ho´naaite, vicar, and a woman; and there is at the present time a
novitiate, a boy of 5 years. Three generations are represented in this
society—father, son, and grandson. The elder man is one of the most
aged in Sia, and, though ho´naaite of the Quer´ränna and vicar of the
Society of Warriors, and reverenced by his people as being almost as
wise as the “Oracle,” his family is the most destitute in Sia, being
composed, as it is, of nonproducing members. His wife is an invalid;
his eldest son, the vicar of the Quer´ränna Society, is a paralytic,
and a younger son is a trifling fellow. The third child is a daughter
who has been blind from infancy; she is the mother of two children,
but has never been married. The fourth child is a 10-year-old girl,
whose time is consumed in the care of the children of her blind sister,
bringing the water for family use, and grinding the corn (the mother
and sister occasionally assisting in the grinding) and preparing the
meals, which consist, with rare exceptions, of a bowl of mush. During
the planting and harvest times the father alone attends to the fields,
which are their main dependence; and he seeks such employment as can
be procured from his people, and in this way exchanges labor for
food. Every blanket of value has been traded for nourishment, until
the family is reduced to mere tatters for garments. For several years
this family has been on the verge of starvation, and the meagerness of
food and mental suffering tells the tale in the face of each member of
the household, excepting the worthless fellow (who visits about the
country, imposing upon his friends). Even the little ones are more
sedate than the other children of the village.
Nothing is done for this family by the clan. Close observation leads
the writer to believe that the same ties of clanship do not exist
with the Sia as with the other tribes. This, however, may be due to
the long continued struggle for subsistence. Fathers and mothers look
first to the needs of their children, then comes the child’s interest
in parents, and brothers and sisters in one another. No lack of
self-denial is found in the family.
The ho´naaite of the Quer´ränna is the only surviving member of the
Eagle clan, but his wife belongs to the Corn clan, and has a number
of connections. When the writer chided a woman of this clan for not
assisting the sufferers she replied: “I would help them if I could,
but we have not enough for ourselves,” a confirmation of the opinion
that the clan is here secondary to the nearer ties of consanguinity.
The care of one’s immediate family is obligatory; it is not so with the
clan.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVIII
ALTAR OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY.]
The house in which this family lives is small and without means of
ventilation, and the old man may be seen, on his return from his daily
labors, assisting his invalid wife and paralytic son to some point
where they may have a breath of pure air. They are usually accompanied
by the little girl leading her blind sister and carrying the baby on
her back by a bit of an old shawl which the girl holds tightly around
her.
Always patient, always loving, is the old man to those of his
household, and the writer was ever sure of a greeting of smiles and
fond words from each of these unfortunates. Not wanting in hospitality
even in their extremity, they invited her to join them whenever she
found them at their frugal meal.
The only medicine possessed by the Quer´ränna is se´-wili, which is
composed of the roots and blossoms of the six mythical medicine plants
of the sun, archaic white shell and black stone beads, turkis, and a
yellow stone.
The preparation of this medicine and that of the other cult societies
is similar to the mode observed by the Zuñi. Women are dressed in
sacred white embroidered Tusayan blankets, and they grind the medicine
to a fine powder amid great ceremony. When a woman wishes to become
pregnant this medicine is administered to her privately by the
ho´naaite, a small quantity of the powder being put into cold water and
a fetich of Quer´ränna dipped four times into the water. A dose of this
medicine insures the realization of her wish; should it fail, then the
woman’s heart is not good. This same medicine is also administered at
the ceremonials to the members of the society for the perpetuation of
their race; and the ho´naaite, taking a mouthful, throws it out through
his teeth to the cardinal points, that the cloud people may gather and
send rain that the earth may be fruitful.
RAIN CEREMONIAL OF THE QUER´RÄNNA SOCIETY.
During the day hä´chmoni and plume offerings are prepared by the
ho´naaite, and in the afternoon he arranges the altar, which is quite
different from those of the other cult societies, and makes a meal
painting symbolic of clouds. Six fetiches of Quer´ränna are then
arranged in line, the largest being about 6 inches, the smallest 3,
the others graduating in size; a medicine bowl is set before the line
of fetiches; antlers are stood to the east of the meal painting; and
baskets of cereals, corn on the cob, medicine bags, and a basket of
hä´chamoni and plume offerings are arranged about the painting. Pl.
XXXVIII shows photograph at time of ceremonial; Pl. XXIX, made in case
of failure of the first, shows the meal painting, symbolic of clouds,
which is completely hidden in the first photograph, and illustrates
more definitely the feather decoration of the altar. The birds
surmounting the two posts are wood carvings of no mean pretensions;
the feathers by the birds are eagle plumes, and the bunches of plumes
suspended from the cord are tail feathers of the female sparrow hawk
(_Falco sparverius_) and the long-crested jay (_Cyanocetta macrolopha_).
The men and child have their forelocks drawn back and tied with
ribbons of corn husks, the men each having a bunch of hawk and jay
feathers attached pendent on the left side of the head. They wear
white cotton breechcloths and necklaces of coral and kohaqua (archaic
shell heads).[21] The woman wears her ordinary dress and several coral
necklaces, her feet and limbs being bare.
The ho´naaite, removing a bowl of meal from before the altar and
holding it in his left hand, together with his eagle plumes and a
wand,—the wand being a miniature crook elaborately decorated with
feathers,—sprinkled a line of meal from the painting to the entrance of
the chamber, for the being of Quer´ränna to pass over.
The ho´naaite, his vicar, and the woman sat back of the altar, the
ho´naaite to the west side, the vice to his right, and the woman to the
east side. At this time a child was sleeping near the altar.
The ho´naaite filled an abalone shell with corn pollen and holding
the shell, his two eagle plumes, and wand in his left hand and rattle
in the right, offered a long prayer to Quer´ränna to invoke the cloud
people to water the earth, and sprinkled the altar several times with
pollen. At the close of the prayer he handed the shell of pollen to the
woman, who passed to the front of the altar and east of the meal line
and sprinkled the altar with the pollen. The song now began, and the
woman, retaining her position before the altar, kept time by moving her
wand right and left, then extending it over the altar; each time before
waving it over the altar she rested it on the shell for a moment;
after repeating the motion several times, she extended the wand to the
north, moving it right and left, and after resting it on the shell she
extended it to the west, and the wand was in this way motioned to the
cardinal points, zenith and nadir. The waving of the wand to the points
was repeated four times; and the woman then returned the shell to the
ho´naaite, who had at intervals waved his plumes and wand over the
altar. At this time the child awoke, and making a wad of his blanket
sat upon it between the ho´naaite and the vicar; the latter supplying
the child with a wand and rattle, he joined in the song.
The vicar being afflicted with paralysis could add little to the
ceremony, though he made strenuous efforts to sing and sway his
palsied body. The group presented a pitiful picture, but it exhibited
a striking proof of the devotion of these people to the observance of
their cult—the flickering fire-light playing in lights and shadows
about the heads of the three members, over whom Time holds the scythe
with grim menaces, while they strained every nerve to make all that
was possible of the ritual they were celebrating; the boy, requiring
no arousing to sing and bend his tiny body to the time of the rattle,
joined in the calls upon the cloud people to gather to water the
earth with as much enthusiasm as his elders.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XXIX
ALTAR OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY.]
The song continued, with all standing, without cessation for an hour.
The woman then brought a vase of water and gourd from the southwest
corner of the room and placed it in front of the altar on the line
of meal, and the ho´naaite took from the west side of the altar four
medicine bags, handing two to the man and two to the boy (pollen being
in one bag and meal in the other), and giving the shell containing the
pollen to the woman. She stood in front of the altar east of the line
of meal swaying her body from side to side, holding her wand in the
right hand and the shell in the left, keeping time to the rattle and
the song. She emptied a gourd of water from the vase into the medicine
bowl, imploring Quer´ränna to intercede with the cloud people to
assemble; the ho´naaite then sprinkled se´wili into the medicine bowl;
then the little boy sprinkled pollen into the bowl, invoking the cloud
people to gather, and the vicar, with the same petition, sprinkled the
pollen. The woman then emptied a second gourd of water, first waving it
to the north, into the medicine bowl, with a call for the cloud people
to gather; the ho´naaite again deposited a portion of the se´wili into
the bowl and his vicar and the boy sprinkled in meal, with an appeal
to the cloud people; again the woman lifted a gourdful of water and
waved it toward the west and emptied it into the bowl, invoking the
cloud people to gather; and the others sprinkled corn pollen, the
vicar and boy calling upon the cloud people to gather; the woman then
waved a gourd of water to the south and emptied it into the bowl, and
again the others sprinkled pollen, the vicar and boy repeating their
petition; another gourdful was lifted and waved to the east and emptied
into the bowl and the sprinkling of the pollen was repeated. The woman
returned the vase to the farther end of the room (she officiated in
the making of the medicine water, as the vicar, being a paralytic, was
unable to perform this duty), and resumed her seat back of the altar;
reaching forward, she removed two small medicine bags, and taking a
pinch of pollen from one and a pinch of meal from the other, sprinkled
the medicine water; after repeating the sprinkling, she tied the bags
and returned them to their place by the altar. The ho´naaite, dipping
his plumes into the medicine bowl, sprinkled the altar three times by
striking the top of the plumes held in the left hand with the rattle
held in the right. The sprinkling was repeated three times by the
others while the ho´naaite sang a low chant. All now rose, and the
ho´naaite continuing the song, moved his body violently, the motion
being from the knees; as he sang he extended his eagle plumes over
the altar and dipped them into the medicine water with a call for the
cloud people to gather; he then dipped the bird feathers attached to
his wand into the medicine water with a similar exhortation; the boy
dipped the feathers attached to his wand into the water, striking them
with the rattle, calling upon the cloud people to gather and water the
earth; the ho´naaite dipped his eagle plumes twice consecutively into
the medicine water, invoking the cloud people to water the earth; and
the vicar dipped his feathers into the medicine water, making the most
revolting sounds in his efforts to invoke the cloud people; the boy
sprinkled with the invocation to the cloud people. The sprinkling was
repeated alternately six times by each of the members, the ho´naaite
pointing to the cardinal points as he continued his exhortation to the
cloud people. After resuming their seats they sang until midnight,
when the ho´naaite placed the ends of his feathers into his mouth and
drew a breath and the woman laid her wand to the east side of the meal
painting. The ceremonial closed with administering the medicine water,
the ho´naaite dipping it with a shell. Owing to the depleted condition
of the society, the duty of depositing the hä´chamoni and plume
offerings fell to the ho´naaite himself.
OTHER SOCIETIES.
In addition to the thirteen cult societies of the Zuñi they have the
society of the Kok´-ko, the mythologic society.
It is obligatory that all youths become members of this society to
insure their admittance into the dance house in the lake of departed
spirits; first by involuntary and later by voluntary initiation.
Females sometimes, though seldom, join this order. While the Sia
mythology abounds in these same anthropomorphic beings, their origin is
accounted for in an entirely different manner from those of the Zuñi.
The Ka´ᵗsuna of the Sia were created by Ût´sĕt in a single night in
the lower world.[22] These beings accompanied the Sia to this world,
and upon their advent here Ût´sĕt directed them to go to the west and
there make their home for all time to come.
They are solicited to use their influence with the cloud people, and
the dances of the Ka´ᵗsuna are usually held for rain or snow. It
is the prerogative of the ti´ämoni to control the appearance of the
Ka´ᵗsuna. When a dance is to occur, the ho´naaite of the Society of
Quer´ränna selects such men and women as he wishes to have dance and
holds a number of rehearsals, both of the songs and dances. Those who
are the most graceful, and who have the greatest powers of endurance
and the most retentive memories for the songs, are chosen to personate
the Ka´ᵗsuna regardless of any other consideration. Both sexes,
however, must have been first initiated into the mysteries of the
Ka´ᵗsuna.
Previous to initiation the personators are believed by the Sia to be
the actual Ka´ᵗsuna. The instruction continues from four to eight
days, and during this period continency must be observed, and an emetic
drank by the married men and women each morning for purification from
conjugal relations.
Whenever the Ka´ᵗsuna appear they are accompanied by their attendants,
the Ko´shairi and Quer´ränna, who wait upon them, attending to any
disarranged apparel and making the spectators merry with their witty
sayings and buffoonery.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XXX
HO´-NA-AI-TE OF QUER´-RÄN-NA SOCIETY.]
The Sia have a great variety of masks, which must be very old, judging
from their appearance, and the priest of the Quer´ränna, who has them
in charge, claims for them great antiquity. Pls. XXXI and
XXXII illustrate some masks of the Ka´ᵗsuna.
When a boy or girl reaches the time when, as their fathers say, they
have a good head, some ten or twelve years of age, the father first
suggests to the ho´naaite of the Quer´ränna (if the father is not
living then the mother speaks) that he would like his son or daughter
to become acquainted with the Ka´ᵗsuna; he then makes known his wish
to the ti´ämoni, and after these two have said, “It is well,” he
says to his child, “My child, I think it is time for you to know the
Ka´ᵗsuna,” and the child replies, “It is well, father.” The parent
then informs the ho´naaite that his child wishes to know the Ka´ᵗsuna,
and the ho´naaite replies, “It is well.” The next time the Ka´ᵗsuna
come he may know them.
The ho´naaite prepares a meal painting for the occasion, covering it
for the time being with a blanket. Upon the arrival of the Ka´ᵗsuna
the father and child, and, if the child be a member of a cult society,
the theurgist of the society, proceed to the ceremonial house of the
Quer´ränna. If the child possesses a fetich of the ya´ya he carries it
pressed to his breast. Upon entering the ceremonial chamber the child
and attendants take their seats at the north end of the room near the
west side, the ho´naaite of the Quer´ränna sitting just west of the
meal painting, the boy to his right, and the parent next to the boy.
The ti´ämoni and ho´naaite of warriors are present and sit on the west
side of the room and about midway. The Sa´iahlia (two of the Ka´ᵗsuna)
stamp about in the middle of the room for a time, then the ho´naaite
leads the child before the meal painting, which is, however, still
covered with the blanket, and says to the Ka´ᵗsuna, “A youth [or
maiden, whichever it may be] has come to know you.” The Ka´ᵗsuna each
carry a bunch of Spanish bayonet in either hand, and the child receives
two strokes across the back from each of the Ka´ᵗsuna, unless he be an
official member of a cult society; in this case he is exempt from the
chastisement. A boy is nude excepting the breechcloth; a girl wears her
ordinary clothing. The ho´naaite, addressing the Ka´ᵗsuna, says: “Now
it is well for you to raise your masks that the child may see.” One of
the Sa´iahlia places his mask over the child’s head and the other lays
his by the meal painting, the ho´naaite having removed the blanket.
The personators of the Kaᵗsuna then say to the child: “Now you know
the Ka´ᵗsuna you will henceforth have only good thoughts and a good
heart; sometime, perhaps, you will be one of us. You must not speak of
these things to anyone not initiated.” The mask is then taken from the
child’s head and laid by the side of the other, and the boy answers:
“I will not speak of these things to anyone.” The Ka´ᵗsuna then rubs
the meal of the painting upon the child, and those present afterwards
gather around the painting and rub the meal upon their bodies for
mental and physical purification. The child deposits the hä´chamoni
presented to him by the ho´naaite at the shrine of the Quer´ränna at
the base of the village and to the west. The hä´chamoni is composed of
eagle and turkey plumes. The child says when depositing it, “I now know
you, Ka´ᵗsuna, and I pay you this hä´chamoni.” The ho´naaite deposits
a hä´chamoni for each member of the society at the shrine, which is in
a fissure in a rock, and after the deposition of the hä´chamoni the
opening is covered with a rock and no evidence of a shrine remains.
SOCIETY OF THE COUGAR.
This society is nearly extinct, its membership consisting of the
ho´naaite (the oracle) and his vicar, the former being also ho´naaite
of the society of warriors; though aged, he retains his faculties
perfectly and performs his official and religious duties with the
warmest interest.
Previous to a hunt for game a two days’ ceremonial is held by this
society, and on the third morning hä´chamoni and plume offerings are
deposited by the vice ho´naaite. The cougar is appealed to, as he is
the great father and master of all game; he draws game to him by simply
sitting still, folding his arms, and mentally demanding the presence of
the game; likewise when he wishes to send game to any particular people
he controls it with his mind and not by spoken words. Though the cougar
sends the game it is the sun who gives power to the Sia to capture it.
It is the prerogative of the ho[naaite of this society to decide upon
the time for the hunt. Hä´chamoni are deposited to the cougar of the
north, the west, the south, the east to convey the messages of the Sia.
If a rabbit hunt is to occur a rabbit stick and an arrow point are
deposited as offerings to the sun. The offerings to the cougar of the
zenith are deposited to the north and those to the sun to the east. If
the hunt is to be for larger game an arrow point only is deposited to
the sun. The hunt may occur very soon after these offerings are made or
not for some time, it being optional with the ho´naaite. He does not
directly notify the people, but speaks to the war chief, who heralds
his message. When announcement has been made of the prospective hunt a
fire is made at night on the east side of the village and the selected
huntsmen form in a circle around it; here the night is spent making
plans for the hunt, in epic songs, and story telling, and, like other
Indians, the Sia recount the valorous deeds of the mythical beings
and their people in low, modulated tones. The hunt occurs four days
from this time, and continency is observed until after the hunt. On
the fifth morning, if the hunt be for rabbits, the men and women of
the village prepare to join in the chase by first having their heads
bathed in yucca suds and then donning their best apparel; only men
hunt for the larger game. Rabbits are hunted on horseback with rabbit
sticks; deer, on foot and with the rifle in preference to the arrow.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate XXXI
GAST LITH. CO. N.Y.
SIA MASKS.]
A party of hunters which had been indicated by the war chief to hunt
for deer and antelope left the village in the afternoon, the party
being led by the vice war chief. The ti´ämoni was a member of the
party. The writer mentions this as it is unusual for a ti´ämoni to
participate in the hunt, and it is claimed by the Sia that if their
ti´ämoni were not a mere boy he would observe the custom of his
predecessors and decline to join in the hunt. The scarcity of game in
this part of the country necessitated a three days’ journey before any
was obtained.
Previous to the departure of the party the ho´naaite of the society
of the cougar visited the house of each man who was to participate in
the hunt and embraced him, repeating a short prayer for success. The
prayer was addressed first to the cougar, father of game, that he might
send his children about the country, and afterwards to the sun to give
power to the hunters to secure the game. The wives and relatives of the
hunting party had been busy preparing food for them; each man’s wife
looked carefully after his personal needs. The wife handed the hunter’s
gun to him after he had mounted his horse, the unmarried man of the
party having his gun handed him by his father.
The huntsmen were absent thirteen days, and upon their return a member
of the party was sent in advance as courier to notify the war chief.
The news brought general delight to the villagers, particularly to
the wives of the hunters, who at once commenced preparing for their
arrival. They reached the river about sundown, and upon crossing were
received by the vice ho´naaite of the society of warriors and the war
chief, who offered prayers and sprinkled meal in thanksgiving for the
success and safe return of the hunters who grouped on the bank of the
river. The younger children of the returning party were also on the
river bank to meet their fathers, who at once took their little ones on
the horses with them and expressed much delight at again seeing them.
The huntsmen then in single file ascended the hill to the village, led
by the vicar of the society of warriors and the war chief, the latter
two being on foot, the war chief following the vicar. A man whose house
was at the entrance of the plaza dropped out of the file to go to his
home, and by the time he had reached the door his wife was outside to
receive his gun and other luggage which he bore; this was the only
greeting between the husband and wife. After the horsemen had crossed
the plaza a second man entered his home, he being the vicar of the
society of the cougar and son of the vicar of the society of warriors.
The war chief then led the party until but one horseman remained, who
upon reaching his home was assisted by the war chief in relieving
himself and animal of their burden. Several of the women of the village
embraced the ti´ämoni after he had dismounted, who, however, seemed
perfectly absorbed in his infant daughter, his wife’s greeting, like
those of the other wives, being simply to take first his gun and then
his other traps from his horse.