Indians of the Mesa Verde

by Don Watson

As winter draws near and the threat of cold weather comes close the people check their clothing needs carefully. Each man, woman and child will need certain things so the weaving and sewing continue until everyone is well supplied. With the bountiful supplies of food, an abundance of fuel, and a good stock of clothing the people are able to face the dreary months of winter with less dread. They hate to see winter come for there will be suffering and sadness. But only winter can lead to spring so they must accept it.

In the late fall, when the rush of harvest is over and the preparations for winter are well under way, the men begin to think of ceremonies. This is the season for the greatest ceremonial activity and the men are often busy carrying out the rituals that are prescribed by their elaborate ceremonial calendar.

At almost any time of the year a ceremony of some kind is going on in Cliff Palace. It may be only a simple bit of ritual occupying a single medicine man or it may be an elaborate ceremony that occupies an entire religious society for many days. The priests of each society have a ceremonial calendar and as the seasons roll around they perform their ancient rituals. When, why and how those ceremonies originated they do not know. They learned them from their elders and they will pass them on to the younger men who will succeed them.

Throughout the year many ceremonies are held but the important ceremonial season comes in the late fall and winter. The work of spring, summer and fall is over and the men now have ample time for the involved rituals that keep them in tune with the powers that control the universe. These powers, or gods, are many and varied and strangely, they are both good and bad. The effort of the priests, then, is to call upon the good gods to help the people and to influence the bad gods to leave them alone.

Most important of all the powers is the Sun, who is the Father, and closely allied is the Earth Mother. In addition there are gods who control rain, growth of plants, fertility, the flow of springs and countless other things. Added to these are innumerable lesser supernatural beings who can help or harm the people. All nature is full of powers and it is the business of the medicine men to keep the whole complicated system in tune. It is not so much a worship of the forces of nature as a recognition of these forces. If they work smoothly together, life flows evenly and properly. If there is discord among the natural forces the people suffer. To them it means that some god is not pleased. The result is drouth, pestilence, famine, or any of the other curses that occasionally fall upon them.

In order to explain all of the acts of nature which influence the people, there is a tremendous mass of legends and myths. The origin of the universe and the origin of all life, including the people themselves, is contained in these myths. For every condition or act of nature there is an involved mythological explanation. The medicine men must keep this legendary background in order and they must faithfully carry out the yearly program of ceremonies. One of their most important duties is the training of the younger men. Just as they themselves received the myths and rituals from their elders so must they in turn pass them on to the men who will follow them.

In each generation a certain number of the men are concerned almost entirely with religious matters. They are the medicine men, or priests, to whom is entrusted the responsibility of the delicate adjustments between man and the forces of nature. Each religious society has one or more full-fledged medicine men and a number of younger men who are learning the profession. In addition, all of the other men of the society know a great deal about the mythological background and the ceremonies. Consequently, the men spend a great deal of time in religious work.

Cliff Palace has twenty-three kivas and a large number of secret religious societies. All of the societies have the same general beliefs and background but each society splits off from the main mythological stem and has certain phases of the religious work to carry out. The function of the various societies is to control the weather, bring rain, promote fertility and crops, assure successful hunts, control the sun and the seasons, cure sickness, combat witches and promote the general welfare of the people.

When a boy is twelve or fourteen years of age, he is initiated into one of the societies, usually into the one to which his “ceremonial father” belongs. This “ceremonial father” is the uncle who was chosen to be the boy’s adviser and sponsor and it is natural for the boy to follow him. The uncles on the mother’s side are in many ways closer to a boy than is his own father. The father belongs to a different clan and while he lives with his family, in his wife’s house, he spends a great deal of time with his own clan group where he may be the “ceremonial father” of one of his small nephews. Since marriage cannot take place between two members of the same clan the father is, to a certain extent, an outsider who has little to do with the religious training of his sons. Maternal uncles take the father’s place in this matter.

During the fall, the initiation ceremonies take place and the training of the boys begins. They must learn the legends, the rituals and the endless chants so they can bear their share of the ceremonial work. The few boys who are selected to be medicine men will do little else but sit at the feet of the older medicine men for a score of years. When their teachers die, they will be able to step into their places.