The _Alósaka_ cult may be regarded as another form of that totemic
ancestor worship which appears in all Hopi mythology and ritual. The
male and female _Alósakas_ are supposed to be ancestors of a cult
society called the _Aaltû_, and are represented symbolically in the
ritual by graven images, pictures, or personations by men. The name
_Alósaka_ is simply a sacerdotal name used in this society, but it is
applied to a similar conception found in the worship of other societies
under other names.
In the Snake-Antelope societies of the Hopi the male and female parents
are called _Tcüa-tiyo_ (Snake-youth) and _Tcüa-mana_ (Snake-maid),
which beings are personated in the secret exercises of the Snake dance
by a boy and a girl appropriately clothed.
In the Flute ceremony the cult society ancestors are called the
_Leñya-tiyo_ (Flute-youth) and _Leñya-mana_ (Flute-maid), who are
represented symbolically by images on the altars and by a boy and two
girls in the public exhibition.
In the _Lalakonti_ ceremony these two ancestral personages are
represented in a symbolic way by images on the altar and by sand
pictures on the floor, and by a man and two girls in the public
dance. These personages are called by the _Lalakonti_ society the
_Lakone-taka_ and the _Lakone-manas_ respectively.
In the _Mamzrautû_ society they are called the _Marau-taka_ and
the _Marau-manas_, and are symbolically represented on the altar
by figurines and in the public dance by a boy and a maid called
the _Palahiko-mana_ whose headdress with symbolic clouds and
squash blossoms so closely resembles that of _Calako-mana_, or the
Corn-maid,[31] that it is difficult to distinguish the two.
In the great _katcina_ cult these two personages are called
_Anwucnoshotaka_ and _Hahaiwuqti_, or “Man of all the Crow clans,” and
“Mother of _katcinas_,” respectively; but as this cult is very complex
in the East Mesa towns, and is celebrated by many amalgamated cult
societies, there are various other names for these two ancestors.
It is instructive to consider somewhat more in detail this aspect of
the Hopi _katcina_ cult in the two great characteristic festivals
called _Powamû_ and _Nimán_.
Reviewing the Hopi calendar it is found that _katcina_ worship appears
in ceremonies from December to July, inclusive, and while none of the
festivals between July and December is a true _katcina_, the majority
of those during the remainder of the year bear this name. As expressed
by the Hopi priests, the _Nimán_ ceremony celebrates the departure of
the _katcinas_ from the pueblos, to which they do not return for about
six months. This _Nimán_ (“Departure”) ceremony of the _katcinas_
is celebrated in July, and no _katcinas_ are personated in the Hopi
pueblos until December. The time of the return of these supernaturals
is not as distinct as that of their departure, and they may be said to
straggle back in the December and January rites; but their return in
force takes place in the February ceremony called _Powamû_ which is
made up wholly of characteristic _katcina_ exhibitions.
It is of some interest to determine the month of the return, for there
are _katcina_ personations in December (_Soyáluña_) and during the
January moon, and it may be held that their appearance in the former
proves that the advent of these worthies occurs in the month named. The
chief participants in the December rite (and the same may be said of
the January ceremony) are not distinctive _katcinas_, or rather there
are other ceremonies not belonging to this cult in their composition,
and no special distinctive _katcina_ altars are erected. In the
_Powamû_, however, there is a true _katcina_ altar which is essentially
the same as that set up in the _Nimán_ when the _katcinas_ leave the
pueblo. _Powamû_ may thus be regarded as the official celebration of
the return, and from that time to July these personages dominate the
ritual. But the rites of intervening moons are not all necessarily pure
_katcinas_, even if _katcinas_ participate in them. Thus, in the March
ceremony, _Palülükoñti_ (_Unkwanti_), they are again subordinate. This
is not a pure _katcina_, but that of another cult into which they have
straggled or to which they have been added in the course of evolution.
There are only two great _katcina_ celebrations, _Powamû_ and _Nimán_,
both controlled by the _katcina_ chief, both with a true _katcina_
altar, both free from other Hopi cults.
Some of the differences between the _Powamû_ at Walpi and the other
Hopi pueblos are due to the introduction of masked personifications at
Walpi which are absent elsewhere. This may be explained as follows:
Near Walpi there are two other pueblos—one Tanoan, the other peopled by
descendants of Tanoan clans, neither of which has exerted an influence
on the other pueblos. These Tanoan colonists have brought their own
_katcinas_ to the East Mesa of Tusayan, and while they possess no
altar of this cult they contribute their distinctive _katcinas_ to the
Walpi _Powamû_. In the January ceremony they do the same, and while
the Walpi priests are celebrating in that month a true Hopi Flute or
Snake rite, Hano and Sitcomovi contribute masked _katcinas_ which
complicate the ceremony.[32] Hence the _Powamû_ rites at Walpi became
more complicated than those performed elsewhere at the same time,
because of the proximity of two pueblos in which there are variations
in the _katcina_ cult that are peculiar to them; and as it is probable
that the _katcina_ rites in other pueblos have not been affected by
_Ása_ and Hano clans, we should expect to find in them a less complex
presentation of the rites of the _katcina_ cult.
This is also in accordance with tradition, for the _Honani_ clans,
which introduced the _katcina_ cult from Kicuba, went first to Oraibi,
from which pueblo the cult was distributed to the other pueblos. The
Walpi _katcina_ altar is simple as compared with that at Oraibi; it has
no figurines because it is derivative, and the same fact may explain
why Walpi has but one _Powamû_ altar while Oraibi has several. The
Walpi _katcina_ altar is simpler than that of Oraibi,[33] because
derivative, but the _katcina_ personations in this pueblo are more
numerous and varied because the _Ása_ and other Tanoan clans have
contributed many new forms.
If we separate from the Walpi _Powamû_ the elements introduced by _Ása_
and Hano clans, we find in it the same personages as in the Oraibi
celebration—_Ahole_, a Sun-god who flogs the children; the _katcina_
cultus hero; _Hahaiwuqti_, the old woman, and _Eototo_. The last
mentioned, a cultus hero of the _Kokop_ people and a tutelary god of
Sikyatki,[34] was an early addition to the Walpi ritual before the
_Powamû_ was celebrated. He was historically the first _katcina_ to
come to the pueblo, as he now leads the procession of masked priests in
their dramatization of their advent and exit. Under the name _Masauuh_
he invaded the Snake rites, and as _Eototo_ he became a masked
personage in the _Powamû_ and the _Nimán_ when these ceremonies were
added to the Walpi ritual.
_Conclusions_
1. There survives in the Hopi ritual a worship of horned beings called
_Alósakas_, which once existed at the now ruined pueblo of Awatobi.
2. The purpose of the rites performed in this cult is to cause seeds,
especially corn, to germinate and grow, and to bring rain to water the
farms.
3. The _Aaltû_ priesthood at Walpi, who personate _Alósakas_, perform
duties suggestive of those of warriors.
4. The intimate relationship of _Alósaka_ rites with those of the
Rain-cloud clans supports legends that they were at one time associated
and brought from southern Arizona by the Squash people who formerly
lived with or near the Rain-cloud people along Little Colorado river.
5. The _Alósaka_ cult is a highly modified form of animal totemism, and
the _Alósaka_ represents the mountain sheep.