902 ZUNI KATCINAS [eth. ann. 47 



rain," and at a number of secret ceremonies designed to perpetuate 

 the cult, and to serve other special purposes; the initiation of all adult 

 males "to know the katcinas," and the use of whipping by fear in- 

 spiring katcinas at the ceremony of initiation;*^ the enormous sanctity 

 of the masks, which can cause death to a negligent wearer, which 

 must always be handled with the greatest reverence, and which must 

 never be seen by Mexicans (in the east by whites); the complete 

 identification with the supernatural through wearing these masks. 

 The rest of the katcina ritual, such as the use of corn meal, prayer 

 sticks, prayer feathers and altars, singing and dancing, retreats before 

 dances, sexual continence, etc., are common to all pueblo ceremonial. 



Impersonation of supematurals is a religious technique world-wide 

 in distribution. The two most common methods of impersonation 

 are by animal heads and pelts, and by masks, but impersonation by 

 means of body paint, elaborate costume and headdress, or the wearing 

 of sacred symbols is by no means uncommon. In the pueblos, where 

 magical power is imputed to impersonation, all techniques are 

 employed. Outside of masking, the most striking impersonation is 

 the symbolic representation of the bear, described on page 531. The 

 use of masks is distributed over the whole world. Masks were used 

 in dramatic representations in medieval Europe and classical Greece. 

 They are used similarly in many parts of Asia, especially in India, 

 Ceylon, Java, China, and Mongolian Asia. In Melanesia"' and West 

 Africa masks are used to inspire awe in connection with tribal 

 initiations. The uninitiated believe they are being visited by super- 

 naturals, there are long periods of retreat for the novices and the 

 elders before the public appearance of the masked beings, and in 

 many other ways the ideology of the cult in both regions is similar to 

 that of the pueblos. The appearance of the same complex of asso- 

 ciated ideas in three widely remote areas is one of the most striking 

 cases of parallelism. 



In North America there are several regions where masks are used, 

 among the Iroquois, on the northwest coast, and in the pueblos. 

 Some animal impersonation is found on the Plains."* The use of 

 masks was highly developed in middle America since Maya times, 

 and was very conspicuous in Aztec ritual, together with the curious 

 custom, which is probably imique with them, of dancing in the flayed 

 skin of sacrificial victims. 



What seems peculiar to the pueblos is the enormous fetishistic 

 power imputed to the mask, which compels the presence of the gods 

 as rain, and which exposes the wearer to dangers from which he must 



"s Among the Hopi, although only members of certain clans can belong to the Pawamfl Society that 

 "owns*' the katcina cult, and participate in the esoteric ceremonies and retreats of Powamu and Minan, 

 all boys are whipped to know the katcinas and can thereafter participate in public katcina dances. 



M Codrington, The Melanesians. 



«* Parsons: Spanish Elements in Pueblo Katcina Cult (ms.). 



