The following diagnosis may be made of these great nine days’
ceremonials: Duration of the ceremony, nine consecutive days and
nights; no masked dancers in secret or public exhibitions; no Katcinas;
no Tcukúwympkiyas.[18] Altars and sand mosaics generally present.
Individual ceremonials either annual or biennial, but in either case at
approximately the same time of the year; sequence constant. Típoni[19]
generally brought out in the public dance. Many páhos,[20] ordinarily
of different length (Snake, Flute, Lálakoñti, Mamzraúti), to deposit
in shrines at varying distances from the town. Ceremonial racing,
generally in the morning of the eighth and ninth days.
The following are the important nine days’ ceremonies:
1. The Antelope-Snake celebration, alternating biennially with the
Lélenti or Flute observance.
2. The Lálakoñti. This ceremony lasts nine days and as many nights,
and is celebrated by women. The details of the celebration at Walpi in
1891, together with the altars, fetiches, and the like have already
been published.[21] It has some likenesses with the Mamzraúti, which
follows it in sequence. There are four priestesses, the chief of whom
is Kótcnümsi. Three típonis were laid on the altar in the celebration
of 1891, although it is customary for each society to have but one
típoni, which, with the other paraphernalia, is in the keeping of the
chief priest.
[Illustration: FIG. 39—Tablet of the Palahíkomana mask.]
3. The Mamzraúti. This ceremonial has likewise been described.[22] In
some celebrations of this festival girls appear with tablets on their
heads personifying maids called Palahíkomanas. In 1891 these personages
were represented by pictures[23] of the same on slabs carried in the
hands of girls. In this way the variations of their celebrations in
different years may be explained; sometimes women are dressed to
impersonate the Palahíkomanas, at others only pictures of the same are
carried.
[Illustration: PL. CIV.
SHIELD WITH STAR SYMBOL.
SOYALUNA SHIELD WITH UNKNOWN SYMBOL.
SYMBOLIC SUN SHIELD.
DRAWN BY MARY M. MITCHELL. A. HOEN & CO., LITH.]
4. The Wüwütcímti. The Naácnaiya, of which this is an abbreviated
observance, has been described.[24] One of the most prominent events
is the ceremonial making of the new fire; and as this is in a measure
distinctive of these two, it is proper to designate them the New Fire
ceremonies.
In essentials the Naácnaiya and the Wüwütcímti are the same, but the
former appears to be of less constant appearance and more complicated.
In it, as elsewhere described, the statuette of Talátumsi is brought
into the pueblo, but in the abbreviated form offerings are made at her
shrine down the trail. During the making of the new fire Ánawita,[25]
personifying Masauwûh, is hidden behind a blanket held by two
assistants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account