ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT LI 



tho altar as the_y love men. 'I'licii he prayed that the clouds would form 

 like the clouds represeutcvl upon the altar, and that the clouds would 

 Hash liijlitniiiL;- like the liiihtning' on the altar, and that the clouds would 

 rain showers like the showers represented on the altar, and that the 

 showers woidd fall upon the {^rowing corn like the corn upon the 

 altar— so tliat men and birds and all livino- things would rejoice. 



The ahovi' was written alxuU thirty years after this scene 

 was witnessed and under circumstance.s where my notes and 

 tlie ilhistration were inaccessible, and I now hnd that I lia\e 

 fallen into a trivial error in the description. The so-called 

 honey was "honeydew" held in a basket-tray. 



After examining- the painting described above Dr Fewkes 

 writes : 



In seeking to identify from the paintino- the altar figured liy Major 

 Powell, it has been necessary for me to rely on general, rather than 

 special, features. In these latter particulars the painting represents an 

 altar which diliers from any which I have studied, but there are cer- 

 tain general characters which would eliminate from our consideration 

 the majority of Ilopi altars and refer it definitely to that of a woman's 

 fraternity of basket dancers known as the Owakiilti. 



The altar of this fraternity is characterized by the relatively large 

 size of the upright part composed of numerous vertical wooden slats, 

 the majority of which rest on the floor, but more especially by etHgies 

 of birds and butterflies mounted on pedestals surrounding a medi- 

 cine bow'l. Both of these features are found in the painting. 



The plate represents the interior of a kiva or sacred room devoted 

 to ceremonies, the entrance being an opening in the roof. The rire- 

 place is in the middle of the floor and near it are specimens of the 

 straight-stem pipes, ancient types of these objects among the M<)))i. 



At the left-hand or west end of the room are seen the uprights of tiie 

 altar consisting of flat wooden slats upon which various symbols a^^ 

 depicted. The group of men in the middle of the picture are seated 

 about a cubic object into the cavity of which one of their numbci- is 

 blowing tobacco smoke. This cubic object is a medicine bowl and 

 the smoke is symbolic of the rain cloud. This episode occurs among 

 many other rites in making the medicine by the OwakiUti and various 

 othei' Hopi fraternities. 



The ears of corn arranged radiall}' fi-om this medicine howl are of 

 different colors; they represent the four world-ciuarters. th(> zenith ami 

 the nadir, the colors corresjionding to these directions. The effigies 

 mounted on pinlestals, altei-nating witii tiiese radially placed ears of 

 corn, represent birds and butterflies. Th(> Owakiilti altar is th(> only one 

 known to me having similar objects with like arrangement; a fact 



