White] THE PUEBLO OF SIA, NEW MEXICO 287 
the man in question during the latter part of my study. He was 
born about 1921; I do not know when he was committed. His 
family, and perhaps others, raised strenuous objection to his being 
sent away to a hospital, and after a time he was returned to Sia. I 
talked with him on a few occasions; usually he was intoxicated at the 
time. He spoke English fluently but incoherently. Up to 1957 he 
had never been appointed to a pueblo office, or become a member of 
asociety, although he was said to have been a “helper’’ to the Kwiraina 
' society at one time, which may indicate that he had been treated by 
them. He had not married. He would take part in a dance occa- 
sionally, “but he might quit in the middle of it if he felt like it.””? He 
was not considered dangerous by the community, nor was he looked 
down upon or ridiculed. He was suspected by some of having set 
fire to the kiva that burned in 1946 or 1947. 
WITCHCRAFT 
The principal cause of serious illness at Sia, as well as all other 
Keresan pueblos, was, unquestionably in my judgment, witchcraft. 
I say “‘was’’ because I believe the belief has declined considerably in 
recent years, especially since World War II. 
Some people are born with two hearts: one good, one bad. As 
a consequence of the evil heart they are possessed with a desire to 
kill people or make them seriously ill; they may also cause droughts 
or send plagues of insects to destroy crops. These people are kana- 
Dyaiya, a word that is always translated ‘‘witch” in English; bruja, 
in Spanish. Witches are said to have traffic with evil, but unspecified, 
spirits. They are associated with owls and crows, and are able to 
transform themselves into coyotes, burros, or rats. They are some- 
times referred to as yo-wisa, ‘left-handed.’ Witches may live in your 
own pueblo—or even in your own household—or in neighboring 
communities, Indian or Mexican. Anglo-Americans could be witches, 
also, but I have never heard of anyone being so accused except in one 
instance: myself. 
Once, in the early stages of this study, I was working with an 
elderly male Sia. He spent much of his time in sheep camps and was 
relatively unsophisticated in terms of Sia norms. In the course of 
our conversation I introduced a Keresan religious term; it could have 
been Kopsictaiya. My informant looked both startled and uneasy. 
He then accused me of being kanadyaiya because I knew such words. 
After some discussion he unbuttoned his shirt at the throat and took 
out a slender chipped flint (chert ?) blade about 4 inches long which 
was tied to a string around his neck. ‘This will tell me whether 
you are kanadyaiya or not; I am going to ask it tonight.”’” The next 
morning he came to my room. ‘Well, what did it tell you?” I 
