Dec. 1901. The Oraibi Powamu Ceremony — Voth. 115 



and hence is considered to be the ancestral home of that Katcina, the 

 Aototo rubs four corn-meal lines to the wall of the, house. The 

 woman of the house stands on the first terrace and repeatedly says : 

 Askwa/i {tha.nks)\ The village chief Lolulomai, who has met the 

 Katcinas at the house, gives to the Aototo some sacred meal and a 

 baho and receives a bunch of green corn. The Aholi then goes 

 through the same performance, but the bunch of corn taken from 

 this Katcina Lolulomai hands to the woman, who receives it with a 

 heartfelt '■'■AskwaliV All then proceed to the house of the kikmongwi 

 (village chief), /. e. the house where this personage, who is now Lolu- 

 lomai, was born and raised and where his sister, who is also often 

 called kikmongwi, is still living. On the way to this house the same 

 performance with the cloud symbol takes place. At the house they 

 are met by Punan5msi,'the sister of Lolulomai and of Shokhungyoma, 

 the man who is acting as Aototo. The same performance takes 

 place at this house as at the other, the woman also receiving a bunch 

 of corn. From here they proceed to the Pongovi kiva which is close 

 by and which is the kiva of Lolulomai and his brother, also of 

 Yeshiwa who is acting as Aholi. Lolulomai enters the kiva. Both 

 Katcinas rub a little meal to the four sides of the hatchway and then 

 receive the prayer offerings from the husband of Pungnanomsi, who 

 also receives the bunches of corn. From here a member of the 

 Pikash or Aholi clan precedes the Katcinas to the ancestral home of 

 the Aholi Katcina, where the sam^ perforrnances take place as at the 

 other places. From here the two Katcinas go to the south side of 

 the village where they are met behind a house by Lolulomai, who relieves 

 them of the objects they have carried, which he wraps in a blanket 

 and takes to his kiva. The Katcinas proceed by a different route 

 also to the same kiva where they divest themselves of their costumes, 

 first of all warming themselves at the fireplace, as they usually get 

 very cold on their expedition, which lasts several hours. Food has 

 meanwhile been brought in by the immediate relatives of the men in 

 the kiva and breakfast soon follows, the men arranging themselves in 

 rows on the kiva floor around the food bowls, trays, etc. On one 

 occasion I noticed thirteen small round trays, each containing some 

 white mush (wotakd) on the kiva floor. I think there was one tray for 

 each participant in the feast. I also noticed on that occasion no less 

 than thirty-seven small bunches of young green corn on the floor, 

 which were undoubtedly to be given to the families and friends of the 

 inhabitants of the kiva. But my notes fail to state any particular on 

 this point. There are reasons to believe that the corn was furnished 

 by the Aototo and Aholi Katcinas, as they were the only men, as far 



