BUNZEL] RELIGIOUS LIFE 523 



This knowledge — that is, the power which it confers — is "given back " 

 at the end of the year. 



The Koyemci masks are kept in the house of the West priesthood. 

 Their cult is in the keeping of four groups of men who themselves 

 impersonate the gods. Each group holds office for a year and returns 

 again after four years. The head of the group, who impersonates the 

 father, is appointed by the priests and he chooses his associates, filling 

 any vacancies which may have occurred since the last incumbency. 



The six Ca'lako masks, associated with the six kivas, are kept in 

 six different houses and each has a permanent group of wo'we,^^ who 

 instruct the impersonators in the duties of their offices. The imper- 

 sonators are chosen by the officers of the kivas and hold office for a 

 year. 



The mask of Ka'klo is kept in the house of the pekwin of the 

 Katcina Society. His rites are known to a group of four men, who 

 take turns in impersonating the god. The head of this group receives 

 from the priests a crook summoning him to appear. 



The 12 Salimopia masks, two of each color, arc kept in six different 

 houses, along with other masks associated with them in the principal 

 ceremony in which they appear, the preliminary whipping of little 

 boys. Each kiva has a Salimopia wo'le who is trustee of their ritual. 



At the new year ceremony which terminates the celebration of the 

 solstice Pautiwa comes to give his orders for the coming year. He 

 leaves with the priests or on the roofs of the kivas the feathered sticks 

 with which are appointed those who impersonate the gods at the great 

 fertility ceremony of November, the so-called Ca'lako. He leaves 

 one stick for the father of the Koyemci, one for each of Sa'yataca 

 group, one for each of the six Ca'lako. There is also a stick for 

 Bitsitsi, who is not a katcina, but who plays an important role in 

 the ceremony of the Corn Maids which follows the Ca'lako. In this 

 Pautiwa himself appears. 



The impersonators are chosen immediately — the impersonators of 

 the Koyemci and the Sayataca group by the priests, two impersonators 

 for each of the six Ca'lako by the officers of their respective kivas. 

 Each month at the full moon they plant prayer sticks at distant 

 shrines, visiting them in a body in fixed order. After October the 

 plantings take place every 10 days, and as the time for the ceremony 

 approaches, each group goes into retreat like priests, in its ceremonial 

 house. The great public ceremony is held in the houses of prominent 

 citizens who volunteer to provide this costly service. There should be 

 eight houses, but in recent years the expense involved has become 

 so great that not enough men volunteer. In that case the groups 

 double up at the last moment. The house is newly built or com- 

 pletely renovated for the occasion, and the visit of the gods is the 



" Literally servant or domesticated animal, a word that defies translation. 



