738 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ish, boxlike elevation which extends about two feet above the 

 level of the earth and measures about six feet in length, with a 

 two-foot hole in the center, from which projects to a considerable 

 height the posts of a ladder. If you descend this ladder you will 

 find yourself in a subterranean chamber, rectangular in shape, 

 and measuring about twenty-five feet in length by about fifteen 

 feet in breadth, with a height from the floor to the ceiling of about 

 ten feet. This underground room is the kiva, or the estufa of the 

 Spaniards. Here are held all the secret rites of religious cere- 

 monies, and here the men resort to smoke, to gossip, to spin, and 

 weave. The floor, to an extent of two thirds of the entire length, 

 except for a foot-wide space extending around this portion, is exca- 

 vated still farther to a depth of a foot and a half. The remain- 

 ing elevated portion is for the spectators, while the banquette 

 around the excavation is used by the less active participants in the 

 ceremonies. Just under the hatchway and in front of the specta- 

 tors' floor is a depression which is used as a fire hearth. The walls 

 are neatly coated with plaster, and the entire floor is paved with 

 irregularly shaped flat stones fitted together in a rough manner. 

 There is sometimes inserted in the floor, at the end removed from 

 the spectators, a plank with a circular hole about an inch and a half 

 in diameter; this hole is called the sipapu, and symbolizes the open- 

 ing in the earth through which the ancestors of the Hopi made 

 their entrance into this world. The roof of the kiva is supported 

 by great, heavy beams, which are brought from the San Francisco 

 Mountain with infinite trouble and labor. In Oraibi there are 

 thirteen kivas, each probably in the possession of some society, one 

 of which belongs to women, who there erect their altar in the 

 mamzrouti ceremony. Oraibi has the largest number of kivas of 

 any of the Hopi pueblos; in a single plaza there are no less than 

 four kivas. This plaza is on the west side of the village, and one 

 of the kivas is of special interest, for in it are held the secret rites 

 of the weird snake ceremony. A little to the west of this plaza 

 is a small bit of the mesa, standing apart and separated from the 

 main mesa by a depression. This is known as " Oraibi rock," 

 whence the pueblo takes its name. The etymology of this name 

 " Oraibi " is lost in a misty past, but the rock is still held in great 

 veneration. On it stands a rude shrine, where one may always find 

 sacrificial offerings of prayer-sticks, pipes, sacred meal, cakes, etc. 

 The roof of a Hopi house is always of interest. Here we may 

 see corn drying in the sun or loads of fagots ready for use, women 

 dressing their hair or fondling their babies, or groups of children 

 playing or roasting melon seeds in an old broken earthenware vessel 

 which rests on stones over a fire. From the projecting rafters are 



