76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
No one became much excited or “went outside himself” or “talked 
with tongues.’”’ Only one person lost control of his feelings: a young 
woman was overcome by emotion as she testified about the sickness, 
suffering, and death of her baby; she broke down and wept, but re- 
covered her composure and concluded her testimony in a firm even 
voice. 
The little group of Indians sat together during the service. Benina 
Shije and two or three of her children were there. So were Viviano 
Herrera, Rita, the ex-wife of Willie Moquino, and Juanita Simbola, 
the wife of George Herrera; George himself was not there as he had to 
work that evening, Benina, a small, handsome woman, in typical, 
old-style Pueblo costume, her long hair tied in the back with a red 
woven belt, clapped her little hands in time to the singing, as did the 
the others. Rita testified in a clear, firm voice. She was followed 
by Juanita who testified in rather perfunctory fashion. Then Benina 
stood up and gave her testimony in the Keresan language, after which 
Rita translated for her. Viviano did not testify. He remained 
seated throughout the services and appeared to doze from time to 
time. [Hawley (1948., p. 278) thought she observed “physical mani- 
festations of excitment” in George Herrera at one of these meetings. 
His knee trembled, his arm jerked, and his head twitched.] 
The ‘“‘Holy Roller’ episode at Sia is remarkable. Nothing could be 
further from the temper and practice of pueblo culture than this 
excursion into evangelical Protestantism. I will not undertake to 
“explain” it. It happened, and to say that this sect gave the individ- 
ual who, in pueblo culture, is submerged in the community and re- 
pressed by it a chance to express himself; and to say that stresses 
and strains were created by the impact of individualistic American 
culture upon traditional pueblo society may be true and sound; but 
such statements do not seem to “explain” very much. One of my 
Sia informants, a wise and thoughtful man, observed, after discussing 
the heresy: ‘The Sia people are very hungry for religion all the time. 
Almost anyone can turn them.” I am not sure how these remarks 
are to be interpreted. It would appear to be an exaggeration to say 
that “almost anyone can turn them.” The impact of the Protestant 
evangelists was strong, and it provoked great emotional response in 
Sia. But by and large, the community stood firm by their old ways 
and traditions. And they ejected the dissenters. 
How did these heretics, living in their little colony on the outskirts 
of Albuquerque in 1952, unnoticed and unloved by the community 
around them, and trying to find fellowship in a congregation of Negroes 
who were as alien to them—if not as unfriendly—as the Whites and 
Mexicans, feel about their conversion and their exile? It would be 
difficult indeed to answer this question, also, although I talked with 
