586 THE CLIFF VILLAGES OF THE RED ROCK COUNTRY. 



have the plumed head, the curved claws, the elongated snout, and the 

 lizard-like body. I am ignorant of the proper identification of this 

 animal, which perhaps is pardonable, for the best informed of living 

 priests, whom I consulted, were also at a loss to explain the meaning 

 of this highly conventionalized figure. 



The tadpole and frog are constant decorative elements in Sikyatki 

 picture writing as on modern ceremonial vessels, and no doubt had the 

 same purport — the hastening of copious rains sorely needed in that arid 

 land. 



When we remember how large a part the bird and feathers play in 

 modern symbolism, and how extensively they permeate the Tusayan 

 ritual, it is not strange that by far the most widespread motif in Siky- 

 atki ceramic decoration iz referable to this element. The feather in 

 many forms, mostly conventionalized, is represented again and again 

 on basins, vases, and jars, and the bird is one of the most constant ani- 

 mals depicted in decorations. 



The number of mythic birds with which the modern Tusayan mythol- 

 ogy is crowded suggests caution in ascribing avian figures, of which 

 there are many on Sikyatki pottery, to any one in preference to another 

 of these supernaturals. We may rightly identify the pictures of sev- 

 eral food basins as prehistoric representations of the High Sky Eagle, 

 the dreaded Harpy, Kwataka. Two forms of feathers are recognized 

 in decoration which have been determined from their position on the 

 corresponding regions of these mythic birds. These are the tail feather 

 and the breast feather, both of which are prescriptive in modern 

 ceremonials. 



It is customary at the present day for the priests in the performance 

 of mysteries of their cults to use water from sacred springs for asperg- 

 ing and other purposes. This venerated liquid is brought to the sacred 

 rooms with ceremonials, and is transported and kept in small jars 

 during the rites. The custodians of this water tie a cotton string- 

 around the neck of these vessels, and to this encircling string attach 

 others with appended feathers as prayer offerings. A similar custom 

 with modification was current at Sikyatki, except that instead of tying 

 the strings to the sacred jars, the feather was used as a decorative ele- 

 ment, and carefully painted on the side of the vase or jar. 



The use of the dragon fly and moth or butterfly symbols has come 

 down to the modern priests from a remote antiquity, and no doubt at 

 Sikyatki, as at Walpi today, the former was an emblem of moisture; 

 the latter of fecundity. One of the most regularly formed and beauti- 

 fully decorated of these ancient vases is adorned with six figures ot 

 moths, and it is interesting that during all the lapse of time since a 

 clever Sikyatki woman painted it, the same signs of male and female 

 have survived. A well -drawn figure of a butterfly appears on the 

 interior of several food basins, and it is instructive to notice with what 

 care the antenna; were depicted. 



