Chapter I: Part 1

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TUSAYAN KATCINAS

JESSE WALTER FEWKES

EXTRACT FROM THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1897

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 251

Tabular view of the sequence of Tusayan celebrations 255

Names of months and corresponding ceremonials 256

Means of determining the time for ceremonials 258

Classification of ceremonials 260

Discussion of previous descriptions of Katcinas 264

Classification of Katcinas 265
Elaborate Katcinas 268
Soyáluña 268
Katcina’s return 273
Powámû 274
Pálülükoñti 291
Nimánkatcina 292

Abbreviated Katcinas 292
Characteristics 292
Síocálako 296
Pawíkkatcina 299
Áñakatcina 303

Comparative study of Katcina dances in Cibola and Tusayan 304

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

PLATE CIV. _A_, Shield with star symbol; _B_, Soyáluña shield
with star and unknown symbol; _C_, Symbolic sun shield 262

CV. The Natácka ceremony at Walpi 267

CVI. Hahaíwüqti, Natácka, and Soyókmana 272

CVII. Doll of Cálakomana 278

CVIII. Katcina mask with squash-blossom appendage and
rain-cloud symbolism 286

CIX. Doll of Cálakomana (mistakenly given on the plate as
Cálakotaka) 294

CX. Head-dress of Alosaka 301

CXI. A Powámû mask 306

FIGURE 39. Tablet of the Palahíkomana mask 262

40. The Áñakatcina 294

41. Maskette of Áñakatcinamana 295

42. Position of celebrants in the court of Sitcomovi in
Síocálako 298

43. Mask of Pawíkkatcina (front view) 299

44. Mask of Pawíkkatcina (side view) 300

45. Mask of Pawíkkatcinamana 301

46. Staff of Pawíkkatcina 301

47. Helmets, ear of corn, and spruce bough arranged for
reception ceremony 302

48. Symbolism of the helmet of Húmiskatcina (tablet
removed) 307

THE GROUP OF TUSAYAN CEREMONIALS CALLED KATCINAS[1]

By JESSE WALTER FEWKES

INTRODUCTION

In their use of the word Katcina[2] the Hopi or Moki apply the term to supernatural beings impersonated by men wearing masks or by statuettes in imitation of the same. The dances in which the former appear are likewise called by the same name which with the orthography “Cachena” is used in descriptions of these dances in the valley of the upper Rio Grande. The present use of the term among the Tusayan Indians leads me to consider it as almost a synonym of a supernatural being of subordinate rank to the great deities. Ancestral worship plays a not inconspicuous part in the Hopi conception of a Katcina.

When we endeavor to classify the ceremonials which form the ritual practiced by the Tusayan villagers, the subject is found to be so complex that it can be adequately treated only by the help of observations extending through many years. The plan which I have followed in my work, as will be seen in previous publications, has been to gather and record data in regard to the details of individual observances as a basis for generalization.

My former publications on this subject have therefore been simply records of observations.[3] For various reasons it has seemed well to anticipate a final and general account and interpretation, with tentative efforts at a classification to serve as a stepping-stone to a more exhaustive and complete discussion of the relationship of these observances, which would naturally appear in an elaborate memoir necessitating a broader method of treatment than any yet adopted.

At the present stage of my researches it would be too early to write such an account of the ceremonial calendar of the Tusayan villagers, but it has been deemed well to put on record, with many new observations, this preliminary outline of what may be a portion of a general system, to aid other investigators in kindred fields of study. When I began my work, four years ago, the task of bringing order out of what appeared to be a hopeless confusion seemed well nigh impossible, but as one ceremony after another was studied it was found that the exactness of the ritual as exemplified in ceremonial presentations pertained even to details, and that there was a logical connection running throughout all the religious observances of the Tusayan Indians, the presentations of which were practically little influenced by white races with whom the people had been brought in contact. As these ceremonials were studied more sympathetically I discovered a unity throughout them which, whatever their origin may have been, placed them in marked contrast to those of the nomads by whom they were surrounded. They were found to belong to a type or ceremonial area in which the other Pueblos are embraced, the affinities of which carry us into different geographic regions of the American continent.

But while this type differs or differed in ancient times from those of Athapascan or Shoshonean aborigines, it bears evidence of a composite nature. It had become so by contributions from many sources, and had in turn left its impress on other areas, so that as a type the Pueblo culture was the only one of its kind in aboriginal America. With strong affinities on all sides it was unique, having nearest kinship with those of Mexico and Central America.

The geographic extension of the Pueblo type of culture was no doubt formerly much greater than it is at the present time. What its original boundaries were future investigation will no doubt help us to decide, but the problem at present before us is the determination of its characteristics as a survival in our times. When once this is satisfactorily known, and not until then, can we advance with confidence to wider generalizations as to its past distribution and offer theories regarding its affinities with other ceremonial areas of the American race.

It is doubtless true that we are not progressing beyond what can be claimed to be known when we say that all the Pueblo peoples belong to the same ceremonial type. I am sure that in prehistoric and historic times delegations from the Rio Grande country have settled among the Tusayan villagers, and that many families of the latter have migrated back to the Rio Grande again to make permanent homes in that section. The most western and the most eastern peoples of this Pueblo culture-stock have been repeatedly united in marriage, bringing about a consequent commingling of blood, and the legends of both tell of their common character. It is too early in research to inject into science the idea that the Pueblos are modified Indians of other stocks, and we outstrip our knowledge of facts if we ascribe to any one village or group of villages the implication involved in the expression, “Father of the Pueblos.” Part of the Pueblo culture is autochthonal, but its germ may have originated elsewhere, and no one existing Pueblo people is able satisfactorily to support the claim that it is ancestral outside of a very limited area.

In the present article I have tried to present a picture of one of the two great natural groups of ceremonials into which the Tusayan ritual is divided. I have sought also to lay a foundation for comparative studies of the same group as it exists in other pueblos, but have not found sufficient data in regard to these celebrations in other villages to carry this comparative research very far. Notwithstanding these dances occur in most of the pueblos, the published data about them is too meager for comparative uses. No connected description of these ceremonies in other pueblos has been published; of theoretical explanations we have more than are profitable. It is to be hoped that the ever-increasing interest in the ceremonials of the Pueblos of the southwest will lead to didactic, exoteric accounts of the rituals of all these peoples, for a great field for research in this direction is yet to be tilled.

In the use, throughout this article, of the words “gods,” “deities,” and “worship” we undoubtedly endow the subject with conceptions which do not exist in the Indian mind, but spring from philosophic ideas resulting from our higher culture. For the first two the more cumbersome term “supernatural beings”[4] is more expressive, and the word “spirit” is perhaps more convenient, except from the fact that it likewise has come to have a definite meaning unknown to the primitive mind.

Worship, as we understand it, is not a proper term to use in the description of the Indian’s methods of approaching his supernal beings. It involves much which is unknown to him, and implies the existence of that which is foreign to his conceptions. Still, until some better nomenclature, more exactly defining his methods, is suggested, these terms from their convenience will still continue in common use.

The dramatic element which is ascribed to the Katcina[5] ritual is more prominent in the elaborate than in the abbreviated presentations, as would naturally be the case, but even there it is believed to be less striking than in the second group or those in which the performers are without masks.

There exists in Hopi mythology many stories of the old times which form an accompanying body of tradition explaining much of the symbolism and some of the ritual, but nowhere have I found the sequence of the ceremonials to closely correspond with the episodes of the myth. In the Snake or the Flute dramatizations this coincidence of myth and ritual is more striking, but in them it has not gone so far as to be comparable with religious dramatizations of more cultured peoples. Among the Katcinas, however, it is more obscure or even very limited. While an abbreviated Katcina may be regarded as a reproduction of the celebrations recounted in legends of times when real supernatural beings visited the pueblos, and thus dramatizes semimythic stories, I fail to see aught else in them of the dramatic element.

The characteristic symbolism is prescribed and strictly conforms to the legends. Explanations of why each Katcina is marked this or that way can be gathered from legends, but the continuous carrying out of the sequence of events in the life of any Katcina, or any story of creation or migration, did not appear in any abbreviated[6] Katcina which was studied. In this subdivision a dramatic element is present, but only in the crudest form. In the elaborate Katcinas, however, we find an advance in the amount of dramatization, or an attempt to represent a story or parts of the same. Thus we can in Soyáluña follow a dramatic presentation of the legend of the conflict of the sun with hostile deities or powers, in which both are personified.

I must plead ignorance of the esoteric aspect of the Tusayan conceptions of the Katcinas when such exists. This want of knowledge is immaterial, for the object of this article is simply to record what has been seen and goes no further. I will not say that a complete account of the Katcinas can be given by such a treatment, and do not know how much or how little of their esoterism has eluded me, but these observations are wholly exoteric records of events rather than esoteric explanations of causes. It is thought that such a treatment of the subject will be an important contribution to the appreciation of explanations which it naturally precedes.

Although it seems probable that the ritual of primitive man contains elements of a more or less perfect dramatization of his mythology, I incline to the opinion that the ritual is the least variable and from it has grown the legend as we now know it. The question, Which came first, myth or ritual? is outside the scope of this article.

Any one who has studied the ceremonial system of the Tusayan Indians will have noticed the predominance of great ceremonials in winter. From harvest time to planting there is a succession of celebrations of most complicated and varied nature, but from planting to harvesting all these rites are much curtailed. The simplest explanation of this condition would be, and probably is, necessity. There is not time enough to devote to great and elaborate ceremonials when the corn must be cared for. Time is then too precious, but when the corn is high and the crop is in sight, or during the long winter when the agriculturist is at home unemployed, then the superstitious mind has freedom to carry on elaborate rites and observances, and then naturally he takes part in the complex ceremonies. Hence the spring and early summer religious observances are abbreviated. Although the Pueblo farmer may thoroughly believe in his ceremonial system as efficacious, his human nature is too practical to consume the precious planting time with elaborate ceremonials. But when he sees that the crop is coming and harvest is at hand, then he begins the series of, to him, magnificent pageants which extend from the latter part of August until March of the following year.

It has been proven by repeated observations of the same ceremonials that there is great constancy in the way successive presentations of the ritual are carried out year after year. The inevitable modifications resulting from the death of old priests undoubtedly in course of time affect individual observances, but their ritual is never voluntarily changed. The ceremonials which I have here and elsewhere described were not invented by them to show to me, nor will any religious society of the Hopi at the present day get up a ceremony to please the white man. Each observance is traditional and prescribed for a certain time of the year.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE SEQUENCE OF TUSAYAN CELEBRATIONS[7]

The following tabular view of the sequence of ceremonials may aid in the study of the Hopi calendar, and indicate the ceremonials presented to us for classification:

{ Katcina’s return.
_A_[8] { Powámû.
{ Pálülükoñti.

The abbreviated Katcinas commonly come in the interval, and vary somewhat from year to year.

{ Nimán (Katcina’s departure).
{ Snake or Flute (alternating).
{ Lálakoñti.
_B_ { Mamzraúti.
{ Wüwütcímti[9] (sometimes Naácnaiya).
{ Soyáluña.

_Masked or Katcina Ceremonials_

_Unmasked or Nine Days’ Ceremonials_

The Katcina chief, Íntiwa, erects his altar every year in the Móñkiva, but different kivas by rotation or otherwise celebrate the dance of the Nimán by their appropriate presentation, thus: The men of the Wikwáliobikiva celebrated the dance in 1891; those of Nacábkiva in 1892; those of the Álkiva in 1893, and probably in 1894 the men of the Tcivatokiva will personate the last Katcina of the summer. It thus will appear that the special supernatural personage represented varies from year to year within certain limits, and the variations mean nothing more than that the members of the different kivas participate in rotation.

NAMES OF MONTHS AND CORRESPONDING CEREMONIALS

The Tusayan names of the months are as follows:

The second part of the October (Ü′cü) is said to be called Tü′hoe. If this is recognized as a lunar period we would have 14 divisions to the ceremonial year. In the Pamü′iyawû, the Snake ceremony, and the Katcina’s return, the same Nüitiwa (struggle of maids for bowls, etc) occurs.

It will be noticed that the five summer moons have the same names as those of the winter; by that I do not mean to discard the divisions “named” and “nameless,” elsewhere used on good authority. The questions regarding the nomenclature of the different moons and their number are very perplexing and not yet satisfactorily answered.

The determination of the number of moons recognized in the year or the interval between the successive reappearance of the sun in his house (Táwaki) at the summer solstitial rising is a most important question, for a satisfactory answer to which my researches thus far are insufficient. Several of the priests have told me that there were 13, as given above; but others say there are 12, and still others, 14. The comparative ethnologist, familiar with Mexican calendars, would be glad to accept the report that there were 13, in which case there would be introduced a remarkable harmony between peoples akin in many ways. Although, however, there is good evidence that 13 is recognized by some priests, the negative evidence must be mentioned, especially as it is derived from men whose knowledge of Hopi lore I have come to respect. I have, however, provisionally followed the opinion of those who hold that the Hopi recognize 13 ceremonial months in their calendar.

If the second part of the Ü′cü moon be called Tü′hoe, we would have 14 moons, which would give 6 between 2 Pówa, or 2 Pa, Kéle, Kyá, and divide the ceremonial year into two parts of 7 moons each. The Katcina’s return (Ükine), or the beginning of the Katcinas, then occurs in the Pa moon; they end in Kyá at the Nimán (last, farewell). The group of unmasked ceremonials (nine days) likewise begins at the Pa moon in the Snake or Flute, and ends at the winter, Kyá, or Soyáluña.

In endeavoring to find some reason for the similarity of names in the two groups of months which compose the ceremonial year I have this interesting hint, dropped by one of the priests: “When we of the upper world,” he said, “are celebrating the winter Pa moon the people of the under world are engaged in the observance of the Snake or Flute, and vice versa.” The ceremonials in the two worlds are synchronous. “That is the reason,” said my informant, “that we make the Snake or Flute pahos during the winter season, although the dance is not celebrated until the corresponding month of the following summer.”[11]

MEANS OF DETERMINING THE TIME FOR CEREMONIALS

Among the Hopi Indians there are priests (tawawympkiyas) skilled in the lore of the sun, who determine, by observations of the points on the horizon, where the sun rises or sets, the time of the year proper for religious ceremonials. Two of these points are called sun houses, one at tátyüka,[12] which is called the sun house (táwaki) par excellence, another at kwiníwi, which also is called táwaki, or sun house.

The points on the horizon used in the determination of ceremonial events are as follows:

1. Táwaki (hütca, opening). The horizon point properly called savwúwee marks the cardinal point tátyüka or place of sunrise at the winter solstice. The winter ceremony Soyáluña is determined not by sunrise, but by sunset, although, as a general thing, the time of summer ceremonials is determined by observations of sunrise.

2. Másnamüzrü (mási, drab or gray; namüzrü, wooded ridge). This point is the ridge or crest of the mesa, east of Püp′ce.

3. Pavüñ′tcómo (pavüñ, young corn; tcómo, mound). A point on the old wagon trail to Fort Defiance, a little beyond the head of Keams canyon.

4. Hoñwítcomo (derivation obscure; hóñwi, erect).

5. Nüváktcomo (nüvák, snow; tcómo, mound). When the sun reaches here on its northern journey the Honáni or Badger people plant corn; the other Hopi people plant melons, squashes, and gourds.

6. Pülhomotaka (pülü, round, hump; hómo, obscure; táka, man; possibly many hump-back men). When the sun reaches here the Pátki or Water people plant corn. When the sun returns here the Snake-Antelope fraternities assemble for the Snake dance.

7. Kwitcála.[13] When the sun rises at this point on his northward journey general planting begins, which continues until the summer solstice. When the sun returns to this point on his southerly journey the Nimánkatcina is celebrated.

8. Taíovi (?).

9. Owátcoki (owa, rock; tcóki, mound house).

10. Wü′nacakabi (wü′na, pole; cáka, ladder).

11. Wakácva, cattle spring, 12 miles north of Keams canyon.

12. Paváukyaki, swallow house.

13. Tüyüka, summer solstice.

We are justified in accepting the theory that sun and moon[14] worship is usual among primitive men. Whether that of the sun or of our satellite was the earlier it is not in the province of this article to discuss, but it is doubtless true that sun worship is a very ancient cult among most primitive peoples. The Pueblos are not exceptions, and while we can not say that their adoration is limited to the sun, it forms an essential element of their ritual, while their anhydrous environment has led them into a rain-cloud worship and other complexities. I think we can safely say, however, that the germ of their astronomy sprang from observations of the sun, and while yet in a most primitive condition they noticed the fact that this celestial body did not always rise or set at the same points on the horizon. The connection between these facts and the seasons of the year must have been noted early in their history, and have led to orientation, which plays such an important part in all their rituals. Thus the approach of the sun to a more vertical position in the sky in summer and its recession in winter led to the association of time when the earth yielded them their crops with its approach, and the time when the earth was barren with its recession. These epochs were noticed, however, not by the position of the sun at midday, but at risings and settings, or the horizon points. The two great epochs, summer and winter, were, it is believed, connected with solstitial amplitudes, and the equinoctial, horizontal points, unconnected with important times to agriculturists, were not considered as of much worth. There is every evidence, however, that the time of day was early indicated by the altitude of the sun, although the connection of the altitude at midday with the time of year was subordinated to observations on the horizon.

CLASSIFICATION OF CEREMONIALS

In attempting to make out the annual cycle of ceremonial observances, as determined by observations made during the last three years, I recognize two groups, the differences between which may be more or less arbitrary. These groups are called—

I. The Katcinas.
II. The Nine days’ ceremonials.

The former of these groups, which is the subject of this article, begins with the Katcinas’ return,[15] and ends with their departure (Nimán). It is not my purpose here to do more than refer to the latter group, as a short reference to them may be of value for a proper understanding of the Katcinas.

There are significant likenesses between different members of the series of nine days’ ceremonials, and they may be grouped in several pairs, of which the following may be mentioned:

I. Snake or Flute.[16]
II. Lálakoñti and Mamzraúti.
III. Powámû and Pálülükoñti.
IV. Wüwütcímti and Naácnaiya.

The likenesses are built on the similarity of the rites practiced in both members of each pair. The Hopi priests recognize another kinship which does not appear in the nature of the ceremonies as much as in the subordinate parts. Thus, Lálakoñti and Pálülükoñti, Wüwütcímti and Mamzraúti are brother and sister ceremonials, according to their conceptions. This kinship is said to account for certain events in the ceremonials, and friendly feeling manifested between certain societies, but much obscurity envelops this whole subject of relationships.

The term “Nine days’ ceremonies” refers to the active[17] ceremonial days, including those in which the chiefs perform the secret observance and the open dance of the last days. Strictly speaking, the ceremonial smoke to determine the time is a part of the observance, and from this date to the final public exhibition there are sixteen days, a multiple of the omnipresent number four.

Some of the Katcinas have nine days of ceremonials, counting the assembly and the final purification.

The inception of the ceremony is called tcótcoñ yüñya, smoking assembly, in which the chiefs (moñ′mowitû) meet together in the evening at a prescribed house. The meeting places are as follows:

Tcütcüb (Snake-Antelope fraternity) Snake chief’s mother’s house.
Mamzraú Sálako’s.
Lálakoñ Kótcnümsi’s.
Soyáluña Vénsi’s.
Wüwütcím Tcíwüqti’s.
Lénya (Flute) Talásvensi’s.
Nimán Kwümaletci’s.

On the day following this smoke the speaker chief (tcaákmoñwi) at early sunrise announces to the public that the ceremony is to begin, and to the six direction deities (nananivo moñ′mowitû) that the priests are about to assemble to pray for rain. Eight days after the announcement the chiefs gather in the kiva, and that day is called yüñya, assemblage, but is not counted in the sequence of ceremonial days. The first ceremonial day is Cüctála, after which follow the remaining days as already explained in my account of the Snake ceremonials. Counting the days from the commencement, the Snake, Flute, Nimán, Lálakoñti, and Mamzraúti are always celebrated in extenso sixteen days, or nine days of active ceremonies, as shown in articles elsewhere. When Naácnaiya is not celebrated, Wüwütcímti, Powámû, Soyáluña, and Pálülükoñti are abbreviated to four days of active ceremonials.

The following diagnosis may be made of these great nine days’ ceremonials: Duration of the ceremony, nine consecutive days and nights; no masked dancers in secret or public exhibitions; no Katcinas; no Tcukúwympkiyas.[18] Altars and sand mosaics generally present. Individual ceremonials either annual or biennial, but in either case at approximately the same time of the year; sequence constant. Típoni[19] generally brought out in the public dance. Many páhos,[20] ordinarily of different length (Snake, Flute, Lálakoñti, Mamzraúti), to deposit in shrines at varying distances from the town. Ceremonial racing, generally in the morning of the eighth and ninth days.

The following are the important nine days’ ceremonies:

1. The Antelope-Snake celebration, alternating biennially with the Lélenti or Flute observance.

2. The Lálakoñti. This ceremony lasts nine days and as many nights, and is celebrated by women. The details of the celebration at Walpi in 1891, together with the altars, fetiches, and the like have already been published.[21] It has some likenesses with the Mamzraúti, which follows it in sequence. There are four priestesses, the chief of whom is Kótcnümsi. Three típonis were laid on the altar in the celebration of 1891, although it is customary for each society to have but one típoni, which, with the other paraphernalia, is in the keeping of the chief priest.

3. The Mamzraúti. This ceremonial has likewise been described.[22] In some celebrations of this festival girls appear with tablets on their heads personifying maids called Palahíkomanas. In 1891 these personages were represented by pictures[23] of the same on slabs carried in the hands of girls. In this way the variations of their celebrations in different years may be explained; sometimes women are dressed to impersonate the Palahíkomanas, at others only pictures of the same are carried.

SHIELD WITH STAR SYMBOL.

SOYALUNA SHIELD WITH UNKNOWN SYMBOL.

SYMBOLIC SUN SHIELD.

DRAWN BY MARY M. MITCHELL. A. HOEN & CO., LITH.]

4. The Wüwütcímti. The Naácnaiya, of which this is an abbreviated observance, has been described.[24] One of the most prominent events is the ceremonial making of the new fire; and as this is in a measure distinctive of these two, it is proper to designate them the New Fire ceremonies.

In essentials the Naácnaiya and the Wüwütcímti are the same, but the former appears to be of less constant appearance and more complicated. In it, as elsewhere described, the statuette of Talátumsi is brought into the pueblo, but in the abbreviated form offerings are made at her shrine down the trail. During the making of the new fire Ánawita,[25] personifying Masauwûh, is hidden behind a blanket held by two assistants.

The second group, called the Katcinas, which may be divided into two smaller divisions, known as the elaborate and the abbreviated, fills out the sequence of religious ceremonials between the Soyáluña and the Nimánkatcina. These celebrations are distinguished from those of the former group by the presence of masked personages to whom is given the name of Katcinas. By the use of these masks or helmets the participant is supposed to be transformed into the deity represented, and women and children avoid looking at Katcinas when unmasked. The main symbolism of the deity is depicted on the helmet or head, and varies in different presentations, but the remaining paraphernalia is constant, whatever personage is represented.[26]

The mask (kü′ĭtü, head) is often addressed as íkwatci, “my friend or double.” Prescriptively it must be put on and taken off with the left hand.[27] It is of helmet shape, fitting closely to the head and resting on the shoulders. These masks or helmets are repainted at each presentation with the symbolism of the personage intended to be represented. They are ordinarily made of leather, portions of boot legs or saddles, and in one or two instances I have found on their inside the embossed or incised markings characteristic of Spanish saddles. Old felt hats are sometimes used in the manufacture of the simpler masks and those of the mud-heads are of coarse cloth. Few of the helmets now used give evidence of very great antiquity, although some are made of the skin of the bison. One can seldom purchase these helmets, as their manufacture is difficult, and instead of being discarded after use in one ceremony they are repainted for other presentations.

There is a similar uniformity year by year in the time of the celebration of the extended or elaborate Katcinas called Nimán, Powámû, Pálülükoñti, Soyáluña, and the Pa or Katcina’s return. Their sequence is always the same, but in the abbreviated Katcinas or masked dances this uniformity is not adhered to. A certain number of these are celebrated each spring and summer, but the particular abbreviated Katcina[28] which is presented varies from year to year, and may or may not be reproduced.

While Katcinas or masked dances do not generally occur during the interval of the nine days’ ceremonials (autumn and early winter), I have notes on one of these which indicate that they sometimes take place in this epoch.

On September 20, 1893, a Katcina called Áñakatcina[29] was performed in Hano after the Nimán had been celebrated in Walpi. Theoretically it would not be expected, as the farewell Katcina is universally said to be a celebration of the departure of these personages to their distant home, an event which does not occur at Hano. It would be strange if later observations should show that Katcinas are celebrated in other villages between the departure and return of these personages.

DISCUSSION OF PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF KATCINAS

Our exact knowledge of the character of the Hopi Katcinas dates back to Schoolcraft’s valuable compilation. While the existence of these dances was known previously to that time, and several references to similar dances among the other Pueblos might be quoted from the writings of Spanish visitors, our information of the Katcina celebrations in Tusayan previously to 1852 is so fragmentary that it is hardly of value in comparative studies. In the year named Dr P. S. G. Ten Broeck visited Tusayan and published a description of what was probably a Katcina dance at Sitcomovi. Although his account is so imperfect that we can not definitely say what Katcina was personated, his description was the first important contribution to our knowledge of the character of these dances among the Hopi Indians. It will be noticed in a general way that the personation differed but slightly from those of the present day. Ten Broeck noted that the male dancers, Katcinas, wore on their heads “large pasteboard towers” (náktci?), and “visors[30] made of small willows, with the bark peeled off and dyed a deep brown.” He recognized that the female dancers (Katcinamanas) were men dressed as women and that they wore yellow “visors” and dressed their hair in whorls as at the present time. He described the musical (?) accompaniment of the dance with the scapula of an animal rubbed over a “ground piece of wood.” He likewise noticed the priests who sprinkled the dancers with sacred meal, and speaks of two small boys painted black with white rings who accompanied the dance. The latter may have been personifications of the Little Fire Gods.

The Hopi clowns, Tcukúwympkiyas, were likewise seen by Ten Broeck, who described their comical actions. From his description of the byplay of their “assistants,” I find very little change has taken place since his time. In the Katcina which he observed food was distributed during the dance, as I have elsewhere described is the case today. Although much might be added to Ten Broeck’s description, his observations were the most important which had been made known up to his time, and continued for forty years the most valuable record of this group[31] of dances among the Tusayan Indians.

CLASSIFICATION OF KATCINAS

Before considering the various ceremonials in which the Katcinas appear, it may be well to say something of the nature of these supernatural beings which figure in them as made known by the testimony of some of the best-informed men of the tribe. The various legends which are told about them are numerous and can not be repeated here, but a few notions gathered from them may render it possible for the reader to better understand the character of the ceremonials in which they appear.

These deities are generally regarded as animistic and subordinate to the greater gods.[32] They have been called intercessors between man and the highest supernatural beings. There are misty legends that long ago the Katcinas, like men, came from the under world and brought with them various charms or náhü with which the Hopi are familiar. By some it is said that a Honáni (Badger) chief came up from the Átkyaa, or under world, in the center of a square whose four sides were formed of lines of Katcinas, and that he bore in his left hand a buzzard wing feather and a bundle of medicine hats on his back. The Katcinas recognized him as their chief, and became Katcina Honáni, Badger Katcinas.

The legend runs that in ancient times Hahaíwüqti[33] emerged from the under world followed by four sons, who were Katcinas, each bearing in his arms a pet called pálülükoñûh, plumed serpent. Following these four came other Katcinas with pets (pókomatü), of whom the following are mentioned:

One bearing pákwa, frog (water-eagle).

One bearing pátsro, water-bird.

One bearing pawíkya, duck.

One bearing pavákiyuta, water on the backs bearers, aquatic animals.

One bearing yüñ′ocona, turtle.

One bearing zrána, bullfrog.

One bearing pavátiya, young water bearer (tadpole).

The others with kwáhü (eagle), parrot, crow, cooper’s hawk, swallow, and night hawk.

The Súmaíkoli pets for the six directions are:

Sowüñwû, deer Kwiníwi.
Pañ′wû, mountain sheep Tevyüña.
Tcü′bio, antelope Tatyúka.
Tcaízrisa, elk Hópoka.
Sówi, hare Omyúka.
Tábo, cottontail rabbit Atkyántuka.

The first four Katcinas bear a startling yet foreign resemblance to the Navaho Etsuthçle.[34] The word pókomatü is difficult to translate, but “pets” seems a good rendering. Its usage is similar to that of certain Navaho words. A Navaho woman speaks of a favorite child as ciliⁿ; a man calls his pet horse ciliⁿ, and the shaman designates his fetich-emblem of a nature deity bĭliⁿ; a Hopi calls his dog póko. The pet of Tuñwup is depicted on the altar as elsewhere mentioned in my account of the reredos of the farewell Katcina at Walpi.[35]

THE NATACKA CEREMONY AT WALPI]

In the Hopi conception of the All Katcina there seems to be an idea that they dwell in four terrestrial places or world-quarters.[36] This may be looked on as an application of a general idea of world-quarter deities so common among them.

Northwest, kwiníwi Kicyúba.
Southwest, tevyüña Nüvatikyaubi, San Francisco mountains.
Southeast, tatyúka Wénima.
Northeast, hópoko Nüvatikyaubi, San Mateo mountains.

If there is any one feature which distinguishes a Katcina it is the use, by some or all of the participants, of a mask or ceremonial helmet. The Katcinas are divided into two groups, the complete and the abbreviated; the former is constant year by year, the latter varying. Altars are present in the complete, absent in abbreviated presentations. A cloud-charm altar or invocation to the six world-quarter deities is sometimes made. Public announcements are not prescribed. The Tcukúwympkiya or clowns are generally present. Abbreviated Katcinas consist mainly of public dances in which Katcinas, Katcinamanas, and clowns take part. The páhos or prayer offerings are few in number. Ceremony ends with a feast; generally no altars. Típoni[37] is not brought out in public. It is possible that the fox-skin so universally worn by the animistic personifications called Katcinas hanging from the belt behind, is a survival comparable with the skin of the animal in which formerly, as in Nahuatl ceremonials, the whole body was clothed. In the case of Natácka, for instance, a skin is still worn over the shoulders. Conservatism in dress is tenaciously adhered to in religious paraphernalia among all peoples.

Roughly speaking we may say that the Katcina celebrations are characterized by the presence of the Tcukúwympkiyas (Tatcükti, Tcückütû, Paikyamû or clowns), which do not appear in the unmasked or nine days’ ceremonials. The epoch in which they remain among the Hopi is therefore approximately that from the winter to the summer solstices; that in which they are absent, from the summer to the winter solstices.[38]

I classify the Katcina celebrations into two large groups, which may be called the elaborate and the abbreviated, and have considered them in the following pages.

ELABORATE KATCINAS

Under the head of elaborate Katcinas[39] may be included:

Soyáluña.
Katcina’s return.[40]
Powámû,
Pálülükoñti.
Nimánkacma.

SOYÁLUÑA

The celebration in the December moon has not as yet been described,[41] but a large body of material relating thereto is in my hands. In order to give a general idea of its character a brief outline of a characteristic portion of it is inserted in this place. Soyáluña is distinctly a warriors’ observance, and has been called the Return Katcina. In one sense it may be so designated, but more strictly it is the return of the War god, regarded as a leader of the gods, and in that recalls the Nahuatl Teotleco, as elsewhere pointed out. The singing of the night songs of the warriors is one of the most effective archaic episodes of the ceremonial of the winter solstice.

In the following account a description of a few events in the celebration of 1891 is introduced:

On the 22d of December of that year most of the men of the villages prepared cotton strings, to the end of which they tied feathers and piñon needles. These were given away during the day to different persons, some receiving from one to two dozen, which they tied in their hair. When a maker of these feathered strings presented one to a friend, he said, as translated, “Tomorrow all the Katcinas to you grant your wishes,” holding his bundle vertically and moving it with a horizontal motion. At nightfall each man procured a willow wand from 3 to 4 feet long and looped upon it all the strings which he had received. He then carried his stick to the Móñkiva and placed it in the rafters, thus imparting to the ceiling the appearance of a bower of feathers and piñon needles.

All the kivas were meeting places of the participants, but the Tátaukyamû met at the Móñkiva, where the principal festivities took place. Their chief wore a head-dress decorated with symbols of rain-clouds (plate CVIII), and carried a shield upon which was depicted the sun (plate CIV). The chief of a second society carried a shield upon which was drawn a star (plate CIV), and a third chief bore a shield with an antelope drawn upon it. The head-dress of the chief of the Aáwympkiya was adorned with glistening triplex horns, and on his shield was represented an unknown Katcina (plate CIV). The fifth society was Kwákwantû, or warrior, whose chief carried in his hand an effigy of the great snake (Pálülükoñûh) which was carved from the woody stalk of the agave (kwan), from which the society was named. He came from the Tcivato-kiva and on his shield was depicted a Kwákwantû in full costume. The sixth society was the Tatcü′kti or “knobbed heads;” their shield-bearer wore a head-dress like a coronet, while on his shield was drawn a black figure with lozenge-shape eyes. The shield of the chief of the seventh society was adorned with a picture of the Táwamoñwi or sun chief.

After the societies had entered the kiva an invocation to the cardinal points was chanted, and the shield-bearers, in turn, standing over the sípapû, stamped on it. At a signal the society arranged itself into two irregular groups, one on the north, the other on the south side of the main floor. All then vehemently burst forth into a song, the shield-bearer making eccentric dashes among his associates, first to one side and then to the other.

While the song lasted the shield-bearer continued these short, swift rushes, and the assembled groups crouched down and met his dashes by rising and driving him back to the sípapû. He madly oscillated from right to left, that is, from the north to the south side of the room, and swung his shield in rhythm, while those near him beat their feet in time. The shield was dashed from face to face, and the groups made many motions as if to seize it, but no one did more than to touch it with outstretched hands. The movements on both sides were highly suggestive of attack and defense.

At 8 p. m. about one dozen men were collected in the Móñkiva, among whom was Lésma playing a flageolet. The hatchway was guarded by a tyler, and for a nátci there was placed there a wicker skullcap ornamented with a pair of imitation mountain-sheep horns (plate CX), Two hours later the room was densely packed with naked men, their bodies undecorated, wearing small eagle plumes attached to the crown of the head. Two women were present. Anawíta, chief of the Kwákwantû, sat alone on the southern side of the main floor which was clear in the middle, and twelve chiefs, among them Címo, Súpela, and Tcubéma, sat opposite him.

Ten novices from the other kivas entered gorgeously arrayed in white kilts, brilliant crowns of feathers, white body decorations, bearing an imitation squash blossom, with spruce sprigs in their left hands and corn in their right hands. As the chiefs took their places Lésma sprinkled the floor of the room near the ladder with moist valley sand, about an inch deep. The novices stepped from the ladder upon this sand and passed up in front of the chiefs, then squatted before them facing the south, their kilts having been lifted so that they sat on the cold floor.

Anawíta then crossed over to the south side of the room and seated himself at the east end of the line of chiefs.

At the west wall of the kiva a strange altar had been erected. Lésma had piled against the ledge of this part of the kiva a stack of corn, two or more ears of which had been contributed by the maternal head of each family in the pueblo. At either side and in front of the stack of corn shrubbery had been placed. In the space between the top of the corn pile and the roof wands were placed, and to these wands had been fastened many artificial flowers, 4 or 5 inches in diameter, set close together but in no regular lines. There were over 200 of these flowers of different colors, dark-red and white predominating. Nearly in the center of this artificial shrubbery there was a large gourd shell with the convex side turned toward the audience and having an aperture about 8 inches in diameter in its center. Through this opening had been thrust the head of an effigy[42] of Pálülükoñûh, the plumed-head snake, painted black, with a tongue-like appendage protruding from the mouth. When all the assembled priests were seated a moment of solemn stillness ensued, after which Súpela arose, cast a handful of meal toward the effigy of the snake, and said a short prayer in a reverent tone.[43] Then the head of the snake, which was manipulated by an unseen person behind the altar, was observed to rise slowly to the center of the aperture, and a mellow sounding roar like a blast through a conch appeared to come from the mouth, while the whole head was made to quiver and wave. The sound was of short duration, repeated four times, and then the head reposed again on the lower rim of the ground shell. Presently was heard a sound as of a scapula drawn across a notched stick six times. All the old chiefs in succession cast meal to the effigy and prayed, and in response to each the great snake emitted sounds identical with those mentioned above. The spectators then left the kiva, and a frenzied dance of strange character occurred. The societies from other kivas came in, and the chief of each declaimed in a half-chanting voice which rose to a shriek at the close of a stanza. First, he drew back to the fireplace, and then with a shuffling gait approached the symbolic opening in the floor called the sípapû.

Anawíta then shouted at the top of his voice, and the shuffler sprang in the air and vaulted over the sípapû. Then everybody in the room shouted loudly and a song in concert followed. A moment later the visiting societies dashed down the ladder, each bearing a splendid shield ornamented with the figure of the sun and a rim of radiating eagle feathers. Each society had its distinctive sun shield, which on entering was handed to the chief. As he received it he stamped on the sípapú and a fierce song was sung. Meanwhile two members of the society stood apart from their fellows against the southern wall facing each other, each holding a squash flower emblem in a bouquet of spruce twigs and an ear of corn in his left hand.

Suddenly the fifteen or twenty members of the society drew back from their chief, who then sprang upon the sípapû plank, and quickly turning faced them as all burst forth in an ecstatic shouting, with wild flinging of their arms as they approached the shield-bearers. They naturally formed two clusters, and as the shield-bearer dashed his shield in their faces they surged back, to leap again toward him. This seeming assault, wild though it appeared, was maintained in time with the song. The two chieftains joined their men, all in ecstatic frenzy, and one of them, shaking his shield, sprang from right to left, drawing back his assistants in rhythm with the beating of the feet of all on the floor. After a few moments of most exhaustive movements some of the weaker staggered up the ladder, and shortly after one of the chiefs fell fainting to the floor, overcome by exhaustion and the intense heat of the room. One splendid athlete danced with vigor for fully five minutes, and then swept toward the ladder where the assistant was standing in readiness to receive his shield. Another stride and he reached the foot of the ladder and suddenly became as rigid as a corpse. The men who belonged to the Móñkiva took no part in this exhaustive dance but stood in readiness to carry those who fainted up the ladder to the cool air outside.

It has been suggested that this assault of the men on the bearer of the sun shield dramatizes the attack of hostile powers on the sun, and that the object is to offset malign influences or to draw back the sun from a disappearance suggested by its southern declination.[44] In this possible interpretation it is well to consider that immediately preceding it the archaic offerings and prayers to the great snake were made, as described, in the presence of spectators. The idea of hostility of the great snake to the sun is an aboriginal American conception. In the Maya Codex Cortesianus (33_b_) the plumed snake is represented[45] as swallowing the sun as in an eclipse. If Soyáluña is a propitiatory ceremony to prevent the destruction or disappearance of the sun in winter or to offset the attacks of hostile malevolent deities upon him, we can see a possible explanation of the attacks and defenses of the sun as here dramatized.[46] The evil influences of the great snake are met by the prayers to his effigy; the attacks of other less powerful deities are dramatized in the manner indicated.

The following contains a few suggestions in regard to the character of the dramatization in the December celebration. In the prayers to the Plumed Snake his hostility was quieted, and the chiefs did what they could to propitiate that powerful deity, who was the great cause of their apprehension that the beneficent sun (Táwa) would be overcome. Then followed the dramatization of the conflict of opposing powers, possibly representing other deities hostile to our beneficent father, the sun. Although the struggle involved, so far as the participants were concerned, their highest powers of endurance and bodily suffering, the sun-shield or symbol of Táwa had the good fortune to resist the many assaults made upon it.

The introduction of dramatization as an explanation of the warrior celebration is theoretic, therefore not insisted upon, and is at least plausible until a better interpretation is suggested. It has in its support the evidence drawn from a comparative study of ceremonials. In the light of this theory the return and departure of the Katcina has a new significance, and may be regarded as a modified sun myth. At the winter solstice the sun and his attendant deities have reached their most distant point, and turned to come back to the pueblos. In the mid-summer the solar deity approached them; he was near them, and in appreciation of this fact, which means blessings, the poor Hopi made his offering;[47] danced the Snake dance, asking the snake to bring the rain, believing he was no longer hostile or at enmity with the sun. But the withdrawal of the gods (Farewell Katcinas) could not be delayed by these rites, and the sun each day drew farther from them. The Katcinas (gods) departed; the bright, beneficent summer gave place to cold, dreary winter; life was replaced by death. In this most critical epoch the warriors, the most potent human powers of the pueblo, performed their ceremony to bring back the beneficent god and his train. The Nahuatl priest called a similar ceremony “Teotleco,” the god comes—“The dead god is reborn,” says Duran. The gods (Katcinas) come, say the Hopi (Soyáluña, all assemblage; derived from co, all; yuñya, assemblage). The Nahuatl priest sprinkled meal on the floor of the teocalli, and when he saw in the meal the footprint of the War god, the leader of the divinities, he announced the fact. The Hopi priest still continues to sprinkle sand on the kiva floor during the ceremony.

HAHAÍWÜQTI, NATÁCKA, AND SOYÓKMANA]

KATCINA’S RETURN

The first celebration of the Katcinas in the spring, several months after their departure,[48] took place in that division of the year called the Pamüyawû,and is known as Mohti Katcínumyüñya, or “First Katcina assembly.” I have called it the Return Katcina. It follows directly after the winter páho making of the Snake-Antelope or Flute societies, which varies in character according to whether the Snake or the Flute society gives the presentation that year. In 1893 it followed the Snake páho making, and in 1894 that of the Flute. It may be called a composite, abbreviated assembly of Katcinas.

During the day Katcina masks were renovated in the kivas of the mesa, and there were visitations at all the kivas by the personators in the coming celebration. Women and children crowded the spectators’ quarters of these rooms, and the performances lasted from 10 oclock in the evening until 2 oclock of the following morning. Previously to the exhibition in the kivas, men personating different Katcinas visited the following points to make hómoya or meal offerings and to say appropriate prayers:

On the 24th of this month (Pa), as after the Snake ceremonials,[50] the Nüitiwa, or struggles of the maids with the men for bowls, etc., took place, except that in this instance it was a struggle with a Katcina and not, as in the Snake observance, between girls and young men.

From the foregoing table we learn that in the Return Katcina for 1894 the following[51] were personified:

1. Kütca (white) aña.
2. Coyóhim.
3. Tcakwaína.
4. Pópkotu.
5. Mucaízru.
6. Hü′iki.
7. Hehéa.
8. Avátchoya.
9. Tacáb.
10. Humís.

The accompanying clowns were the Tatcü′kti or knob-head priests. It is an interesting fact that in the celebration of the departure of the Katcinas the clowns took no part, but these priests were important additions to the Síocálako.

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Tusayan katcinasChapter I: Part 1

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