The origin of the pueblo settlement at Sikyatki is doubtful, but as I have shown in my enumeration of the clans of Walpi, the Kokop (Firewood) and the Isauûh (Coyote) phratries which lived there are supposed to have come into Tusayan from the far east or the valley of the Rio Grande. The former phratry is not regarded as one of the earliest arrivals in Tusayan, for when its members arrived at Walpi they found living there the Flute, Snake, and Water-house phratries. It is highly probable that the Firewood, or as they are sometimes called the Fire, people, once lived in the round pueblo known as Fire-house, and as the form of this ruin is exceptional in Tusayan, and highly characteristic of the region east of this province, there is archeological evidence of the eastern origin of the Fire people. Perhaps the most intelligent folklorist of the Kokop people was Nasyuñweve, who died a few years ago—unfortunately before I had been able to record all the traditions which he knew concerning his ancestors. At the present day Katci, his successor[100] in these sacerdotal duties in the Antelope-Snake mysteries, claims that his people formerly occupied Sikyatki, and indeed the contiguous fields are still cultivated by members of that phratry.
It is hardly possible to do more than estimate the population of Sikyatki when in its prime, but I do not believe that it was more than 500;[101] probably 300 inhabitants would be a closer estimate if we judge from the relative population to the size of the pueblo of Walpi at the present time. On the basis of population given, the evidences from the size of the Sikyatki cemeteries would not point to an occupancy of the village for several centuries, although, of course, the strict confines of these burial places may not have been determined by our excavations. The comparatively great depth at which some of the human remains were found does not necessarily mean great antiquity, for the drifting sands of the region may cover or uncover the soil or rocks in a very short time, and the depth at which an object is found below the surface is a very uncertain medium for estimating the antiquity of buried remains.
GENERAL FEATURES
The ruin of Sikyatki ([plates cxv], [cxvi]) lies about three miles east of the recent settlement of Tanoan families at Isba or Coyote spring, near the beginning of the trail to Hano. Its site is in full view from the road extending from the last-mentioned settlement to Keam's canyon, and lies among the hills just below the two pyramidal elevations called Küküchomo, which are visible for a much greater distance. When seen from this road the mounds of Sikyatki are observed to be elevated at least 300 feet above the adjacent cultivated plain, but at the ruin itself this elevation is scarcely appreciable, so gradual is the southerly decline to the arroyo which drains the plain. The ruin is situated among foothills a few hundred yards from the base of the mesa, and in the depression between it and the mesa there is a stretch of sand in which grow peach trees and a few stunted cedars. At this point, likewise, there is a spring, now feeble in its flow from the gradually drifting sand, yet sufficient to afford a trickling stream by means of which an enterprising native, named Tcino, irrigates a small garden of melons and onions. On all sides of the ruin there are barren stretches of sand relieved in some places by stunted trees and scanty vegetation similar to that of the adjacent plains. The soil in the plaza of the ruin is cultivated, yielding a fair crop of squashes, but is useless for corn or beans.
Here and there about the ruins stand great jagged bowlders, relieving what would otherwise be a monotonous waste of sand. One of these stony outcrops forms what I have called the "acropolis" of Sikyatki, which will presently be described. On the eastern side the drifting sand has so filled in around the elevation on which the ruin stands that the ascent is gradual, and the same drift extends to the rim of the mesa, affording access to the summit that otherwise would necessitate difficult climbing. Along the ridge of this great drift there runs a trail which passes over the mesa top to a beautiful spring, on the other side, called Kanelba.[102]
The highest point of the ruin as seen from the plain is the rocky eminence rising at the western edge, familiarly known among the members of my party as the "acropolis." As one approaches the ruin from a deep gulch on the west, the acropolis appears quite lofty, and a visitor would hardly suspect that it marks the culminating point of a ruin, so similar does it appear to surrounding hills of like geologic character where no vestiges of former house-walls appear.
The spring from which the inhabitants of the old pueblo obtained their water supply lies between the ruin and the foot of the mesa, nearer the latter. The water is yellow in color, especially after it has remained undisturbed for some time, and the quantity is very limited. It trickles out of a bed of clay in several places and forms a pool from which it is drawn to irrigate a small garden and a grove of peach trees. It is said that when Sikyatki was in its prime this spring was larger than at present, and I am sure that a little labor spent in digging out the accumulation of sand would make the water more wholesome and probably sufficiently abundant for the needs of a considerable population.
The nearest spring of potable water available for our excavation camp at Sikyatki was Kanelba, or Sheep spring, one of the best sources of water supply in Tusayan. The word Kanelba, containing a Spanish element, must have replaced a Hopi name, for it is hardly to be supposed that this spring was not known before sheep were brought into the country. There is a legend that formerly the site of this spring was dry, when an ancient priest, who had deposited his tiponi, or chieftain's badge, at the place, caused the water to flow from the ground; at present however the water rushes from a hole as large as the arm in the face of the rock, as well as from several minor openings. It is situated on the opposite side of the mesa from Sikyatki, a couple of miles northeastward from the ruin.
