I04 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. III. 



holds his (or her) hands upward and one of the Ho Katcinas whips 

 the little victim quite severely (see PL LXIII). It is said that four 

 strokes are supposed to be applied, but the Katcinas do not always 

 strictly adhere to this rule. The girls have their usual dress on, but 

 the boys are entirely nude. The persons holding them are also nude 

 except for a scant loin cloth, and they wear their hair loose, as is 

 customary in all Hopi sacred ceremonies. When one child has been 

 flogged another one is at once brought forward and beaten and then 

 another and so on until all have gone through the ordeal. One is 

 flogged by one Katcina, the next one by the other, the two Katcinas 

 constantly changing about. When a whip is worn out it is handed 

 to the Hahai-i Katcina who exchanges it for a fresh one. Some of the 

 children go through the process with set teeth and without flinching, 

 others squirm, try to jump away and scream. Occasionally a 

 "sponsor," pitying his little ward, presents his own hip, snatching 

 the child away, and receives a part of the flogging in the child's stead, 

 in which case, however, the flogging is usually very severe. 



With the crying and screaming of the candidates men and women 

 mingle their voices, some encouraging them, others accusing the 

 Katcinas of partiality, claiming that they whip some harder than 

 others ; in short, pandemonium reigns in the kiva during this exciting 

 half hour. But the scene has not only its exciting, but also its dis- 

 gusting features. As the whips are quite long they frequently extend 

 around the leg or hip of the little nude boys in such a manner that 

 the points strike the pudibilia, and the author noticed on several occa- 

 sions that the boys, when being placed on the sand mosaic, were 

 warned to protect those parts, which they tried to do by either quickly 

 freeing one hand and pushing the pudenda between the legs or by 

 partly crossing the legs. It was also noticed on several occasions 

 that some of the boys, probably as a result of fear and pain, invol- 

 untarily micturated and in one or two cases even defecated. 



When all the children have been flogged the Hahai-i Katcina steps 

 on the sand mosaic, bends forward, raises the ceremonial blanket and 

 is then severely flogged by both Katcinas, after which the two latter 

 apply a thorough scourging to each other in the same manner, to the 

 great satisfaction of the little novitiates who have just been so cruelly 

 treated by these two personages. The Katcina chief then hands his 

 baho and some corn-meal to one of the Ho Katcinas ; his assistant 

 hands the same to each of the other two, whereupon the three Kat- 

 cinas leave the kiva. Outside they run around the kiva four times in 

 the same manner as before, again making a great deal of noise, during 

 which the Hahai-i snatches the natsi from its stand. All then leave 



