492 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



.sits on his folded blanket in front of the altar and to the north side, 

 while a warrior of the fraternity has his seat in front of it to the south 

 side. 



When all are assembled, the fraternity' parents— two being men, the 

 other the A'wan *sita« (Great Mother) of the fraternity (see plate 

 cxvii) — distribute meal from corn husks to each person present, the 

 meal being- received in the palm of the left hand. The male members, 

 and afterward the women, sprinkle the meal over the altar and fetishes. 

 The a'kwamosi forms a cross of meal, symbolic of the four regions, 

 upon the stone floor near the altar, and places the medicine bowl in the 

 center and his prey -god fetishes at the points of the cross, and those 

 for the Zenith and Nadir by the side of the one at the eastern tip. The 

 song opens to the accompaniment of the rattle, and immediately a 

 woman deposits a vase of water by the a'kwamosi; at the same time 

 he raises the medicine bowl upward six times, and prays to the Beast 

 Gods of the six regions, while the warrior beats time with his eagle- 

 wing plumes. As soon as the medicine bowl is returned to the cross, 

 the drum is struck and the a'kwamosi dips a gourdful of water from 

 the vase; at the same moment the warrior stands before the altar and 

 whirls the rhombus, calling the clouds to gather quickly. This deafen- 

 ing noise continues throughout the consecrating of the water. Water 

 is dipped six times from the vase, and each time the gourdful of water 

 is held over the medicine bowl, wdiile the a'kwamosi ofl'ers a prayer to 

 the appropriate Beast God. The six fetishes are dropped separately 

 into the bowl, a prayer being repeated each time invoking the presence 

 of these gods. Meal sprinkled into the water completes the consecra- 

 tion. The a'kwamosi now dips his eagle plumes into the water and 

 sprinkles the altar, while at the same time the other warrior of the 

 fraternity and another officer of the order wrap their blankets about 

 them and collect the food from before the altar in two basket trays, 

 which the}' rest on the blankets over the left arm, and leave the cham- 

 ber to deposit the food in the river to the Beast Gods. The Great 

 Mother now hastens to the fireplace, and, lifting ashes in her right 

 hand, deposits them in a heap before the dr}^ painting. Two men now 

 leave the choir, e^ch having an eagle plume in each hand, and dip the 

 ashes with the plumes. The head is turned over the left shoulder, the 

 right arm is drawn back as far as possible, and with a sort of sweep it 

 is brought forward and the eagle plume held in the right hand strikes 

 the under side of the plume held in the left, the two men, side by 

 side, striking their plumes simultaneously. The ashes are thrown first 

 to the East, then to the North, West, South, Zenith, and Nadir, for 

 physical purification of those present. After repeating the throwing 

 of ashes to the six regions by striking the plumes, they dip them in 



a Though white-haired and aged, she is considered the most efficient female theurgist in Zuni. 



