F)!WKEs] THE NATURE OF KATCINAS 15 



The picture.s were made primarily to illusti'atc, sj'iuhols and s\'m- 

 bolic paraphernalia used in the personation of the gods, but inciden- 

 tally the\' show the ability of the Hopis in painting, a form of artistic 

 expression which is very ancient among them. The painting of fig- 

 ures on ancient pottery from Tusayan, illustrated in a collection from 

 Sikj-atki, leaves no question of the ability of the ancient Hopi women 

 in this form of expression/' As specimens of pictorial art the pictures 

 here presented compare very well with some of the Mexican and 

 Mayan codices. They represent men personating the gods, as they 

 appear in religious festivals, and duplicate the symbols on certain 

 images, called dolls, which represent the same beings. A considera- 

 tion of some of the more characteristic dolls in semblance of gods is 

 given elesewhere.'' 



When a Hopi draws a picture or cuts an image of a god, eitiier a 

 doll or an idol, he gives the greatest care to the representation of the 

 head. The sj^mbols on the head are characteristic, and its size is 

 generally out of proportion to that of the other parts. AVhen these 

 same gods are personated Ijy men the sj-mbols are ordinarily painted 

 on masks or helmets; consequently the heads of the figures may be 

 said to represent masks or helmets of personators. 



The personations which are here figui'ed generally ajjpear in winter 

 festivals or ceremonies, a more detailed account of which will be given 

 elsewhei'e, but it has seemed M'ell to preface this description of the 

 pictures with brief summaries of great festivals in which the figures 

 represented are specially prominent, and to make such reference to 

 others as ma}* bo necessary. The great festivals, called Pamiirti," 

 Powamu, and Paliiliikonti or Ankwanti, are celebrated in January, 

 February, and March. 



The personations arc called katcinas: the iiatvire of these merits a 

 brief consideration. 



Primitive man regards everj'thing as possessed of magic power 

 allied to what we call life, capable of action for good or evil. This vital 

 power, he believes, is directed by will; it was probably first identified 

 with motion. To the savage whatever moves has a beneficent or 

 malevolent power, sometimes called medicine, the action of which is 

 always mysterious. Various symbols have been adopted ))y primitive 

 man to represent this power, and many terms are used to define it. 

 Among these symbols words for hrmth in various languages are per- 

 haps the most widely spread among different races. The power of 

 motion directed by will to do harm or good thus comes in English to 

 be known as spirit or soul. The doctrine of mcdi<'ine power or of 

 spirits is commonl}^ called animism. 



a See Aroheological Expedition to Arizona in 1895, in the Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, part 2, 1S99. 

 6 Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, Band vii, 1894. 

 <■ For the pronunciation of proper names, see the alphabet at the end of this paper. 



