The fetishes displayed in their kivas by different phratries during
the Winter Solstice ceremony at the Hopi pueblo of Walpi, in
northeastern Arizona, have been described in a previous article,[1] in
which the altar made in the _Moñkiva_, or "chief" ceremonial chamber,
by the _Patki_ and related people has been given special attention.
The author had hoped in 1898[2] to supplement this description by an
exhaustive study of the Winter Solstice ceremonies of all the families
of the East Mesa, but was prevented from so doing by the breaking out
of an epidemic. This study was begun with fair results, and before
withdrawing from the kivas he was able to make a few observations on
certain altars at Hano which had escaped him in the preceding year.
Walpi, commonly called by the natives _Hopiki_, "Hopi pueblo," began
its history as a settlement of Snake clans which had united with the
Bear phratry. From time to time this settlement grew in size by the
addition of the _Ala_, _Pakab_, _Patki_, and other phratries of lesser
importance. Among important increments in modern times may be
mentioned several clans of Tanoan ancestry, as the _Asa_, _Honani_,
and the like. These have all been assimilated, having lost their
identity as distinct peoples and become an integral part of the
population of Walpi, or of its colony, Sitcomovi.[3] Among the most
recent arrivals in Tusayan was another group of Tanoan clans which
will be considered in this article. The last mentioned are now
domiciled in a pueblo of their own called Hano; they have not yet, as
the others, lost their language nor been merged into the Hopi people,
but still preserve intact many of their ancient customs.
The present relations of Hano to Walpi are in some respects not unlike
those which have existed in the past between incoming clans and Walpi
as each new colony entered the Tusayan territory. Thus, after the
_Patki_ people settled at the pueblo called Pakatcomo,[4] within sight
of Old Walpi, they lived there for some time, observing their own
rites and possibly speaking a different language much as the people of
Hano do today. In the course of time, however, the population of the
_Patki_ pueblo was united with the preëpre Walpi families, Pakatcomo
was abandoned, and its speech and ritual merged into those of Walpi.
Could we have studied the _Patki_ people when they lived at their
former homes, Pakatcomo or Homolobi, we would be able to arrive at
more exact ideas of their peculiar rites and altars than is now
possible. Hano has never been absorbed by Walpi as the _Patki_ pueblos
were, and the altars herein described still preserve their true Tanoan
characteristics. These altars are interesting because made in a Tanoan
pueblo by Tewa clans which are intrusive in the Hopi country, and are
especially instructive because it is held by their priests that like
altars are or were made in midwinter rites by their kindred now
dwelling along the Rio Grande in New Mexico.
The midwinter rite in which the altars are employed is called _Tûñtai_
by the Tewa, who likewise designate it by the Hopi name _Soyaluña_.
This latter term may be regarded as a general one applied to the
assemblages of different families in all the kivas of the East Mesa at
that time. The name of the Tewa rite is a special one, and possibly
the other families who assemble at this time once had or still retain
their own names for their celebrations. The _Tûñtai_ altars were
brought by the ancestors of the present people of Hano from their old
eastern home, and the rites about them are distinctly Tewan, although
celebrated at the same time as the Winter Solstice ceremonies of the
Hopi families.