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
In each kiva there is a kiva mungwi (kiva chief), and he controls to a
great extent all matters pertaining to the kiva and its membership. This
office or trust is hereditary and passes from uncle to nephew through
the female line--that is, on the death of a kiva chief the eldest son of
his eldest sister succeeds him.
A kiva may belong either to a society, a group of gentes, or an
individual. If belonging to a society or order, the kiva chief commonly
has inherited his office in the manner indicated from the “eldest
brother” of the society who assumed its construction. But the kiva chief
is not necessarily chief of the society; in fact, usually he is but an
ordinary member. A similar custom of inheritance prevails where the kiva
belongs to a group of gentes, only in that case the kiva chief is
usually chief of the gentile group.
As for those held by individuals, a couple of examples will illustrate
the Tusayan practice. In Hano the chief kiva was originally built by a
group of “Sun” gentes, but about 45 years ago, during an epidemic of
smallpox, all the people who belonged to the kiva died except one man.
The room fell into ruin, its roof timbers were carried off, and it
became filled up with dust and rubbish. The title to it, however, rested
with the old survivor, as all the more direct heirs had died, and he,
when about to die, gave the kiva to Kotshve, a “Snake” man from Walpi,
who married a Tewa (Hano) woman and still lives in Hano. This man
repaired it and renamed it Tokónabi (said to be a Pah-Ute term, meaning
black mountain, but it is the only name the Tusayan have for Navajo
Mountain) because his people (the “Snake”) came from that place. He in
turn gave it to his eldest son, who is therefore kiva mungwi, but the
son says his successor will be the eldest son of his eldest sister. The
membership is composed of men from all the Hano gentes, but not all of
any one gens. In fact, it is not now customary for all the members of a
gens to be members of the same kiva.
Another somewhat similar instance occurs in Sichumovi. A kiva, abandoned
for a long time after the smallpox plague, was taken possession of by an
individual, who repaired it and renamed it Kevinyáp tshómo--Oak Mound.
He made his friends its members, but he called the kiva his own. He also
says that his eldest sister’s son will succeed him as chief.
In each village one of the kivas, usually the largest one, is called
(aside from its own special name) mungkiva--chief kiva. It is frequented
by the kimungwi--house or village chief--and the tshaakmungwi--chief
talker, councillor--and in it also the more elaborate ceremonies are
observed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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