36 ETHNOBOTANY OF THK ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ANN. 30 



The long winter nights wore devoted by the Zufii to the ceremonies 

 of then- secret fraternities, exhorting their most benevolent gods; 

 rain priests in retreat invoked their anthropic deities for rain to 

 fructify the earth, and elders taught the youths, sitting attentively 

 at their knees by the flickermg firelight, the mysteries of their life and 

 religion. Of all the secrets of their lives none is more strictly guarded 

 or more carefully transmitted than the knowledge of healmg. The 

 "doctor" instructs in the lore of plants, and the relation of plants 

 to man and beast. 



Many changes have taken place at Zuiii smce the year above noted. 

 Houses then lighted b}" day with tiny wmdows formed of a mosaic 

 of translucent selenite, and at night by the light from the family fire, 

 now have modern triple windows, factory doors with transoms, 

 and hanging lamps. There has been a gradual decrease m the atten- 

 tion given by the youths to instruction in the tribal religion, and 

 with few exceptions the men of today perform the elaborate rituals 

 with only a superficial knowledge of the esoteric meaning of all they 

 do and sslj. The days of the Zuni seers are numbered, and with 

 the passing of the few that remain the curtam will fall forever on 

 the underlying principles and teachmgs of then- rituals, although 

 their outward form may survive, in one form or another, as long as 

 the Zufii remain a communal people, for their religious beliefs, 

 though fraught with fear of their gods, arc the pivot upon which they 

 turn with all their hopes and joys. To the present time the Zuni 

 have persistently refused to accept the religion of the white man, 

 except when compelled to do so outwardly under the carlj' Spanish 

 regime, always declarmg that they would never renounce their own 

 beliefs, and that "one could not have two religions and be a man." 



The Zuiii Hve with theii- plants — the latter are a part of themselves. 

 The uiitiated can talk with their plants, and the plants can talk with 

 them. Plants are sacred to the Zuni, for some of them were dropped 

 to the earth by the Star People; some were human bemgs before 

 they became plants; others are the property of the gods, and all, 

 even those from the heavens, are the offspring of the Earth Mother, 

 for it was she who gave the plants to the Star People before they left 

 this world and became celestial beings. The Zuni love their plants. 

 The breath prayers to tlieu- rain-makers carried by the spiritual 

 essence of the plumes planted in the earth are mvocations to these 

 gods to send the rains to fructify the Earth Mother that she may give 

 of the fullness of her being, and make the world beautiful by her gifts. 

 (See pi. 2.) Vegetation is symbolized by blue-gi-een on the sacred 

 dance-kilts worn by the personators of the rain-makers, and there 

 are many other designs on fabrics, ceramics, and ceremonial objects, 

 symbolizuig the fulhiess of the earth. 



