STEVENSON] SUMMER RETREAT OF SHi'wANNI 179 



Summer Retreat of a Shi'wanni 



An account of the .summer retreat of the .shi'wanni possessing the 

 et'tone, which is supposed to have come from the Black Corn clan, was 

 given the writer by the shi'wanni himself and verified by the third 

 associate, one of the brightest Indians in Zuiii. 



The house in which the et'tone of the Black Corn clan is kept is one 

 of the oldest in the village. It is accessible on one side from a street 

 and on the other from a plaza. The room of the sacred fetish is 

 on the ground floor, but can be entered only by a ladder from an 

 upper chamber. This room is not over 8 by 4 feet and has a low ceil- 

 ing. Its walls are elaborately decorated with cloud symbols and two 

 Ko'loowisi (plumed serpents). The sacred frog, wearing a cloud cap 

 with lightning shooting forth, stands with each foot on the tongue of 

 a Ko'loowisi. This decoration, which is not to be found in the other 

 chambers of the et'towe, is due to the fact that the shi'wanni at the time 

 referred to also had charge of the Ko'loowisi fetish (see plate xxxvi). 



The room where the retreat is made is directly above the chamber 

 of the et'tone, and there is an opening 12 by 18 inches in the Hoor, 

 through which meal is con.stantly sprinkled during the retreat. At 

 other times this hatchway is closed by a stone slab set in plaster. 



The shi'wanni and his associates gather in the chamber of the et'tone 

 at sunrise on the fifth morning of the retreat. The shi'wanni makes a 

 cloud .symbol of corn pollen and white meal on the floor, and the et'tone 

 separated into its two parts, with other fetishes and arrow points, are 

 placed thereon, the et'tone being the most important object. The shi'- 

 wanni and associates descend to this chamber on the three followingdays 

 at sunrise, noon, and sunset to invoke the presence of the gods. On the 

 eighth and last day of the retreat a similar painting to the one in tlie 

 room below is made on the floor of the upper room, and an even more 

 elaborate display is made, when the families consanguineous to the shi'- 

 wanni and his associates gather for the night, presenting a most inter- 

 esting picture, similar to that described in the ceremon}' of the Shi'- 

 wanni of the Nadir. The te'likinawe are planted in the manner 

 described in the winter retreat of the Shi'wanni of the Nadir. 



On the morning that the retreat closes, an excavation is made, in tiie 

 manner heretofoi'c described, close to the one that was dug at the begin- 

 ning of the retreat, and te'likinawe are deposited just as they were on 

 the first day in the other excavation. Both openings are now covered, 

 the first remaining open until the second one I'eceives the te'likinawe. 



At sunrise the heads of the shi'wanni and the three associates are 

 washed bv the female as.sociate, after which a fea.st is enjoyed. Then 

 the shi'waijni and associates each place food in a fine basket, and carr}'- 

 ing it to the fireplace, where there are a few embers, consign it to the 

 fire with prayers to the ancients of all regions, the dead Zufiis, to water 

 the earth. The retreat of all the A'shiwanni are for the same object — 

 rains to fructify the earth — and the ceremonials vary but slightly. 



