BUNZEL] THE COMING OF THE GODS 947 



One informant contributes the follow-ing comments on the Koyemci: 



"The father of the Koyemci is chosen by the priests on the last 

 night of it'iwan-a, the night when the Puhu'atinakwe go around. He 

 is chosen by the priests, and therefore he can not refuse to serve. He 

 is always a member of some society, and after he has been chosen he 

 consults the headmen of his society .^^ He chooses the men he wants 

 to go in with him. If possible he will take the same ones as served 

 with him the last time. The_y always pick for Koyemci the children 

 of important clans, so that they may be well paid by their fathers' 

 clans for their year's work. 



"The Koyemci are the most dangerous of all the katcinas. If any- 

 one touches a Koyemci while he has his paint on he will surely go 

 crazy. They carry the sacred butterfly, lahacoma, in their drum to 

 make people follow them. That is why they are so dangerous. 

 Anyone who follows lahacoma will go crazy. 



"The Koyemci are different from all other dancers. They do not 

 go home with their paint on. In the evening when they finish dancing 

 if no one has asked them to dance again their wo'le takes sand to their 

 father's house, and they all go there to wash off their paint before 

 they go home to their wives. But if they are to dance again the next 

 day they do not wash their bodies that night, because they must stay 

 in their father's house that night, and may not go home to their wives. 

 They may not go home until they have finished their dance. Other 

 dancers may go home for their supper, but not the Koyemci. When 

 they go around the village to collect food to give away in their dances, 

 their wo'le goes to their houses for them, for they must not go to their 

 own houses, even with their masks on. 



"The Koyemci never go out without their full number. Sometimes 

 if one of them can not dance they will have to get someone else to 

 take his place. There must always be ten of them when they go out. 

 The last rain dance started late in the day because one of the Koyemci 

 was sick and they had a hard time finding someone to take his place. 



"One must never refuse anything to the Koyemci, because they are 

 dangerous. Last year around Ca'lako my mother received a present 

 of a box of apples. She was wondering whether she should give it to 

 our 'child' when he was washed. She was thinking it would be nice 

 if she would keep that box of apples. While she was whitewashing 

 the house she fell off the ladder and bruised her leg. Then she knew 

 that she must give that box of apples to the Koyemci. She was hurt 

 because she had withheld it from them even in her thoughts. The 

 Koyemci are dangerous." 



" This, apparently, is the traditional method of selection, which seems to have undergone considerable 

 change. (See p. 949.) 



