A THEATRICAL I'lCRFORM ANCF. AT W ALl'I 627 



the religious fraternities participating in the rites are displayed. 

 These objects, called tifonis^ were not seen in the festival of the 

 Great Serpent. Every Hopi ceremony has an altar on which 

 the tiponis are conspicuous, but there is nothing which could 

 be called an altar in this exhibition. It is customary in Hopi 

 ceremonies to prepare feathered sticks called pa/ios, which are 

 consecrated by song and deposited in shrines. The preparation 

 of these symbols is quite inconspicuous in the drama considered. 

 No medicine was made or medicine bowl employed, as is uni- 

 versally the case in true ceremonials. 



The performers are not limited to any special religious fra-. 

 ternity and all men, women, and children except those specially 

 tabu,^ are permitted to witness the performances, a fact which 

 likewise tells strongly in favor of their secular nature. The 

 paraphernalia employed in the presentations are not ancient; 

 thus the marionettes of the Corn Maids were manufactured by 

 Totci, a Hopi of the Badger clan still living at Zuni. Some of 

 the sun screens employed are modern, that used in the first act 

 being an old wagon sheet contributed for the ceremony by a 

 young man of Hano three years ago. Two new serpent effi- 

 gies were made the present year.^ 



The conclusion to which the above statements point is that 

 the acts described are, in the main, theatrical and secular, 

 performed for instruction or entertainment. Ceremonial pro- 

 ceedings, to be sure, pervade the whole, as they do all events 

 in Hopi life, as birth, marriage, burial of the dead, pottery- 

 making, house-building, rabbit hunts, planting, and harvesting. 

 A priori, we should expect them in the Hopi drama, and cer- 

 tainly these studies show their existence. 



The explanation of these theatrical performances must be 

 sought in the symbolization of legendary events, part historical, 

 part mythical. Since these performances deal with mytholog- 

 ical subjects, the actors are personations of mythic or supernat- 

 ural beings. 



The effigies represent the Great Serpent, a supernatural per- 



' Pregnant women are not allowed to witness the festival, and no woman 

 should touch any part of the Great Serpent effigies. 



^ Broken and discarded portions of worn-out effigies are not thrown away, but 

 are deposited in certain cave shrines, where they can now be seen. 



