ANCESTOR WORSHIP FEWKES. 493 



sonations (pi. 3). Consequently the Hopi pantheon is well stocked 

 with clan ancients resembling each other in general particulars but 

 differing considerably in their totemic or symbolic characters. The 

 union of several clans makes it very difficult to properly reconstruct 

 the original typical form in many cases. 



Every great Hopi ceremony has an elaborate and an abbreviated, 

 a greater and a lesser performance, commonly six months apart. 

 The elaborate exhibition as a rule extends over nine days. Several 

 of these days are occupied with secret observances in a kiva or 

 ceremonial room, but the public are welcomed to all pageants or 

 open dramatizations that customarily close the series of daily rites 

 that make up the celebration. 



The scheme of the dramatic dances in which Katcinas appear is 

 simple. These personations are believed to live in a far distant 

 land during the winter months but to visit the villages during the 

 summer. Their arrival and departure are two very important 

 ceremonial events and are appropriately celebrated; their advent 

 occurs annually in February and their departure in July, six months 

 apart. The dramatic representations of their coming and going are 

 the great festivals, Powa?nu and Niman, celebrated in secret rites 

 as well as open masques. At their advent they are led into the 

 pueblo by a personation of the sun, the father of all life, as described 

 in the account of sun worship among the Hopi. They enter the 

 town from the east and depart toward the west, and between their 

 advent and their departure they wander about in the field or in the 

 pueblo, from time to time performing open dances in the courts of 

 the villages. The celebration when they arrive or depart extends 

 over several days and nights but in the abbreviated or intermediary 

 personations their dances are limited to a single day. 



As the most showy part of these dances are the masked personators 

 (pi. 4, fig. 1) an explanation of the character of the symbolism, 

 mainly expressed on the mask, is important. In a typical Katcina 

 dance there are three or four impersonators that appear. The 

 largest number are called Katcina tahmnu or Katcina men. They 

 wear on their heads the helmet masks, the symbolism of which differs 

 according to the Katcina personated (pi. 5). Facing them are the 

 Katcina manas or Katcina maids, often called " sisters," generally 

 six in number. These are men dressed as maidens wearing the white 

 wedding blankets made of cotton similar to those that every Hopi 

 bride receives from the clan of her husband as part of her wedding 

 trousseau. These " sisters " face the men as they dance ; they carry 

 in their hands sheep scapulas which they draw over a notched stick, 

 making a rasping noise accentuated by a hollow gourd placed on the 

 ground, upon which the stick rests. This is called the " Hopi fiddle " 

 (pi. 4, fig. 2). The rhythm of the dance is also aided by the rattles 



