One of the most instructive food bowls found at Oldtown, now owned by Mr. Osborn, has on it a picture of two hunters, one on each side of an animal (fig. 15). One of these hunters carries in his hand a stick crooked at the end, its form suggesting a throwing stick.[29] Both hunters have laid aside their quivers, bows, and arrows, which are shown behind them. The picture of an animal between them has been so mutilated by “killing” or breaking the bowl that it is impossible to identify it. From the end of this crook to the body of the animal there extend two parallel lines of dots indicating the pathway of a discharged weapon. Near the body of the animal these rows of dots take a new direction, as if the weapon had bounded away or changed its course. The rows of dots are supposed to represent lines of meal by which Pueblos are accustomed to symbolically indicate trails or “roads.” [Illustration: FIG. 14.—Priest smoking. Osborn Ruin.] [Illustration: FIG. 15.—Man with curved stick. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn collection.) Diam. 5½″.] There is, of course, some doubt as to the correct identification of the crooked staff as a throwing stick, for as yet no throwing stick has been found in the Mimbres ruins. The resemblance of the crooked stick to those on certain Hopi altars and its resemblance to emblems of weapons carried by warrior societies is noteworthy. Crooked sticks of this character have been found in caves in the region north of the Mimbres.[30] We find a survival of a similar crook used as sacred paraphernalia in several of the Hopi ceremonies, where they play an important rôle. As the author has pointed out, crooked sticks or gnelas (fig. 16) identified as ancient weapons surround the sand picture of the Antelope altar in the Snake Dance at Walpi, and in Snake altars of other Hopi pueblos, but it is in the Winter Solstice Ceremony, or the Soyaluña, at the East Mesa of the Hopi, that we find special prominence given to this warrior emblem. During this elaborate festival every Walpi and Sitcomovi kiva regards one of these gnelas as especially efficacious for the warriors, and it is installed in a prominent place on the kiva floor, as indicated in the author’s account of that ceremony.[31] The following explanation of these crooks was given him by the priests: These crooks or gnelas have been called warrior prayer sticks, and are symbols of ancient weapons. In many folk tales it is stated that warriors overcame their foes by the use of gnelas which would indicate that they had something to do with ancient war implements. Their association with arrows on the Antelope altars adds weight to this conclusion. The picture from Oldtown ruin of the hunter who has laid aside the quiver, bow, and arrow, and is using a similar gnela,[32] corroborates this interpretation.