White] THE PUEBLO OF SIA, NEW MEXICO 251 
y - 2 ~ 
TINTS POSS SD BIST ES CE 
a eae 
Figure 35.—Katsina meal-painting: initiation. 
When the initiate and his escort arrive at the house they find the 
katsina there, standing in a line (fig. 36). The head of the society in 
charge of the dance makes a long talk about the katsina, who they 
are and what they mean to the people. Then the head of Koshairi or 
Kwiraina will talk. The child may be whipped as a part of the ritual 
of initiation; this is a widespread pueblo practice in the initiation of 
children. At Sia the whipping rite is optional, however, and the 
parents decide whether or not they want to have it. If they want 
to have the child whipped the head of the society in charge will ask 
one or more of the side dancers to do it. Then at a signal from the 
head of the society in charge all of the dancers remove their masks 
revealing themselves as well-known men of the pueblo. The head of 
the society talks again, impressing upon the child that although the 
katsina are impersonated by men they are nonetheless real and sacred 
and important in the life of the people. He is followed by the head 
