BONZEL] RELIGIOUS LIFE 487 



Zufii feels great awe of the supernatural, and definitely fears certain 

 beings in his pantheon — the recently dead, the Koyemci, certain 

 "dangerous" katcinas, but this is qiute different from the cosmic 

 terror that crushes many primitive and ci\alized peoples. 



COSMOLOGICAL BELIEFS 



The cosmology of the Zunis is extremely fragmentary. The earth 

 is circular in shape and is surrounded on all sides by ocean. Under 

 the earth is a system of covered waterways all connecting ultimately 

 with the surrounding oceans. Springs and lakes, which are always 

 regarded as sacred, are the openings to this system. On the shores 

 of thee ncircUng ocean live the Uwananii or rain makers.'^ They 

 have villages in the fom- world quarters. The underground waters 

 are the home of Kolo\\-isi, the hoi'ned serpent. 



Within the earth are the four enclosed caves which the people 

 occupied before coming out into this world — the foiu^ wombs of earth 

 mother. The sky (a'po'yan-e, stone cover), solid in substance, rests 

 upon the earth like an inverted bowl. The sun has two houses, in 

 the earth and in the sky. In the morning he "comes out standing to 

 liis sacred place"; in the evening he "goes in to sit down at his other 

 sacred place." The sun also travels north and south, reaching his 

 "left hand" (i. e., southermuost) sacred place at the winter solsticial 

 rising. The change in the length of days passes imnoticed.'* 



The moon is reborn each month and in 14 days reaches maturity; 

 after that her life wanes. These are, in general, inauspicious days. 

 Children born while the moon is waning are imlikely to hve long. 



The stars are fixed in the sky cover. The most prominent feature 

 of the night heavens is the milky way, frequently mentioned in myth 

 and song and figiu'ing prominently in religious art. Some of the stars 

 and constellations are named and recognized — the morning star 

 (Venus or Jupiter) (moyatcmilana, great star), Ursa Major (kwUilekii, 

 the seven), Orion's belt (ipi'laka, the row), the Pleiades (kupa'kwe, 

 seed stars). No observations are made of the positions of the stars 

 and movements of the planets. All calendi'ical computations are 

 made on the basis of the movements of the sim and the moon. 



Clouds and rain are the attributes of all the supernaturals, especially 

 the Uwanami and the katcinas. Wind and snow are associated with 

 the War Gods. Windstorms during ceremonies are due to inconti- 

 nence or other malfeasance on the part of participants or to sorcery 

 on the part of some jealous or envious outsider. The whirlwind ap- 

 pears in folklore, but not in ritual. All natural phenomena are per- 

 sonalized, and tales are told of them. But they are not therefore 

 necessarily a-wona-wi'lona. 



" See p. 513. 



" See p. 534 for more detailed account of the calendricul system. 



