MODERN PUEBLOS. 105 



The bodies of chikiren who have not yet been ini- 

 tiated into some society are not buried in the ground 

 but are placed in a crevice of the rock somewhere in 

 the side of the mesas and covered with stones. The 

 string offering in this case is not placed pointing toward 

 the west, but toward the house where the family lives. 

 The spirit of the child is believed to return to the house 

 and to be reborn in the body of the next child, or to 

 hnger about the house until the mother dies, when it 

 accompanies her to the world of the departed. 



Political Organization. 



The political government of each Rio Grande pueblo 

 is in the hands of a governor, eouncil, and a war chief. 

 The governor, chosen annually by a formal election, 

 is in reality named by the cacique, a permanent officer 

 whose duties are chiefly religious. There is usually 

 also a heutenant governor chosen in the same way. 

 The war chief too is appointed annually and confirmed 

 by the council. 



This council, which is the legislative body, is perma- 

 nent in some pueblos but elected annually in others. 

 It is believed by some to be a survival of an earlier 

 council in which each of the clans was represented by 

 its head. 



The governor is the representative of the village in 

 its dealings wath other villages and with the general 

 public and is its nominal head. The war chief directs 



