NO. 2235. HOPI INDIAN COLLECTION— HOUGH. • 285 



been more prevalent. Birds are still numerous; reptiles and insects 

 are yet in sufficient quantity. 



The above is a summary of the animal resources, near and far, 

 which were available to the Hopi and use was made of all of them. 



The capture of the larger mammals was effected by battue, the 

 game, principally antelope, being driven into corrals having pockets. 

 This method was pursued anciently but was gi-eatly accentuated on 

 the acquisition of the horse and the iron axe. The Hopi, however, 

 did not pursue this method to the same extent as the Navaho, pre- 

 ferring rather to depend upon the number engaging in the hunt and 

 individual agility which rivaled that of the animals themselves. They 

 also wore as decoys the heads of antelope prepared for the purpose, 

 thus taking advantage of the well-known curiosity of this animal. 



Hunting was, to a great degree, ritual, ceremonial hunts being an 

 accompaniment of certain ceremonies, as the Soyaluna. Hunting 

 undertaken as such by individuals was attended with ceremony and 

 aided by fetiches, but chance flushing and pursuit of game -had no 

 religious character. The curved flat club-boomerang was the favorite 

 weapon for killing small game, and in good hands was almost as 

 accurate within its range as the bow and arrow, but the latter had 

 necessarily a more extensive use. Skill in throwing rocks may be 

 mentioned in connection with the capture of game. The capture of 

 animals depended upon the habits of the animals themselves and 

 upon circumstances. Thus, during heavy rains, rivulets were con- 

 ducted into the burrows of prairie dogs by means of a hoe, and the 

 animal coming out in half-drowned condition was dispatched with a 

 stick, dozens being so captured in a short time. The habits of animals 

 were well known to these Indians, and this knowledge was brought 

 in play when the occasion arose. 



Animals taken ceremonially for use in religious observances are 

 required to be captured without mutilation and without shedding of 

 blood. This taboo is based on the prescription of perfect offerings 

 and has given rise to the use of the club-boomerang, regarded as a 

 ceremonial hunting weapon for the capture of small mammals, in- 

 stead of the bow and arrow.^ Birds whose plumage alone is desired 

 in its utmost perfection are therefore not killed with the club or the 

 bow and arrow, but snared and trapped. Small birds are taken with 

 a series of nooses secured at intervals along slender rods planted near 

 springs where birds congregate. The nooses now used are of horse- 

 hair. Seeds are scattered about the place and the birds feeding 

 become snared in the nooses. Eagles are caught with far greater 

 difficulty, the method being to build a circular tower on some high 

 elevation, place over the top a frame of rods lashed together, and 



»The ZunI prescription for the ceremonial taking of deer is that the animal shall be 

 smothered. Mrs. M. C. Stevenson, 23d Ann. Rept. Amer. Bur. Ethnol., p. 439. 



