[At this point, while-still continuing the prayer, he scratches or cuts in the earth or sands with the edge of the arrow-point, which is lashed to the back or feet of the fetich, a line about five or six inches in length].
| ai′-yäl-la-na-wá. | Ethl | thlothl-tchu-á | í-na-kwe | í-pi-kwai-nam-tun | a-k'iá | hom | ton | aí-yäl-la-na-wá. | [Here he scratches a second line.] |
| shelter (pl.) shall give. shield | Not that | whomsoever | (of the) enemy | pass themselves through to | hence | to me | ye | shelter shield (pl.) shall (give), |
| Hâk-ti-tä′sh-a-ná, | [scratches a third line.] | Ä-tchi-a-lä′-to-pá, | [scratches a fourth line] | hom | ton | í-ke-i-nan | aí-yäl-la-na-wá. |
| Tail-long (Mountain Lion), | Knife-feathered, | my | ye | heart | shelter shield(pl.) shall give. |
[These lines, although made immediately in front of the speaker, relate to the four points of the compass, the other two regions not being taken into account, since it is impossible for the enemy to bring harm from either above or below the plane on which the subject moves. It may be well to add, also, that four (the number of the true fingers) is the sacred numeral of the Zuñis, as with most all Indian tribes and many other lower races.]
FREE TRANSLATION.
Si! This day, my fathers, ye animal gods, although this country be filled with enemies, render me precious. That my existence may not be in any way so ever unexpectedly dared by the enemy, thus, O! shelter give ye to me (from them). (In order) that none of the enemy may pass through (this line) hence, O! shelter give ye to me (from them). Long Tail [Mountain Lion], Knife-feathered [God of the Knife Wings], O! give ye shelter of my heart from them.
On the conclusion of this prayer the fetich is breathed upon and replaced, or sometimes withheld until after the completion of the war-song and other chants in which the three gods mentioned above are, with others, named and exhorted, thereby, in the native belief, rendering protection doubly certain. I am of course thoroughly familiar with these war chants, rituals, etc. They abound in archaic terms and are fraught with great interest, but belong more properly to another department of Zuñi worship than that of the mere fetichism; as, indeed, do most other recitations, chants, etc., of the War society, in any way connected with this worship.
Before following the trail of an enemy, on rinding his camp, or on overtaking and destroying him, many ceremonials are performed, many prayers are uttered, much the same as those described relative to the chase, save that they are more elaborate and more irrelevant to the subject in hand. As with the Hunter, so with the Warrior, the fetich is fed on the life-blood of the slain.