PARSONS] CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 261 



5. HUNT CHIEF (hUMAXu) 



The hunt chief conducts annually a ceremony in the autumn (see 

 p. 336), and individual hunters go to him at any time to get prayer 

 feathers."* The prototype of humaxu lives in Paw'iennowai, the lake 

 of emergence at Taos. The tale about him is paralleled by a Taos 

 tale. In both tales the chief is thought of as in control of aU the 

 animals (and birds), actually the hunt chief of Isleta is so thought of. 

 Perhaps he were better called cliief of the animals. 



The himt chief is Manuel Chiwiwa, brother to the war chief. He 

 has been in ofBce three years, ha\Tng been assistant to his predecessor. 

 He is about 40 years old. He belongs to (?) Yellow Corn and to 

 Black Eyes. 



The assistant (auki) to the hunt chief is Manuel Hohola or Shyeto 

 (prayer feather mark, referring to the paint on the cotton string); but 

 like the hunt chief himself, he is always referred to as humaxu. He 

 is 24. He belongs to White Com and Black Eyes. There was a 

 second assistant who died."'' 



6, 7. the moiety organization 



The moiety organization is all inclusive; everyone is either 

 shifuni'de or shure're, belonging to the Black Eyes (shi, eyes, fun, 

 black) or to the shure'.^^ A child belongs to the moiety of his or her 

 parents, if the parents belong to the same moiety; othei-wise the 

 children are assigned (by parents) alternately in order of birth to 

 both moieties, the eldest child to the father's moiety. Thus in 

 theory. In practice such regularity of assignment seems to be con- 

 siderably broken into. Isabel Abeita (Gen. I, 31), a first bom, is of 

 her mother's moiety because her mother, a Black Eye, so requested 

 of her father, a shure'. Again, a sickly infant may be given to the 

 moiety other than the one m order, as was Tranquilino Abeita (Gen. 

 I, 7), who was given to his mother's moiety, although he was a first 

 boin and his father belonged to the other moiety. If for any reason 

 a child is promised or vowed to any ceremonial group, he is given to 

 the moiety to which his ceremonial father belongs. Again, if anj' 

 one, relative or even nonrelative, desires a new-bom child to become 

 a member of his own moiety, he has but to spit into the infant's 

 mouth to ensure the membership.''^ A former Black Eyes cliief did 



"• And predictions tor hunt or journey. (Lummis 2: 216.) 



"b .\ccording to Lummis there were seven members in the Hunt society. Tlicy conducted, each in 

 turn, a series of seven weekly rabbit hunts, beginning in May. (Lummis 2; 2U.) 



'< The pocket gopher is similarly called, but our informant did not think that the ceremonial term had 

 this meaning. The term "gophers" for the group must have been of some popular u.se, however, for 

 Lummis mentions it (Lummis 1: 45). Another derivation occurs to me, from shurmuyu, turquoise. The 

 Isletan shure' are the homologues of the Keresan Turquoise kiva people, or kashare. See p. 262. In English , 

 the shure' are referred to as Red Eyes, no doubt from the red pigment they use in contrast to the black of 

 the other moiety. 



" Reminding us of the usual method of obtaining a ceremonial father among the Hopi. 



