Feb., 1912. The Oraibi Marau Ceremony — Voth. 47 



No. 3 is that of the assistant priestess, No. 4 of the chief priestess, 

 No. 5 of the assistant priest, and No. 6 of the chief priest. 1 



After the chief priest has handed a pinch of sacred meal to each 

 priestess, No. 8 strews a line of meal from the altar to the ladder, 

 throwing a pinch towards the hatch-way. Wickwaya then takes an 

 eagle wing feather in his left, some meal in his right hand, stands up, 

 sprinkles some meal along the feather, hums a short song waving the 

 feather slightly up and down to the time of the singing, circles the 

 feather over the altar two times, and then quickly brushes the meal 

 off towards the hatch- way. This he does, in all, five times. He then 

 utters a brief prayer, assumes his seat in the circle and then the 



First song is commenced. No. 8 gets up, and, standing on the 

 banquette of the kiva and holding a small tray with fine meal in her 

 left hand, rubs four lines against the north wall of the kiva. At the 

 second stanza of the song she does the same on the west wall, etc. At 

 the fifth stanza she throws four times a small pinch against a joist over 

 the altar, and at the sixth an equal number of times on the floor near 

 the medicine bowl: 



Second song: No. 8 takes from a corn -husk some crushed berries, 

 passes them along the ear of corn on the north side of the medicine 

 bowl, drops them into the bowl, picks up the corn-ear, the old aspergill 

 (which is called the husband of the corn-ear) and the small stone lying 

 by its side, holds these objects over the bowl, and pours some water 

 on them from one of the netted gourd vessels, whereupon she replaces 

 them. This she repeats with the other five groups of objects. 



Third song: No. 7 sprinkles a pinch of corn-pollen along the north 

 side corn-ear into the bowl, then also throws the small stone from the 

 north side into the bowl, and then, bending over the medicine bowl (see 

 Plate IX, b) whistles into it several times. This she repeats with re- 

 gard to the other five directions during the following five stanzas of 

 the song. 



Fourth song: No. 3 moves slightly forward in a kneeling position, 

 picks up the ear of corn and its husband from the north side of the 

 bowl, dips these objects into the liquid and then asperges with them. 

 At the second stanza she does the same with the objects from the west 

 side, etc., until all six have been used. While this is going on No. 8 

 asperges occasionally. 



Fifth song: No. 2 moves forward in a kneeling position and takes 

 the two small bow sticks from the west side of the altar; No. 10 those 

 from the east side; No. 7 the two sticks with the grass wheels from the 



1 As Wickwaya was the chief priest, and Navini the assistant in nearly all the ceremonies observed, 

 their names will be used in this memoir. 



