124 THE ACOMA INDIANS 



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bridled. It was a horse named "Bessie" which was kept at the 

 Indian school at Albuquerque. They caught a man (the witch) near 

 by and brought him back to the chamber. The people inside heard 

 the medicine men struggling with him on the roof of the chamber. 

 Then they saw the feet and legs of the witch man being pushed down 

 into the room. When he had been pushed in as far as his waist he 

 suddenly turned into a rat wliich dropped to the floor and scurried 

 about the room. The medicine men caught the rat and killed him 

 and threw him in the fireplace. Then thej^ told the people the name 

 of the witch. ^^ It was a young man from Acoma who at that time 

 was at the Indian school at Albuquerque. 



The ne.xt day about noon the government farmer at Acoma received 

 a phone message from Albuquerque stating that the boy who had been 

 named a witch the night before at Acoma had IdHed liimself by jump- 

 ing from the third floor of his dormitory. When his body was brought 

 home it was not buried in the churchyard because he was a witch. 



It is said that some medicine men can produce green corn, bushes 

 with fresh berries on them, etc., in the dead of winter. 



Medicine men and the kachina cult. — We have already noted a 

 number of functions performed by the medicine men in connection 

 with the masked dancer organization, viz, at the initiation, their 

 assistance at dances, etc. Also, there are a number of masks that 

 may be worn only by medicine men, such as aail-can' (see fist of masks). 

 Among the eastern Keres a medicine society always goes into retreat 

 (i. e., retires to its chamber for four days and nights to pray and per- 

 fonn certain rituals) before a masked dance for rain. It is said that 

 this was done at Acoma at one time but is no longer observed. But 

 then the Acoma scheme is quite different from that in vogue on the 

 Rio Grande. In the east several masked dances are held during the 

 summer for rain, each dance lasting one day only. At Acoma there 

 is only one rain dance, and it lasts four days. The medicine societies 

 do not own any masks, however, nor do they use any in either curing 

 or initiation ceremonies. ^^ 



Other ceremonial functions of medicine men. — We have already noted 

 the functions of the medicine men at the solstices, and their imper- 

 sonation of the two headmen of the k'ofiictaiya; also the role of 

 kasina tcaiani at the initiation of the war chiefs. The part played 

 by them at elections has also been discussed. Their role in connec- 

 tion with birth and death will be treated in our discussion of the life 

 of a typical individual. 



'' The name of the witch is never divulged until the smimal whose form the witch has assumed is killed. 

 If it were told before, the witch could get away. 



•" At Santo Domingo and San Felipe medicine societies use masks in initiation ceremonies but not for 

 <-uring. The Giant Society at Cochiti has one mask that is used at cures. 



