j6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 65 



altar the rain priest makes a sand painting on the floor a little to the 

 northeast of the altar. First a circular ground of sand from the 

 river bank is laid ; this is outlined with a circle of black earth from 

 the river bed ; the entire disk is then covered with fine white earth ; 

 a small blue disk is next made in the center of the large one, which 

 is then surrounded by a circle of yellow and one of red. Four 

 crosses representing the Pleiades, are made in black upon the smaller 

 disk. This sand painting is made in honor of the ancient Sun and 

 Moon and remains until the close of the fourth night, when the 

 Priests of the Bow gather the sand into a cloth and deposit it in 

 the Rio Grande to be carried to the house of the ancient Sun and 

 Moon. 



On the fourth and last night the party in the kiva is joined by 

 the rain priest of the Ice people, his four male and two female asso- 

 ciates, and the elder brother Bow Priest. The priest of the Ice 

 people sits at the northern side of the altar, the priest of the Sun 

 people at the southern side, while the director of the Po"kuni 

 fraternity takes his place at the north. The associates of the rain 

 priest of the Sun people sit back of him and south of the altar, and 

 the associates of the priest of the Ice people sit back of him and 

 north of the altar. The two rain priests discuss the change of the 

 seasons, the rain priest of the Sun people urging that in case the , 

 rain priest of the Ice people is not sure of his functions, he consult 

 the priest of the Ice people of Tesuque. The rain priest of the Sun 

 people and the director of the Po"kuni, or native Squash fraternity, 

 make no claim to understanding the songs and prayers for ice and 

 snow, but the sage has a perfectly clear knowledge of all ceremonies 

 associated with the Sun people, and there is no time in the year when 

 so important a ceremony for the good of all the people is performed 

 as the one here described. Unless the long and most ancient rites 

 to the " old " Sun are observed at this time, there can be no certainty 

 of the fructification of the earth. The hearts of all the people are 

 filled with a great desire so to please the ancient Sun Father that he 

 will use his power to have the rain-makers send the spring rains and 

 cause the Earth Mother to send forth her being in all its beauty. 



The great ceremony is performed on the night of the 17th of 

 February. This is no ordinary occasion. All the fraternities gather 

 in the kiva presided over by the priest of the Sun people. Every 

 man, woman, and child presents offerings to the ancient Sun Father, 

 which are deposited in a heap before the altar. Each member of 

 the order of Mystery Medicine carries the wowayi (a perfect ear of 

 corn decorated with macaw and other plumes), and places it before 



