STEVENSON] ZUNI MYTHOLOGY 21 



Council of the Gods. These shadow people collect water in vases and 

 gourd jugs from the six great waters of the world.'* They are carried 

 b}^ the steam which rises from these springs to the upper plane, pro- 

 vided they are supplied with breath plumes, each u'wannanii holding 

 a group of these plumes in order to ascend. Ever}^ individual in Zuiii 

 makes these offerings each month at the time of full moon. Th(> 

 u'wannami pass to and fro over the upper plane, protected from the 

 view of the people below by cloud masks. It is not the clouds which 

 fall in rain; the u'wannami pour the water through the cloud masks. 

 The clouds are produced by the breath of the gods and smoke, and, 

 when it is understood that the greater the smoke offering the greater 

 the inducement for the rain-makers to work, it is not surprising that 

 smoking is one of the conspicuous features of the Zufii ritual. There is 

 a time at the summer solstice when the torchbearer sets fire to every- 

 thing in his way, from Ko'thluwala'wa to Zufii. The greater the 

 smoke offering the heavier the cloud masks will be. 



The Ku'pishtaya (lightning-makers) are mighty warriors who control 

 the lightning arrows. Each Ku'pishtaya has his 'I<j[a"lawanni (deputy), 

 and his *Si'kiahaya (courier). ^Kianil'ona, the greatest of the Zuni 

 ancestral gods (plate in), sits in state in Ko'thluwala'wa (plate iv), 

 where the Council of the Gods appeals to him for water with which 

 the u'wannami may water the earth, the male gods sprinkling with 

 plume sticks dipped in gourd jugs of water and the female gods 

 from vases. The heavy rains are produced by the pouring of the 

 water directly from the vases. The u'wannami are sent to designated 

 points by the Council of the Gods to water the earth according to 

 the supplications of the Zuiiis. 



The varying forms of the clouds are significant to the Zufii mnid. 

 Cirrus clouds tell that the u'wannami are passing about for pleasure. 

 Cumulus and nimbus clouds indicate that the u'wannami will water the 

 earth. The smoke offerings which produce the clouds may have been 

 sufficient to bring the rain; but this is not all. The daily life, especially 

 of the A'shiwanni (rain priests), must be such as not to offend the 

 Council of the Gods, which controls and directs the rain-makers. 

 Should this not be the case the Council of the (Jods withholds its 

 power, and the Su'ni-a'shiwanni, who send the cold winds from the 

 northeast and northwest, would drive away the cloud masks. Thus 

 the Zunis account for wind clouds. The sununer winds of the south- 

 west and southeast are the breath of the u'wannami, who do not breathe 

 from the mouth but directly from the heart. 



These people rarely cast their eyes upward without invoking the 

 rain-makers, for in their arid land rain is the prime object of pniyi-r. 

 Their water vases are covered with cloud and rain emblems, and the 

 water in the vase symbolize s the life, or soul, of the vase. 



a Referring to the springs of the six regions owned by .Ktanil'ona (owner of springs). 



