STEVENSON.] QUEKRANNA RAIN CEREMONIAL. 113 



The house in wliich this family lives is small and without means of 

 ventilation, and the old man may be seen, on his return from his daily 

 labors, assisting his invalid wife and paralytic son to some point where 

 they may have a breath of pure air. They are usually accompanied by 

 the little girl leading her blind sister and carrying the baby on her back 

 by a bit of an old shawl which the girl holds tightly around her. 



Always patient, always loving, is the old man to those of his house- 

 hold, and the writer was ever sure of a greeting of smiles and fond 

 words from each of these unfortunates. Not wanting in hospitality 

 even in their extremity, they invited her to join them whenever she 

 found them at their frugal meal. 



The only medicine jjossessed by the Quer'riinna is se'-wili, which is 

 composed of the roots and blossoms of the sis mythical medicine plants 

 of the sun, archaic white shell and black stone beads, turkis, and a 

 yellow stone. 



The preparation of this medicine and that of the other cult societies 

 is similar to the mode ob.served by the Zuni. Women are dressed in 

 sacred white embroidered Tusayan blankets, and they grind the medi- 

 cine to a fine powder amid great ceremony. When a woman wishes to 

 become pregnant this medicine is administered to her iirivately by the 

 ho'naaite, a small quantity of the powder being put into cold water and 

 a fetich of Quer'riinna dipped four times into the water. A dose of this 

 medicine insures the realization of her wish; should it fail, then the 

 woman's heart is not good. This same medicine is also administered at 

 the ceremonials to the members of the society for the perpetuation of 

 their race; and the ho'naaite, taking a mouthful, throws it out through 

 his teeth to the cardinal points, that the cloud people may gather and 

 send rain that the earth may be fruitflil. 



RAIN CEREMONIAL OF THE QUER'RANNA SOCIETY. 



During the day ha'chamoni and plume offerings are prepared by the 

 ho'naaite, and in the afternoon he arranges the altar, which is quite 

 difl'erent from those of the other cult societies, and makes a meal 

 painting symbolic of clouds. Six fetiches of Quer'ninna are then 

 arranged in line, the laigest being about 6 inches, the smallest 3, the 

 others gTaduating in size; a medicine bowl is set before the line of 

 fetiches; antlers are stood to the east of the meal painting; and bas- 

 kets of cereals, corn on the cob, medicine bags, and a basket of ha'cha- 

 moni and plume offerings are arranged about the painting. PI. xxviii 

 shows photograph at time of ceremonial ; PI. xxix, made in case of 

 failure of the first, shows the meal painting, symbolic of clouds, which 

 is completely hidden in the first photograph, and illustrates more.defi- 

 nitely the feather decoration of the altar. The birds surmounting the 

 two posts are wood carvings of no mean pretensions; the feathers by 

 the birds are eagle plumes, and the bunches of plumes suspended from 

 11 ETH 8 



