140 THE ACOMA INDIANS [eth. ann.47 



in some place where the girl is sure to touch it. Then he goes home- 

 That night he sings the songs that Diakatcoa sang when, in the 

 form of a butterfly, he lured the kotcininakos from their home. 

 These songs are esoteric and must be secured from some one who 

 knows them. All of these songs he sings on this night. 



The ne.xt day (or verj' soon thereafter) the girl will readily yield 

 to his wooing. 



SUMMARY COMMENT 



In a piecemeal description of Acoma culture it woidd be easy to 

 lose sight of a very fundamental feature, namely, integration. Not- 

 withstanding the many and diverse elements to be foimd in the 

 cultural totality, there is a great degree of interpenetration of function 

 and coincidence of form; pueblo cidture is close-knit. It might be 

 well, then, briefly to envisage Acoma culture as a whole as an organic 

 unity. 



I like to view Acoma socifll organization as consisting of two strata, 

 or as existing upon two levels. These are the kinship (and clan) 

 level and the socio-ceremonial level. x\nd I usually think of the 

 former as a substratum upon which the elaborate ceremonial structure 

 is reared. Of course, these two strata are not sharply divided by 

 any means; they cofunction at many points and there is a constant 

 flow of influence (of a personal or kinship nature) between them. 



First, then, we have the kinship level, on which the clan constitutes 

 a very definite form of organization. Its chief function is the regu- 

 lation of marriage. But, as we have seen, many ceremonial elements 

 are conditioned or determined by clan consideration. It is on this 

 level, too, that a great current of forces flows which influence pueblo 

 affairs to a very great extent. These are the attractions and repul- 

 sions between person and person; the loves, hates, fears, jealousies, 

 suspicions of the people. The alignment of individuals within the 

 two parties, the progressives and the conservatives, is determined 

 largely by kin and clan ties.*^ One might take all this for granted, 

 of course. But too often, I believe, in a stvidy of the anatomy of a 

 culture one fails to take due account of these subinstitutional forces 

 which vitalize it to such a great degree. 



On the second level we have ceremonies which are, for the most 

 part, of a supernatural nature. Most of the ceremonies seek to 

 derive favor or to avert evil from supernatural beings; they are 

 magical attempts to gratifj' wishes. But in addition to this purpose, 

 ceremonial life is fed and nourished by purely esthetic and social 

 motives; many ceremonies are beautiful, impressive, and pleasant 

 social occasions. 



"' I knew of an instance in which a young man married the daughter of a very conservative family. He 

 had been a liberal before his marriage but became an "old-time" conservative afterwards. 



