60 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



The pe'kwin precedes the part}- to the spring, and, when all are 

 gathered on the bank, he offers a prayer for rain and crops, and then 

 directs the men to enter the water. They remove their trousers and 

 begin at once to fill the vases, which the}" hand to the women, who 

 pass other vases to the men and erapt}' the water contained in those 

 received by them. In this way the spring is cleaned, the men descend- 

 ing from terrace to terrace. 



When the work is completed each person attaches la'showawe to 

 the four openings in the bowl, and the pe'kwin, receiving one bowl 

 at a time, deposits it on one of the terraces. These ledges are 

 literally covered with bowls, which have been deposited from time 

 immemorial.'^' 



When the pe'kwin comes from the basin of the spring he receives 

 the four te'likinawe from each person and bunches them in a kia'et- 

 chine (a number of prayer plumes wrapped together) and, attaching a 

 stone snihciently heav}' to carr}" this to the bottom of the spring, casts 

 it into the center of the water, which is now only a few inches in depth, 

 with the following prayer: " We pray that the u'wannami will work 

 for us, that our crops and the crops of all the world may be watered 

 and be plentiful, that our people and all people may be happy, that 

 our people may not die but sleep to awake in Ko'thluwala'wa.'' 



On leaving Kia'nanaknana, Ma'we and *Hli'akwa assumed the form 

 of birds, and in their flight Ma'we, striking a certain projecting point 

 of rock, passed through the rock, leaving an opening. Here she 

 dropped the eagle plume that was tied to her hair; it petrified as it 

 stood perpendicularly in the ground and became a monument many 

 feet high. This monument and the opening in the rock are to be seen 

 at the present time. 



On reaching a beautiful lake, about 45 miles south of the present 

 Zuiii, the Gods of War decided that they had gone far enough, and 

 Ma'we agreed to stop with them, but '^Hli'akwa declared that he must 

 go farther. Though *Hli'akwa endeavored to persuade Ma'we to 

 journey on, she refused, and finally he said: "You may stop here 

 because 3^ou are not of so great value as myself; this is too near home 

 for me." So he journeyed on to the southwest and made his home in 

 a high mountain protected l^y many angry white and black bears.'' 

 Ma'we made her home in the lake, and the Gods of War selected a 

 mountain rising from the lake for their home. 



a These sacred objects will soon be scattered, as the secret of burying the vases beneath the water 

 has- become known to the men now employed in constructing the Government dam for these Indians. 

 This spring will be in the bed of the great reservoir. 



''The writer was bound to secrecy regarding the home of 'Hli'aljwa. The Zuiiis make pilgrimages 

 thither for the purpose of collecting turquoise. On these expeditions they are always provided with 

 te'likinawe and sacred meal. The plumes are offered to the angry bears who guard 'If li'akwa, and 

 tlie meal is sprinkled upon the beasts, when, the Zunis say, they become friendly and allow them to 

 approach. 



