294 THE ZUNl INDIANS Jeth. ann. 23 



time for thint>-.s which delight other children. They carr}'^ the ^'ounger 

 sister or brother on their backs, often tottering from the weight. They 

 seem ever ready to look after the younger ones, and when they are 

 free from this care they imitate all that their mothers do. They make 

 pottery, weave belts (see plate lxxviii), make )>read, and at times they 

 may actually be found pla3ing with dolls instead of the living l)abies. 

 The children are as punctilious as their elders in attending to ceremo- 

 nial observances. 



Games and impromptu dances are the favorite pastime of the young 

 men. Though they never wear their ceremonial masks in these dances, 

 they do wear masks copied after those of the Navahos (see plate 

 Lxxix). The dog dance (plate lxxx), in which the performer picks 

 mone}^ and silver buttons from the ground with his mouth, always 

 draws a large audience and leads to considerable betting. Girls 

 occasionall}" join in some of the pleasure dances (see plate lxxxi). 



The older girls do not usually go about the village unattended. The 

 only place they are free to visit alone is the well (see plate lxxxii)," 

 where the youth may be found lurking in the early evening, waiting 

 for an opportunity to speak a word to the pretty girls, and to some 

 special one if he has settled his affections. Those who state that the 

 Zuiii maiden makes advances to the man are in error. The writer has 

 observed t^iany cases of love-making, and they have never differed 

 essentiallvfrom the experiences of our own youths and maidens. The 

 conduct of a girl who shows her preference for a man before he has 

 shown his for her is looked upon as indelicate. While parents are 

 inclined to look to the marriages of their children, there are many 

 love matches in Zufii. 



NATAL CUSTOMS 



Previous to the birth of a child, if a daughter is desired, the husband 

 and wife, sometimes accompanied by a doctress or a female relative, 

 visit the Mother rock,* on the west side of To'wa yfU'lJinne (Corn 

 mountain). The pregnant woman scrapes a small quantity of the 

 rock into a tiny vase made for the purpose and deposits it in one of 

 the cavities in the rock (see plate xii a), and they all pray that the 

 daughter maj' grow to be good and beautiful and possess all virtues, and 

 that she may weave beautifully and be skilled in the art of making- 

 pottery. If a son is desired, the couple visit a shrine higher up the 

 side of the mountain, in a fissure in the same rock, and sprinkle meal 

 and deposit te'likinawe, with prayers that a son may be born to them 

 and that he may ))e distinguished in war and after death become great 

 among ancestral gods. Should the prayers offered at the shrines be 



"This picturesque well will soon become an object of the past. 



ftThe base of this rock is covered with symbols of the a'sha (vulva) (see pi. xii b) and is perforated 

 with small excavations. The Zufiis are not an exception among aboriginal peoples in respect to 

 phallic worship. 



