At the end of the ceremony the kiva becomes a club room and workshop again. Paraphernalia is stored away on the ledges or in small niches in the kiva walls and normal life resumes. A kiva presents a varied scene, for any activity carried on by the men may be performed there. Undisturbed by outsiders they work, loaf, gamble, gossip, trade and sleep in this room which is their most prized possession. Since the women own the homes the kiva is the only bit of real property the men can call their own.
Because of the strange social and religious customs a man’s life is divided into three parts. His family life centers about his wife’s house for there live the wife and children whom he cherishes and for whom he provides. His social life centers about his mother’s home for there lies his clan affiliation. His religious life centers in the kiva which belongs to his religious society or fraternity. These three interests do not conflict. They dovetail perfectly, each taking its proper share of the man’s time and attention.
The life of a woman is much less complicated. Most of her activities concern the home and family and her full time is occupied with them.
Interior details of the kiva
The kiva roof formed an open court where many activities took place
Some of the most important religious duties of the men are concerned with a great ceremonial building which stands on the mesa top just across the canyon from Cliff Palace. It is a massive, D-shaped building which dominates a high, narrow point between two canyons. Near it are a number of cliff dwellings and the men from all these joined in constructing the building. On days when it is used, priests and men from all the villages come trotting up the trails to join in the performance of the elaborate ceremonies. It is a superceremonial structure where only the most important rites are performed.
When the building was constructed, the priests planned it very carefully. The main building is D-shaped, with the straight wall to the south. The outside wall is double and in the space between are a number of long narrow rooms, some without doorways. In the court enclosed by the walls are two kivas. This part of the building is symmetrical, the result of the very careful planning of the priests. On the west end of the building is an addition consisting of a kiva and ten rooms, all added in such a way that the entire building is still D-shaped. The building has no roof and all of the walls are over a dozen feet high. Half of the rooms have no doors; they are deep, small rooms entered by ladders.
This building is open to the sun and the elements, in this respect being entirely different from the underground kivas. The thick, high, double walls and the location on the isolated point give the priests the secrecy they desire and in this unique building are held the greatest of all the ceremonies. Long ago the priests of the various villages decided there was a need for this community place of worship. By concerted effort they built it and through the cooperation of the many societies they have carried on the ceremonies. It is their supreme effort toward a perfect adjustment with the powers that control their destiny.