152 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



the Gods. The offerings of the Ko'yemshi must also be completed 

 and deposited in basket tl•a3^s b}^ noon. Immediately after noon the 

 Ko'yemshi, who are now termed the Du'michimchi, leave the house. 

 They are nude, excepting- a bit of old black cloth about their loins, 

 their hair hanging loose before each shoulder. They proceed in file, 

 each man grasping with both hands the string which holds the loin 

 cloth of the man preceding him. As they pass through the streets 

 women on the house tops pour over them water into which sacred meal 

 has been sprinkled, with a prayer for rain. Though this scene causes 

 merriment among the spectators, it is of a strictly religious character. 

 After passing through the streets the Du'michimchi retire to dry 

 themselves, after which they put on their masks and visit the house 

 tops (see plate xxix) and, after making a tour of the village, return to 

 their ceremonial chamber, resume their dress, and then retire to their 

 homes, when the name of Du'michimchi is renounced. 



Near sunset the Ko'mosona makes a meal painting in Mu'he'wa 

 ki'wi'sine, where a number of his associates are gathered, and deposits 

 about it sacred objects, including a kia'etchine composed of the plume 

 offerings in a basket tray, making a long praj^er for rains to fructify 

 the earth. 



All now go to their homes to eat. They do not abstain from animal 

 food, as at the winter solstice, as Shits'ukia"' plays no part at the present 

 time. After eating, all return to the ki'wit'sine, when the Ko'mosona 

 and Ko'pekwin each make three po'newe (singular, po'ne), reeds tilled 

 with native tobacco, the tobacco being pressed in by the use of a 

 slender stick or the quill end of a plume. After the reeds (which are as 

 long as from the metacarpus to the tip of the middle finger) are filled 

 they are colored black, each one wrapped in a corn husk, and deposited 

 in an Apache basket, which is set by the meal painting. Those who 

 are to personate the Sha'liiko and their alternates are present. 



Members of the Great Fire fraternit}" visit the ki'wi*sine, wear- 

 ing ordinary dress and each carrying a rattle. They sit south of 

 the meal painting and sing invocations to the Beast Gods of the six 

 regions, to A'chi3'ala'topa (a being of the zenith with wings and tail of 

 knives), and to their original director. One song is addressed to each 

 being, imploring his intercession with the u'wannami for rain. The 

 song closes at midnight with the drawing of the sacred breath of 

 A'wonawil'ona,^ and the Ko'mosona, without rising from his seat, offers 

 a prayer to the Council of the Gods for rain. The director of the Great 

 Fire fraternity afterward prays to the Council of the Gods, and the 

 sacred breath of A'wonawil'ona is inhaled by all present. The Ko'mo- 

 sona hands one of the wrapped cigarettes to the Sha'liiko wor'li of the 

 He'iwa ki'wi'sine; returning to the basket, he takes a second cigarette 



a See p. 135. 6 See p. 22. 



