44 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



whom they could live. Drawing near to the village of *Kiap'kwena the 

 youth said: '^I see not far off a village; to-morrow I will go there." 

 The sister begged him not to venture, fearing he would be killed. 

 But he said: "It is better that we both die than live longer in the world 

 alone." While they were yet talking, a youth from 'Kiap'kwena saw the 

 boy and girl, and greeting them, inquired "Who are you?" "We are 

 the last of our people, the Kia'nakwe,''^' said the boy, as he held two 

 et'towe to his breast. The girl having provided herself with two ears 

 of wdiite corn l)efore leaving Kia'makia took them from her dress and, 

 extending them toward the 3'outh, said: " See, we are the Mi'kianakwe 

 (Corn people)."' "Will you go to our village?" said the youth. The 

 boy replied: "To-morrow we will go, though I fear j^our people will 

 destroy us, as they destroyed all my people." 



The youth hurried to the village and told of his meeting with the 

 boy and girl, and the Kia'kwemosi, feeling compassion, sent for them 

 to come to him. On their arrival the Kia'kwemosi, addressing the 

 two, inquired "Who are 3"ou?" And the girl again took from her 

 dress the two ears of white corn, sa\'ing "See, we are the Mi'kia- 

 nakwe;" and the boy displayed his tw^o et'towe. The Kia'kwemosi 

 was well pleased, and said: "You are the same as our people, the 

 To'wakwe; you must live with us and be our children. You," 

 addressing the boy, "are now old enough to have a wife; and 

 you," turning to the girl, "a husband. You will have children, and 

 they will be our children." He selected a woman of the Corn clan to 

 adopt the ])rother and sister. 



Another version of the story is that the boy, wandering off, ran upon the village of 

 Ojo Caliente and, returning at night, said to his sister: "I have seen a town where 

 people live; we will go to it." She replied: "They will kill us if we go." He said: 

 "It is better that we should die like our people than live alone." The next morn- 

 ing they hurried through their breakfast and started for the village. Upon their 

 arrival the boy called on the Kia'kwemosi and was received kindly. 



A'SHIW^I FIND THE MiDDLE PLACE 



Leaving *Kiap'kwena, the A'shiwi migrated to He'shota'yalla, a small 

 village, to find all the inhabitants but four either fled or dead from the 

 effluvium of the A'shiwi. The houses here were built of reeds and 

 earth, and the A'shiwi declared, "Our people built this village."* 

 On entering one of the houses an aged man and woman, with two 



a The Zuiiis say the Kla'nakwe were strangely marked. One half of the face was red, the other 

 white, the dividing line running diagonally across the face. It has been so long since the boy and 

 girl came to live with the A'shiwi that all traces of the mark have gone from their descendants, 

 although an aged priest claims that he remembers seeing a very old woman so marked when he 

 was a young child. The wife of the deceased Ko'mosona (director of the Ko'tikili), who preceded 

 the present incumbent, is supposed to be a direct descendant of the Kla'nakwe, and she is the 

 A'wan «Si'ta (Great Mother) of the personators of the Kla'nakwe. She bathes the head of each par- 

 ticipant in the dance of the Kla'nakwe and draws an ear of corn four times over the top of the 

 head, saying: "I am of the Corn people; I do this that you may follow the straight road of the Sun 

 Father." 



6 The Zunis assert that their early ancestors had such dwellings before they built stone houses. 



