4 Virginia Shropshire Heath 



sion of these rituals in any given ceremonial, though transmitted 

 in most cases by word of mouth, take on all the permanent char- 

 acteristics of the parts and accompanying cues of the recognized 

 play, with the added emphasis of divinely inflicted punishment 

 for any failure to give an accurate performance. And yet with 

 all the fixed nature of the rituals, there is a certain latitude for 

 individual interpetation which, little by little, becomes embodied 

 in the form of the rituals themselves. Especially is there license 

 of this sort among the pueblo Indians. Primarily, however, all 

 shows are inaugurated to entertain and to propitiate a divine or 

 supernatural audience rather than for the pleasure of the tangible 

 body of spectators helping to create the genuinely theatrical at- 

 mosphere of inspiration. 



Among the Hopi, certain of the Katcina ceremonials offer no 

 end of interesting material for investigation, especially the so- 

 called complete or masked Katcina performances. Those playing 

 Katcina parts are impersonating divine beings, primarily spirits 

 of the ancients of the Hopi, of such an order as can be repre- 

 sented by men. During the impersonations, the actors by virtue 

 of their highly symbolic paraphernalia, especially masks, would 

 seem to become the exalted beings themselves, so intense is the 

 degree of such acting. Within certain bounds, to judge from the 

 great diversity existing between Hopi myths and Hopi dramatic 

 representations, both individuals and companies have possessed 

 themselves of unexpected license in the matter of interpretation 

 and presentation of fixed roles. " Conservatism in dress," to 

 quote Mr. Fewkes, " is tenaciously adhered to in religious para- 

 phernalia among all peoples." This is as true of the purely re- 

 ligion-dominated performances of the American Indians as it was 

 true of the semi-secularized dramatic plays of the Greeks. 



Hopi Representations 



Soydluna 



Of the elaborate or complete Katcinas, few offer better material 

 for investigation than certain portions of the Soyaluna, the war- 

 rior's observance, sometimes called the " Return Katcina," for it 



380 



