806 



ZUNI RITUAL POETRY 



[ETH. ANN'. 47 



Met one another. 



Sitting down quietly, 



Our fathers, Ufe-giving priests, 



BuUt^' with their hand tlieir mas.sed 



cloud house, 

 Spread out their mist blanket, 

 Sent forth their life-giving road, 

 Prepared their perfect spring. 

 Sitting down quietly. 

 These, the divine ones, 

 Looked over their child. 

 Then also these same ones 

 Let their liands go first, 

 Their breath go first 

 While our hands followed. 

 For among all the corn priests' ladder 



descending children, 

 Among all the little boys and little 



girls, 

 And those whose roads go ahead,'" 

 AVas one, who even though a valuable 



person. 

 Because he became angry over some- 

 thing. 

 Used his power to harm our child. 

 The power of this foolish one. 

 Our fathers, the divine ones. 

 The Beast Priests, 

 Brought forth standing 

 Into the daylight of our sim father.^' 

 Then with his fathers' water of life, 

 With their flesh,'* 

 Our child nourished himself. 

 Wlien the day had advanced a little, 

 When the night had advanced a little. 

 Our child's sickness grew less, 

 His breath became better. 

 That his road may be fulfilled 

 Reaching to where the road of his sun 



father comes out, 

 That he may stand firmly upon his 



earth mother. 

 Hoping for this we shall live. 

 When he said, let it be now,™ 

 And after our moon mother. 

 Yonder in the west stiU small. 

 Had first appeared, 



And when a little space yet remained 

 lentil, standing against the eastern sky, 

 She should come to maturity. 

 At that time our spring children,*' 

 Whoever of them had thought to grow 



old. 

 Taking prayer meal. 

 Taking shells. 

 Taking corn pollen. 

 Made their roads go forth. 

 Wherever they met their fathers of the 



bush. 

 At the feet of the lucky one 

 Prayer meal, shell, 

 Corn pollen. 

 They offered. 



Breaking off the straight young shoots 

 Which they drew toward them. 

 With their warm human hands. 

 They held them fast. 

 With the massed cloud robe of our 



grandfather, 

 Male turkey, 

 Eagle's mist garment, 

 And the striped cloud wings 

 And massed cloud tails 

 Of all the birds of simimer. 

 With these four times wrapping their 



plume wands, 

 They gave their plume wands human 



form. 

 Witli the one who is our mother. 

 Cotton woman. 



Even a roughly spun cotton thread. 

 Four times encircling the plume wand 

 And tying it around, 

 And with a rain-bringing hair feather. 

 They gave their plume wands humau 



form. 

 With the flesh of our two mothers, 

 Black paint woman, 

 Clay woman. 



Clothing their plume wands with flesh, 

 They gave their plume wands human 



form. 

 Saying, "Let it be now," 

 And taking our plume wands, 



»5 The altar is set up in the patient's room. 



" The aged. 



fi" The cause of sickness is drawn from the body of the patient. (See p. 531.) 



** The patient drinks from the medicine bowl on the altar an infusion of medicine roots in water. The 

 wremony described above is repeated on four consecutive nights. 



«» When the patient decided to fulfill his pledge of membership. 



<" The members of the society start their preparations for the initiation ceremonies. The flnal ceremonies 

 take place at the full moon. 



