174 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
Frequently a priest is hired who presents four men 
dressed to represent gods called Gans. A fifth man acts 
as a clown. These gods appear at twilight and return 
at intervals during the evening and early morning. 
They enter in a processional and then dance about a 
large fire. They go through certain conventional 
steps and movements and present a most impressive 
and weird spectacle with the play of the firelight on 
Jicarilla Relay Race. 
their blackened bodies and decorated headdresses. 
These gods return in the morning and assist in the 
painting ceremony described above. 
These ceremonies on the whole have a festive as 
well as a religious character. The purposes may be 
considered to be in part the bringing to the notice of 
suitors and others that the girl is now marriageable 
and to insure for her a long and happy life. 
The Jicarilla have an annual festival which resembles 
very closely that held at Taos. The entire tribe camps 
near a large lake in the southwestern corner of their 
