THE CACHINA: 



A DANCE AT THE PUEBLO OF ZUf?I. 



By Francis Klett, 



Assistant, United States Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian. 



The illustration forming the frontispiece to this volume is from an 

 original sketch made during a visit to Zuni, New Mexico, in 1873. 



The meaning of the word Cachina is unknown. Vocabularies of the 

 Zuni language show a great many words terminating in chee-nai, although 

 the preposition ca or Jca is not observed. Davis, in his book, " El Gringo," 

 makes brief mention of the Cachina as a dance suppressed "by the 

 Spaniards when they first made a conquest of the country and forced their 

 religion upon the nation." There is no doubt that the Zuni Indians are 

 very circumspect in regard to whom they permit to witness this dance, and 

 perhaps for this reason the Cachina has not before been described to my 

 knowledge. 



The slow measure of the chant, the beating of drums, the rattling of 

 gourds, and of shells of the land-turtle partly filled with pebbles, are men- 

 tioned by many writers as common to many tribes and nations in America, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. . 



The Cachina, according to the statements made by the prominent men 

 of the tribe, is rarely danced, and is seldom witnessed by outsiders. It is 

 only performed in time of great drought, and by order of the spiritual ruler 

 of the nation, the cacique, through his official mouthpiece, the governor. 



The dancers approached the place selected for the performance headed 

 by a master of ceremonies, or leader, the men first, the "women," who are 

 personated by young men, following, all in single file. Col. R. B. Marcj', 

 in his book, " Thirty years of Army Life on the Frontier", pages J 05-7, 



332 



