426 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



oiving and receivinj^a greeting of welcome, the newcomer being asked 

 to be seated. No one is allowed to fall asleep in the ceremonial cham- 

 ])er except such members as are held almost sacred on account of their 

 extreme age. The offender is at once touched in no gentle manner 

 by some member. Pregnant women and young children are held as 

 severely to account as the others. After the close of the ceremonial 

 the head of each member is washed in yucca suds. Continence is 

 observed during the ceremonials and the four days following, for all 

 carnal thoughts must be dispensed with at this season. 



The plume which is worn for four days b}' the novice, during 

 which time he must observe continence and al)Stain from animal food 

 and grease (the fast continues for four days after initiation), is removed 

 the morning previous to initiation (the initiatory ceremony as a rule 

 occurs during the fourth night of the ceremonial) at Ku'shilowa (red 

 earth), a short distance east of Zuiii, by the fraternity father, who 

 ties the plume mentioned to a blade of yucca, sprinkles it with meal, 

 and then, with a prayer for long life and a true heart for the novice, 

 deposits the plume on the ground. A similar plume is tied to the hair 

 when the person is decorated for the initiation ceremonies. Ku'shi- 

 lowa is a great repository for these plumes and te'likinawe, and hun- 

 dreds of plumeless sticks are to be found there. 



On returning, the member elect goes to the house of the fraternity 

 father, where the wife or daughter bathes his head. Afterward he is 

 entertained at a feast at which no animal food must be taken. When 

 the members of the fraternity have completed their toilets for the even- 

 ing, the novnces take their seats in line on the north side of the room 

 near the altar until the fraternity fathers are ready to prepare them 

 for the ceremony, when the}" cross to the south side of the room, 

 standing usually near the tireplace, where each fraternity father adorns 

 the person of his fraternity child. For Mystery medicine the face, 

 body, upper arms, and legs of the males are colored brownish red. 

 The feet, the legs halfway to the knees, the hands, and the arms half- 

 way to the elbows are colored with a white paint made of kaolin. 

 A black woven breechcloth, embroidered at the ends, is worn. With 

 females only the feet, the lower portion of the legs, the hands, and the 

 arms are painted, kaolin also being used for this purpose. They wear 

 the usual woven dress. An owl and a raven feather, held in place by 

 3'ucca ribl)ons, are crossed on the top of each wrist, the owl feather 

 pointing outward, the other pointing inward. Similar feathers are 

 also crossed on the outside of each leg below the knee, the owl feather 

 pointing to the knee, that the child of Mystery medicine may be up 

 early with the raven and go about at night, without fear, like the owl. 

 The chin and the upper lip are covered with a paste of kaolin, a circle 

 of which is put around the top of the head, and hawk or eagle down is 

 dotted over the kaolin, symbolic of the clouds of the world. After 

 the adornment of tiieir person the novices return to their seats on the 



