Upon the completion of the paintings the ho´naaite deposited several long buckskin sacks upon the floor and the three proceeded to remove such articles as were to be placed before the altar. There were six ya´ya, four of these being the property of the ho´naaite, two having come to him through the Snake Society, and two through the Spider, he being also ho´naaite of the Spider Society, the others belonging to the vice ho´naaite and third member of the Snake Society.
The ya´ya are most carefully preserved, not only on account of their sacred value, but also of their intrinsic worth, as the parrot plumes of which they are partially composed are very costly and difficult to obtain, they being procured from other Indians, who either make journeys into Mexico and trade for these plumes with the Indians of that country, or the Indians on the border secure them and bring them for traffic among their more northern brothers.
The ya´ya are wrapped first with a piece of soft cloth, then with buckskin, and finally with another cloth; slender splints are placed around this outer covering and a long buckskin string secures the packages.
Bureau of Ethnology.
Eleventh Annual Report. Plate. XII
Drawn by Mary Irvin Wright.
GAST LITH. CO. N.Y.
HÄ´-CHA-MO-NI BEFORE PLUME OFFERINGS ARE ATTACHED.
After unwrapping the ya´ya the ho´naaite proceeds to arrange the fetiches. Three of the ya´ya are placed immediately in front of the altar upon a paralellogram of meal, which is always drawn at the base of the altars, and is emblematic of seats for the ya´ya. An image, 8 inches high, of Ko´chinako (Yellow Woman of the North) stands to the right of the ya´ya, and a wolf of red sandstone, its tail being quite the length of its body, which is 6 inches, is placed to the left of the ya´ya, and by the side of this wolf is a bear of black lava, and next an abalone shell; two cougars of red sandstone, some 12 inches in length, are posted to the right and left of the altar; an antique medicine bowl, finely decorated in snake, cloud, and lightning designs, is placed in front of the three ya´ya; two finely polished adzes, 12 inches long, are laid either side of the medicine bowl, and by these two large stone knives; two ya´ya stand side by side in front of the bowl, and before each is a snake’s rattle, each rattle having twelve buttons; the sixth ya´ya stands on the tail of the sand-painted cougar; a miniature bow and arrow is laid before each of the six ya´ya; eight human images are arranged in line in front of the two ya´ya, these representing Ma´asewe, Úyuuyewĕ, and the six warriors who live in the six mountains of the cardinal points, the larger figures being 8 and 10 inches high and the smaller ones 4 and 5, the figure of the Warrior of the North having well-defined eyes and nose in bas-relief. This figure is decorated with a necklace of bears’ claws, a similar necklace being around its companion, a clumsy stone hatchet. Most of the images in this line have a fringe of white wool around the face, symbolic of clouds. In front of these figures are three fetiches of Ko´shairi, not over 4 or 5 inches high, with a shell in front of them, and on either side of the shell there are two wands of turkey plumes standing in clay holders, the holders having been first modeled into a ball and then a cavity made by pressing in the finger sufficiently deep to hold the wand. These holders are sun dried. In front of the shell is a cross, the only evidence discovered of an apparent influence of Catholicism. The cross, however, bears no symbol of Christianity to these Indians. The one referred to was given to a theurgist of the Snake Society in remote times by a priest so good of heart, they say, that, though his religion was not theirs, his prayers traveled fast over the straight road to Ko´pĭshtaia; and so their reverence for this priest as an honest, truthful man led them to convert the symbol of Christianity into an object of fetichistic worship. The cross stands on a 6-inch cube of wood, and is so covered with plumes that only the tips of the cross are to be seen, and a small bunch of eagle plumes is attached pendent to the top of the cross with cotton cord. A bear of white stone, 5 inches long, is placed to the left of the cross and just back of it a tiny cub. A wolf, also of white stone, and 5 inches in length, is deposited to the right of the cross. At either end of, and to the front of, the altar are two massive carvings in relief, in red sandstone, of coiled snakes. Bear-leg skins, with the claws, are piled on either side of the altar, and by these gourd rattles and eagle plumes, in twos, to be used by the members in the ceremonial. A necklace of bears’ claws, with a whistle attached midway the string, having two fluffy eagle plumes fastened to the end with native cotton cord, hangs over the north post of the altar. The ho´naaite wear this necklace in the evening ceremony. The sacred honey jug (a gourd) and basket containing the sacred meal, a shell filled with corn pollen, a buckskin medicine bag, an arrow point, and an ancient square pottery bowl are grouped in front of the snake fetich on the north side of the altar, and to the north of this group are other medicine bags and turkey feather wands, with bunches of fluffy eagle plumes, tipped black and the other portion dyed a beautiful lemon color, attached to them with cotton cord. These wands are afterwards held by the women, who form the line at night on the north side of the room. A Tusayan basket, containing the offerings, consisting of hä´chamoni, each one being tipped with a bit of raw cotton and a single plume from the wing of a humming bird, with plumes attached upright at the base; Hĕr´ro-tume (staffs) ornamented with plumes, Ta´-wa-ka (gaming blocks and rings for the clouds to ride upon), Maic’-kûr-i-wa-pai (bunches of plumes of birds of the cardinal points, zenith and nadir), is deposited in front of the snake fetich on the south side of the altar, and beyond this basket are similar wands to those north of the altar, which are carried in the ceremonial by the women on the south side of the room. Five stone knives complete the group. A white stone bear, 12 inches long, is placed in front of the whole, and a parrot is attached to the top of the central slat figure. ([Pl. xv]) Unfortunately, the flash-light photograph of the altar of the Snake Society made during the ceremonial failed to develop well, and, guarding against possible failure, the writer succeeded in having the ho´naaite arrange the altar at another time. The fear of discovery induced such haste that the fetiches, which are kept carefully stored away in different houses, were not all brought out on this occasion.[18]