USE OF PLANl'S IN" WEA^^NG 



Asclepia,s(falioidesH..3.^. Milkweed. Asclepiadace^. Milk- 

 weed family. 

 Ha'watseM, 'leaf boy' Qia<ha'li, leaf; wat'seli, boy). The 

 plant is so named because the young bo3-s search for the 

 first buds to eat. 



The pocis arc <;;athercd for spiiniinp; when about two-thirds ripe; 

 the Zufii say that the fuUy rijie coma can not be used for tliis purpose. 

 The coma, or "cotton" as the Zufii call it, Ls placed on a piece of 

 cotton clotli laid on tlie floor. "Wlien the ]>lant is jrathered at the 

 proper time, " they say, " and is i)erfectly fresli, the coma is sufficiently 

 pliable to work; but after the second day following tlie gatliering of 

 the cotton it must be hglitly si>rinkled with water. Tlie cotton may 

 be kept for montlis, but it is necessary to dami)en it before spinning." 



The aged Zuni declared at tiie time of the writer's first visit to the 

 pueblo, in 1879, and they continue to a.ssert, that beautiful wliite 

 dance-kilts, women's belts, and other articles were woven from the 

 fiber of Asclepias galioides. 



The spincUe emjiloyed in the spinning of this "cotton" as well as of 

 the true cotton, was a slender stick, lieavier than a lead pencil and 

 the length of four fingers crosswise, plus the distance from tlie tip of 

 the thumb to the tip of the middle finger, the fingers extended. Tlus 

 spindle had no whorl, nor were any of the more ancient spindles 

 furnished witli whorLs. The primitive spindle is still in use by the 

 rain priests for spinning native cotton and Asclepias for ceremonial 

 purposes. 



Gossypium liirsutuni L. Cotton. Malvace^. Mallow family. 



U'we, 'down.' All down is referred to as u'we; thus hid'klali 



u'we, eagle down. 



The Zuni declare that they brought the cotton and tlie mUkweed 



from the innermost world and that they began cultivating both when 



at Han'hplnkla ('Place of sacred steaHng)." 



There is no question that the Pueblos of tlie Rio Grande \"alley, as 

 well as the Hopi of Arizona, and others, cultivated cotton long before 

 the advent of the Spaniards. Cliff-dwellings and cavate dwellings 

 of the Southwest have j-ielded to explorers beautiful sjiecimens of 

 cotton cloth. Ceremonial garments were woven of native cotton 

 as late as 1879. Cotton is not indigenous, however, to New Mexico 



I See 2Sd Ann. Rep. Bur. A mrr. Elhn., p. 40. 



77 



