A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Pueblo architecture
Two separate feathers are also attached to the roof. These are addressed
to the zenith, héyap omáuwu--the invisible space of the above--and to
the nadir, Myuingwa--god of the interior of the earth and maker of the
germ of life. To the four first mentioned the bahos under the corner
stones are also addressed. These feathers are prepared by the kiva chief
in another kiva. He smokes devoutly over them, and as he exhales the
smoke upon them he formulates the prayers to the chiefs or powers, who
not only control the paths or lives of all the people, but also preside
over the six regions of space whence come all the necessaries of life.
The ancients also occupy his thoughts during these devotions; he desires
that all the pleasures they enjoyed while here may come to his people,
and he reciprocally wishes the ancients to partake of all the enjoyments
of the living.
All the labor and ceremonies being completed the women prepare food for
a feast. Friends are invited, and the men dance all night in the kiva to
the accompaniment of their own songs and the beating of a primitive
drum, rejoicing over their new home. The kiva chief then proclaims the
name by which the kiva will be known. This is often merely a term of his
choosing, often without reference to its appropriateness.
_Various uses of kivas._--Allusions occur in some of the traditions,
suggesting that in earlier times one class of kiva was devoted wholly to
the purposes of a ceremonial chamber, and was constantly occupied by a
priest. An altar and fetiches were permanently maintained, and
appropriate groups of these fetiches were displayed from month to month,
as the different priests of the sacred feasts succeeded each other, each
new moon bringing its prescribed feast.
Many of the kivas were built by religious societies, which still hold
their stated observances in them, and in Oraibi several still bear the
names of the societies using them. A society always celebrates in a
particular kiva, but none of these kivas are now preserved exclusively
for religious purposes; they are all places of social resort for the
men, especially during the winter, when they occupy themselves with the
arts common among them. The same kiva thus serves as a temple during a
sacred feast, at other times as a council house for the discussion of
public affairs. It is also used as a workshop by the industrious and as
a lounging place by the idle.
[Illustration: Plate LXI. Standing walls of Tâaaiyalana ruins.]
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