FEWKES] PRAYER-STICKS OR PAHOS Welt 
their neat carvings were fashioned with stone implements, the high 
character of the work is very remarkable. They show, in several 
instances, the imprint of attached strings and feathers, portions of 
which still remain; also, in one instance, fragments of a pine needle. 
They are painted with green and black mineral pigments, the former 
of which had undoubtedly done much to preserve the soft wood of 
which they were manufactured. As at the present day, cottonwood 
and willow were the favorite prescribed woods for pahos, and some of 
the best were made of pine. The forms of these ancient prayer offer- 
igs, as mentioned hereafter, differ somewhat from those of modern 
make, although in certain instances there is a significant resemblance 
between the two kinds. 
One of the most striking instances of resemblance between the old 
and the new is the likeness of some of these ancient pahos to those now 
made by tke Flute society, and if this resemblance is more than a 
coincidence, the conclusion that the present flute paho is a survival of 
the ancient form may be accepted. As adding weight to this theory it 
may be mentioned that traditionally the Flute people claim to be the 
ancient people of Tusayan, and possibly contemporaries, in that 
province, with the ancient inhabitants of Sikyatki. There is likewise 
a most suggestive resemblance between these pahos and certain similar 
sticks from cliff dwellings, and it is a belief, which I can not yet 
demonstrate as true, that kindred people, or the same sacerdotal socie- 
ties represented in cliff houses and in Sikyatki, manufactured ceremo- 
nial prayer offerings which are identical in design. Plate CLXXIv, a, 
represents a double stick paho, which closely resembles the prayer offer- 
ing of the modern Flute society. The two rods were found together 
and originally had been attached, as indicated by the arrangeinent of 
the impression of the string midway of their length. The stick of the 
left has a facet cut on one side, upon which originally three dots were 
depicted to represent the eyes and the mouth. This member of the 
paho was the female; the remaining stick was the male. There are 
two deep grooves, or ferules, cut midway of their length, a distinctive 
characteristic of the modern flute paho. Both components are painted 
green, as is still customary in prayer-sticks of this fraternity. The 
pahos shown in J, c, and d, are likewise ascribed to the same society, 
and differ from the first only in length. They represent female sticks 
of double flute pahos. The length of these prayer-sticks varies on 
different ceremonial days, and is determined by the distance of the 
shrines for which they are intended. The unit of measurement is the 
length of certain joints of the finger, and the space between the tip of 
longest digit to certain creases in the palm of the hand. The length of 
the ancient Sikyatki pahos, ascribed to the Flute society, follows the 
same rule. 
Plate CLXXxIv, e, f, have the same ferules referred to in the deserip- 
tion above, but are of greater diameter. They are unlike any modern 
17 ETH, PT 2 18 
