188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
bathes her new child, after which all the Coyote people bathe him. 
Jose then kneels on the floor by the bowl and his ceremonial mother 
washes his hair thoroughly. If the ceremonial father has no wife, 
his sister or other close female relative will perform this ritual. If 
the ceremonial mother has no husband, her brother or other close 
male relative will serve. 
After the head-washing, the candidate is given presents of various 
kinds, first by his own father, then his mother, followed by everyone 
else who has brought presents for him. The ceremonial father gives 
his new child two ears of corn. ‘“Then he preaches to him: he tells 
him not to think of the sickness for the relief of which be sought 
adoption, that tsitsctoc (which means both water and snake) has 
cleansed and cured him.’’ He admonishes him to respect his new 
clansmen. Then the ceremonial parents take their new child back to 
his own house. His presents are carried by close relatives of the 
ceremonial father. When they get to Jose’s house, his ceremonial 
father addresses him again, telling him that the washing has been 
done, that be has received presents, and that everything is going to 
be all right from then on. If the adopted child is to receive a new 
name it will be announced at this time. Then the child’s own 
father talks: He asks the ceremonial parents to forgive him for causing 
them so much trouble, and they graciously forgive him. Then the 
child’s own father excuses the ceremonial father, and everyone goes 
home. The adopted person now has all the rights and duties of a 
member of his new clan. 
The adopted child will take exceptionally good care of the two 
ears of corn given him by his ceremonial father. He will plant the 
seed in the spring, apart from the regular planting, and tend the 
growing plants with great care until they mature. 
CLAN EXOGAMY 
‘Marrying into the clan of either parent is in opposition to the old 
law,” according to Stevenson (1894, p. 19); but she goes on to say: ‘“‘but 
at present there is nothing for the Sia to do but to break these laws, if 
they would preserve the remnant of their people, and while such mar- 
riages are looked upon with disfavor, it is the ‘inevitable.’”” My in- 
formants said that one should not marry into his own clan, and that 
a generation or so ago it was a “‘shame” to do so. Nowadays this 
rule is being relaxed ‘‘because the people are falling away from the 
old ways.’ There is another reason also, namely, relative size of 
clans (see below). The Coyote clan is so large that sometimes a mem- 
ber has little alternative but to marry within his clan or remain celi- 
bate. Out of a total of 94 marriages for which we have clan data 
(Chart 1), there were 8 marriages within the Coyote clan. There was 
