22 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



When the Ku'pishttiya communicate with one another, the ruler of 

 the North dispatches his courier to the Ku'pishta^^a of the West and 

 the courier returns to his place in the North, the ruler of the West 

 transferring the message to the South b}^ his courier; in this way 

 comnuuiication is held between the Ku'pishtaya of the six regions. 

 The Zunis have no fear of lightning, as the Ku'pishtaya never destroy 

 the good in heart. One who is struck by lightning, no matter what 

 his previous standing, must have possessed a bad heart. Thunder is 

 produced l)y the rain-makers gaming with stones while the Ku'pishtaya 

 arc shooting their missiles. The rain-maker of the North rolls a stone 

 to a fellow at some other point, and the one receiving the stone returns 

 it; any number of rain-makers may join in the game. According to 

 Zuni philosophy thunder is produced in no other way. 



The seeds distributed to the people by the personators of ancestral 

 gods are recognized l)v the intelligent as only symbolizing the bless- 

 ings which they desire and anticipate, yet each person receives the 

 gift with the same solemnity and plants it with the same reverence as 

 if it actually came from the god of seeds in the undermost world. 



The sun is referred to as father, the ancient one. The moon is 

 his sister; the Sun Father has no wife. All peoples are the children 

 of the sun. Whatever the Zufiis fail to account for by incidents in the 

 earl}^ stages of their existence is attributed to the agenc}^ of the Sun 

 Father. Though the Zuni philosophy, like that of other aboriginal 

 peoples, is built on analogic reasoning, these savage philosophers cer- 

 taiidy place entire faith in the first great cause, all-powerful, without 

 beginning, without end. 



Classification of the Higher Powers 



The higher powers of the Zufiis may be classed under seven heads, 

 as follows: 



1. TJniverml. A'wonawil'ona, the supreme life-giving bisexual 

 power, who is referred to as He-She, the symbol and initiator of life, 

 and life itself, pervading all space. 



2. Celestial, anthropic (represented by persons wearing masks). The 

 Sun Father, who is directly associated with the supreme power; he 

 always was and always will be; he is the great god above all other 

 anthropic and zoic gods; he is the giver of light and warmth, and 

 through the supreme power the giver of life. The Moon Mother, giver 

 of light at night, the divider of the year into months, and, through 

 A'wonawil'ona, the -delineator of the span of life — the supreme power 

 gradually draws the mystic veil from the Moon Mother's shield, indi- 

 cating birth, infancy, youth, and maturity; she draws the veil over 

 the shield again, symbolizing man's passing on to the infancj^ of old age, 



