886 ZUNI KATCINAS (eth.ann.47 



PREPARATION OF DANCES 



Each kiva is required to present at least three group dances during 

 the calendar year. These occur during the three months following the 

 winter solstice, during the three months following the sunmier 

 solstice, and during the five days following the Ca'lako. Each kiva 

 must, furthermore, cooperate in the winter dances of the other five 

 groups, either by presenting a group dance of its own or by sending 

 representatives to dance with another group. They may in addition 

 send "Little Dancers," isolated impersonations, to dance between 

 the rounds of group dances. 



The order, but not the dates, of the winter dances is fi.xed. The kiva 

 chief of the group that is to present the first dance of the season receives 

 a cigarette from pekwin commanding him to appear. The date for 

 tliis dance used to be fi.xed at eight days after the New Year, but now 

 it occurs "whenever they are ready." The duty of presenting the first 

 dance of the season falls in succeeding years on the dift'erent kivas, as 

 follows: He'iwa, muhe'wa, tcupa'wa, ohe'wa, hekapa"wa, upfsanawa. 

 The dances of the Idvas are supposed to follow one another in the 

 same order. Each kiva sends in messengers to announce their dance, 

 and to present a cigarette to the group that is to follow ne.xt in order. 

 Certain kivas, however, are procrastinating. If after the passage of a 

 reasonable length of time the ne.xt group gives no signs of preparation 

 for its dance, its place will be taken by some more energetic group. 

 The order and dates of dancing in the summer series are not fixed, 

 e.xcept the first dance which must be performed eight days after the 

 solstice by the kiva which presented the first winter dance. Of aU the 

 groups, he'kapa'kwe is the most dilatory. In the fall of 1923, for 

 instance, it did not dance at all after Ca'lako, and gave no ko'upt- 

 conan'B (the large winter dances; see below), and so they dropped 

 out of the summer series that year also. The folIo\v-ing year they 

 were veiy tardy in giving their •winter dance, and the following 

 summer they had not yet begun to rehearse on August 28, when 

 my infonnant reported to me the dissatisfaction of the thcocracj^ 

 "They should all dance during the summer when we need rain, 

 but now it is the end of August, and they have not yet begun to 

 rehearse. Everyone is angry about it because no one wants rain 

 in the faU when we are working on our wheat harvest, and yet 

 that is the time the hekapa'wa people always dance. They say 

 that their chief is a witch, and so no one wants to dance with him. 

 The men would rather dance with other kivas. That is why they can 

 never get ready in time." Muhe'wa also is inclmed to be tardy. Their 

 organization is very much broken down; they have only one wo'Ie, 

 who is also Ca'lako wo'le. He is a very old man and the duties are 

 too much for Mm. Their dance directors, too, are elderly men, and 

 the younger men are lax in their duties. In 1927 they did not dance 



