White] THE PUEBLO OF SIA, NEW MEXICO 9 
upon meanings of rituals, paraphernalia, and concepts which no 
amount of observation alone would disclose. I witnessed a great 
amount and variety of sacred ritual and paraphernalia among the 
Hopi pueblos in 1932, including masked dances, rituals in the kivas, 
and items of paraphernalia of various kinds. I have observed the 
Shalako ceremonies in Zufii. And I have seen many dances and 
ceremonies, including a maskless kachina dance, among Keresan 
pueblos. All these observations have helped me to visualize and to 
comprehend informants’ descriptions of unseen portions of Keresan 
culture. As a consequence, I believe that my accounts of esoteric 
ceremonies as obtained from informants, at Santa Ana and at Sia, 
will bear comparison with Mrs. Stevenson’s descriptions of cere- 
monies witnessed at Sia, or with descriptions provided by eye-witness 
observers of other cultures. 
I have checked one informant’s account with that of another, or 
others, at many points. And during the 1950’s I went back to my 
principal informant of 1941 to recheck his work of that year. In 
most instances, I believe, there has been a close correspondence 
between the accounts of different informants and between accounts 
from the same informant at different time periods. But there are 
occasional discrepancies. The occurrence of discrepancies does not 
necessarily mean, however, that my informants were either in error 
or lying. Discrepancies may arise from a number of sources: (1) 
There may be a difference in judgment among informants as to what 
common practice is or should be. (2) There may actually be differ- 
ences of practices, and one informant might cite one and another a 
different practice. (3) Custom may well have changed at some points 
within the 29 years during which the study was carried on. (4) Some 
informants are more specific than others—the Flint and Shima soci- 
eties are very closely associated; one informant might speak of either 
as Flint whereas another would distinguish Shima from Flint. (5) 
Since there are a number of secret societies in Sia, one informant may 
know something that is unknown to another. And (6) there may be 
other legitimate and valid sources of variation. I feel sure that no 
informant has deliberately told me something that was not true; it 
would be difficult for him to fabricate a description of a ritual even 
were he so inclined. I think it likely, however, that informants 
have, on occasion, denied the existence of certain practices, such as, 
for example, forms of punishment or even of execution for witch- 
craft; one of my best informants was very loath to discuss witchcraft. 
Also, on a few occasions an informant has frankly told me that he 
would not give me information on a certain point. Finally, it is 
somewhat ironic to note that the more informants one has the greater 
is the likelihood of variation and discrepancy. 
