870 ZUNI KATCINAS 



[ETH. ANN. 47 



With the kilt is worn some kind of belt or sash, usually a narrow 

 red and green woman's belt and a broad sash, either the broad woven 

 sash vv'ith embroidered ends or a Hopi wedding belt, a broad braided 

 belt, with long tasseled fringes. All of these articles are made by the 

 Hopi. The Navaho and the Zuni also make women's belts. 



A large white buckskin is worn instead of the woven kilt by kat- 

 cinas associated with war or hunting. With these any kind of belt 

 may be worn, often an ordinaiy silver belt. 



The upper part of the body is generally left nude and painted, but 

 shirts are worn by some katcinas. These are usually white. Now 

 they are made of cotton, but in ancient times they were of buckskin. 



Many of the more important of the katcina priests wear the em- 

 broidered white blanket (miha). This is a Hopi wedding blanket, 

 embroidered with cloud, flower, and butterfly designs in red, orange, 

 green, and black. It is woven by the Hopi and is the most valuable 

 Pueblo textile product. A miha in good condition is valued at $75. 

 Saiyataca (pi. 25) and Pautiwa (pi. 21) show two ways of wearing 

 the miha. 



The usual footgear is a high moccasin of soft buckskin, painted 

 blue, with turnback cuffs of red and yellow. With these moccasins 

 are worn heel pieces of porcupine quiU embroidery. These heel pieces 

 are sometimes worn on bare feet. Ordinaiy brown moccasins such 

 as are worn by older men, and by yoimger men on ceremonial occa- 

 sions, are sometimes worn by katcinas. Anldets of spruce twigs are 

 worn \vith bare feet by KoEokci and others. 



Some land of band is usually worn below the knee. This may be 

 of black or brightly colored yam, or a narrow woven belt such as 

 men use to bind up their hair. A turtle-shell rattle is worn on the 

 right leg by most of the dancing katcinas, and the rhythm of the 

 dance is marked by stamping with the right foot. Sleigh bells may 

 be worn on one or both legs, either with the rattle or instead of it. 

 The legs are sometimes covered with native knitted hose or leggings 

 of brown or white fringed bucksldn. 



A striking feature of katcina costmne is the fox sldn, suspended 

 by its head from the back of the belt. This is worn by practically 

 all of the dancing katcinas and many others. It is considered as a 

 reUc of the earliest days of man, for the katcinas were transformed 

 while manlvind was still tailed and homed.'" 



Female impersonations wear ordinaiy woman's costume — the black 

 hand-woven dress fastened on the right shoulder, a long-sleeved and 

 high-necked cotton underdress (recently sillv), and one or two blanket 

 robes over the shoulders. The top robe should be a native white 

 cotton blanket, bordered above and below with woven bands of red 



30 Fewkes suggests that the fox skins may be a survival of the time when katcinas were animal imper- 

 sonations effected by donning an animal skin. He connects this with the use of the flayed skin in 

 Aztec ritual. 



