312 ISLETA, NEW MEXICO [eth. ann. 47 



and help in the ceremony. With his stone point and his exorcising 

 featliers the chief dances, approaching the medicine bowl and peering 

 into it in order to see what is going on everywhere outside. He 

 gestures into the bowl as if pulling a bow. He performs the ritual of 

 bringing in lightning and thunder (see p. 339). The assistants leave 

 their seats and, standing in front of the altar, exorcise with their 

 feathers. One of them carries away the jar of exorcism, first waving 

 it in the du-ections where the people spit toward it. Now the assist- 

 ants go out "to clean with their feathers" (exorcise) all the ceremonial 

 houses, the plaza, the corrals into which all the horses have been 

 brought, and they even "clean" the river. On the return of his 

 assistants the chief begins to chew some of the medicme society root, 

 moving around the altar as the assistants sing, until he sits down in 

 front of the altar, swaying under the effect of the root. "This is the 

 time he is going in heart (spirit) around the world." During the hour 

 or more liis "heart" is away, the people may not move into the 

 passage through the room which has been kept open, "because the 

 chief's heart is out." Now his chief assistant leaves his place and 

 peers into the medicine bowl; with a drawing-in gesture he begins to 

 call back the "heart" of the chief. At last the "heart" returns; the 

 chief stretches his arms, first one, then the other. The cliief assistant 

 orders the door closed — while the "heart" was gone it was open. 

 The chief is now in possession of the witch bundle. It was because 

 of having it that the cliief assistant had to help him back. The chief 

 shows the bundle to the people, who spit toward it. He places the 

 bundle in a large bowl, resumes his place in the line behind the 

 altar, where the war chief gives him a cigarette to smoke ritually .... 

 The chief assistant looks into the crystal where he may see some 

 sick person asking to be cured. Three assistants will go out to cure 

 him. Sometimes an assistant will draw on a bear's paw and going 

 up to somebody will slap him with the paw on the shoulder and press 

 his chest and then show him something he has taken out of him, per- 

 haps a cactus point, something a witch has sent into him. On one 

 occasion the Father took out in this way from the girl sitting next to 

 our informant a little piece of manta cloth. The girl began to cry. 

 Then the Father rubbed the paw on her neck and brought out a lighted 

 candle. Showing it to the people, he said that a boy the girl had 

 refused to marry had sent these things into her. In a few days, 

 before she could have married any one else, she would have died. 

 Now she was safe. This showed how powerful were the Fathers, 

 commented our informant. A witch might be working evil against 

 you for a year, and then in one ceremony "the Father woidd take it 

 away." 



