AT ZUSfl AND MOQUI PUEBLOS. 109 



well-known crescentric figures, symbols of rain, O-mou, 

 were marked out with sacred meal. 1 



The offerings of water, brought by the boys, were then 

 handed to the Uch-che, a man inside the bower, and hav- 

 ing delivered the offerings the procession left the place. 

 The man inside the bower, and a woman, buried the offer- 

 ings in a little crypt in the floor of the bower under a flat 

 stone. When I visited the place shortly after the cere- 

 mony I found that the lodge of cotton-wood had been re- 

 moved and the flat stone, covering the cavity in which the 

 deposit had been made, was plastered up with adobe. 



These simple ceremonies were all that I saw of the Ley- 

 la-tuk in my short visit to Wol-pi. I was told that there 

 was a connection between them and the so-called snake 

 dance 2 performed at about the same time in alternate years. 



While the speculative side of my subject is one which 

 at the present state of my knowledge of pueblo life I have 

 endeavored to avoid, there is one prominent idea which 

 has forced itself on my attention in studying the summer 

 ceremonials of the isolated pueblos which I visited. 



The character of the religious ceremonials in summer 

 is more or less modified by the environment under the in- 

 fluence of which these Indians live. I think there is much 

 to show that the mythological and religious character of 

 the Zufiians can be directly traced to the physical and cli- 

 matic conditions by which they are surrounded. As they 

 are agricultural people the great desideratum at this time 

 of the year is water for their crops. As a result, rain 

 dances, Kor-kok-shi, z are most prominent features. These 



1 In :i more detailed description to be published later, I s!iall give an account of 

 how these rain figures were made by the priest, and the offerings which were thrown 

 into them by the women and boys. 



2 It is desirable that, at the next celebration of this weird ceremonial, syste- 

 matic efforts be made to bring to light the true meaning of the ceremony. 



* Literally, good dances. 



