666 EXPEDITION TO ARIZONA IN 1895 [ETH. ANN. 17 
THE Human Hanp 
Excepting the figure of the maid’s head above described, the human 
hand, for some unknown reason, is the only part of the body chosen by 
the ancient Hopi for representation in the decoration of their pottery. 
Among the present Tusayan Indians the human hand is rarely used, 
but oftentimes the beams of the kivas are marked by the girls who have 
plastered them with impressions of their muddy hands, and there is a 
katcina mask which has a hand painted in white on the face. As in 
the case of the decoration of all similar sacred paraphernalia, there is 
a legend which accounts for the origin of the katecina with the imprint 
of the hand on its mask. The following tale, collected by the late 
A. M. Stephen, from whose manuscript I quote, is interesting in this 
connection: 
“The figure of a hand with extended fingers is very common, in the 
vicinity of ruins, as a rock etching, and is also frequently seen 
daubed on the rocks with colored pigments or white clay. These are 
vestiges of a test formerly practiced by the young men who aspired for 
admission to the fraternity of the Calako. The Calako is a trinity of 
two women and a man from whom the Hopi obtained the first corn, and 
of whom the following legend is told: 
“In the early days, before houses were built, the earth was devastated 
by a whirlwind. There was then neither springs nor streams, although 
water was so near the surface that it could be found by pulling up 
a tuft of grass. The people had but little food, however, and they 
besought Masauwith to help them, but he could not. 
“There came a little old man, a dwart, who said that he had two 
sisters who were the wives of Calako, and it might be well to petition 
them. So they prepared an altar, every man making a paho, and these 
were set in the ground so as to encircle a sand hillock, for this occurred 
before houses were known. 
“Masauwth’s brother came and told them that when Calako came to 
the earth’s surface wherever he placed his foot a deep chasm was made; 
then they brought to the altar a huge rock, on which Calako might 
stand, and they set it between the two pahos placed for his wives. 
“Then the people got their rattles and stood around the altar, each 
man in front of his own paho; but they stood in silence, for they knew 
no song with which to invoke this strange god. They stood there for a 
long while, for they were afraid to begin the ceremonies until a young 
lad, selecting the largest rattle, began to shake it and sing. Presently 
a sound like rushing water was heard, but no water was seen; a sound 
also like great winds, but the air was perfectly still, and it was seen 
that the rock was pierced with a great hole through the center. The 
people were frightened and ran away, all save the young lad who had 
sung the invocation. 
“The lad soon afterward rejoined them, and they saw that his back 
was cut and bleeding and covered with splinters of yueca and willow. 
