STEVENSON] FESTIVAL OF THE SHa'lAKO 229 



and children vie with each other for the praise of their elders. Women 

 are busy preparing- a feast for those lal)oring on the ancestral house of 

 the Kia'kweniosi. One g-roup of maidens grinds at the mills, keeping 

 time to a choir of young men who are accompanied l)y the drum, while 

 at two fireplaces aged women, looking more like munmiies than living 

 creatures, sit toasting the meal after it has passed through the coarsest 

 mill; after the toasting, it nmst again go through finer mills. On 

 another side of the room a group of half-grown girls sits husking corn, 

 their bodies keeping rythmic time with their voices. At another 

 fireplace two women are busy baking he'we, while in the room beyond 

 maidens are engaged over great pots of stewing meat, corn, and chili. 

 Two meals are served to the workers, one at midday and one at sunset. 

 Late in the afternoon the A'toshle and Ko'yemshi together visit a 

 number of houses to learn if the inmates properly perform their 

 duties. They make inquiries regarding- the behavior of husbands, 

 wMves, and children. In one house a wife accuses her husband of 

 being lazy and unwilling to work, whereupon he is brought up for 

 judgment. He pleads his own cause and finally succeeds in getting 

 the gods to accept his statement. In another house the mother 

 complains that her daughter will not grind. The girl declares that 

 grinding makes her very tired and her arms refuse to move. The 

 female A'toshle commands the girl to accompany her to the mills and 

 kneel beside her to be taught to grind so that her arms will not become 

 tired. The two gods lecture a boy of 4 years, while two younger 

 children of the family are held close in the arms of their parents, who 

 cover the little ones' eyes with their hands. The boy receiving the 

 lecture clings to his mother, and his knees shake as he replies to the 

 questions of the gods. The fear of the child is great as the gods wave 

 their stone knives above him and declare that if he is naughty they 

 will cut ofi' his head. A father complains that his boys are uncleanly 

 and will not bathe, whereupon they are connnanded ))y the gods to 

 proceed at once to the river, where the Ko'yemshi join the boys, and 

 dropping their kilts, jump into the water and bathe. In a short time 

 they make their brief toilet and return to the house and join the 

 A'toshle. Then all stand in line and repeat a long prayer, the mem- 

 bers of the household observing the greatest reverence. At the com- 

 pletion of this prayer the family sprinkle the gods with meal and 

 pray. 



After leaving the house the gods meet a man returning from his 

 peach orchard, his burro heavily laden with fruit, the master urging 

 him along with a heavy stick. The man is stopped l)y the gods and 

 held up for trial for working in his orchard instead of assisting in the 

 building of the house "of the Kia'kwemosi. It is finally decided he 



