678 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 800 



congeries of independent rites, ritually interre- 

 lated at this ceremony, designed to renew through 

 the orenda or immanent magic power of these 

 rites the life powers of living beings, the fauna 

 and flora of nature, which are ebbing away to 

 their extinction by the adversative action of the 

 powers of the winter god. The embodiment of all 

 life is Teharonliiawagon, or the " Master of Life." 

 One of the functions of a tutelary is to reveal in 

 a dream what is needful for the restoration of the 

 life force of its possessor. The tutelary of Tehar- 

 onhiawagon reveals to him in a dream that a 

 victim, primarily a human being but symbolized 

 by a dog in modern times, with an offering of 

 native tobacco, would restore the life forces which 

 he embodies, and with a performance of all the 

 sacred rites of the people at this time for the 

 purpose of disenchanting all his aids and expres- 

 sions — the bodies and beings in nature. These 

 rites therefore seek to compel the return of the 

 sun, the elder brother of man, to the north from 

 his apparent departure southward. The rites per- 

 formed at this new year ceremony are the re- 

 kindling of new fires on the hearths of the lodges, 

 the disenchantment of individuals by passing 

 through the phratrial fires lighted in honor of 

 Teharonhiawagon in the assembly-hall, the re- 

 chanting of the challenge songs of individual 

 tutelaries to rejuvenate them, the " divining of 

 dreams " for the restoration of the health of 

 individuals, and for the purpose of ascertaining 

 the revealed tutelaries of persons and children 

 who have no tutelaries, the sacrifice of a victim 

 to restore the health of Teharonhiawagon, and 

 finally the performance of the four ceremonies of 

 the tribe, the latter consuming the better part of 

 four days in their performance. Such is in brief 

 the ceremony of the Iroquois Onnonhwaroia, or 

 new-year festival. 



The second paper was presented by the president 

 of the society. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, on " The 

 Return of the Hopi Sky-god." 



The Hopi, said the president, shared with many 

 other tribes of North American Indians, the idea 

 of an annual return in spring time of a sky-god 

 to revivify the earth. This conception, which is 

 wide-spread among the pueblos, accounts in part 

 for the belief in a future advent of Montezuma, 

 or a fair-god, and explains certain ceremonial 

 representations prominent in sun worship. It is 

 so deeply rooted in Hopi myths that we find the 

 return of the sky-god dramatized by a personation 

 of this being accompanied by elaborate rites. 

 From the composite nature of the Hopi ritual. 



dramatizations of this advent are duplicated, 

 varying somewhat in detail, although remaining 

 the same in general intent. 



The sky -god is regarded by these Indians as the 

 god of life, who by magic power annually re- 

 juvenates the earth, thus making possible the 

 germination and growth of crops which furnish 

 the food supply of the Hopi. Some variants of 

 this drama are performed at Walpi in late winter; 

 others in early spring. One of the several pre- 

 sentations, mentioned by Dr. Fewkes, was the 

 personation of the sky-god which occurs about 

 Easter in a complex drama called the Powamu. 

 The main object of this ceremony is to diseharm 

 or disenchant the earth which throughout the 

 winter is supposed to have been controlled by a 

 malevolent being. In this ceremony the sky-god, 

 under the name of the returning one, is supposed 

 to lead his followers, the clan ancients, or Kach- 

 inas to the pueblo, fructifying the earth and thus 

 bringing back the planting and much-desired 

 harvest time. Clad in prescribed paraphernalia, 

 the personator of the sky-god, wearing the mask 

 of the sun, enters the pueblo at sunrise from the 

 east, and proceeding to every sacred room and 

 clan house, receives the prayers of the owners of 

 the dwellings, for abundant crops, giving in re- 

 turn, as symbols of a favorable reply, sprouting 

 corn and beans. As he does so he marks each 

 doorway with sacred meal and bowing to the 

 rising sun, beckons to his imaginary followers to 

 bring blessings to the people — blessing always 

 being abundant crops and copious rains. 



Certain clans now living in a pueblo near Walpi 

 called Sichumovi, whose ancestors claim to have 

 originally come from Zuiii, celebrate the return 

 of their sky-god with slight variations, but with 

 the same intent. The symbolism which distin- 

 guished the personators of the sky-god and his 

 followers in this pueblo was brought by clans 

 from Zuiii several years ago. Other clans that 

 according to legends migrated to Walpi from 

 southern Arizona perform a characteristic drama- 

 tization of the return of their sky-god, the advent 

 of which occurs at the time of the winter solstice. 

 Here the personator of the sky-god represents a 

 mythic bird, whose realistic return is dramatized 

 in the kiva or sacred room. At sunrise on the 

 following morning, accompanied by two corn 

 maidens, the sky-god, no longer a bird personator, 

 distributed seed corn to representatives of the 

 clans of the pueblos. 



The ceremonies accompanying the return of the 

 sky-god at the winter solstice are many and com- 



