6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
I began my study of Sia in October 1928. By that time I had made 
two field trips to Acoma, one of almost 6 months, the other of 3. I 
had also spent considerable time at Laguna and some of her colonies, 
and had, of course, visited Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, San Felipe, 
and Cochiti. Much of my time, from September 1928 to the end of 
January 1929, was devoted to Sia. A portion of the summer of 1934, 
which was spent principally at Santa Ana, was given to the study of 
Sia. I spent a few days at Sia at Christmastime 1938, and observed 
some ceremonies. The summer of 1941 I devoted intensively to Sia, 
and made a brief visit to the pueblo in the summer of 1946. I spent 
much of the summer of 1952 with previous Sia informants, checking 
over old data and adding new items. Many visits were made to the 
pueblo, and numerous talks with previous informants were held, 
between October 1954 and January 1955, inclusive. And, finally, I 
had recourse to former informants during the summer of 1957 while 
preparing my monograph for publication. 
I have described the technique of ethnologic fieldwork among the 
Keresan pueblos in some detail in my monograph, “The Pueblo of 
Santa Ana, New Mexico” (1942 a, pp. 9-11), but must make some 
mention of it here also. The Keresan pueblos, along with almost 
all other pueblos in New Mexico except Zufii, have been determined 
for decades to prevent white people—ethnologists and journalists, 
especially—from learning anything about their life and culture that 
cannot be gleaned by a casual stroll through the pueblo on feast 
days. Every person is taught from childhood that the culture of 
his pueblo is sacred and information concerning it must not be di- 
vulged to outsiders. The principal reason for this is that the early 
Spanish settlers, particularly in the 17th century, tried to stamp out 
the indigenous religion and to Christianize the Indians. After the 
great Revolt of 1680 failed and the Spaniards reconquered the Pueblo 
tribes, the Indians went underground, to use a modern political 
term, and preserved their ancient religion beneath a cloak of secrecy, 
while pretending on the surface to have become Catholics. Also, 
the Pueblo Indians have found since the Mexican War and the Amer- 
ican occupation that they fare better if Americans believe that they 
are Christians, that they elect their governor, that they have a 
democratic government, and soon. And, finally, it is highly probable 
that this strict devotion to secrecy promotes tribal solidarity and 
makes the Indian more tenacious in holding to the old ways. 
Most of the data in this monograph were obtained from inform- 
ants—using this term in a technical sense; some, however, were 
obtained from direct personal observation and from casual, Le., 
nonprivate, conversations with Indians at Sia and other pueblos, 
with employees of the Indian Service, and with others. By informant 
