506 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



the underworld; (2) Elder Brothers, personated by reptiles or 

 descendants of the first offspring of the cultus hero and maid, the 

 Snake- Antelope woman, the mythic ancestress of the Snake- Antelope 

 clan; (3) the cultus maid of the women's societies, who dance with 

 baskets or tablets bearing symbols of many clans. This cultus maid 

 is in reality the Corn Maid (fig. 10) or the supernatural who brought 

 maize to the Hopi. A complete account of her festival should not be 

 considered under ancestor worship, as it would furnish enough mate- 

 rial for a special article which would take one too far afield to con- 

 sider at this time. One instinctively thinks, in studying the Katcinas, 

 of the Latin lares and penates, the former of which appear to have 

 been deified ancestors, and of the many house spirits which were 

 formerty worshipped among many races, survivals of which appear 

 in folklore. Although the theory that the lares were deified family 

 ancestors is not accepted by all students, there is good reason to 

 believe their worship is a very ancient one, more so than that of the 

 great nature gods. 



