ZUNI SOCIAL, MYTHIC, AND RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS. 189 



tional rituals, prayers, songs, and sacred epics of this Jed Jed for a 

 comprehensive idea of their mythology. Knowledge gained from 

 both these sources may in turn be vastly added to, strengthened, and 

 corrected by a close study of their most abundant and beautifully 

 imaginative folk-lore. 



Supreme over all the gods of Zufii is Hano ona vrilona, or holder 

 of the roads of light, corresponding to the earthly peJewina, or priest of 

 the sun, and represented by the sun itself. Beneath him is a long line 

 of gods so numerous that I know not half their names, nor have I re- 

 corded them, but they are divided into six great classes : the celestial 

 or hero gods (the demon-gods themselves perhaps the vestiges of a 

 more ancient hero-god mythology), the elemental gods, or the gods of 

 the forces of nature, the sacred animal gods, or the kia pin a hdi and 

 Jcia she ma a hdi, the gods of prey or wemar a hdi, and the tutelary 

 gods, or divinities of places. While Hano ona wilona is supreme over 

 all, he himself, like the earthly sun-priest, is limited by his own high- 

 priests among the gods the celestial or hero gods, and they, in turn, 

 by the demon-gods, while the two earthly offices of head political and 

 war chiefs are represented, on the one hand, by the raio or water- 

 wantings beings, or animal gods ; and, on the other, by the wemdr a 

 hdi, or gods of prey, while the priests of the night in the human or- 

 ganization (tkwi-na-proa-a shi-ica-ni) seem to be represented by the 

 tutelar gods of the deistic organization. Not less important, then, 

 because they are supposed to act in connection with the latter, are the 

 ancients, or spirits of the ancestors, who form the body-politic of this 

 great system of gods, and are supposed to serve as mediators between 

 the mortals and the gods. In Zimi belief they have also a definite 

 place of residence assigned to them, notwithstanding which they are 

 supposed to hold constant communion, even to the extent of occasional 

 materialization with those whom they have left behind, to listen atten- 

 tively to their prayers, and to represent them in some vague way to 

 the higher gods of the Zuni mythology. 



While this great system of gods, like the Jed Jed, is organized, as a 

 whole, not unlike the ecclesiastical and martial systems of the Zuiiis, 

 so also has each one of the six systems of gods, like each of the six 

 estufas of the Zunis, its offices of high-priests, priests of the house or 

 temple, warrior-priests, etc. As an example of this special organiza- 

 tion, let me speak of the gods of the ocean, who under specific names 

 and attributes are further distinguished as " our beloved Pe Jeioi we, or 

 sun-priest of the ocean ; our beloved the ona ya na Je'ia a sJii tea ni, 

 or priests of .the temples of the ocean ; our beloved mother, the K^o 

 haJc o JcHa, or the goddess of the white shells ; our beloved, the three 

 great warrior-priests of the ocean, Jcia cJila ica ni, Jen pish tai a, and 

 tsi JcHa hdi a, in whom we do not fail to recognize the two master- 

 priests of the bow, and the third priests of the bow, or head warrior- 

 chief of the martial organization. The lesser personages of Zuni 



