March, 1905. The Traditions of the Hopi • — Voth. 53 



i 



really been B^lolookongs, who, it seems, had finally entered the ground 

 and were now bringing out the water from the ground. 



The people now became alarmed and began to suspect that prob- 

 ably a flood was about to destroy their village. That night they 

 killed their sheep and prepared food and had a great feast, thinking 

 that probably the next day they would all be destroyed anyway. On 

 the fourth day just before sunrise, the old man in his grave sang the 

 same words again and lowered the fourth finger as he finished his 

 little song. Immediately he emerged from the opening in the form 

 of a large Bdlolookong, and now Bdlolookongs were shooting forth 

 from the ground with streams of water in all parts of the village, from 

 the fireplaces in the kivas, in the houses from the water vessels, and 

 in fact everywhere. Water began to fill the houses in the village. 

 Soon the houses began to fall, burying many of the inhabitants under 

 the falling walls. A number of them fled to the higher places on the 

 east side of the village, where there was a large, strong house. In 

 one of the houses a few old men climbed up on the shelves on which 

 are usually placed the trays with com meal in Hopi houses. Here 

 they sat in a crouched position and turned into turkeys. The water 

 rose so high that their tails began to hang into the water. It did not 

 reach the houses in the eastern part of the village where the people 

 had assembled. None of the chiefs were destroyed. So when they 

 had assembled in the house mentioned the chiefs met in council and 

 asked what they were going to do now. So they began to make 

 bdhos, took beads and turquoise, first crushed them and then ground 

 them into powder. Of this powder they made two balls which they 

 placed onto a tray on which they also had placed the bahos that 

 they had made. There were a great many of these bahos. They 

 then called the Village Chief's son, who had caused the destruction, 

 and his sister, a very pretty maiden. They dressed up the latter in 

 the same manner in which the Flute-manas are costumed, putting a 

 white robe on her, over which they tied a white kilt, and an eagle- 

 breath feather in her hair above her forehead, beads around her neck, 

 etc. Her chin was painted black, white lines running from ear 

 to ear over her upper lip. 



The young man was clothed in a plain white kilt and black zigzag 

 lines were painted on his legs, arms, and the back and front part of 

 his body. These two were to drive back the Balolookongs. The 

 water was still coming out of the ground and the Balolookongs still 

 shooting swiftly through the water. The one that had been the old 

 man, who was buried on the plaza, was the largest and most power- 

 ful of the Balolookongs and was still standing at the place where he 



