32 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann.23 



are the j^ounger sister, the Squash maiden." And to the ninth they 

 handed watermelon seeds, saying: "You are the younger sister, the 

 Watermelon maiden." And to the tenth they handed nniskmelon 

 seeds, saying: "You are the 3-ounger sister, theMuskmelon maiden."" 

 After receiving the corn the elder sister said " I will dance with my 

 corn, and so will my sisters;" and she formed her sisters into two lines, 

 facing the east that they might see the coming forth of the Sun 

 Father. They danced all night under a bower walled with ho'mawe 

 (cedar), whose roof was a'wehlwia'we (cunudus clouds) fringed with 

 kia'la'silo (spruce of the west). The witches observed the dance 

 through the night, and in the morning continued their migrations 

 with the A'shiwi, but said not- a word to them of the Corn maidens, 

 who remained at Shi'poiolo kwi, where "they bathed in the dew (or 

 mist), but did not drink of it." 



Origin of the Ancestral Gods 



After the A'shiwi had journeyed for many years from the far north- 

 west in a southward and then in an eastward direction, the Kia'kwe- 

 mosi decided to send two of his children, a youth named Si'wulu^si'wa 

 and a maiden named Si'wulu'si"^sa, to look for a good place to build a 

 village. The two finall}' ascended a mountain, where the sister was 

 left to rest while the brother proceeded to look over the country. 

 Returning to the mountain top at midday he found his sister sleeping 

 and was so enamored of her beauty that he embraced her. This act 

 made her wildly angry. The result of his embrace was the birth of ten 

 children that same night. This unnatural union caused an inunediate 

 change of tongue; but, though their language was changed, thev under- 

 stood each other perfectly. There was no change of appearance. The 

 fir.stborn* was normal in all respects, but the other nine children did not 

 possess the seeds of generation. The brother said to the sister: "It 

 is not well for us to be alone; we will prepare a place for the others 

 of ours." He descended the mountain and drew his foot through the 

 sands and created two rivers (the Zuni and the Little Colorado) and 

 a lake, and in the depths of the lake a village. Si'wulu^si'wa and his 

 sister also created two mountains, one of them to be his perpetual home. 

 The village is Ko'thluwala'wa, having the great ceremonial house of 

 the gods in its center. This house is provided with four windows, 

 through which those not privileged to enter may view the dance. Only 

 deceased members of the Ko'tikili (mythologic fraternity) go within 



a The A'shiwi say that the Mexicans brought beans, but that they always had watermelons and 

 muskmelons. Although the Zufiis make this statement, it is declared by the representatives of the 

 Department of Agriculture that neither the watermelon nor the muskmelon are indigeneous to this 

 country. 



b Attention is called to an error regarding "the firstborn" in a paper published in the Fifth An- 

 nual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, the notes for which were gathered during the writer's first 

 visit to Zuni. 



