WHITE] KIN AND CLAN 39 



Clans and ceremonies. — Because of the cacique, the Antelope clan 

 plays a prominent role in a number of ceremonies, particularity those 

 in which the k'atsina are impersonated. These instances will be 

 described fully in the sections devoted to ceremonies. The Corn 

 clans have a ceremony of their own, the one in which Curatca lights 

 the fires. In olden days the Parrot clan and the Pumpkin clan had 

 charge of salt gathering. There are no other instances of special roles 

 played by clans.-' 



Clan and initiation, marriage, sickness, and death. — A clansman fre- 

 quently assists at the initiation of a boy into the kachina cult or into 

 a medicine society. During sickness and at death the clan members 

 usually assist, with their presence, by grinding meal, contributing 

 gifts, etc. The clan plays no special role in marriage. (See sections 

 on Initiation, Sickness, Death, etc.) 



Clan and labor. — Members of a clan frequently come together at 

 house building, wheat cutting, corn grinding, etc. But it is not 

 really a formal clan affair but rather a comnuuial task in wliich several 

 related family groups cooperate. 



Kinship terms are given in Table 5. 



Summary of kin and clan. — The family is a rather loose unit, 

 separation being not uncommon (in spite of the Catholic rule against 

 it), and illegitimacy quite common. 



The chief fimction of the clan at Acoma is to regulate marriage. 

 Apart from the Antelope clan, the role played by clans in ceremonies 

 is verj^ meager.^'' Nor is election to office or membership in a secret 

 society determined by clan affiliation, with the exception of the 

 cacique. The functions performed by clan members at such times as 

 initiations, sickness, death, etc., and during the performance of com- 

 munal tasks, are not prominent; they are not regarded as preemi- 

 nently clan activities; they belong primarily to the stratum of kinship. 



•" One informant stated that other clans have been the "head" clans at previous times. The first was 

 a'cani (all kinds of grass and seeds). The next were hak'ani (lots of coals burning), and dya'nyi (deer). 

 The close relationship between the Antelope clan at Acoma and the kachina organization is interesting 

 in the light of data from Laguna and Zuiii. In these villages there is a special relationship between the 

 .\ntelope (or Deer) clan and the Badger clan and the kachina organization. (The Badger clan has not 

 been found at Acoma.) At Laguna, Doctor Parsons states (in Notes on Ceremonialism at Laguna, p. 103), 

 the kachina dancers were led by Badger or Antelope clansmen. Also, she states (in footnote 7, p. 10.3): 

 "Nowadays at Laguna masks would be made only by the Badger and Antelope clans." Referring to 

 Fewkes (Tusayan Totemic Signatures, American Anthropologist, vol. 10, no. 1, 1897), Doctor Parsons 

 states that among the Hopi "the chief of the k'atsina priesthood was a Badger clansman." (Footnote S, 

 p. 103, Notes on Ceremonialism at Laguna.) At Zufii the director of the kachina organization and his 

 warrior (Kopitlashiwanni, "god bow priest") must be of the Deer clan. The Kopekwin, or deputy (hter- 

 ally "god speaker"), of the director (or Komosona), and his warrior must be of the Badger clan. (See 

 Kroeber, Zufii Kin and Clan, p. 163.) The association of the .Antelope clan at .\coma, then, seems to be 

 definitely a western feature: I have not found any such relationship at Santo Domingo. San Felipe, Zia. 

 Santa Ana, nor is it to be found at Cochiti. 



" See Parsons, E. C, The .\ntelope Clan in Keresan Custom and Myth, Man, vol. 17, art. no. 131. 

 London, 1917. 



