go Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. III. 



members of the Powamu fraternity, enter the kiva, each one carrying 

 a small tray with corn-meal ; the kekelhoyamu (candidates) now begin 

 to arrive. They are mostly children between the ages of five and ten 

 years, a few, perhaps, younger, several somewhat older. On one 

 occasion, however, I noticed an elderly man, Nasingainiwa, among 

 the number, who was initiated in exactly the same manner as the 

 others.* Each candidate, accompanied by some man who may be of 

 any clan but not a relative, is first taken to the small altar, towards 

 which he throws a pinch of corn-meal ; after throwing also some meal 

 towards the large altar, he is seated in the east part of the kiva. The 

 boys sit on the banquette, the girls in front of them on the kiva floor. 

 Those who have brought them in seat themselves on the floor of the 

 raised or spectators' portion of the kiva, the women on the west ban- 

 quette. The latter and all the candidates are then given a white corn 

 ear by the older members, which they call inguu (my mother). Some 

 of them carry it themselves when they enter. In 1895 there were 

 thirty-eight or forty candidates, in 1897 about thirty and in 1901 

 twenty-seven or twenty-eight. 



At about six o'clock in the evening several of the older priests 

 arrange themselves around a small altar. A pipe is first lit at the 

 fireplace by the pipe-lighter and handed to the Powamu priest. All 

 around the altar smoke. When they have finished, the pipe is handed 

 back to the pipe-lighter and after the Powamu priest has uttered a 

 short prayer, which is responded to by the others, the singing com- 

 mences. 



First Song. Neither this nor the succeeding four songs are ever 

 accompanied by rattling. The Powamu priest takes up the shell frag- 

 ment from the north side of the medicine bowl and drops it into the 

 bowl. A few minutes later he does the same with the one from the 

 west side and so on until all six pieces have been transferred to the 

 bowl. 



Second Song. The Powamu priest keeps stirring the liquid in the 

 medicine bowl with the aspergill during the entire song and finally 

 asperges towards the altar and about himself. 



Third Song. The above named priest beats time with the asper- 

 *gill and asperges. 



Fourth Song. Same as previous. 



*The only difference was that he was invited to remain after the ceremony was over and join 

 the leaders in partaking of the supper which they ate in the kiva at a late hour. When asked for 

 an explanation of this exception, the Powamu priest told me that the conservative-faction lacked 

 the necessary number of men who had the authority to act as leaders at Katcina dances and to 

 sprinkle the Katcinas with corn-meal at the dances. In order to get this authority Nasingainiwa 

 underwent the initiation. 



