BDNZEL] ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE 479 



The only crime that is recognized is witchcraft. An accusation of 

 having caused death by sorcerj'' may be brought by the relatives of 

 the deceased. The bow priests examine the accused and review the 

 evidence. If found guilty in former days the accused was hung by 

 his wiists and subjected to other forms of torture until he confessed. 

 If the confession was of such a natur-e as to vitiate his power by re- 

 veahng its som'ce, a common Zuni idea, he might be released at the 

 discretion of the bow priests, or he might be executed. Pubhc torture 

 and execution of witches has been stopped by Government authorities 

 but convicted witches may be done away with secretly unless they 

 escape to other villages. 



Revelation of the secrets of the katcina cult to the uninitiated is a 

 crime against the gods and is punishable by death by decapitation. 

 Punishment is meted out by masked impersonators of the gods, ap- 

 pointed by the heads of the katcina society. No such executions 

 have taken place witliin the memory of U\dng men, but they figure 

 prominently in folklore, and the authority and readiness of the priests 

 so to act is never cjuestioned in Zuni. Flogging by masked imper- 

 sonators has recently been substituted for execution. During one of 

 the writer's visits katcinas were summoned to administer punishment 

 to a youth foimd guilty of selling a mask. The accused escaped so 

 the katcinas whipped all men in the kivas for purification. 



Crimes of personal violence are rare, but such as do occur are con- 

 sidered matters for private adjustment, either with or without the 

 help of the civil officers. Murder by overt means, not sorcery, bodily 

 injury, rape, and theft are settled by property payments by the 

 family of the guilty man to the family of the one who has been WTonged . 

 These payments are made promptly and quietly by the guilty man's 

 relatives, since they are likely to fare worse in the hands of the 

 officers than in those of private individuals. Adultery is not a crime. 

 Along with stinginess and ill temper it is a frequent source of domestic 

 infehcity and divorce, but is never regarded as a violation of rights. 

 Sexual jealousy is no justification for violence. 



The chief duties of the officers (governor, lieutenant governor, and 

 eight tenient«s) are the adjudication of civil suits, such as boundaries, 

 water rights, inheritance, restitution for loss or injury to Mvestock, 

 management of cooperative enterprises of a nonrehgious character, 

 such as road building, cleaning of irrigation ditches, execution of 

 Government ordinances regarding registration, schooling, etc., and 

 all manner of negotiation with outside powers. Because of the in- 

 creasingly diversified contacts with whites, the office of governor is 

 becoming more and more exacting and influential, although it still 

 lacks prestige in native opinion. The civil officers hold office at the 

 pleasure of the priests and may be removed by them at any time 

 and for any cause. The office is not one that is sought, since the 



