464 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



that the hour has arrived for it to leave the chamber. The four other 

 eAi' towe" appearing- in the ceremonial were deposited the previous 

 nio-ht in the house of a mem))er of the Badger clan. The *Hlem'- 

 mosona places the *hle'ettone in the hands of a maiden whose hands 

 have been rubbed with sacred meal. She is attired in ordinary dress, 

 with a mi'ha (white embroidered blanket) hanging from her shoulders, 

 the feet and lower limbs being bare. The *hle'ettone is carried ])y the 

 right hand and arm, and the left hand is used as an additional support; 

 two men, each carr^nng in his right hand one of the archaic bows 

 with arrows, accompany the girl from the ceremonial chamber to the 

 plaza. The}^ proceed in single file, the girl between the men, and 

 are joined by four girls clad in ordinar}- dress, each with a black blan- 

 ket over her shoulders, bearing the mu'et'towe, each et'tone being- 

 carried b}" a girl of the clan to which the et'tone belongs. Every 

 member of the household of each et'tone-bearer, ever}^ member of her 

 clan, and every member of the 'Hle'wekwe fraternity must ofl'er to the 

 et'tone four prayer plumes composed of eagle and turkey plumes and 

 feathers from the birds of the six regions, for snows, each individual 

 depositing- an offering to each of the four regions. They proceed to 

 the plaza, where the two decorated boxes seen at the rehearsals of the 

 Mu' waive are placed end to end east of the center of the plaza (see 

 plate ex). 



There are six notched sticks on the boxes, each crossed with a deer- 

 leg bone, two of the sticks being on the smaller box. A tiny twig of 

 spruce, symbolic of vegetation, is planted by the a'kwamosi (maker 

 of medicine water) near the southeast corner of the larger box, with 

 prayers for snows and longevity for his people; he sprinkles meal over 

 the twigs while he prays. 



A wicker basket without a handle, made by a female member of the 

 *Hle'wekwe and colored purple with the berries of Berberis f remontii, 

 is filled by the aged 'Hlem'mosona with finely ground meal, the meal 

 being smoothed over in mound form and crossed with corn pollen, and 

 having a white flufl'y eagle plume at the apex, is deposited under the 

 larger box. There are three men from the O'he'wa ki' wi'sine sitting on 

 wadded blankets west of the boxes. The et'towe-bearers stand in line 

 before the boxes, facing east. The men with the bows and arrows stand 

 on each side of the bearer of the *hle'et'tone. The girl next to the man 

 on the north side carries an et'tone of the Ai'yaho'kwe (a plant) clan; 

 the girl on her left holds an et'tone of the To'nashikwe (Badger) clan; 

 the girl at the right of the man on the south side carries the et'tone 

 of the Kia'nakwe (people of Corn clan); and the girl on her right 

 carries an et'tone of the *Ko'ioktakwe (Sand-hill crane) clan. The 

 et'towe-bearers and the two men throw a line of meal about 2 feet 



a See p. 444. One of the four Ot'towe referred to belonged to the Sand-hill Crane clan, who were 

 members of the 'Hle'wekwe fraternity. 



