490 INTRODUCTION TO ZUNI CEREMONIALISM 



lETH. ANN. 47 



before ceremonies, these are used for an entirely different purpose 

 and with different effects. 



FETISHISM 



A large part of Zuni ceremony centers about the veneration of 

 sacred objects. Some of these, like the fetishes of the rain priests, are 

 of indescribable sanctity, and in them rests the whole welfare of the 

 people. At the other end of the scale are little pebbles, of which almost 

 eveiy man possesses several, which he may have found in the moun- 

 tains and to which, because of their peculiar form and color, he 

 imputes magical properties. To all such objects are made periodic 

 offerings of corn meal, and at stated times they are removed from 

 their usual resting places and honored. Zuiii fetishes are themselves 

 powerful, and offerings are made to them directly, but they are also 

 the means of reaching still moi"e powerful supernaturals. The 

 important objects of this type are the fetishes (eto'we) of the priests, 

 and their accompanying objects; masks, both tribal and personal; 

 the altars of the medicine societies ; stone images of the Beast Gods, 

 whether owned by groups or individuals; the feathered ears of com 

 (mi'we) given to members of higher orders of societies at their initia- 

 tion; personal fetishes or amidets of all sorts. Medicine, paint, 

 feathei's, and all other items in the regalia of the katcinas, are more or 

 less sacred. 



The eto'we of the priests correspond to the medicine bundles of 

 other North American tribes. They consist of the eto'we proper, 

 bundles of plugged reeds filled with seeds or water containing minia- 

 ture frogs, according to Stevenson (Zuni Indians, p. 163), pots of sacred 

 black paint, and a miscellaneous assortment of obsidian knives and 

 arrow points, "thunder stones," polished round stones that are 

 rolled over the floor during their ceremonies, rattles of olivella 

 shells and sometimes mi-we like those of society members. These 

 objects are believed to have been brought by the Zuni from the lowest 

 of the four worlds where they had their origin and are called tcimi- 

 Eanapkoa, " the ones that were at the first beginning." They are kept 

 in sealed jars in houses where they are believed to have rested since 

 the settlement of the village. They are "fed" regidarly at each meal 

 by some woman of the house where they are kept, and are removed 

 only for the retreats held in their honor. (See below, cult of the 

 Uwanami, for brief account of these ceremonies. For the location 

 of these eto'we, the membership of the priesthoods and the order of 

 retreats, see Stevenson, Zuni Indians, p. 163ft', and Kroeber, Zuiii Ivin 

 and Clan, p. 165ff.) All altars are called teckwin'c, a name derived 

 from the stem teckwi- meaning sacred or taboo. 



Masks are with few exceptions connected with the katcina cult. 

 Some are, like the fetishes of the rain priests, "from the beginning" 



