ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XCVII 
cases the connotation apparently represents derivation. Dr 
Thomas finds strong indications that the day characters of the 
codices were phonetic, and one of the purposes of his paper 
is to set forth the evidence on this point. The discussion is 
noteworthy in that it brings out the complex, not to say 
chaotic, mode of thought characterizing that stage of culture 
in which the art of graphic expression began to assume defi- 
nite shape. Itis noteworthy also as an aid to the interpretation 
of the simpler calendars of the more northerly tribes. 
TUSAYAN SNAKE CEREMONTES 
The last report contains a preliminary paper by Dr J. Walter 
Fewkes on Tusayan kateinas. In characterizing this paper 
it was pointed out that the pueblo Indians adore a plurality 
of deities, to which various potencies are ascribed. Most of 
these deities are held to be zoomorphic, though possessed 
of mystical powers far transcending those of existing animals. 
These zoic deities, or beast gods, are worshiped by means of 
ceremonies which are sometimes highly elaborate; and, so far 
as practicable, the mystical zoic potency (invisible save in 
imagery of dream or phantasm of fasting) is represented in 
the ceremony either by a living animal of similar species 
or by an artificial symbol. Prominent among the animate 
representatives of the zoic pantheon throughout the arid region 
is the serpent, especially the venomous, and hence mysteri- 
ously potent, rattlesnake. To the primitive mind there is inti- 
mate association between the swift-striking and deadly viper 
and the lightning, with its attendant rain and thunder; there 
is intimate association, too, between the moisture-loving reptile 
of the subdeserts and the lifegiving storms and freshets; and 
so the native rattlesnake plays an important role in the cere- 
monies, especially in the invocations for rain, which characterize 
the entire arid region. 
Since the days of the early Spanish explorers Tusayan has 
been known as the country or range of a group of Indians 
whose domiciles are gathered in seven pueblos. Under stress 
of occasional predation, as already set forth, these pueblos were 
16 ETH——VII 
