CALENDAR 



311 



cine man captures the witch bundle (naloa). The people say, 

 "Thanks! thanks!" when they hear that the bundle is captured. 

 The cliief says, "They are coining." He begins to sing to caU them 

 in, singing three songs. Then one by one they knock at the door, 

 saying aukuwam! They may be several minutes apart. The war 

 captains follow. The captor of the bundle stands, the others take 

 their seats. The chief assistant holds the captor around his arms; 

 the chief tries to take the bundle from him; but he clasps it so tight 

 the chief can not get it from him. Then kumpa, who "has his power 

 on him" (i. e., he is wearing his bandoleer and pouch), makes a cross 

 on the door with his stone point, and encircles the room, by the walls. 

 After that it becomes easy for the chief to take away the bundle. 

 He puts it near the stone point of the altar. Then there is the usual 

 smoking ritual for those who 

 have been out, and, as usual, 

 they make report of their trip. 

 With the altar blade the chief 

 cuts apart the bundle. In- 

 side the rags are worms, 

 grasshoppers, ha'u (? snails) ^* 

 or potato bugs, which are 

 exhibited to the people. . . . 

 The chief, town chief, kumpa, 

 war chief, and others make a 

 line and one by one step on 

 the yucca crosses on the floor 

 and spit into the bowl of cot- 

 ton, and encircle the snake 

 design. (Fig. 17.) All this 

 to song. All resume their 

 places and the chief dismisses 



the people, about 3 p. m., to go and eat dinner. About 5 p. m. the 

 people get ready to take food to the house of their Corn group, and 

 thence to one or the other of the medicine societies. They leave the 

 food in the first room they enter, and taking their blankets to sit on, 

 pass on into the ceremonial room. . . . The war chief sends a war 

 captain to "close" the street poabahoa, also the "gate" between 

 houses 18 and 19.^" 



The ceremonial resumed, the cliief performs the ritual of drawing 

 in the animals, showing the fetishes (kerchu) to the people and then 

 placing them in the medicine bowl. Through his crj'stal he looks for 

 the witches who may be lurking outside, showing them through the 

 crystal to his assistants who utter the cries of mountain lion and bear 

 and eagle and make gestures of pulling the bow. All smoke ritually. 

 The chief addresses the people, asking them to have good thoughts 



" Com [jest. It is the size of one's uail, brown, witii horn on its head. 

 " References to lost map. 



Figure 17. — Altar of Laguna Fathers. Crosses on ground 

 made with yucca. Jar for ritual spittle at left. Medi- 

 cine water bowl at top of meal design. The Mothers, 

 above 



