92 SUMMER CEREMONIALS 



by one who is not well enough acquainted with the mean- 

 ing of the events to offer a satisfactory explanation of them. 



The religious ceremonies which are here treated of are 

 dances, and planting of prayer-plumes. There are also 

 considered certain secular events which have a more or less 

 religious nature in their performance. The Zunians, as 

 the inhabitants of other pueblos, are given to ceremonials, 

 and every event in their lives has a religious side. As a 

 consequence these observances are very numerous and va- 

 ried and from the standpoint of a student it is difficult to 

 separate purely secular celebrations from those of a sacred 

 character. 



Among the simpler ceremonials may be mentioned the 

 planting of prayer-plumes, which are simple wooden sticks 

 with feathers tied upon them. These sticks are either 

 placed in the fields or deposited in special localities called 

 shrines of which there are several in the neighborhood of 

 the pueblo. 1 Two elaborate shrines are situated on top 

 of a high tableland or mesa called Ta-yal-o-ne. These 

 two shrines are dedicated to the Gods of War and the offer- 

 ings upon them are quite elaborate. Their central object 

 is a log of wood placed upright on which are cut rude 

 human faces while other similar weatherworn logs are 

 strewn about on the ground near the shrine. A cluster of 

 prayer-plumes, some tied to the foot of the log, some up- 

 right in the soil in front of it, are offerings which have been 



'One of the Zunians told me that in old times there were two shrines in the 

 pueblo near the old Spanish Church, now in ruins. A significant reminder of 

 the Christian influence in Zufii besides the old church is the cemetery in front of it 

 where all the Zufii dead are now buried without stone or inscription of any kind 

 to mark their graves. In the middle of this walled enclobiire stands a large wooden 

 cross which was very dilapidated in 1889. At the beginning of last summer how- 

 ever this cross had been replaced by a new one and the adobe wall surrounding 

 the grave yard had been renovated. As many skeletons are found buried in the 

 floors of the old ruins even in Hal-o-na-wan on the opposite side of the river from 

 Zufii, it may be supposed that the present place of interment is a relic of Spanish 

 influence. 



