966 ZXJNI KATCINAS [eth. ann. 47 



praying that my people may have no sickness to make them imhappj''. 

 I want them all to be happy, and to wait for me when my tinie comes.' 

 So he says, and then he prays again: 



'"I am here that my people may have good luck in everything. I 

 am here to throw out the people with double hearts. I have come 

 that my people may have good luck and be happy. I have been 

 planting feathers in all the springs that they may be happy and that 

 they may have plenty of seeds in their back rooms, that then- houses 

 may be so fidl that they have no place to walk in their back rooms. 

 And if anyone tries to injure my people I want them to watch for 

 whoever is doing this, so that he may stand up in the daylight and 

 the daylight people may know who is trying to injure them. I want 

 my people to reach old age and to come to the ends of their roads, and 

 not to be cut off while they are still young. I want my mothers to 

 have many children, so that each may have one on her back and one 

 in her arms, and one walking behind while she is with child. I want 

 my people to have large families.' 



"So he prays, and his kindness makes the people cry. It is so 

 beautifid. They love him so much that the tears run down their 

 cheeks when he prays for his people.*' And especially when he leaves 

 in the morning, aU the people in the house cry because he is their 

 child and they do not know when they will see him again. 



"He tells them his own story, and says, 'When I was young I was 

 so poor that I thought I never would grow up at all, and now they 

 have chosen me to be the father of my people, ^lien I was young I 

 was so poor and no one thought anything of me, but now I pray for 

 my people in Itiwan-a, so that they may have good fortune. My 

 fathers, the priests, have thought of me in theu- prayers, and they 

 have chosen me to come here. I thought I would never come to 

 Itiwan-a, but here I have come. I bring my countmg string and will 

 untie the knots for you. I have been chosen by my fathers to pray 

 for my people. Besides, I am the one who will make the days warm 

 for the crops, so that they may grow. I can not tell you how this 

 happened, but some day you will hear of it.' So he says, and 

 finishes." 



There is no myth about Saiyataca. He is frequently mentioned 

 in folk tales, along with Pautiwa, as chief or priest of the masked 

 gods, who receives messengers from Zuni and hears their requests. 

 Stevenson (p. 32) refers to him as town chief (Kakwemos-i) of the 

 village of the katcinas, but in prayers he is always called "Saiyataca, 

 bow priest." 



" As a matter of fact, the two years the writer observed the ceremonie.s in the Saiyataca house no one 

 was present during the intonation of the chant except the priests and members o( the household, who 

 came and went freely. This is not due to exclusion of the populace, hut to indifference. Most of the 

 people are bored by the long prayers. They sleep early in the evening and come to the houses about 

 midnight or later for the feasting and dancing. Then the houses are jammed. But for the ceremonies o( 

 departure in the morning, the house was crowded and the people deeply moved. 



