BUNZEL] RELIGIOUS LIFE 541 



corresponds in some ways to puberty ceremonies of other tribes, even 

 though it has very little relation to the physical fact of adolescence. 

 The first "initiation" takes place at the age of from five to seven 

 years. It corresponds to no physiological change and marks no 

 change of status on the part of the child. The child who has been 

 "initiated" in this preliminary ceremony has no more knowledge or 

 responsibility than one who has not yet gone through the rite. The 

 final ceremony at which knowledge is revealed takes place anywhere 

 between the ages of 10 and 20, depending on the interference of 

 schooling — in old days it probably took place between the ages of 

 10 and 14^ — and is unrelated either to physical maturity or the 

 assumption of adult responsibilities. It is an initiation solely into 

 the katcina cult and has nothing to do with the social status of the 

 individual. Marriage, for instance, does not depend upon it, nor 

 participation in other ceremonies. Although any initiated boy may, 

 if he wishes, take part in masked dances, he does not feel any obliga- 

 tion to do so. It is usually many years before he assumes even the 

 responsibility of making his own prayer sticks. Curiously enough, 

 considering general North American custom, no notice whatever is 

 taken of the advent of maturity in girls. 



Initiations into medicine societies are more clearly ceremonial rec- 

 ognition of personal crises. The initiate is a patient who has been 

 snatched from the jaws of death and his initiation into the group 

 that saved him is the ceremonial assumption of his new status. At 

 his initiation he gets a "new heart," and, as a symbol of the new life 

 he has begun, receives a new name."^ This name, however, is not 

 usually used and does not ordinaril}' replace his cliildhood name or 

 names. The ceremony may be delayed for years- — sometimes as long 

 as 20 years — after the cure which it affirms. Lilve initiation into the 

 Katcina Society, it involves a minimum requirement of attendance, 

 and the privilege of additional participation as the interests and 

 ability of the individual may dictate. Children need not assume 

 any responsibilities upon initiation. 



Religious participation starts among children when, as infants on 

 their mother's backs, they are taken to watch the katcinas dance. 

 The summer dances outdoors are largely attended by small children 

 of both sexes. During the morning and early afternoon they con- 

 stitute the entire audience. Formerly children were not permitted 

 to attend night dances of the katcinas where the katcinas dance 

 unmasked, but this rule is broken among the more lax parts of the 

 population. 



Children learn early to share the interest of their elders in the 

 more spectacular phases of religious hfe. They are keen observers 

 of dances, they know songs, and give accurate and lively accoimts of 



"5 Contrary to custom in other pueblos, dnd reported information from Zuni, naming is not a part of the 

 initiation into the Katcina Society. 



