COSMOLOGY AND PUEBLO LIFE 
The Sia, like every other people, have a traditional ideology that 
explains the origin and nature of everything—the heavenly bodies, 
the earth, plants, animals, human beings, and culture—and shows 
how they are related to one another; their cosmology is the connective 
tissue, so to speak, of the world—material, social, and spiritual—that 
they livein. Temporally, reality or existence is divided into two eras: 
the mythical past in which supernatural beings brought the world to 
its present shape and condition, and the present real world of ordinary 
experience, which includes, of course, the memories and tales of grand- 
parents, great grandparents, andsoon. In this respect Sia cosmology 
resembles other nonscientific ideologies.” 
The earth, according to Sia belief, is square and flat; and, since it 
has thickness, it may be assumed to be a cube. It is divided into 
four horizontal layers: the lowest one is yellow; the one above, blue- 
ereen (the Keresan language does not distinguish between blue and 
green; White, 1943 b); the third, red; and the top layer, white (this 
is the opposite of the order at Santa Ana; White, 1942 a, p. 80; one of 
these reports is probably an error). Everything in the world above 
is arranged according to directions. There are six cardinal points: 
north, west, south, east, zenith, and nadir; sometimes a seventh, the 
“‘middle,”’ i.e., the middle of the earth and the whole cosmos, is in- 
cluded also. These points constitute a ritual circuit, in the order just 
given, which is followed in songs and rituals: one addresses the north 
first, then west, and so on. Each direction, or cardinal point, has a 
color and a mountain. And at each lives a weather spirit, a warrior, 
a woman with an appropriately colored face, an animal, a bird, a 
snake, and a tree (fig. 12). 
Colors—North, yellow; west, blue green; south, red; east, white; 
zenith, light yellow; nadir, black or dark (cf. White, 1942 a, p. 83, for 
comparative data). 
Mountains—N orth, kawdicDima; west, tsuBine; south, Daopyuma; 
east, k’otcana; zenith, kowaipyuma; nadir, ctiyatcana. 
10 The reader is urged to read “‘ Cosmology and Pueblo Life” in my monograph, ‘‘The Pueblo of Santa Ana, 
New Mexico.” It presents a much fuller study of this subject than was undertaken at Sia; it also contains 
copious references to the literature on this subject for other Keresan pueblos. We are justified in believing 
that the cosmology of Sia is fundamentally like that of Santa Ana and other Keresan pueblos, at least in 
general outline. Many ofthe conceptions found at Santa Ana no doubt exist at Sia, also. An acquaintance 
with Santa Ana cosmology will therefore illuminate, extend, and supplement the briefer treatment of the 
subject at Sia. 
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