480 INTRODUCTION TO ZUNI CEREMONIALISM [eth. ann. 47 



settlement of disputes must inevitably be a som'ce of grievance to 

 someone, and the tlung that a Ziuli will avoid above anything else 

 is giving offense. 



In all social relations, whether within the family group or outside, 

 the most honored personality traits are a pleasing address, a yielding 

 disposition, and a generous heart. All the sterner wtues — initiative, 

 ambition, an uncompromising sense of honor and justice, intense per- 

 sonal loyalties — not only are not admired but are heartily deplored. 

 The woman who cleaves to her husband through misfortune and 

 family cjuarrels, the man who speaks his mind where flattery would 

 be much more comfortable, the man, above all, who thu-sts for power 

 or knowledge, who wishes to be, as they scornfully plirase it, "a 

 leader of liis people," receives nothing but censm'e and will very 

 likely be persecuted for sorcery. 



A characteiization intended to convey the highest praise was the 



following: "Yes, is a nice poUte man. No one ever hears 



anytliing from him. He never gets into trouble. He's Badger clan 

 and Muhekwe kiva and he always dances in the summer dances." 

 The informant could be eloquent enough when she wished to detract. 



No single fact gives a better index to Zuni temperament than that 

 suicide is absolutely unlinown among them, and the veiy idea is so 

 remote from theii' habits of thought that it arouses only laughter. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE 



In so far as the culture of any people is an integi-ated and harmo- 

 nious whole, it shows in all its phases the same character and indi- 

 Aaduality. At Zuni the same ceremonious collecti\'ism that charac- 

 terizes social activities is the essence also of all religious participation. 

 The relation between man and the supernatural is as free of tragic 

 intensity as the relation of man to man. The supernatural, con- 

 ceived always as a collectivity, a multiple manifestation of the divine 

 essence, is approached by the collective force of the people in a series 

 of great public and esoteric rituals whose richness, variety, and 

 beauty have attracted the attention of poets and artists of all coun- 

 tries. Nowhere in the New World, except in the ancient civiliza- 

 tions of Mexico and Yucatan, has ceremonialism been more highly 

 developed, and nowhere, includmg these ci\alizations, has it gone so 

 far toward taming man's frenzy. In Zmii, as in all the pueblos, 

 religion spreads wide. It pervades all activities, and its very perva- 

 siveness and the rich and harmonious forms in which it is externalized 

 compensate the student of rehgion for the lack of intensity of that 

 feeling. For although the Zufii may be called one of the most thor- 

 oughly religious peoples of the world, in all the enormous mass of 

 rituals there is no single bit of religious feeling equal in intensity and 

 exaltation to the usual %asion quest of the North American Indian. 



