ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 13 



The philosophy of all the Pueblos is closely related in a 

 general way, yet there are marked differences in detail. 

 Although Mrs. Stevenson has penetrated the depths of the 

 Tewa philosophy, she has not been able to discover any dis- 

 tinctive features, it being a composite of Zufii, Sia, and Taos 

 beliefs. The great desire of all these people, and the burden 

 of then songs and prayers, is that rain, which in their belief 

 is produced by departed ancestors working behind the cloud- 

 masks in the sky, should come to fructify the earth, and that 

 they may so live as to merit the beneficence of their deities. 

 The entrance to this world is believed to be through a body 

 of water which the Tewa of San Ildefonso declare existed 

 near their village until certain Zufii came and spirited the 

 water away to their own country. Further studies, no 

 doubt, will shed more light on these interesting beliefs, and 

 render clearer the origin and relations of Tewa and Zuni 

 concepts. 



There are but two rain priests among the Tewa of San 

 Ildefonso: one pertaining to the Sun people, the other to 

 the Ice people, the former taking precedence in the general 

 management of tribal affairs. The rain priest of the Sun 

 is the keeper of the tribal calendar and is the supreme head 

 of the Sun people. The governor of San Ildefonso, who is 

 chosen virtually by the rain priest of the Sun people, is 

 elected annually, and has greater power than that accorded 

 a Zufii governor. The war chief, whose religious superior is 

 the war priest, who holds the office during life, is also elected 

 annually, and also is a person of great power. There are 

 three kivas, or ceremonial chambers, at San Ildefonso, one 

 belonging to the Sun people, another to the Ice people, and 

 one used jointly for certain civic gatherings, for rehearsal of 

 dances, and for other purposes. The religion of the Tewa 

 of San Ildefonso consists in worship of a supreme bisexual 

 power and of gods anthropic (embracing celestial and ances- 

 tral) and zoic, the latter especially associated with the sacred 

 fraternities. The fundamental rites and ceremonies of 

 these fraternities are essentially alike among all the Pueblos. 

 Their theurgists are the great doctors, whose function is to 

 expel disease inflicted by witchcraft, and those of San 



