604 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



liefs. Earliest man Avas equipped with a knowledge of how to make fire 

 when he came into the Rocky Mountains, and no doubt had the same 

 idea of the magical power of this element. We see in the complexity 

 of details in their present rites the result of many centuries of develop- 

 ment under the influence of many environments, but throughout all 

 superficial changes there is the initial idea that dates back to the time 

 when fire was discovered and regarded as life. The modifications in 

 details of the fire rite are secondary and may be regarded as a result 

 of local conditions. 



The culture of the Hopi Indians is wholly American. It is founded 

 on the food supply, maize, a cereal that America gave to the world, 

 and shows the result of centuries of modification by a strictly 

 American environment. The Hopi myths and rituals recognize un- 

 mistakably the dependence of their culture on this plant. They 

 designate corn as their mother ; the baby when 20 days old is dedi- 

 cated to the sun and has an ear of corn tied to its breast. A boy 

 initiated into the tribe has an ear of corn for his mother. Every 

 novice initiated into a religious fraternity has, as his symbolic 

 mother, an ear of corn. The symbol of chieftainship of a religious 

 fraternity is an ear of corn with appropriate wrapping which is 

 said to have belonged to the society when it emerged from the 

 underworld. That of the Flute chief has a wooden base on which are 

 painted corn and rain cloud sjmibols like the germ fetish above men- 

 tioned. The chief calls it his mother, and regards it not only as 

 his most precious heritage but also as his official badge. 



The maids to whom myths ascribe the gift of corn are the superla- 

 tive personages in the pantheon of the Hopi, and about them clusters 

 an elaborate ritual in which they are personated. Idols of the 

 corn maid appear on many altars, sometimes realistic, often con- 

 ventional, always synonymous with the Hopi God of Germs, the sym- 

 bolic personification of the earth. A fetish representing this super- 

 natural is the Germ God and has the form of a gigantic ear of corn 

 made of clay, stone, or wood, or painted with corn symbols. 



The supernatural being called the corn maid or Calakomana is no- 

 where better personated than in the public dances of the Mamzrauti, 

 sometimes called sister society of the Tataukyamu. This personation 

 is shown in the accompanying plate (pi. 9). She is also known 

 as the Palahikomana and has other eponyms, but Calakomana is 

 the name generally used to designate this beneficent personage. The 

 personification of this corn maid is one of the most striking in the 

 rites of the sister society of the new fire fraternities of priests. 



Fire is directly concerned in the sociology and the evolution of 

 society among the Hopi. The most ancient social unit recognizable 

 in primitive society is determined by the hearth and was composed 

 of those who used the same fire. This family group may have been 



