The Katcina altars in Hopi worshipFewkes, Jesse Walter
Religion
The Katcina altars in Hopi worship
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Hopi Indians -- Religion; Hopi mythology
[2] I have been interested to discover what proportion of the whole
number of Hopi ceremonials have been described, and the results are
such as to allay any conceit that we know much about the subject.
Without considering the abbreviated ceremonials there are in the
ritual 12 which are of nine days duration. There are five variants of
this ritual, differing in altars, paraphernalia, and rites, so that
we may say there are performed in Tusayan about 60 ceremonials, each
nine days long, to be investigated. Of these there are 40 of which
we know nothing, save their existence; 15, fragments of which have
been described; and 5 which have been fairly well studied. There are
about 30 Hopi altars which have never been figured or described, or
as far as I know seen by ethnologists. It thus appears that there
is plenty of material in this province to occupy the students of
primitive ritual for some time to come. An adequate comprehension of
the Hopi Katcina ritual requires a consideration of five different
modifications of the same altars.
[3] The image of Cotokinungwu in the Oraibi flute altar (q. v.) has
zigzag figures down the legs, which would appear to associate this
deity with lightning.
[4] Amer. Anthrop., Vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892, Pl. I, fig. 1; Pl.
III, figs. 1 and 2.
[5] The Hopi, ancient and modern, were adepts in this craft of mosaic
encrustations, using for that purpose turquoises, shells, and other
substances.
[6] The chief who flogs the children in the initiation, which occurs
in Powamu, holds this object in his hand. This flogging at Walpi
is performed by a man masked to represent Tunwup. Int. Archiv für
Ethnog., Band viii, 1895. 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pp.
283-284.
[7] Amer. Anthrop., Vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892.
[8] A great many observations remain to be made before any one can
claim to know the exact meaning of pueblo rites, but the material
awaits investigation, and can be obtained by persistent work in the
field. The time, however, is past when any compiler can write an
account of the aboriginal religions of America and neglect the Hopi
for want of published material.
[9] For Niman altars of Cipaulovi, Miconinovi, and Walpi, see Journ.
Amer. Ethnol. and Archæol., Vol. II, No. 1.
[10] The character of the public ceremonials of the Katcinas, even
when abbreviated, as in the so-called rain dances, justifies the
theory that their main objects are the two above mentioned. Even the
clowns, a priesthood directly connected with Katcinas and absent in
all other ceremonies, are concerned with the growth of seeds.
[11] It may be borne in mind that the same altar is made in Powamu
and Niman, and whether called by one or the other of these names it
is the same thing—a Katcina altar.
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