20 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. XI. 



ties a nakwakwosi, of an eagle feather into their hair, and hands to 

 each one the following objects: some nakwakwosis, some corn-meal, 

 a long buzzard wing feather, a bone whistle, an ear of corn, one black 

 baho, two green bahos, and a netted gourd vessel, and sends them to 

 two different springs after water to be used in the ceremony. Follow- 

 ing one of the priestesses to the spring Lanva (Flute Spring) I was 

 enabled to note some details and to get some snapshot photographs. 

 At the east side of the spring she stopped, held the prayer offerings 

 to her lips and uttered a silent, short prayer. She then deposited the 

 two bahos and three eagle feathers and one turkey feather nakwakwosi, 

 with some sacred meal, I think in a small niche on the north side of 

 the spring. Hereupon she descended to the spring proper, which is 

 about twenty feet below the level of the ground, and there, standing 

 at the edge of the water (see Plate VII, a), blew the whistle several 

 times towards the water. Then she imitated the act of dipping water 

 with the whistle four times, with the long eagle feather five times and 

 with the ear of corn four times, whereupon she filled the gourd vessel. 

 She then ascended the steps, taking with her all the objects except the 

 prayer offerings (see Plate VII, b). Arriving at the upper rim of 

 the spring she cast a pinch of meal from the spring on the trail that 

 leads to the village and deposited a "road" and some meal on the 

 trail east of the spring, whereupon she hurried back to the kiva (see 

 Plate VI, b), where she arrived in about fifteen or twenty minutes after 

 she had left it. Here she waited on the east side of the ladder (see 

 Plate VIII, a) until the other woman returned. The chief priest had 

 in the meantime resumed his place in the corner. When they returned 

 he met and greeted them, sprinkled first a meal line from the place 

 where they were sitting to the altar, returned and took from them the 

 small vessel with the water, the long feather and the whistle, and 

 placed these objects on the floor at the altar, while the women 

 remained seated on the elevated portion of the kiva floor on the east 

 side of the ladder, their feet resting on the floor of the deeper part of 

 the kiva. The priest then stands in front of the women, holding some 

 corn-meal in his right, a long buzzard wing feather in his left hand. 

 He sprinkles some meal on the feather, hums a song, beating time 

 with the feather, waving it slightly up and down (see Plate VIII, b), 

 circles it above their heads a few minutes and dusts off the meal towards 

 the hatch-way. This he does six times. He then takes the nakwakwosis 

 from their hair and places them with their mungwikuru, and resumes 

 his place. His assistant hands him a so-called cloud blower, a cone- 

 shaped pipe, which he fills with a certain kind of small, dry pine or 

 spruce needles and places it on the floor near the altar. At about 3:15 



