Back of the altar, leaning against the wall of the kiva, was set upright a wooden slat, notched on both edges and called _tawa-saka_, "sun-ladder." Miniature imitations (plate XX) of this are made in this kiva on the last day of the _Tûñtai_ and deposited in a shrine near Sikyaowatcomo, the site of the early settlement of the Tewa. The _poñya-saka_ or _tawa-saka_ mentioned has not before been seen in any Hopi ceremony, and it may be characteristic of Tewa altars. A notched prayer-stick, called the rain-cloud ladder, is placed in the same shrine at this time. This is characteristic of the Tewa of Tusayan, but is not found in the Hopi _pahos_, with which I am familiar.[40] [Illustration: AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST No. 8., Vol. 1, PL. XIX Drawn by J. L. RIDGWAY MINIATURE IMITATION OF THE TAWA-SAKA OR SUN-LADDER (About one-half size)] The reason these prayer-sticks are termed "ladders" is because they have the form of an ancient type of ladder made by notching a log of wood. They are symbols of the ladders by which the Sun is supposed to emerge from his house at sunrise. In the Hopi and Tewa conception the Sun is weary as he withdraws to the south in winter and these ladders are made to aid him in rising, and thus in returning to bless them. More light will doubtless be shed on the significance of the sun-ladder prayer-offerings when we know more of the ceremonies about the _Tûñtai_ altars. No _típoni_ or badge of office was placed on this altar on the day it was made, and my abrupt departure from the East Mesa made it impossible for me to see the rites which are later performed about it. It is evident, from the preceding description, that the priests of Hano have a knowledge of the Great Serpent cult corresponding to the worship of Palülükoñ. Among the Hopi the _Patki_ people claim to have introduced this cult[41] in comparatively recent times. There is a Tewa clan called _Okuwuñ_ (Cloud) which corresponds, so far as meaning goes, with the _Patki_ clan of the Hopi. Whether this clan brought with it a knowledge of the Great Snake is not clear, as traditions are silent on that point. There is a tradition in the _Okuwuñ_ clan that their ancestors, like those of the _Patki_, came from the south, and that the _Nañ-towa_ bears a like relationship to the _Okuwuñ_ that the Hopi _Tuwa_ clan does to the _Patki_.[42] If this tradition is well founded, a knowledge of the Great Snake fetish of the two Hano kivas may have been brought by the _Okuwuñ_ and _Nañ-towa_ into Tusayan from the same place as that of Palülükoñ.