922 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
There is no special council house in Sia. The council meets in the 
house of the officer who summons it if the house is large enough to do 
so, otherwise he borrows someone else’s house. The council members 
are notified of meetings by the helpers of the War chief (gowatcanyi) 
or of the governor (capitani), depending upon which one called the 
meeting. These little officers go about the pueblo from house to 
house with their announcement, but they do not disclose the purpose 
of the meeting; they merely specify time and place. 
Tiamunyi never attends council meetings, and would do so only 
under the most extraordinary circumstances, e.g., if one of the societies 
refused to comply with a request of the War chief or had been guilty 
of some other misconduct, the War chief might call a council meeting 
to deal with it and ask the Tiamunyi to be present. Tiamunyi would 
not, however, speak at this meeting unless the War chief asked him 
to doso. The tcraikatsi (vice caciques) may attend council meetings. 
but custom requires them to speak very sparingly, if at all, upon 
such occasions. 
The council is, therefore, a sort of clearing house for all sorts of 
problems and issues arising within the pueblo, whether it be an im- 
portant communal matter, or a case of adultery. Any council member 
is free to speak at meetings, but many of the younger men are too 
timid to do so except in some matters where they have information 
about the outside world, such as Federal or State legislation, that the 
old timers are not familiar with. Unanimity was formerly a requi- 
site of all decisions according to all informants, but they differ some- 
what as to precisely what the situation is now. 
The following is an interesting example of the sort of business the 
government of the pueblo may have to undertake: If a man, Jose, 
buys a team of horses, a wagon, or an automobile outside the pueblo, 
he will, upon bringing his purchase into Sia, present it to the cacique 
and place it at the disposal of the pueblo for community work. He 
will ask the War chief to call a meeting for this purpose. The gowa- 
tcanyi are dispatched throughout the pueblo announcing that a 
meeting is to be held at the hotcanitsa (the cacique’s official residence) 
at a specified time. The meeting (of adult males) convenes; the 
tiamunyi is present. Masewi (War chief) opens the meeting, inform- 
ing those present who has requested the gathering and for what 
purpose. He then invites Jose to speak. Jose addresses the meeting, 
remaining seated, as follows: ‘‘Canaiya [our mother] Tiamunyi, tia- 
munyi tcraikatsi, caotcanipyame [I think this means officers and 
people] . . . and then he says what he has to say—that he has bought 
such and such and is bringing it into the pueblo; he is placing it at the 
disposal of the pueblo for community work. Then the Tiamunyi 
talks. He addresses Jose as cai-wi [son; this must be a ceremonial 
