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elaborate symbolism. The downy feathers of the soaring eagle 
attached to prayer-sticks are potent invocations for rain; the 
sinuous rattlesnake is symbolic of lightning; every living thing 
that derives its sustenance directly or indirectly from the waters 
—tadpoles, frogs, fish, turtles, the dragon-fly, and every vegetal 
growth found about springs—all are sacred because water-produc- 
ing. “ Without water there is no corn; without corn we die.” 
Little wonder then that maize, the veritable staff of life, so de- 
pendent on moisture for the very existence of the Pueblo farmer 
and his family, should be symbolized by the Corn Maidens of 
their mythology and by many other personages, or that they should 
treasure the sacred ornaments and other devices which appear in 
the beautiful rhythmic Rain dances that in summer are performed 
day after day with accompanying songs and drum-beat for a week 
or more at a time (Figs. 6 and 7). It is not difficult to see, 
then, what influence the cultivation of corn wielded in the economic 
life of such a people, how it affected their religion and mythology, 
and even their social organization as shown by numerous clans 
which take their names from maize. They have adapted its culti- 
vation to their environment, overpowering the arid sands with irri- 
gation by means of canals fed sometimes from distant streams. 
In the case of dry-farming in favorable spots they plant a handful 
of kernels in a deep hole made with a wooden dibble, that the plants 
may find moisture and protect one another from the hot desert 
blasts. In Zuni philosophy corn is given a most prominent place 
in the native beliefs. Cushing recorded these words of a native 
priest : 
“ Five things alone are necessary to the sustenance and comfort 
of the Indians among the children of earth—The Sun, who is the 
father of all; the Earth, who is the mother of men; the Water, 
who is the grandfather; the Fire, who is the grandmother; our 
brothers and sisters the Corn, and seeds of growing things.” 
So long ago was it that corn first became known to the Indians 
of this country that its origin, lost in the mists of antiquity, is ac- 
counted for only through mythology, and many and beautiful are 
the stories that reveal to these simple folk the manner in which 
this food of foods came to them. Let us tell briefly one of the 
mythic tales which the Zufiis of New Mexico have handed down 
by word of mouth through the ages, as recorded by Cushing: 
