White] THE PUEBLO OF SIA, NEW MEXICO 27k 
cooking and household chores, relatively few of them attended the 
church service. 
When the service was over a procession was formed and the saint 
was carried out of the church. The governor and his lieutenant, 
carrying their beribboned canes of office, led the procession. Two men 
carrying lighted candles came next, followed by fiscale mayor and his 
lieutenant. The saint on her litter, carried by four women came next; 
four men, Indians and Spanish Americans, held a canopy over her. 
- Then came the Catholic priests and nuns, followed by those who had 
attended the service in the church. As the procession began to 
emerge from the church, a boy rang the church bell spiritedly and the 
drummer (kahera) rolled his drum. Young men fired very old guns 
from time to time as the procession made its way through the plazas. 
Sometimes Bocaiyanyi and Santiago, on their horses, (see “Eques- 
trian Impersonations’”’) take part in the procession. If they come, 
they wait outside the church for the saint to emerge and then take 
their place at the head of the procession, immediately behind the gov- 
ernor and his lieutenant. Each horse will be accompanied by a 
tcapio, and Masewi and Oyoyewi will be in attendance. 
Upon leaving the church the procession proceeded through the 
north plaza into the south plaza, circled the two sacred stones there 
(see p. 49), and then went to the saint’s house where the image was 
deposited on the table in the rear. A certain song, “‘Santa Maria...” 
is always sung during the procession at Sia as well as at other Keresan 
pueblos. Prayers were said after the saint had taken her place in the 
house, after which the Catholic priests returned to the church. Old 
men—medicinemen and officers—sat on benches on either side of the 
house as long as the saint remained there, and a guard, armed with a 
gun, stood on either side of the house at the entrance. 
Next came the dance in honor of the saint. It is the dance com- 
monly called ‘‘corn dance” by Anglo-Americans and by Indians when 
talking to Anglo-Americans, but this name is misleading because it 
has nothing directly to do with corn. It is also called a tablita (the 
wooden head piece worn by women dancers) dance. One Sia informant 
said that its proper name is howina-ye, ‘“‘because all the songs end 
with this word.” At other pueblos it may be called Backo (White, 
1935, p. 159, for Santo Domingo; Boas, 1928, p. 338, line 6, for La- 
guna). At Santo Domingo it may be called ayac tcucotz (White, 
1935, p. 159; Bandelier, ““The Delight Makers”, 1918, pp. 136 et seq.). 
Lange (1959, p. 352) says that howina-ye and ayac tcucotz designate 
two different “phases” of the dance. 
The dance is held under the authority of the War chief, but either 
the Koshairi or the Kwiraina society will have direct charge and man- 
