140 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA [ETH. ANN. 28 
important. Among all the Indians of the Southwest none surpass 
the Pima in the number and variety of the examples of this symbol, 
which is especially elaborate on their basketry. It is used on their 
pottery also, particularly on specimens made by the Kwahadt 
(Quahatika), near Quijotoac.t 
The single example on their pottery and one or two examples on 
fragments of basketry show that the swastika was not unknown 
to the Casa Grande people. 
One looks in vain on Casa Grande pottery for representations of 
the feather symbol of Sikyatki, or the ‘‘sky band” with dependent 
bird forms highly conventionalized, symbols so common on prehis- 
toric Hopi earthenware. Likewise absent are the fine geometric fig- 
ures so well represented in the ceramics of ancient Hopiland. While 
there is a likeness between the pottery of the Gila drainage and that 
of the Little Colorado and the Colorado Plateau, there is only the 
Fic. 46. Triangle design decorating bow] (see fig. 45). 
most distant resemblance of the life figures of the pottery first 
named and that of the San Juan and Rio Grande areas.’ 
The relative predominance of geometric figures in Casa Grande 
ceramic decorations allies the ware to that of the San Juan and Rio 
Grande drainage rather than to the pottery of the ancient Hopi and 
Little Colorado. In the old Hopi ware life forms predominate over 
geometric figures, as may be readily seen by an examination of the 
1A comparison of modern Pima pottery with ancient Casa Grande ware does not reveal a very close 
resemblance in symbolism, but the collection of the former is too smail to serve as a basis for extensive 
studies. Modern Pima ware is marked by the presence of but few life forms, while many geometric decora- 
tions (bands, straight and curved, and a number of other designs) are used. Terraced designs, so common 
on Pima pottery, are not utilized to any considerable extent on Gila ware. 
The Kwahadt,a group of Indians related to the Pima, living south of Casa Grande, seem to haye preserved 
to a greater extent than the Pima or the Papago the ancient potters’ art, although the Pima are good potters. 
Kwahadt pottery has a fine luster, which is not found on the,Casa Grande ware, and bears characteristic 
symbolic decorations. The designs on this pottery differ radically from the symbols on Pima pottery and 
basketry, and often suggest symbols on ancient vessels from Casa Grande, combined with features taken 
from other tribes. 
At the present day Sala (Sarah) Hina, of Kwahadt ancestry, is regarded as the most expert Pima potter. 
She spent considerable time at Casa Grande while the excavations were in progress and copied many designs 
from the ancient ware. 
2 Although we might predict that the pottery of the Verde and Tonto Basins closely resembles that 
of the Gila, no assertion as to the resemblance can yet be made, as there are no collections of pottery 
from these river valleys. 
