64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 



Ta p'o'iy, 'hairy j^rass' {ta., grass; 7/0, hair}', hair). 

 Jilymus eanade7isls. Wild Kj'e. 

 LycuTus phleoides. Texan Timothy. 



Pimpinta, 'chirping grass' (pimpiy, to make a noise b}^ blowing 



through a pinched grass stalk, by blowing on a grass leaf 



held between the two thumbs, or by putting a grass leaf 



between the two lips and sucking; ta^ grass). 



Tajpipl^ 'grass whistle' {ta^ grass; pipi^ onomatopoeic, connected 



with pimpiy, to chirp; see below.). 

 Panicum harMpulvinatuin. Panic Grass. 

 One may say of the note produced by holding a leaf or leaf -sheath 

 of this grass between the lips and sucking: pintsUewag^ nq,pimpirj^ 

 'it chirps like a mountain bird' (piy, mountain; tsiie, bird; wagl, 

 like; nq, it; pimpirj, to chirp thus by means of grass). 



Little bundles or brooms made of this grass are used by the women 

 for cleaning metates and metate boxes. 



Tsiieta, 'bird grass' {tsUe^ bird; ta, grass). 

 Alopecurus aristulatus. Rush Grass. 

 Miililenhergia trijida. Hair Grass. 

 Sclbizachyrium scoparium. Sage Grass. 

 Two kinds of grass are used to make brooms: 



Tap'eni TcQ'nijj ±ta, 'tasseled broom (grass)' (fayehi, broora; 

 ]cq,''y, tassel). 

 ? 



This grass grows in the fields and by the river. 



A single plant of this species would be called fahi'?iiy, ' tasseled 

 grass.' 



Ta tanHy, 'seedy grass' (frt^ grass; My, seedy, seed). 

 Tapenita^ ' broom grass ' {fajyefd^ broom; to., grass). 

 Boutelima curtipendula. Mesquite Grass. 



This grass grows in the mountains, and Mexican peddlers often 

 bring bunches of it to sell in the Tewa villages. 



The grasses are gathered in August, tied in firm bundles, and care- 

 fully dried. The long soft end of the broom serves to sweep the adobe 

 floor, and when worn shorter by use, it makes a convenient brush for 

 the hearth and the metates. The short butt-end of the broom serves 

 as a hair-brush. Before sweeping, the New Mexican Tewa women 

 sprinkle the floor copiously to lay the dust, for this purpose dipping 

 their fingers into a dish of water. The Keres women blow a 'mist' 

 (Tewa, soioFitwa) of water from their mouths for the same purpose. 

 The Hano people, on account of both the scarcity of water and the 

 fineness of their adobe, seldom sprinkle the floor at all. 



Ta Icehe, 'bent-necked grass' {ta, grass; ^e, neck; be, bent, a 

 bend). 



