STEVENSON] THANKSGIVING FOR CROPS 205 



O'WINAHAI'YE, THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL FOR CROPS 



There is no fixed time for this ceremon}'. It depends upon the 

 harvest and occurs after the gathering of the crops. While it is an 

 annual occurrence" of the A'pi^'liishiwanni (Bow priesthood), others 

 take part in it. The Ant fraternitv necessarily does its share, owing- 

 to its relation with the Bow priesthood. 



The elder brother Bow priest having decided on the time for the 

 festival, requests a meeting of the first body of A'shiwanni with the 

 pa'mosona (scalp custodian) and his deputy. On the morning after 

 the notification the first body of A'shiwanni assemble in the house 

 of the Shi'wano"kia (Priestess of fecundity), and each makes a 

 cigarette as long as the distance from the metacarpus to the tip of 

 the second finger. Each reed is filled with native tobacco, and each 

 shi'wanni, having painted his cigarette the color of the region to 

 which he is assigned, wraps it in a corn husk; two additional cigarettes 

 are made by the elder and younger brother Bow priests and given to 

 the pa'mosona and his deputy. The Kia'kwemosi now collects the 

 cigarettes made by the A'shiwanni and hands them to the pa'mosona 

 telling him to find good men, one from each ki'wi^sine, to give notifica- 

 tion of the coming festival, and to select the girls for the dance. The 

 pa'mosona hands three cigarettes to his assistant, who selects a man 

 from each of the three ki'wi'siwe, those of the South, East, and Nadir, 

 designated bj" the colors of his cigarettes, while the pa'mosona chooses 

 a man from each of the other ki'wi^siwe, those of the North, "West, and 

 Zenith. The pa'mosona and assistant retain their cigarettes in their 

 homes seven nights, and on the eighth night they take them to the 

 ki'wi^siwe to which they belong, where, after lighting them, all present 

 take a whiff. The other cigarettes are then distributed. On the fourth 

 day following the distribution of the cigarettes the selected men notify 

 the young women of the village that they wish them to assemble in the 

 evening in the Chu'pa wa (south) and Mu'he'wa (west) ki'wi'si we. Obedi- 

 ence to this request is optional, but there is never any lack of girls, 

 though those of the elite usually go against the wishes of their parents,* 

 so great is their love for ceremonial and dance. They gather for four 

 nights in the ki'wi'siwe, the first three nights until midnight and tlie 

 fourth until sunrise. The}^ dance each night, but do not sing, this 

 being the special privilege of the men. For four nights following the 

 notification the song-makers from the several ki'wi'siwe gather in dwel- 

 lings and compose songs. The best songs are adopted. Those for the 

 present occasion are not only songs of thanksgiving for the harvest, but 

 of thanks for respite from the hated Naxaho. Prayers are addressed to 



"O'winahai'ye was an annual ceremonial until after the year 189G when this acoonnt was wr.'tten. 

 In 1902 the ceremony was held for the first time in several years, another instance of the gradual 

 suspension of the ceremonials of these people. 



6 Implicit obedience of child to parent is the rule among all tribes with which the writer is famil.ar. 

 and any exception to this rule is very rare. 



