It will be seen from the preceding account that the _Alósaka_ rites
are well developed in the ceremonies of the New-fire and Winter
Solstice, in which the clans from the south who joined the Hopi are
well represented, or in which religious societies and ceremonial
paraphernalia brought by the _Patuñ_, _Píba_, _Pátki_, and related
clans have preeminence. Study of the _Alósaka_ myths reveals an
explanation of the meaning of this relationship.
During his valuable studies among the Hopi, the late A. M. Stephen
obtained an _Alósaka_ legend which is recorded in his notes on the Keam
collection, and is here quoted with explanations obtained by the author
since Mr Stephen’s death.
“At the Red House in the south[17] internecine wars prevailed, and the
two branches of the _Pátki_[18] people separated from the other Hopi
and determined to return to the fatherland in the north.[19] But these
two branches were not on the best of terms, and they traveled northward
by separate routes, the [later settlers of] Micoñinovi[20] holding to
the east of the [later settlers of] Walpi.
“The _Pátki_ traveled north until they came to Little Colorado river,
and built houses on both its banks.[21] After living there many years
the factional dissensions, which seem to have ever haunted these
people, again broke out, and the greater portion of them withdrew still
farther north and built villages the ruins[22] of which are still
discernible not far from the site of the villages their descendants
inhabit at present.
“The Squash [Micoñinovi] also trended slowly northward, occupying,
like all their legendary movements, a protracted period of indefinite
length—years during which they planted and built homes alternating with
years of devious travel. They grew lax in the observance of festivals,
and _Muinwû_ inflicted punishment upon them. He caused the water to
turn red, and the color of the people also turned red; he then changed
the water to blue, and the people changed to a similar color. The Snow
_katcina_ appeared and urged them to return to their religion, but
they gave no heed to him, so he left them and took away corn. _Muinwû_
then sent _Palülükoñ_,[23] who killed rabbits and poured their blood
in the springs and streams, and all the water was changed to blood and
the people were stricken with a plague. They now returned to their
religious observances, and danced and sang, but none of the deities
would listen to them.
“A horned _katcina_[24] appeared to the oldest woman and told her that
on the following morning the oldest man should go out and procure a
root, and that she and a young virgin of her clan should eat it. After
a time she (the old woman) would give birth to a son who would marry
the virgin, and their offspring would redeem the people. The old woman
and the virgin obeyed the _katcina_, and the former gave birth to a son
who had two horns upon his head. The people would not believe that the
child was of divine origin; they called it a monster and killed it.
“After this all manner of distressing punishments were inflicted upon
them, and wherever they halted the grass immediately withered and
dried. Their wanderings brought them to the foot of the San Francisco
mountains, where they dwelt for a long time, and at that place the
virgin gave birth to a daughter who had a little knob on each side of
her forehead. They preserved this child, and when she had grown to be a
woman, the horned _katcina_[25] appeared and announced to her that she
would give birth to horned twins, who would bring rain and remove the
punishment from their people. This woman was married, and the twins,
a boy and a girl, were born; but she concealed their divine origin,
fearing they would be destroyed.
“The _Patuñ_ [Squash][26] now moved to the Little Colorado where they
built houses and met some of the _Pátki_ people to whom they related
their distresses. A wise man of the _Pátki_ came over to them, and on
seeing the twins at once pronounced them to be the _Alósaka_. They had
no horns up to this time, but as soon as this announcement was made,
their horns became visible and the twins then spoke to the people and
said that it had been ordained that they were to be unable to help
their people until the people themselves discovered who they were.
The _Patuñ_ were so enraged to think that the _Alósaka_ had been with
them, unknown so many years, that they killed them, and still greater
sufferings ensued.
“They again repented, and carved two stone images of the _Alósaka_
which they painted and decked with feathers and sought to propitiate
the mother. She was full of pity for her people, and prayed to the
Sky-god[27] to relieve them. A period elapsed in which their sufferings
were in great measure abated.
“The _Patuñ_ then sought to join the _Pátki_ clans, but the _Pátki_
would not permit this, and compelled them to keep east of Awatobi.
“Many ruins of phratry and family houses of the _Patuñ_ people exist
on the small watercourses north of the Puerco at various distances
eastward from the present village of Walpi. The nearest are almost
fifteen miles, the farthest about fifty miles.[28]
“Their wandering course was now stayed. When they essayed to move
farther eastward, a nomadic hunting race who occupied that region
besought them not to advance farther. Their evil notoriety had
preceded them, and the nomads feared the malificent influence of
their neighborhood. It would seem, however, that instead of hostile
demonstrations the nomads entered into a treaty with them, offering to
pay tribute of venison, roots, and grass-seeds, if they would abstain
from traversing and blighting their land, to which the _Patuñ_ agreed.
“But these unfortunate wretches were soon again embroiled in factional
warfare which finally involved all the Hopi, and the stone images of
the _Alósaka_ were lost or destroyed. Famine and pestilence again
decimated them, until finally the _Alósaka katcina_ appeared to them
and instructed them to carve[29] two wooden images, but threatening
them that if these should be lost or destroyed all the people would
die.”
* * * * *
Many other but widely divergent legends exist regarding _Alósaka_, a
number of which are associated with the pueblo of Awatobi, which was
formerly one of the most populous Hopi towns. At one time this village
experienced drouth and famine, and _Alósaka_, from his home in the San
Francisco mountains, observed the trouble of the people. Disguised as
a youth he visited Awatobi and became enamored with a maiden of that
town. Several times he visited her, but no one knew whence he came or
whither he went, for his trail no one could follow. The parents of the
girl at last discovered that he came on the rainbow, and recognized him
as a divine being. The children of this maid were horned beings, or
_Alósakas_, but their identity was not at first recognized.
Like all the cultus heroes, _Alósaka_ is said, in legends, to have been
miraculously born of a virgin. His father was the Sun, his mother an
Earth-goddess, sometimes called a maiden. Like many gods, he traveled
on the rainbow; he lived at Tawaki, the house of his father, the Sun,
or the San Francisco mountains.
It would seem from all these stories that the _Alósaka_ cult was
vigorous in Awatobi, the ill-fated pueblo where the zealous Padre
Porras lost his life in 1633, and that it was of southern origin,
having been introduced into Awatobi by one of the phratries from the
south which lived in the now ruined pueblos on the Little Colorado. The
most complicated survival of the _Alósaka_ cultus is to be expected
in the Middle Mesa pueblos, because the phratry which introduced it
founded some of these pueblos[30] and still survives there. The result
of an examination of many _Alósaka_ myths would seem to be a conclusion
that he is a cultus hero of clans which came from the south.