118 



THE ZUNI INDIANS 



[ETH. ANN. 23 



about 8 inches above the base. Souie of the priests declare that the 

 lines on the south side of the wall indicate the number of 3"ears the pre- 

 vious sun priest held the office, and the one on the north side the num- 

 ber of years the present incumbent has served/' Nine concretions 

 form a square on the ground before the etching of the sun, and there 

 are three smaller ones in line in front of these. Concretion fetishes, 

 valued as bringing fructification to the earth, are to be found in all the 

 fields, A small flat stone rests on two of the larger concretions. 



The same morning, about 9 o'clock, members of the order of Pa'ya- 

 tamu of the Little Fire and Cimex fraternities, playing on their flutes, 

 ascend To'wa yal'lanne to To'mapa, a shrine in the west side (see plate 

 xxiii) halfway up the mesa, and deposit their ofi^erings to the god, 



Pig. 3 — Sun shrine at Ma''sakla. 



while officers of other fraternities carr}' their offerings to various 

 shrines. The 'Ko'shi'kwe deposit te'likinaw^e at this time, but they 

 hold no ceremonial in their chamber. 



There is no exception to the rule of members at large of fraternities 

 planting their fraternity offerings at this season in the same excava- 

 tion and at the same time as the family deposit theirs. It is usual for 

 all the members of a household to go together; in fact, in all observa- 

 tions made by the writer, such has been the case. Husbands deposit 

 their offerings in the fields of the families of their wives, and vice 

 versa. A hole about 14 inches square and the same in depth is made 

 b}' a man of the household, and the plumes, which are carried to the 

 fields on the fifth day, wrapped together with corn husks, are sepa- 



(iThe statement regarding the lines was made previous to the appointment of the present sun 

 priest. 



