78 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 66 
the nucleus of the Hopi population were augmented, in the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries, by additions from this and other 
directions. 
The arrival in the Hopi country of the first clans occurred in 
prehistoric times, but legends of that event have been preserved in 
traditions which may be verified by examination and comparison of 
archeological data. It is possible by a study of the halting places 
mentioned in legends to determine the migration trails of these incre- 
ments and to extend into prehistoric times our knowledge of the 
history of one of the most instructive groups of North American 
Indians. 
Fic. 82.—Kin-a-a, near Crown Point. Photograph by Fewkes. 
The ruin of Sikyatki, situated three miles from Walpi, is generally 
regarded as one of the oldest of the prehistoric Hopi settlements. 
All traditions and archeological evidences prove that it was settled 
before the Coronado expedition in 1540. Legends declare not only 
that the ancestors of this pueblo came from a region near Jemez, 
New Mexico, but also recount that before they built Sikyatki their 
ancestors constructed, on the brink of a canyon 25 miles east of Walpi, 
a village they called Fire House, the ruins of which (fig. 80), known 
to Navaho as Beshbito, “ Pipe water,” are still pointed out in support 
of this claim. These circumstantial statements can be verified or 
disproved by archeological observations on the ruin itself or by an 
examination of pottery found in it. 
