CULIN] INTRODUCTION 33 
tangled web in which the myth of the Twins is interwoven. These 
tales are involved with those of two other similar cosmical person- 
ages, who occupy places midway between them. We find the follow- 
ing description of the Twins in their relation to games in Mr Cush- 
ing’s account of the Zuni War Gods: * 
Lo! and of Chance and Fate were they the masters of foredeeming, for they 
sarried the word-painted arrows of destiny (shéliweatsinapa), like the regions 
of men, four in number. And they carried the shuttlecocks of divination 
(hdpochiwe), like the regions of men, four in number. And they carried the 
tubes of hidden things (iyankolot6mawe), like the regions of men, four in nui- 
ber, and the revealing balls thereof (iyankolote tsemak‘ya méliwe), like the 
regions of men, four in number. Yea, and they bore, with these, other things—- 
the feather bow and plume arrow of far-finding, tipped with the shell of heart- 
searching; and the race sticks of swift journeys and way-winning (moti- 
kwawe), two of them, the right and the left, the pursuer and the pursued of men 
in contention. All these things wherewith to divine men’s chance, and play 
games of hazard, wagering the fate of whole nations in mere pastime, had they 
with them. 
The significant emblems of the Twins are their weapons. These 
consist of a throwing-club made of heavy wood, their bows and cane 
arrows, the bows interchangeable with a lance, and a netted shield. 
These objects are distinguished one from the other by their markings, 
which again are commonly fourfold, one pair referring to one of 
the Twins, and one to the other. In this fourfold division we find 
included those other interrelated twins of whom mention has been 
made. Gaming implements are almost exclusively derived from these 
symbolic weapons. For example, the stick dice are either arrow 
shafts or miniature bows, and a similar origin may be asserted for 
the implements used in the hand game and in the four-stick game. 
Counting sticks in general and sticks for the stick game are arrows. 
The engraved and painted tubes used in the guessing game are arrow 
shaftments. In the games of dexterity we find again bows and 
arrows and the netted shield with bows. Snow-snakes are either the 
club, the bows, or arrows. Ball seems to be less sure, but the racket 
may be referred to the net shield. The painted sticks of the kicked- 
billet race are miniature bows. The opposing players are frequently 
the representatives of the two War Gods. We find gaming imple- 
ments, as things pleasing to the gods, among the objects sacrificed 
upon the altar of the Twins in Zuni. 
This is well illustrated in the model of the shrine of the War God 
arranged for exhibition by Mrs Matilda Coxe Stevenson in the 
United States National Museum (plate m).? 
* Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth- 
nology, p. 423, 1896. 
>The following is a descriptive label of the altar of the War God in the Museum, fur- 
nished by Mrs Stevenson: Idol and paraphernalia of the Zuhi war god Ahaiyuta, em 
ployed in the worship of the deity and forming a petition for rain. The plumes surround 
24 ErH—O05 M 
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