102 BULLETIN 87, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



the idea of cult grew with the esthetic idea and where feathers were 

 collected for trade with other tribes far and near. The customs of the 

 present Pueblos — the Hopi, for instance — with regard to the collec- 

 tion of bird pelts are traditional and are, no doubt, similar to those 

 practiced by the ancient Pueblos. 



Hopi knowledge of bird life is thorough/ in fact surprising to a 

 trained naturalist, who finds that their nomenclature of the a\dan to- 

 pography is quite as exact as that of science, and that the Indian's ac- 

 quaintance with the habits of birds is really extraordinary. 



The collector of bird skins is generally the one to whose use the 

 feathers are to be put ; or the duty may be delegated to members of 

 the secret orders, who take the birds ritually ; that is, the use at the 

 time of capture of appropriate prayers and ceremonies, as in the 

 case of the eagle.- The birds must be trapped, killed by suffocation, 

 and not mutilated, and herein is a subject which will repay investi- 



FlG. 210. CEREMONffAT. BOW FROM ZuSl. 



gation. The skins are dried, carefully wrapped in cotton cloth, put 

 in an oblong rectangular box excavated from a single piece of wood, 

 and guarded with other sacred j)araphernalia. 



During preparations for ceremonials I have observed the selection 

 of the proper feathers for pahos and have been struck with the exact- 

 ness of the methods, which reminded me of the scrutiny of the orni- 

 tliologist in comparing two species. The complexity of Hopi and 

 other Pueblo ceremonials is so great, and the feathers appropriate to 

 each feature of the rites are so numerous, that the description of the 

 minutiae of their kinds, uses, etc., would apparently fill a volume. 



Some of the considerations which may have determined the use of 

 feathers in religious observances are suggested. The colors of feathers 

 are permanent, often vivid and always present some element of 

 beauty; they are, therefore, more useful than flowers which, though 

 highl}' appreciated by most peoples, soon fade. Their colors are 

 various enough to accord with color ideas related to beings, world- 

 directions, etc., which enter into the philosophy of uncivilized tribes. 



1 E. A. Mearns, Ornithological Vocabulary of the Moki Indians, American Anthropolo- 

 gist, vol. 9, December, 1806, p. 391. 



= J. Walter Fewkes. I'roperty Rights in Eagles Among the Hopi. American An- 

 thropologist, vol. 2, n. s, October-December, 1900, p. 690. 



