No women frequent any of the kivas; in fact they never enter them except to plaster the walls at customary periods, or during the occasion of certain ceremonies. Yet one at least of the Oraibi kivas was built for the observances of a society of women, the Mamzrántiki. This and another female society—Lalénkobáki—exist in all the other villages, and on the occasion of their festivals the women are given the exclusive use of one of the kivas.
[Motives for building a kiva.]—Only two causes are mentioned for building a new kiva. Quarrels giving rise to serious dissensions among the occupants of a kiva are one cause. An instance of this occurred quite recently at Hano. The conduct of the kiva chief gave rise to dissensions, and the members opposed to him prepared to build a separate room of their own. They chose a gap on the side of the mesa cliff, close to Hano, collected stones for the walls, and brought the roof timbers from the distant wooded mesas; but when all was ready to lay the foundation their differences were adjusted and a complete reconciliation was effected.
The other cause assigned is the necessity for additional room when a gens has outgrown its kiva. When a gens has increased in numbers sufficiently to warrant its having a second kiva, the chief of the gentile group, who in this case is also chief of the order, proposes to his kin to build a separate kiva, and that being agreed to, he assumes the direction of the construction and all the dedicatory and other ceremonies connected with the undertaking. An instance of this kind occurred within the last year or two at Oraibi, where the members of the “Katchina” gentes, who are also members of the religious order of Katchina, built a spacious kiva for themselves.
The construction of a new kiva is said to be of rare occurrence. On the other hand, it is common to hear the kiva chief lament the decadence of its membership. In the “Oak Mound” kiva at Sichumovi there are now but four members. The young men have married and moved to their wives’ houses in more thriving villages, and the older men have died. The chief in this case also says that some 2 years ago the agent gave him a stove and pipe, which he set up in the room to add to its comfort. He now has grave fears that the stove is an evil innovation, and has exercised a deleterious influence upon the fortune of his kiva and its members; but the stove is still retained.
[Significance of structural plan.]—The designation of the curious orifice of the sipapuh as “the place from which the people emerged” in connection with the peculiar arrangement of the kiva interior with its change of floor level, suggested to the author that these features might be regarded as typifying the four worlds of the genesis myth that has exercised such an influence on Tusayan customs; but no clear data on this subject were obtained by the writer, nor has Mr. Stephen, who is specially well equipped for such investigations, discovered that a definite conception exists concerning the significance of the structural plan of the kiva. Still, from many suggestive allusions made by the various kiva chiefs and others, he also has been led to infer that it typifies the four “houses,” or stages, described in their creation myths. The sipapuh, with its cavity beneath the floor, is certainly regarded as indicating the place of beginning, the lowest house under the earth, the abode of Myuingwa, the Creator; the main or lower floor represents the second stage; and the elevated section of the floor is made to denote the third stage, where animals were created. Mr. Stephen observed, at the New Year festivals, that animal fetiches were set in groups upon this platform. It is also to be noted that the ladder leading to the surface is invariably made of pine, and always rests upon the platform, never upon the lower floor, and in their traditional genesis it is stated that the people climbed up from the third house (stage) by a ladder of pine, and through such an opening as the kiva hatchway; only most of the stories indicate that the opening was round. The outer air is the fourth world, or that now occupied.
There are occasional references in the Tusayan traditions to circular kivas, but these are so confused with fantastic accounts of early mythic structures that their literal rendition would serve no useful purpose in the present discussion.
[Typical measurements.]—The following list is a record of a number of measurements of Tusayan kivas collected by Mr. Stephen. The wide difference between the end measurements of the same kiva are usually due to the interior offsets that have been noticed on the plans, but the differences in the lengths of the sides are due to irregularities of the site. The latter differences are not so marked as the former.
| Width at ends. | Length of sides. | Height at center. | Height at ends. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 6 | —— | 24 0 | —— | 8 6 | —— | —— |
| 12 0 | —— | 21 9 | —— | 7 6 | 6 6 | —— |
| 14 6 | 14 6 | 24 6 | 23 3 | 8 0 | 6 6 | 6 6 |
| 12 2 | 12 11 | 23 9 | 23 9 | 7 10 | 6 1 | 6 0 |
| 12 6 | 12 6 | 26 0 | 25 3 | 7 6 | 6 6 | 6 6 |
| 13 4 | 12 10 | 26 8 | 26 7 | 7 10 | 7 0 | 7 0 |
| 15 0 | 13 6 | 26 6 | 24 11 | 7 4 | 6 3 | 6 2 |
| 12 6 | 11 5 | 23 7 | 21 9 | 8 0 | 7 0 | 7 0 |
| 12 5 | 13 5 | 22 8 | 24 1 | 7 3 | 6 1 | 6 9 |
| 10 6 | 13 6 | 27 0 | 27 0 | 8 3 | 6 3 | 6 2 |
| 13 6 | 11 6 | 29 9 | 29 0 | 11 0 | 5 11 | —— |
| 14 6 | —— | 28 6 | 28 6 | 9 8 | 6 0 | —— |
| 13 2 | 14 0 | 28 9 | 29 9 | 8 6 | 7 0 | 6 4 |
| 15 1 | 14 0 | 28 6 | —— | 9 6 | 7 3 | 6 6 |
| 13 0 | 12 6 | 28 7 | 29 6 | —— | 7 4 | 6 3 |
[List of Tusayan kivas.]—The following list gives the present names of all the kivas in use at Tusayan. The mungkiva or chief kiva of the village is in each case designated:
| HANO. | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Toko´nabi kiva | Navajo Mountain. |
| 2. | Hano sinte´ kiva | Place of the Hano. |
| Toko´nabi kiva is the mungkiva. | ||
| WALPI. | ||
| 1. | Djiva´to kiva | Goat. |
| 2. | Al kiva | A´la, Horn. |
| 3. | Naca´b kiva | Na´cabi, half-way or central. |
| 4. | Picku´ibi kiva | Opening oak bud.[5] |
| Wikwa´lobi kiva | Place of the watchers. | |
| 5. | Mung kiva | Mungwi chief. |
| No. 5 is the mungkiva. | ||
| SICHUMOVI. | ||
| 1. | Bave´ntcomo | Water mound. |
| 2. | Kwinzaptcomo | Oak mound. |
| Bave´ntcomo is the mungkiva. | ||
| MASHONGNAVI. | ||
| 1. | Tcavwu´na kiva | A small coiled-ware jar. |
| 2. | Hona´n kiva | Honani, Badger, a gens. |
| 3. | Gy´arzohi kiva | Gy´arzo, Paroquet, a gens. |
| 4. | Kotcobi kiva | High place. |
| 5. | Al kiva | A´la, Horn. |
| Teavwu´na kiva is the mungkiva. | ||
| SHUPAULOVI. | ||
| 1. | A´tkabi kiva | Place below. |
| 2. | Kokyangobi kiva | Place of spider. |
| A´tkabi kiva is the mungkiva. | ||
| SHUMOPAVI. | ||
| 1. | Nuvwa´tikyuobi | High place of snow, San Francisco Mountain. |
| 2. | Al kiva | A´la, Horn. |
| 3. | Gy´arzobi | Gy´arzo, Paroquet, a gens. |
| 4. | Tco´sobi | Blue Jay, a gens. |
| Tco´sobi is the mungkiva. | ||