ANCIENT PUEBLOS OF UPPER GILA REGION. 91 



The cave cult, if so it may be termed, is responsible for the preser- 

 vation of perishable objects connected with the religious beliefs of 

 the ancient Pueblos, and this cult has also survived to the present. 

 ^Vhile the cave offered a secret, somewhat inaccessible place for the 

 deposit of offerings which the uninitiated could not view without 

 danger, it was especially a place for the worship of the beings of the 

 underworld. 



PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PAHO. 



The proceeding in offering to the gods who are believed to be in all 

 respects like men in their desires and inclinations is entirely normal. 

 The paho stands for the human supplicant, and is formed in ac- 

 cordance with this idea, painted, dressed, furnished with food, 

 money, medicinal plants, etc., and feathers that, by the orenda^ or 

 magic power, of flying creatures carry petitions to the gods. The 

 paho is thus the central feature of the sacrifice, and may be of any 

 form or material or any object thought to be pleasing to or apper- 

 taining to a particular supernatural being whose characteristic per- 

 sonal offerings have been determined and fixed by the traditional 

 usage of the religious organization. 



The offering prepared in a ritualistic manner, involving its ma- 

 terials, manufacture, and the spiritual attitude of the offerer, re- 

 ceived its final intent through its bestowing in a shrine or other loca- 

 tion and through the prayers said at that time. At an equal rate 

 with the multiplication of the supernatural beings there developed a 

 more extended knowledge of their attributes and an increased com- 

 plexity in their worships, the offerings and the attendant symbolism 

 became extremely varied, but the central idea remained simple, in 

 that anthropomorphic gods like men were pleased with the things 

 that are desirable to men. ^ 



With this in mind the description of the objects found in the Bear 

 Creek and other caves of the region becomes less difficult. It is not 

 possible to reconstruct the religious system, or present it as Mrs. 

 Stevenson has that of the Zuiii, but the study which she has made 

 with the Zuni and that of Doctor Fewkes among the Hopi is of 

 great service in affording comparisons with the ancient offerings and 

 aids materially in bringing the subject out of the total darkness that 

 has formerly obscured it. 



TWIG PAHOS. 



Occurring in quantities in all the separate cave shrines were twigs 

 of dark brown color taken from some bush which has a very shiny 

 bark, probably some species of Ptelea. Many of these twigs had 

 various attachments of windings of cotton cord and threads of yucca 

 fiber which sometimes retain the bases of the quills to which they 



