146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
they (1) are full-honawai’aiti and have all the badges of it; (2) have 
heart songs and are qualified for all three kinds of curing; (8) are 
always called upon for the communal curing ceremony. ‘Their pre- 
eminence may be deduced from the accounts of all the societies. 
A member of one of these societies could take the place of an absent 
member of either of the other two in a ceremony, which is an indi- 
cation of their equivalence. Similarly, a medicineman of the Flint, 
Giant, or Fire society could substitute for an absent Snake shaman, 
but a Snake shaman could not take the place of a member of one of 
these three societies. 
FLINT SOCIETY 
The Flint society is the highest ranking society in Sia. It was the 
first society to be organized. According to Stevenson (1894, p. 71.) 
it was the first society originated by Masewi and Oyoyew1; my in- 
formants state that these two War gods are the patrons of the Flint 
society. Stevenson calls the Flint society the Histian or Knife society. 
Histian is the word for flint and, by extension, flint knife. The 
“badge” of Flint tcaiyanyi is feathers of the eagle or turkey. 
The Flint society exercises more authority in Sia than any other 
society. As one informant put it, “everything of importance must 
go through the Flint society,’ 1.e., the head of this society must be 
consulted, and he must give his assent, on all important occasions. 
If the Flint society does not approve, “they can stop anything that 
they think is not for the good of the pueblo. Whatever the Flint 
society says or orders must be respected by the other societies.” 
The Flint society is one of the two (or three) societies qualified to 
perform the ceremony of installing anew Tiamunyi. And it is this 
society that conducts the mortuary ceremony for a deceased cacique, 
to send his soul back to the underworld. 
All members of the Flint society are full-honawai’aiti and are 
qualified for all three ways of curing, The society has both general 
and special curing functions. It may treat individuals suffering from 
any severe illness, and it is one of the three societies that is always 
called upon to participate in the communal curing ceremony. Its 
special medical functions include: (1) treatment of wounds caused in 
warfare, i.e., those caused by arrows, guns, knives, or war clubs; and 
(2) lightning shock. Flint is associated with lightning, presumably 
because sparks of ‘‘lightning”’ can be struck by flint, which is probably 
the reason why it is the Flint society’s province to treat lightning 
shock. 
The Flint society performs weather control ceremonies for both 
winter and summer. They also do sahanyiko and sahanyikikya, the 
two solar ceremonies. They do not, however, possess any katsina 
masks. 
