plate
CLXXIV, _a_, represents a double stick paho, which closely resembles
the prayer offering of the modern Flute society. The two rods were
found together and originally had been attached, as indicated by the
arrangement of the impression of the string midway of their length.
The stick of the left has a facet cut on one side, upon which
originally three dots were depicted to represent the eyes and the
mouth. This member of the paho was the female; the remaining stick was
the male. There are two deep grooves, or ferules, cut midway of their
length, a distinctive characteristic of the modern flute paho. Both
components are painted green, as is still customary in prayer-sticks
of this fraternity. The pahos shown in _b_, _c_, and _d_, are likewise
ascribed to the same society, and differ from the first only in
length. They represent female sticks of double flute pahos. The length
of these prayer-sticks varies on different ceremonial days, and is
determined by the distance of the shrines for which they are intended.
The unit of measurement is the length of certain joints of the finger,
and the space between the tip of longest digit to certain creases in
the palm of the hand. The length of the ancient Sikyatki pahos,
ascribed to the Flute society, follows the same rule.
Plate CLXXIV, _e_, _f_, have the same ferules referred to in the
description above, but are of greater diameter. They are unlike any
modern paho except in this particular. In _g_ is depicted a still
larger prayer-stick, with two serrate incisions on each side of the
continuation of the flattened facet.
Specimens _h_ to _m_ are forms of pahos which I can not identify. They
are painted green, generally with black tips, round, flattened, and of
small size. Figure _n_ is a part of a paho which closely resembles
prayer-sticks found in the cliff houses of Mesa Verde and San Juan
valley of northern New Mexico.
Numerous specimens of a peculiar razor-shape paho were found, two of
which are shown in plate CLXXV, _o_, _s_. The paho shown in figure _d_
is flat on one side and rounded on the other, narrowing at one end,
where it was probably continued in a shaft, and a hole is punctured at
the opposite extremity, as if for suspension. It is barely possible
that this may have been a whizzer or bull-roarer, such as are used at
the present day to imitate the wind, and commonly carried by the
performer in a public dance who personifies the warrior. Figure _t_
differs from the ordinary flute paho in having five constrictions in
the upper part, and in being continued into a very long shank.
The best preserved of all the pahos from the Sikyatki graves are
represented in _u_ and _v_, both of which were found in the same
mortuary bowl. They are painted with a thick layer of green pigment,
and have shafts, which are blackened and placed in opposite directions
in the two figures. Their general form may be seen at a glance. The
lower surface of the object shown in _u_ is perfectly flat, and the
part represented at the upper end is evidently broken off. This is
likewise true of both extremities of the object shown in _v_; it is
also probable that it had originally a serrated end, comparable with
that shown in _c_. A similar terraced extremity survives in the corn
paho carried by the so-called Flute girls in the biennial celebrations
of the Flute ceremonies in the modern Tusayan pueblos.
I refer the paho to the second group of sacrifices mentioned by
Tylor,[163] that of homage, "a doctrine that the gist of sacrifice is
rather in the worshiper giving something precious to himself than in
the deity receiving benefit. This may be called the abnegation theory,
and its origin may be fairly explained by considering it as derived
from the original gift theory."
While it is probably true that the Hopi barters his paho with the idea
of receiving in return some desired gift, the main element is probably
homage, but there is involved in it the third and highest element of
sacrifice, abnegation. It is a sacrifice by symbolism, a part for the
whole.
On this theory the query naturally is, what does a paho represent?
While it is difficult to answer this question, I think a plausible
suggestion can be made. It is a sacrifice by symbolic methods of that
which the Hopi most prize, corn or its meal.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY