488 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



ing to the clan do not pretend to know the meaning of the symbols 

 on masks of other clans. 



The Katcina masks are commonly kept hanging on the wall of 

 back rooms in the pueblo, and as they are needed year by year are 

 repainted and redecorated for use. Most of the helmet masks (figs. 

 1, 2) that have been examined are not very old, many being made of 

 old bootlegs or leather from old Spanish saddles, or even cloth or 



Fig. 1. — Katcina helmet-mask. 



felt hats. There are, however, man}' ancient masks kept as heir- 

 looms and never brought out in public dances which are still pre- 

 served, even when the clans that once used them have become 

 extinct. 



The masked or Katcina dances ordinarily occur in the summer 

 months and vary somewhat each year. The arrival and departure of 

 the Katcinas are fixed festivals and never vary, but at some time in the 

 course of winter or early spring the Hopi chiefs hold an informal 

 council to determine what particular abbreviated Katcinas they will 



