HENDERSON 

 HARRINGTON 



.] ETHNOZOOLOGY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 51 



Qwse-ijim-, 'tail rattle' {qwse'tj, tail; i^y,-, rattle). Rattlesnakes of 

 any species and also their rattles are called qyoce'ypij,- . (See 

 below.) 

 Crotalus sp. Rattlesnake. 

 Several species of rattlesnake have been recorded from New Mexico, 

 but none from the area under discussion, so far as we are aware. Two 

 specimens have been killed at El Rito de los Frijoles within two or 

 three years, as we are informed by Judge Abbott and Mr. Dowell, 

 but they were. not specifically identified. The Indians say rattle- 

 snakes are common in the Rio Grande Canyon not far from the Rito. 

 C. confluentus confluentus (Say) probably occurs in this region, and 

 perhaps other species. 



Any species of snake is called pseny,. The following kinds are 

 known by name : 



Pi'su, 'red arrow' {pi', red; su, arrow). These slender red snakes 

 almost fly through the air, according to the natives. 



Tsirjpsenu. 'basalt snake' (tsi, basalt rock; pseny,, snake). 



Nq'y pseny,, 'earth snake' (nq'tj, earth; pseny,, snake). These are 

 brownish. 



Po'pxny, 'water snake' {po', water; pseny, snake). Any kind of 

 water snake may be called thus. 



Po'mq-qwrheg!e (po', water; mq', (?); qwrtied, tangled, a knot, a 

 thicket; beg!e, low place, dell, low corner). What the name means is 

 not clear. This is a kind of water snake, possibly a synonym of 

 po'2)Penu. 



' Usidi, a snake a yard long, "earth-colored." 



Nq''q', San Ildefonso dialect mVydtr. A kind of snake longer than 

 TiQf'Vpseny. 



Ps^ny p^'v^i''', 'black snake' {pseny, snake; p\'v, black). A dark- 

 colored snake species. 



Qwssrypy, 'tail bell' {qwse'y, tail; py, bell or rattle). This name 

 applies to any kind of rattlesnake, and is given above. Py now 

 usually means bell of any kind; formerly it referred to anything 

 which gave out a note when struck or made a rattling sound. Ex- 

 amine: ns^'V^ ps^nynqqwse-ypymy qwsp/ydiv^e, ' this snake has a rattle 

 on its tail' {v.se,-, this; p^%, snake; nd, it; qwse.-ij, tail; py, bell; 

 my, to be, to be provided with; qwse'y, tail; 'iwe, locative); t^'^ 

 'yfsi-glmy, it has ten rattles' {tx'^, ten; 'y, it, wdth reference to it; 

 fsi-gi, notch, narrow place; my, to be, to be provided with) . 



Of snakes one says either nam^', 'it goes' {nq,, it; mae-, to go), or 

 'iqwa'mse-y, 'it crawls' {'i, it; qwa-ms^'y, to go crawlingly, like a man 

 on all fours). 



