MODERN PUEBLOS. 1 1 1 



then one of the chuicers luinui-sks tliat the child may 

 see that the gods are not present in person as he has 

 formerly supposed. 



Sia Rain Ceremony. Mrs. Stevenson, who witnessed 

 several of the ceremonies of the Sia, has given a full 

 description of the rain ceremony of the snake order. 

 Prayer-sticks notched and colored were prepared for 

 offering. An altar with a dry painting representing 

 clouds by terraced semicircles was made. On it were 

 placed several fetishes and a clan or society emblem 

 called yaya which is a perfectly kerneled ear of corn 

 entirely covered with feathers. 



The ceremony proper begins with a strewing of a 

 line of corn meal from the altar to the door over which 

 as a road the spirits of the gods are supposed to travel 

 and temporarily enter the fetishes. There is much 

 singing, dancing, and praying, mostly by individuals 

 rather than in concert. In a bowl of water to which 

 ground yucca roots have been added a suds is made 

 which represents clouds. Pollen is sprinkled into this 

 bowl and the foam is scattered over the altar. 



By means of songs and prayers the gods who dwell 

 in six sacred springs are invoked that they may incite 

 the cloud people to action. By each of these springs 

 there is supposed to be a hollow tree through which 

 the cloud people carry the water up to the clouds. 

 These clouds are but huge masks behind which the 

 cloud people climb and from which they sprinkle the 

 earth. The thunders are also invoked. They are 

 thought to be beings with tails and wings of obsidian 



