442 THE ZUNI INDIANS Leth. ann. 23 



The hunt occurs in the three farming districts of the Zunis — Pescado, 

 Nutria, and Ojo Caliente — as thanksgiving for abundant crops, and takes 

 place immediately after the gatliering of the corn and wheat. 



Mr Stevenson and the writer accoiui)anie(l a party which went out from Zuni to 

 Ojo Caliente. Those who had not returned to Zuni from their summer homes were 

 found busy at this place preparing for the hunt. The men's hair was hanging loosely 

 about their shoulders, having recently been washed in yucca suds, since no one can 

 take part in any ceremony without first washing the hair in yucca. The women 

 were busy arranging for the feast to be enjoyed after the hunt. A jack rabbit and 

 a cottontail were suspended from the outer beams of one of the houses. These had 

 evidently been there many days. Upon inquiry as to why the decomposed bodies 

 were not cast away, the reply was: "They were caught some days ago by order of 

 the Ko^yemshi « and hung there for good luck to hunters, and they must not be taken 

 down until after the hunt." 



At 1 o'clock the command was given, and in a short time every man in the village 

 was mounted, with rabbit stick in hand, many of them carrying two, and a couple 

 were handed to Mr Stevenson with the words: "You, too, must join in the hunt." 

 The writer was wise enough to refuse the two that were offeretl to her, knowing the 

 certainty of failure. 



No Zuni women were to accompany this party, but as a young man was taking leave 

 of his bride her eyes expressed such a longing to accompau}- him that the writer 

 insisted that the unspoken wish be gratified. It was not until after much persuasion, 

 however, that the pretty little girl, bedecked in her best gown and jewels, seated 

 herself behind her husliand's saddle and rode off with him. The several hundred 

 Indians, all gaily dressed, made a pleasing picture. The horses were kept in a walk 

 until a knoll, about half a mile from the village, was reached. The A' wan tii^'chu 

 (Great Father) Ko^yemshi, his pe^kwin (deputy), and a man of the *San'iakiakwe 

 fraternity sat at the base of a pifion tree at the summit of the knoll. The Great 

 Father and his deputy were vis-a-vis, one facing east, the other west. The other 

 man faced east. The Great Father clasped the hands of his deputy, his hands passing 

 under those of the deputy. 



The party of hunters dismounted and sat around the trio while the Great Father 

 whispered a long prayer in a most impressive manner. At the close of every stanza 

 "Athlu" (amen) was repeated by the deputy and the man of the 'Siin'iakiakwe frater- 

 nity. At the close of the prayer the Great Father placed the clasped hands to the 

 mouth of the deputy and, drawing them to his own mouth, inhaled from him a 

 breath of all that is good. The deputy now repeated the prayer while he clasped 

 the Great Father's hands. These prayers are a thanksgiving for the crops and good 

 health to the people and a petition that in years to come the ancients may bless 

 them with the same good crops, that their people may not die, but live, and sleep to 

 awake as little children in Ko''thluvvala^wa (abiding place of the Council of the 

 Gods). The ceremony closed with a smoke, in which all joined. The two Ko'- 

 j'emshi and the man of 'Siin'iakiakwe fraternity led the way on foot to a tire pre- 

 viously made by the Ko^yemshi that was burning in a low and synnnetrical cedar 

 tree, the flames spreading evenly and beautifully. They must walk, because when 

 the world was new the A^shiwi had no horses. The three men stood near the Are, 

 offering prayers to the dead and begging the intercession of their ancestors with the 

 Council of the Gods that the rain-makers should water the earth. Bread was thrown 

 into the flames, with a call to the fire to eat and convey the spiritual essence of the 

 food to the dead. 



The hunters now dismounted in couples, and receiving bits of bread from the 

 Great Father, who had an armful, threw them into the fire, with prayers that the 



a See p. 33. 



