[41] The late Mr Stephen made extended studies of this presentation in 1892, but his fatal illness prevented his being in the kiva the following winter. It is necessary that a continued study of this dramatization be made before a complete account of the ceremonial calendar can be attempted.
The following men are distinctly called chiefs: Moñ′mowitû of Soyáluña, Kwátcakwa, Sakwístiwa Anawíta, Nasímoki, Kwáa, Sikyáustiwa, and Súpela.
[42] See figures of this effigy in my account of the Pálülükoñti, Journal of American Folk-lore, Oct.-Dec., 1893.
[43] Here evidently we have a prayer to the deity symbolized by the effigy and not an invocation to the effigy itself.
[44] The dance with the sun-shield remotely resembles certain so-called “sun dances,” which have been described among the nomads, in which physical exhaustion and suffering are common features. This dance, it must be borne in mind, took place when the sun was at the winter solstice, and the dramatization of attack and defense may have some meaning in connection with this fact.
[45] On the authority of Cyrus Thomas, “Are the Maya hieroglyphs phonetic?” American Anthropologist, Washington, July, 1893, p. 266. His reasoning that the scribe of the codex intended to represent this astronomical event is plausible but not conclusive.
[46] There are members of the American race living where the sun disappears at the winter solstice or succumbs to evil powers. Have the Pueblos inherited this rite from people who once lived far to the north?
[47] The fact that the Snake dance follows the Nimán may be explained as follows: The sun begins to be affected by the Plumed Snake at the Farewell dance, and the growing influence of this divinity is recognized, hence his children (reptiles) are gathered from the fields and intrusted with the prayers of men to cease his malign influence.
[48] At the Nimán in the preceding July.
[49] With Tatcü′kti (Mud-heads).