5© Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. VI. 



stanzas about houses of stones or shells of the different ceremonial 

 colors, and of different names. 



After the godmother has made these lines, she repairs to her own 

 house and gets some ears of corn, which are cooked with a few small 

 twigs of juniper. This dish is called "lying-in cooked corn -ear" 

 (tlhkatchoyani), and is eaten for breakfast. Any one is welcome to step 

 in and partake of the meal; passers by and children outside are even 

 invited to come in. The lying-in woman also eats of this, but she has 

 usually partaken already of some crushed piki (paper bread) soaked in 

 warm water. In fact, she is not allowed to eat or drink anything 

 cold throughout the whole lying-in period. She is furthermore not 

 allowed to eat any meat, or any food containing salt, and everything 

 she eats must have been prepared, at least in some degree, with a decoc- 

 tion of juniper leaves. 



This is about the way a case of childbirth among the Hopi passes 

 off normally. Of course, the various cases may differ somewhat in non- 

 essential points. The husband is sometimes present, and now and then 

 also another woman besides the mother (or the substitute) of the par- 

 turient woman. But the cases do not always pass off normally. Cases 

 of difificult and protracted labor are by no means rare, among the Hopi. 

 In those cases the husband is often present, and the assistance of others 

 is called in. Recently a man, who is one of the most intelligent in the 

 village, and who himself has a family of six children, told me that his 

 wife was usually in labor several days, and that hjj would then remain 

 with her and "work," as he called it, on her body, and thus "turn the 

 child," and his remarks indicated that he had a fairly intelligent idea 

 of different presentations of the child. In fact, they have of later years 

 called upon his obstetrical skill in a number of cases that were very 

 tedious, and, although he is very modest about his knowledge, and 

 very reluctant in making practical use of it, he certainly seems to have 

 managed several cases very successfully in his own way. In one instance 

 the woman had been in labor for about two days and one night, and 

 wdls totally exhausted. Her father and husband were lying and sitting 

 by her side tired out, sleepy, and in despair. An Indian doctor from 

 a neighboring village was at his wit's end. When my friend arrived, 

 he ordered the husband of the lying-in woman to kneel on the floor, 

 and also to place both hands on the floor. He then, with the help 

 of the others, placed the woman across the back of her husband, but 

 somewhat to one side, so that a downward pressure was applied to the 

 woman's abdomen. He at the same time applied gentle pressure with 

 his hands on both sides of the abdomen, and primitive and drastic 

 as the measures resorted to appear, the child was expelled in a very 



