hónaaite gave a weird call for the cloud people to gather; all, at the
same instant, drew a breath from their plumes and took their seats. A
woman then brought a vase of water and gourd from the northeast corner
of the room and placed it in front of the altar. (Pl. XVI.)
In a moment the song was resumed, and the yáni-ᵗsi-wittäñi (maker of
medicine water) proceeded to consecrate the water. He danced in front
of the altar and south of the line of meal, which had been sprinkled
from the altar to the entrance of the chamber, raising first one heel
and then the other, with the knees slightly bent, the toes scarcely
leaving the floor; he held his eagle plumes in his left hand, and
shook the rattle with the right, keeping his upper arms close to his
side, excepting when extending his plumes toward the altar, which he
did three times, each time striking the plumes near the quill end with
his rattle as he shook them over the medicine bowl. He then waved his
plumes toward the north, and giving a quick motion of the rattle in
unison with those of the choir, he drew a breath from the plumes as the
fourth stanza closed, and in a moment the song was resumed. The three
members of the Snake order then put on necklaces of bears’ claws, each
having attached, midway, a whistle. The yániᵗsiwittänn̄i, who had not
left his place in front of the altar, danced for a few minutes, then
dipped a gourd of water from the vase, raised it high with a weird
hoot, and emptied it into the medicine bowl. A second gourdful was
also elevated, and, with a cry, it was emptied into the cloud bowl,
which stood on the sand-painting of the clouds. The third gourdful
was emptied into the same bowl, the raising of the gourd and the cry
being omitted; the fourth gourdful was uplifted with a cry and emptied
into the medicine bowl. The fifth gourdful was also hoisted with a
cry, as before, to the snake hónaaite to implore the cloud rulers to
send their people to water the earth, and emptied into the cloud bowl.
The sixth gourdful was raised with the call and emptied into the same
bowl. The seventh gourdful was elevated with a wave from the south to
the altar and emptied into the medicine bowl. The eighth gourdful was
raised with a similar motion and emptied into the cloud bowl. The ninth
gourdful was elevated and extended toward the east and returned in a
direct line and emptied into the medicine bowl. The tenth gourdful was
raised toward the west and emptied into the cloud bowl. The eleventh,
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth gourdfuls were lifted from the
vase and emptied without being hoisted into the same bowl. The fifth
stanza closed as the last gourd of water was poured into the bowl.
In filling the medicine bowl the gourd was passed between two yá-ya.
The woman returned the water vase to the corner of the room, and
the yániᵗsiwittänn̄i lifted the bowl and drank from it, afterwards
administering a draught of the water from an abalone shell to each
member, excepting the hónaaite, who, after the yániᵗsiwittänn̄i had
resumed his seat in the line, passed to the front of the altar and
drank directly from the bowl and returned it to its place.
In the administering of the water the women were helped first, a
feature never before observed by the writer in aboriginal life.
With the beginning of the sixth stanza the hónaaite arose, and leaning
forward waved his plumes over the medicine bowl with a weird call,
each member repeating the call, the women exhibiting more enthusiasm
than the men in this particular feature of the ceremony. The cry,
which was repeated four times, was an invocation to the cloud rulers
of the cardinal points to water the earth, and, with each cry, meal
was sprinkled into the medicine bowl, each member being provided with
a small buckskin bag of meal or corn pollen, which had been previously
taken from a bear-leg skin, and laid beside the altar. The members of
the Snake Division sprinkled corn pollen instead of meal, the pollen
being especially acceptable to the Snake hónaaite, to whom many of
their prayers are addressed.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. Eleventh Annual Report. Plate
XIV
GAST LITH. CO. N.Y.
ALTAR AND SAND PAINTING OF SNAKE SOCIETY.]
The preparation of the medicine water began with the opening of
the seventh stanza. The ya´niᵗsiwittänñi danced before the altar,
keeping south of the line of meal, and holding six pebble fetiches
in either hand, which he had taken from two small sacks drawn from
one of the bear-leg skins. He did not sing, but he kept time with the
choir. Extending his right hand toward the altar, he touched the two
front ya´ya, and then, placing his hands together, he again extended
them, and, drawing closer still to the altar, he dropped a fetich
from his right hand into the medicine bowl with a weird cry to the
Snake ho´naaite of the north to invoke the cloud ruler of the north
to send his people to water the earth; and after raising his hands
above his head he again extended them toward the altar, and, leaning
forward, dropped a fetich from his left hand into the cloud bowl. This
was repeated four times with each bowl, with petitions to the Snake
ho´naaites of the north, the west, the south, and the east to intercede
with the cloud rulers to send their people to water the earth. Then,
taking two large stone knives from before the altar, he struck them
together, and, passing from the south of the line of meal to the north,
he again brought the knives together. Recrossing the line of meal, he
dipped the knives into the bowl of medicine water and sprinkled the
altar; then, passing to the north of the line, he dipped the knives
into the medicine water and repeated the sprinkling of the altar four
times; again, standing south of the line, he dipped the knives into the
water, throwing it to the east, and, crossing the line, dipped them
into the bowl and repeated the motion to the east, and resumed his seat
at the south end of the line of men. The ho´naaite then leaned over the
altar, and, dipping his plumes into the medicine bowl, sprinkled the
altar four times by striking the plumes on the top with the rattle held
in the right hand. The song, which had continued for an hour without
cessation, now closed, and the men gathered around the tobacco which
lay near the fire-place, and, making cigarettes, returned to their
seats and smoked. The boy ignited the fire-stick and held it for the
men to light their cigarettes. He passed it first to the man at the
north of the line. As each man took the first whiff of his cigarette
he blew the smoke toward the altar and waved the cigarette in a circle
as he extended it to the altar. After the smoke the song and rattle
again resounded through the room, and at the close of a short stanza
the man at the north end of the line cried out in a high tone and the
women gathered before the altar, and each, taking a pinch of meal from
the meal bowl, sprinkled the altar and returned to their seats. The
ya´niᵗsiwittänñi lifted the shell of pollen from before the altar,
and, passing to the entrance and opening the door, waved his rattle
along the line of meal and out of the door. After repeating the waving
of the rattle he passed his hand over the line and threw out the pollen
from his fingers, as offering to the Snake ho´naaite. Returning to
the altar, he stood while the ho´naaite dipped his plumes into the
medicine water and sprinkled the altar by striking the plumes with the
rattle. After the ya´niᵗsiwittänñi and ho´naaite had returned to the
line, the cloud-maker (a member of the Spider Society), who sat at the
north end, crossed the line of meal, and, holding his eagle plumes
and rattle in his left hand, lifted with his right the reed which lay
across the cloud bowl, and, transferring it to his left, he held it and
the plumes vertically while he prayed. The vice ho´naaite dipped ashes
from the fire-place with his eagle plumes, holding one in either hand,
sprinkled the cloud-maker for purification, and threw the remainder
of the ashes toward the choir. During his prayer, which continued for
eight minutes, the cloud-maker appeared like a statue. At the close of
the prayer he dropped into the cloud bowl a quantity of to´chainitiwa
(a certain root used by the cult societies to produce suds, symbolic of
the clouds), and sprinkled with corn pollen the surface of the water,
which was already quite covered with it; then, taking the reed in his
right hand and still holding it vertically, he began a regular and
rapid movement with the reed, in a short time producing a snowy-white
froth, which, under his dextrous manipulation, rapidly rose high above
the bowl, and fell from it in cascades to the floor. The bowl stood
on a cincture pad of yucca, a circle of meal symbolic of the heart or
life of the water having been first made. The reed was never raised
from the bowl during the stirring of the water. When the clouds were
perfected the song ceased, and the cloud-maker stood the reed in the
center of the suds, which now wholly concealed the bowl. He then rose,
and, after holding his two eagle plumes in his left hand for a moment,
he changed one to the right hand and began dancing before the altar;
presently he dipped a quantity of suds from the base of the bowl with
his two eagle plumes, and threw them to the north of the altar; again
dipping the suds, he threw them to the south; continuing to dance to
the music of the rattle and the song, he dipped the suds and threw them
to the fire-place; dipping them again, he threw them to the earth,
each time with an invocation to the cloud people. As he threw the
suds to the earth two of the choir dipped their plumes into the bowl
of medicine water and sprinkled the altar by striking the upper sides
of the plumes with their rattles. The cloud-maker again dipped up the
suds, and, facing east, threw them toward the zenith; he then dipped
the suds and deposited them in the center of the basket containing the
plume offerings; then waving his eagle plumes from north to south, he
continued dancing, raising first one plume and then the other as he
pointed them toward the altar. In a moment or two he dipped suds and
threw them toward the women on the north side of the room, and dipping
them again threw them toward the women of the south side; at the same
time the male members reached forward, and, dipping their plumes into
the medicine bowl, sprinkled the altar, each time petitioning the cloud
people to gather. The cloud-maker then threw suds to the west; again
he dipped the suds and threw them to the zenith, then to the altar;
a portion was then placed on the front ya´ya; again he danced, for a
time extending his eagle plumes and withdrawing them, and dipped the
suds and threw them upward and toward the man on the north end of
the line; at the same time the ho´naaite dipped his plumes into the
medicine bowl and sprinkled the altar as heretofore described; and the
cloud-maker dipped the suds, throwing them toward the vice ho´naaite,
and, again dipping them, he threw them toward the ya´niᵗsiwittänñi; he
then lifted suds and threw them to the west, then to the zenith, never
failing to call the cloud people together. The ho´naaite, keeping his
position back of the altar, dipped his plumes into the medicine water
and sprinkled the members; again the cloud-maker lifted suds and threw
them to the zenith; at the same time the second woman at the west end
of the line on the north side dipped her wand into the medicine water,
with a cry for the cloud people to gather; the cloud-maker then threw
the suds to the west and the ho´naaite sprinkled the members with the
medicine water, and the cloud-maker placed the suds upon the heads of
the white bear and parrot; and stooping he stirred the suds briskly.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XV
ALTAR OF SNAKE SOCIETY.]
The ti´ämoni lighted a cigarette from a coal at the fireplace and
handed it to the cloud-maker, who stood the reed in the center of the
suds before receiving the cigarette; he blew the first few whiffs over
the suds and then smoked a moment or two and laid about one-third
of the cigarette by the side of the cloud bowl. The song, which had
continued almost incessantly for three hours, now ceased, and the
cloud-maker returned to his seat in the line. The ti´ämoni sat by the
fire and smoked, several joining him for a short time; but all soon
returned to their seats in the line and continued their smoke.
At the beginning of the succeeding song the two women at the east end
of the south line danced before the altar and sprinkled it by striking
the wand held in the left hand on the top with the one held in the
right. One of the women was frequently debarred taking part in the
ceremony owing to the attention required by her infant, who was at
times fretful.
Two women from the east end of the north line joined in the dance,
and then a third woman from the south line; three of the women formed
in line running north and south; an aged woman at the west end of
the south line danced, but did not leave her place at the end of the
line. She pulled the young boy who sat near her forward, telling him
to dance. The dancers faced first the east, then the west, sprinkling
the altar whenever they reversed, invoking the cloud people to gather.
The boy was beautifully graceful, but the women were clumsy; one of
them attempted to force out the man at the north end; failing in this,
a second woman tried with better success, and the man joined in the
dance; this little byplay amused the women. The ho´naaite sprinkled
the young man, who in turn sprinkled the ho´naaite. Before the close
of the dance the aged woman at the west end of the south line joined
the group of dancers and pulled the young man about, telling him to
dance well and with animation. At 1:30 a.m. the women sprinkled the
altar and returned to their seats, but the man and boy continued to
dance and sprinkle the altar at intervals. The vicar placed the basket
of plume offerings on the line of meal, and collecting suds from the
base of the cloud bowl deposited them in the center of the basket of
plumes; and all the members dipped their plumes into the medicine water
and sprinkled the altar; the man facing south and the boy north, then
sprinkled toward the respective points, and passing down on either side
of the meal line they sprinkled eastward, and crossing the line of
meal the man sprinkled to the north and the boy to the south, and they
returned to the altar and danced for a time, the man remaining north of
the line and the boy south. The sprinkling of the cardinal points was
repeated four times.
The dancers having taken their seats in the line the ya´niᵗsiwittänñi
removed the bowl of medicine water and placed it before the basket of
plume offerings; then stooping, he took one of the ya´ya in his left
hand and with the right administered the medicine water from an abalone
shell to the women first, the infant in the mother’s arms receiving its
portion; then to the boy and men. After each draft the hi´shämi and
wands were touched to the ya´ya and the sacred breath drawn from them;
the ho´naaite was the last to be served by the ya´niᵗsiwittänñi, who
in turn received the medicine water from the ho´naaite, who held the
ya´ya while officiating. The ya´niᵗsiwittänñi then left the chamber,
carrying the ya´ya in his left hand and bowl of medicine water with
both hands. When outside the house he sprinkled the six cardinal
points, the water being taken into the mouth and thrown out between the
teeth.
The ho´naaite lifting the basket of plume offerings stooped north of
the meal line and the ti´ämoni and the younger member of the snake
division stooped south of the line of meal. The necklaces of bears’
claws had been removed and all but the ho´naaite’s laid on a pile of
bear-leg skins, he depositing his on the snake fetich at the north
side of the altar. The two young men put on their moccasins and
wrapped around them their blankets which had served as seats during
the ceremonial before advancing to meet the ho´naaite, who, while the
three held the basket repeated a long litany, responded to by the
two young men. The women laughed and talked, paying little attention
to this prayer. At the conclusion the ho´naaite gave a bundle of
hä´chamoni to the ti´ämoni and a similar one to his companion; he then
gave a cluster of plume offerings to the ti´ämoni and the remainder
of the feathers to the companion. The offerings were received in the
blanket thrown over the left arm; and each of the young men taking
a pinch of shell mixture left the chamber to deposit them at the
shrines of the Ko´pĭshtaia with prayers to the Snake ho´naaites: “I
send you hä´chamoni and pay you hĕr´rotume, Ta´waka, maic´kûriwapai,
I-´ᵗsa-ti-en (turkis and shell offerings) Ûpĕr-we (the different
foods) that you may be pleased and have all things to eat and wear.
I pay you these that you will beseech the cloud rulers to send their
people to water the earth that she may be fruitful and give to all
people abundance of all food.”
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XVI
Drawn by Mary M. Mitchell. GAST LITH. CO. N.Y.
CEREMONIAL VASE.]
As the bearers of the offerings left the chamber the ho´naaite played
upon a flute which was quite musical; and upon their return he received
them standing in front of the altar, and north of the meal line; after
a prayer by the ho´naaite the young men turned to the altar and the
ti´ämoni offered a prayer, which was responded to by the ho´naaite, who
now sat back of the altar.
The boy then made two cigarettes and, after lighting one, he handed it
to the ti´ämoni; the second he gave to the companion. After a feast
of bread, stewed meat, and coffee, the ho´naaite stooped before the
altar and, taking the ya´ya from the tail of the sand-painted cougar
in his left hand, he pressed the palm of his right hand to the sand
cougar, and drew a breath from it, and, raising the ya´ya to his lips,
drew a breath from it, and clasped it close to his breast and passed
behind the altar and, reaching over it, he moved the center one of
the three ya´ya to the right, and substituted the one he carried, and
resumed his seat. In a moment or two the ho´naaite removed the two
large fetiches of the cougar to the back of the altar; and the vicar
prayed and touched the four cardinal points of the sand painting with
pollen, and then placed the palm of his right hand to the sand-painted
cougar and, after drawing the sacred breath, rubbed his hand over
his body, when all the members hastened to press their hands to the
sand-painting, draw the breath, and rub their bodies for mental and
physical purification; during which time the ti´ämoni sat back of the
altar holding his eagle plumes with both hands before his face, and
silently prayed.
The remaining sand was brushed together from the four points by a woman
with an eagle plume, and lifted, with the plume, and emptied into the
palm of her left hand and carried to her home and rubbed over the
bodies of her male children.
The ya´ya were collected by their individual owners, who blew the meal
from the feathers and carefully inclosed them in their three wrappings.
The four wands of turkey plumes in the clay holders concealed
hä´chamoni for Sûs´sĭstinnako from the ho´naaite of the Spider Society;
these were not deposited until sunrise, and then by such members of
the Spider Society as were designated by the ho´naaite. They were
planted to the north, west, south, and east of the village, whence
Po´shaiyänne departed, with prayers to Ût´sĕt to receive the hä´chamoni
for Sûs´sĭstinnako, the Creator. After examining them (the spiritual
essence) to see that they are genuine, she hands them to Sûs´sĭstinnako.
The hä´chamoni convey to those to whom they are offered messages as
clear to the Indian understanding as any document does to the civilized
mind.
The following account of the initiation of a member into the third
degree of the Snake order was given the writer by the vicar of the
Snake Society.
I was very ill with smallpox caused by angry ants, and one night
in my dreams I saw many snakes, very many, and all the next day
I thought about it, and I knew if I did not see the ho´naaite of
the Snake Society and tell him I wished to become a member of that
body I would die. In two days I went to the house of the ho´naaite
bearing my offering of shell mixture and related my dreams and made
known my wish to be received as a member of the society. The man
now ill with his heart notified the ho´naaite of the Snake Society
that he wished to join the society. The ho´naaite sent for me and
the other official member to meet him in the ceremonial chamber
to receive the sick man, who, presenting the shell mixture to the
ho´naaite informed him that he had dreamed of many snakes and knew
that he must become a member of the society or die.
Such is the impression made upon these people by dreams. This man
will be a novitiate for two years, as it requires that time to learn
the songs which must be committed to memory before entering the third
degree. He continued:
I was two years learning the songs, during which time I passed
through the first and second degrees. I then accompanied the
ho´naaite and the members of the society to the house of the
snakes, when I was made a member of the third degree.
The ceremonials in which snakes are introduced are exclusively for the
initiation of members into the third degree of the Snake division.
These ordinances must be observed after the ripening of the corn.
The day of the arrival of the society at the snake house (a log
structure which stands upon a mound some 6 miles from the village)
hä´chamoni are prepared by the ho´naaite and the other members of this
division of the society; they are then dispatched by the ho´naaite to
the north in search of snakes; and after the finding of the first snake
the hä´chamoni are planted; the number of snakes required, depending
upon the membership, the ratio being equal to the number of members;
there must be a snake from each of the cardinal points, unless the
membership is less than four, which is now the case. There being but
three members at the present time, only the north, west, and south are
visited for the purpose of collecting snakes, but the members must go
to the east and deposit hä´chamoni to the Snake ho´naaite of the east.
The war chief notifies the people each day that they must not visit
the north, west, south, or east; should one disobey this command and
be met by any member of the society he would be made to assist in the
gathering of the snakes.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XVII
VICE HO´-NA-AI-TE OF SNAKE SOCIETY.]
An emetic is taken these four days for purification from conjugal
relations, and continency is observed during this period. The emetic is
composed of the stalks and roots of two plants, which are crushed on a
stone slab by the ho´naaite and mixed with water when he designates the
member to place it over the fire. It is drunk slightly warm.
The decoction so constantly drank by the Tusayan Indians previous to
their snake ceremonial is an emetic, and is taken for the same purpose,
and not, as some suppose, to prevent the poisonous effect of snake
bites. Medicine for the snake bite is employed only after one has been
bitten; for this purpose the Sia use the plant _Aplopapus spinulosus_
(Indian name ha´-ti-ni) in conjunction with ka´-wai-aite, a mixture
of the pollen of edible and medicinal plants. An ounce of the plant
medicine is put into a quart of water and boiled; about a gill is drunk
warm, three times daily, during the four days and the afflicted part is
bathed in the tea, and wrapped with a cloth wet with it. An hour after
each draught of the tea a pinch of the ka´-wai-aite is drunk in a gill
of water. The patient is secluded four days; should one suffering from
a snake bite look upon a woman furnishing nourishment for an infant,
death would be the result. The Zuñi have the same superstition.