A TUSAYAN FOOT RACE. 127 



touch the crook which he holds, with the palm of their 

 hands. In the case of the Ld'-ld-kon-ti in which a girl 

 races with the men, this girl is placed within a circle of 

 meal upon the trail and near her is deposited prayer sticks 

 called ba'-hos. The crook which the priest holds is de- 

 posited after the race in a shrine and sometimes brought 

 to the kib-va. In the Ld'-ld-kon-ti the former deposition 

 is made, and in the Snake and Flute races the latter, but 

 in all instances the contestants are compelled to run up 

 the hillside before the race is finished. 



In none of the races up the trail which I have witnessed 

 did the clowns or Ra-tci-nas take part. It will be seen from 

 my account 1 of these races that there is no close rela- 

 tionship between them and the Wd-wdc-kd-tci-nd. The 

 winners are not given prizes nor do the participants flog 

 each other with yucca wands. Of all the foot races 

 which I have seen the Wd-wdc-kd-lci-nd is unique in its 

 character. I have not referred to the meaning of the Wd- 

 wdG-kd-tci-nd, although from its character and the partici- 

 pants who take part, there can be no doubt but that it 

 reaches back to the early history of the people. 



One is tempted to regard the Wd-wdc as the same as 

 the spring races which have been described in the Rio 

 Grande pueblo, but the exact relationship is not wholly 

 clear to me. The presence of the Kd-tci-nd is an impor- 

 tant element which will be spoken of in a later publica- 

 tion in which comparative accounts of the two will be 

 considered. 



It is said that the prize in the Snake race is the greatest 

 of all prizes attainable, namely, long life and all the bless- 

 ings which come to men, but however this may be, the 



1 Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology, Vol. II, p. 1. 



