KEPORT OF THE SECKETAEY. 49 • 



to many of their ancient customs as before wliite men came among them, 

 although some of their ceremonies are now less elaborate than they were in 

 former times. 



While the creation myth of the San Ildefonso Indians differs somewhat 

 from that of the Zuni and of other Pueblo tribes, it is the same in all essentials. 

 According to their belief they were created in an undermost world, and passed 

 through three other worlds before reaching this one. The tribe is divided into 

 the Sun or Summer, and the Ice or "Winter people, the former having preceded 

 the latter in their advent into this world, and their final home was reached on 

 the western bank of the Rio Grande almost opposite the present pueblo. This 

 place is marked by an extensive ruin. 



Every mountain peak, near and far, within sight of San Ildefonso is sacred 

 to the Tewa people, and they make pilgrimages at prescribed intervals to lofty 

 heights far beyond the range of their home. The names of these sacred 

 mountains, with a full description of each, were procured. 



The philosophy of all the Pueblos is closely related in a general way, yet 

 there are marked differences in detail. Although Mrs. Stevenson has pene- 

 trated the depths of the Tewa philosophy, she has not been able to discover 

 any distinctive features, it being a composite of Zuni, Sia, and Taos beliefs. 

 The great desire of all these people, and the burden of their songs and prayers, 

 is that rain, which in their belief is produced by departed ancestors working 

 behind the cloud-masks in the sky, should come to fructify the earth, and that 

 they may so live as to merit the beneficence of their deities. The entrance to 

 this world is believed to be thi'ough a body of water, which the Tewa of San 

 Ildefonso declare existed near their village until certain Zunis came and spirited 

 the water away to their own country. Further studies, no doubt, will shed more 

 light on these interesting beliefs, and render clearer the origin and relations of 

 Tewa and Zuiii concepts. 



There are but two rain priests among the Tewa of San Ildefonso : one per- 

 taining to the Sun people, the other to the Ice people, the former taking 

 precedence in the general management of tribal affairs. The rain priest of 

 the Sun is the keeper of the tribal calendar and is the supreme head of the 

 Sun people. The governor of San Ildefonso, who is chosen virtually by the 

 rain priest of the Sun people, is elected annually, and has greater power than 

 that accorded a Zuiii governor. The war chief, whose religious superior is the 

 war priest, who holds the office during life, is also elected annually, and also 

 is a person of great power. There are three kivas, or ceremonial chambers, 

 at San Ildefonso, one belonging to the Sun people, another to the Ice people, 

 and one used jointly for certain civic gatherings, for rehearsal of dances, and for 

 other purposes. The religion of the Tewa of San Ildefonso consists in worship 

 of a supi'eme bisexual power and of gods anthropic (embracing celestial and 

 ancestral) and zoic, the latter especially associated with the sacred fraternities. 

 The fundamental rites and ceremonies of these fraternities are essentially 

 alike among all the t'ueblos. Their theurgists are the great doctors, whose 

 function is to expel disease inflicted by witchcraft, and those of San Ildefonso 

 have as extensive a pharmacopoeia as the Zuiii theurgists. The belief of the 

 Tewa in witchcraft is intense, and is a source of great anxiety among them. 

 Accused wizards or witches are tried by the war chief. 



Many of the San Ildefonso ceremonies associated with anthropic worship are 

 identical with those of Taos, while others are the same as those observed by the 

 Zuni, although neither the ritual nor the paraphernalia is so elaborate. Some 

 of the songs used in connection with the dances at San Ildefonso are in the Zuni • 

 tongue. It is to be hoped that further comparative study among these people 

 will reveal to what extent the ceremonies have been borrowed, like that of the 



97578°— SM 1910 4 



