172 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



makers. The first pra^^er is to the Earth Mother to invoke the Sun 

 Father's embrace to warm her children (fruits of the earth) into being, 

 Pra3^ers are also offered to the deceased predecessors. 



The plume stick indicates to whom the te'likinane is offered, and 

 the plumes attached convey the breath pra3^ers to the gods. The 

 breath of the prayer combines with the breath of the gods to whom it 

 is offered to form clouds, behind which the rain-makers work. After 

 the prayers the excavation is covered so that no trace of it remains. 



The preparation of te'likinawe is as follows: The first stick is 

 measured by the hand, the part of the hand used depending on the 

 length of the stick required. Sometimes the under side of the middle 

 finger is used; then again, the length of the stick is equal to the dis- 

 tance from the metacarpus to the tip of the middle finger. Others are 

 measured from the carpus and still others from the inner side of the 

 bend of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. After the first stick 

 is cut it is used as a measure for the others. As each stick is made 

 it is laid carefully in a basket tray or on the floor beside the worker 

 until all are completed. The plumes are then attached with cotton 

 cord, the character of the plumes depending on the character of the 

 person to whom the ofl'ering is to be made. The offerings are again 

 laid side by side, but once more are removed for the coloring of the 

 sticks. If a la'showanne (one or more plumes attached with cotton 

 cord) is added, the string of the latter is dotted four times in black, 

 s3anbolic of rain clouds. 



The plumes used by the A'shiwanni are fluffy eagle plumes, from 

 the under wing, and feathers of the birds of the six regions. To these 

 are added butterflies, each shi'wanni using those of the color appro- 

 priate to the region he represents; darning needles (Enallagma exulans 

 Hagen), and artificial flowers of the te'nas*sali (mythical medicine 

 plant bearing flowers of the (jolors of the six regions). Each of the 

 fourteen A'shiwanni has two paint pots of l)lack and one of red earth. 

 These earth paints are supposed to have come from the undermost 

 world. The pots, when not in use, are covered with buckskin securely 

 tied with cotton cord, to which bits of turquoise, ko'hakwa, and aba- 

 lone shell are attached. The sticks of the te'likinawe offered for cold 

 rains and snows are colored with paint from one of the black pots and 

 those for the summer rains are colored with paint from the other, an 

 exception being when neither paint is used, but instead paint used by 

 laymen. Should the paint of the A'shiwanni be used in the month of 

 May, cold winds would come and destroy the fruit. At this time the 

 paint in common use for the te'likinawe is employed by the A'shiwanni. 



