MODERN IHEBLOS. Uo 



are also the days sacred to their patron saints. There 

 are probably always preliminary activities held secretly 

 in the ki\as which are in part rehearsals, during which, 

 howexer, prayers are said and acts of worship performed. 

 The last day is devoted to a public spectacle largely 

 attended by visiting Indians, Mexicans, and others. 



The ceremony at Taos occurs on September 30th. 

 The image of the saint is brought from the church and 

 placed in an elevated booth overlooking the plaza in 

 w^hich the ceremonies take place. A tall pole erected for 

 the purpose has a great variety of vegetable products, 

 cooked and in their natural state, fastened to the top 

 of it where also is suspended the carcass of a sheep 

 which in recent years has taken the place of that of a 

 deer. The forenoon is devoted to races in which 

 young men from the two large houses compete in relays. 

 The victory is a community one and not individual. 

 The winners are pelted with food by the losers. In the 

 afternoon the clowns appear, men grotesquely dressed 

 and painted w^ho act as offensively as possible. They 

 take the lunch baskets from women and empty them, 

 tear the clothing from a man, or throw him fully 

 clad into the stream, and enter any house they choose. 

 Finally, they approach the pole as if tracking an animal, 

 attempt to shoot toy arrows to the top, tug at its base 

 as if trying to uproot a tree, and at last make attempts 

 to climb it w^hich succeed for one of their number who 

 secures the food for his fellows. As a whole the cere- 

 mony is evidently intended as a consecration of the 

 harvest and an expression of thanksgiving for it. 



