350 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



entrances, which were in some cases circular openings in round stone 

 slabs of considerable thickness, just large enough for one to pass 

 through b}^ assuming a horizontal position. These doorwa3^s were 

 closed with round stone slabs held in place by props of strong poles/' 

 The houses are so provided with interior doors that almost the entire 

 older portion of the village can be put in communication without 

 passing ^outside the communal structure. Small openings made in 

 the walls to admit light are filled with irregular pieces of selenite. 

 The chimneys are composed of cooking utensils with perforated bases, 

 placed one upon another and cemented together. When a cooking 

 pot can no longer serve its original purpose, it is stored away for 

 future use in the chimney. After the house is constructed, the exte- 

 rior and interior walls are covered with a reddish-brown plaster made 

 of earth and water. It is applied with the hand, which is swept over 

 the wall in semicircles (see plate i.xxxvii). In working the plaster 

 the woman keeps her mouth filled with water, which is skillfully 

 applied to the wall, when necessary, in the manner in which a Chinese 

 laundryman sprinkles clothes. The inner walls are whitened, and for 

 this purpose a white clay is dissolved in boiling water and applied 

 Avith a rabbit-skin glove. The gloved hand is dipped into the liquid 

 and then rapidly passed over the wall. The color of the outer walls is 

 usually of the dark color. 



AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 



Assistance in the fields is obtained as follows : A member of a fra- 

 ternity asks the mo'sona (director) for help, and he designates a cer- 

 tain number of the fraternity to assist their fellow. The female head 

 of the house or the daughter or perhaps both go to the people of 

 theii- clan asking the assistance of the sons of the families; the pater- 

 nal heads of these houses also give their services, so that the work is 

 not confined to a single clan. The only time the people of a ki'wi'sine* 

 are called upon for such work is when a house is to entertain a 

 Sha'lako.'" The laborers are entertained at an evening meal after the 

 return from the fields each day by the family for whom they work. 

 The clans of the heads of the house also aid in the entertainment. 



These primitive agriculturists have observed the greatest care in 

 developing color in corn and beans to harmonize with the six regions — 

 yellow for the North, blue for the West, red for the South, white for 

 the East, variegated for the Zenith, and black for the Nadir. They 



a Although the Zunis are perfectly aware that stone doorways were in early use among their people, 

 the only perfect specimen to be seen in this village belongs to an aged theurgist who mourns the fact 

 that his people have not preserved these objects of their ancient architecture. In the Eighth Annual 

 Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891, in a paper entitled "A Study of Pueblo Architecture," by 

 Mr Victor Mindeleff, is a most interesting pen picture, on p. 192, containing a reference to stone 

 doorways discovered in ruins. 



6 See Ki'wi'siwe and their functions, p. 02. 



"See Annual festival ot the Sha'lako, p. 227. 



