j'TEVENsoN] ORIGIN OK THP: FRATERNITIES 419 



nii'wachi, wa^ induced, after long iKUsuasion exteiiding through i^evcral days, to take 

 the mi'li of his father an<l that of tlie writer ai)art and reconstruct them. Great 

 secrecy was observed in this work. When he set aljotit removing the seeds, which 

 were in a cavity in the corn cob, he \)rought an ancient pot containing a paste of 

 blackish earth that is supposed to have l)een lirought from the undermost world. 

 With this earth and a cement of pinon gum an<l yucca fruit he closed the cavity 

 upon returning the seeds to their place. IX^positing the jar and cement before him, 

 he removed his head-kerchief and moccasins and silently prayed to A'wonawil'ona 

 and the Beast Gods that he should not be i)unished for desecrating the sacred 

 mi^wachi. To prepare a mi'li without the appropriate ceremony is sacrilege. This 

 devotee to his ritual shed tears while he claiKlcstinely pulled apart and re])aired the 

 mi'wachi. 



His father's mi'li was first handletl. The string containing the beads was removed, 

 then the straw covering at the base, after which the plumes, one liy one, were dis- 

 placed and laid on the fioor beside the worker. The ear of corn was now taken from 

 the buckskin cup which held it; the cotton cloth was loo.<ened fnjm the base of the 

 corn; the clay which sealed the cavity iji the cob was broken from the base of the 

 corn, and the seeds were removed. Other seeds were emptied from the buckskin 

 cup. All these objects were laid down in order with the tendere.«t care. The writer's 

 mi''li passed through the same form of disintegration, and the objects were laid a 

 little apart from the others. 



In the reconstruction the theurgist worked fir.st on the writer's mi'li. He ran 

 four fresh lines of paint, made by diluting some of the earth paste, lengthwise over 

 the lines which were made when the nii'li was originally fashioned. These are sym- 

 bolic of the four regions. He then refilled the cavity in the heart of the cob with 

 the seeds, which include corn grains of the six colors — wheat, sipiash, watermelon, 

 and miiskmelon seeds, beans, and pifion nuts. When the cavity was closed with 

 the earth paste, the cotton cloth was tied over the base of the cob, symbolic of the 

 apparel of the Mother Corn. The theurgist showed how the buckskin cup in.which 

 the base of the ear rested was made, placingit, after removing the thong lacing, in 

 a small bowl of warm water, and leaving it there until h was thoroughly pliable. 

 This piece of dressed buckskin, which was dyed black and rei-tangular in form, was 

 laid on the floor while wet. A disk of raw deer hide was held at the base of the ear 

 of corn as it stood in the center of the piece of buckskin. It seemed diflicult to 

 form this rectangular piece of leather into the desired shape. The left hand held the 

 corn in place while the real work was performed with the right hand. The moist 

 leather was pulled and fitted to the corn, the left thumb doing its share in the way 

 of i)ressing the leather into shape. Holes were punched in the laps of the leather, 

 and moist thongs were used to lace the laps together. Various seeds were dropped 

 into the cup before the lacings were tightened, after which the cup was securely 

 wrapped with the thong and tied. At the i>resent time some of the cups use<l for 

 mi'wachi are cut from blocks of wood, this process being much easier than the shai>- 

 ing of the leather; but the leather cup is the genuine and original kind. The cup 

 containing the ear of corn was set aside while the i)lumes were being arranged in 

 proper order, each variety of feathers being placed in a separate row. Each f)f the 

 four long parrot, or macaw, plumes was first attached to a slender stick, and after- 

 ward cotton cord was tied to the ear of corn and held in the mouth two fingers' length 

 from the corn. One of the macaw plumes was now attached to the ear by binding 

 to it the end of the slender stick to which the plume was attached, the i»lmne extend- 

 ing far above the top of the corn. A similar plume wii.-^ bound at the opposite side 

 of the corn by wrapi-ing the end of the stick. A thir.l was placed lietween the two. 

 and a fourth opposite the third, thus symltolizing the four ([uarters. The four .-sticks 

 were now wrapped together where they were att<iched to the plumes, which drew 

 the four plumes close together. FigUre 2« slu.ws the mi'li at this stage of reconstruc- 



