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ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 39 



journey. These sun houses are points on the horizon which for each 

 village mark the extreme northwesterly or southwesterly sunrise posi- 

 tions. Foot races in late autumn have the sympathetic purpose of 

 relieving the travel-weary sun. The Summer People's Song of the 

 San Juan Race Dance is concerned with this magic : 



Old Man of the Sun ! 



Stand ready at dawn 



On Cactus Ridge ! 



Old Man of the Moon ! 



Stand ready at dawn 



On Cactus Ridge ! 



Stand ready at dawn, 



Thence for San Juan ! 



Stand ready at dawn 



For Eagle-Tail-Rain-Standing Road! 



Figure 5.— Buffalo-hide shields of the Pueblo Indians, New Mexico. Left, decorated with 

 band of galaxy, with sun in center, buffalo ho<-ns at side, bear's paws at bottom ; right, 

 the sun with buffalo horns wearing the sun's shirt, streamers of light over clouds. 



In the dead of winter there is a New Fire Ceremony which has the 

 purpose of recovering the sun's heat. The Sun Katchina Man, a 

 masked personifier, is a splendid figure with a round, feather-fringed 

 face. On Pueblo war shields the sun wears bison horns and a shirt 

 that consists of streamers of light. 



The Sun Dance of the Plains Indians was also a summer solstice 

 ceremony with other purposes intervening. Originally the Plains 

 Sun Dance regulated nature for man's benefit. "The dancers," says 

 Dorsey, "collectively overcome an enemy, generally the Sun, and by 

 their medicine compel the Thunderbird to release rain." Partici- 

 pants represent gods of four directions, and details of costume as 

 well as painted decoration are not only symbolic but also coercive. 

 The self-torture elements of the closing ceremony derives from an 

 ancient American Indian belief that the sun is a helper of warriors. 



