518 INTRODUCTION TO ZtJNI CEREMONIALISM 



[ETH. ANN. 47 



adult male. In exceptional cases females may be initiated.'" The 

 initiation uicludes two separate ceremonies frequently separated by 

 several years. Until the rites are completed, at about the age of 10 

 or 12, boys are expected to be kept ignorant of the mysteries of the 

 cult, and to believe the dancers are indeed supernatural visitors from 

 the village of the gods. At the first ceremony they are severely 

 whipped by the katcina priests ^' to inspire them with awe for these 

 creatures. There is another and more severe thrashing at the second 

 ceremony. Wliipping is the prerogative of the katcinas. It is em- 

 ployed by no other ceremonial group at Zuni and as a mechanism of 

 juvenile punishment is unknown. The American method of estab- 

 lishing discipline by switching is met at Zuni with horrified contempt. 

 The katcinas whip to instill awe for the supernatural, but also to 

 remove siclcness and contamination. The whipping of katcinas is a 

 blessing. It is administered with the formula, "May you be blessed 

 with seeds" (?o' lowaconan anilvtciat'u). Therefore outsiders are 

 never whipped. 



The katcina society has a set of officers, the katcina chief (ko'mo- 

 sona), liis pekwin (ko'pekwin), and two bow priests, who act as hosts 

 when the gods come to dance. They receive them, lead them into 

 the plazas for their performances, spiinkling corn meal before them. 

 They are the arbiters in aU matters pertaining to masked rituals. 

 The society is organized into six divisions (upa'we), associated loosely 

 with the six directions. Each group has a house of special construc- 

 tion set aside for the use of the katcinas — the so-called kivas.*^ In 

 early days these were men's clubhouses, but their use is now being 

 abandoned, even in ceremonies, Ln favor of more modern and spacious 

 dwelling houses. Membership in one or another of these six groups 

 is determined by the choice of a ceremonial father at a boy's birth or, 

 at the latest, at the time of the preliminaiy initiation. His associa- 

 tion is hfelong, unless he is expelled for sexual transgression or severs 

 his connection because of disagreement with the leaders. In either 

 case he wiU be received gladly mto another group. Each group has 

 a number of officers — from two to six or more — who run its affairs. 

 They decide upon the dates for dances and the particidar dance to be 

 performed; they compose new songs, decorate the masks, assemble 

 the costumes, and rehearse with the participants. Upon them also 

 falls the more vital task of periormmg the secret rituals that will 

 insure success. They prepare and plant prayer sticks and observe 



so "To save their life" if they suffer from hallucinations, the mental sicliness caused by supernatural 

 beings. 



" Seep. 521. 



63 Kiva is a word which has been adopted into southwest literature to denote the subterranean or semi- 

 subterranean chambers found in all modern and prehistoric pueblos. The word Is of Hop! provenience. 

 The Zuiii term kiwitsin'e is probably derived from it. 



