WHITE] GOVERNMENT 51 



And SO on throng:h the year, officers rotating in this order and 

 visiting the cardinal points in the order named. 



The Opi, or Warriors' Society " 



This society' of warriors is now extinct at Acoma, and data con- 

 cerning it are meager and rather vague. However, the impression 

 was given by informants that the opi, together with the war chiefs, 

 were in complete charge of the pueblo during war tihies. And the 

 warriors were assisted by the medicine men who gave them "power." 

 It seems, then, that the ordinarj^ administration of peace times 

 yielded to a war-time rule in times of trouble. 



The Koshare '" 



There is another instance in which the ordinary administrative 

 organization of the pueblo was suspended. This was at the time of 

 the initiation of koshare and the execution of the scalp dance. At 

 this time the koshare had complete charge of the pueblo. (See 

 Koshare, Scalp Dance.) 



These two instances of the opi and the koshare assuming temporary 

 control of the administration of the \'illage are interesting examples 

 of pueblo government, its many-sidedness and versatility. 



The Three Cooks 



We have already spoken of the cooks at some length ; there is little 

 else to be said. The cooks provide the war chiefs with a limch when 

 they go out at night or when they leave for the day. It is their 

 business to make the ganacaiya (ground deer or rabbit meat mixed 

 with guayave) for the prayers. The cooks go up on top of the war 

 chief house when they have made some ganacaiya and pray with it 

 themselves (sprinkling it as they pray). They have charge of all 

 foods that are collected or issued for communal ceremonial feasts. 

 (See Ceremonies for further I'eferences.) 



The "Little Chiefs" 



There are 10 of these tcukacac hotceni, or "little chiefs." (They 

 are sometimes called tcaikats' also.) They are appointed by the 

 cacique.^' They ai'e really helpers for the war chief. They carry 

 wood from the war chief's woodpile to the houses of women who are 



'i^ See chapter on ceremonialism. 



2* 1 am not sure wliether the^ little chiefs are appointed for one year or for some other period of time. 

 I understood that they did not ser\e after reaching maturity. One informant stated that the war chiefs 

 were frequently selected from the ranks of ex-"little chiefs"; another stated that a war chief must have 

 served as a "little chief." These little chiefs resemble the Go'watcany* of Santo Domingo and San 

 Felipe. — White, mss. 



