Chapter II: Part 2

The double-pointed symbol represented in _m_ was evidently designed as a feather (possibly two feathers), with parallel sides, and pointed tips painted black. The symbol _n_ is similar to _d_ in outline, but it lacks the terminal slit and black bands. There project, however, from the angles formed by the tips of the feathers three vertical lines, each with an arrow point at the extremity and two short crosslines, as in one of the bird designs previously described (fig. 35). The present design represents wing feathers; the complete bird figure (fig. 35), where they also occur, represents a thunderbird.

The three tail feathers shown in _o_ are in no respect peculiar. The two-pointed appendages seen above are an almost constant feature of the drawings of birds as seen from the back. The feathers represented in _p_ are unlike others in their mode of attachment and in the ornamentation at the base.

Thus far we have considered a type of feathers with pointed tips (pl. 76, _a-p_) imparting to the whole tail a serrate appearance. While in the next figure, _q_, the tail feathers still terminate in points, a black band connecting their extremities is prolonged at each side, recalling the tail of certain swallows.

Feathers are often represented on Sikyatki pottery as elsewhere in the Southwest by parallel straight lines. The feathers represented in _r_ are exceptional in that their length varies considerably, the median feather here being the longest.

While undoubtedly the series of designs shown in _s_ to _bb_, inclusive, in each instance representing the feathers in the tail of a bird, are all highly conventionalized, in one or two instances, as _u_ and _bb_, the relation to feathers can be recognized only by comparative studies.

The design illustrated in _cc_, taken from the neck of a vase, represents several peculiar feathers of a type not yet described but highly characteristic. Comparison of this with that of _dd_ shows the similarity of the two and suggests that they pertain to the same kind of bird. The tails represented in _v_, _aa_, and _bb_ are characteristic; the last represents tail feathers hanging from the band later described.

The series of feathers (possibly tail feathers) shown in several figures have rounded tips, and as a rule are of uniform size and without ornamentation. In plate 77, _a_, the three feathers composing the tail are painted black and are slightly separated, while those of _b_ are half black and half plain, the solid area being separated from the plain by a diagonal line extending from the proximal to the distal extremity.

The four feathers in _c_ are separated by slight intervals and lightly shaded; otherwise they are similar to those in _a_. The two outside feathers of _d_ are much broader than the middle feather, which is reduced to a narrow line. In _e_ the three feathers are broader at the tips, in which respect they differ from _c_.

In the tail shown in _f_, the feathers are indicated by shallow notches from which short parallel lines extend inward. They are without superficial markings. Figure _g_ belongs to the notched type represented above.

The four feather symbols shown in the drawing of the bird’s tail illustrated in _h_ differ from all others in the shape of their distal ends, which are alternately black and plain, and are without superficial ornamentation. Evidently this feather design, which is represented on a single vessel from Sikyatki, is of a distinct type.

There is some doubt whether _i_ represents a bird’s tail, the head and body from which the design was taken being more like those of a moth or a butterfly. The meaning of the design in _j_ is also doubtful. Figure _k_ represents a single “breath” feather like that shown in figure 57.

There is a general resemblance between the tail feathers of the bird designed in _e_ and _l_; the latter represents the tail of a bird, hanging between two triangles under a star design.

Figure _m_ represents a bird’s tail with three tail feathers and lateral extensions, while in _n_, where we also have a figure of the tail of a bird, each feather is marked by a rectangular pattern. The four pairs of parallel lines extending from these feathers may be regarded as parts of these structures.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 77

CONVENTIONALIZED TAIL FEATHERS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 78

CONVENTIONALIZED FEATHERS ATTACHED TO STRINGS (NAKWAKWOCI)]

Figures _o_ to _q_, while suggesting bird and feather designs, are still more or less problematical. In the same category belong the designs illustrated in figures _r_ to _u_. There is reason to believe that of these _o-r_ represent feathers, but a definite identification can not yet be made of figures _s-u_.

Two triangular designs, one above another, are believed to represent feathers, but are rarely found on ancient Hopi pottery. They appear on the heads of birds in Acoma, Laguna, and other pottery designs, which are the nearest modern representatives of ancient Hopi decorations.

A unique feather symbol from Sikyatki is characterized by a cigar-shaped body outlined at the distal end, which is plain (fig. 59).

There often occurs on Sikyatki pottery a combination of feather designs, generally three, with other symbols. One form of these (fig. 60) has four curved tail feathers. Other feathers of aberrant shape are shown in figure 61, _a-e_.

FEATHERS SUSPENDED FROM STRINGS

In their ceremonies the modern Hopi priests use in great numbers a kind of prayer offering called _nakwakwoci_, consisting of breast feathers tied in a prescribed way to the ends of strings. The same type of prayer offerings is one of the most common designs on Sikyatki pottery. Various modifications of it are shown in the accompanying illustration (fig. 62).

This use of the feather string as a decorative device is seemingly peculiar to prehistoric Hopi pottery, not having been found in the pictography of the people formerly inhabiting the valleys of San Juan and Little Colorado Rivers. This restriction in its use indicates its local origin and application, although descendants of clans from both the San Juan and the Little Colorado are represented among the Hopi.

In one of the simplest forms of the stringed-feather designs is a line (pl. 78, _b_, _c_, _d_) sometimes taking the form of an elongate triangle, terminating in a ball from which spring three or more diverging or parallel lines. This enlargement on stringed-feather designs may represent a knot, as will appear from certain variations in the form of the feathered string to which attention will be given later.

In some cases (_e_, _l_) two knots appear between the string and the attached feathers, while in another instance (_f_) one of the knots or balls is replaced by two triangles.

Other representations of stringed-feather or _nakwakwoci_ designs show modifications in each of the three elements mentioned, the line (string), the enlargement (knot), and the terminal projections (feathers). The occurrence of crossbars near the dot (_g_, _h_, _i_) vary in number from one to four, and are always parallel, but usually are placed on one side of the knot, although in some cases (_i_) they appear on both sides. In one example (_j_) no ball or knot is provided, the _nakwakwoci_ consisting merely of the string intersected by pairs of equidistant crosslines. A special modification of the dot with crosslines is shown in the figure with the leaflike attachment (_q_).

One of the most significant of the stringed-feather designs is shown in _a_, where a feather of the first type is attached to the string intersected by crosslines. As a terminal element in corresponding designs is a typical feather symbol, this figure is also identical. The figure of a string with enlargements and a pair of lines (_g_) probably represents that form of stringed feather called by the Hopi a _purhu_, “road,” an offering laid by the Hopi on the trails approaching the pueblo to indicate that ceremonies are being performed, or on altars to show the pathway of blessings.

In another stringed-feather design (_n_) appears a triangular symbol attached to the enlargement, the string terminating in radiating lines. The feather sometimes preserves its triangular form (_m_). These variations in the drawings of stringed feathers and the modifications of the knot, string, and terminal attachments, are constantly repeated in Sikyatki pottery decoration.

SKY-BAND

Many food bowls from Sikyatki have a band from which is suspended the figure of a nondescript animal passing diametrically across it. Representations of a similar band with like appendage girt the necks of small pottery objects and are, so far as is known, characteristic of prehistoric Hopi pottery.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 79

SKY-BANDS]

Lines identified as sky-bands shown in plate 79 vary from single (_a_) or double (_b_) to a broad undecorated band (_c_). In its simplest form the sky-band extends entirely across the inside of the bowl, but in the more complicated examples it surrounds the vessel parallel with the rim surrounding the design on the inside of the bowl. Appendages of several kinds as dots (_d_) or as stars (_f_), made up of oblong figures in terrace form placed at intervals, are attached to this band. The sky-band itself varies in width, being broad or narrow, crossed by series of vertical parallel, zigzag, or other lines arranged at intervals, or alternating with geometrical figures (_g_, _h_). In a single example (_i_) the decoration is etched into the burnt clay, although in most instances the decorations are painted.

Various explanations of the meaning of this band have been suggested, it being regarded by some of the priests as the Milky Way, by others as the path of the sun through the sky, but so far as known this ancient design is rare on modern Hopi ware.[24] According to Harrington the Tewa recognize a “backbone” of the sky.

In several Hopi legends there are allusions to a monster bird that had been killed and hung in the sky by a cultus hero; and the general character of this decorative band in Sikyatki pottery decoration renders it probable that it was intended to represent some supernatural being, as the Sky god.

The chief interest of the Sikyatki sky-band lies in the figure or figures attached to it, or suspended from it, and regarded as the conventionalized representation of a bird. Sometimes the creature is placed longitudinally, sometimes vertically. In some instances it is elaborately drawn, in others it is a simple geometric figure bearing so little resemblance to a life form as to make it one of the most highly conventionalized of all ancient Hopi designs.

Like other bird designs, these suspended figures may be considered under two heads: (1) Those attached to the band in such a way as to be seen from above (the dorsal side) or from below (the ventral side); and (2) those suspended lengthwise of the band, showing one side in which the tail and other parts are twisted into a plane at right angles. The structure and relations of the hanging figure can best be seen by holding the bowl in such manner that the sky-band is horizontal, bringing the body of the suspended animal into the lower semicircle.

VERTICAL ATTACHMENT TO SKY-BAND

Several Sikyatki pottery designs showing the sky-band with the bird figure hanging vertically from it are shown in the accompanying illustrations. In order that the modifications in form may be readily followed, those parts of the bird figures regarded as homologous are indicated by the same letters.

The design in figure 63 represents one of the simplest forms of bird symbols. A hornlike appendage is attached to the sky-band, on each side of an elongate vertical body from which depends a number of parallel lines representing tail feathers. The identification of this design as that of a bird is based on comparative studies of designs less conventional in character, to which attention has been and will later be called.

A modification of the pendent body on the sky-band[25] appears to have introduced the new element shown in figure 64 in which the body is drawn. Although considerable variation exists in the form of the other parts, a morphological identity exists in all these figures. In figure 65, in which the feathers differ somewhat from those of the last design, the parallel lines representing the bird’s tail are really seen. The design shown in figure 66 is still more elaborate than the last, especially in the anterior semicircle,[26] opposite that in which the tail feathers are depicted.

The portion of the design situated in the anterior semicircle of figure 67 has no resemblance to a bird’s head, being destitute of eyes or beak. The backward extending appendages on each side of the tail and the tail itself has a projection on each side.

In figure 68 the whole anterior part of the design above the sky-band is colored, the head appearing as a still darker semicircle. The tail feathers are here reduced to simple parallel lines. The general form of figure 69 is birdlike, but its affinity to the bird figures, pendent from a sky-band, is closer than to any others. The homologous parts—tail feathers, lateral body extensions, sky-band, and head—may be readily recognized; the last mentioned is an ornamented rectangle. The whole anterior hemisphere of this design is occupied by representations of feathers arranged in two clusters, while in the surrounding area their triple lines are crossed similarly to that occurring in other hanging bird figures. It is but a step from this figure to the group of unattached bird designs already considered.

The wings of figure 70 are outspread and the head consists of two terraced bodies conventionally placed. The body and the tail of this figure are not exceptional, but dragon flies are also represented.

Figure 71 presents a conventionalized bird seen in profile, and a broad sky-band to which are attached representations of feathers and other organs suggesting a bird.

An animal depicted in figure 72 is one of three similar figures from the neck of the same vase, which are connected by a line or band. The design shown in figure 73 represents a highly conventionalized bird hanging from the sky-band with head and wings on one side and tail feathers below.

BIRDS ATTACHED LONGITUDINALLY TO SKY-BAND

The designs shown in figure 74 represent the simplest forms of birds attached lengthwise to the sky-band. The parallel lines on the left hand of the observer are supposed to represent tail feathers and the curve on the right, the heads, or possibly the wings.

One of the best designs representing a bird attached to a sky-band is shown in figure 75, taken from a bowl in the Wattron collection now owned by the Field Columbian Museum, of Chicago. The interior surface of this bowl is considerably worn by use, and the figure a little indistinct, but the extremities of a band appear. There is a fairly realistic figure on each side of a bird with head and wings above and tail below a diametrical band. There are zigzag markings, supposed to represent lightning, on the under side of the wing. The tail is spread out amply enough to show the different feathers which compose it; and at the bases or on its under side corresponding in position with like symbols on the wing there appear two zigzag figures. The significance of two curved bodies hanging from the sky-band, one on each side of the tail of this figure, can not be satisfactorily interpreted, but the bird design shown in figure 76 has four tail feathers, a prolongation on the opposite side representing a head, and a curved extension comparable with a wing in other figures. The so-called wing terminates in a triangular feather.

The two designs, figures 76 and 77, have parts which evidently correspond, the latter being one of the most beautiful in the collection. Both represent from the side an unknown bird hanging from a band extending across the middle of the bowls. Although the details of organs are more carefully depicted in the latter, there can hardly be a doubt that similar animals were intended in both designs.

It requires some imagination to discover a conventionalized bird in figure 78, but we may regard it as such. We have in this figure a good example of a change in outline that may be produced by duplication or by representing both sides of the body or its organs and appendages in the same place. Three tail feathers are here apparent; the body is square, with zigzag white lines, and the head, here twisted into a vertical position, has a triangular form. The two crescentic appendages, one on the right side, the other on the left, represent halves of wings which are theoretically supposed to have been slit longitudinally and folded backward[27] in order that both sides may be shown on the same plane; the two bodies arising from the concave edges of these crescents—one to the left, the other to the right of the square body—represent legs. Their unusual form is brought about by a twisting of body and tail, by which feathers of the latter are brought to longitudinal position, and one of the legs is twisted to the right side and the other to the left. If the two appendages supposed to represent the legs or the two parts shaped like crescentlike knives were brought together, the two crescents would likewise merge into one, and we would then have a highly conventionalized bird with three tail feathers and a triangular head, the body being represented by a square design crossed diagonally by zigzag figures each in its own rectangular inclosed field.

DECORATIONS ON EXTERIORS OF FOOD BOWLS

The exterior surface of almost every bowl from Sikyatki is decorated with lines or geometrical designs. Many of these designs may represent animals, probably birds highly conventionalized or so aberrant that the avian form can be recognized only by comparative or morphological studies. They are confined to one side of the bowl; there appears to be little resemblance and no connection between them and the figure depicted on the inside of the same bowls. Although linear in form, one end is sometimes so crooked or bent at an angle, not curved, as to form a head, while the other bears parallel lines, representations of the tail feathers, terraces, or triangles.

In plate 80, _a_, we have a characteristic example of one of these exterior decorations. The crooked end is supposed to represent a bird’s head; to the other end, or tail, are appended six feathers like those already considered. A row of five stars is strung along the band. A likeness to a bird is very obscure in _b_, while _c_ shows several simple triangles with stepped figures in the middle and triangles at the ends. Design _d_ has a square form and two triangles appended to each opposite angle. The appendages on the remaining opposite angles have four parallel lines. Design _e_ consists of two highly conventionalized bird symbols, united to a third which forms the interior design.

The design _f_ recalls the sky-band described in the preceding pages. The extremities of this so-called band are enlarged into round spots from which arise parallel lines and triangular designs. From it hang terraced and crooked figures, while strung along one side at equal intervals are five stars, a common accompaniment of sky symbols. The bird symbol comes out clearly in _g_, where the crook design with terraces is repeated.

All crooked figures have a similarity in general form, some more closely resembling birds than others, and it is taken for granted that the intention of the artist was to represent a bird in plate 81, _a_, notwithstanding the avian form is highly conventionalized. Design _b_ is composite, consisting of a rectangular figure, to the angles of which are attached feathers. Terraced and triangular figures of unknown significance, stars, and other designs cover the rectangle. Design _c_ is made up of a triangle with notched borders and a central rectangle with a dot characterizes this design; it has also two triangular extensions that may represent feathers. Design _d_ resembles previous figures identified as feathers and terraces hanging from a sky-band.

The most prominent part of the design _e_ is a crook and parallel lines. In _f_ are variously combined triangles with appended feathers, crooks, and terraced designs, so united as to make up a compound decoration of geometric character.

The geometrical designs in the series, plate 82, _a-f_, may be interpreted as representing birds in flight or with extended wings. Considered in this way, it appears that we have in the figure on each side a highly conventionalized wing forming triangles with extensions at one angle, ending in terraces, crooks, or other designs. In these figures we constantly have a line that may be likened to the sky-band, each end generally terminating in a dot to which parallel lines are attached.

Design _a_ has two triangular bodies resembling the letter W, and the line terminating in two dots has two crossbars, while in _b_ there is a union of designs. Elongated triangles terminate in lines which are enlarged into dots. These triangles are modified on one side into crooks with smaller triangles.

From remote resemblances rather than similarity of form, _c_ is placed near the preceding. Here a band is enlarged at the end representing the knots with attached parallel lines or feathers. The triangular pendants of _b_ and the line with terminal dots of _a_ are here represented. On the middle vertical of this figure is a trapezoidal design with notched edges.

The elements of _d_ form a compound in which triangles predominate. Two W-shaped designs, _e_ and _f_, have a form quite unlike _a_, _b_, _c_, and _d_. Of these, _f_ is the more complicated, but the similarity of the two is apparent.

Plate 83, _a_, represents two triangles with serrate margins hanging to a horizontal band, one end of which terminates in dots and lines, the other with two parallel notched feathers.

Plate 84, _a-c_, have the W shape shown in plate 82, _e_, _f_; the approach to the conventional bird form with extended wings and tail being most marked in _a_. Design _d_ on plate 84 recalls plate 83, _f_, with modifications that are apparent.

The above-mentioned geometrical figures from the exteriors of Sikyatki food bowls show considerable variety of form but all can be reduced to a few elemental designs throughout in which the curved line is absent. The rectangular design is always dominant, but it will be seen from the following plate that it is not omnipresent, especially on the interiors of bowls.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 80

GEOMETRICAL FIGURES ON OUTSIDE OF BOWLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 81

GEOMETRICAL FIGURES ON OUTSIDE OF BOWLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 82

GEOMETRICAL FIGURES ON OUTSIDE OF BOWLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 83

GEOMETRICAL FIGURES ON OUTSIDE OF BOWLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 84

GEOMETRICAL FIGURES ON OUTSIDE OF BOWLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 85

CONVENTIONALIZED BIRD DESIGNS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 86

CONVENTIONALIZED BIRD DESIGNS]

CURVED FIGURE WITH ATTACHED FEATHERS

The curved spiral figures shown in plates 85 and 86 are combinations of simple and complicated designs, among the most conspicuous of which are feathers. When these figures are placed in the same position it is possible to recognize three or four components which are designated (a) spiral, (b) appendage to the tip of the spiral, (c) a bundle of feathers recalling a bird’s tail, and (d) and (e) other parts of unknown homology occasionally represented. In plate 85, _A_ the appendage _b_ to the spiral _a_ is two triangles and two supplemental spirals arising from their attachments. There is no representation of _c_, _d_, or _e_ in this figure.

In _B_ of the same plate the elements _a_, _b_, _c_, and _d_ are represented. The appendage _b_ attached to the tip of the spiral _a_ has the form of a feather of the first type (see pl. 76), and four parallel lines, _c_, indicating feathers, are attached to the body. The two toothlike appendages _e_, of unknown significance, complete the figure. In plate 85, _C_, the design _a_ has two dots _b_ on the distal tip, from one of which arises a number of lines. The fact that _b_ in figure _B_ is a feather leads to the belief that _b_ in figure _C_ is the same design.

Plate 85, _D_ and _E_, have a resemblance in form, _a_ and _c_ being represented in both; _b_ and _e_ are wanting in _E_. The different elements in these designs can be readily seen by comparing the same lettering in _F_ and _G_, and in plate 86, _A_ and _B_, where a new element, _t_, is introduced.

Plate 86, _B_ and _E_, are highly conventionalized designs; they suggest bird form, examples of which have been already considered elsewhere, but are very much modified.

There can be no doubt that it was intended to represent birds or parts of birds as feathers in many of the above figures, but the perspective is so distorted that their morphology or relative position on the bird to which they belong can not be made out. In plate 86, _A_, for instance, the bird’s body seems to be split in two parts and laid on a flat plane. The pendent body, _t_, in the middle would be a representation of a bird’s tail composed of three feathers and with a double triangle terminating in dots from which arise lines of would-be feathers.

Two of the parts, _a_ and _t_, that occur in the last mentioned, are found in plate 86, _B_, in somewhat modified form. Thus the position of the tail feathers, _t_, figure _C_, is taken by feathers of a different form, their extremities being cut off flat and not curved. The bundles of feathers in _B_ and _C_ are here reversed, the left side of _B_ corresponding to the right of _C_, and the appendage on the left of the tail of _B_ being represented by the appendage on the right of _C_. There are other remote likenesses between them.

SPIDER AND INSECTS

Other flying animals, like bats and insects, are depicted on Sikyatki pottery, but not as constantly as birds. The spider, and insects like the dragon fly, moth, and butterfly, are the most common. In Hopi mythology the spider[28] and the sun are associated, the former being the symbol of an earth goddess. Although no design that can be referred to the spider has yet been found on Sikyatki pottery, it is not wanting from Hopi (pl. 87, _c_).

The symbol of the dragon fly, which occurs on several bowls from ancient Hopi ruins, is a line often enlarged at one end to form a head, and always with two crossbars near this enlargement to indicate wings. As this insect lives near springs and is constantly associated in modern symbolism with water it is probable that its occurrence on ancient Hopi pottery has practically the same significance as in modern conceptions.

BUTTERFLY AND MOTH

Five typical figures that may be referred to the butterfly or moth occur on Sikyatki pottery. These figures have in common a triangular body which suggests a highly conventionalized picture of a bird. Their wings are, as a rule, extended horizontally, assuming the attitude of moths while at rest, there being only one of the five examples where wings are folded above the back, the normal position of these organs in a butterfly. With one exception, all these conventional butterfly figures bear two curved rows of dots on the head, probably intended to represent antennæ.

The figure of a moth in figure 79 has a body of triangular form, and the extremities of the wings are shown on each side of a medially placed backward-extending projection, which is the posterior end of the abdomen. These wings bear white dots on their posterior edges suggesting the markings on certain genera of butterflies.[29] There arises from the head, which here is circular, a single jointed appendage curved at the end, possibly the antenna, and an unjointed appendage, like a proboscis, inserted into a figure of a flower, mounted on a stalk that terminates at the other extremity in five parallel extensions or roots. A row of dots about the periphery of the flower suggests petals. The figures are accompanied by crosses representing stars.

The second moth design (fig. 80) has even a closer resemblance to a bird than the last, for it also has a single antenna or row of dots connected by a curved line. It likewise has several curved lines resembling a crest of feathers on top of the head, and lines recalling the tail of a bird. The head this figure bears is a cross suggesting a female butterfly or moth.[30]

The body in figure 81 is crossed by five lines converging at one angle, imparting to it the appearance of having been formed by a union of several spherical triangles on each of which appear rectangular spaces painted black. A head is not differentiated from the body, but at the point of union of the five lines above mentioned there arise two rows of dots which have the form of circles, each inclosing a dot. From analogy these are supposed to represent antennæ. The middle of wing-shaped extensions recalling butterfly designs are marked by circular figures in figure 82, but the absence in this figure of a head with jointed appendages renders it doubtful whether it represents an insect. The shape of the body and its appendages resembling feathers indicate, so far as they go, that this design represents some bird.

It will be noted that in one of the above-mentioned figures, identified as a moth, flowers are indicated by dotted circles, while in another similar circle, figures, also surrounded with dots, are represented on the wings. One pair of wings is represented in the last-mentioned figure, but a second pair placed behind the larger may have been confounded with the tail feathers. In one of these figures from Sikyatki there is a row of dots around the margin of the wings—a common but not universal feature in modern pictures of butterfly figures. None of the butterfly figures have representations of legs, which is not strange considering how inconspicuous these appendages are among these insects.

A most striking figure of a butterfly is represented by six drawings on the so-called “butterfly vase” (fig. 83). These, like the above-mentioned, resemble birds, but they all have antennæ, which identify them as insects. These six figures (pl. 90) are supposed to be connected with the six cardinal points which in modern Hopi belief have sex—the butterfly corresponding to the north, male; to the west, female; to the south, male; to the east, female; to the above, male; and to the below, female. The wings of all these insects are represented as extended, the anterior pair extending far beyond the posterior, while both have a uniform color and are without marginal dots. The appendages to the head are two curved rows of dots representing antennæ, and two parallel lines are the mouth parts or possibly the proboscis. The markings on the bodies and the terminal parallel lines are like tail feathers of birds. The heads of three figures, instead of having diagonal lines, are covered with a crosshatching, _b_, _b_, _b_, and are supposed to represent the males, as the former, _a_, _a_, _a_, are females.[31]

A moth with a conventionalized geometric form is represented in figure 84 with outstretched wings, a rounded abdomen, and a spotted rectangular body recalling designs on the upper embroidered margin of modern ceremonial blankets. A like figure has been elsewhere described by the author as a butterfly.[32] It occurs on the stone slab which once formed one side of an Awatobi altar.[33] We have more complicated forms of butterflies represented in figures 85-87, the identification of which is even more doubtful than the last. Figure 86 reproduces in its several parts figure 85, being composed of a central design, around which are arranged six triangles, one of the last being placed above, another below, the main figure, and there are two on each side. The design, figure 88, is circular, the alternately colored quadrants forming two hourglass combinations. The double triangle, shown in figure 84, resembles a butterfly symbol, having a close likeness to a figure of this insect found on the Awatobi tablet above mentioned. This figure also resembles triangular designs painted on the walls of modern Hopi rooms and in cliff-dwellings (Cliff Palace). These figures present very remote likenesses to butterfly symbols and their identification as such is difficult.

GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS

The geometrical designs on the pottery from Sikyatki consist of two well-recognized groups: (1) Purely ornamental or nonsymbolic geometrical figures, and (2) highly conventional life forms. Some of the figures of the second group may be geometrical representations of birds or other animals; but the former are simply embellishments used to beautify the objects on which they are painted. Purely decorative designs, not being symbolic, will not be specially considered, as they do not come within the scope of the present treatise. An interpretation of the significance of many of the second group of geometrical designs is not possible, although they probably represent animal forms.

The strictly geometrical figures so frequently found on pottery from Sikyatki recall the linear decorations almost universal in ancient southwestern ware.

No one who has carefully compared specimens of decorated pottery from Sikyatki with examples from any other southwestern region could fail to be impressed with the differences in some of the geometrical designs from the two localities. Such designs on the Sikyatki ware are almost always rectangular, rarely curved. As compared with pottery from cliff-dwellings there is a paucity or entire absence of terraced designs in the ancient Hopi ware, while zigzags representing lightning are comparatively rare. The characteristic geometrical decorations on Sikyatki pottery are found on the outside of the food bowls, in which respect they are notably different from those of other ceramic areas. Designs on Sikyatki pottery show few survivals of preexisting materials or evolution from transfer of those on textiles of any kind. Such as do exist are so masked that they shed little light on current theories of art evolution.

The designs on ancient Hopi pottery are in the main mythological, hence their true interpretation involves a knowledge of the religious ideas and especially of such psychological elements as sympathetic magic, so prevalent among the Hopi of to-day. The idea that by the use of symbols man could influence supernatural beings was no doubt latent in the mind of the potter and explains the character of the symbols in many instances. The fact that the bowls on which these designs are painted were found with the dead, and contained food for the departed, implies a cult of the dead, or at least a belief in a future life.

RAIN CLOUDS

The most constant geometric designs on Pueblo pottery are those representing the rain cloud, and from analogy we would expect to find the rain-cloud figures conspicuously on ancient Hopi pottery. We look in vain on Sikyatki ware for the familiar semicircular symbols of rain clouds so constant among the modern Hopi; nor do we find the rectangular terraced form which is equally common. These modifications were probably lately introduced into Hopiland by those colonists of alien clans who came after the destruction of Sikyatki, and consequently are not to be expected on its pottery. Their place was taken by other characteristic forms closely allied to rectangular terraced figures from which hang parallel lines, representing falling rain in modern symbolism.[34] The typical Sikyatki rain-cloud symbol is terraced without rain symbols and finds its nearest relative on pottery derived from the eastern pueblo region. The form of rain-cloud symbol on Sikyatki pottery may be regarded as characteristic of the Kokop clan which, according to legends, settled this ancient pueblo. Modified variants of this form of rain-cloud symbol occur on almost every specimen in the Sikyatki collection, and can be seen hanging from “sky-bands” with appended star signs or without such connections.

The most common Sikyatki symbol of a rain cloud is shown in figure 89 and plate 90, _f_, _g_. These rain-cloud designs rarely occur singly, being more often six in number, as if intended to represent the six cardinal points recognized in Hopi ceremonies. We find the Sikyatki rain-cloud symbols resembling somewhat those of the modern Zuñi, or figures of clouds found on the characteristic designs on Little Colorado ceramics. Somewhat similar angular terraced forms are almost universally used in eastern pueblos as rain-cloud symbols, but the semicircular forms (fig. 90) of modern Hopi ceremonials, being apparently a highly specialized modification, rarely occur on Sikyatki pottery.

STARS

The star sign occurs as an equal armed cross formed by the approximation of four squares, leaving a central uncolored area. It is generally accompanied by a rain-cloud symbol or bird figures, although likewise found without them. We often find one arm of the component arms of the cross missing and two of the remaining arms adherent to a band; often these crosses have a circular enlargement at the junction of their arms. A simple equal armed cross is the sole decoration on the interior of numerous food bowls, and there are several examples of St. Andrew’s crosses, the triangular arms of which have been interpreted as representing four conventionalized birds; no example of a cross with unequal arms has yet been found on Sikyatki pottery.

These crosses, like that with four arms representing the Sky god in modern Hopi symbolism, probably represent the Heart of the Sky. A similar cross is figured on paraphernalia used in modern Hopi rites or on altar slabs; when it is represented by a wooden frame, it is called _tokpela_, and hangs before the altar. The same object is sometimes attached horizontally to the top of the helmet of the personification of the Sky god.[35] The swastika is rare in ancient pottery and was not found at Sikyatki, although a single example was dug up at Awatobi and a few others were obtained from the Little Colorado ruins.

A multiple cross, formed of three parallel lines crossing three others at an angle, generally accompanies certain conventionalized figures of birds and in one example there are two multiple crosses, one on one side and one on another of a moth or butterfly symbol. The multiple cross is supposed to represent six canes used in a game, and on a prehistoric decorated bowl from ancient Shongopovi,[36] we find what appears to be a highly conventionalized bird figure occupying one-half of the interior of the bowl, while four figures representing these canes appear on the other. The bird figure, in this instance, is interpreted as a gambler’s god, or a representation of the god of chance.

SUN EMBLEMS

The most conventionalized sun emblem is a circle or ring with attached feathers. The Sikyatki design (pl. 87, _b_) is a circle bearing on its periphery appendages believed to represent feathers, with accompanying lines, generally painted red, to represent the rays of the sun.[37]

The identification of the bird whose feathers are used in sun emblems has not yet been made, although the position of similar feathers on the body of other bird designs suggests that they represent eagle feathers. The feather of the eagle is commonly associated with both ancient and modern pictures representing the sun. Thus we have on a vessel from Sikyatki in figure 91 a design bearing four feathers arranged at intervals a quadrant apart alternating with radiating lines. If we interpret this figure in the light of modern symbolism the circle would be regarded as the sun and the feathers would be identified as eagle feathers, while the lines might be considered to represent the red rays of the four cardinal points.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 87

BIRD, SUN, AND SPIDER AND SUN SYMBOLS]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 88

CONVENTIONALIZED BIRD FIGURES]

In a bowl found at old Shongopovi, a ruin inhabited at the same epoch as Sikyatki, the sun takes the form of a sky bird. In this design the ring figure is replaced by a bird with wings, tail, and a beak, evidently the sun bird, hawk, or eagle (pl. 88, _a_).

A theoretical interpretation of plate 88, _b_, is facilitated by a comparison of it with the design painted on a bowl from the Wattron collection, now in the Field Columbian Museum. As this has all the parts represented in figure 75, the conclusion would naturally be that the intention of the artist was to represent a bird figure.

Ring or circle shaped figures are found on several bowls from Sikyatki, and in one case (fig. 92) we find two circles side by side separated by a rectangular figure. The meaning of these rings and the accompanying design is not known. Concentric circles diametrically accompanied with two figures, one with a head and two lateral feathers, the other with the form of a hash-knife figure, are shown in figure 93.

In figure 94 the appendages of the ring design or sun emblem is much more complicated than any of the preceding. Each of the four quadrants has two appendages, a cluster with two feathers, and a curved body with a sickle-shaped extension, the whole giving a swastika-like appearance to the design. The interior of the circle is likewise complicated, showing a structure difficult to interpret. From comparisons with preceding figures this is likewise regarded as a sun emblem.[38]

The ring or circle shown in figure 95 hangs from a band that may be likened to the sky-band of previous description.[39] A triangle[40] is attached to the upper side of this band, while appended to the ring itself there is a featherlike object corresponding to a bird’s tail and wing. This figure is unique in the Sikyatki collection of ancient Hopi pictography.

In figure 96 we find a leg appended to the lower side of the ring balanced by three wing feathers above or on the opposite side, two curved or crescentic extensions projecting from the rear, diametrically opposite which arises a curved body (head) with terminating sickle-shaped prolongation. This figure may be considered a bird design, having the tail twisted from a lateral to a vertical position and the wing raised from the body.

In figure 97 we find a similar ring still further modified, the appendages to it being somewhat different. The ring is here broader than the last, inclosing an area crossed by two lines forming a cross, with short parallel lines at the ends of each arm. There is a head showing a circular face with dots indicating eyes and mouth. The head bears a crest of feathers between two horns. Here we have in place of the appendage to the lower side an elongated curved projection extending to the left, balanced by a short, stumpy, curved appendage on the right, while between these appendages hang four parallel lines suggesting the highly conventional feathers of a tail. The horns with the crest of feathers between them recall the crest of the Sun god, of the Kachina clan, called Tunwup, a Sky god who flogs the children of modern Walpi.

The ring design in figure 98 has a bunch of three feathers in each quadrant, recalling the feathers of a sun emblem so well shown with other kinds of feathers in plate 76, _b_.

In figure 99 we have a circle with four appended bifurcated geometrical extensions projecting outward on the periphery, and recalling featherless tails of birds. This is also a highly conventionalized sun emblem reduced to a geometrical figure.

In connection with all these circular figures may be considered that shown in figure 92, the form of which is highly suggestive. In the various modifications above mentioned we detect two elements, the ring and its peripheral appendages, interpreted as feathers, head, feet, and other bird organs. Sometimes the ring predominates, sometimes the feathers, and sometimes a bird figure replaces all, the ring being lost or reduced in size. This variation is primitive and quite consistent with the Pueblo conceptions and analogies known to occur in Hopi ceremonial paraphernalia. This variation illustrates what is elsewhere said about the influence of the magic power on the pictorial art of Hopi.[41]

The sun, to the Hopi mind, is likewise represented by a bird, or a compound of both becomes a Sky-god emblem; the horned serpent is the servant of the Sky god.

We find among the modern Hopi several disks with markings and decorations of such a character that they are identified as representations of the sun. One of these is worn by the leader of the kachinas in a ceremony called the Powamû, an elaborate rite, the purpose of which is to purify from evil influences. This Sun god[42] is called Ahül, and the symbolism of his mask, especially feathers attached to the head, suggests some of the Sikyatki designs considered above.

RECTANGULAR FIGURES REPRESENTING SHRINES

The word _pahoki_, prayer-stick house or “shrine,” is applied by the modern Hopi to the receptacle, commonly a ring of stones, in which prayer offerings are deposited, and receives its name from the special supernatural personage worshiped. These shrines are regarded as sacred by the Hopi and are particularly numerous in the neighborhood of the Hopi mesas.[43] They are ordinarily simply rude inclosures made of stones or flat stone slabs set on edge, forming boxes, which may either be closed or open on one side. The simplest pictographic representation of such a shrine is the same as that of a house, or a circular or rectangular figure. A similar design is drawn in meal on the floor of the kiva or traced with the same material on the open plaza when the priest wishes to represent a house or shrine. Elaborate pictures made of different colored sands to represent gods are often inclosed by encircling lines, the whole called a house of the gods. Thus the sand picture on the Antelope altar of the Snake dance is called the house of the rain-cloud beings.[44] When reptiles are washed on the ninth day of the Snake dance they are said to be thrown into the house, a sand picture of the mountain lion. It is customary to make in some ceremonies not only a picture of the god worshiped, but also a representation of his or her house. The custom of adding a picture of a shrine to that of the supernatural can be seen by examining a series of pictures of Hopi kachinas. Here the shrine is a rain-cloud symbol introduced to show that the house of the kachina represented is a rain cloud.

Sikyatki bowls decorated with figures identified as supernaturals often bear accompanying designs which may, from comparative reasoning, be interpreted as shrines of the supernatural being depicted. They have at times a form not unlike that of certain sand pictures, as in the case of the curved figure accompanying a highly conventionalized plumed serpent. A great variety of figures of this kind are found on Sikyatki bowls,[45] and often instead of being a rectangular figure they may be elongated more like a prayer offering.

The rectangular figure that accompanies a representation of a great horned serpent (fig. 100) may be interpreted as the shrine house of that monster, and it is to be mentioned that this shrine appears to be surrounded by radial lines representing curved sticks like those set around sand pictures of the Snake and Antelope altars of the Snake ceremonies at Walpi.[46]

It is suggested that the figure below the mountain sheep (see fig. 18) and the circles with dots accompanying the butterfly and bird designs may also represent shrines. Attention is also called to the fact that each of the six animal figures of the elaborate butterfly vase (pl. 90, _c_) is accompanied by a rectangular design representing a shrine in which feathers are visible.

The general forms of these shrines, are shown in figures 101 and 102. The one shown in figure 103 is especially instructive from its association with a highly conventionalized animal.

The Sikyatki epoch of Hopi ceramics is more closely allied to early Keresan[47] than to ancient Tanoan, and has many likenesses to modern Keresan pottery. In fact, none of the distinctive figures have yet been found on true Tanoan ware in any great numbers. There appear also no evidences of increments peculiar to the Little Colorado culture center of which Zuñi is the modern survival; consequently we look in vain for evidence of early communication between these two centers; possibly Sikyatki fell before Zuñi attained any prominence in the Little Colorado area.[48]

SYMBOLS INTRODUCED FROM SAN JUAN RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Although the majority of Hopi priests declare that the earliest clan to settle Walpi was the Bear, coming from the east, by far the largest number of early colonists are said to belong to the Snake people which came from Tokonabi and other great settlements on tributaries of the San Juan in northern Arizona. The route of their migration is fairly well known from legendary sources supported in late years by some limited excavations that have been made in ruins along its course, so that we know something of the character of the Snake pottery and the symbols, which these early colonists brought to the Bear settlement at the base of the East Mesa. These are not unlike those found along the San Juan and its tributaries from the Mesa Verde to Wukoki near the Black Falls on the Little Colorado, west of the Hopi Mesa.

This ware is commonly either black and white, or red, and can be readily distinguished from that of Sikyatki by the wealth of geometrical decorations and the poverty of such animal figures as birds, reptiles, and insects. The designs of that early epoch appear to be uniform and hardly distinctive from those that occur in all parts of the Southwest.

We may judge of the character of the symbols and designs on pottery from the San Juan and from the ruins of Wukoki on the Black Falls of Little Colorado. It is characterized by an abundance of geometric figures and an almost total absence of life forms or painted figures of men and animals. The pottery is thin, well made, and sometimes colored red, but the majority of specimens are gray or black-and-white ware not especially different from a widespread type occurring pretty generally throughout the Southwest. Coiled and incised ware is more abundant than smooth painted, but these are not as varied in form as later examples. There is no evidence available that there was any very great difference between the Hopi pottery decorations of the first epoch and that of contemporary time in the Southwest. When the Snake clans arrived at Walpi they found the village of Bear people living on the terrace at the base of the East Mesa, possessed of a symbolism like that of Sikyatki. The combined clans, Bear and Snake, were later joined by the Horn and Flute, and it is not unlikely that some of the likenesses between the pottery symbols of the settlement on the terrace below Walpi and Sikyatki may have developed about this time.[49]

The designs on the ceramics of the Snake clans are best illustrated by the prehistoric pottery from ruins and cliff-dwellings in Utah and along the San Juan area, where geometrical patterns far outnumber those representing life forms. This does not deny that many of the pieces of pottery from this region are finely made, equal in technique perhaps to some of the Sikyatki, but the geometric designs on San Juan pottery and that from Sikyatki are radically different. This difference conforms with tradition that the Snake clans left their homes at Tokonabi, in the San Juan region, and came to Hopi after the foundation of Sikyatki, which had probably developed its beautiful ceramic art before Walpi was settled. There is no evidence that the potters of the Snake clan ever introduced any modification in the symbolic decoration of pottery by the women of Sikyatki.

SYMBOLS INTRODUCED BY THE SNAKE PEOPLE

The designs on pottery taken from prehistoric ruins of pueblos or villages once inhabited by the Snake clans claim the archeologist’s especial attention. These clans were the most important early additions to the Hopi villages and no doubt influenced early Hopi symbolism. There is little trace in early pottery that can be recognized as peculiar to the Snake. The Snake clans formerly lived at Betatakin, Kitsiel, and neighboring ruins.

Among many significant differences that occur between the designs on pottery from the ruins in Navaho National Monument and those of Sikyatki may be mentioned the rarity of bird designs and the conventional feathers above described. Parallel lines and triangles have been found on the pottery from Kitsiel and Betatakin. Terraced figures are common; spirals are rare. Pottery designs from this region are simpler and like those of the Mesa Verde cliff-houses and the ruins along the San Juan River. Not only do the designs on prehistoric Sikyatki pottery have little resemblance to those from Tokonabi, a former home of the Snake clan, but the pottery from this region of Arizona is of coarser texture and different color. It is the same as that of the San Juan area, the decorations on which are about uniform with those from the Mesa Verde and Chelly Canyon. The best vases and bowls are of red or black-and-white ware.