BCNZEL] PREPARATION OF DANCES 893 



they will know that he has come for a mask. Someone will take a 

 cloth and go into the back room and wrap up the mask and bring it 

 out to him. He will wrap it in his blanket and take it to the kiva. 

 So they go around to all the houses and then they take the masks to 

 the house of the kiva chief. When they have them there they start 

 to paint them. Usually only the two wo'we paint the masks, but 

 sometimes the kiva chief helps. No one else is allowed to paint 

 masks.** 



"First they take off any feathers or trimmings that are left from 

 the last dance. Then they scrape off all the paint and wash the mask 

 and put it aside for a day to dry. Then they put on a very thin coat 

 of white paint and put it aside to dry again. Then they put on the 

 blue gum paint or the other colored paint. They always do this with 

 prayers. They say, 'Now I am making you into a person. I am 

 making you beautiful with valuable paint so that everyone will have 

 his eyes on you.' They do not pray for the white paint. This is 

 'cheap paint.' 



"After it is dry they rub the mask with balls of yucca fruit to make 

 it shiny. Then they put on the black paint for the eyes. This is 

 the paint that has sirup of yucca fruit to make it shiny. Or if they 

 have bees' honey they use that instead of yucca sirup. They pray 

 with the bees' honey: 'I am using this honey for your flesh. You 

 belong to the south, and you wUl bring the clouds of the south. And 

 you, bee of the east, you will bring the east wmd that comes before 

 the rain. And you, bee of the north, you will be the one to bring 

 the north wind that comes before the rain. And you, bee of the west, 

 you wiU be the one to bring the rain that comes as soon as day breaks.' 

 They use the honey because the bees come on beautiful days and the 

 children like to catch them. The honey is thick, and they want the 

 rain to come thick and soak the earth. They chew up the honey 

 and spit it out on the masks from their mouths. 



"Then thej' put on the feathers and other trimmings without 

 praj'ers. The man who is going to wear the mask puts on the 

 feathers, because there are no prayers for the feathers. He furnishes 

 the feathers and clothing." 



The men who own masks of suitable shape for the dance that is 

 to be given wear their own masks. The masks have some mark of 

 identification on them. In dances like the mixed dance, where all 

 the masks are different, each man tells the wo'le what charactei- he 

 wishes to impersonate, and, if satisfactory, the wo'le paints the mask 

 accordingly. 



"The day before the dance the men go around and borrow the rest 

 of the costume. Each man takes care of his own costume. If he 

 does not know he asks the wo'le what kind of clothing he will need. 



^s Many masks observed by the author at various summer and winter dances did not appear to have 

 been freshly painted. Probably they are only repainted when they become very dilapidated. 



