636 EXPEDITION TO ARIZONA IN 1895 LETH. ANN. 17 
race which narrows here to 30 or 40 feet, so that ancient Walpi was an 
elongated pueblo, with narrow passageways and no rectangular court. 
I should judge, however, that the pueblo was not inhabited for a great 
period, but was moved to its present site after a few generations of occu- 
pancy. The Ash-hill village was inhabited contemporaneously with 
Sikyatki, but Kisakobi was of later construction. Neither Sichomovi 
nor Hano was in existence when Sikyatki was in its prime, nor, indeed, 
at the time of its abandonment. In 1782 Morfi spoke of Sichomovi 
as a pueblo recently founded, with but fifteen families. Hano, although 
older, was certainly not established before 1700.' 
The assertions of all Hopi traditionists that Sikyatki is a prehis- 
toric ruin, as well as the scientific evidence looking the same way, are 
most important facts in considering the weight of deductions in regard 
to the character of prehistoric Tusayan culture. 
Although we have no means of knowing how long a period has 
elapsed since the occupancy and abandonment of Sikyatki, we are 
reasonably sure that objects taken from it are purely aboriginal in 
character and antedate the inception of European influence. It is cer- 
tain, however, that the Sikyatki people lived long enough in that 
pueblo to develop a ceramic art essentially peculiar to Tusayan. 
NOMENCLATURE 
The commonly accepted definition of Sikyatki is “yellow house” 
(sikya, yellow; ki, house). One of the most reliable chiefs of Walpi, 
however, called my attention to the fact that the hills in the locality 
were more or less parallel, and that there might be a relationship 
between the parallel valleys aud the name. The application of the term 
“vellow” would not seem to be very appropriate so far as it is dis- 
tinctive of the general color of the pueblo. The neighboring spring, 
however, contains water which after standing some time has a yellow- 
ish tinge, and it was not unusual to name pueblos from the color of 
the adjacent water or from some peculiarity of the spring, which was 
one of the most potent factors in the determination of the site of a 
village. Although the name may also refer to a cardinal point, a 
method of nomenclature followed in some regions of the Southwest, if 
such were the case in regard to Sikyatki it would be exceptional in 
Tusayan. 
FORMER INHABITANTS OF SIKYATKI 
The origin of the pueblo settlement at Sikyatki is doubtful, but as I 
have shown in my enumeration of the clans of Walpi, the Kokop (Fire- 
need) and the Isauth (ores) phratries which lived there are suppose 
1It is distinctly stated that the Tanoan families % whose cand ants now inhabit Hano were not in 
Tusayan when Awatobi fell. Vo be sure they may have been sojourning in some valley east of the 
province, which, however, is not likely, since they were “invited’’ to East Mesa for the specific pur- 
pose of aiding the Hopi against northern nomads. Much probability attaches to a suggestion that 
they belonged to the emigrants mentioned by contemporary historians as leaving the Rio Grande on 
account of the unsettled condition of the country after the great rebellion of 1680. 
