572 I'HE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. l'3 



The elder ))rotbei' Bow priest, who is one of the warriors of the 

 fraternity, taiies the cactus in his right hand and passes in a circle 

 around the novice; returning to the north side of him, he stops, faces 

 north, and calls upon the Ku'pTshtaya of the North to be present and 

 make the boy's heart good and l)rave and to give long life. Again he 

 encircles the novice, passing from left to right, and facing the west 

 repeats the same call upon Ku'pishtaya. Passing around the novice 

 once more, he halts at the south and makes the prayer; passing around 

 him again, he halts at the east and prays. Another circle is made and 

 he halts at the west and gives the call upon the Ku'pishtaya of the 

 Zenith. Again passing around, he halts at the south and calls upon 

 the Ku'pishtaya of the Nadir. The novice does not change his posi- 

 tion during this time. The warrior now strikes the novice across the 

 left shoulder and throws on the ground to his left such of the cactus 

 as remains, and then joins the group. The fraternity father helps the 

 novice on with his shirt sleeve, and all proceed in tile to the village. 

 The director of the fraternity leads, followed by his deputy, warrior, 

 fraternity father, novice, director of cactus collectors, and others. 

 On reaching the village the director of cactus collectors secures six 

 archaic stone knives belonging to the Shi'wanni of the West and 

 places them in couples before the altar of the *Ko'shi'kwe. When the 

 others reach the ceremonial chamber the fraternity father takes from 

 a basket tray before the altar and hands to the novice a prayer plume 

 made by himself, which is in length equal to the distance from the inner 

 side of the elbow to the tip of the thumb. This is an offering to the 

 Gods of War. The cactus-bearers lay each piece of cactus separately 

 on a bench placed for the purpose in the northeast end of the chamber. 

 The two extra pieces of cactus and the long willows are placed north 

 of the altar, and all but the novice exchange their clothing for the 

 black woven breechcloth. The novice sits on the north side of the 

 room, with his fraternity father to his right. »The choir group at 

 the south side with rattles and a drum made of wood covered with 

 hide; the *Ko'shi'kwe do not possess a pottery drum. The pe'kwin 

 takes his seat on the south side of the altar and before it and proceeds 

 to consecrate medicine water, a member of the fraternity having placed 

 a vase of water and gourd by him. As soon as the pe'kwin lifts a 

 gourd of water to empty it into the medicine bowl, the choir begins 

 singing to the accompaniment of the rattle and drum, and the war- 

 rior standing before the altar whirls the rhombus. The songs are 

 addressed to the Ku'pishtaya and his pe'kwin, "^Si'kiahaya, and the 

 deceased A'pi'Mashiwanni (Bow priesthood), that the fraternity may be 

 able to use the cactus without injury. Six small stones are then 

 dropped separately into the water. 



At the conclusion of the consecration of the water the warrior 

 ceases to whirl the rhombus, but the music continues. The deputy 



