Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, October 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899 — John Shaqi
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, October 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899Various
Philosophy
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, October 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
the San Francisco Mountain with infinite trouble and labor. In Oraibi
there are thirteen kivas, each probably in the possession of some
society, one of which belongs to women, who there erect their altar in
the _mamzrouti_ ceremony. Oraibi has the largest number of kivas of
any of the Hopi pueblos; in a single plaza there are no less than four
kivas. This plaza is on the west side of the village, and one of the
kivas is of special interest, for in it are held the secret rites of
the weird snake ceremony. A little to the west of this plaza is a
small bit of the mesa, standing apart and separated from the main mesa
by a depression. This is known as "Oraibi rock," whence the pueblo
takes its name. The etymology of this name "Oraibi" is lost in a misty
past, but the rock is still held in great veneration. On it stands a
rude shrine, where one may always find sacrificial offerings of
prayer-sticks, pipes, sacred meal, cakes, etc.
[Illustration: ORAIBI ROCK, UPON WHICH STANDS KATCIN KIKU, THE
PRINCIPAL ORAIBI SHRINE.]
The roof of a Hopi house is always of interest. Here we may see corn
drying in the sun or loads of fagots ready for use, women dressing
their hair or fondling their babies, or groups of children playing or
roasting melon seeds in an old broken earthenware vessel which rests
on stones over a fire. From the projecting rafters are ears of corn
hung up to dry, or pieces of meat placed there to be out of reach of
the dogs, or bunches of yarn just out of the dye pot. When a ceremony
is being performed in some one of the plazas the roofs near by present
a scene which is animated in the extreme, every square foot of space
being occupied by a merry, good-natured throng of young and old. As
one looks from one group to another it is impossible not to notice the
stunted and dwarfed appearance of the women, which is in marked
contrast to that of the men, who are beautifully formed, of medium
height, and of well-knit frames. There is not, however, the same
powerful ruggedness or splendid development among these pueblo
dwellers which we find among the plains Indians, for the days of the
Hopi women are spent in carrying water and grinding corn, while the
men in summer till their fields and in winter spin and weave.
In considering the routine life of the Hopi it is hard to draw a sharp
line between what we may call his regular daily occupations and his
religious life, for they are closely interwoven. He is by nature a
religionist, and he never forgets his allegiance and obligations to
the unseen forces which control and command him.
[Illustration: AN ORAIBI MOTHER AND CHILDREN.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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