228 DESIGNS ON HOPI POTTERY [BTH. ANN. 33 
powers; thus the feathers of the turkey, for example, among the 
modern Hopi, are potent in inducing rain; those of the eagle or the 
hawk pertain especially to the power of the sun; a breast feather of 
an eagle is chosen as an individual 
prayer bearer. The feathers of an 
owl, like the owl itself are gen- 
erally regarded as having a sin- 
ister influence; but sometimes the 
feather of this bird is beneficial, 
it is believed, in making peach 
trees yield abundantly. From the 
variety of feather designs and 
the frequency with which they 
occur in modern Hopi ceremonies ” 
it is evident that the Sikyatki 
people, like their descendants, 
attributed special magic power to 
different kinds of these objects. 
In their simplest forms bird symbols are little more than triangles, 
the tail feathers being represented by appended parallel lines, which 
are mere suggestions of birds and may be designated as cursive ferms. 
Such simple pictures of birds sometimes have, in addition to the 
appended parallel lines referred to, an angular or a curved line or 
hook extending from one of the 
angles of the triangle to represent 
a beak. Such triangular bird fig- 
ures may be free or attached; in 
the latter case they are suspended 
from other figures or rise from the 
corners of a rectangular design 
when one of the triangles may be 
without tail or beak appendages, 
another may have parallel lines, 
while a third may take a form 
readily recognizable as that of a 
bird. The form of the beak and 
the claws of bird figures also 
varies, the claws often appearing Eh 2ile 
as sumple crosses or crescents. The beak is sometimes toothed, often 
hooked like that of a raptorial bird. The bird is designated by the 
combination of the beak, claws, and body, as well as the feathers. 
Fic. 26.—Clouds and tadpoles. 
‘Tadpoles. 
DORSAL VIEWS OF BIRDS 
Among the conventional pictures of birds on Sikyatki pottery some 
are shown as seen from above, or dorsally, others from below, or 
1 The hoot of the owl portends disaster among the Hopi, as among the ancient Greeks. 
* Every priest has a box in which his feathers are preserved until needed. 
