Chapter VI: Part 6

Several platter-like vessels with similar holes about their rims have been taken from other ruins of Jeditoh valley and mesa, the holes being regarded as having been made as a means of suspension. Near a sacred spring called Kawaika,[83] not far from Jeditoh, near Awatobi, a large number of beautiful vessels with similar holes in their rims were excavated by Mr T. V. Keam, and later passed into the collections of the Hemenway Expedition, now installed at Cambridge. They are of all kinds of ware, widely different in shape, the number of marginal perforations varying greatly. As they were found in large numbers near a spring they are regarded as sacrificial vessels, in which food or sacred meal was deposited as an offering to some water deity. The handle of a mug (plate CXI, _f_) from Awatobi, so closely resembles the handles of certain drinking cups taken from the cliff-houses of San Juan valley that it should be specially mentioned. There is in the handle of this mug a T-shape opening quite similar in form to the peculiar doorways of certain cliff-dwellings. The mug is made of the finest white ware, decorated with black lines arranged in geometric patterns. So close is its likeness in form and texture to cliff-house pottery that the two may be regarded as identical. Moreover, it is not impossible that the object may have been brought to Tusayan from Tségi canyon, in the cliff-houses of which Hopi clans[84] lived while Awatobi was in its prime, and, indeed, possibly after the tragedy of 1700. The few fragments of Tségi canyon pottery known to me have strong resemblances to ancient Hopi ware, although the black-and-white variety predominates.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIII

POTTERY FROM INTRAMURAL BURIAL AT AWATOBI]

The collection of pottery from Awatobi is, comparatively speaking, small, but it shows many interesting forms. Awatobi pottery may be classed under the same groups as other old Tusayan ceramics, but most of the specimens collected belong to the yellow, black-and-white, and red varieties. It resembles that of Sikyatki, but bears little likeness to modern ware in texture or symbolism. One is impressed by the close resemblance between the Awatobi pottery and that from the ruins of the Little Colorado and Zuñi,[85] which no doubt is explained, in part, by the identity in the constituents of the potter's clay near Awatobi with that in more southerly regions.

Evidences of Spanish influence may be traced on certain objects of pottery from Awatobi, especially on those obtained from the eastern mounds of the ruin. In most essentials, however, the Awatobi ware resembles that of the neighboring ruins, and is characteristically Tusayan.

The differentiation in modern Cibolan and Tusayan symbolism is much greater than that of the ancient pottery from the same provinces, a fact which is believed to point to a similarity, possibly identity, of culture in ancient times. With this thought in mind, it would be highly instructive to study the ancient ruins of the Rio Grande region, as unfortunately no large collections of archeological objects from that part of the Southwest have been made.[86]

The majority of the bowls from Awatobi are decorated in geometric patterns and a few have animal or human figures. The symbols, as well as the pottery itself, can not be distinguished from those of Sikyatki. Fragments of glazed ware are not unknown at Awatobi, but so far as recorded, entire specimens have never been obtained from the latter ruin.

In order that the character of the geometric designs on Awatobi pottery may be better understood, two plates are introduced to illustrate their modifications in connection with my discussion of the geometric forms figured on Sikyatki ware. The figures on these bowls (plates CLXVI, CLXVII), with one or two exceptions, need no special description in addition to what is said of Sikyatki geometric designs, which they closely resemble.

The cross-shape figure (plate CLXVI, _b_) may profitably be studied in connection with the account of the modification of Sikyatki sun symbols. Evidences of the use of a white pigment as a slip were found on one or two fragments of fine pottery from Awatobi, but no decoration of this kind was observed on the Sikyatki vessels. The red ware is the same as that found in ancient Cibola, while one or two fragments of glossy black recall the type common to modern Santa Clara.

Two bird-shape vessels, one made of black-and-white ware, the other red with black-and-white decoration, were found at Awatobi. Large masses of clay suited to the potter's art were not uncommonly found in the corners of the rooms or in the niches in their walls. Some of these masses are of fine paste, the others coarse with grains of sand. The former variety was used in making the finest Tusayan ceramics; the latter was employed in modeling cooking pots and other vessels of ruder finish.

Several flute-shape objects of clay, with flaring extremities, were found on the surface of the mounds of Awatobi, and one was taken from a Sikyatki grave. The use of these objects is unknown to me.

Among the fragments of dippers from Awatobi are several with perforations in the bottom, irregularly arranged or in geometric form, as that of a cross. These colanders were rare at Sikyatki, but I find nothing in them to betray Spanish influence.[87] Handled dippers or mugs have been found so often by me in the prehistoric ruins of our Southwest that I can not accept the dictum that the mug form was not prehistoric, and the conclusion is legitimate that the Tusayan Indians were familiar with mugs when the Spaniards came among them. The handles of the dippers or ladles are single or double, solid or hollow, simply turned up at one end or terminating with the head of an animal. The upper side of the ladle handle may be grooved or convex. No ladle handle decorated with an image of a "mud-head" or clown priest, so common on modern ladles, was found either at Awatobi or Sikyatki.

Rudely made imitations in miniature of all kinds of pottery, especially of ladles, were common. These are regarded as votive offerings, from the fact that they were found usually in the graves of children, and were apparently used as playthings before they were buried.

A common decoration on the handles of ladles is a series of short parallel lines arranged in alternating longitudinal and transverse zones. This form of decoration of ladle handles I have observed on similar vessels from the Casas Grandes of Chihuahua, and it reappears on pottery in all the ruins I have studied between Mexico and Tusayan. In the exhibit of the Mexican Government at Madrid in 1892-93 a fine collection of ancient pottery from Oaxaca was shown, and I have drawings of one of these ladles with the same parallel marks on the handle that are found on Pueblo ware from the Gila-Salado, the Cibola, and the Tusayan regions.

The only fragment of pottery from Awatobi or Sikyatki with designs which could be identified with any modern picture of a _katcina_ was found, as might be expected, in the former ruin. This small fragment is instructive, in that it indicates the existence of the _katcina_ cult in Tusayan before 1700; but the rarity of the figures of these supernatural beings is very suggestive. The fragment in question is of ancient ware, resembling the so-called orange type of pottery, and is apparently a part of the neck of a vase. The figure represents Wupamo, the Great-cloud _katcina_, and is marked like the doll of the same as it appears in the _Powamû_ or February celebration at Walpi.[88]

The associates of the _katcinas_ are the so-called "mud-heads" or clowns, an order of priests as widely distributed as the Pueblo area. In Tusayan villages they are called the Tcukuwympkia, and are variously personated. As they belong especially to the _katcina_ cult, which is naturally supposed to have been in vogue at Awatobi, I was greatly interested in the finding of a fragment representing a grotesque head which reminded me of a glutton of the division of the Tcukuwympkia called Tcuckutû. While there may be some doubt of the validity of my identification, yet, taken in connection with the fragment of a vase with the face of Wupamo, I think there is no doubt that the _katcina_ cult was practiced at Awatobi.

STONE IMPLEMENTS

Comparatively few stone implements, such as mauls, hammers, axes, and spearpoints, were found; but some of those unearthed from the mounds are finely finished, being regular in form and highly polished. There were many spherical stones, resembling those still sometimes used in Tusayan on important occasions as badges of authority. These stones were tied in a buckskin bag, which was attached to a stick and used as a warclub. Many of the axes were grooved for hafting; one of the specimens was doubly grooved and had two cutting edges. By far the largest number were blunt at one pole and sharpened at the opposite end. A single highly polished specimen (plate CLXXI, _f_) resembles a type very common in the Gila Salado ruins.

Arrowheads, some of finely chipped obsidian, were common, being frequently found in numbers in certain mortuary bowls. Three or four specimens of other kinds of implements fashioned from this volcanic glass were picked up on the surface of the mounds.

Metates, or flat stones for grinding corn, were dug up in several houses; they were in some instances much worn, and were eagerly sought by the Indian women who visited our camp. These specimens differ in no respect from similar mealing stones still used at Walpi and other modern Tusayan pueblos. Many were made of very coarse stone[89] for use in hulling corn preparatory to grinding; others were of finer texture, and both kinds were accompanied by the corresponding mano or muller held in the hand in grinding meal.

The modern Hopi often use as seats in their kivas cubical blocks of stone with depressions in two opposite sides which serve as handholds by which they are carried from place to place. Two of these stones, about a cubic foot in size, were taken out of the chamber which I have supposed to be the Awatobi kiva. In modern Tusayan these seats are commonly made of soft sandstone, and are so few in number that we can hardly regard them as common. They are often used to support the uprights of altars when they are erected, and I have seen priests grind pigments in the depressions. Incidentally, it may be said that I have never seen priests use chairs in any kiva celebration; nor do they have boxes to sit upon. During the droning of the tedious songs they have nothing under them except a folded blanket or sheepskin.

Excavations in the Awatobi rooms revealed several interesting shallow mortars used for grinding pigments, but no one of these is comparable in finish with that shown in the accompanying illustration (plate CLXXII, _a_). This object is made of a hard stone in the form of a perfect parallelopipedon with slightly rounded faces. The depression is shallow, and when found there was a discoloration of pigment upon its surface.

In almost every house that bore evidence of former occupancy, beautifully made mullers and metates were exhumed. These were ordinarily in place in the corner of the chamber, and were much worn, as if by constant use. In one grave there was found a metate reversed over a skeleton, probably that of a woman--although the bones were so disintegrated that the determination of the sex of the individual was impossible. Several of these metates were taken by Indian women, who prized them so highly that they loaded the stones on burros and carried them ten miles to Walpi, where they are now applied to the same purpose for which they were used over two centuries ago.

On the surface of the mesa, beyond the extension of the ground plan of the ruin, there are many depressions worn in the rocks where the Awatobi women formerly whetted their grinding stones, doubtless in the manner practiced by the modern villagers of Tusayan. These depressions are especially numerous near the edge of the cliff, between the eastern and western sections of the ruin.[90]

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIV

BONE IMPLEMENTS FROM AWATOBI AND SIKYATKI]

BONE OBJECTS

A large and varied collection of bone implements was gathered at Awatobi, and a few additional specimens were exhumed from Sikyatki. It is worthy of note that, as a rule, bone implements are more common in houses than in graves; and since the Awatobi excavations were conducted mostly in living rooms, while those at Sikyatki were largely in the cemeteries, the bone implements from the former pueblo far outnumber those from the latter.

The collection consists of awls, bodkins, needles, whistles, and tubes made of the bones of birds and quadrupeds. The two animals which contributed more than others to these objects were the turkey and the rabbit, although there were fragments of the horns and shin-bones of the antelope or deer. Several of these specimens were blackened by fire, and one was stained with green pigment. There was also evidence of an attempt at ornamenting the implements by incised lines, while one was bound with string. Bones of animals which had served for food were very common in all the excavations at Awatobi, especially near the floors of the houses. With the exception of a number of large bones of a bear, found in one of the houses in the northern range of the eastern section, these bones were not carefully collected.

Plate CXIV gives a general idea of some of the forms of worked bone which were obtained. Figure _a_ shows an awl, for the handle of which one of the trochanters was used, the point at the opposite end being very sharp; _b_ and _c_ are similar objects, but slighter, and more carefully worked; _d_ is a flattened bone implement perforated with two holes, and may have been used as a needle. There are similar implements in the collection, but with a single terminal perforation. Other forms of bone awls are shown in _e_, _f_, _g_, and _j_.

There are a number of bone objects the use of which is problematical. One of the best of these is a section of the tibia of a bird, cut longitudinally, convex on the side represented in plate CXIV, _h_, and concave on the opposite side. When found this bone fragment was tied to a second similar section by a string (remnants of which can be seen in the figure), thus forming a short tube. The use of this object is not known to me, nor were any satisfactory suggestions made by the Indians whom I consulted in relation to it. This does not apply, however, to the object illustrated in plate CXIV, _i_, which was declared by several Hopi to be a bird whistle, similar to that used in ceremonials connected with medicine making.

The manner in which a bone whistle is used in imitation of a bird's call has been noticed by me in the accounts of several ceremonials, and I will therefore quote the description of its use in the _Nimankatcina_ at Walpi.[91]

Then followed an interval of song and accompanying rattle, at
the termination of which Intiwa's associate took the bird
whistle (_tatükpi_) and blew three times into the liquid,
making a noise not unlike that produced by a toy bird
whistle. This was repeated four times, accompanied by song
and rattle. He first inserted the bone whistle on the north
side, then on the other cardinal points in turn. The
monotonous song and rattle then ceased, and Intiwa sprinkled
corn pollen on the ears of corn in the water, and upon the
line of pahos.

The object of the whistle is to call the summer birds which are associated with planting and harvesting. The whistle figures in many rites, especially in those connected with the making of medicine or charm liquid.

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS

ORNAMENTS IN THE FORM OF BIRDS AND SHELLS

In the excavations, as well as on the surface of the mounds at Awatobi, were found many imitations of marine shells made of clay, often painted red and ranging from the size of half a dollar to that of the thumb nail (plate CLXXIII, _j-m_). On the convex surface of these objects parallel lines are etched, and they are pierced at the valves for suspension. I have never found them suspended from the neck of a skeleton, although their general appearance indicates that they were used as ornaments. Similarly made clay images of birds (plate CLXXIII, _g_, _h_, _i_) with extended wings were also found, and of these there are several different forms in the collection. A small perforated knob at the breast served for attachment. In the absence of any better explanation of these objects, I have regarded them as gorgets, or pendants, for personal decoration.

In the Awatobi collections there are several small disks made apparently of pipe clay, which also were probably used as ornaments. These are very smooth and wonderfully regular in shape--in one case with a perforation near the rim. Turquois and shell beads were found in considerable numbers in the excavations at Awatobi, but, as they are similar to those from Sikyatki, I have reserved a discussion of them for following pages. A few fragments of shell armlets and wristlets were also exhumed. These were made generally of the Pacific coast _Pectunculus_, so common in the ruins of the Little Colorado.[92]

CLAY BELL

Copper bells are said to be used in the secret ceremonials of the modern Tusayan villages, and in certain of the ceremonial foot races metal bells of great age and antique pattern are sometimes tied about the waists of the runners. Small copper hawk bells,[93] found in southern Arizonian ruins, are identical in form and make with those used by the ancient Nahuatl people. So far as the study of the antiquities of the ruins of Tusayan immediately about the inhabited towns has gone, we have no record of the finding of copper bells of any great age. It was, therefore, with considerable interest that I exhumed from one of the rooms of the westernmost or oldest section of Awatobi a clay bell (figure 261) made in exact imitation of one of the copper bells that have been reported from several southern ruins (plate CLXXIII, _a_). While it may be said that it would be more decisive evidence of the prehistoric character of this object if Awatobi had not been under Spanish influence for over a century, still, from the position where it was dug up and its resemblance to metal bells which are undoubtedly prehistoric, there seems to be little reason to question its age. As with the imitation of marine shells in clay, it is probable that in this bell we have a facsimile of a metal bell with which the ancient Tusayan people were undoubtedly familiar.[94]

TEXTILE FABRICS

In the very earliest accounts which we have of Tusayan the Hopi are said to raise cotton and to weave it into mantles. These mantles, or "towels" as they were styled by Espejo, were, according to Castañeda, ornamented with embroidery, and had tassels at the corners. In early times garments were made of the fiber of the maguey, and of feathers and rabbit skins. Fabrics made of animal fiber are mentioned by Friar Marcos de Niza, and he was told that the inhabitants of Totonteac obtained the material from which they were made from animals as large as the greyhounds which the father had with him. The historical references which can be mentioned to prove that the Tusayan people, when they were first visited, knew how to spin and weave are numerous, and need not be quoted here. That the people of Awatobi made cotton fabrics there is no doubt, for it is distinctly stated by early visitors that they were acquainted with the art of weaving, and some of the presents made to the first Spanish explorers were of native cotton.

The archeological evidence supports the historical in this particular, and several fragments of cloth were found in our excavations in the western mounds of the village. These fragments were of cotton and agave fiber, of cotton alone, and in one instance of the hair of some unknown animal. No signs of the famous rabbit-skin blankets were seen, and from the perishable nature of the material of which they were made it would be strange if any traces had been discovered. At Sikyatki a small textile fragment made of feathers was found in one of the burial vases, but no feather garments or even fragments of the same were unearthed at Awatobi.

A woven rope of agave fiber and many charred strings of the same material were found in a niche in the wall of a house in the eastern section, and from the same room there was taken a string, over a yard long, made of human hair. It was suggested to me by one of the Hopi that this string was part of the coiffure of an Awatobi maid, and that it was probably used to tie up her hair in whorls above the ears, as is still the Hopi custom.

The whole number of specimens of textile fabrics found at Awatobi was small, and their character disappointing for study, for the conditions of burial in the soil are not so good for their preservation as in the dry caves or cliff houses, from which beautifully preserved cloth, made at a contemporary period, has been taken.

PRAYER-STICKS--PIGMENTS

Among the most significant mortuary objects used by the ancient Tusayan people may be mentioned the so-called prayer-sticks or pahos. These were found in several graves, placed on the breast, in the hand, or at the side of the person interred, and have a variety of form, as shown in the accompanying illustrations (plates CLXXIV, CLXXV). As I shall discuss the forms and meaning of prayer-sticks in my account of Sikyatki, where a much larger number were found, I will simply mention a few of the more striking varieties from Awatobi.

One of the most instructive of these objects is flat in shape, painted green, and decorated with figures of a dragon-fly. As this insect is a symbol of rain, its occurrence on mortuary objects is in harmony with the Hopi conception of the dead which will later be explained.

Pahos, in the form of flat slats with a notched extension at one end were common, but generally were poorly preserved. The prayer-sticks from the shrine in the middle of the rooms in the plaza of the eastern section crumbled into fragments when exposed to the air, but they were apparently small, painted green, and decorated with black spots. On several of the prayer-sticks the impressions of the string and feathers that were formerly attached are still readily seen. It is probable that the solution of a carbonate of copper, with which the green pahos were so colored, contributed to the preservation of the wood of which they had been manufactured.

The only pigments detected on the prayer-sticks are black, red, and green, and traces of red are found also on the inner surface of a stone implement from a grave at the base of the mesa. All the pigments used by the modern Tusayan Indians were found in the intramural burial already described. My Hopi workmen urged me to give them small fragments of these paints, regarding them efficacious in their ceremonials.

OBJECTS SHOWING SPANISH INFLUENCE

We would naturally expect to find many objects of Caucasian origin in the ruins of a pueblo which had been under Spanish influence for a century. I have already spoken of certain architectural features in the eastern part of Awatobi which may be traced to the influence of the Spanish missionaries, and of small objects there were several different kinds which show the same thing. The old iron knife-blade already mentioned as having been found among the corn in a storage chamber in the northern row of houses was not the only metallic object found. Not far from the mission there were unearthed many corroded iron nails, a small hook of the same metal, a piece of cast copper, and a fragment of what appeared to be a portion of a bell. There were several pieces of glass, the surfaces of which had become ground by the sand which had beaten upon them during the years in which they had been exposed. There was found also a fragment of a green glazed cup, which was undoubtedly of Spanish or Mexican make, and sherds of white china similar to that sold today by the traders. These latter specimens were, as a rule, found on the surface of the ground.

It will therefore appear that the archeology of Awatobi supports the documentary evidence that the pueblo was under Spanish influence for some time, and the fact that all the above-mentioned objects were taken on or in the eastern mounds emphasizes the conclusion that this section of the town was the part directly under Spanish influences. Nothing of Spanish manufacture was found in the rooms of the western mounds, but from this negative evidence there is no reason to suspect that this section of Awatobi was not inhabited contemporaneously with that in the vicinity of the mission.

THE RUINS OF SIKYATKI

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE PUEBLO

Very vague ideas are current regarding the character of Hopi culture prior to Tobar's visit to Tusayan in 1540, and with the exception of the most meager information nothing concerning it has come down to us from early historical references in the sixteenth century. It is therefore interesting to record all possible information in regard to these people prior to the period mentioned, and this must be done mainly through archeology.

Although there are many Tusayan ruins which we have every reason to believe are older than the time of Coronado, no archeologist has gathered from them the evidences bearing on prehistoric Tusayan culture which they will undoubtedly yield. Large and beautiful collections of pottery ascribed to Tusayan ruins have shown the excellent artistic taste of the ancient potters of this region, indicating that in the ceramic art they were far in advance of their descendants. But these collections have failed to teach, the lesson they might have taught, from the fact that data concerning the objects composing them are so indefinite. Very little care had been taken to label these collections accurately or to collect any specimens but those which were strikingly beautiful or commercially valuable. It was therefore with the hope of giving a more precise and comprehensive character to our knowledge of Tusayan antiquities that I wished to excavate one of the ruins of this province which was undoubtedly prehistoric. Conditions were favorable for success at the mounds called by the Indians Sikyatki.[95] These ruins are situated near the modern Tusayan pueblos of East Mesa, from which I could hire workmen, and not far from Keam's Canyon, which could be made a base of supplies. The existing legends bearing on these ruins, although obscure, are sufficiently definite for all practical purposes.

I find no mention of Sikyatki in early historical documents, nor can the name be even remotely identified with any which has been given to a Tusayan pueblo. My knowledge of the mounds which mark the site of this ancient village dates back to 1892, when I visited them with one of the old men of Walpi, who then and there narrated the legend of its destruction by the Walpians previously to the advent of the Spaniards. I was at that time impressed by the extent of the mounds, and prepared a rough sketch of the ground plan of the former houses, but from lack of means was unable to conduct any systematic excavation of the ruin.

Comparatively nothing concerning the ruin of Sikyatki has been published, although its existence had been known for several years previously to my visit. In his brief account Mr Victor Mindeleff[96] speaks of it as two prominent knolls, "about 400 yards apart," the summits of which are covered with house walls. He also found portions of walls on intervening hummocks, but gives no plan of the ruin. The name, Sikyatki, is referred to the color of the sandstone of which the walls were built. He found some of the rooms were constructed of small stones, dressed by rubbing, and laid in mud. The largest chamber was stated to be 9-1/2 by 4-1/2 feet, and it was considered that many of the houses were "built in excavated places around the rocky summits of the knolls."[97] Mr Mindeleff identified the former inhabitants with the ancestors of the Kokop people, and mentioned the more important details of their legend concerning the destruction of the village.

We can rely on the statement that Sikyatki was inhabited by the Kokop or Firewood people of Tusayan, who were so named because they obtained fire from wood by the use of drills. These people are represented today at Walpi by Katci, whose totem is a picture of Masauwû, the God of Fire. It is said that the home of the Firewood people before they built Sikyatki was at Tebuñki, or Fire-house, a round ruin northeastward from Keam's canyon. They were late arrivals in Tusayan, coming at least after the Flute people, and probably before the Honani or Badger people, who brought, I believe, the _katcina_ cult. Although we can not definitely assert that this cultus was unknown at Sikyatki, it is significant that in the ruins no ornamental vessel was found with a figure of a _katcina_ mask, although these figures occur on modern bowls. The original home of the Kokop people is not known, but indefinite legends ascribe their origin to Rio Grande valley. They are reputed to have had kindred in Antelope valley and at the Fire-house, above alluded to, near Eighteen-mile spring.

The ruin of Fire-house, one of the pueblos where the Kokop people are reputed to have lived before they built Sikyatki, is situated on the periphery of Tusayan. It is built of massive stones and differs from all other ruins in that province in that it is circular in form. The round type of ruin is, however, to be seen in the two conical mounds on the mesa above Sikyatki, which was connected in some way with the inhabitants who formerly lived at its base.

The reason the Kokop people left Fire-house is not certain, but it is said that they came in conflict with Bear clans who were entering the province from the east. Certain it is that if the Kokop people once inhabited Fire-house they must have been joined by other clans when they lived at Sikyatki, for the mounds of this pueblo indicate a village much larger than the round ruin on the brink of the mesa northeast of Keam's canyon. The general ground plan of the ruin indicates an inclosed court with surrounding tiers of houses, suggesting the eastern type of pueblo architecture.

The traditional knowledge of the destruction of Sikyatki is very limited among the present Hopi, but the best folklorists all claim that it was destroyed by warriors from Walpi and possibly from Middle Mesa. Awatobi seems not to have taken part in the tragedy, while Hano and Sichomovi did not exist when the catastrophe took place.

The cause of the destruction of Sikyatki is not clearly known, and probably was hardly commensurate with the result. Its proximity to Walpi may have led to disputes over the boundaries of fields or the ownership of the scanty water supply. The people who lived there were intruders and belonged to clans not represented in Walpi, which in all probability kept hostility alive. The early Tusayan peoples did not readily assimilate, but quarreled with one another even when sorely oppressed by common enemies.

There is current in Walpi a romantic story connected with the overthrow of Sikyatki. It is said that a son of a prominent chief, disguised as a _katcina_, offered a prayer-stick to a maiden, and as she received it he cut her throat with a stone knife. He is said to have escaped to the mesa top and to have made his way along its edge to his own town, taunting his pursuers. It is also related that the Walpians fell upon the village of Sikyatki to avenge this bloody deed, but it is much more likely that there was ill feeling between the two villages for other reasons, probably disputes about farm limits or the control of the water supply, inflamed by other difficulties. The inhabitants of the two pueblos came into Tusayan from different directions, and as they may have spoken different languages and thus have failed to understand each other, they may have been mutually regarded as interlopers. Petty quarrels no doubt ripened into altercations, which probably led to bloodshed. The forays of the Apache from the south and the Ute from the north, which began at a later period, should naturally have led to a defensive alliance; but in those early days confederation was not dreamed of and the feeling between the two pueblos culminated in the destruction of Sikyatki. This was apparently the result of a quarrel between two pueblos of East Mesa, or at least there is no intimation that the other pueblos took prominent part in it. It is said that after the destruction some of those who escaped fled to Oraibi, which would imply that the Walpi and Oraibi peoples, even at that early date, were not on very friendly terms. If, however, the statement that Oraibi was then a distinct pueblo be true, it in a way affords a suggestion of the approximate age[98] of this village.

There was apparently a more or less intimate connection between the inhabitants of old Sikyatki and those of Awatobi, but whether or not it indicates that the latter was founded by the refugees from the former I have not been able definitely to make out. All my informants agree that on the destruction of Sikyatki some of its people fled to Awatobi, but no one has yet stated that the Kokop people were represented in the latter pueblo. The distinctive clans of the pueblo of Antelope mesa are not mentioned as living in Sikyatki, and yet the two pueblos are said to have been kindred. The indications are that the inhabitants of both came from the east--possibly were intruders, which may have been the cause of the hostility entertained by both toward the Walpians. The problem is too complex to be solved with our present limited knowledge in this direction, and archeology seems not to afford very satisfactory evidence one way or the other. We may never know whether the Sikyatki refugees founded Awatobi or simply fled to that pueblo for protection.

There appears to be no good evidence that Sikyatki was destroyed by fire, nor would it seem that it was gradually abandoned. The larger beams of the houses have disappeared from many rooms, evidently having been appropriated in building or enlarging other pueblos.

There is nothing to show that any considerable massacre of the people took place when the village was destroyed, in which respect it differs considerably from Awatobi. There is little doubt that many Sikyatki women were appropriated by the Walpians, and in support of this it is stated that the Kokop people of the present Walpi are the descendants of the people of that clan who dwelt at Sikyatki. This conclusion is further substantiated by the statements of one of the oldest members of the Kokop phratry who frequently visited me while the excavations were in progress.

The destruction of Sikyatki and its consequent abandonment doubtless occurred before the Spaniards obtained a foothold in the country. The aged Hopi folklorists insist that such is the case, and the excavations did not reveal any evidence to the contrary. If we add to the negative testimony that Sikyatki is not mentioned in any of the early writings, and that no fragment of metal, glass, or Spanish glazed pottery has been taken from it, we appear to have substantial proof of its prehistoric character.

In the early times when Sikyatki was a flourishing pueblo, Walpi was still a small settlement on the terrace of the mesa just below the present town that bears its name. Two ruins are pointed out as the sites of Old Walpi, one to the northward of the modern town, and a second more to the westward. The former is called at present the Ash-heap house or pueblo, the latter Kisakobi. It is said that the people whose ancestors formed the nucleus of the more northerly town moved from there to Kisakobi on account of the cold weather, for it was too much in the shadow of the mesa. Its general appearance would indicate it to be older than the more westerly ruin, higher up on the mesa. It was a pueblo of some size, and was situated on the edge of the terrace. The refuse from the settlement was thrown over the edge of the decline, where it accumulated in great quantities. This débris contains many fragments of characteristic pottery, similar to that from Sikyatki, and would well repay systematic investigation. No walls of the old town rise more than a few feet above the surface, for most of the stones have long ago been used in rebuilding the pueblo on other sites. Kisakobi was situated higher up on the mesa, and bears every appearance of being more modern than the ruin below. Its site may readily be seen from the road to Keam's canyon, on the terrace-like prolongation of the mesa. Some of the walls are still erect, and the house visible for a great distance is part of the old pueblo. This, I believe, was the site of Walpi at the time the Spaniards visited Tusayan, and I have found here a fragment of pottery which I believe is of Spanish origin. The ancient pueblo crowned the ridge of the terrace which narrows here to 30 or 40 feet, so that ancient Walpi was an elongated pueblo, with narrow passageways and no rectangular court. I should judge, however, that the pueblo was not inhabited for a great period, but was moved to its present site after a few generations of occupancy. The Ash-hill village was inhabited contemporaneously with Sikyatki, but Kisakobi was of later construction. Neither Sichomovi nor Hano was in existence when Sikyatki was in its prime, nor, indeed, at the time of its abandonment. In 1782 Morfi spoke of Sichomovi as a pueblo recently founded, with but fifteen families. Hano, although older, was certainly not established before 1700.[99]

The assertions of all Hopi traditionists that Sikyatki is a prehistoric ruin, as well as the scientific evidence looking the same way, are most important facts in considering the weight of deductions in regard to the character of prehistoric Tusayan culture.

Although we have no means of knowing how long a period has elapsed since the occupancy and abandonment of Sikyatki, we are reasonably sure that objects taken from it are purely aboriginal in character and antedate the inception of European influence. It is certain, however, that the Sikyatki people lived long enough in that pueblo to develop a ceramic art essentially peculiar to Tusayan.

NOMENCLATURE

The commonly accepted definition of Sikyatki is "yellow house" (_sikya_, yellow; _ki_, house). One of the most reliable chiefs of Walpi, however, called my attention to the fact that the hills in the locality were more or less parallel, and that there might be a relationship between the parallel valleys and the name. The application of the term "yellow" would not seem to be very appropriate so far as it is distinctive of the general color of the pueblo. The neighboring spring, however, contains water which after standing some time has a yellowish tinge, and it was not unusual to name pueblos from the color of the adjacent water or from some peculiarity of the spring, which was one of the most potent factors in the determination of the site of a village. Although the name may also refer to a cardinal point, a method of nomenclature followed in some regions of the Southwest, if such were the case in regard to Sikyatki it would be exceptional in Tusayan.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXV

SIKYATKI MOUNDS FROM THE KANELBA TRAIL]

FORMER INHABITANTS OF SIKYATKI

The origin of the pueblo settlement at Sikyatki is doubtful, but as I have shown in my enumeration of the clans of Walpi, the Kokop (Firewood) and the Isauûh (Coyote) phratries which lived there are supposed to have come into Tusayan from the far east or the valley of the Rio Grande. The former phratry is not regarded as one of the earliest arrivals in Tusayan, for when its members arrived at Walpi they found living there the Flute, Snake, and Water-house phratries. It is highly probable that the Firewood, or as they are sometimes called the Fire, people, once lived in the round pueblo known as Fire-house, and as the form of this ruin is exceptional in Tusayan, and highly characteristic of the region east of this province, there is archeological evidence of the eastern origin of the Fire people. Perhaps the most intelligent folklorist of the Kokop people was Nasyuñweve, who died a few years ago--unfortunately before I had been able to record all the traditions which he knew concerning his ancestors. At the present day Katci, his successor[100] in these sacerdotal duties in the Antelope-Snake mysteries, claims that his people formerly occupied Sikyatki, and indeed the contiguous fields are still cultivated by members of that phratry.

It is hardly possible to do more than estimate the population of Sikyatki when in its prime, but I do not believe that it was more than 500;[101] probably 300 inhabitants would be a closer estimate if we judge from the relative population to the size of the pueblo of Walpi at the present time. On the basis of population given, the evidences from the size of the Sikyatki cemeteries would not point to an occupancy of the village for several centuries, although, of course, the strict confines of these burial places may not have been determined by our excavations. The comparatively great depth at which some of the human remains were found does not necessarily mean great antiquity, for the drifting sands of the region may cover or uncover the soil or rocks in a very short time, and the depth at which an object is found below the surface is a very uncertain medium for estimating the antiquity of buried remains.

GENERAL FEATURES

The ruin of Sikyatki (plates CXV, CXVI) lies about three miles east of the recent settlement of Tanoan families at Isba or Coyote spring, near the beginning of the trail to Hano. Its site is in full view from the road extending from the last-mentioned settlement to Keam's canyon, and lies among the hills just below the two pyramidal elevations called Küküchomo, which are visible for a much greater distance. When seen from this road the mounds of Sikyatki are observed to be elevated at least 300 feet above the adjacent cultivated plain, but at the ruin itself this elevation is scarcely appreciable, so gradual is the southerly decline to the arroyo which drains the plain. The ruin is situated among foothills a few hundred yards from the base of the mesa, and in the depression between it and the mesa there is a stretch of sand in which grow peach trees and a few stunted cedars. At this point, likewise, there is a spring, now feeble in its flow from the gradually drifting sand, yet sufficient to afford a trickling stream by means of which an enterprising native, named Tcino, irrigates a small garden of melons and onions. On all sides of the ruin there are barren stretches of sand relieved in some places by stunted trees and scanty vegetation similar to that of the adjacent plains. The soil in the plaza of the ruin is cultivated, yielding a fair crop of squashes, but is useless for corn or beans.

Here and there about the ruins stand great jagged bowlders, relieving what would otherwise be a monotonous waste of sand. One of these stony outcrops forms what I have called the "acropolis" of Sikyatki, which will presently be described. On the eastern side the drifting sand has so filled in around the elevation on which the ruin stands that the ascent is gradual, and the same drift extends to the rim of the mesa, affording access to the summit that otherwise would necessitate difficult climbing. Along the ridge of this great drift there runs a trail which passes over the mesa top to a beautiful spring, on the other side, called Kanelba.[102]

The highest point of the ruin as seen from the plain is the rocky eminence rising at the western edge, familiarly known among the members of my party as the "acropolis." As one approaches the ruin from a deep gulch on the west, the acropolis appears quite lofty, and a visitor would hardly suspect that it marks the culminating point of a ruin, so similar does it appear to surrounding hills of like geologic character where no vestiges of former house-walls appear.

The spring from which the inhabitants of the old pueblo obtained their water supply lies between the ruin and the foot of the mesa, nearer the latter. The water is yellow in color, especially after it has remained undisturbed for some time, and the quantity is very limited. It trickles out of a bed of clay in several places and forms a pool from which it is drawn to irrigate a small garden and a grove of peach trees. It is said that when Sikyatki was in its prime this spring was larger than at present, and I am sure that a little labor spent in digging out the accumulation of sand would make the water more wholesome and probably sufficiently abundant for the needs of a considerable population.

The nearest spring of potable water available for our excavation camp at Sikyatki was Kanelba, or Sheep spring, one of the best sources of water supply in Tusayan. The word Kanelba, containing a Spanish element, must have replaced a Hopi name, for it is hardly to be supposed that this spring was not known before sheep were brought into the country. There is a legend that formerly the site of this spring was dry, when an ancient priest, who had deposited his _tiponi_, or chieftain's badge, at the place, caused the water to flow from the ground; at present however the water rushes from a hole as large as the arm in the face of the rock, as well as from several minor openings. It is situated on the opposite side of the mesa from Sikyatki, a couple of miles northeastward from the ruin.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVI

GROUND PLAN OF SIKYATKI]

Half-way up the side of the mesa, about opposite Sikyatki, there is a large reservoir, used as a watering place for sheep. The splash of the water, as it falls into this reservoir, is an unusual sound in this arid region, and is worth a tramp of many miles. There are many evidences that this spring was a popular one in former times. As it is approached from the top of the mesa, a brief inspection of the surroundings shows that for about a quarter of a mile, on either side, there are signs of ancient terraced gardens, walled in with rows of stones. These gardens have today greatly diminished in size, as compared with the ancient outlines, and only that portion which is occupied by a grove of peach trees is now under cultivation, although there is plenty of water for the successful irrigation of a much larger tract of land than the gardens now cover.[103] Judging from their size, many of the peach trees are very old, although they still bear their annual crop of fruit. Everything indicates, as the legends relate, that these Kanelba gardens, the walls of which now form sheep corrals, were long ago abandoned.

The terraces south of the Kanelba peach grove resemble the lower terraces of Wipo. About 100 rods farther south, along the foot of the mesa, on the same level, are a number of unused fields, and a cluster of house remains. The whole of this terrace is of a type which shows greater action of the weather than the others, but the boundaries of the fields are still marked with rows of stones. The adjacent foothills contain piles of ashes in several places, as if the sites of ancient pottery kilns, and very old stone inclosures occur on the top of the mesa above Kanelba. All indications seem to point to the ancient occupancy of the region about Kanelba by many more farmers than today. Possibly the inhabitants of Sikyatki, which is only two or three miles away, frequented this place and cultivated these ancient gardens. Kanelba is regarded as a sacred spring by several Hopi religious societies of East Mesa. The Snake priests of Walpi always celebrate a feast there on the day of the snake hunt to the east in odd years,[104] while in the alternate years it is visited by the Flute men.

The present appearance of Sikyatki (plate CXV) is very desolate, and when visited by our party previously to the initiation of the work, seemed to promise little in the way of archeological results. No walls were standing above ground, and the outlines of the rooms were very indistinct. All we saw at that time was a series of mounds, irregularly rectangular in shape, of varying altitude, with here and there faint traces of walls. Prominent above all these mounds, however, was the pinnacle of rock on the northwestern corner, rising abruptly from the remainder of the ruin, easily approached from the west and sloping more gradually to the south. This rocky elevation, which we styled the acropolis, was doubtless once covered with houses.

On the western edge of the ruin a solitary farmhouse, used during the summer season, had been constructed of materials from the old walls, and was inhabited by an Indian named Lelo and his family during our excavations. He is the recognized owner of the farm land about Sikyatki and the cultivator of the soil in the old plaza of the ruins. Jakwaina, an enterprising Tewan who lives not far from Isba, the spring near the trail to Hano, has also erected a modern house near the Sikyatki spring, but it had not been completed at the time of our stay. Probably never since its destruction in prehistoric times have so many people as there were in our party lived for so long a time at this desolate place.

The disposition of the mounds show that the ground plan of Sikyatki (plate CXVI) was rectangular in shape, the houses inclosing a court in which are several mounds that may be the remains of kivas. The highest range of rooms, and we may suppose the most populous part of the ancient pueblo, was on the same side as the acropolis, where a large number of walled chambers in several series were traced.

The surface of what was formerly the plaza is crossed by rows of stones regularly arranged to form gardens, in which several kinds of gourds are cultivated. In the sands north of the ruin there are many peach trees, small and stunted, but yearly furnishing a fair crop. These are owned by Tcino,[105] and of course were planted long after the destruction of the pueblo.

In order to obtain legends of the former occupancy and destruction of Sikyatki, I consulted Nasyuñweve, the former head of the Kokop people, and while the results were not very satisfactory, I learned that the land about Sikyatki is still claimed by that phratry. Nasyuñweve,[106] Katci, and other prominent Kokop people occupy and cultivate the land about Sikyatki on the ground of inheritance from their ancestors who once inhabited the place.

Two routes were taken to approach Sikyatki--one directly across the sandy plain from the entrance to Keam's canyon, following for some distance the road to East Mesa; the other along the edge of the mesa, on the first terrace, to the cluster of houses at Coyote spring. The trail to the pueblos of East Mesa ascends the cliff just above Sikyatki spring, and joins that to Kanelba or Sheep spring, not far from Küküchomo, the twin mounds. By keeping along the first terrace a well-traveled trail, with interesting views of the plain and the ruin, joins the old wagon road to _Wala_, the "gap" of East Mesa, at a higher level than the cluster of Tewan houses at Isba. In going and returning from their homes our Hopi workmen preferred the trail along the mesa, which we also often used; but the climb to the mesa top from the ruin is very steep and somewhat tiresome.

We prosecuted our excavations at Sikyatki for a few days over three weeks, choosing as a site for our camp a small depression to the east of the ruin near a dwarf cedar at the point where the trail to Kanelba passes the ruin. The place was advantageously near the cemeteries, and not too far from water. For purposes other than cooking and drinking the Sikyatki spring was used, the remainder of the supply being brought from Kanelba by means of a burro.