B 1,437,550 II I9 I I. VERA LASKI UNIVERSITY OE MAHLU W1MI 99 1817" ART S SCENTI /-VEIVI S &t7 MICHIGAt AUG 10 19S9 MEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY Volume 50 1959 SEEKING LIFE By Vera Laski With a Foreword by John Collier Philadelphia American Folklore Society 1958 All Rights Reserved by AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY Composed at the Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics Bloomington, Indiana PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOREWORD This book needs no introduction, as it carries its own revelation and its own message. What I might contribute for readers who are without direct experience of Pueblo life and religion is my testimony to the essential and profound truth of the book. This testimony is not that of an anthropologist but of a layman who himself has experienced at intervals across thirtyseven years the greatness of Pueblo art, Pueblo religion, and Pueblo life philosophy. As Dr. Laski insists, the Pueblo religious experience cannot be verbalized in any complete way. And it is a religion, or a group of related religions, totally without proselytizing impulse. Indeed, it rather assumes the incommunicability of that which we call religion, but which is to the Pueblo Indian an allembracing individual and group life way. I do not suggest that the Pueblo religions are altogether unique in this integratedness and this union of ritualistic participation with individual intensity. But it is truly possible that nowhere in human time have there taken place more perfect flowerings of the man-society and man-society-nature relationship. And doubtless, like other flowerings, through prehistory, whose intent has been the deepening of personal and cosmic consciousness, these Pueblo religions, sooner or later, will fade away-hence the importance of such a record as Dr. Laski is supplying. John Collier v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in the study of American Indian culture has been stimulated by Frederick H. Douglas, late curator of the Denver Art Museum, who has permitted the use of his excellent library over a period of many years. I am also deeply indebted to Brinckerhoff Jackson, Editor of Landscape Magazine, for his generosity which made my graduate studies in anthropology possible and for his suggestion that I focus my efforts upon the culture of the Southwest. Thanks are due to the Bollingen Foundation, Inc., for a financial grant to the American Folklore Society covering part of the cost of publication. My teacher and friend Ruth Underhill has known of the present project from its very start, and her constructive criticism through all its phases has been of greatest value. John Collier made most helpful suggestions and gave continued encouragement. I appreciate the help of Marianne Stoller who executed the maps and diagrams after preliminary drawings by John P. Bethell and after sketches made by the author. The University of Oklahoma Press has kindly granted permission to use an aerial photograph in drawing the map of San Juan Pueblo (see Stanley Stubbs, Bird's-Eye View of the Pueblos [Norman, Okla., 1950], p. 40). Among those who have read at least part of the manuscript and assisted with criticism of either content or form, I wish especially to thank Esther Goldfrank, Hans Kurath, Dorothy Field, and Frances Traher. Shelby W. Thompson wrestled patiently with the task of copy editing over a period of many months. Responsibility for the expressed opinions as well as for any possible errors rests, however, entirely with the author. My deepest gratitude goes, of course, to my Indian friends who allowed me to share the experience of their ancestral lore which I was priviledged to record; their warm friendship gave me the feeling of "being loved and liked." This is their book. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD.................... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............. v vii PART I. THE RAINGOD CEREMONY OF A RITUAL DRAMA SAN JUAN: I. INTRODUCTION....... The Background....... A. The Pueblo..... B. Moieties and Society. C. Corn and Rain. The Setting.......... A. The Kivas...... B. The Altars...... Dramatis Personae... A. The Raingods (Kachina). B. The Caciques.. C. The Clowns...... D. The Priestesses.. E. The Virgins...... F. The Assistants. G. The Old Men..... ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~, ~~~~~+~~ ~~~~~r~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~,~ ~~~~r~~~ ~r~r~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~,~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~r~~~~ ~~~~~~~ H. The People: Children of the Great Kachina Ceremonies in San Juan... A. Appearance of the Kachina.. B. Kachinas Without Masks..... C. Initiation Ceremonies...... D. The Dance of Man....... E. The Raingod Drama...... One s * * * * * * * * * * * e * *. * * * * 1 2 2 3 5 5 5 9 9 9 11 12 15 15 16 17 18 19 19 21 25 27 30 34 34 38 38 42 47 50 51 52 56 58 60 60 II. THE TEXT OF THE RAINGOD DRAMA...... Prologue: The Resurrection of the Masks.. The Drama.................. A. The Funmakers...... B. The Bringing of the Raingods...... C. The Solemn Entrance of the Raingods.. D. The Reception of the Raingods...... E. The Blessing by the Raingods... F. The Man Ceremony........... G. The Thanksgiving Prayer.... Epilogue: The Homegoing of the Prayerfeathers III. INTERPRETATION AND MEANING....... The Raingod Ritual as a Dramatic Experience.. ix The Man Ceremony and its Symbolism..... 64 Tewa Religion in the Light of the Raingod Ceremony 74 A. SocialAspects. 74 B. Man's Concern About God....... 77 C. The Appearance of the Raingods: A Miracle............. 78 D. Ethics and Therapeutics: Do Not Worry. 80 E. The Ritual: Beauty and Harmony.... 85 F. The Symbols: Horned Waterserpent and Sacred Cloudflower. 86 G. The Essence: Seeking Life....... 89 PART II. THE MAKING OF A MEDICINE MAN I. INTRODUCTION............... 95 II. HOW A MAN IS MADE INTO A FISHPERSON... 96 III. HEALING CEREMONIES IN SAN JUAN..... 112 The Informal Healing Ceremony...... 112 The Great Healing Ceremony.......... 113 The Communal Healing Ceremony........ 116 IV. THE HISTORY OF SAN JUAN SHAMANISM... 118 The Origin............... 118 Modification of Shamanism by the Pueblos... 120 V. THE MEANING OF SHAMANISM........ 123 APPENDIX I: CEREMONIAL PHARAPHERNALIA.. 131 APPENDIX II: MUSIC AND SOUNDS IN THE RAINGOD CEREMONY...... 142 APPENDIX III: VARIATIONS IN THE RAINGOD CEREMONY........... 143 REFERENCES.............. 145 GLOSSARY.................... 159 BIBLIOGRAPHY................. 169 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS opposite page 1. The Area of Tewa Settlements in the Southwest 4 2. Tewa Pueblos in Northern New Mexico 5 3. San Juan Pueblo (Center) 6 4. Large and Small Kivas in San Juan 7 5. Seating Arrangement in the Large Kiva During the Raingod Ceremony 8 6. Seating Arrangement in the Kiva During the Initiation of a Medicine Man 9 PART I THE RAINGOD CEREMONY OF SAN JUAN: A RITUAL DRAMA I. INTRODUCTION The Tewa speaking Pueblo Indians are the heirs of a great culture of the past. They may represent one branch of the descendants of those Pueblo Indians who, long before the arrival of white men on this continent, built the spectacular cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, which were abandoned around 1300 A.D. (Figure 1).1 Although they are surrounded by Spanish and English speaking neighbors, and hence have been slightly influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, the Tewa have still preserved a colorful culture of their own. Today, after 350 years of contact with white men, Tewa culture is about to break down, and, since the return of the veterans from World War II, this cultural disintegration has reached a critical stage. In another generation or two, Tewa culture may have completely disintegrated, and many of the sacred rites which are still alive today will have faded away into little understood traditions and be known only as superstitions. This monograph is an attempt to capture the spirit of one of the most important Tewa ceremonies, a ceremony which, though never before recorded, has been transmitted through countless generations as a living experience; the written drama, unfortunately, is nothing but the skeleton. The Raingod Drama, as presented in this paper, is a unique ceremony of the Tewa. It is different from most other Pueblo Indian rituals, and, therefore, it must be kept in mind that the statements made on Tewa religion in the light of the Raingod Ceremony do not necessarily apply to Pueblo religion in general. No attempt at overall comparison of the Tewa religion with the religion of other Pueblo groups is made. Any information about Tewa ceremonial practices contained in this monograph, and for which no other reference is given, was obtained directly from my Indian friends. My first visit to San Juan dates back to 1943, when many of the Pueblo young men were at the battle front. It was at 1 2 Seeking Life that time that I first met Xa-ye- t'a-n, whose name may be translated as 'Striped Stone Fetish,' and who eventually gave and explained the ted' of the Raingod Ceremony to me. Xa-ye- t'a.- lovedThis people, and their ancient lore was an essential part of his own life. He revealed the ceremonies without personal benefit, and with no other interest than the conviction that I was sincere and sensitive to the great beauty and deep meaning of the sacred traditions. Both of us were agreed that, at a time when the practice of the ancient Indian heritage was dwindling, this was a meaning which it was our duty to preserve. Still, it was not until after the war, when it became evident how rapidly the ancient traditions were breaking down, that he consented to the eventual publication of the ceremonies after his death. Xaye- t'a-n is no more; he has gone to Yag w-klmo, the place of rejoice making. Since he passed away, I have made friends with many other Tewas, most of whom, I am sure, do not appreciate his attitude. Although the old man realized that he would be criticized by his own beloved people, he was never worried about this, nor did he even feel guilty. His purpose, like mine, was to preserve the sacred rituals as creations of art, and as an expression of the spiritual longings of sensitive people in their desire to "seek life." In doing so, we have tried to pay homage to Tewa religion, and to honor the Tewa Indian. Concerned with the appropriate presentation and acceptance of the ritual, Xa'yE- t'a-n said to me on several occasions: "Please be sure to tell your readers that the purpose of our ceremonies is not entertainment, but attainment; namely, the attainment of the Good Life. Our dramas, our songs, and our dances are not performed for fun as they might be in the white man's world; no, they are more than that: they are the very essence of our lives; they are sacred." The Background A. The Pueblo San Juan is the largest and northernmost of five villages of Tewa speaking Pueblo Indians in the upper Rio Grande Introduction 3 valley2 (Figures 1 and 2). It is located on the east bank of the river, about halfway between Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico. Its population was estimated as 497 in 1926, and as 768 in 1948. San Juan pueblo is surrounded by Spanish settlements, and social contacts and intermarriages have been frequent since the early days of Spanish colonization. Houses are constructed of adobe. In the center part of the village they are arranged in three long irregular, but roughly parallel, house groups in which the rectangular kivas are enclosed (Figure 3). In recent years, many of the old homes in this central part have been abandoned as some people have built houses on reservation land farther away from the village center, and others have moved away entirely. When, in 1598, Don Juan de Oflate arrived with his expedition near the place where the Chama River joins the Rio Grande, he found a pueblo called Caypa which he renamed San Juan de los Caballeros. There he established his first provincial headquarters, but a year or two later moved his capital to the west bank of the river and a place which he called San Gabriel.3 The pueblo of San Juan has kept its official Spanish name, but in the Tewa language it is referred to as O'ke-. In 1680, the Pueblo revolt against the Spaniards vas started by Pope, a San Juan Indian, who, however, had to organize the uprising from the pueblo of Taos because the majority of the San Juan Indians were too friendly towards the Spanish to support the movement. This initial friendliness of the San Juan people towards the conquering white man may have been the starting point of their cultural disintegration. B. Moieties and Society The outstanding principle of Tewa social classification is the division into moieties4 called the Summer people and the Winter people. Summer people are associated with the South, femininity, and squash, that is, with softness or plant life. The Winter people are referred to along with the North, masculinity, and turquoise, which is to say, with hard mineral substance. The dualism of this classification impregnates the 4 Seeking Life political organization, ceremonial life, and social opinion of the Tewa. Moieties are patrilineal, and a woman who marries a man from the opposite moiety will often join her husband's group in a ceremony called p'o ku' 'waterpouring.' Rather than being clans, moieties are divisions of the pueblo into two halves, but, according to Parsons, they may be considered as "a substitute for clans in the social consciousness."5 The leaders of the Summer and Winter people are the Summer Cacique and the Winter Cacique, i.e., the ceremonial town chiefs who alternate in taking charge of the whole pueblo. Each holds office for about half the year, although actually, the office of the Summer Cacique lasts somewhat longer, from March to November, "to make the summer longer." The Pa-yo O'ke-, or Summer man of San Juan, is the lifelong head of the Pa-.yo Oke- religious society, and exofficio, the Summer Cacique, i.e., spiritual leader of the Summer people. His patron goddess is Pa-5yo ka-, who is considered the source of his spiritual strength. A stone figure representing her is one of his most sacred possessions. The O0 yi' ke-, or Hard Ice Man, is the head of the 0' yi' ke- society and simultaneously the Winter Cacique. He, too, cherishes a stone fetish of the goddess which gives him strength, the goddess 0O yi' ka'. The Cacique is often referred to by his people as "he who is father and mother to us." At the end of his term of office, the parting Cacique will ceremonially transfer his power to his successor, ending his speech with the words: "...I have done my best with the Children all this time; now you take the Children." When the Cacique dies, his right hand assistant becomes head of his religious society and of the moiety. The Raingod Ceremony at San Juan is organized by either the Summer or the Winter people under the leadership of the acting Cacique and his assistants. Most other ceremonies are organized by one or more of the religious societies. Besides those already mentioned, there are the following societies in San Juan: two medicine societies; two clown societies, the K'o'sa and the Kwi-rana; the war society, formerly in charge of the scalps; and a women's society, Kwi yo. While in pre-Spanish times the religious leader was also UTAH COLORADO I H VI L__ 1. Santo F. Albuauerauc quMEXICOru MEXICO ARIZONA FIGURE I THE AREA OF TEWA SETTLEMENTS IN THE SOUTHWEST \\ -1 'ph i N 7 1 SAN JUAN 7/7 SANTA CLK PUEBLO. _O I' SA LDEFONSO Y_ \' // i! SANSAN LDEFON~ J ~ ' BII -- u _ FIGURE 2 TEWf PUEBLOS IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO Intr o duc tion 5 the political leader, under Spanish rule the political power (especially as to the representation of the pueblo in dealing with the outside) became vested in the governor and his assistants who are elected to office every year. C. Corn and Rain The pueblo of San Juan, being built near the junction of the Chama River and the Rio Grande, has easy access to water for filling its irrigation ditches. For centuries, this has made agriculture possible for the Pueblos and their basketmaking ancestors, and has provided corn for their staple food. Beans and squash, and, in more recent times, melons as well, have supplemented the corn. Meat was provided by the formerly abundant game in the region. But even in the fertile valley, neither would corn grow nor game roam without the blessing of the rain so vitally needed in this semiarid region. Corn is associated with spirits in the concept of the corn youths and corn maidens, and the corn itself has become deified in the figure of the corn goddess. Most important of all the spiritual helpers, however, are the bringers of rain, the Raingods or Kachina, without whose blessing the people could not prosper. The Raingods may be understood as a special kind of spirit. They are the Great Ones, the Great Fathers to the people. Contact with the supernatural through the coming of the Raingods is an essential aspect of the Tewa ritual celebrated in the Raingod Drama. This drama is known to all Tewa Indians, and variations of its general theme seem to occur also in other Pueblo groups. The Setting A. The Kivas The kivas are the ceremonial chambers of the Pueblo Indians in which their secret ceremonies are performed. Many 6 Seeking Life Pueblo kivas are round and at least partially underground, with an entrance through a roof opening. All the kivas in San Juan, however, are rectangular and are part of larger structures consisting of both ceremonial rooms and private dwellings. There are two such building complexes in San Juan. In one of them is the Practice Kiva, where social dances are held and where dancers of both moieties get ready for public ceremonial dances. This is the only kiva in San Juan to which non-Indian visitors may be admitted. In another structure is a large rectangular kiva, poej to-'E, used by both moieties for holding ceremonies (Figure 4). Adjoining the Large Kiva are two smaller rectangular kivas, or si p'hoffc-nse, one for each of the two moieties, the Winter and Summer men respectively. They constitute a kind of inner sanctum, which is reached through an antechamber. In these small kivas, masks and other paraphernalia are kept, and it is also here that the Kachina and dancers get ready for secret ceremonies. Most of the private dwellings in the kiva structures are occupied, but in the larger structure, two rooms have now been abandoned and are crumbling into ruins.6 The rectangular kiva, as part of a larger dwelling structure, is by no means an original Tewa trait. It is probable that, until about the middle of the fourteenth century, all Tewa kivas were detached and circular. Circular free-standing kivas still exist today in the Tewa pueblos of Nambe and San Ildefonso, but San Ildefonso also has rectangular kivas which form part of two story structures. The rectangular kiva may have been introduced to the Tewa along with other western culture traits around 1350 A.D. by a group of western people who came from east-central Arizona, and who might have been the Keres.7 Reed assumes that the Rio Grande Keres borrowed the circular kivas from theTewaswhile, on the other hand, during the past six centuries, the tendency among the Tewa has been towards square kivas.8 It seems to me that drastic changes in the use of directions, shape, and proportions are always an indication of simultaneous changes in basic philosophy and attitude. In the case of the Tewas, I feel that the structural change of the kiva from circular to rectangular cannot be explained as a mere defensive mimicry in the face of the white conquerors, as le, I let____ Ft T t t It tt t t t tt!_ _ _t CZ \N -f 1C3 N 00...J zo,, I LARGE.nd SMALL KIVAS M PRACTICE KIVA - DWELLINGS --- CORRALS,W FARM LAND f t GRAVEYARD t CHURCH t CHAPEL S STORE - DANCE AREA ""'' RACE TRACK =. ROADS FIGURE 3 SAN JUAN PUEBLO (CENTER) e n IC s a - r. AI 1 -------- S. I - S I HaLE *I c w. a.- r T w. I - S I - I - -j I I I I I r —I K — -rt -- - M LARGE KIVA * ROOF ENTRANCES I SMALL KIVAS [-.] lPRIVATE DWELLINGS w USED BY WINTER PEOPLE S USED BY SUMMER PEOPLE 0-r ANTEROOM I-S. INNER SANCTUM c. CHIMNEYS FIGURE 4 LARGE AND SMALL KIVAS IN SAN JUAN Introduction 7 Stevenson implies.9 This change of kiva structure in the upper Rio Grande is only one aspect of a development which included the acceptance of a whole complex of western culture traits by the Tewa. I feel, rather, that the basic structural change in Tewa kivas reveals more than the assimilation of one imported culture trait. This change of Gestalt and Formgefuhl is also a visible expression and direct result of the fact that the Tewa had accepted a new ritual from the immigrants, a ritual which might well have been that of the Keresan curing societies, and that they had experienced-although without ever fully accepting it-the impact of a new social order: that of the matrilineal clan.10 1. The Large Kiva. To enter the Large Kiva, a man climbs up a ladder (or, in recent years, Americanized stairs) to the roof where he finds a square opening, the tE-'E so-fo t'affiditEk't-di, near the east wall. Through this opening a second ladder leads down into the Large Kiva. There is also near the east wall, a smaller, circular opening" in the roof, just above a fireplacelike, step-shaped, adobe structure.l2 No fire, however, burns here. In the east wall, just above the ground, is a small opening for ventilation, and through which children may crawl to the outside. Along the west and north walls runs an adobe built, low row of seats. The northern third of the kiva is usually reserved for the women and children of both moieties, and this section is partitioned off by a row of posts which supports the ceiling (Figure 5). Along the walls in the southwest corner, the men of the nonparticipating moiety are seated. The sponsoring men do not appear in the audience; they are too busy preparing the ceremonial and guarding the pueblo. Along the north wall are two fireplaces; the kiva used to be lit by their fire and by the light of candles near the poles and on niches along the south wall.13 2. The Small Kiva. There are two Small Kivas, one for the Winter people and one for the Summer people, which adjoin the Large Kiva. When the Kachina emerge through the roof from the Small Winter Kiva, they can immediately step over 8 Seeking Life to the roof of the Large Kiva and make their entrance through the toE-l so-fo t'affidi tWk's-di 'kiva mouth.' The Small Kiva of the Summer people has no roof entrance, but rather a side door. Each Small Kiva actually consists of two rooms. There is first the antechamber, where wood is stored and where one finds, deep in the ground of one corner, a large pottery bowl with a broken out bottom. This serves as a urinal for the men who spend four or eight days in the kiva fasting and practicing; they are not permitted to leave the ceremonial chamber except at night. The second room, reached only through the antechamber, is the inner sanctum proper where the Kachina masks are kept and stored in large boxes which may hang down from the ceiling. On the wall near the entrance door is a niche with sacred cornmeal which is used by those who enter to perform the Breathing Rite. Women do not enter this kiva except during initiation ceremonies. It is in the inner sanctum that the Cacique erects his altar during the ceremonies of his moiety. On this altar, spring or river water is prayed over and becomes holy water, which is given to the dancers before they come out. Prayer feathers, hF- f6, are brought to this altar and offered to the Great Ones to "clothe the gods" who, in return, give strength and happiness. 3. The Practice Kiva. The Practice Kiva does not adjoin the other three kivas so far described, but rather forms part of another building (Figure 3). It is rectangular, and its entrance is through a side door rather than through the roof. Here, men and women of both moieties prepare public dances; that is, theyrehearsesongs and dances, and prepare headgear, costumes, and bodypaint. It is not used in the Raingod Ceremony. Before public dances, the head priest of each religious society erects his altar in this kiva, usually along the south and west walls. MEN I I 4b1 I -a)- - - - -I1 I ~ ~ I I' I / I /:I KZ / Z,!I I i / I I / l I 0 1 1 1 1 1 z U Z z MEN -- 11 Jp: - mis a GOVERNOR - - PATH OF THE PRIESTESSES -- BLANKET ENCLOSURE V LT. GOVERNOR (,ince circuil) 0 HOLE IN THE ROOF <) CACIQUES - - PATH OF THE GODS BENCH ALONG WALL 0 PRIESTESSES (conlinuous moncn) u. URINAL X GUARDS 1[ USHERS o. OPENING - WOMEN, CHILDREN FIGURE 5 SEATING ARRANGEMENT IN THE LARGE KIVA DURING THE RAINGOD CEREMONY -I.o 93 0 B B B B. B 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111,' @ / c u / I, / I / * \ \, I C. C aW. il I/ // /1 I I I I I I1 I I I \\* \ I ', I "\ I,\ I I i I 1'X! z u 6 21 z z z o 0 - I /... / MEN @ INITIATE 11111 BEAR MAN'S OBJECTS B BEAR MAN - INDIVIDUAL ALTARS BW BEAR WOMAN WATE BOW C CLOWN FIGURE 6. SEAT/NG ARRANGEMENTS IN THE KIVA A MEDIC/NE MAN * LIGHTENING STONES ---— CORNMEAL PATH cu CEREMONIAL URINAL DUR/NG THE INITIATION OF Introduction 9 B. The Altars In the Raingod Ceremony, the Cacique of the organizing moiety erects his altar in his own inner sanctum. While the altar is made on the floor, the Cacique sits with his back against the wall; the altar is in front of him. The Cacique unrolls a woven reed mat which contains the altar paraphernalia: special prayer feathers and the stone fetish of the deity from whom he receives his strength. He places the stone figures on a painting of sacred cornmeal. A pottery bowl of spring or river water is placed on the altar and blessed. On the altar there are also small stone fetishes representing animals and anthropomorphic figures. Along the side are several medicine pouches with cornmeal, paint, potions, small fetishes, and medicinal herbs. There are at least two great prayer plumes. Before their solemn entrance into the main kiva, the Cacique blesses dancers and the Kachina-to-be by dipping two large prayer plumes into holy water and patting each dancer with these plumes four times on the head, arms, and legs. At the very end of the ceremony the altar is destroyed, and the sacred objects are stored away. In public dances, when the leaders of all religious societies erect altars in the Practice Kiva, the altars are similar to the one just described; theymayvary, however, from very simple to rather elaborate ones. Dramatis Personae A. The Raingods (Kachina) K'a^inna, or in the Anglicized form, Kachina, is the Hopi word for "raingod," or "cloudbeing." Other words in the Tewa language which refer to the Raingods as a group are: 0^'xwa 'Cloudbeing,' from o'xu-a 'cloud'; Ci-wi'; and Opa- nunne ig 'those from over the horizon.' 10 Seeking Life In San Juan, any initiated adult male, regardless of his age, may become a Kachina; that is, he may impersonate the Raingods. There is no special Kachina society, and no special training is necessary. However, during a ceremony sponsored by one moiety, only members of that moiety may appear in the ceremony, and, during the four days preceding their appearance, they will stay in the Small Kiva, observe the taboos (abstinence from women, salt, and meat), and help prepare their masks andrehearse their roles while the Old Men' keep them company. The Kachinas are powerful spiritual beings who bring, above all, the blessing of rain and, as a result, the blessing of more corn, fruits, and vegetables. They also enliven the mountains with game animals. Winter and Summer people have different Raingods, each with his own name, wearing his own individual mask, and using his own particular vocal sounds and gestures. Most Raingods carry yucca whips, one in each closed fist with ends pointed backwards and downwards, but other paraphernalia is also used. While the masks of the Raingods are different, their clothing is about the same. There are no bare chests; at least in recent years, everybody wears his best white shirt and a white dance kilt with embroidered design reaching to somewhat above the knee. Long fringes hang down the back from the handwoven sash. White painted moccasins are worn with white crocheted cotton leggings. Spruce is worn around the waist and neck to conceal the lower rim of the mask, and also in bands around the arms. Under their clothing and masks, their bodies and faces are ceremonially painted. The masks are repainted for each ceremony and decorated with earrings of turquoise or mica slate; there are also many beautiful feathers, different for each Raingod. As soon as the mask has been placed on an individual, he becomes a Raingod; he may not walk or talk any longer like a human, and must not be touched. His movements, therefore, appear more expressive and his language consists of gestures which only the Clowns and the Caciques understand and can interpret to the people. Introduction 11 There may also be a child Kachina, impersonated by a little boy who, along with the men, has gone through the fast in the Small Kiva. The child Kachina hangs on to his father, repeating his movements and sounds. The following is a listing of the principal Raingods. Common to both the Winter and Summer people is O&'xwa t'uj yog, a general name for the Chief Raingod of either moiety. Among the Winter Raingods are: Teng, the specific name of the Chief Winter Raingod, a name which probably refers to a plant (squash?); C'E- o-'xwa, the Spruce Raingod, who carries a whole evergreen tree; Ka- 'aft- o-'xwa, the Raingod of the Smooth Leaftree; T 'aa o-'xwa, the Sun Raingod, who is draped in deer skin and sunburst headdress; Xe o-'xwa, the Mountain Lion Raingod, who carries wooden symbols of lightening; Ke-mina, a Deer Raingod wearing deer horns; and Yeg sedo*, also called Po-vi yen, the Silent One or Flowerman, a clownish, sexy Raingod, draped in deer skin and carrying a bow and arrow. Among the Summer Raingods are: Nap'o- Su-n, the specific name of the god who is probably the Chief Raingod of the Summer people, and whose name refers to the sacred blackish clay used for ceremonial bodypaint; Nanna' o-'xwa, the Aspen Raingod; Peg k'acinna, the Deer Raingod who wears deer horns; Ta- ii xej, the Parrot Raingod, who wears colored parrot feathers; T'ego o-'xwa, possibly a plant name but about whom no further information is available; and Yeg sedo-, or Po-vi yen, the Silent One or Flowerman. B. The Caciques The name Cacique, derived from Arawak Kassequa, designates the religious leader of each moiety. When the Raingod Ceremony is performed, the Cacique of the sponsoring moiety is responsible for the organization of the ritual. He sets the date for the ceremony and looks on while his Assistants decide on the distribution of roles among the performers. He also blesses the Kachina and their helpers shortly before they "come out." When entering the kiva, the Cacique wears, like everybody else, a blanket over his shoulders. Leaving, however, his head is uncovered. Inside the kiva, he sits on this folded blanket, clad in a large, homemade, overhanging, colored 12 Seeking Life shirt, and leggings of beaded buckskin traded from Plains Indians. During the whole Raingod Ceremony, the Winter and Summer Caciques sit together in the kiva at the place of honor, in front of the people, sharing honors and responsibility. C. The Clowns San Juan, like other pueblos, has two Clown societies. The K'o'sa, the more important group of Clowns, wear a headdress of two cornhusk horns and recruit their members through a ceremony known as trespass. On certain days of ceremonial performance, they build, on the ground in the middle of the plaza, an ashhouse in the shape of a semicircle; onlyClowns are allowed to enter the circle. Anyone else who walks in can be claimed for membership. If a child jumps into the ashhouse, a K'o'sa may go to the child's father and claim the child. In recent years, however, such membership has often been refused. The K'o'sa are initiated between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. During the preparation for the initiation, members-to-be must endure a series of hardships, and the initiation itself may involve such ordeals as drinking a watery solution containing human urine and stool. The Kwi-rana are a clownlike society of lesser importance which recruits its members through dedication during infancy, usually at a time of sickness. The Kwi-rana wear only one cornhusk horn. No Clown has been initiated in San Juan for almost thirty years, and, as a result, their number has decreased considerably. In 1950, there were but four Clowns left in San Juan: three K'o'sa of the Winter people, and one Summer Kwirana. In San Ildefonso, during the Corn Dance on June 17, 1951, no Clowns were seen at all. Originally, the bringing of the Raingods was a function of the K'o'sa alone, but in recent years, the Kwi'rana have often taken their place, and the Winter K'o'sa have functioned in both Winter and Summer ceremonies. 1. Appearance of the Clowns. While in some pueblos the members of the two Clown societies are easily distinguished by their differently colored body paint, in San Juan the only Introduction 13 distinction is in the number of cornhusk horns worn in their headgear. The Clowns have bare chests and paint their bodies with black and white horizontal stripes. Rather than wearing masks, they paint circles around their eyes and mouth, and wear a headdress of skin and cornhusks. A cheap, white, cotton blanket, of the kind which may be used as a bedsheet, is wrapped around their body like a G-string. Attached to their moccasins are big pieces of turtle shells which jingle as the Clowns move around. During the Raingod Ceremony, they carry sheepskin packs filled with meat and bread. They may also wear a string of small fruits around their neck, usually of apples or doughnuts which they give away later to women and children. 2. Functions of the Clowns. Like any true clown, the ceremonial Clowns are more than just funmakers and entertainers. They are, first of all, masters of ceremony who introduce the characters; secondly, they are the "bringers of the Kachina." Since they can see what no one else is able to perceive, i.e., the invisible, they "see" and announce the approach of the Kachina. And, as the Clowns are invisible themselves (mischievous though they may be), they have the power of summoning the Kachina and sending them home. However, they are, at all times, subordinate to the Raingods whose threatening yucca whips inspire fear in them. Spinden 14 sees, in the Clowns of the Raingod Ceremony, the mischievous, legendary war twins, and the dramatization of the myth of the war gods which culminates in the bringing of the gods to the underground lodge. Apparently, however, Spinden knew only a small fragment of the Raingod Ceremony in the Nambe version; the purpose of the San Juan ceremony is not the dramatization of the myth of the war twins, but the blessing which the Raingods bring to their "children." While the clowns refer to each other as "Younger-Brother-OlderThan-I," this term is also used between members of other religious societies; therefore, it does not necessarily imply a reference to blood relationship or to the legendary war twins. The Clowns also have a moral function. Those who are 14 Seeking Life invisible know all, and by discussing, publicly and jokingly, the most recent village gossip, especially that related to sex matters-ridiculing adultery and airing the gossip as to who sleeps with whom-they are the friendliest, gayest, and best liked moral squad any community ever had. In discussing the functions of the Clowns, mention should also be made of the most important basic function common to all Tewa religious officers: that of being intermediary betweenGod and man, or, in Tewa terminology, that of "seeking life." With all their jokes, wisecracks, and moral squad functions, the Clowns are, above all, the mischievous actors in a ritual which is a quest for the Good Life-both physically and spiritually-and of which fertility is but one aspect. The Kachina are the bringers of rain and of all the Great Goodnesses which fertility includes: the growing of corn, beans, squash, andmelons; the food which abundant deer, buffalo, and rabbits will provide; and the blessing of children and increase in population. Yet, there cannot be abundance without the fulfillment of the functions of nature which are, therefore, freely referred to by the Clowns in both words and gestures. The Clowns' sex motions and their reference to "who sleeps with whom" matters are in sharp contrast to the general modesty of the Pueblo Indian who carefully avoids demonstrations of affection in public. Pueblo Indians do not kiss or neck in the presence of anyone-even a member of their immediate family-and it is very embarrassing to them to see white people, even married couples, kiss each other hello or goodbye in public. TheClown's actions, however, are on a different level. No one takes offense at their words or gestures and, at least in former times, before the Christian influence was felt, no one was ever shocked by the Clown's sex motions. They were as natural a part of a fertility rite as the melons and rabbits carried by the Kachina. Contact with white man's culture and with Christianity has somewhat modified the Pueblo's attitude toward sex; today, the women, to a certain degree, try to avoid the Clowns who happen to approach them with sex motions. When the Clowns, in lengthy descriptions of their visions, summon the Raingods to the kiva, they build up expectation and Introduction 15 tension in the audience, then curtail it again and again by their clownish pranks. Their jokes may also have the effect of restoring "the earthy neglected element in man."15 In this sense then, the Clowns have a definite, ceremonially sanctioned, psychotherapeutic function: their preventive medicine is that of a good laugh. D. The Priestesses The Priestesses, or Kwf yo, meaning'wise, respected old women,' are members of a women's society, and are organized by moieties. Only the Kwl yo- of the sponsoring moiety will appear in the Raingod ritual. The Priestesses wear the black ceremonial manta without a blouse; the left shoulder is left bare, and their long hair falls loose about their shoulders. Over their foreheads hangs a ceremonial eagle plume, and in their hands they carry little baskets of sacred cornmeal. Summer Priestesses go barefoot, while Winter Priestesses wear Pueblo boots. Until recently there were still two Kwf yo' left in San Juan, but the last one died in 1955 and there are now none remaining to continue the ancient tradition. E. The Virgins In the sixth scene of the Raingod Ceremony appear four Virgins, young girls about ten years old, two from each moiety. They do not belong to any particular group or society, but are especially chosen for the occasion during the preparatory days in the Small Kiva. As a rule, a girl will serve only once since, symbolically at least, she loses her virginity during the ritual. Her role is essentially like that of any Tewa woman in the Man Ceremony: that of receptive passivity. The Virgins wear a shawl over a black woolen manta which leaves their left shoulders bare. Winter Virgins wear moccasins while Summer Virgins are barefoot. 16 Seeking Life F. The Assistants During the preparation for the Raingod Ceremony, the Cacique is helped by a War Captain and his Assistants. These officers, whose original war functions are today almost obsolete, are in charge of arranging the ceremonies. There are usually six such Assistants, three from each moiety. The War Captain alternates between the two moieties. If a ceremony is organized by one moiety only, such as is the Raingod Drama, then only the Assistants belonging to that moiety will go about the village, call on their own members, and invite them to participate in the ceremonial preparations. Before and during the main ceremony, two ushers are posted on top of the kiva roof, near the entrance; two others stand inside the kiva, at the foot of the ladder. During the ritual they scrutinize everyone who enters, lifting, if necessary, a corner of the blankets to make sure that no unwanted outsider enters the sacred chamber. They also direct everyone to his proper place on the kiva floor. Other watchers walk, two at a time, through the pueblo and still others run back and forth from the Large Kiva rooftop entrance to the Small Kiva to assist the Raingods in walking over the roof and up and down the ladder. This help is necessary because the eye slits in the masks are too small to allow proper vision, and the Assistants have to watch that the Raingods get safely up and down the ladders of both kivas. The ushers belong, of course, to the sponsoring moiety. Before their appearance to the people, the Raingods line up in a part of the Large Kiva separated by a blanket screen like a back stage. This blanket screen is made up by another group of Assistants who, in a stage technique reminiscent of the Elizabethan theater, hold up blankets with their outstretched arms, hiding themselves from the audience. Once the Kachinas are lined up behind the screen, their personal Assistants take the silencing cornhusks out of the little bells around their waists and ankles. When the Kachinas' presence is announced by the sudden outbreak of a thunderous noise, it is again the personal Assistants who, in order to save the energy and voice of the Raingods, pound their feet, blow the flutes, shake the bullroarers, and make the identifying Introduction 1 7 sounds for the Kachina until the latter make their solemn appearance on the "stage," or main part of the kiva., G. The Old Men In every public Pueblo dance there is a group of Old Men who do not dance themselves but who make up the chorus which provides music for the dancers. Often they also have a special responsibility in the organization of the dance. In San Juan, the Old Men do not form an organized society; they are a loose group, distinguished from the others by their greater age and knowledge of the tribal lore. Today they are often the ones who still wear moccasins and the traditional hairdo, and who take an active part in preparing the ceremonies and instructing the younger men in the ancient lore. In the Raingod Ceremony, the Old Men of the sponsoring moiety do not appear in the Large Kiva; their role is confined to assisting in the Small Kiva before and after the ceremony proper. The Old Men's jokes differ greatly from those of the clowns; they are not concerned with sex, and their humor can only be fully appreciated by one thoroughly familiar with the Pueblo world. The following shortened version of one Old Man's joke refers to the Christian patron saints of the Pueblos, a tradition which goes back to the time of the Spanish conquerors. The saint of San Juan is, as the name indicates, St. John the Baptist, who is traditionally represented barefoot; San Diego, the patron saint of Tesuque pueblo, is bearded and very ascetic looking. Indians have little beard and body hair. Heavy beards, therefore, appear ridiculous and non-Indian to the Tewa, and the asceticism emphasized in the saint's elongated, pointed face is interpreted as sickly and pitiful. Reference to a saint's beard and ascetic look thus belittles the saint much more than reference to his bare feet. Here is the Old Man's story: 18 Seeking Life A good many years ago, a young jokester from San Juan went to Tesuque for the annual fiesta. As usual, the wooden figure of San Diego, Tesuque's bearded, ascetic looking, patron saint, was carried in solemn procession from the Catholic church to the shrine erected on the plaza in his honor. During the procession, a lot of shooting in the air and boisterous merrymakingbroke loose in the saint's honor. Our San Juan jokester saw all that, and was following the procession of chanting, praying women and happy, noisy merrymakers when suddenly he was approached by a Tesuque man who wanted to belittle the visitor's patron saint: "Do you people in San Juan make as much noise for your poor, barefooted St. John as we for our San Diego?" The jokester from San Juan was quick to answer: "Yes, we do as much shooting for our St. John as you do for your poor, skinny jawed, long faced, bearded San Diego." H. The People: Children of the Great Ones The people, ceremonially referred to as the "Children of the Great Ones," are the men, women, and children of the Pueblo. They are more than just audience; they are participants in the ritual drama which could not unfold without their presence, their eager expectancy, their excitement, their joy, their response, and their participation. Almost everyone in the pueblo will come to the Great Kiva; there may be as many as 400 huddled together, and the presence of so many will gradually make the air in the kiva hot and sticky. Since most men of the sponsoring moiety are busy during the ceremony, there are fewer men than women in the audience. The men occupy the southeast corner of the kiva while women and children usually sit on the north side. There are no benches or chairs; people sit on the floor on sheepskins or folded blankets brought along for the occasion. Everybody wears blankets pulled over his head and shoulders and almost covering his face. However, once the Clowns have stopped joking, the women may let their shawls down on their shoulders; the men usually keep their heads covered. Introduction 19 Women wear the so-called Indian dress, or black manta, which would leave the left shoulder bare; but for this occasion, a long sleeved, colored dress may be worn under it. The women wear some kind of Indian boots-not that of the wrap around type which belongs to the western Pueblos. Men wear their customary shirts and pants, usually blue jeans, under their blankets, and any kind of moccasins. Kachina Ceremonies in San Juan A. Appearances of the Kachina Contact with the supernaturals is the aim of all Pueblo ceremonies, and the appearance of the Kachina is the most sacred event in the ceremonial calendar. In the upper Rio Grande villages, such ceremonies have been kept secret, and, since the arrival of white men, have literally gone underground. Most of them are now performed only in the sacred underground chamber where no white man is allowed to witness them. Although we do not know much about the origin of Kachina ceremonies, there is little doubt but thatfhey have existed since pre-Columbian times. Kachinas are represented in the petroglyphs of the Gallisteo Basin in northern New Mexico,16 a region formerly inhabited by the Tewa. The kiva murals in the ruins of Kuaua, near Bernalillo, New Mexico, 1 7 and those in the prehistoric site of Awatovi, near First Mesa on the Hopi reservation,18 also show figures of masked dancers resembling several of the Kachina masks still used today.19 Among the religious ceremonies of San Juan, we can distinguish between those in which the Kachina always appear, and others in which, at least nowadays, no Cloudbeings participate. There is also a third group of ceremony in which the Kachina may or may not be present. To the class of dances in which no masked Raingod appears belong most of the planting ceremonies: the Harvest Dance (tembi ~ade),Z0 the War Dance (hembi 9ade), and the game dances such as the Buffalo Dance and, at least today, the Deer Dance, among others. The Deer Dance is planned by the Seeking Life young men of the village and organized by the game priest during the winter months. It is held to bring good luck in hunting game. As usual, several days of preparation precede the event. Starting in the morning, the male dancers, with headdresses of deer antlers, come down to the pueblo from the mountains. The dance on the plaza alternates with the singing of sacred songs in the kiva. At the last appearance of the dancers, the Clowns shoot their arrows into the air making the frightened "deer" run away towards the mountains. Each woman then chases after them and tries to catch herself a deer, i.e., a man. Old men of San Juan still remember that, formerly, the Raingods always came to a Deer Dance; today they do not take part. The same is true for a dance called ''a'agec which the Summer people perform in the Large Kiva sometime during the winter. The name of this ceremony refers to a nonfermented, hot, cornmeal drink, also called atole, which is an ancient Indian beverage. On the night of this ceremony, a sweet, chocolate drink, the atole, is made and passed out to the people in their houses. In this dance, too, the Kachina used to appear, but now they no longer come. It is evident that, informer times, the Kachina appeared more often than they do now, and at a much greater variety of ceremonies. Another ceremony without Kachina is that of the Rain Races, held every other year for the purpose of promoting rain and the running of water in creeks and rivers. But even here, when no personified Raingod appears, the Cloudbeings are present in spirit and appealed to in song and prayer: The Summer Raingod boys are singing Here in this lake; The Summer Raingod girls are singing; Along this holy race track They are singing. With their rain and with their dewdrops The Raingod boys have come. With their rain and with their dewdrops The Raingod girls have come. Introduction 21 B. Kachinas Without Masks The Turtle Dance of San Juan is held on December 26, preceded by a short, sunset appearance the evening before. Formerly, however, this prelude was given in the early morning hours, on the day of the dance, in a brief presunrise performance which is still well remembered for the beauty of its setting. Only a small group of men dancers participate in the evening appearance on the plaza. They wear kilts, the traditional moccasins, and a heavy black or dark blue blanket, with red embroidery along the lower border, which hangs from their shoulders. Turtle shells are attached to their legs below the knees. In the left hand they carry evergreen twigs; in the right, a tannish gourd rattle. Their faces are lavishly painted with the man's rouge, seg p'i'ii. The Turtle Dance itself is celebrated the day after Christmas. Blankets are no longer worn by the dancers; instead, they decorate their upper bodies with a grayish, clay paint, nap'o~ Sun. Two masked dancers, the cave-y6o, appear with the "turtles"; their masks are made of skin. Similar to the abuelos of the Matachina Dance, they carry long, leather whips with which they threaten the bystander. The motions and songs of the unmasked turtle dancers are similar to those of the dancing, singing Kachina in the p'o ku ceremony. There are indications that the Turtle Dance was originally an important, pre-Christian, solstice ceremony in which all the Pueblo males participated. Formerly, however, theTurtle Dance took place before the twenty-sixth of December, but was postponed until after Christmas when the Pueblos became Christianized. Parsons considers the Turtle Dance of San Juan "a Kachina dance without masks."2l But, if the masks are so sacred that "he who wears the masks becomes a god," can there be a Kachina without mask? The turtle dancers are unmasked but they wear the fe., a blessed, soft 22 Seeking Life feather, tiedtotheirhair, which hangs down over their forehead. Their naked, upper bodies are lavishly painted with the sacred nap'o Srn, found along the shores of the Rio Grande. This kind of paint is used by the masked Kachina under their costumes and masks. The unmasked dancer who wears the feand whose face and body show much of this paint is referred to as "one who is marked with the Kachina markings." If such dancers do not have the appearance of Kachina, they have, however, their markings. They are "like" the Raingods; they participate in their holiness, are recipients, carriers, and dispensers of their blessing.22 Whether a man is a masked Kachina, or whether he has the Kachina markings, or whether he is simply one of the many ceremonial dancers, he has become, himself, a source of the supernatural; he has become, at least temporarily, sanctified. Christian theology distinguishes between God and saints, between those who have been beatified, those who have attained priesthood, and those who have received God only as worshippers in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Tewa religion has no such theological dogma, but it does have a feeling for the different degrees of intensity to which humans may participate in the greatness of theGreatOnes -that is, the different stages of sanctification reached by the human being in the performance of ritual in his quest for the Good Life. The unmasked men and women dancers who appear during the Basket Dance (t'ug IadE) and the Corn Maiden Dance (powio.ade) are also "marked with the Kachina markings," and they, too, may be considered unmasked Kachina. These dances are usually given in the latter part of January and either one may be chosen as the first ceremony put on after the election of new officers. In the Corn MaidenDance, usually eight women appear, but only two at a time and together with a larger number of men. The women carry an ear of corn in each hand and wear an elaborate eagle tail headdress, The name of the BasketDance refers to the baskets carried by women dancers who, at one point in the ceremony, kneel down and, by rubbing their ceremonial feathersticks (carved for them by their men partners), go through the rhythmic motions of grinding corn. The men, lined up behind them, mark the rhythm with their rattles and songs: Introduction 23 We can hear the Raingods singing, The Raingods who are making Their thunderous sounds. The songs vary a great deal, since for each Basket Dance, the men assembled in the kiva will compose new songs to the ancient rhythms. Basket dancers do not wear silver jewelry. They are 'marked with the marks of the Kachina," and it would not be becoming for a Kachina to wear such jewelry as was never known before the white man's arrival. On the evenings preceding the Basket and Corn Maiden Dances, the Kachina may appear in the Large Kiva. In the case of the Basket Dance, the men who are to dance the following day come to the kiva and, before the Raingods appear, dance four times and then one time more. Their women partners, however, do not participate. Along with the dancers comes Ku gu-, the Mother Kachina, also known as the Hopi Mother, who, like all other Raingods, announces her coming by a thunderous noise. She is a Summer goddess and therefore is barefoot. Solemnly she carries her pottery bowl with holy water, sprinkling some of it towards the dancers who bend their heads in reverence. Some drops may fall upon the people, or even upon the Clowns whose privilege it is to make fun of sacred things. When holy water is cast upon them, a Clown may jump up and shriek, "Ouch, goddammit; it is cold!" He will say this, however, in Englisn, since the Tewa language lacks words of profanity and swearing. After sprinkling holy water on the dancers, the Hopi Mother, still in the ceremonial center of the kiva, dances with two or three of the most important dancers, who may be either the oldest men or the best singers. Through the sacred dance of some of their most representative members, the whole group is consecrated for their coming tasks. Two other ceremonies may be considered as "Kachina dances without masks." They are the Corn Dance, or Tablita Dance (xo heyS), and the Butterfly Dance (ei'i-). The Corn Dance is well known to any visitor to the Southwest, and has been described so often23 that I refrain from repetition. When 24 Seeking Life Xa-ye- t'a' was asked about the Corn Dance, he said: "A poor Corn Dance, where people have a merry-go-round and lots of concessions on the plaza, and where you don't feel anything holy, is not a Kachina dance any more. But a good Corn Dance, like they have in Santo Domingo, where you feel some of the sacredness, may very well be called a dance of unmasked Kachina." This remark clearly indicates that whether or not a dance is to be called a Kachina ceremony depends on the inner attitude, the spiritual approach of the dancer, and the intensity of feeling, rather than on the outward presence of masks and paints. The Butterfly Dance is put on by the women, independent of moiety affiliation, and is held in the winter, often following soon after the Deer Dance when "it is up to the women to put on a ceremony." The Butterfly Dance is both social and religious. At least four days before the dance, the "come out as men" may be held. As the name implies, all the women who are to participate in the dance come out as men, that is, in men's clothing. This is a somewhat comical affair; some of the older women are rather heavy and may find it difficult to button up their husband's pants over their own heavy stomachs. An older woman plays the part of the town crier (who normally is a man). She goes around the pueblo summoning the "males'" (who, of course, are women) to the dance. Then a meeting takes place in which the women choose their male dance partners. When the dancing women return to the center of the plaza, some of them may carry wood on their backs, imitating and ridiculing, again, one of the men's activities. Some men may dress up as women and, in baskets balanced on their heads, carry lunch to their "men" wives. To push the fun a little further, a man may even squat like a woman and, to everybody's laughter, he may go through the motions of a woman urinating. A few days later, the Butterfly Dance is held. Everything has returned to order: women are women, men are men. But, like an aftermath to the fun of the preceding "come out as men" ceremony, the women do the asking for the dance and receive gifts from their men partners. If the ButterflyDance is Introduction 25 considered sacred, it is one of the gayest and happiest dances as well, and so are its songs: Butterfly girls are dancing From flower to flower; Butterfly boys are dancing From flower to flower. Anderson24 sees in the unmasked Kachina an Eastern adaptation of the masked Zuni Kachina to the necessities of a church controlled environment along the Rio Grande. However, if this assumption were correct, why would two masked dancers, cavey6-, who are not Kachinas, be participating inthe unmaskedTurtleDance? Anderson does not seem to be aware of the fact that the Tewa have not only the maskless Kachinas, but also an ancient and important tradition of masked Kachinas as well. By considering a maskless Kachina as an incomplete version of a masked Zuni ritual, he, as well as Parsons,25 whom he quotes, ignores the fact that a man may become a Kachina not only by wearing the mask, but also-and perhaps primarily-through his sacred paint and inner attitude. C. Initiation Ceremonies While the appearance of the masked Kachina is optional in the ceremonies so far mentioned, there are three major ceremonies in San Juan in which the participation of the Raingods is essential. Of the two kinds of initiation ceremonies, the k'ewE-'e is for children of puberty age, and the rarely given p'o ku 'waterpouring' is for adults of any age. The initiation into the moieties, called k'ewe-'E, was formerly held once or twice a year for boys and girls ten to twelve years of age.26 This initiation takes place in the inner sanctum of the Small Kiva (Figure 4) and is the only time when women are allowed to enter.27 Girls and boys are initiated during the same ceremony, but the girls' initiation takes place first and its ritual is 26 Seeking Life considerably shorter and less meaningful than that of the boys.28 The girls are clad in the black manta, the boys wear G-strings only. All children are lined up against the kiva wall while their parents and the officials look on. The Cacique asks the ceremonial questions of each boy and girl individually, "Are you a man?" 'Yes, I am a man! " is the answer expected of each neophyte, boy and girl alike. And again, they are asked, "Are you a woman?" "Yes, I am a woman!" The claim of being both man and woman, i.e., of being attuned with nature's masculinity and femininity, with the forces of sky and earth, of north and south, of hardness and softness, is a ceremonial condition necessary for the proceeding of the ritual. All children are admonished not to speak to anyone about what they will see since they are the "only ones to whom this is revealed." The Kachina then enters the inner sanctum from the antechamber carrying his threatening yucca whips, and is told by the Cacique that there are several boys and girls waiting to be initiated. During the initiation proper, the Chief Raingod, O&'xwa ttutj you, or any other Kachina who may take his place, slaps each girl twice on each side with his yucca whip; the boys get four strong whippings, on their bare sides, which may leave their aching bodies bleeding. After the whipping, the Raingod and the girls leave the kiva. Soon afterwards, the masked god returns, announced to the boys by one of the joking Clowns: 'Be careful, here comes your friend again." The returning Kachina takes off his mask and each boy is told individually by the Cacique: "Let's see now how well you can do with our Master, the Chief Kachina, O'xwa t'un youj." One by one each awed and breathless boy is allowed to try on the Kachina's mask and to imitate, to everybody's laughter, theRaingod's gestures and sounds. But, while wearing the sacred mask, he must not utter a word nor dare walk like a human-he who wears the mask has, himself, become a god. Final sanction is given the initiated by the Cacique in Introduction 27 these solemn words: "Now you have become a man; now you have become a woman." This initiation ceremony is usually held a day or two before the performance of the Raingod Drama, Nu* hi, at the time when the Kachina masks have just been repainted and redecorated. The waterpouring ceremony, p'o ku, is held every seven years and lasts nine days. It is an initiation of children or adults into a moiety, and is preceded by four days of retreat and fasting. As the moieties are patrilineal, a woman who married a Tewa of the opposite moiety always joins her husband' s group. But, when a San Juan woman marries an Indian who is not a Tewa, and brings him home to live in her pueblo, he may be accepted into her moiety only after undergoing the waterpouring. The first eight days of the p'o ku- are open to members of the sponsoring moiety only, while the ceremony of the last day may be attended by all Indians in the pueblo. White men, however, are strictly excluded. This secret ceremony is very sacred and, as in most other kiva rituals, those who attend must wear blankets and moccasins. While in most Raingod ceremonies the Raingods utter only their characteristic, identifying vocal sounds and express themselves by gestures alone, in the waterpouring ceremony, there are also other gods in the back row who sing and dance. They wear half masks to which are attached long strands of hair. Another outstanding feature of the waterpouring is the appearance of a Raingodwoman, O'xwa kui (represented, of course, by a man), who leads a little boy Kachina by the hand. This boy is impersonated either by a very short man, or by a boy who has already been initiated. D. The Dance of Man Sejg ade, The Dance of Man, is one of the great Indian ceremonial dramas which has been kept secret for centuries and handed down through countless generations. It is an 28 Seeking Life unmasked dance with a great many participants, and, on the last evening, culminates in the appearance of the masked Raingods. The ceremony is always put on by the Winter people, but with the assistance of the Summer people and the various religious societies. Formerly, the dance was given regularly in November, but now only rarely. It is held in the Large Kiva on two nights, four days apart. Lined up inside the kiva against the west wall, and facing the entrance ladder, are the Old Men of both moieties, who do the singing. The younger men, unmasked, but with colorful costumes and body paint, perform the slow, dignified dance assisted by their women partners in the traditional manta. The dancers enter the kiva through the roof opening in ten groups, following each other in traditional order. The first group which climbs down the ladder is that of the Winter Cacique and his Assistants who are joined by their women partners. Lining up in two parallel rows, men and women alternating, they offer the Cacique's song, a slow, solemn prayer dance to the Great Ones. When their song is over, they leave and the Summer Cacique and his Assistants enter to offer, in turn, their prayer dance. When they have gone, the medicine men come with their bear claw necklaces and fetishes, and after them, the Kwirana Clowns, followed by the K'o'sa Clowns. Next come the Kwi yo' Priestesses and then the Game Priest, with his assistants who carry bow and arrow and a deer or buffalo skull. Eventually, the secular officers, in brightly colored shirts, leggings, and beaded moccasins, appear. They are led by the Governor, ceremonially referred to as the Santo Rey 'Holy King,' who carries his traditional two canes and is followed by his right and left hand assistants and by the fiscales, Indian officers of the local Catholic church. Then comes the War Captain and his men, who carry shields, bows and arrows. Each group has its own distinctive vocal sounds which have no meaning other than to distinguish one group from the other: the bears grunt, the K'o'sa and Kwi-rana give their Clown call, the Winter men sound their characteristic 'mui, Not every group has enough members to make an Introduc tion 29 impressive entrance. They may, therefore, be joined by others, the K'o'sa by the Kwi*rana, for instance, but always with the representative group in the lead. Every religious group enters together with its women members, while the secular officers and the group of Winter and Summer men are joined by Winter and Summer women from the l1iva crowd. They proceed in parallel rows of alternating men and women, each row moving in an oval circuit: the right group clockwise, the left group counterclockwise. Although their movements are alike, and although the same rhythm resounds in the underground chamber for all of them, each group dances to its own particular song. Once the Cacique's prayer is over, the songs become faster, the dancers' feet move more quickly, and more and more women get up from the floor to join their men partners. After each dance, the men and women of the religious societies climb up the ladder again; the other women silently return to their seats. When eight groups have offered their dances and songs, the Winter men appear, as a climax. Their yucca fiber skirts hang down in long fringes, two yucca fibers are crossed over their chests, and others are tied to their waists. Their upper bodies are painted, and a ceremonial feather hangs down from a strand of hair over their foreheads. Cotton snowflakes are sprinkled over the hair and fiber skirt, and rabbits, ducks, and pieces of mutton are tied around their waists. As the first Winter men appear at the bottom of the ladder, life comes into the Winter women squatted on the floor. Several jump up and rush to the big ladder, trying to seize a "good partner," i.e., one who has much meat attached to his waist. When their song is over, the men have left, and their partners are seated, the Summer men appear. Summer men and women are barefoot; the men wear dance kilts and their upper bodies are colorfully painted. In their hands they carry two large ceremonial feathers and flowers; leaves and fruits hang from their neck. Now it is the turn of the Summer women to get up, rush to the ladder, and grab for their men and their fruits and flowers. Again the two rows of men and women line up and with their gay and solemn songs and dances, they, too, 30 Seeking Life proceed in the oval circuit-all to the same movements and rhythm, but to different songs offered by the Old Men. Each group's song and dance lasts about thirty minutes, and according to ceremonial tradition, each song, to be powerful, should be given four times and then once more. During this first solemn night, each group appears only twice in the Large Kiva and once more in the inner sanctum; in the early morning hours, happily tired dancers, singers, and those who have watched, with hearts alone singing and dancing, climb up the ladder a last time, leaving below them an empty dark kiva, still vibrating with rhythm, song, and prayer. But while some of the blanket wrapped shadows climb down the outer kiva ladder to go home in the darkness of the quiet pueblo, the night's task is not yet over for the Winter men. They return to the Small Kiva where they select those who, on the fourth evening, will be Kachina and who, during preceding tryouts, had shown their ability and worthiness for such honor. For four days, the chosen men live in the Small Kiva practicing their roles, fasting, and cleansing themselves in compliance with the ancient taboos. But they are not alone; the Old Men keep them company by telling old stories and jokes. Then there are the masks which are company too: thqse which are to be beautified with new paints, colorful feathers, and dangling earrings-the masks which are waiting for their resurrection as gods. After these four days of preparation, the drama's second act is staged. On this evening, everything starts earlier and moves faster; again the ten groups of men descend into the Large Kiva; again they are joined by their women partners, with whom they perform, in the oval circuit, the sacred dance to ancient rhythms and holy songs. Twice, each of the ten groups appears and disappears, up and down.the ladders. When the whole sequence of the first night has been repeated, two Clowns appear to usher in the Raingods. E. The Raingod Drama The Raingod Drama, Nu hi, is the culmination of the Introduction 31 Dance of Man. It may also follow, by a day or two, the initiation ceremony for boys and girls; it may be given alone; or it may be given on the evening preceding the Basket or Corn Maiden Dance. In short, all appearances of the masked Cloudbeings in San Juan take the form of the Raingod Drama except those in initiation ceremonies. The general purpose of this ceremony is the contact with the supernatural and the blessing of the whole pueblo by the Great Ones, Formerly, when the appearance of the supernaturals was more frequent,29 the Raingod Ceremony was interwoven in the rhythmic cycle of the ceremonial year: it was given by the Winter people after the transfer ceremonies in November in which the Winter Cacique takes over the leadership of the pueblo; and it was repeated before planting time, usually in March, by the Summer people when the "children" had been transferred to the care of the Summer Cacique. At the proper time of the year, each moiety invoked the presence and blessing of the supernatural ones for the benefit of all. And so, apparently, did the religious societies. Since the end of World War II, the Raingod Drama has been performed in San Juan only once a year; in 1950 it was skipped entirely. Parsons30 has given a San Juan ceremonial calendar, although a somewhat incomplete one, in which she mentions that "Wintercloudpeople come" early in December and "Summercloudpeople come" before the planting season starts. Also, in January or February, on the night preceding the Basket Dance, the Kachina may or may not appear.31 (These are all references to what is described here as the Raingod Ceremony.) As a rule, one of the Caciques sets the date for the event and the men of the sponsoring moiety organize it. Sometimes, although rarely, the Raingod Ceremony is put on by the medicine men, often referred to as the Bears. In that case, the Bears would meet in one of the Small Kivas where they go through the four days of fasting and preparation, and the younger members of the medicine society-in recent years never more than four-appear as the Kachina. At the solemn entrance of the Raingods, one or two of the Bear Kachina may carry the yia~ kwiy6, the fetish representing the goddess from whom they derive their power, on their shoulders. The occasional organization of the Raingod Ceremony by 32 Seeking Life the medicine men may be understood as a survival from a time when all religious societies took turns in the ritual. At present, no religious society except that of the Bears may present the Raingod Ceremony. While I am speaking of the Raingod Drama, it must be pointed out that the Tewa do not seem to be conscious of the dramatic quality of their ceremony. I have obtained this drama in a series of talks and interviews spread over a long period of time. Some sessions lasted but a few minutes, others as long as three to four hours. The division of the drama into scenes was not given by any of my Indian friends; it simply seems to be a logical one for the material presented. The Raingod Ceremony is by no means the only drama of the Tewa. Many other ceremonial events of the Pueblos, including the Tewa, have dramatic quality and could be written up as dramas.3Z The reasons that no more of the Pueblo ceremonies have been so reported seem to be threefold: most non-Indian observers understand the gestures but not the Indian dialogue; many of the ritual 'dramas have literally gone underground and cannot be observed by the outsider; and finally, most Indians are inclined to describe the ceremonial actions rather than to give or translate the spoken words. The drama here described is one prepared and presented by the Winter people. But the reader should keep in mind that the sarte ceremony may be organized by the Summer people or, more rarely, by the medicine men. It is the organizing group which makes all the preparations in the Small Kiva, and whose members serve as masked Kachina, Assistants, ushers, and guards. Preparations for the ritual may last anywhere from six to eight days, during which try-outs are made for the various roles. Four days of cleansing and fasting in the Small Kiva precede the actual presentation and the repainting and redecorating of the masks. During these four days the Old Men keep the young men company by telling them stories, i.e., ancient legends, personal experiences, old men's wisdom, and jokes. The ceremony proper is held in the Large Kiva at night (after the four days of fasting), and lasts about two to three hours. Although everybody has known about the forthcoming Introduction 33 event, that evening a messenger goes from door to door to make the formal announcement. At every house he asks in a secret language if there are any non-Indians around. When he receives the proper answer, the messenger announces: "The kiva is open!" Soon people emerge from all the homes and, in the shadow of the night, a stream of men, women, and children, wrapped in their blankets and shawls, flows to the Great Kiva and silently, but full of expectations, climbs up the ladder one by one. II. THE TEXT OF THE RAINGOD DRAMA The Gods walk on every road of man and every road is sacred. John Collier Prologue: The Resurrection of the Masks The prologue begins seven nights before the performance of the Raingod Drama proper, and extends over several nights. The following is a condensation of the events of these seven nights. On the first night, the Cacique, his Assistants and the Old Men of the sponsoring moiety get together informally, and plan on having the Nu' hi, or Raingod Ceremony. In the late evening of the second night, the officials of the Winter people (the War Captain and his Assistants) go from house to house, knocking on each Winter man's door and calling him outside. In the clear darkness of the pueblo night, they formally extend to him the invitation which he has been expecting: "Come to the Small Kiva this night." Soon Winter men from all over the pueblo will leave their homes and, in the shadow of the night, assemble in the Small Kiva of the Winter people. The Old Men are already sitting on their blankets on the floor of the dimly lit kiva, chatting, waiting, and puffing up smoke from their ceremonial cigarettes. Anyone who enters the Small Kiva performs the Feeding Rite. From an opening in the kiva wall near the entrance, he takes a little sacred cornmeal and blows his breath upon it.33 Then, sprinkling the cornmeal on the ground near the kachina masks (never directly on them), he says the Feeding Prayer in a low voice: 34 The Text of the Raingod Drama 35 Partake of this sacred cornmeal Ye Raingods, To build your body strength.34 He then proceeds to the fireplace and ceremonially feeds cornmeal, as above, to the brave and youthful Firegod, Fa- tige 'eno, identified with the fire. When all men are assembled, the Winter Cacique stands up and addresses them:35 Children of the female Great Ones, Children of the male Great Ones, We gather here, We have been called here, Because a great plan fills our minds; We have been blessed With it; It has grown to maturity In our minds. We have talked it over Among ourselves And this is What we have decided to do: We have decided that, As an offering to the gods, We shall have The Raingod Ceremony That we might multiply in children And assure fertility of the soil And abundance of corn and of game. We want to offer this ceremony To please the gods, So that we may obtain Crops abundant, That we may be loved and liked, That we may catch up with that For which we are always yearning, That we may obtain Life of Abundance.36 One of the Cacique's Assistants gets up: Yes, this is the time At which we have decided To offer the Raingod Ceremony, So that we might keep Meadows and mountains alive 36 Seeking Life With grass and game, And that we might multiply In children. We have decided To have the Raingod Ceremony To please the gods, And to be loved and liked, So that we may catch up with that For which we are always yearning, That we may obtain Life of Abundance. Other men get up and substantially repeat what had been said before and, by their repetition, assure the Cacique that his plan has been accepted. Cacique. As we have all agreed that we shall have the Raingod Ceremony, to please the gods, to keep the O'ke- alive, to be loved and liked and to assure Iife of Abundance... let us decide now when we shall meet again to try out and select those who will appear as our O'xwa, our Krmina-, our Yeg sedo. Again by repetition, all consent on a proper time, usually the following night. On the third night; which follows the formal announcement of the Raingod Ceremony, the Winter men assemble again in the Small Kiva for the tryouts. Winter Cacique. Let us see now who will serve. He takes the mask of O-'xwa t'ug) yog, the Chief Kachina, and two or three men are tried out. They put the masks on and go through the motions and sounds of the Kachina. Winter Cacique. Let us now see how well you can play the T 'a- o-'xwa, the XEg o 'xwa, or Ke-mina. One by one, all kachina masks are tried out by several men; each moiety man tries out something. Finally the Old Men The Text of the Raingod Drama 37 choose those who will represent the Raingods. The selected men go home and tell their wives. On the fourth night, the selected man takes his bedroll or sheepskin to the kiva. The children are told: "Your father is going to Taos," or "Your father is going to the Apaches." The men who will be Kachinas spend the next four nights in the Winter Small Kiva to undergo the Purification Rite which will cleanse them for the ceremony. During these four days, they observe the usual taboos: abstinence from meat, salt, and women. Every morning before dawn, they leave the kiva and go to the fields to "feed" the Corn Gods with sacred cornmeal while saying the Morning Prayer: (Names himself) This is the sacred and holy name Of my person and my body. Ye spiritual ones, Ye, who art not physical beings, Ye have no reason to worry, Ye have no reason to be lonely, Ye have no reason to weep, Ye have no reason to be sad. I have come to feed you With sacred cornmeal; I have come to offer you This morning prayer. May ye Great Ones Keep plains and mountains alive With grass and with game. May I continue to be loved and liked. May I catch up with that For which I am always yearning. May I gain Life of Abundance. After the Morning Prayer, they return to the Winter Small Kiva and spend the day fixing and redecorating the masks while the Old Men keep them company by giving them advice and directions, and telling them stories and jokes. They may tell the creation myth of the emergence, other legends and folk stories, or relate personal experiences such as hunting adventures in wars against the Navajos and 38 Seeking Life Comanches. There is no boasting in these narrations, which may be considered a combination of entertainment and the handing down of Old Men's wisdom. Every night, those who are to represent the Raingods go through the Feeding Rite. They take a little sacred cornmeal in their right hands, blow their breath on it, and sprinkle it on the floor, before the masks. It is after this nightly feeding of the gods that the masks are used and the men practice and rehearse their parts. On the fourth or fifth evening, before the Kachina don their masks and costumes, their faces and bodies are ceremonially painted. The Winter Cacique builds himself an altar in the Small Kiva and makes holy water.37 In a pottery bowl, he passes out the holy water to the Kachina-to-be and to everybody present in the Small Kiva, giving his individual blessing to each one: Partake of this holy water Of O yi- ke, Our Great Motherly One, To strengthen your body. May you be loved and liked, May you achieve Your goal in life. Those who receive the holy water and the blessing take a drink out of the pottery vessel, swallow some of the water, spit the rest in their hand, and rub it over their body, saying: May it be so. May I have bodily strength, May I continue To be loved and liked, And gain Life of Abundance. May it be so. The Drama A. The Funmakers Inside the Large Kiva, small fires are burning in the The Text of the Raingod Drama 39 fireplaces. Candlelight flickers from the posts supporting the ceiling. Two ushers stand near the entrance and scrutinize the people as they enter, to verify their identity and make sure that no strangers enter the kiva. One by one, the Children of the Great Ones, i.e., the people-men, women, and childrenclimb down the ladder, file into the kiva silently, and sit down on their sheepskins spread out on the floor. Two guards take their seats on the top steps while the Governor sits down on the lower step of the adobe, fireplacelike, step shaped structure near the entrance, called the 'i- we fij. The Caciques and Priestesses arrive and silently seat themselves on their sheepskins in a certain seating arrangement (Figure 5). The men roll their ceremonial cigarettes38 and, in low voices, begin to say the Smoke Prayer: Ye Raingodmen, Ye Raingodwomen, Ye Raingodyouths, Ye Raingodmaidens: Partake of this holy moisture; Make raiment of this sacred fog; Ye Raingods of hither and yonder, Ye Raingods of red, of yellow and of blue39 Of gray and of waterclear. May ye be happy without tears; May ye be calm without sorrow; May ye be content without loneliness; May ye continue to dwell above us; May ye perform your deeds Of love and of kindness; May ye bring to us The great things of life. May we continue To be loved and liked; May we all catch up with that For which we are always yearning.40 The people are waiting and talking to each other, when suddenly a thunderous noise is heard. It is the Clowns, at the top of the kiva, who are "making thunder" by stomping their feet. The people laugh in anticipation of the fun they will have. The Clowns enter through a circular hole in the ceiling and lower themselves onto the steps of the 'i- we' fig. Each Clown 40 Seeking Life carries his sheepskin pack tied to his back. The people take sacred cornmeal in their right hands and sprinkle it on the floor towards the Clowns. Mothers pass out some cornmeal to their children, who likewise perform the Feeding Rite. Each Clown then sits down on one of the top steps at opposite sides of the structure, watching the people and looking curiously and searchingly around. First Clown. I wonder where we are, Little Twin Brother? Second Clown. Oh, we are probably in hell.41 Look at all those devil heads around. First Clown (pointing at a woman). Look, Brother, that one over there is looking at me. Second Clown. Maybe she is in love with you. The people laugh as the Clowns descend slowly from the 'i' we fin and walk around the kiva, scrutinizing the people. The First Clown walks over to the side where the men are seated and peeks at them. They hide under their blankets so that they will not be recognized and thus avoid the Clowns' embarrassing comments. The Second Clown walks over to the women's side and scrutinizes them. They are also hiding under their shawls, but some of the children who are not covered look curiously around. First Clown (pointing at a child). Hey, Twin Brother, look over here. This kid looks like me; maybe it is mine.42 Again the people laugh. The Governor, seated on the lower step of the 'i' wE fig, is easily identified by his seat, and, as he cannot hide, is the object of many jokes: Second Clown. Oh, Little-Brother-Older-Than-I, look who is sitting here! It's the Governor! Do you know that he has been making love to the War Captain's wife? A Woman. I with the Clowns would not talk like that with so many children around.43 The two Clowns change places from the women's side to the men's side, respectively, and, for a while, continue their jokes, walking and looking around leisurely. The Text of the Raingod Drama 41 First Clown. You know, when people are travelling, they have to stop and eat, don't they? Second Clown. You are right, Younger-Brother-Older-Than-I; people do. Let's sit down and eat. The Clowns, taking their sheepskin packs off their backs, unwrap meat and bread, and sit down on their sheepskins near the Caciques. They break off small bits of food, throw them to the ground, and mumble the Food Offering Prayer: Ye, who art souls departed, Partake of this food, To build your body's strength. The Clowns begin to eat a little. First Clown. It is said that when people eat, they tell stories, don't they? Second Clown. You start with a story, Little-Brother-OlderThan-I. First Clown. Oh, the other day, when I was walking to the home of the refuse,44 I saw Flower Mountain going out to gather cowchips.45 Andwhom,do you think, did I see coming over to help her? Second Clown. Bear Mountain, I guess. First Clown. You said it, Little-Brother-Older-Than-I, and was he helping her, indeed!46 Second Clown. And do you know what I saw when I went to the river last week? First Clown. No, I haven't the faintest idea. Second Clown. Well, I saw Big Mountain running after Cactus Blossom.47 First Clown. Did he catch her? The people laugh as the Clowns continue for about twenty minutes to eat and tell jokes, mostly about lovemaking. When they have finished their meal, they begin to hand out bits of meat and bread to the nearby people, saying: "Here, throw this away." They then roll up their sheepskins, tie them carefully, and lay them by the Caciques, whom they address: "Please, do not take care of this for me."48 42 Seeking Life B. The Bringing of the Rai Second Clown. Now, let's get down to business. The First Clown steps carefully over some of the women and children seated to his right, walks to one of the fireplaces along the north wall, picks up some ashes and carries them to the center of the kiva. First Clown. Let's try our luck! He claps his hands as if brushing off the ashes which form an ash cloud. He looks upward, toward this ash cloud, to opae mako- d* 'the heavens,' shading his eyes with one hand to indicate that he is trying to see something in the distance. He is looking for the Raingods moving about on the clouds. This gesture is always repeated just before a Clown speaks about what he "sees." First Clown. I see nothing at all. Now,Little-Brother-OlderThan-I, you try. Second Clown. You said you did not see anything, didn't you, Little-Brother-Older- Than-I? First Clown. That's right, I did not see anything. Second Clown (clapping his hands, as above, throwing the ashes downward, and looking towards the ash cloud). Well, I cannot see anything either. The Clowns repeat the above by looking in the other four directions: north, west, south, and east. The Clown often pretends to throw his ashes in one direction, then, with a quick movement, turns around and actually throws them the opposite way; then he tries again to "see," but always with the same result: "I see nothing at all." First Clown (clapping his hands, then shading his eyes with his left hand). You said, my Twin Brother, that you did not see anything. Well, I see Thundercloud hugging Bluecorn. (The people laugh.) And then, now, I see a lake, the Muddy Water, far, far away-far away. Second Clown. And I see water moving; it is churning, and bubbling, and you hear the troubled waters splashing. (He The Text of the Raingod Drama 43 imitates the sound and motion of the water.) There seems to be some excitement in the lake, but that's all. Now you try and see what you can see. First Clown. You said you saw the Muddy Water Lake with water churning and splashing, didn't you? Well, out there I see the water bubbling; it's bubbling, and I see a head sticking out, one lonely one. Now, Little-Brother-OlderThan-I, you try it. Second Clown. You said that you saw a lonely one sticking out, didn't you? First Clown. Yes. Second Clown. But this lonely one, who is sticking his head out, is coming out now; and there is another one coming out, and another one, and another one; and he emerges, and there is another one who is coming out, and another one, and they keep coming out, and keep coming out, and keep coming out. And they are lifting the sacred Cloudflower49 out of the lake, carrying it in their outstretched hands. And more and more of them come out, bringing with them the sacred Cloudflower, bringing with them the power to make rain, the power to raise watermelon, the power to raise musk melon, the power to raise squash, wheat, and corn, the power to hunt deer, the power to hunt buffalo, and they keep coming out with the power to hunt rabbits and the power to kill skunks. (The people laugh.) And they come with their power to bring plentiful crops, increase in animals and children, and here they come, here they come. Now, quickly, Little-Brother-OlderThan-I, hurry, and see what you can see. First Clown. You said you saw them coming out of the Muddy Water Lake, and there were many of them, Well, let's see. Now they rise from the lake lifting their fog-rainbow and their Cloudflower, rising with their thunder and lightning, with bird songs and cricket chirps and with their power to bring rain and abundance. And they are moving on to the Stone Man Lake, and there again they lay down their fog rainbow, take their Cloudflower with them, and disappear in the waters. But there are many more of them in this deep lake, and they come out, and keep on coming out, and keep on coming out. And now you try, Little- B r othe r- Olde r - Than- I. Second Clown. You said that they are coming out of the Stone Man Lake, didn't you? And they are still coming, and they keep on coming, and they lift up the Cloudflower, and are coming with their fertility, with all their power to raise corn, musk melon, and wheat, and with their power to kill deer and buffalo and rabbit, and with all this goodness they are moving on fo Stone Man Mountain, and now they 44 Seeking Life go over the top of Stone Man Mountain, but on they travel with their thunder and lightning and bird songs and cricket chirping. They are coming to Thunder Lake, and here they submerge again; now they come out, and many others emerge with them; and there are more and more, and they are coming, and keep on coming and coming. But, now, you try, my Twin Brother. The Clowns continue to "see" the Raingods coming on a cloud, from lake to lake, coming closer and closer, and bringing along with them the Cloudflower and all their powers, goodness, and blessing. While, during the first part of their voyage, more and more Raingods emerge from every lake, their number begins to decrease as they approach the pueblo. First Clown. You said some of them remained in the Willow Leaf Lake, and fewer of them came out of it, didn't you? Well, now I see those few coming closer, with their deer killing power, their buffalo killing power, and with their power to raise corn and watermelon and squash and beans, and now I see them come to the Clear Water Lake,50 and they are going into the lake and submerging. They are coming out of it, coming out of it, coming out of it, and some more are coming out of it, with all their thunder and lightning, and rain bringing, with all the goodness of their bean raising, and squash raising, corn raising, and melon raising, and deer killing, and fox killing, and rabbit killing. But there are not as many emerging from Clear Water Lake as entered. Some of them have stayed in the Clear Water Lake, but the few that came out are moving towards San Juan, and come closer, and closer, and, well, Little-Brother-Older-Than-L you try. Second Clown (clapping hands, holding his left hand on his forehead as before). You said they are coming closer to San Juan, didn't you? Now I see they arrive at the home of the refuse. They arrive there with all their power to bring rain and growth and fertility, and... and now you go on, Little-Brother-Older-Than-I. You see what you can see. Three Priestesses, who have been sitting in front of the audience in their ceremonial manta, arise, Each has a ceremonial feather hanging down over her forehead. While the Clowns report the progress of the Raingods, the Priestesses walk slowly The Text of the Raingod Drama 45 along the lighted posts to the '1i we fii. From the ladder behind this structure, they start walking solemnly in an elongated circuit to the Caciques and back to the ladder, performing theSanctifyingRite by taking cornmeal out of their baskets, blowing their breath over it, and then sprinkling the cornmeal. They are- preparing a narrow, sacred path for the Raingods while slowly saying to themselves a prayer, which appears here in a shortened version: Ye Great Ones, Now ye come To visit with us. We humble ones Prepare This sacred path For you; the Great Ones, This sacred path On which ye shall proceed. When the cornmeal path is closed near the ladder, behind the 'If we firj, the Priestesses start to their seats, reaching there at about the same time that the Raingods arrive at the bottom of the outside ladder. First Clown (clapping his hands and shading his eyes). You said they had arrived at the home of the refuse, didn't you? Second Clown. Yes. First Clown. Well, from the home of the refuse, they proceed with their Cloudflower, with their thunder and lightning, and bringing with them bird songs and cricket chirpings; with their power to bring rain, and fertility, and growth. With all their great goodness they enter the pueblo. Now they are getting closer; I see them coming over here to the very center of San Juan, and now... and now they are reaching the Na-n sipu p'inge, the Earth Navel,51 the very house of the Xa- ye, the sacred stone fetish. And here, at the Xa- ye na-n sipu p'inge, they have paused; they have laid down their fog rainbow and deposited the Cloudflower, and they are resting. But now you try, Little-Brother-Older-Than-I. While the Clowns are bringing the Raingods, the Winter men, 46 Seeking Life who, wrapped in their blankets, had lined up near the entrance to the kiva, have slowly turned their backs on the audience and with outstretched arms spread the blankets so as to form the screen concealing the kiva entrance, and partitioning off the part of the kiva closest to the entrance. This back stage is called the fa-' o'xu-n 'fire shadow' since it is separated from the lights and fires of the kiva by the blanket screen. In the meantime, the Assistants have led the masked Kachina from the Small Kiva, where they had been preparing themselves over the past hours, to the Large Kiva.52 They go silently down the ladder, still invisible to the people, lining up in the shadow of the blanket screen. Now the attendants take out the silencing cornhusks from the belts of the Kachina and give to each Raingod his paraphernalia: yucca whips, melons, rabbits, evergreen tree, etc. Second Clown. You said that they had already arrived at the Na-1 sipu p'inge, didn't you? First Clown. Yes, my Twin Brother, that is what I said. Second Clown (clapping and lifting his left hand above his eyes). Well, now, I see them coming from the Na" n sipu p'inge, coming closer, coming closer, and here they come, here they come; they come right to the foot of the ladder, bringing with them thunder, and wind, and bird songs, and cricket chirpings. And here they are at the foot of the ladder, with all their power to bring rain, and growth, and abundance; with their power to raise corn, and squash, and beans, and musk melons; with their power to kill rabbits, and deer, and buffalo; they are at the foot of the ladder. Now Little-Brother-Older-Than-I, you see what you can do. First Clown. You said that they are right at the foot of the ladder, didn't you? Second Clown Yes. First Clown. Well, from the foot of the ladder they start climbing the steps; they keep climbing, keep climbing, climbing, climbing until they are right here at the tE-'E sofo t'affidi tc'k'cdi. Second Clown. And here they are with their thunder, their wind, their lightning, their bird songs, their cricket chirpings! First Clown. Here they are with their power of corn raising, of squash raising, of watermelon raising; with their deer killing power, their buffalo killing power, their fox kill The Text of the Raingod Drama 47 ing power; their power to bring rain, and thunder, and lightning; their power to bring fertility, and growth, and abundance, right here at the t- solfo t'affidi tF*k'cdi.53 C. The Solemn Entrance of the Raingods Unnoticed by the people, the Raingods have lined up silently behind the blanket screen. They have been helped by their Assistants who, as long as the Kachinas are invisible to the audience, will make their noises for them. During the preceding scene, the Clowns have stirred up everybody's feelings to the utmost. Now, all are waiting tensely, tingling with excitement. People get cornmeal ready and say prayers to themselves; everybody straightens out to get a better view. Suddenly, a deafening noise breaks loose from behind the blanket screen, filling men, women, and children with a feverish fascination. The closely packed, dimly lit kiva, hot and sticky from the crowd of huddled, squatting, human bodies, is astir with joyful anticipation. There is a wild roar from the top of the kiva opening, and the gods seem to have dropped suddenly, bringing with them frightening thunder, lovely bird songs, and the rhythmic jingling of a hundred tiny bells attached to their writhing waists and their swiftly moving feet. The shrill hoots, the resounding whooping, and the weird piercing sounds which identify each individual Raingod intermingle. Suddenly, a long, bony, white painted hand, representing a spirit, reaches down through the si wo- wabe, the circular opening in the center of the kiva ceiling, to throw blessed corn and pinfons to the people who reach out for them in happy, joyful excitement. The shivering Clowns cry frightfully, "u-i, uwi, ui," and rush to their sheepskin rolls which they had left with the Caciques. They unroll the sheepskins, fasten them with ropes around their waists, and, pretending to be fear stricken and jittery, draw closer together. The roaring, whooping, and hooting makes the children shudder and pull closer under their mothers' shawls; only curious faces with big frightened eyes peep out here and there. 48 Seeking Life The Clowns, in expectation of the Raingods, rush towards the entrance to welcome the Great Ones: Yes, yes, may it be so! Our Great Ones, Ye wise gods and revered goddesses, Come hither And warm yourselves In our hearts. Ye have come to see us, Ye are bestowing honor upon us By coming to see your Children. We rejoice seeing you. Yes, yes, our Great Ones, Come hither and feel welcome! When the Old Men hear the Clowns welcoming the gods, their faces light up with renewed joy and expectation. During the entire following scene, the noise of thunder, wind, singing, birds, crickets, and the individual sounds of the Raingods continues, first from backstage, and later-as the Raingods appear, one by one-in the main part of the kiva. The Raingods, whose presence is sensed and who are heard long before they actually appear, bring with them thunder and wind, birds, bugs, and cricket chirpings. The first one to make his solemn entrance from behind the blanket screen is O'xwa t'ug ydj, the Chief Raingod. He stomps his feet heavily, first bending over to one side, then shifting his weight and pounding the floor with his other foot. The tiny bells around his waist and ankles jingle, and the loose ends of the colored yarn around his knees flutter as he moves. The feather headdress topping his mask trembles; the big, blue, turquoise earrings swing on their cotton strings, while the threatening yucca whips in his hands quiver, and the evergreen collars around his neck, waist, and arms seem to be vibrating with life. From under his colorfully painted mask comes a long, gutteral, mumbled roar, rising at intervals to a fortissimo. Simultaneously, the noises of other-still invisible- Raingods are heard, and there are high pitched hoots from behind the blanket screen: "u-i, u-i." Slowly, majestically, and awe inspiringly, he advances towards the Caciques, preceded by The Text of the Raingod Drama 49 the First Clown who welcomes and leads him without touching him. First Clown (walking backwards in front of the Raingod, and slowly leading him around). This way, Great One, this way. The people are performing the Feeding Rite by taking cornmeal in their hands, exhaling their breath on it, and then throwing the cornmeal to "feed" the gods, all the while praying: Ye Great Ones, Ye have come to see us. We are rejoicing And we welcome you. O'xwa t'ufl yoxj hands his watermelon to the First Clown, who carries it to the Caciques and lays it down. Gradually the thunder, wind, and bird noises are fading away; only the sounds of the Raingods are heard. In the meantime, T'a-' O-'xwa, the Sun Raingod, has entered from the enclosure. He, like all other Raingods, carries a yucca whip in each hand, holding it at the root ends, pointed downward. The Second Clown welcomes him, and, by simple gestures without touching him, and still walking backwards, leads him in front of the Cacique. In the meantime, the First Clown has returned to the entrance where he welcomes the third Raingod. The Clown takes his watermelon, and places it before the Caciques to whom he leads the Kachina. Now both Clowns take turns welcoming the Raingods until about eight or ten of them, one by one, have made their grand entrance. Each of them holds his yucca whip, and one of them, called C 'sE o lxwa, carries a whole evergreen tree. During their entrance, as well as during the scene which follows, the Raingods continue their individual noises and move counterclockwise around the kiva in an oblong circle. The Chief Raingod continues his characteristic stamping. 50 Seeking Life When all the Raingods have entered, the thunder, wind, and bird noises stop; the blanket screen is folded up and disappears as the "makers of the blanket screen," who had been standing behind it, drop their blankets so that they, too, may watch and participate in the following scene. D. The Reception of the Raingods First Clown (approaching the Raingods with wide, outstretched arms). Yes, Great Ones! Let us be friends! The Chief Raingod does not respond to this friendly gesture but rather strikes the Clown with his yucca whips. First Clown (although somewhat protected by his sheepskin, gets a good switch across his back). Ouch, goddam,54 that hurts! (He jumps to the side. Then, with outstretched arms, he again approaches the same Raingod who still continues to move around.) Come on! Let's make friends! The Chief Raingod now extends his slightly bent arms alternately to the right and to the left in a gesture of welcome. By this gesture, he indicates that he accepts the friendship of the Clowns. These motions of rejection, and later of welcome, are repeated between each Raingod and each Clown. All this time, and until their final exit, all the Raingods, except the Chief while he is "talking, n continue to move around in an elongated circle repeating their specific vocal sounds. The Chief Raingod approaches the Caciques. Second Clown (to the Chief Raingod). Yes, yes, 0 Great one. I think you have something on your mind, something you want to say, don't you? The Chief Raingod nods with his whole body and continues his grunting and stomping. He points at himself, indicating "we," then motions with his arms in a roundabout gesture-"have come"-then points at a place before himself-"here"-then points from his masked head toward the Caciques, thus The Text of the Raingod Drama 5 1 expressing his desire to talk to them: "We have come here to talk to the Caciques."55 A young man, motioned by a Clown, stands up. First Clown (pointing at the young man). Here he is. The Chief Raingod shakes his head violently. The Second Clown motions both Caciques to stand up. They rise from their seats and stand directly in front of the Chief Raingod who is facing them. The Chief Raingod "talks" to the Cacique and the Winter Cacique interprets these gestures to the People: "We have come from far, as we were concerned about you, and we wanted to see how our Children are getting along. It has reached my ear that you people have not listened to your gods, and we came to punish you." Winter Cacique (speaking for the people now). No, ye Great Ones, we have not been bad; we have tried to get along with one another; we have lived in peace; we have lived in harmony with one another. We have been good people, haven't we, Children of the Great Ones? People (having stopped the ceremonial feeding, are just watching and listening). Yes, yes, yes! Winter Cacique. We are glad and thankful that ye Great Ones came to honor us humble people with your presence, and that you came to look after your Children. We humble people shall continue to be good and try to live in peace and harmony with one another. We were happy that ye came, and now, to your loved ones, ye may return.- (The Caciques sit down again.) E. The Blessing by the Raingods The Makers of the Blanket Screen line up again and during the following scene gradually unfold their blankets and once more set up the blanket screen separating the backstage. First Clown (to Chief Raingod). We are happy and thankful that you came to visit with us. Second Clown. But this climate is too warm for you. You may return now to the rest of your kind. Your loved ones are already waiting for you. 52 Seeking Life The Raingods still move around in a counterclockwise, elongated circle, continuing their individual noises. One by one, as they come, they are led out by the Clowns to the blanket screen. However, each Raingod, before leaving, stops near the exit and performs the Blessing Rite. Still holding his yucca whips, he joins his closed fists and with slightly bent arms he reaches out, first upward, then downward, then towards the east, south, west, and north-to take in the Great Goodness, that is, the powers of rainmaking and of raising corn and squash, beans and watermelons, the powers of killing deer, buffalo, and rabbits; in short, the blessing of fertility and abundance. He then takes this Great Goodness from above and below, and from the four other directions, passes his hands over his body, and, with outstretched arms, offers it to the People who are watching the Raingods' motions in devout silence. Then, with a catching movement of their arms, they reach out and with deep breaths, take in the Great Goodness extended to them, mumbling "May it be so." The Clowns, who have watched attentively and also "breathed in" the goodness, repeat "Yes, yes, may it be so!" As solemnly as they have entered, the Raingods leave, one by one, each performing the Blessing Rite, and offering the Great Goodness to the people. Each god is then led by one of the Clowns to the blanket screen, from behind which an unmasked Assistant will lead him up the ladder to the Small Kiva. After the last Raingod has left, a Clown exclaims: "Thank goodness, they are gone, these troublemakers!" F. The Man Ceremony While the people are still under the spell of the preceding scene, Yeg sedo-, the Silent One, enters from behind the blanket screen. He is alone and has not been seen before. A kind of clownish Raingod, he wears a funny mask with a crooked mouth and does not utter a sound. Everything in the kiva is quiet now and nothing can be heard but the feet of Yeg sed6- tapping heavily on the kiva floor as he slowly advances. He walks like an old man, carrying a bow and arrow, taking a few steps, then pausing to give his body a good shake. The The Text of the Raingod Drama 53 Clowns are still present and the following takes place between them and the Silent One; the Clowns speak, the Silent One uses gestures. First Clown (looking around, observing the Raingod and staring At him). Who is this one anyway? Second Clown. Maybe this is a tramp. The Silent One continues his shaking motions while the Clowns scrutinize him. First Clown. Oh, it is our Great One! Are you our Great One? The Silent One nods his head affirmatively. Second Clown. It seems that you are tracking something. The Silent One puts his hands-with outstretched forefingers -to his head, thus gesturing "deer." First Clown. Oh, you look for a deer! Second Clown. Which way did the deer go? The Silent One gestures: that way, over there. First Clown. We did not see any deer though. Second Clown. Why are you looking for a deer? The Silent One indicates: here are his tracks. First Clown. If you find a deer, what will you do to him? The Silent One answers by lifting up his bow and arrow to shooting position. Second Clown. Where would you shoot him? The Silent One points to his heart. He continues to move around without a sound, as if searching for something. 54 Seeking Life Second Clown. What are you looking for? Did you lose anything? The Silent One shakes his head. First Clown. I guess you have something on your mind, don't you? The Silent One nods affirmatively. Second Clown. What is it that you have on your mind? The Silent One holds both hands before his chest in a gesture indicating small firm breasts and thus expressing his desire for a virgin. First Clown (asking a young boy to stand up). Is this what you want? The people laugh, and the Silent One shakes his head vigorously. Second Clown. CornBlossom, where are you? (A young girl about ten years old, clad in shawl and manta and sitting with her family, is called from the crowd and escorted by the Clown to the Silent One who now stands in front of the two Caciques. First Clown (to the Silent One). What are you going to give her? The Silent One unties from his waist one of several freshly killed rabbits which are wrapped in evergreen and gives it to the Clown who passes it on to the girl. Corn Blossom accepts the evergreen bundle containing the rabbit and holds it in front of her on her slightly bent arms. Second Clown (to Corn Blossom). Give me your shawl. The girl, still standing motionless, takes off her shawl and The Text of the Raingod Drama 55 passes it to the Clown. The Silent One indicates that no, she should lie down. First Clown (arranging the girl's shawl on the floor directly in front of her in the shape of a woman lying down for her husband). All right, she is willing. Go ahead. The Silent One shakes his head and gestures that she should spread her legs more. The people laugh. The Second Clown stretches the ends of the shawl, but again the Silent One indicates that the legs should be spread further. The Clown complies as the people laugh again. The Silent One lays down his bow and arrow, then goes through the Blessing Rite. He reaches out with his hands into space to catch the breath and goodness from the air. He catches the goodness from above; he catches the goodness from below; he catches the goodness from the north, the west, the south, and the east. He passes his hands over his body, as if trying to get the goodness and strength from within himself; then he takes all this goodness and strength and blessing and, by clapping his hands, shoots it at the girl who stands silent and embarrassed. First Clown. He is finished. Second Clown (to girl). Did it hurt? The people laugh. First Clown (to the Silent One). Now you have accomplished the Man Ceremony.56 The Silent One calls by motions for three other young girls57 and goes through the above scene of the spread out shawl and the Blessing Rite with each of them. Then he gives the Blessing Rite to everybody present and eventually walks out behind the blanket screen. From there, unseen by the people, he leaves the kiva. The people, having devoutly followed the Blessing Rite and breathed in the goodness extended to them, utter, "May it De so!" Both Clowns walk out behind the enclosure but come back a few moments later imitating the 56 Seeking Life sounds and gestures of the Raingods to everybody's laughter. Then they advance towards the Caciques and pick up the sacred melons which the Raingods have brought. With their hands they break the melons into small pieces which they pass out especially to the women and children. Everybody eats the pieces of blessed melon while some of the older women pick little bits of melon and, by throwing them on the ground, "feed" them to the departed ones, mumbling: Partake of this food Ye, who are souls departed To strengthen your bodies. Second Clown. Let's get out of here. Both Clowns roll up their sheepskin packs, sling them over their shoulders, and give the Blessing Rite to everybody present. They take the goodness from the six directions, pass over their bodies, and throw it at the people, saying: "May you be loved and liked through the goodness of ea' faya 6Eamu and may you die immediately!58 The people again exclaim: "May it be so!" Both Clowns then remove their hide and cornhusk headgear and disappear behind the blanket screen which, during the following, gradually folds up, thus transforming the Large Kiva again into one large room without a backstage. The men who had spread their blankets to make the enclosure go up the ladder and join the other offstage performers in the inner sanctum. G. The Thanksgiving Prayer While the people are still sitting on the floor, the two Caciques stand up and speak to them. The Summer Cacique speaks first: Verily, we have been bad; But the Great Ones, In their supreme goodness Were concerned with us, The Text of the Raingod Drama 57 And they have been in our midst. They had come to punish, But, in their goodness and kindness They granted forgiveness. May this night, Made sacred By the presence of the Great Ones, Remind you To be kind one to another, To be helpful one to another, And to live in harmony And in peace. Children of the Great Ones, We are gathered here In the desire for life, In the desire to be loved and liked, And to receive goodness From the Spiritual Ones. We have become tired Of limb and of arm, But tiredness and soreness Are not all that have come to us. People (mumbling). Yes, we have worked hard; We have become tired And our muscles have grown sore. But we have done all this That we might multiply in children, That we might be loved and liked And achieve our goals On the path of life. Winter Cacique. We have become tired Of limb and of arm, But tiredness and soreness Are not all that have come to us As we have gained Life of Abundance. May you be loved and liked Through the supreme goodness Of our Great Motherly One, O^ yi- ka; And of myself who am nothing But a poor human. May you be loved and liked 58 Seeking Life And catch up with that For which you are always yearning. The Winter Cacique gives his blessing to the people by inconspicuously bringing the goodness out of himself and throwing it to them with both open hands. People (reaching out with catching movements of their arms and with deep breaths, taking in the Great Goodness bestowed upon them). May it be so! May we be loved and liked And through the supreme goodness Of the Great Motherly One, 0- yi- ka-, Catch up with that For which we are always yearning, And gain Life of Abundance. Winter Cacique. It is open! Now go to your homes Without worry, Without weeping, Without sadness. People (mumbling as they leave silently). May it be so. Epilogue: The Homegoing of the Prayerfeathers All the Winter men who have taken an active part in the preceding ceremony, the Raingods, their Assistants, the Clowns, the Old Men, the Makers of the Blanket Screen, and the Ushers, assemble in the Small Kiva where they are later joined by the Winter Cacique. Here the Old Men will give their thanks and blessings to the people, and together with the Winter people assembled with them, will repeat, with little variation from the foregoing, the Thanksgiving Prayer. Soon bowls and baskets of food are brought to the Small Kiva. As usual, bits of food and short prayers are offered to The Text of the Raingod Drama 59 the Departed Ones before the general feasting. Early the following morning, evergreen, yucca whips, and certain ceremonial feathers59 are carried from the Small Kiva out of the pueblo to the uncultivated land where they are deposited. They are "returned" to the Spiritual Ones. Breath is blown on feathers and evergreen; cornmeal is sprinkled over the sacred objects while a prayer is said: My name is (names himself). Your belongings I return to you, Ye Great Ones. Your belongings Which I have used In Seeking Life. I have tried hard To please you gods; I have tried hard To serve you Great Ones In the Raingod Ceremony. May I continue To be loved and liked. May I catch up with that For which I am always yearning. May I gain Life of Abundance. Then, the Winter men return to the Small Kiva and perform the Feeding Rite before the masks which are now stripped of their decorations and stored away; the sacred masks which had been gods are now masks again. Thus ends the Raingod Ceremony. III. INTERPRETATION AND MEANING Myth... in its living, primitive form, is not merely a story told but a reality lived. Bronislaw Malinowski Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestations. Joseph Campbell The Raingod Ritual as a Dramatic Experience The Raingod Ceremony is a ritual drama in which the whole pueblo participates. There are no spectators in the usual sense; there are only performing and nonperforming participants. As John Collier so aptly phrased it: "The Pueblo Indian experiencer of the sacred drama knows that he is raised into vastness, made free from personal trouble, flooded with impersonal joy and ardor, and plunged into the overflowing tide of the tribal and world soul."6o It is a drama with both solemn passages and comic relief, a drama with expectation and tension, building up to an exciting climax with true coup de theatre and its gradual denouement. And it is ritual because, while entertaining, its main purpose is to achieve contact with the supernatural. But while the characters of the drama appear as individuals- each Raingod having his specific function, appearance, and vocal sounds-this ritual drama is not the story of an individual person or god, but rather the drama of a group experience, the dramatic meeting of a people with their gods. In it the spiritual powers are personified and dramatized, 60 Interpretation and Meaning 61 but actually, they may be considered as projections from the subconscious of the people. The outer drama, performed in the sacred kiva, is but the projection of the inner drama of the human soul: man's longing for spiritual development and elevation counteracted in eternal fight by his egotistic and materialistic desires. Because this drama is not the story of individuals and their destiny, but the story of a people and their gods, the dramatic projection of the very soul of each and every Tewa, everybody in San Juan participates in the ceremonial event. No spectators are allowed at the San Juan Raingod Ceremony; that is, no outsiders, no white people, no Spanish. Only the Tewa himself, whose very drama is performed, can sit on the kiva floor watching the Clowns and the Raingods and actively participate in the ceremony. The people, who watch the appearance of the Raingods in the kiva, are not a mere audience; their presence, their reactions, their expectation, their awe, their joy, and their laughter are as necessary in the Raingod Ceremony as the presence of the Raingods themselves. After sitting for several hours on the crowded kiva floor, the people's muscles are almost as sore and tired as those of the men who have been moving around the oblong circle. The function of the people in the drama may be compared to that of the chorus in Greek tragedies which has been described as "a foil, a type of common humanity beside the heroic figures of legend"61 used for "creation of atmosphere, of contrast, of escape and relief."62 Nietzsche has emphasized that in Greece, "tragedy sprang from the tragic chorus"63 and we may add that the same seems to be true of the Pueblo Indian drama. In Pueblo CornDances, no heroic figures appear, only choruses, groups of dancers and singers composed of the great majority of the people of the pueblo. Almost everyone participates actively, or at least used to do so before the ancient traditions began to break down. In the Kachina drama, heroic figures of the Raingods as well as Clowns do appear, but the mass of the people, the Children of the Great Ones, do not form groups of singing and dancing choruses any longer; their role has been reduced to that of nonperforming 62. Seeking Life participants or a participant audience. In the Kachina drama we have more than a ritual, more than a dancing and singing chorus; we have an orally transmitted drama, we have a ritual which has become art. Goethe has said that "in the tragedy the catharsis occurs through some kind of human sacrifice, either an actually performed sacrifice or one which has been substituted upon the action of a benevolent deity."64 This very idea has been elaborated by Helen Adolf: Tragedy arose out of sacrifice; it still is a substitute for it.... tragedy and even serious drama cannot do without some kind of sacrifice.65 The Raingod Ceremony is, of course, not a tragedy, but it is a drama with a certain Shakespearian quality in being interspersed with elements of comedy. Like all serious drama, like life itself, it is based on sacrifice: a maiden symbolically offers her virginity to the Silent One, a sacrifice which, if not deadly, is no less a bloody one: the blood of the virginal hymen is symbolically offered to the god. This highly sublimated human "blood sacrifice" of the Apollonian Pueblo is a far cry from that of the mezzo-American cultures where thousands were sacrificed to offer their very hearts as a nourishment to the gods. In the Guatemalan Quiche drama, Rabinal,66 the hero's life is offered in a ritual slaying to the insatiable, demanding gods; in the ceremonial of the Tewa with their religion and social structure of "benevolent paternalism,"67 the blood of a hymen takes its place. Thus, while the ancient Greek tragedies were aimed at the purification or emotional release of the audience, the modern therapeutic psychodrama is a technique to promote the catharsis of the actor-patient. But how about the Pueblo Indian ceremonial drama and its cathartic effect? We have said that there is no audience in the Tewa drama, that instead, the people constitute nonperforming participants. They, as well as the performers, may have the cathartic experience and receive the sanctifying blessing of the Raingods which they either impersonate themselves or which they sense with their whole physical and emotional being. Thus, the cathartic experience of the ceremony reaches further than that of the ancient Greek tragedy, and further than the modern psychodrama: not only the onlookers Interpretation and Meaning 63 are emotionally and spiritually elevated; not only the actors are emotionally freed and purified; but both actors and onlookers, performing and nonperforming participants, are subject to a purifying, elevating, emotionally stabilizing experience. The impersonation of the Kachina is, even more so than other dramatic impersonations, "actually a disciplined livingout of hitherto unlived portions of the actor's own psyche. This is a creative experience, both for the actor and for his audience, since their cooperation is real and mutually releasing."68 If the purpose of the ceremonial drama, like that of any mystic religious experience, is the contact with the supernatural, what then is the effect of this experience upon the group and the individual? In his famous definition of tragedy, Aristotle69 pointed out that by exciting pity and fear the drama accomplishes a catharsis, a healthy outlet to such emotions. According to the interpreters of Aristotle's theory,70 it is the audience, the onlooker, in whom this catharsis takes place. In recent years, the principle of catharsis, or purification through dramatic experience, has been applied to psychotherapy through the use of the psychodrama71 in which the patient acts out his emotional conflicts. The experience sought after and obtained by all participants, by all present, is that of greater strength, greater purification, and a greater life, which will enable the individual to be better loved by the supernatural, better liked by his fellow men, and better to achieve his goal in life. If this is the essence of the dramatic experience of the Raingod Ceremony, it is, however, not an experience peculiar to this ceremony alone. Basically, it underlies each and any religious ceremony of the Tewa and, in a larger sense, of the Pueblo Indian in general. As one Tewa Indian said, after witnessing a particularly beautiful and meaningful CornDance: "it gives you strength and it gives you such a clean feeling." 64 Seeking Life The Man Ceremony and its Symbolism Storm Serpent Old Man, Come hither now For here we are dancing. Laden with rain Now you arrive. Tewa song72 SelJ poei, literally Man Ceremony, is the ceremonial name for sexual intercourse between human beings. It is a beautiful term used in ceremonies or in the Old Men's kiva tales. A man will not use this word when referring to his wife, that is, to a natural, expected relationship. Rather, he uses it when speaking of an unexpected sex experience about which he feels special excitement, or one he is bragging about, in which case the word may even have a slightly humorous connotation. Whether originally it was the only word for sexual intercourse in the Tewa language, we do not know. Today, however, it is used only rarely, and the more commonly used terms are i. k'u- 'to get on top of,' kuwE-, designating a tool -possibly a wagon stick-or another term meaning simply "to do it." In vulgarity, the English language is used. Yej sed6; literally 'old man' and also known as Po-vi yen or Flowerman, is the last Raingod to appear, after all the other gods have left. He wears a collar made of coyote fur, and his mask, 73 decorated with owl, eagle, and hawk feathers, is old, drab, and colorless, with a crooked, somewhat comical mouth-a far cry from a handsome, young hero. Nothing in his appearance reminds one of eternal youth, his old, colorless mask and his old man's posture representing, rather,eternity itself. Unlike the other Raingods, he is completely silent and commands silence. When he enters, everything is quiet, and nothing but his tapping feet are heard. Alone he walks, constantly and restlessly, through the kiva, interrupting his walk only when he lays down his arrow and symbolically performs the sex act. The other Raingods are distinguished from each other by their individual movements which may, for instance, make them look like walking on a cloud. Ye3 sedo" never runs and never stops; he walks and walks about the kiva with the restlessness of a male who Interpretation and Meaning 65 is unable to remain immobile while performing the sex act. This constant motion seems to be a symbol of the creative power itself. Parsons74 confirms this concept by describing the Silent One as a restless old man who is said to walk about the mountains continuously for three moons, never standing still. We do not know if the symbolic enactment of the sex act in the Man Ceremony is a survival of an older ritual in which the act was actually performed, but such an earlier practice might well have existed. However, at the present time, nobody in San Juan remembers anything about it. But there is an unconfirmed rumor among Tewa Indians according to which, in the kiva ritual of one of the large Keres Pueblos, the conjunction is or was executed, not only symbolically, but physically as well. It is impossible to verify this statement, but I am mentioning it as a possible indication of an obsolete practice of the past. The Tewa Indian is well aware of the association of YeD sed6 with sex, and, jokingly, a man may refer to his penis by this Raingod's name. The idea of the ceremonial conjunction of masculine and feminine is almost as old as mankind,t75 and is especially developed as part of the fertility rites of agricultural people. It may appear as the conjunction of the male and female in a ceremonial act, or as the concept of the hermaphrodite which permanently unites in one being both masculine and feminine, that is, the strongest and most striking opposites. Its representation is by no means restricted to primitive cultures, but is also found on the highest levels of culture, as in the Old Testament idea of "divine marriage." In the thinking of the Tewa, the idea of the dualism of opposite principles which have to be balanced and brought to unison is so all-pervading that it dominates both their social and religious system, above all in their moiety organization of the Winter and Summer people, representing the male and the female principle respectively. The same dualism underlies the hermaphroditic archetypal idea expressed in the ritual quest of the Initiation Ceremony: "Be a man and be a woman! "76 This term is also used as an encouragement to the speeding rain racers and to the medicine man who is about 66 Seeking Life to fall into a trance in addressing the patient during a healing ceremony, and in many other rituals. It is perceived by the Indian as a form of encouragement: be as brave as a warrior and as strong as a woman giving birth. It is used at the very moment when supernatural powers seem to break in. According to one of Parson's informants, 77 it signified the representation of both male and female spirits in a person. But, I believe that its basic meaning reaches further: it is the breakthrough of the supernatural, and it is also "the creative union of opposites,"' that is, the participation in the creative energy of all nature symbolized by the union of male and female generative power. And it is in the light of this concept that the Man Ceremony of the Raingod Drama must be viewed. The widespread idea of a divine marriage in which a woman-or a goddess-is ceremonially wed to a father god or a fertility god is dramatically enacted in many fertility rites and often associated with spring ceremonies. 7 8 In Athens, the god Dionysus married the Queen of Athens and the consummation of the divine union was enacted at a ceremony to insure fertility of vines and fruit trees.79 In the Eleusian mysteries, we find a dramatization of the mythological image of the fertilizing god who bestows rain, that it, physical and spiritual blessing, upon a receiving maiden or earth mother: the hierophant looked up to heaven with the cry "Let it rain, and down to earth with the cry "Conceive; be fruitful." The latter term refers to the effect of water working in the earth.80 The divine marriage of the sky god, Zeus, to the corn goddess, Demeter, was represented in Eleusis by the union of the hierophant with the priestess of Demeter; hierophant and priestess acted the parts of god and goddess. "But their intercourse was only dramatic or symbolical for the hierophant had temporarily deprived himself of his virility by an application of hemlock."a Later the hierophant reappeared with a reaped ear of corn-the fruit of the divine marriage. A special form of divine marriage is that of a maiden to the sacred snake or snake god. Such a sacred wedding is, for instance, known to exist among the Akikuya of British East Africa.U Among the Ewe peoples of West Africa, sacred prostitutes are ceremonially married to Dan-h-gbi, the python god, Interpretation and Meaning 67 a marriage which is consummated by the priests.83 According to Frazer, "the marriage of wives to the serpent god is probably deemed necessary to enable him to discharge the important function of making the crops to grow and the cattle to multiply."84 The Man Ceremony of the Tewa drama is the enactment of a divine marriage for the purpose of promoting fertility. But who is, symbolically speaking, this god, Yeg sedo-, and what are his attributes? The Silent One brings each virgin a freshly killed rabbit discretely wrapped in evergreen, the gift of the hunter to the woman of his heart. It is a common practice in Tewa life and in Tewa ceremonies that men bring their women meat. In the Dance of Man, the Winter men who enter the kiva bring meat; the Summer men bring fruits. While it seems natural that the man hunter offers his prey to the woman who is tending the fields, and who, in turn, may offer him cornmeal, the gift is not only the hunter's offering of his prey; it has, beyond that, a symbolic meaning. In the offering of meat, the man offers himself, that is, his maleness, to the woman. The same idea prevails in the San Juan Deer Dance, when, at the end of the dance, the Clowns shoot their arrows, and the frightened deer men run away, chased by the women who are trying to catch a "deer," i.e., a man, a sex partner. The "deer" then gives a piece of meat to the woman who has caught him. Yej sed6o who wears a deerskin draped around him, carries a bow and arrow which is generally, in the Southwest, the weapon of the war god and its double symbolism of maleness (arrow), and femaleness (bow).85 The Silent One is, however, not a war god, but a hunter-the hunter of deer. He tries to "kill the deer" by "shooting right into his heart," or is he not really hunting the deer, but the virgin? Is the hunter with the age old paraphernalia of Cupid actually a personification of eternal maleness in its twofold aspects of the hunter of game and the hunter of women? Before approaching the virgin, Yeg sedo- lays down his bow and arrow, a symbolic gesture which, according to psychoanalytic thought, may be interpreted as "laying down his maleness." Actually, Yeg sedo" will not hurt the virgin, will 68 Seeking Life not shoot his arrow at her, but just demand her submission, her willingness (laying down her shawl) before bestowing his blessing. In the Raingod Drama, the sex act, as such, is not emphasized or glorified; it is subdued, almost denied (while alluded to), but the desire of the male and the willingness of the female are necessary to assure the blessing, the Great Goodness, from the sky and the earth, from the north, the west, the south, and the east. It is noteworthy that Yer sedo- brings a rabbit to the maiden while the other Raingods offer melons to the people. Many Tewa prayers mention separately the blessings which bring crops to the plains and game life to the mountains, i.e., fertility of the soil and fertility of animals and humans. I am, therefore, inclined to assume that the Raingods who appear first in the drama represent, above all, the blessing which rain brings to plant life, while the figure of the hunter, Yer sedo-, symbolizes more strongly the blessing of fertility for living beings. To the Indian observer, the Man Ceremony is a ritual in which the god's needs for sexual gratification are symbolically fulfilled, and in which the future fertility of the virginand by extension, of the people of the pueblo-is magically assured.86 If an attempt is made to interpret further the meaning of the Man Ceremony, the reader should keep in mind that the average Tewa is as unconscious of this hidden meaning as the average dreamer is unconscious of the psychoanalytic interpretations of his dreams. The following interpretive analysis of the Man Ceremony is not an expression of Tewa Indian thought, but rather an interpretation of Tewa symbols along the lines of Indian concepts and analytical thinking. YerJ sedo- is not a young, handsome hero; he appears as an old man, almost comical in his ugliness, and he is completely silent. As a mythological figure, he represents the "wise old man, " one of several, chief, human figure motifs produced by the subconscious in dreams and fantasies.87 And he asks four times for a virgin-as only a virgin is befitting a god-a virgin whose symbolic significance seems to be that of a maiden goddess. But what, then, is the meaning of the symbolical act Interpretation and Meaning 69 between the "wise, old man" god and the "maiden goddess" girl? Is the wise old god a sky father who implants the virgin soil that it might become a fruit bearing earth mother? The Tewa Indians with whom this interpretation was discussed were not conscious of an underlying sky father-earth mother meaning, although the concept of a sky father begetting mother earth is a familiar thought throughout the Southwest, especially among the Tewa.88 It is obvious, though, that the Man Ceremony can be understood as a creative union which may bring rejuvenation of potency to the Raingod, and physical and spiritual blessing to the maiden goddess. Yeg sedo' is not only set apart by his late appearance in the drama, but also by his functions which make him appear as a far-off cousin of the other gods. While nothing is definitely known about the history of the Tewa Kachina, one might assume that YeD sedo- joined the pantheon of the Tewa gods at a different time from the other Kachina, and that he might have been introduced by a different clan, or as part of a special cult or ceremony. In speaking about the Hopi, Fewkes assumes that "each clan as it joined the Hopi population brought its own gods and as the clans came from distant pueblos where environmental conditions differed, each had a mythological system in some respects characteristic."89 Although the Tewa have a very weak clan system compared'with that of the Hopi, the possibility of an analogous development cannot be completely excluded. It is also possible that Yeg sedo was imported to the Tewa from another tribe. In this connection it is interesting that one Tewa described this Kachina as "reminiscent of a Zuni mudhead." But the history and migrations of the Kachina gods are often hard to trace. A silent Kachina, called Nakiachop, is known among the Hopi and appears in the Waterserpent Ceremony, Paluliikonti.90 There are, however, many Kachina participating in the Paliilukonti, and the Horned Watersnake does not seem to be represented by any one of them, rather by specially made effigies.91 The single fact of the appearance of the Silent One in the Hopi waterserpent ritual would, therefore, have little bearing on our problem. There appears, however, to be another parallel between the Hopi Paliilikonti and the Tewa Raingod Ceremony. 70 Seeking Life According to Fewkes and Stephen, the last day of the Hopi Waterserpent Ceremony is marked by "certain phallic observances."92 In his Hopi Journal, Stephen describes some of these observances which are held by grotesque, masked performers on the evening of the last (fifth) day of the Paluliikonti, following the appearance of the "more serious" Kachina. A burlesque marriage is enacted which may be termed a caricature of the Man Ceremony: a "bride" and her "groom," using a false vulva and a false penis, go through the motions of the sex act to the amusement and laughter of the watching crowd93 But are there any other-at least symbolic-relationships between the Hopi burlesque following the Watersnake Ceremony and the Tewa Man Ceremony? While watersnake mythology and ceremonial are of greatest importance among the Hopi, weaker elements of snake mythology are also found among other Pueblos, including the Tewa. Parsons believes that in kiva ceremonies in San Juan, watersnakes were either represented in images or actually impersonated.94 This assumption of a snake cult among the Tewa is supported by Wendorf's statement that a snakelike figure was found at the bottom of a firepit in one of the kivas of Leafwater, a prehistoric Tewa site in the Chama valley.95 We further know that, at least in the past, a snake clan existed in San Juan.96 According to Parsons, the K'o'sa pray to the horned watersnake, 'Avanu, for good rains and abundant crops.97 The waterserpent appears also in several Tewa legends98 and it is believed among the Tewa that there are two horned waterserpents who, at San Juan and Nambe, control the waters of the river.99 Stevenson100 reports a somewhat weird and unconfirmed story about a Tewa snake cult in which human sacrifices were made to the sacred snake: "female infants" or "a woman without husband or children" were offered. It is, in my opinion, most unlikely that such actual sacrifices took place in San Juan. But Stevenson's report may indicate a ceremonial practice in which the sacrifice of a female to the snake god was performed symbolically-just as the conjunction between the virgin and the Silent One is performed symbolically in the Raingod Ceremony, but perceived as real in the minds of the participating audience. Whether the sacrifice of a female to the snake god was actually performed, or whether it was Interpretation and Meaning 71 performed symbolically only, as I am inclined to assume, or whether these reports refer to ancient legends rather than to ceremonial practice, is of little importance in this context. As a mythological image they are real, regardless of whether they took place in physical actuality. However, do we, in turning our attention to the symbolic meaning of the Silent One, find anything that would indicate Yei sed6'"s pythonic nature? He is described as silent, restless, and in constant motion; his home is, like that of the other Raingods, in a lake. In spite of his sex desires and his evidently phallic nature, he is an old man (symbol of eternity). He requests that a maiden be offered him in divine marriage and by this very act, he is still closer associated with fertility than any of the other Raingods. All the following characteristics are generally associated with mythological snake gods: "The belief that serpents live in, guard, and control water-lakes, springs and rivers-is a belief common to many races.... "10 "The snake living in crevices of the earth is often identified with deceased ancestors and is regarded as chthonic.... The snake becomes associated with fertility and eroticism."102 "In folktale and myth and occasionally in ritual, a woman is brought in relation with the serpent, which is often her lover or husband."103 "Snake and phallus are parallel as symbols of a deity under both of which Dionysus was represented."'0 "In Algonquin myth, at creation, the 0akXos's of Geechee Manitoah being in his way he wrung it off and threw it into the bush -where it became Wau-Kau-thee, the Rainserpent."105 "The serpent was believed to have no fear of old age or to be immortal, because it casts its skin, renewing its life."106 "The idea most intimately associated with the serpent was life, not present, but future, and ultimately, no doubt, eternal."107 The serpent is "a symbol...of the male power."108 And, according to the hieroglyphics of Horapollo,'0 a serpent devouring its own tail and whose body is masked with variegated scales represents old age. Horapollo adds that the scales suggest the stars in the heavens. It it interesting to note that a representation of the snake with marked scales strangely resembles those of the feathered serpent. In speaking specifically of the Pueblos, Haeberlin states: "The waterserpent is the deity of the fertilizing water... 72 Seeking Life as well as god of the underworld, the place of germination."110 "While water, and thus fertility are the general ideas with which the serpent is associated, he is specifically associated either with springs or with clouds. The interrelation of these sources of fertility is apparent and characteristic of Pueblo culture."111 Thus the phallic Yei sedo-, who is old and acts young, who is a water dweller but also associated with the clouds, who is silent and full of rhythmic motion, and who bestows his maleness upon the willing maiden, has definite pythonic qualities. In addition, there is evidence of snake mythology and snake ritual among the Tewa. And we have seen that a caricature of the Man Ceremony is performed at the end of the Hopi Paliiliikonti. Regardless of whether or not one concludes that, formerly, the Tewa Silent One might have been actually connected with a snake cult, there remains no doubt that, at least in a symbolic sense, Yep sedo- represents fundamentally the "blessing from below," the primordial waters, often symbolized by the snake, while the other Raingods represent, to a greater degree, the falling rains and the spiritual blessing from above, often represented by a bird. The differentiation is one of intensity rather than of quality, as each Raingod participates symbolically in both the spiritual and the material blessing, with differentiation in emphasis only. The Man Ceremony is the most distinct reference to a fertility rite in the Raingod Ceremony, but it is by no means the only one. There is, for instance, the reference to the emergence of the gods through the lake openings of Mother Earth, a concept which is found in both Pueblo and Plains Indian traditions. But, its association with the analogous idea of gestation and parturition is a characteristic trait of the Southwest.112 It is from the underworld, the lakes, which are the womb of Mother Earth that the Raingods, the disincarnated ones, emerge to bring their blessing. The most sacred symbol of the Great Goodness, the Cloudflower, O'xuwa povi, is lifted from a lake, submerged into another one, and lifted out again in an eternal interchange of forces, of blessing. Great Goodness is deposited in the womb of Mother Earth, from Interpretation and Meaning 73 where it may be lifted up again, in the continued process of fertilization and parturition. And when the gods rest for a last time in the middle of the pueblo at the Na-n sipu p'inge 'Earth Navel,' they deposit again some of their Great Goodness at the sacred shrine where humans will find spiritual strength. The role of the Clowns in reference to a fertility rite has already been mentioned in the introductory chapter. It must be remembered, however, that to the sexually restrained Apollonian Pueblo Indian, sex assumes a different value than to most white people. Sex is one of the functions of nature which has to be complied with just as hunger has to be satisfied, thirst has to be quenched. It is an important function of nature as its purpose is procreation and abundance. Although it may be freely referred to by the Clowns, the invisible spirits, the dead, or the Raingod, it is never a subject of public demonstration or discussion among the living. While Pueblo culture in its original form, before Christian and Western influence, emphasized the natural function -or, one might even say the necessity-of sex, only a minor role is given to its aspects of romance and pleasure. And as romance and pleasure are little cultivated, the idea of sinfulness was absent too. It is in the light of this fundamentally different approach to sex that the Man Ceremony and the antics of the Clowns must be viewed. Most Pueblo Indians reject the interpretation of their religious ceremonies as fertility rites; they feel that such interpretation is the result of "white man's eternal preoccupation with sex." This does not, however, contradict our interpretation. The Indians' criticism is easily understood if we consider that he talks about sex less than white people do and that, most likely, the subject is also less on his mind. While the Raingod Ceremony reflects the "idea of fertilization,"113 so essential to Pueblo culture, it must also be remembered that fertility is only one aspect of the blessing brought on by the Raingods, equal in importance, but not superior to that of love, kindness, and the achievement of one's goals. The meaning of the Man Ceremony which is only one part of the Raingod Drama, therefore, must not be overemphasized, as the basic purpose of the Raingod ritual is not the 74 Seeking Life quest for fertility but the quest for the Good Life in all its aspects, both physical and spiritual. Tewa Religion in the Light of the Raingod Ceremony A. Social Aspects The Tewa, like all other Pueblo Indians, have been a sedentary, agricultural people for many centuries. Their prehistoric ancestors, the Basketmakers, and later the early Pueblos, have raised corn since the time of Christ.114 As agriculturists in a semi-arid region of the Southwest, they always had common needs and concerns-above all, the need for rain or collective irrigation projects-which led them to be bound together in a common religion, not based on individual experience of the supernatural, but on group experience in which the whole pueblo participates. Here the blessing is not sought for and by the individual alone, but for and by the group. The whole participating community, and even neighboring Pueblo communities may share in its benefits. In this respect, the group ceremonies of the agricultural Pueblo are entirely different from group ceremonies of hunting, gathering, or nomadic peoples whose ritual is for the benefit of one person, even though all participate. Ceremonies for the special benefit of individuals also exist among the Tewa in healing ceremonies, and, to a lesser degree, in certain initiations, although the latter are often tied up with a group event. One of the strongest impressions which the observer (and even more so the participant) of any Pueblo group ceremony receives is the feeling that each participant gives up his personal identity to become part of a larger group through which, and for which, he is reaching out for the supernatural, a group through which, and for which, he is " seeking life. " Some writers have pointed out that the Pueblo Indians have had an essentially democratic form of government since prehistoric times.115 This statement is based on the fact that the living quarters in the ruins of their ancient villages were of more or less equal size. This seems to indicate that there Interpretation and Meaning 75 has been no marked differentiation between classes, a fact which is also confirmed by a study of prehistoric graves. The Tewas of today still have a specific form of democracy which I like to call "paternal communalism." In their patrilineal society, the Caciques and the gods have a paternal role, that is, the role of a strict and powerful, but essentially benevolent father. When one Cacique transfers his power to the other, he refers to the people as his "children. And the Raingods come to visit their children in the kiva, to see if they have been obedient or if they need punishment. A comparable relationship exists between the gods themselves. The Tewa Raingods, while differentiated in appearance, sounds, paraphernalia, and function, are equal in status. Only the Chief Raingod, O-'xwa t'ug you, is a leader; but he is a leader among equals like the head of a family. The status of equality among the Tewa has been confirmed by Whitman in his study of San Ildefonso: "All men are considered of equal worth except when acting in some official capacity, and even the governor, once he ceases to hold office, is no better than anyone else.""16 "There is very little exercise of direct restraint on the individual.... 117 Whitman also points out the paternal aspect of Tewa social and religious structure: "Benevolent paternalism is implicit in the concept of social control at San Ildefonso...,"118 and "the highest authority is the Cacique who stands in the relation of religious father to the group as a whole."'l9 Strengthening of this paternal authority is one of the social implications of the Raingod Ceremony: the powers of the Caciques are backed up by those of the Great Fathers. Not all students of Pueblo culture have, however, recognized this "benevolent paternalism." Esther S. Goldfrank emphasizes that the Pueblos "are outstandingly controlled by their priesthoods,"'20 and speaks of the "severe disciplines imposed... by impersonators of the supernatural and by the priesthoods"'21 and of the "carefully defined and strictly limited frame of adult activity."'22 She also seems to feel that the gods and priests are threatening to the people.123 These statements seem to be based rather upon observations among the Western Pueblos-the Hopi and Zuni-for whom they might have somewhat more validity than for the 76 Seeking Life Tewa. The Tewa social structure is, indeed, basically different from that of other Pueblo tribes, especially those in the West. The social and religious paternalism of the Tewa is well anchored in their strong paternal moiety system. On the other hand, the powerful priesthood of the Hopi and Zuni is supported by their well-developed maternal clans. The Hopi system has been considered by some authors as one where "a good deal of responsibility is thrown upon the individual who is expected to conform and cooperate voluntarily, that is, without the use of physical coercion. He is, however, under considerable pressure from the whole group.... This pressure takes the form of ridicule, gossip, and accusations of witch craft."'24 One might say that the pressure comes to a certain degree from within, namely, from the acceptance of a ceremonially anchored world view rather than from the outside. Whether one stresses the democratic character of Pueblo society (i.e., the lack of a ruling class), or its coercive nature (the power of the priests), it is, in final analysis, a matter of definition and of personal reaction and acceptance. Fully integrated Tewa have always assured me that the priestly authority of the Caciques is gladly and willingly accepted because the priests are considered as humble and sincere intermediaries between the gods and the people, and also because their authority provides security. Those Tewa Indians who do not live in conformity with the social and moral postulates of their society, that is, those who are not integrated in their own group, and who no longer have the feeling of security which true integration gives, are more inclined to emphasize the coercive character of their society which to them has become a painful experience. It is also obvious that the less integrated Indian is more likely to discuss his people's culture with outsiders than the one who fully and gladly accepts the restrictions of his own social environment. The latter fact may have led some anthropologists to overemphasize the coercive nature of certain Pueblo societies. In the fourth scene of the Raingod drama, the Chief Raingod addresses the Cacique: Interpretation and Meaning 77 It has reached my ear That you people Have not listened to your gods, And we have come to punish you. But, the well integrated Tewa is not afraid of either priest or god; he does not fear being punished by the "father" unless such punishment is really deserved. Even the yucca whip is, in the words of Xa yc- tya, not a threat, but only a symbol of power and "a reminder that people should be good and love each other." In this connection, one should remember that a strong and powerful father figure is not seen as threatening as long as the "children" have confidence in the father's ultimate kindness, in the security he provides for those who comply with his postulates. Upon their arrival in the kiva, the Kachina announce their intention to bestow punishment, but the people are not afraid; they know that through their Caciques they can convince the Great Ones that punishment is not deserved. It is the divine blessing which is firmly expected, and, therefore, eventually obtained. This is perhaps the most important dramatic implication of the Raingod Ceremony: through its emotional strength and security, and the resulting lack of fear, the participating audience-the People-is capable of turning divine wrath into divine blessing. B. Man's Concern About God The Tewa gods have to be provided with all the things which are necessary to the Tewa men. They have to be ceremonially fed with sacred cornmeal, ceremonially clothed with feathers and soft hair, and, at least one of the gods has to be "fed" sexually, by the symbolic offering of a virgin. The gods also need sleep and rest to regain the strength and goodness with which they will bless their children. This rest is found, and their strength and goodness is renewed, at the bottom of the lakes, the dwelling place of the Raingods to which they redescend repeatedly in the course of their journey. The same maxims of living govern the lives of the gods and those of the Tewa. It is sinful to be sad, sinful to worry. 78 Seeking Life And, as the gods bestow blessings on the Tewa, so the Tewa are sending their thoughts and the holy fog rising from their ceremonial pipes to the Great Ones, to keep them company, to wipe out their worries. The Raingods are a special kind of spirits. Not every departed one will become a Kachina, but every Kachina, at one time, had a bodily human existence. This is why the gods are so human and why the Tewa understand the needs of their gods. These Tewa gods are not solemnly enthroned on guilded altars, or spoken to on festival occasions only; these gods live with their Tewa children. They are spoken to daily and in a familiar way, because they are close to the people and the people feel close to them; because they live with the Tewa and the Tewa live with them; because they are Life and they are the Life of the Tewa. These gods are not perfect gods, as they are not abstract ideas of perfection or of the divine principle; they are "real" gods, and they are essentially human; they must be asked for help when they are needed, and may be scolded when they forget to come, since they are as forgetful as their human children. But, even forgetful gods who are scolded must be fed when they are hungry. Yes, even the gods may be bad at times, but they are never very bad because the Tewa are never very bad, and the gods are good because the Tewa are good people and thus are deserving) of good gods. And, the gods may be as lonely as humans-maybe even more so. They need company and comfort when they are sad and weeping. It is this companionship between God and Man which only a truly democratic, peaceful people could create and which is the essence of the daily ritual, a living experience, and the basis of the all-pervading power of Tewa religion. C. The Appearance of the Raingods: A Miracle The Raingods, in an eternal life-giving, life-receiving, and life-renewing process, receive and deposit some of the blessing which they carry at the Na-1 sipu p'inge, the Earth Interpretation and Meaning 79 Navel of Mother Earth, and in the lakes, the body openings of the Great Mother. It is the Great Goodness from the sky, the earth, the north, east, south,and west which the Raingods collect and dispense, and again deposit: the blessing of rain and fertility, of good luck, health, and abundance, the blessing of being loved, and of receiving Life of Abundance. This Great Goodness seems to be concentrated in, and symbolized by, the Cloudflower which is lifted up and submerged from lake to lake, and finally brought to the very door of the kiva. But the Cloudflower is so sacred and mystical that it cannot be seen by the people; only the Clowns "see" it in their vision. Nothing is said, however, about the Cloudflower once the Raingods have passed the Na-e sipu p'inge, and the Indian does not question the whereabouts of the sacred symbol once the Raingods make their solemn appearance. The Raingods bring with them both threat and blessing; they carry yucca whips, but they bestow the Great Goodness; they are not punishing but blessing gods. The men who wear the sacred masks represent the Raingods, but, although any initiated, adult, male Indian knows that under the masks are hidden the faces of his own friends and relatives, at the ve(ry height of the ceremonial dramas, these masked dancers will, in the mind of the participant onlookers, become fully identified with the supernaturals themselves. At the very climax of the drama, when the long awaited Raingods begin their solemn entrance, the Kachina are no longer thought of as human actors; in the minds of the people, their presence is that of the Great Ones themselves. A miracle seems to occur, not as a dogmatic concept like those of Christian theology, but as an immediate experience, in which the image of the subconscious overshadows the conscious concepts of the reasoning mind. The dancing Kachina are no longer mere representations of the Raingods to the participating audience. To the people, they have become real; they have become the Raingods themselves. And in this the Raingod Ceremony is religion in its truest form: direct mystic experience. To the faithful, it matters little if the unbeliever explains that there are no visible gods, only masked humans; it even matters little if the objective mind of the faithful himself knows that in the realm of reality 80 Seeking Life there are no visible Raingods, as long as there is reality in the subjective realm of image and personal experience. Credo quia absurdum. D. Ethics and Therapeutics: Do Not Worry Mystic experience is only one, and indeed the most important, aspect of Tewa religion, a religion which also provides an unwritten code of ethical concepts. One of the basic ethic postulates of the Tewa is to seek contentment and not to worry. The Tewa gods are not only solemn gods, but, in their dignity, they are human, and the drama which solemnizes their appearance is full of happy laughter. The life of the Tewa is a happy lifez12 and the religion of the Tewa is a happy religion. Even the most sacred ceremony has its moments of happy laughter. Most white people, most Christians, will find it difficult to understand the happy laughter in a religious ceremony, and, even more, the great inner happiness in solemnity; both are easily misinterpreted. Once, while witnessing a Corn Dance in the Rio Grande Valley, I overheard a well-meaning white woman who knew little about Indians make the respectful remark:' "How serious these dancers look. None of them has a smile." Later, a more sensitive observer with a much deeper feeling for the Pueblo Indian commented on the very same event, the same dancers, by saying: "It was wonderful. Never have I seen the dancers so happy." In certain dances, you may see the Clowns carrying alarm clocks as a means of ridiculing the white man, the slave of time and the slave of worries. In the opinion of the Tewa, almost all white people are nervous, restless, timebound, compulsive, and "too much worrying." This is one of the reasons why the Pueblo easily feels uncomfortable in the white man's presence. The Tewa does not worry, because he has absolute confidence that eventually everything will work out for the best: "The Great Ones will take care of me." In the Thanksgiving Prayer the Cacique says: Interpretation and Meaning 81 Now, go to your homes, Without worry, Without weeping, Without sadness. Not to worry, not to be afraid of what will happen tomorrow, is essential to the Tewa's happiness. To all Pueblos, planning for the future, such as is necessary in farming, irrigation economy, and defensive war, has always been a collective responsibility under leadership of the priests. There is, however, little individual planning; fear and worry about what might happen do not seem to trouble the Tewa as an individual. He can act that way because, even if things go wrong, it will not upset him; it does not really matter. There is nothing which the individual has to do in a certain way, at a certain place, at a certain time. Only the ritual has to be complied with in a given way; but, the ritual which embraces all activities of farming, irrigating, hunting, and formerly of defensive war, is a collective responsibility, and even the ritual may be flexible. If the ritual is performed, and a good life fulfilled, one is assured of the kindness of the gods. This attitude is not peculiar to the Indian alone. It is shared by other peoples whose culture is simple enough to make life uncomplicated and who do not have the future-bound drive for progress. Thus, the Negro hill peasants of Haiti express their philosophy in the saying Bon Dieu bon -the good Lord is good and will take care of you. This is the feeling of the Pueblo Indian as well, even though he does not concentrate his feelings of security upon the image of one personified god. The Great Ones will come and bring their goodness-all goodness; why should I worry? This philosophy of absolute, blind confidence and lack of worry is, in the mind of the Tewa, a better preparation for the life hereafter than white man's nervous planning. The life hereafter is taken for granted as a natural thing, but it is not talked about, not pounded into you. And the Tewa, in his blind confidence in the Great Ones who will bestow goodness upon him, the Tewa who lives "without worries, without tears, without sadness" has also found peace. He can do by nature what white men, after years of 82 Seeking Life schooling and training, can hardly ever attain: the Tewa is able to ""just sit, " and do nothing. "Just sitting,," without doing anything, without worry or desire, with some thought but very little daydreaming, is an art of living of which the Indian is proud, and it is essentially an Oriental art. One may wonder why, after centuries of contact with the white man, the Pueblo Indian has not given up this art of "just sitting." The truth is not that he is unable to give up this pattern, but rather unwilling; it represents a philosophy which is dear to his heart, which seems valuable to him, which, in his mind, makes him a better person. And many an Indian who, through years of living among white people and necessary adjustment to white man's time schedule, has lost his ability to "just sit," may feel like one who has lost paradise, who has lost the kingdom of the Great Ones, and like any other human who has lost his sense of values, he may eventually break down in one or another form of psychological escape. This attitude of not worrying, and not being upset by failure, leads to such peace of mind and contentment as white men can rarely attain. But, in a cruelly progressing world which has curtailed the land available to the Indian, exterminated his buffalo, decreased his wild game, and pushed him back to a few reservations on miserable land, surrounded by taverns, and railroads, and industrial projects, to him it also means ill health, proverty, misery, conflict, and dissatisfaction. Thus, only the Old Men are keeping up the ideal of living, whereas the younger Pueblo Indian either succombs, at least partially, to white man's time concept and worry, or is torn in conflict between the two cultures, the two philosophies: the philosophy of the alarm clock and of timelessness, the attitude of restlessness and worry, and that of contentment and peace of mind. The Tewa postulate, "Do not worry, " is not only an ethical one but also a psychotherapeutical one. Tewa God and Tewa man alike shall be able to live "happy without tears, calm without sorrow, content without loneliness," and the Children of the Great Ones, who have experienced the contact with the supernatural in the Raingod drama, are asked to "go home without worry, without weeping, without sadness." Being Interpretation and Meaning 83 without worry means to be free of anxiety, to be an emotionally well-balanced person. Thus, we may say that the attendance on the Raingod Ceremony has not only a spiritual meaning but a psychotherapeutic effect as well. The contact with the supernaturals will help one to be without worry, to find the Good Life of Beauty, Harmony, and Perfection, i.e., to avoid anxiety and neurosis. Although the offices of priest and medicine man are in different hands in Tewa society, their functions intermingle, the priest being also a healer, or, in modern English, a practitioner of mental hygiene. The medicine man adds to his functions as a healer those of a spiritual helper. Modern psychiatry has recognized the danger of unjustified worries and fear, and has tried to approach them analytically. Several Christian churches which originated in America-Christian Science, Divine Science, and Mental Science, and such popular practical philosophies as those of Dale Carnegie and Stephen Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking)-have emphasized the idea that too much worry and fear are basically sinful and may lead to ill health and failure in life. The wisdom of these philosophies cannot be denied. But, while in American society they are a reaction to the overambitious restlessness and insecurity of our culture, to the Tewa they are his natural basic philosophy, the very ethics of his religion and his daily life. As long as the Indian was unable to live this philosophy of not worrying, of "manianaism" ('Why do today what you could putoffuntiltomorrow?'),as long as he could "just sit," he was content and happy. It is one of the Tewa ethical postulates, though not always complied with, to avoid getting excited or getting mad. It is part of the Apollonian emotional restraint of the Pueblo, so well pointed out by Ruth Benedict.1Z6 Other people, too, may have the desire and the ethical postulate of being restrained, but the average white man's restraint is directed against showing emotions, while the Tewa restrains himself from having emotions. White man could never have accomplished his twentieth century civilization without his future minded ambitions. The 84 Seeking Life Pueblo Indian drive is not progressive, but conservative and tradition bound. The Tewa's complete lack of tension, which becomes manifest in his seeming lack of ambition and emotion, is the secret of his peacefulness; the intensity of his feeling is applied to a passive role (suffering) rather than to an active one, and to collective rather than individual endeavors. This attitude is, of course, more likely to be found in an agricultural group than in a warrior, hunter, merchant, or industrial society. While the Pueblo is restrained in his emotions, however, he has a tremendous need for being unrestrained in action. He cannot bear being restricted as a slave of time, a restriction which would oblige him to say on Monday morning where he would be on Monday afternoon. This go-as-you-please living pattern seems to be a counter weight to his constant emotional restraint. But, it may also be understood as a reaction formation in present life, an evasion of facing responsibilities, a form of compulsive evasion. While the ceremonial prayer, "go home without worry. be content without loneliness, " reflects the original and healthy pattern of Pueblo psychology, the compulsive evasion of rebelling against any adherence to a time schedule or other ties may be understood as a much more recent defensive reaction of people involved in a culture conflict. The Tewa philosophy, the Tewa way of life, is rapidly breaking down, and, while in Tewa ceremonies, the old ideals are still emphasized, there are but few to whom they are still a living experience. Under the stress of current culture change, many Tewa have broken down emotionally, and several have taken to one or another form of escape which has brought discredit to the group. Even when Tewa culture has disintegrated as a living experience, the memory of a great ideal will remain, the memory of a great philosophy and a great beauty, crystallized in the words of the Smoke Prayer: May ye be happy without tears, May ye be calm without sorrow, May ye be content without loneliness. Interpretation and Meaning 85 E. The Ritual: Beauty and Harmony Great contentment can only be attained in a life which is not merely aimed at material achievements but which also strives for a spiritual goal. This goal is expressed at the end of most Tewa prayers: May all of us catch up with that Which we are thinking about most To have for ourselves. In translating the last lines of the Smoke Prayer, one Tewa chose the following free rendering: May we achieve the Good Life, May we live in Beauty, in Harmony, in Perfection. When questioned about these rather abstract concepts which deviate from the original Tewa, the Indian said, "What we have in our mind, our greatest aims and desires, it means all that: beauty, harmony, and perfection.... Maybe that is beauty when you are loved and liked... To be loved and liked means to be accepted... when it rains within four days after someone has died we say he has been received and accepted by the Great Ones; the same word is used to express the reception of a dead person's spirit by the Great Ones and the wish that a living person may be loved by the gods.... If everybody loved you, does that not mean perfect happiness?" The great aim expressed at the end of all Tewa prayers is reflected on a more realistic level in the ritual; the masks of the gods are not only decorated, they are made beautiful, even though one of them has only the expressive beauty of ugly old age. The costumes of the Kachina, their long, embroidered kilts, their handwoven, fringed sashes and white leggings; the beaded buckskin of the Caciques and their colorful homemade shirts; and the manta and ceremonial feathers of the slowly proceeding Priestesses, all are chosen for their beauty and eye appeal as much as for their meaning. And how else could the Great Goal of Beauty, Harmony, and Perfection be attained on the spiritual level if it would not also be sought 86 Seeking Life after in the physical realm of the kiva ceremonial? What sensitive person could participate in the kiva ritual and not be moved by a feeling of beauty and harmony and greatness; a ritual where, under the dim and flickering lights of candles and fireplaces, the sparkling dark eyes of hundreds of black haired, tanned, blanket wrapped Children of the Great Ones watch the horned Clowns with their comically painted faces, the manta clad Priestesses, and the majestically proceeding masked gods unfold their ritual drama. F. The Symbols: Horned Waterserpent and Sacred Cloudflowe r According to Parsons,127 the K'o'sa have a phallic function. I should like to modify Parsons' statement by saying that the Clowns emphasize the sexual aspect of a fertility rite, while most of the Raingods represent both, its physical and spiritual blessing. It is characteristic of Indian culture that these aspects are strongly interwoven and not opposed to each other, as in the dualism of Christian concepts of flesh and spirit. Clowns and Raingods are a special kind of invisible spirit. But only the Kachina wear feathers on their masks, feathers which symbolize the higher, spiritual powers; the headgear of the Clowns consists only of horns made of corn husks. But both Clowns and Raingods are related to the waters, that is, to the vital forces of life. The Raingods dwell in the lakes, which are the source of their strength; the Clowns pray to Avanyu, the big, green snake or Horned Waterserpent that he will fill the rivers with water or check the floods.128 The symbolic meaning of the mythological snake has already been mentioned, and it may be summed up as "the principal personification of the waters of terrestrial life... the life force in the sphere of life matter."129 We have seen that one of the Raingods who performs the Man Ceremony is of phallic nature and has certain characteristics which are reminiscent of a snake deity. If the assumption of the underlying pythonic nature of Yeg sedo' is correct, Interpretation and Meaning 87 the Silent Raingod would be the god of the Clowns par excellence, the deification of the aXX\os and the watersnake. In Tewa religion, as in that of other Pueblos, the bird feather and the snake are important ceremonial symbols. Their association in one concept has been an ancient tradition in Toltec culture where the reconciled, eternal opponents became deified in Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, and in Kukulcan, his Mayan equivalent. The fact that, from prehistoric times to our very days, the Tewa and other Pueblos have ceremonially used parrot feathers traded in from Old Mexico seems to support the assumption that the use of feathers and serpents by the Pueblos may be a faint echo of the old Toltec plumed serpent symbol.130 However, whether the bird-snake symbol of the Pueblo is directly related to the Mexican culture is of little importance in this context, as the dichotomy of bird poster and snake power is as old as the creation of heaven and earth, and is referred to in the myths of many cultures.131 Bird feather and snakes constitute "an archetypal pair of symbolic antagonists, the champions respectively of Heaven and Earth,"132 but to the Indian they appear as powers which supplement each other rather than as opponents. The Clowns pray not only to the watersnake but also to Fa- tege 'Eno, the youthful Firegod whose ash clouds will help them perceive the approaching Great Ones. I feel that this Firegod is symbolically a sex god, 33 and the use of ashes may be interpreted as a reference to the resurrection and rejuvenation of all living things. What is consumed to ashes by the fire will rise again to new life. On the other hand, on their voyage the Raingods carry the O'xu-a povi, or sacred Cloudflower which is the heavenlyearthly symbol of the blessing from above which makes things grow and living beings prosper, and which is the essence of all the Great Goodness which the incorporeal ones bring to human beings. While the sacred Cloudflower is an invisible symbol of blessing, its visible reminder is the kwan o' xwa povi, a flowershaped raincloud which promises rain to thirsty Mother Earth. It is graphically represented in a design of pyramidlike superimposed clouds from which raindrops are falling (see design on cover). 88 Seeking Life The flower, as a concentration of lifegiving power, is a well-known symbol throughout oriental philosophy. We find it, in a more abstract and sophisticated form, in the Chinese Golden Flower, which can be understood as the "Elexir of Life" or 'the powers of growth latent in the psyche."'134 Its counterpart in India is the cosmic lotus, "a thousand petaled lotus of pure gold, radiant as the sun," 35 sometimes referred to as the 'Goddess Moisture," who bestows health, long life, prosperity, and fame. While the early concept of the lotus goddess was that of "a maternal goddess of earthly goods and happiness, of fertility and earthbound life," later the symbol underwent a radical transformation of meaning. Under the influence of late Hindu conceptions, it became "the highest representative of world-transcending wakefulness, the most spiritual feminine symbol... the embodiment and source of transcendental life and reality."'36 In Tibet, the sacred flower symbol appears as the cosmic lotus in certain mandalas-graphic representations of the cosmic order-used as inspiration in meditative practices. Even though in Tewa religion the sanctified flower is by far less sophisticated and transcendental than that of the lotus of India, a certain relationship between the two concepts may be postulated. However, in oriental philosophy, the sacred flower is related to a feminine deity only, while in Tewa thought, the feminine "receiving" flower is combined with the male symbol of the rain bestowing cloud. Thus the sacred Cloudflower reminds us of the ceremonial imperative: be a man and be a woman. Its symbolism implies the hermaphroditic dichotomy: be a rain bestowing cloud and be a receiving and conceiving plant. In the sacred Cloudflower this hermaphroditic imperative has become sanctified and its essence is the Great Goodness. Clowns and Raingods are different but essential aspects of the blessing which an agricultural people, in a semiarid region, expect from the supernatural ones. Raingods and Clowns, Cloudflower and, on the other hand, Firegod and Horned Waterserpent are necessary helpers, but only the bringers of the sacred Cloudflower (including the phallic Yeij sedo-) are deified. The clownish, sex worshippers of the Interpretation and Meaning 89 Waterserpent are but mischievous though powerful spirits, recognized as important, but kept in their proper place. Several investigators have emphasized the fertility aspect of Pueblo religion. Actually, in these rites, the spiritual blessing is as much stressed as the physical aspects of sex and fertility. All the powers which bring rain and plant life to the plains and enliven the mountains with game animals are deified, while the promoting, underlying, sex drive-as represented by the Clowns-is conceived as a necessary, unavoidable, and joyfully accepted power which, however, because of its prankish, clownish aspects, is not the aim but rather the means for the attainment of the blessing which only the true Great Ones can bestow. It seems to me that this approach to the needs of body and soul, this evaluation of the contents of the subconscious, is an extremely healthy one, well able to promote balance and harmony in the sensitive participant of the ritual drama. And, while most of these relationships which I have tried to analyze are unconscious to the Indian, I like to assume that, nonetheless, their dramatic projection may be effective, not as an analytical process but as a living experience which impregnates the subconscious mind. The Tewa who is attending the Raingod Ceremony is "seeking life, " the life of beauty, harmony, and perfection. This spiritual aim is also a therapeutic one. The analysis of the elements of the Tewa drama throws a light upon the balancing, emotional effect which this experience might have on the performing as well as on the nonperforming participant. G. The Essence: Seeking Life The essential purpose of the Raingod Drama is, like that of any Tewa ceremony, the attainment of the Good Life through contact with the supernatural. The Tewa men and women who set out to attend a ceremony will say, "Gi wo'a ci tune-a met" 'Let us seek Life.' To be loved by the gods, to be liked by one's fellow men is the great prayer of the Tewa Indian. Living up to this 90 Seeking Life ideal is the basis for a life without worries, without tears, and without sadness. "To be loved and liked" is, however, not only a prayerful wish but also an ethical maxim. While the Great Ones may bestow, upon those who are worthy, the blessing of being loved by the gods, one must also deserve and acquire, through proper conduct of living, the status of being liked by one's fellow men. Thus, the ultimate wish and prayer becomes also the supreme law of personal conduct. Compliance with this religious and social precept may also contribute to greater emotional stability. He who meets the needs of both his gods and his fellow men to such an extent that he will be "loved and liked" has become a well adjusted and emotionally balanced person and has found contentment. This positive and life affirming desire to be loved and liked is in strongest contrast toany form of religious martyrdom which would sanctify those who, for the appeasement or the greater glory of a god, would endure being insulted or victimized by man. In Tewa religion, the ancient thought of physical sacrifice, vaguely alluded to in the Man Ceremony, has become superseded by the more recent "loved and liked" concept, that is, by a basically new attitude, a new spiritual ahd ethical goal, sought after by the Tewa, but which, to my knowledge, has not been formulated in any other American Indian culture.137 The practice of Tewa religion is not restricted to the attendance at ceremonies and to the occasional muttering of prayers. Religion is all-pervading in Tewa life. Even the routine of workaday life is interwoven with short prayers to the Raingods, to the Firegod, to Old Man Wind, and to the Departed Ones. And every activity of daily routine-eating, drinking, smoking, planting, harvesting, threshing the corn, birth and death-calls for participation of the spiritual helpers without whose assistance and blessing nothing can be accomplished. This daily ritual is about to fade away and the younger Tewas know little, if anything, about it. It is kept up by a few old men who continue to feed Mother Earth, who, from their ceremonial pipes blow sacred fog to the Raingods, and Interpretation and Meaning 91 whom you may still see going out in the fields to feed, at sunrise, corn youths and corn maidens. But the Old Men are rapidly dying out, and with them will die a great beauty in the life of the Tewa, a great prayer in the life of the American Indian. That some of this beauty may be preserved, at least in writing, if not as a living experience, is the reason why this secret drama is now presented in printed form. The blessing which the Raingods bestow upon their chi] - dren is that of full life. Everybody who participates, who is present in the kiva with body and soul shares in it. But the one who participates as an active performer, as a dancer or as a Kachina, becomes himself fons et origo, a source and a fountain of life. When, at the end of the ceremony, the dancer meets friends and relatives in his home, everybody touches him; slowly the dancer passes his hands over his body as if to take out some of the blessing which he has received and which, eventually, he passes on to others while mumbling the sacred prayer: May you continue To be loved and liked; May you achieve Your goal in life; May you gain Life of Abundance. And with deep breaths and receiving movements of their longing hands, those who receive accept and breathe in the Great Goodness: May it be so! PART II THE MAKING OF A MEDICINE MAN Healing Ceremonies of San Juan Pueblo Religious experience is absolute. It is indisputable. You can only say that you have never had such an experience, and your opponent will say: "Sorry, I have." And there your discussion will come to an end. Carl Gustav Jung I. INTRODUCTION The evening when he gave me the initiation ceremony of a medicine man, Xa yr t'a-a was not feeling well. As his legs were hurting him, he lay down on his bed, and I tried to alleviate his pain by massaging his legs as well as an uninitiated white person would know how to do it. It was then that he told me the story written on the following pages. He talked for many hours, and the massage was the longest I have ever given. I believe, though, that it was a very poor massage without a medicine man's physical or spiritual strength, without the assistance of mysterious herbs and sacred cornmeal, and holy water and blessed feathers; without the support of powerful bear claws and bear teeth; without the help of the great Cornmother and of sacred prayers. It was the very poor massage of a poor "unlearned" white woman. But it relaxed Xa- ye t'a-1, and it made me more receptive to his tale. When eventually I went home, in the early morning hours, I wrote down the story exactly as he had told it. Several months later we talked about it again, and I asked many questions on details which had been omitted in the original account. Many of these details, especially those referring to terminology, were later added in footnotes to the original story, the wording of which comes as close to the old man's account as I could remember it. The information on other healing ceremonies, as explained in the third chapter, is based on information received from different San Juan sources over a period of several years. 95 II. HOW A MAN IS MADE INTO A FISHPERSON As told by Ha ya- T'a-= All the Fishpeople of San Juan are about to disappear, as there are no young people any more who want to join them. Fishpeople we call all those who belong to any one of those secret groups who know how to put on a dance and how to do the things in the kiva which Indians must do if they want to have rain and corn and squash and melons and deer and elk and rabbits and peace, and if they want to be healthy and to be loved and liked. Fishpeople are the K'o'sa and the Kwi-rana the Kwf yor and the P'il xeg, the PaAyo o-ke- and the 0- yi ke-, and, of course, the Ke- or Bears, whom you white people call the medicine men. But we call them Bears because that is what they really are. All those good people are called Fishpeople. No one really knows why, but that is what they are called. And all others in the pueblo are called the Weedpeople, because they are not Fishpeople and that is why they are called "weed." And when all the Fishpeople will have died, the people of San Juan will be gone too, and nothing more will be left of them than of Yui ge, the place of the ancients on the other side of the great river. But there is still one group of Fishpeople left who will not disappear-not as long as my children and my grandchildren are alive. They are the Bears, the only Fishpeople who are still joined by new members. If you want to be made a Bear, you must ask for it yourself; and you can ask only if you have been cured by the Bears, or if you are sick and want to be cured, or if you have been called into service by the departed ones themselves.138 There are many ways how one can be called. A young man may sense a presence and hear a voice from out of the dark calling, 'My son, the Bears are waiting for you. Join them." Or a man who for a long time has dreamed about powerful things may walk through the hills around the pueblo 96 How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 197 and suddenly stumble over something, and looking closer he may find a strange thing at his feet, and as he bends down to pick it up, his hands may hold some oddly shaped little stones, or a bear paw, or a bear necklace, or maybe even an earth covered, weather beaten, sacred yia kwiy6, the image of the sacred Cornmother. Trembling, he stumbles through the hills, carrying with him one of the things with which a medicine man works, one of the things which gives a medicine man power. He cannot keep his find, though; no one can keep it. These things do not belong to any one of us. They belong to the mountains where they are found, to the Great Ones, the Powerful Ones, to whom they have to be returned. For a little while only, such a carved stone figure or a bear necklace found in the mountain may be carried off as proof to the Old Men that a young man has been called into service by the departed ones. Frightened, thoughtful, and happy in his heart, the young man continues to walk through the hills, over stones and grass, hiding his fd, suddenly knowing that he has been chosen, that the Great Powers have called him, and that now he will have to learn many things before he can use the powers. After a long, long walk full of excitement and trembling and deep joy, he reaches the pueblo, the family home. He hides his find, sits down at the family table. His fingers may wrap the boiled deer meat into a piece of tortilla although his heart bounces, his mind wanders off- but no one seems to notice. The experience he has had is frightening; it must, therefore, be shared with one of the Old Men who knows what to do about these secret things. The next day the young man strolls through the pueblo, a small bundle under his arm. He just walks through the village, he does not plan to go anywhere in particular, but it is nice to walk in the brisk morning air and see your friends and stop and greet them and chat and go on to the next house and stop again. The old man with long braided hair who is sweeping his yard is the young man's grandfather. Yes, he is alone in the house; the women folk have gone to a neighbor's. Silently they sit down, the old man and his grandson. Slowly the old 98 Seeking Life one rolls a cigarette of home grown tobacco, lights it, and puffs up his smoke. And then the young one tells him, opens his bundle and shows him, and his eyes seem to ask: What does it mean? Where will it lead me? The old man nods, and a flash of light runs over his face as his old fingers pass silently over the small stone figure.139 He wraps the little bundle very carefully, then asks the younger one to see him again in four times four days. All this had happened more than six moons ago. The grandfather had talked to a Bear, and the Bear had called in the chief of the Bears, and all the Bears had held a meeting to which the young man was asked to come. And the young man had told them again about the strange thing he had found and of his strong desire to learn more about the powers. The Bear men held a council; and after long deliberation it was decided that the young man who had found the stone figure would be allowed to learn many strange things from one of the older Bears who would become his p'o ku' ta', that is, 'father for watergiving,' or 'godfather' as you would call him, who will teach him many things that have come down from very old times. In the moons that followed, the young man was taught about herbs and medicines and passes over the body and many other strange things which are known only to the Bears -and that is why I cannot tell you anything about them. When, after many moons, the old Bears felt that the young man had learned enough and that he knew the herbs and the medicines and the passes and the prayers and the minor secrets as well as the very great secrets, and when, eventually, they thought that he would be able to work with the powers, then only the day was set when the powers would be given to him-the great powers of a Bear. There are eight days and eight nights of preparation which precede the final passing of the powers. During these eight days all the Bear men live in the Small Kiva. They fast -avoid salt, meat, and women. They chant and say the old prayers and do many secret things which you and I will never know. They make and prepare basketsful of strange things for the medicine man-to-be. His little, stone figures are carved, feathers are chosen, a perfect ear of white corn, the How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 99 image of the great Cornmother, is selected and adorned with little strings of turquoise and white, eagle down feathers. Lightning stones are added and small bags of sacred cornmeal and other things which all are needed by a medicine man. They have to be made and chosen anew whenever a man is taught the sacred things which only Bearpeople know, as every Bear must have his own bundle140 of things which will help him to get the power and which he will use whenever he does things to make people well and to give them the Good Life. When a Bear dies, his sacred objects cannot be kept by any human being. They must be returned to the Great Ones to whom they belong. They must be taken back to the mountains and be buried. Most Bearpeople are, of course, men-but there are also a few Bear women, one or two, maybe-but they do not become magic and they cannot take out the bad things which make people sick and they do not stay in the kiva for eight days and nights like the Bear men do. Bear women help the Bear men to be good and powerful Bears. They bring water to the kiva and they bring the food-the kind of food which a Bear can eat when he wants to become magical, sweet corn and dried fruits; and they may sweep the floor and sing and say the old prayers, or they might help prepare the painting of sacred cornmeal. That is what the Bear women do. But there are very few of them left now-just one or two as I told you. After the Bears have been in the inner sanctum for eight days, the close relatives of the man who is to be a Bear are formerly invited to the kiva, and it does not matter whether they are Fishpeople or Weed. Everyone else of the pueblo who wants to wear the blanket may also come and see a man become a Bear. And almost every good Indian comes. There may be a few who have worked in the big cities and who have gone to the white man's doctors; and, some of those do not care any longer. But all the good Indians come, as I told you, all those who still care and whose hearts are not frightened. There was Great Elk, though, the old man whose son was to be a Bear. A good many years ago, Great Elk had been a Songmaker. Beautiful songs he made, songs to make the corn grow, songs to make the wind blow, songs for the rain races, 100 Seeking Life and songs for the Butterfly Dance. But then something happened to Great Elk. It was shortly after his wife went away to the 'Great Fiesta.' Great Elk's wife died, as you people call it. And since that happened, he has never been the same again. He has taken to drinking, and he has made no more songs. Great Elk did not go to the kiva when his son was to become a Bear. He wept141 because he was frightenedliz for his son, or maybe for himself. It is indeed dangerous to become a Bear, dangerous and frightening, because you have to get the power and you have to fight the witches and the evil spirits.143 You must be strong, and your heart must not tremble. But Great Elk's heart was frightened; that is why he wept and would not come to the kiva to see his son become a Bear. But many others came to the kiva that night, men and women and children too; wrapped in their blankets they climbed down the ladder. Everybody brings a little cornmeal in a small basket or in a handkerchief.144 Women and children sit down along the wall where the fireplaces are. 'The men sit at the opposite side and also next to the *r' wE fig. Eventually all the Pa* t' owa', the Fishpeople, come inboth Fish men and Fish women-and they bring in the man who is to be a Bear. The Bear men and the man who is to be made a Bear do not wear blankets, though. They wear nothing but their G-strings. All the Bears sit down with their backs against the short wall opposite the ladder and the 'P we fig so that the corn painting, which has already been built, is before them. The Clowns have their altar in the corner to the left of the Bears, while the other Fishpeople sit down to the right of the Bears along the long wall (see Fig. 6). The head of each group of Fishpeople brings his own medicine water bowl and his bundle. He puts down the lake,145 unwraps the bundle, and places the sacred Cornmother, his rattle, the two long feathers, and the stones'46 in front of him. To make it still more holy and more powerful, he feeds the yia- kwiy' with sacred cornmeal.147 The Bears have taken great care in drawing their great design of white cornmeal on the kiva floor. You can see in it the sacred Cloudflower with the good rain falling down. When the makers of the corn painting have finished their How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 101 work, the large medicine water bowl is placed in the very middle. One by one, each Bear Man opens his herb pouch and puts a little herb into his mouth and chews it. He sprinkles some of it into the holy water bowl and swallows the rest of it. During all this time all the Bears are mumbling prayers to the gods to come to their aid; but you cannot understand them, as only Bearpeople know these prayers. Many other things have been placed on the corn painting, things which will help the Bears to get the power: small stone figures, lightning stones, feathers, and bear paws. Between each two bear paws they place a yia kwiy, a perfect ear of white corn decorated with strings of turquoise and soft eagle feathers. It is the yia- kwiy6. or sacred Cornmother, who gives power to the Bears. Each Bear has to have his own yia- kwiy', or he could not become magical,'14 When a Bear takes his yia. kwiy& out of its reed container, before placing her upon the altar, he holds her to the east, the west, the north, and the south, and to Father Sky and to Mother Earth and mumbles his prayers. Then, only, he places her before the corn painting. He does the same with the bear paw and the feathers and the stone figures, and with the bear necklaces which he ties around his neck while saying the prayers. He feeds cornmeal to the yia* kwiy# as did the chiefs of all the Fishpeople. All the groups of Fishpeople have their own lake-the Kwi* rana have theirs, and the K'o'sa and the game priest, and the Priestesses, and each of the Caciques. There may be six or eight small lakes, but none is as large or as powerful as that of the Bears. The P'o ku' ta- who is to introduce the man-to-be-aBear draws a path of sacred cornmeal from the foot of the ladder to the place where the water is,149 next to the Bears. Another, shorter cornmeal Rath branches off to the lake of the Clowns. When everybody is seated in his proper place, all Fishpeople start singing. The Bears sing their songs, and the K'o'sa and the Kwi- rana sing other songs, and so do the Winter Cacique and the Summer Cacique and the game priest and the Kwi yo- each sing his own song. Although all these songs 102 Seeking Life are different, one from another, they sing them at the same time and swing their rattles, and these many different songs make it become very powerful. It sounds weird and mysterious, and you almost feel as if some power were getting into you too. But in spite of the noise of the rattles and all the different tunes, you feel it right in your heart that it is a good song and you know they have to sing it if a man is to become a Bear, because the many songs of the many Fishpeople strengthen his heart and help him to become magical. They are still rattling and singing and making power when one of the Bears gets up. He is P'o kuw ta', the Father for Watergiving, who is to introduce the man who is to become a Bear. He begins to dance by himself right in front of the corn painting. He picks up the yia- kwiyo-, the sacred Cornmother, and, holding her in his right hand, he swings her with his arm to his right side just over the path of sacred cornmeal and back again. You can almost feel how he is drawing some of the Great Goodness out of the cornmeal path into the yia' kwiyo-. As he swings his arm behind his back, the yiakwiyo- is passing again along the corn path and blessing it. There is power in the Cornmother as well as in the corn path, and when they come close, one to another, it makes it very powerful and sacred; and you feel where the Cornmother has crossed the path even if you cannot see it. The Father for Watergiving lifts his foot and pounds the ground and his body sways in the rhythm. He swings his arm with the sacred Cornmother right in front of him and back again, always over the corn path, forcefully but not fast. He does so four times while all the Fishpeople sing and rattle to their many songs. Eventually, P'o ku' ta', the godfather, places the yiakwiyo' again behind the corn painting and picks up two large feathers which he dips into the holy water. Holding them in his left hand and a rattle in his right hand, he dances alone before the lake, lifting his feet and pounding the earth, swaying his body and shaking his rattle and swinging his arm with the two large feathers in front of him and again behind his back, just over the cornmeal path. All the Fishpeople are still singing at the same time, each group its particular song; and each one shakes his How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 103 rattle while the Godfather Bear goes on to swing the feathers four times in each direction over the cornmeal path. When the P'o ku- ta' has laid his feathers on the corn painting, he picks up a gourd dipper. He dips it into the lake to take out some holy water with all its goodness. Then he swings the dipper with the water forward and back again, just along the corn path. While he lifts one foot after the other and stamps the ground and sways his body; he swings the holy water four times over the sacred path, and all the Fishpeople still shake their rattles and sing their different songs; and you cannot help feeling some of the power yourself even if you belong only to the Weedpeople. A fourth time the P'o ku' ta' picks up something from the altar-a bear paw, maybe.150 He dances with the bear paw over his swinging arm and sways it four times over the path of sacred cornmeal to strengthen the path and make the bear paw more powerful. When, eventually, most of the Fishpeople have stopped their songs and only the Clowns are still singing, the godfather Bear takes a pipe from the altar-it had already been filled, previously-and lights it and starts to walk from the lake, on the cornmeal path, to the 'i- we fiJ. As he walks, he blows smoke from his pipe to make the path pure. When the P'o ku- ta' has walked through the kiva and returned from behind the i- we fiU to the Bears' corn painting, the chief K'o'sa gets up, picks up another pipe, and, while walking through the kiva to the ti. we fig and back again to the lake, he, too, blows smoke to purify the path. The smoke from the K'o'sa's pipe smells like that of home grown tobacco; but when the P'o ku' ta' passed near you, his pipe smoke smelled strong and strange.151 After the path has been purified, the Father for Watergiving picks up four feathers from the cornmeal altar, two for each hand. He lifts his arms above his shoulders, bending his arms so that the feather tips are behind his back, slightly above his head. The man who is to be made into a Fishperson gets up behind him lifting his arms and touching the tips of the feathers in the old Bear's hands.L1Z All this time the Clowns still continue their weird singing. Now P'o ku' ta' starts slowly to walk on the cornmeal path, one foot straight 104 Seeking Life before the other, right on the cornmeal. Led by the feathertips, the man to be a Bear follows him, putting one foot before the other on the cornmeal path. Through the kiva they walk behind the 'i- WE fig where they disappear, climbing up the ladder. They are followed by another Bear who, however, does not step on the corn path. While everybody waits for their return, the Clowns still continue their singing. Eventually, the Bear who had gone out last enters from behind the 'i- w fiig and returns to his place behind the lake.153 His entrance announces to the people that the Father for Waterpouring and the man who is going to be a Bear have arrived at the top of the kiva entrance and are ready to descend the ladder. Suddenly a thunderous noise is heard from the t'affidi t-ke-di, the kiva opening, as the Godfather makes thunder with his stamping feet. Slowly he descends, followed by the one who is to be made a Fishperson. But you cannot see them yet, as some of the Weed men who stand near the ladder entrance are "dimming the lights." With their outstretched arms they lift and stretch their blankets behind their backs to make a perfect blanket screen, and this is what is called "the dimming of the lights." Still invisible, from the top of the ladder, the godfather Bear asks: "Segi- xul?" 'Is everything well tonight?' (which means as much as "Good evening"). "Good evening, you Great Ones." "Good evening, you Great Fatherly Ones." "Good evening, you Great Motherly Ones." "Segi' xu ' Is everything well?' you Children of the Great Ones?" From down on the kiva floor, both Fishpeople and Weedpeople alike shout the answer, 'Yes!" Coming down the ladder, the P'o ku- ta' addresses one after another of the leaders of the Fishpeople (all of whom are seated near their altars), calling them respectfully by their ceremonial names. Pa-'yo o*ke, are you down there?" "Ha n 'yes'." "Pa'nyo o'ke, do you have your altar built?" "Yes." "Panyo o'ke., are you prepared to give Goodness?" How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 105 "Yes." "It is good. Now, I have here with me a Child of the Great Ones. Are you willing to receive and accept him?" 'Yes." In the same manner, he addresses all of the other heads of the Fishpeople, one after the other: the Winter Cacique, the Chief Bear, the head of the K'o'sa, the head of the Kwirana, the game priest, the woman Priestess; each of these he asks: "Are you down there?" "Do you have your altar built?" "Are you prepared to give Goodness?" "Are you willing to receive and accept the Child of the Great Ones which I am going to present?" And finally he asks the Weedpeople: "You Children of the Great Ones, are you down there?" "Yes!" "Are you ready to Seek Life?" "Yes!" "I am bringing with me a Child of the Great Ones. Are you willing to receive and accept him?" "Yes." Now, from behind the blanket screen, the one who is to be made a Bear is led through the kiva. Again his hands touch the feathers which his Father for Waterpouring holds backwards over his shoulders. Slowly they walk on the cornmeal path, putting one foot right before the other, until the Bear-to-be stands before the Bear men's lake. He now wears a skirt of small yucca fibers; his face is not painted; but the Fe, a soft, blessed feather, is tied to his hair and hangs down over his forehead. His neck is bare, as he has not yet received the bear necklace. Facing the lake and the Bears, he goes into a semikneeling position.154 Now the Bears begin to sing again, but you cannot understand the words of their songs, as only Bearpeople know them.155 To these songs the P'o ku tat begins to dance around the man who is to become a Bear; he dances with alternating steps. Holding the yia- kwiyo- in his right hand, he touches the Bear-to-be four times with the sacred Cornmother. When he places the yia kwiyo back on the corn 106 Seeking Life painting, he picks up two lightning stones, and, with one lightning stone in each hand, he dances again around the half kneeling Bear-to-be while the other Bears are chanting the songs which only a Bear can sing and understand. They are the same chants which the Bears sing when they are taking out the things which make people sick. The Father for Watergiving dances around the Bear-to-be, rubs his lightning stones together, then suddenly swings his arms towards the Bear-tobe. The lightning stones touch him-they seem to strike him -and each time when he is struck, the man-to-be-a-Bear jumps up violently as if he had been hurt by lightning. This happens four times. When he has put both the lightning stones onto the corn painting, the P'o ku- ta' picks up the pipe and relights it, and puffs the smoke to the four directions and up to the sky and down towards Mother Earth. Then he tenders the pipe to the man-who-is-to-be-a-Bear who takes one long puff; then suddenly, he falls over to his side as if he had fainted. The Father for Watergiving catches him in his fall, lifts him, and holds him, so that he will not fall again, because he must not become weak now, as now he is to become magical. That is why all the Fishpeople say to the Bear-to-be: "Be a man. Be a woman." And all the Weedpeople say to the Bear-to-be: "Be a man. -Be a woman." One of the Bears asks the Bear-to-be: "Are you a man?" And he says, "Yes." "Are you a woman?" And he says "Yes" again. His godfather then tells him: "If you are a man and if you are a woman, you may become a Bear.-" Gradually the fainted man regains his strength; he lifts himself up, and everybody knows now he has become magical, now he has become a Bear. He still holds the pipe and puffs up some smoke when he begins to stamp violently, and, suddenly, his arms and the upper part of his body fall over; his weird bear cry resounds through the kiva: "xa' axa', xa' axa." Everybody knows that at this very moment he has become magical; he has become a Bear. About this time, one of the Bear women places a large How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 107 pottery urinal right before the corn painting. The Father for Watergiving now takes the new Bear by his arm and leads him around while the new Bear begins to cure people and to roar like a real bear: "xa' axa-, xa* axa." It is a great, powerful sound that frightens you. Nobody could roar like that if he would hold anything in his mouth. That is why I know that the Bear is really sucking stones out of the people's bodies. He lifts his hands so that everyone can see that his hands are bare and empty, and then, out of their sick bodies, he pulls rags and some downy, feathery, white cotton stuff of about the size of a snowball. I have seen this with my own eyes. He spits the stones which he has sucked out from the people into the open hands of the P'o ku' ta' and also passes to him the rags and other cotton stuff which had made the people sick. The P'o ku' ta' shows these things around so the people may see them. Later the P'o ku' ta' throws all these things into a pottery urinal right in front of the corn painting. Everybody watches the new Bear cure people. It is a great and good feeling to be cured by a Bear, and you can feel some of it yourself when you watch a Bear who is magical. When the new Bear has cured six or eight people, he begins to lose his magic.156 He looks very tired and like one who has not slept for several nights.'57 The P'o ku- ta' leads him back to the right side of the corn painting, puts a blanket around his shoulders, and makes him sit down. All other Bears begin to sing a soothing chant in the language which only the Bearpeople can understand. The pottery urinal before the lake is now cracked and probably broken, as all the sucking stones have been thrown into it with much force. One of the Bear women sweeps together the pieces of broken pottery and all the stones and cotton and rags which the new Bear had taken from sick people-all that she sweeps into a shawl which is bundled up like a bag. Cornmeal is sprinkled over this bag,l58 and one of the Bears shakes it and swings it to the north, the south, the east, and the west, over the cornmeal painting, while he says something very powerful over it which may end like this: "May all illness and evil go away to the Navajos and to the Navajo-land! "159 Two of the Bears carry the bag with all the bad things in 108 Seeking Life it out of the kiva, out of the Pueblo, to the canyon, or way beyond the home of the refuse, to the fields which we call Los Chicos.160 When the new Bear has had some rest and is no longer magical, he walks again in front of the lake, facing the people. While all the Fish people and all the Weedpeople are watching him, the P'o ku' ta' hands to the new Bear a woven basket with all the things which a Bear needs to become magical and to cure people. There is a rattle in the basket and a bear paw and a bear necklace and the sacred Cornmother, yia' kwiy6', which, with cornmeal and blessing feathers, is wrapped in a deerskin and then wrapped again in a woven reed. And there are lightning stones in the basket, and small figures and several small pouches with cornmeal and more xa- yeand good herbs. All these things are given to the new Bear to be kept by him for the rest of his life, and to be used whenever he is to become magical. After his death, the sacred belongings of a Bear man will be buried in the hills where nobody can find them but the Spiritual Ones themselves, and this is how they are returned to their rightful owners, as I have already told you. When the new Bear has been given his xa- ye-, the bear necklace is placed around his neck, and all the Bear men and Bear women stand up and encircle him and sing again the Bear songs in the Bearpeople's language. After a while, the Bearpeople sit down again, men and women, behind the lake, and while they sing, they start to name all the head priests, one at a time. When the Summer Cacique is called, he picks up his sacred Cornmother from his altar and advances with her to the new Bear. He places his Cornmother on the new Bear's right shoulder, then on his left shoulder, then on his head, before he puts the Cornmother back to his lake again. Then the Winter Cacique is called by the Bears. He, too, approaches the new Bear with his Cornmother and places her upon the new Bear's head and shoulders. One after another, all the Fishpeople are called, and each one places his Cornmother upon the new Bear to give him strength. Even those Fishpeople who are not chiefs and who do not have a Cornmother of their own are called, and they place their hands on the new Bear, on his shoulders and on his head, to give him How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 109 strength. Eventually, the Governor comes up and his Assistants are called, and each one of themn touches the new Bear too. The Governor does it with his cane, as this is what gives him power. When all the heads of the Fishpeople and the Governor and his staff have been called forward by the Bears, and all have placed their hands or their cane or the sacred Cornmother on him, the new Bear returns to his place to the right side of the lake. One of the Bears lifts up the bowl of holy water, and holding it in one hand and holding the image of the sacred Cornmother in the other, he offers to everybody present a drink from the lake with the words: Feed your arms and legs With this holy water Of our Great Motherly One. May you be loved and liked And catch up with the goal Set before you And gain Life of Abundance. At this time, the relatives of the new Bear come in loaded with basketsful of food; there are flour and bread and cooked foodfr of many kinds, many baskets and bowlsful. They place them just before the corn painting right there where the urinal had been swept away a little while ago. The food which is brought in by the relatives of the new Bear belongs to his Father for Watergiving. The P'o ku tat divides the food among all the Bears and among all the other chief Fishpeople. At this time long and beautiful speeches and words of thanks are exchanged between the chief Bear and a speaker for the man-who-has-just-become-a- Fish person. The speaker respectfully addresses all the Fishpeople and tells the story which had led up to the present event-how the young man had been called into service by the spirits, how he had thought it over, pondered about it, and then talked to his parents in the proper way. They had thought it over, then approached the proper authorities in the prescribed, respectful way. The grandfather of the young man had explained his calling and how the gods needed him. The Bear me.n accepted the young man and taught him the things which a Bear must learn, 110 Seeking Life and they decided when the new Bear should get his power. Eight days ago, they went into seclusion in the kiva; tonight he has been accepted by all the Fishpeople and by all the Weedpeople -he has become magical and he has become a member of the Bears: "Thinking of all you have done for us, we are offering you this food." The speaker breaks off a bit of food, offering it to the spirits of the deceased by dropping it with his left hand on the kiva floor: "Partake of this food, ye who are souls departed... and now let us build our arms and legs" [i.e., to eat]. The chief Bear accepts the food and offers a long speech in which he confirms the first speaker's story: Yes, it is true, this young man has had a calling; he thought it over, talked to his parents who pondered over it, who went to see the Bear men. They prepared the ceremonies, went into seclusion for eight days; they fasted and said the prayers and did many other good and important things. Tonight the new Bear has been accepted by all the Fishpeople and by all the Weedpeople. He has become magical; he has become a Bear; and he is now a duly accepted member of the Bears. We thank you for the food which you have offered us and shall partake of this that builds our arms and legs. The Bear chief, too, breaks off a bit of food and offers it to the spirits: "Partake of this food, ye who are souls departed." In the meantime, some teenage boys sweep up what is left of the corn painting of the Fishpeople, and one of the Bear women throws the remains into the fireplace in the kiva. The Bears and all the other Fishpeople begin to wrap again into bundles all the sacred things which gave them power. When all this is done and the food has been properly divided, the chief Bear announces, "It [the door] is open." And all, including the new Bear, climb up the ladder of the kiva to return to their homes. The following evening, another curing ceremony takes How a Man is Made Into a Fishperson 111 place in the kiva. The new Bear becomes magical again and cures people, this time without the assistance of his P'o kuta'. To this second event everybody in the pueblo is invited, and everybody comes who wants to Seek Life. III. HEALING CEREMONIES IN SAN JUAN There was a maiden who became a Bear And she walked and wandered far. Navajo Mountain Chant'61 For the new Bear, his initiation marks the beginning of a new avocation. From now on he will give treatments and perform healing ceremonies, either alone or together with other Bears. He can now take an active part in any one of three different services: informal healing, the Great Healing Ceremony, and (at least in the past) the Communal Healing Ceremony.162 The Informal Healing Ceremony In case of minor illness, only one medicine man visits the patient. The request for this visit is made informally, and the treatment itself, which does not require special preparations, is brief and simple. After the medicine man has touched the patient, to "feel" his sickness, he may give him a forceful massage of circular movements while mumbling prayers. He may also chew herbs and spit them on the afflicted part of the patient's body until, eventually, he "blows away" the illness "to make it go to the Navajo." This small healing ceremony, the buyabu'i, for which no altar is built and during which a mild trance and stone sucking may or may not occur, is repeated for four days, after which the patient is supposed to be well. A simplified version of this treatment may even be given to well introduced non-Indians. 112 Healing Ceremonies in San Juan 113 The Great Healing Ceremony If a person is more seriously ill, one medicine man alone may not be able to cure the patient. More elaborate preparations are necessary, and several medicine men must combine their strength and knowledge for a more mysterious and sacred ritual in which great powers are called upon to act through the entranced body of the sucking shaman. A very formal request is made to obtain the combined services of the Bears. The father, or another male relative of the patient, who knows the ancient, formal language for such occasions, carries a small corn husk package to one of the Bears. This package is filled with sacred cornmeal upon which the patient has blown his breath. In presenting it to the medicine man, the messenger addresses him in the ancient, respectful way: Poor, humble me, Will you forgive me If by my humble presence I am disturbing the peace Of your most beautiful home? After receiving some friendly encouragement from the Bear, the visitor asks, "May I state my business?" When he has received permission to go ahead, he explains: "(name of patient) has become ill and has decided that the goddess Yia- kwiyo- may be of help to him... The Bear eventually agrees to see the patient and notifies two or three other medicine men. After the necessary preparations, they will go together to the patient's home, which has already been prepared for the special event. The largest room of the house has been completely emptied of all furniture. Sheepskins are placed on the floor along the four walls. The patient's relatives and friends, who have been asked to come, squat on these sheepskins along three of the walls. The medicine men and the patient are seated on sheepskins along one of the shorter walls. They wear nothing 114 Seeking Life but G-strings, and no face or body paints are used. The ceremonial corn painting, built around the bowl of holy medicine water, is right in front of them. It is similar to the lake altar described by Xa-ye- t'a-n but less elaborate. There are also lightning stones, eagle feathers, anthropomorphic or animal shaped stone fetishes, and several well polished but unsculptured small stones which might be kept in little pouches. Immediately in front of each Bear (that is, between the Bear and the corn painting) is his Bear paw, the symbol of the Bear society to which the medicine man belongs. Each medicine man carefully unwraps his reed container to take out the yia- kwiyo-, the perfect ear of white corn which is the image of the white Cornmother. The Bear lifts the yia' kwiyo' and displays it to the people by moving it slowly around and giving his blessing to all those present: "May you be loved and liked through the Great Goodness of Yia- kwiyo6 and through myself who am only a poor human being." The father of the patient has, in advance, prepared ceremonial cigarettes of homegrown tobacco wrapped in corn husk leaves. These are now smoked by the Bears and by the "learned" men who formerly requested their help. The Bears may also be seen chewing certain herbs which, in the opinion of some Indians, might help to bring about the forthcoming trance. The ceremony begins with a weird singing which has a suggestive, almost hypnotic quality. Sometimes a medicine man dips one of the large eagle feathers into the holy water and pulls the feather through the mouth of another shaman to help him ubecome a Bear." On the floor near the participant onlookers, small plates with cornmeal have been placed at intervals. When the medicine men begin to sing, everybody takes a little cornmeal in his hand, blows his breath upon it, and throws it towards the altar, saying, "Kwi wa gi* sei wa- gi bi an' be" 'Be a man and be a woman.' As the ceremony progresses, and especially when the medicine men are beginning to fall into trance, the corn throwing and the ceremonial phrase are repeated with increasing emphasis, as an encouragement to the Bear to become magical, and as an encouragement to the patient to be receptive to Healing Ceremonies in San Juan 115 the magical powers to which he is exposed. The ceremonial phrase, "be a man and be a woman," is used in many Tewa ceremonies whenever supernatural powers are about to break through. As soon as a medicine man has become magical, he puts the long glovelike Bear paw over his arm, and with it he touches everybody within reach while he moves around and continues to roar his wild "xa axa-, xa axa-." When all shamen have become Bears, they get up from their seats one by one, and all but the chief Bear dance before the cornmeal altar. They take a deep look into the lake in the center of the corn painting to see the cu geli,, the 'evil spirits' or witches163 which they will have to fight in order to cure the patient. Evil and sickness are the same to the Tewa; they are t'al weu, meaning bad luck, sickness, evil, and weariness. Before approaching the patient, the medicine men touch the images of the white Corngoddess, and with their hands, seem to draw strength from the sacred Cornmothers. Sucking at the sick parts of the patient's body, they finally succzed in taking out rags and stones which are believed to have caused the illness. The Bears also approach other people in the room whom they try to cure, but their efforts are concentrated upon the patient for whom they were originally called. Stones, rags, and fibers, pulled or sucked frown a patient, are thrown into the family urinal which was held in readiness somewhere in the back, and which has now been placed by one of the women in the center of the room near the altar. While still in a trance, two medicine men leave the house to fight the witches in the dark and to catch the witch which has caused the illness. They return with a rag doll referred to as the witch. When the witch doll has been passed around and everybody has seen it, it is held at the rim of the urinal (if the urinal has not previously been broken by the stones which have been thrown into it). Two lightning stones are rubbed against each other to produce a spark which is supposed to burw the witch. Actually, there is no fire; the burning is,symbolized by the sparks from the lightning stones. Eventually, the witch is torn to shreds and thrown into the urinal, which, if still intact, is now intentionally broken. The broken pieces, as well as the sucking stones, rags, 116 Seeking Life and torn up witch doll, are all swept together into a shawl and bundled up into a bag. After sprinkling cornmeal on this bag and swinging it in the four directions above the cornmeal altar, two Bears carry it out of the kiva and the pueblo to throw it into a canyon. While they are gone, a male relative of the patient expresses to the remaining medicine men his formal thanks for their service. After their return, the medicine men awake from their trance, and a melodious, soothing chant is heard while the Bears wash their hands and later pass around a bowl of holy water from which everybody takes a sip. The patient is given a fetish, usually a bear shaped rock, which he keeps for four days before he returns it to the shaman. At the very end of the ceremony, the patient's relatives, who were invited, bring their gifts-usually baskets of flour -to the Bears who divide them among themselves. The patient's immediate family serves food to all who are present, and, after the usual offering is made to the departed ones, all feast together. The room in which the ceremony was held is not swept for four days, after which everything returns to normal. If the ritual has been observed in the prescribed way, it is assumed that the patient will be cured. The Great Healing Ceremony is also given for the blessing of a new house. In this case, the healing rite is performed over every member of the family who will live in the new dwelling. No witches or witch dolls are used, however, as witches are only found when a person is actually sick-not in a blessing rite of mere preventive character. The Communal Healing Ceremony Until about 1930, a communal curing ceremony was held every fourth spring in the Large Kiva of San Juan. It was planned by the Caciques and other priests, and all the members of the Bear Society, including the Bear women, took an active part in it. The women members would, for instance, help the Bears who seemed to have particular difficulty in Healing Ceremonies in San Juan 117 sucking out rags and stones from a patient by gently patting their backs with two feathers dipped into the medicine bowl. The Communal Healing Ceremony was similar to the home curing ceremony already described, but it was more elaborate and it lasted longer. Everybody in the pueblo was invited to attend. Special precautions for secrecy were taken by posting guards outside the kiva, and special guards accompanied the medicine men when they went out to fight and catch the witch-a fight which was longer and tougher than that of other ceremonies.164 Today, the communal cleansing of San Juan is no longer performed, but all other medicine men ceremonies mentioned are still well known and practiced. Two new Bears were initiated in San Juan in 1953. Shamanistic rites similar to those of San Juan are also known among the Tewa of Santa Clara,165 San Ildefonso, and Tesuque. Jicarillas of non-Pueblo Athapascan language stock live within seventy-five miles of San Juan. Neither these Jicarillas, nor the Tewa speaking Pueblos of Taoshave curing societies of the Keres-Tewa type.166 If they need the services of a medicine man they go, therefore, to San Juan for help. IV. THE HISTORY OF SAN JUAN SHAMANISM The young woman who became a bear Set fire to the mountains. Navajo Mountain Chant The Origin Probably few people, if any, in San Juan realize that the curing rituals which today form a well integrated part of San Juan ceremonialism were not originally developed by the Tewa themselves. While the concept of the entranced shaman who sucks the illness out of the patient is very old, it is by no means typical of an agricultural people. Sucking shamen are of an ancient institution of hunting and gathering societies whose economy requires the vigor, skill, and endurance of the individual rather than organized activities of the group.167 The lonely hunter dreams of strange things and seeks, and gradually develops, a direct, personal contact with the Supernatural Ones who eventually manifest their presence by shaking his body and giving extraordinary power to the entranced man. The institution of shamanism is based on the intense personal experience of individuals. The medicine man who goes into a trance to communicate with supernatural powers is, therefore, no priestly representative of the group to which he belongs. He acts as an individual for the individual. When he has "become a Bear, " that is, when he is in trance, he attempts to use the supernatural powers embodied in him for the benefit of one individual, usually referred to as a patient. The term shamanism is of Palaeo-Siberian origin, and classic shamanism exists in the circumpolar and circumbolar areas of Asia. It has been most highly developed among the East Siberian Chuckchee. The basis for the institution of the sucking shaman is the 118 The History of San Juan Shamanism 119 idea that illness is caused by the intrusion of foreign objects into the body. This disease-object-intrusion concept, which is probably of old world palaeolithic origin, seems to be the oldest of all disease theories and has its greatest importance in western North America and in Australia.168 This theory and its practitioner, the sucking shaman, are widely known among the hunting and gathering tribes of the Great Basin, the Plateau of California, and immediately to the south in Baja, California, and among the Seri of Sonora.169 But how did shamanism reach the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest and, especially, the Tewa? Like all other Pueblos, the Tewa and their ancestors have been agriculturists for centuries. The farming tradition of their ancestors, the Basketmakers, can be traced to the beginning of the Christian era. As agriculturists in an arid region, the Pueblo people had common needs for rain and irrigation, and developed a religion which served their communal needs. Their group ceremonies are organized by priests who act as intermediaries between the people and their gods. Communal rites such as the Raingod Drama or a Pueblo Corn Dance or a Harvest Dance are performed by all, 170 or almost all, for the benefits of the whole pueblo and, to a certain extent, even for the benefit of neighboring people. But these complex, communal rites are only one aspect of Tewa ceremonialism which is the result of an amalgamation of several elements almost contradictory to one another. There is, first, a very old Pueblo ritual based on nature gods (corn, water, fire, wind, etc.), superseded by a later imported Kachina cult; and, there are also the shamanistic curing rituals. One may assume that the whole complex of curing societies and curing ceremonies was brought to the Tewa by another Pueblo group, the Keres.1n There are several reasons for this assumption. Tewa curing ceremonies are so similar to those of the Keres that a common origin is beyond doubt.172 The songs of the Tewa shaman, "which only Bears can understand," are in Keresan, and, more specifically, at least according to one informant, in an old form of Keresan. The ceremonial use of a foreign language —technically known 120 Seeking Life as xenoglossia-and of spirit and animal languages, are common shamanistic practices in Siberia, in the Arctic, and on the American Northwest Coast.l173 In Tewa medicine man ceremonies, at least two of these traits, animal languagenamely bear sounds-and xenoglossia occur. The use of old Keresan as a ceremonial language seems to indicate that Keres shamanism is older than that of the Tewa who accepted it with but minor changes. This assumption is supported by archaeological evidence which has been pointed out by Eric Reed.174 According to Reed's theory, the Keres came around 1350 A.D. from East Central Arizona to the Rio Grande Valley where they introduced their curing societies and curing ceremonies, as well as the Kachina cult and other culture traits, to the Tewa.175 Especially close contacts between the Keres and the southern Tewa seem to have existed well into the late seventeenth century in the Gallisteo Basin south of Sante Fe, near the now extinct pueblo of San Marcos.176 But if the Tewa obtained their curing ceremonies from the immigrating Keres, one may further ask where Keres shamanism originated? It is most unlikely that the farming Keres, who are Pueblo, developed their shamanistic ceremonies themselves. Where then did they find it? Bear shamanism, that is, identification of the shaman with the bear, was known in California as well as on the. Plains. Underbill discusses the possibility that bear shamanism might have reached the Pueblos from the Plains Indians with whom the eastern Pueblos and the Jicarilla-Apache-had had contacts.177 But in the light of more recent findings which indicate the probability of Keresan influence on Tewa shamanism and the migration of the Keres from East Central Arizona,178 I am inclined to assume that the Keres obtained the basic shamanistic culture trait from nonagricultural peoples further west, or northwest, and gradually developed and modified it. Modification of Shamanism b the Pueblos With their integration into the collectivistic Pueblo ritual, the individualistic, shamanistic concepts became greatly modified. Medicine men societies with an established ritual and a The History of San Juan Shamanism 121 society leader, formal invitations into these societies, and group ceremonies in which all medicine men participate collectively are a Pueblo Indian modification of the ancient shamanistic institution. But the influence of the collective idea reaches still further. While the classic shaman works for the exclusive benefit of one patient, the Keres-Tewa medicine man concentrates his efforts not only upon the patient, but at the same time, acts also for the benefit of other persons in the audience. In a general way, he bestows the blessings of his patron deity, Yia' kwiyo6, upon all those present. An even stronger influence of the collective idea is evident in the Communal Healing Ceremony of San Felipe where the shaman retrieves from the witches the communal heart, symbolized by a grain of corn in a rag doll.179 I have not been able to ascertain if there was a similar practice in the San Juan ceremony. The idea that the heart of a sick person has been stolen and that it must be retrieved is also dramatized in the Great Healing Ceremony in Santo Domingo. The entranced medicine man may look into a black rock to locate the heart of a patient and then go out to the plaza to find it. He brings back a ball the size of an orange with, in its center, some cotton and a kernel of corn considered as the heart.l80 The retrieval of the stolen heart is evidently based on a modification of the soul-loss concept as a cause of disease. Clemens believes that this idea may also have a single Old World origin, possibly Siberian, but that it is not quite as old as the disease-object-intrusion concept.l 8 The most sacred of all the paraphernalia which a medicine man owns is the yia' kwiyo-, image of the sacred Cornmother. It is this motherly, nature deity who enables the Pueblo shaman to use his Bear powers in a positive way: to fight the witches, to conquer sickness and evil, and to bestow the blessing of being loved and liked. The role of the Corngoddess as the medicine man's patron deity indicates again the deep impregnation of Keres and Tewa shamanism with agricultural symbols. However, not only the symbols but also the functions of shamanistic curing societies and agricultural moiety organizations are interrelated. While the members of one of the 122 Seeking Life moieties or kiva groups of Santo Domingo impersonate the Kachina, they depend, in doing so, on the assistance of the medicine men of the pueblo.l8s The members of the Keres medicine societies become priestly intermediaries between the people and the great supernatural powers. They bring the Kachina to the pueblo, but the Kachina, in turn, may help to cure the sick: If a person is sick in bed during a masked dance and asks to have the dancers visit him, they will come. A few of them (the side dancers) will come in. They strike the sick one with their whips and give him some corn and watermelons. This helps him to get well.183 In Keres ceremonialism, Kachina cult and shamanistic practices are closely interwoven, and so are the functions of priest and healer.184 The Bear men concentrate their efforts on curing the sick, while the Kachina bestow all the Great Goodness which people need for health, abundance, and happine s s. During the Tewa initiation of a Bear, priests and all other Fishpeople are present to witness the making of a Fish person and to accept the new Bear. It seems, though, that in Tewa ritual the functional integration of priest and shaman is not as complete as in Keres culture. But in Tewa, as well as in Keres ritual, the medicine men-who are humans, temporarily entranced into becoming Bears-and the Kachinaswho are gods, temporarily visiting the people —have the same basic function, namely, that of bringing blessing to all those who are willing to Seek Life. V. THE MEANING OF SHAMANISM The maiden who became a bear Sought the gods and found them. Navaho Mountain Chant. The practice of spiritual healing, that is, healing through the help of supernatural beings (spirits, saints, and gods), by means which cannot be explained scientifically, is as old as mankind and is known on all levels of cultures. Founders of religions and saints and their disciples have been known to practice spiritual healing through all ages, including our own. The particular forms in which this idea has been practiced have varied from culture to culture, even within cultures. The underlying concept, however, is as old and universal as the human need and longing which created it. The sucking shaman represents one form of the ancient idea of supernatural healings-a form which, to the average white reader, may be more difficult to understand than that of the healing Christ or of a Christian Science practitioner. Most of us are tradition-bound and are more willing to accept the nonrational concepts with which we grow up than any other form of nonrationalism. But our lack of faith in the belief of others does not make such beliefs less real. The natural attitude of most Euro-American people toward shamanism is one of doubt, of rejection of what appears to the outsider as skillful trickery or mass suggestion. How else could the average, educated non-Indian look at the sucking stones which, supposedly, are taken from a man's body without so much as leaving a trace of broken skin? The Indian who was brought up in the tradition of the sucking shaman is, of course, less doubtful, less skeptical. And where skepticism starts, it is easily refuted. Tewa Indians like to emphasize the fact that during a healing ceremony the Bears wear nothing but G-strings. 123 124 Seeking Life They have no sleeves, pockets, shoes, or even body paint which could facilitate the hiding of rags, yucca fibers, and small stones which the medicine man claims to suck or pull out of the patient's body. While in trance, the Bear men are constantly roaring the Bear's sounds, "xa-axa.," They do so even before taking out rags and stones. The Indian audience considers this as further proof of the supernatural power of the sucking shaman. It is felt that it would be impossible to do the Bear's roaring if stones were kept hidden in the medicine man's mouth. The reasoning of even the most skeptical Indian onlooker is obvious: as trickery seems to be impossible, what else but supernatural powers could be at work? To the faithful, any doubt is heresy, but to the observing outsider it matters little if the sucking stones are the agents of disease or just symbolize them-no more than it would matter to the non-Christian student of religion if the wine in the chalice actually is Christ's blood or only represents it. From a strictly psychological point of view, the essential factor is that the wine and the sucking stones serve as a focus of attention, not only to one individual but to all those who are present-a focus comparable to the center of a Tibetan mandala or to the lake in the center of the Pueblo altar. Each of these is important as a focus rather than as an object. All of them help to promote concentration and intensification of emotional tension. However, while the wine in the chalice and the lake of the Pueblo corn painting are a source and concentration of divine blessing, the sucking stones and the witch dolls may be thought of as symbolic representations of evil forces which have to be fought and destroyed. These evil forces are, however, not personified as a devilish antigod, since the dichotomy of god and devil, heaven and hell, or good and evil which prevails in Christian-Western culture is foreign to Pueblo Indian thought. Most Indian tribes accept and adore the forces from above as well as those from below, the spiritual as well as the material powers, the raincloud above and the primordial waters below, the featherbird and the snake which became The Meaning of Shamanism 125 combined in the Toltec divinity of the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl. Illness is considered by the Tewa as being something evil, but it is not identified with the forces from below which are neither good nor bad in a moral sense, although they are dangerous. Illness is "t'ta WEJ" which also means bad luck evil and weariness. Illness is brought on by the tu geti; evil spirits or witches,'85 who may take the form of animals or persons, male or female. The visible exponent of illness is the sucking stones, rags and fibers taken out of the patient. During the healing ceremony, the patient becomes the very center of the ritual, the object of attention and benevolent concern for all those present. This fact alone is apt to strengthen his self-confidence; and greater self-confidence, in turn, may mean new strength in his very moral and physical being. But the shamanistic ceremony does even more. In magic cultures, music and rhythm are purposeful; they are attuned to the rhythm in nature; they are meant to cause an inner reorientation through an influence stronger than that of any single human being alone. Such magic ceremonies may instill the inborn rhythm and lawfulness of nature itself and, by this very fact, bring forth rhythmization and reharmonization in a sensitized human body and mind. If the modern proponents of somatic medicine are right, such attunement of the psyche or subconscious will also affect physical functions. The nonrational methods of shamanistic curing are often supported by more easily comprehensible means which appeal to the reasoning of the watchful observer without being essential to shamanistic practice as such: the use of herbs, medicines, and massage. Even the sucking stones may be understood as a rationalization of irrational factors rather than as actual agents of illness and its cure. The writer has witnessed conditions of religious trance and possessions (among the Voodooists of Haiti) to the point of recognizing the suggestive influence of the atmosphere of such conditions through group feelings, i.e., rhythm, lights, odors and drugs-an atmosphere which is apt to create, in sensitive participant onlookers, an admiration for the possessed person as well as an intense desire to become 126 Seeking Life likewise entranced. Only personal experience can give a full awareness of the seductive quality of feelings during the process of gliding from one state of consciousness into another -a condition which I like to call "trans-portation" and which may create in those who have known it an almost dangerous longing for repetition. Any condition of active trance18 is an extremely exhausting experience which seems to use up the basic energies of the nervous system. Anyone who has ever experienced an active trance, induced either by hypnosis or drugs or by meditation, knows of the complete state of exhaustion which may follow and which makes the frequent repetition of such experiences forbiddingly dangerous. This is why people in magic cultures who know of these dangers have often given a protective ceremonial frame to such practices. There are different methods of inducing trance and many factors which, singly or combined, may help to promote trance. The most important of these is a person's intense desire to give up his own identity temporarily and to become receptive and submissive to the influence of stronger powers. This submissiveness may be supported and intensified by the use of an object which serves as a focus of concentration or by rhythm, sounds, odor, liquor, drugs, light, colors, suggestions, hypnotic influences, or direct hypnosis. All of these but liquor and, perhaps, direct hypnosis play a role in making a man become a Bear. In the shamanistic trance, unknown powers which seem to be more intense and overwhelming than any other feeling seem to become master of the human body and lead to a condition of exaltation in which a man appears to lose his human identity. He becomes a true medium, moved by strange powers which temporarily dwell in his body. From a psychological viewpoint, it matters little if these powers are actually invisible entities who invade the human body,187 or if they should rather be explained as the highly activated content of the subconscious mind which overruns the barriers of conscious control. It is strength and intensity, power and maleness which become manifest in the Bear man's trance. His condition is a far cry from the esoteric sweetness of spiritual elevation The Meaning of Shamanism 127 of the Christian saints. In the gothic transfiguration of early Christian saints, or in the meditative contemplation of a Tibetan monk, a mediumistic human elevates himself spiritually to a higher plane. He seems to lose his bodily heaviness and to transcend spiritually into an exalting and essentially sweet beyond. The exalted monk suffers and rejoices in deep loneliness. The shamanistic Bear man, however, does not seem to reach upwards into an esoteric world. He rests essentially on his earthen ground to become a vessel for great powers which descend upon him and which add heaviness and supernatural strength to his human body. He enjoys the presence, encouragement, and approval of spectators whose admiration and recognition give him further moral and physical strength. Unlike the Christian monk, the Bear man is not in a religious uplift but in a magic condition which strengthens his earthliness. In the entranced medicine man, his maleness has become intensified; he has become a caveman; he is frightening; he has become a Bear. In an entranced woman, blissful womanliness is enhanced; an entranced woman seems to suffer and enjoy suffering. She inspires pity; the entranced Bear man inspires fear. This is why, among the Pueblos, only Bear men can become magical and cure people. Bear women may assist the men in becoming magical, but they cannot become magical themselves. C. H. Charles has pointed out that many shamanistic rituals can be understood as dramatic performances in which the patient gradually projects and acts out his psychological problems through a process of transference and identification with the entranced shaman who destroys the demon or evil spirit: Until the patient can bring up his demon to consciousness it cannot be dealt with nor disposed of, but lurks guerillalike in the unconscious and causes constant trouble. This unconscious mechanism in the psyche of the patient becomes more activated through proximity and sympathy to the powerful, controlled activity of a similar portion of the psyche of the shaman. The healthy shaman evokes and acts out the horrible demon which 128 Seeking Life brings death; and he also acts out the forces which bring life and health. Through his drama the shaman stimulates and brings to consciousness the battle within the patient, and helps to achieve a denouement such as the patient has been unable to achieve alone.188 The maKing of the medicine man may be considered as another ceremonial drama of the Tewa, a true psychodrama, performed for and by all those who through identification with the entranced shaman are willing to find and to combat the evil spirit within themselves. The Tewa shamanistic ritual is, like that of the Raingod Ceremony, a drama performed for the benefit of all those who Seek Life. Among peoples of shamanistic culture, there exists a widespread belief that a man who receives a calling must follow it lest he become ill himself. The forces which called him may turn against him-refusal to obey may upset the inner rhythm. However, there also seems to be a fear about becoming a shaman. Great Elk, the old man mentioned by Xa-yE- t 'a-" cried at the thought of seeing his son become a Bear. Why was it that his heart trembled? Is the experience of becoming a Bear frightening? uYes," said Xa-yE^ tIays, "it may indeed be frightening if you have gone too far." I asked the old man to explain this a little further. He shook his head and remained silent for a long time before he answered: What I am trying to say is hard to tell and hard to understand- even for Fishpeople-unless... unless you have been yourself at the edge of the Deep Canyon and have come back unharmed. Maybe it all depends on something within yourselfwhether you are trying to see the Watersnake or the sacred Cloudflower, whether you go out to meet death or to Seek Life. It is like this: as long as you stay within the realm of the great Cloudbeings, you may indeed walk at the very edge of the Deep Canyon and not be harmed. You will be protected by the rainbow and by The Meaning of Shamanism 129 the Great Ones. You will have no reason to worry and no reason to be sad. You may fight the witches, and if you can meet them with a heart which does not tremble, the fight will make you stronger. It will help you to attain your goal in life; it will give you strength to help others, to be loved and liked, and to Seek Life. APPENDIX I: CEREMONIAL PARAPHERNALIA Baskets Formerly, every woman who went to the kiva would carry a small reed basket with cornmeal. These baskets were usually made by Jicarilla Apaches. Today most women bring a bit of cornmeal knotted in the corner of a handkerchief. Only the Priestesses carry cornmeal in a basket. Bells Today the bells used by Kachinas and dancers are storebought; formerly deerhoof rattles were used. Bow and Arrow The last Raingod to appear, the Silent One, carries a bow and arrow of traditional size and shape. No small bows and arrows are distributed. See page 67 for the symbolical meaning. Blankets The blanket, formerly the basic piece of Pueblo Indian clothing, has become today a symbol of things Indian: "under the blanket were the things worthwhile and all the rest was hideous."'9 No wonder, then, that it is part of religious etiquette to attend a kiva ritual wrapped in a blanket and wearing homemade moccasins. But the blanket is not only a colorful wrap-around; it is also a general utility piece. Folded up it makes a good seat on the kiva floor. And it is with blankets over their shoulders that some of the Assistants of the Raingod Ceremony form a screen inside the kiva by turning their backs to the audience, stretching out their arms, and extending the blankets over their shoulders from fingertip to fingertip. The people of San Juan have no tradition of raising cotton or of weaving. Since early times, they used to obtain their blankets and woven garments from other pueblos or tribes. Today most blankets are storebought and of the Pendleton type. 131 132 Seeking Life Red colors are predominant among the women whose blankets have fringes and are referred to as shawls; men's blankets are fringeless. Corn Sacred cornmeal is the food of the gods, just as ordinary cornmeal is the food of the Tewa. It is obtained from perfect ears of corn, especially ground and stored, but it is not prayed over. There is, in every home, a small basket or a pottery bowl with sacred cornmeal. Inside the Small Kiva, near the entrance, is a wall opening in which sacred cornmeal is kept for the use of the faithful who enter, similar to the holy water in Catholic churches. Everyone who enters the Small Kiva performs the feeding rite. He takes a little sacred cornmeal, blows his breath on it, and sprinkles it on the ground near the masks (but never at them) to feed the gods. Some cornmeal is used on every altar. The more elaborate altars consist of a cornmeal painting drawn on the floor with the waterbowl in the very center. Such cornmeal paintings of the farming Pueblo may have stimulated the nomadic Navajos in their ceremonial sand paintings which are similar in purpose although quite different in style and mythological content. Blessed corn kernels are used in the third scene of the Raingod Ceremony, thrown to the People by the white painted hand of a spirit, a tangible symbol of the blessing and gifts which the Great Ones bring to their Children. As corn is sacred, so are some of the objects made of it: corn husks, used for the headdress of the Clowns; ceremonial cigarettes (see p.140); and the wrapping of the hE*. f6, or prayerplume, which is the ceremonial clothing of the gods (see p. 133f). Evergreen The evergreen used in most Tewa ceremonies is that of the Douglas Spruce.190 During the performance of the Raingod Drama, the spruce twigs used are ceremonially gathered by four young men of the sponsering moiety. Before public dances, however, two Winter boys and two Summer boys go on an evergreen pilgrimage. The young men start out at midnight and walk for several hours before reaching the trees. At the choosen place, they Appendix 1 33 feed sacred cornmeal to the Spruce God and address him in prayer: Thou God of Spruce, We humble ones Have come to break Your holy branches For sacred tasks. In our minds The plan has grown To celebrate The Raingod ritual, As an offering to the gods, To please the gods, That they might grant us Crops abundant, That they might help us To be loved and liked, That we may reach the Goal On our path of life, That we may gain Life of Abundance. After the prayer, evergreen branches are broken off and carried home in a silent walk through the early morning. During the pilgrimage everybody abstains from food. The evergreen, symbol of everlasting life, is used for the decoration of the Kachina. The Raingods wear evergreen around their necks, waists, and attached to their legs and upper arms. One of them carries a whole small evergreen tree. Feathelr s Little bundles of small. soft eagle and other feathers are sprinkled with cornmeal which has been breathed on and wrapped in corn husks. These little packages of prayerplumes, called he-a fo, are brought to the Small Kiva and handed to the Cacique shortly before the Raingod Ceremony. They are also used in other ceremonies when they may be brought to either the medicine men or priests of other societies. The Cacique (or priest) takes the he- fo to the altar where he prays over it for the success of the ceremony: We humble ones, We men of bodies, 134 Seeking Lif e Come to you, Our Great Ones, Our Spiritual Ones, Who are disembodied beings. We offer to you This sacred he" f6 To please you, To clothe you, To keep you warm. We make this offering That ye may give us strength For our sacred rite, That we may continue To be loved and liked, That we may achieve Our goal in life, That we may gain Life of Abundance. The he'm f6 is a prayer offering referred to as "the clothing of the gods." After a ceremony, it will be deposited in the fields or buried in the ground. Formerly everybody used to offer the he-a f6, but today this is mostly done only by dancers and Kachina. However, anyone who asks for the service of a medicine man will also bring him a hew' f6 to be offered to the gods. Larger eagle and parrot feathers are used for decorations of the masks. Men bring them to the Small Kiva and, after the ceremony, when the feathers have become sanctified through ceremonial use, the men will take them back to their homes. A single feather, worn by the dancers and tied so it hangs down over their foreheads, is called a fe-. Formerly, each man wore one for dances; today this is only done by some of the dancers. In the Raingod Ceremony, only the Kwi yo' wear these single feathers. In the early morning hour after the ceremony, such feathers are deposited with a prayer outside the pueblo, to "return them" to the gods (see p. 59). For the use of eagle feathers during curing ceremonies, see the section on "Holy Water" in Appendix I. The Fetishes The head of every religious society has, as his most sacred possession, a reed buhdle containing prayerfeathers and the stone figure of his deity, which is also the deity of his society. When not in use, fetishes are kept in these reed bundles which, because of their stiffness, can not be folded, only rolled. Appendix 135 Large and small fetishes are used on the altars and may be anthropomorphous, animal shaped, or simply unusually shaped or polished pebbles. The large fetishes are from six to twelve inches high. They are roughly cut in stone and, if of anthropomorphous shape, may have a necklace of drilled shell and turquoise. They usually represent female deities, and the priest of each religious society, as well as each Cacique, has the fetish of the particular deity with whom he communicates and from whom he receives his spiritual strength. Only the Clowns' deities are male. Large, stone fetishes are handed down from generation to generation, and their origin is either unknown or referred to in legendary form. Small fetishes may be made by any medicine man. The patron deity and the great fetish of the medicine men is Yia- kwiyo-, the sacred Cornmother represented by a perfect ear of white corn. A fetish is conceived as a symbol and source of strength, and when approaching it, the faithful Indian will take a deep breath to take in some of the Great Goodness which emanates from the sacred figure. Any sacred stone fetish may be referred to as xayc-, thus the fetish of the Earth Navel, na- n sipu plinge, is the xa-yc nan sipu p'inge. Food The food brought along by the Clowns in their sheepskin packs consists of homebaked bread and dried beef or mutton, called "jerky." Food is considered to be as important to the dead as it is to the living. At the beginning of a meal, a few crumbs of food, dipped into the stew or coffee, are dropped on the ground, accompanied by a silent prayer, to feed the Departed Ones. As the Clowns are spirits, it would seem only natural that they would have to eat. Holy Water Only water brought from the river or from an irrigation ditch is used to make holy water; there are no lakes close enough to San Juan, and water from a man made well cannot become holy. Powdered herbs are sprinkled into the water which is then prayed over. In the Raingod Ceremony, this holy water is prepared by the Cacique on his altar in the Small Kiva and passed around 1 36 Seeking Life to the performers before their appearance in the Large Kiva (see p. 38). Holy water is also used in all other ceremonies. Before public dances, the priest of each religious society erects his altar in the kiva, prepares holy water and passes it around to all dancers with the usual blessing. Formerly everybody in the Pueblo partook of the holy water, as almost everybody used to participate actively in the public ceremonial dance. In healing ceremonies, the medicine man prepares holy water and, at the end of the ceremony, passes it, with the appropriate prayer, first to the patient and then to everybody else present. When a medicine man is about to fall into trance, or when he has difficulty sucking out rags or stones from the patient, a Bear woman might help him by dipping an eagle feather into the holy water and brushing the Bear man's back with it. Holy water is kept in the holy medicine water bowl, p'o kwiij sala'we*. This bowl has jagged edges; its rim is cut in two (or sometimes one, three, or four) cloud shaped designs. Each Cacique, medicine man, and every leader of any of the other religious societies has his own medicine water bowl. They may differ in size and in the number of jagged "steps" used in the cloud shaped rim. Usually the medicine water bowls of San Juan are not painted as are those from other pueblos. Because the water bowl is the very center of the corn painting, the altar and the corn painting are called the lake or, more literally, "the place where the water is." The water in the middle of a corn painting symbolizes to the Indian the lakes where the Kachina dwell, that is, the waters which are the source of Life. In the language of the alchemists it is "divine water" with the quality of giving spiritual rebirth to men. When the waterbowl is in the center of a corn painting altar it may be conceived of as the center of a mandala which serves as a focus of concentration. The Masks The Kachina masks are made of Indian tanned hide, and most of them are very old, having been handed down for generations. Some of them are of buffalo skin, others of deer skin, but all are made from unwounded animals (i.e., the animal is trapped and smothered or otherwise killed without harming the skin or shedding blood). When not in use, the masks are undecorated, stored away in boxes, or hung on the wall of the Small Kiva. Most Kachina masks are of the cylindrical type, the Appendix 137 others are half masks. The cylindrical masks are like a bucket and are pulled down over the head. The lower edges are concealed by evergreen ruffs. This type of mask is used by the performing Kachinas. The half mask is worn by the dancing Kachinas who appear, for instance, in the P'o ku- or Waterpouring Ceremony. The half mask consists of a facecovering with long horsehair strands concealing the rest of the head. All masks are painted differently since each one represents a different deity. In the Raingod Ceremony only the large cylindrical masks are used. The usually triangular eyeslits are so small that it is difficult to see through them, and it is for this reason that the San Juan Kachinas are guided by their Assistants up and down the ladder. The masks are taken out only a few days before they are to be used. During the four days of fast preceding a masked ceremony, the masks are repainted and beautifully redecorated with evergreen, sacred feathers, and earrings. From their homes, men will bring their best eagle feathers and their most beautifully colored parrot feathers as well as earrings of blue turquoise and glittering mica slate. Large feathers may be arranged as a headdress; smaller feather bundles may hang down from the wooden earlobes of the masks. Each time the masks are taken out, the Feeding Rite is performed: One takes a little sacred cornmeal, blows one's breath on it, and sprinkles it in front of the masks-never at them-and then whispers a prayer: Partake of this sacred cornmeal Ye Great Ones, To nourish yourselves And to strengthen your bodies. May we continue to be loved and liked, May we catch up with that For which we are always yearning. May we gain Life of Abundance. Although the cornmeal is sprinkled in front of the masks, it is not the masks but the gods who are fed and who are honored; the undecorated masks are only symbols of the gods, not the gods themselves. No faithful Indian would try on a mask for fun, as wearing the mask is a sacred act allowed only under ritual conditions. He who wears the mask cannot talk or walk any longer like a human; he has lost his identity; he has become a supernatural. After their use, the masks are stripped of their 138 Seeking Life decorations and the Feeding Rite is performed again before being stored away. Leaving on the holy feathers and earrings would be sacrilege, as the decorated masks come to life and become an essential part of the powerful Great Ones themselves. Therefore, after having served their purpose, they must be stripped, transformed again into nothing but masks, until the time when they will again become gods. The men who had lent their feathers and earrings to the gods then take home their sacred possessions which have become blessed through ceremonial use. Medicine Pouches The medicine pouches are of varying sizes, made of buckskin, and all of them old as they have been handed down for generations and are no longer made. All old men have a collection of pouches with paints, medicinal herbs, and fetishes; when not in use, the pouches are tied together in a bundle and hung in a corner of the home near the ceiling. At one time all men carried pouches of medicine herbs, but the custom is dying out. Old women may still wear pieces of herbs tied to the belt fringes of their Indian dress. In public ceremonies one may occasionally see a dancer or an Old Man wearing a pouch, but nowadays it often serves only for decorative purposes. In the Raingod Ceremony, neither the Kachinas nor the Clowns wear pouches, but pouches are used in the Small Kiva by the Cacique when he builds his altar, and by the Old Men who bring their paint pouches for the decoration of the Masks and the body painting of Clowns and Kachinas. Melons In every Kachina ceremony in San Juan, the Kachinas bring melons to the people, regardless of the season. For this ceremonial use, each family stores several melons from the summer harvest. Sometimes children may wonder why, at the very time of Kachina ceremonies, one or two of the most beautiful melons disappear from the family home. The melons left by the Raingods are later broken apart (never cut with a knife), and distributed, preferably among the women and children. Appendix 139 Paints All old men have collections of medicine pouches with paints which they bring to the Small Kiva when a ceremony is prepared. But while only natural mineral paints were formerly used for masks and body painting, today many paints are storebought, especially green and yellow. A blackish clay, nap 1o0 ~u n, found along the banks of the Rio Grande, is considered sacred and still widely used. This clay seems to convey a spiritual quality to the costumed dancer, and it is the generous use of this paint which is referred to when people speak of the "markings of the Kachina." A red paint, seie p'i'i 'man's rouge, ' is obtained from ground clay. It is used by men only, never by women, since it seems to have sexual associations. The red paint is always carefully kept in medicine pouches. White clay is a household article, widely used in pottery making and for painting boots; as well as for ceremonial paint. It is kept in large containers, not in pouches. Pistons The pifions thrown to the people in the third scene have not been prayed over, nor have they otherwise been sanctified, but they become holy through their ceremonial use. The pinions are one of several symbols of the bounteous abundance and the visible blessing brought on by the Raingods, but they also provide lots of down-to-earth fun: to have them thrown at you, to reach out for them, and to chew them happily while the Great Ones make their solemn entrance. Rabbits The rabbits offered to the virgins by the Silent Raingod are not ceremonially hunted. They may have been killed a day or two before the ceremony and are presented undressed, unskinned, and wrapped in evergreen. It is possible that formerly pieces of buffalo or venison were offered but today rabbits are the easiest to obtain. For the symbolic meaning of the meat offering see page 67. Sheepskins Each Clown carries a sheepskin pack filled with foodstuff on his back. The sheepskins protect the Clowns from the 140 Se eking Life yucca whips of the Raingods and serve as an ever ready comfortable seat on which to rest. As far as I know, they have no ceremonial significance. Sheepskins are also brought along by the people and spread on the kiva floor as seats. Tobacco Formerly almost every man used to carry a pouch of tobacco and corn husks to make cigarettes. Smoking was done by men only and all smoking was ceremonial. A man would take deep breaths, puff smoke, raise his eyes, and, speaking in a low voice, for himself rather than for those present, say the Smoke Prayer. The Tewa word for ceremonial smoking is soxwa 'to make fog' to the gods. Actually the meaning of s6oxwa includes fog, dew drops, and rainclouds-in short, any moisture in the air. In the Smoke Prayer a man addresses his gods: " bi s6oxwa a" " 'you all moisture envelop (yourselves).' The Smoke Prayer implies that a man sends moisture up to the Raingods, to please and nourish them, so that in their turn they will make the sacred Cloudflower drop raindrops onto earth. Ceremonial cigarettes are still made of homegrown tobacco and corn husks, and they are rolled immediately before being smoked. Whenever the Cacique or another priest builds his altar, he makes cigarettes for ritual smoking. Only when curing ceremonies are held are ceremonial cigarettes made in advance: the patient's father makes them during the day for use at night by the medicine men. Yucca Whips Most Raingods carry two yucca whips, one in each hand, point downward. Each whip consists of a single swordlike leaf about two to three feet long and an inch and a half wide. Yucca is gathered ceremonially at night by four men who abstain from food during their journey. Before breaking the yucca they offer sacred cornmeal to the Yucca God and say a prayer similar to that said by the evergreen gatherers. The yucca whips carried by the Raingods are a symbol of power and a reminder that people should be good and love each other. The day after the Raingod Ceremony, the yucca whips, along with headfeathers and evergreens, will be carried outside the pueblo and, with appropriate prayers, be deposited Appendix 141 in an uncultivated field; that is, they will be returned to the Spiritual Ones. APPENDIX II: MUSIC AND SOUNDS IN THE RAINGOD CEREMONY The Raingod Ceremony is essentially different from most Pueblo ceremonies as it is a ritual drama, with both pantomine and spoken word, yet without music. In the whole RaingodDrama, there is neither singing nor drumming, nor are there any rattles. Still, besides the spoken word there are many sounds which form an essential part of the drama. Most of them are the sounds of nature represented by the Raingods. There is the churning of the excited waters; there are bird songs imitated by boneflutes; thunder produced by stomping feet; and the roaring wind imitated by the bullroarers. According to Haeberlin, 191 the bullroarer is considered among the Pueblos as a magic instrument capable of producing rain. Actually, the Tewa does not reason that it is the bullroarer which produces rain: the bullroarer is simply an instrument used to imitate the roaring winds, and it is the winds which bring the rain. Other noisemakers used are the turtle shells attached to the Clowns' moccasins and the many jingling bells (formerly pieces of deerhoofs or pig knuckles) attached to the ankles and waists of the Kachinas. The most important sounds of the Raingod Drama are the voices of the Raingods themselves, voices that utter weird sounds which belong to no human language; they are in the language of the gods. Each Raingod has his own particular vocal sounds which identify him, and these many weird sounds, deep and shrill, resounding and piercing, reflect the multiple aspects of nature's threats and blessings which are the threats and blessings of the gods. 142 APPENDIX III: VARIATIONS IN THE RAINGOD CEREMONY The reader's attention is again called to the fact that the ceremony described in this paper is one organized by the Winter people. When the drama is performed by the Summer people, it will be the men and the Priestesses of the Summer group who are in charge. That occasionally the Raingod Drama may be put on by the medicine men has already been mentioned. -As the drama has been passed on for centuries by oral tradition only, there are, naturally, slight variations between each celebration in San Juan. Variations are even stronger if one compares the San Juan version of the ceremony with that of the other Tewa Pueblos. In the bringing of the Raingods, the order of lake names from which the gods emerge may vary slightly except for the last one which is always the one closest to the pueblo. The number of Raingods who actually descend into the kiva may vary from four to fifteen or more. The Clowns, however, will always "see" a great number of Raingods arrive at the foot of the kiva ladder but, according to the Clowns, only a few of the gods are actually entering the kiva while the others accompany them only to the entrance and wait outside. In the fourth scene, "The Reception of the Raingods," the Cacique, instead of defending the Children of the Great Ones by saying: "We were good, weren't we, Children?" may respond: "Yes, indeed, we have been bad, but from now on we will try to be good, won't we, Children?" The greatest variations occur, of course, in the jokes told by the Old Men and, even more so, in the jokes of the Clowns which refer to what might be termed the pueblo's "current affairs." Thus, the names of persons referred to in these jokes as well as the situations described will vary, although they will always be variations of the general theme "who makes love to whom." Spinden919 has published a dramatic fragment of the scene in which the Clowns bring the Raingods to the kiva. In this version, which comes from the pueblo of Nambe, the Clowns are the mischievous little wargod twins who have to pass tests and trials such as defeating the false priests, and they have to accomplish great deeds, the last of which is the bringing of the gods into the underground chamber. Parsons'"i mentions that in the Raingod Ceremony of Nambe, one of the Raingods promises a deer to the virgins and brings them Kachina dolls on cradle boards, referred 143 144 Seeking Life to as "babies." At home, the girl places the doll on her bed, and, the next morning, people visit the girl and "feed" cornmeal to the "baby," thus assuring the girl's future fertility in marriage. In this connection, I might mention that, according to one of my informants, the Arizona Tewa of Hano refer to any Kachina doll brought by the Raingods as a "child." In the Santa Clara version of the drama, Yeg sedo- is humpbacked and the visionary clowns see him walking behind the other Raingods, gradually catching up with them. REFERENCES 'Reed, 1949. Archaeologists and historians have recorded the names of about sixty villages, now extinct, which were formerly occupied by the Tewa. See Hodge, 1912, p. 737; Hibben, 1937. 2Another Tewa pueblo, Hano, is on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona. 3Hammond, 1927, p. 100. 4 The word "moiety" is derived from the French moietie 'half. ' 5Parsons, 1929a, p. 89. 6 Parsons (1929a) mentions only two kivas in San Juan. Her "Little Kiva" is the same which is here referred to as "Practice Kiva"; her "Big Kiva" is identical with our "Large Kiva." The two adjoining Small Kivas, mentioned here, have been remodeled in recent years. It seems that, formerly, preparations for certain ceremonies could be made either in a nearby private home, or in one of the Small Kivas. Today, only the kivas are used. 7Reed, 1949, p. 182. 8Reed, 1949, p. 180. 9Stevenson, 1914, p. 68. 10 I have given the name "Theory of Directions" to the method which allows one to determine and interpret such interrelations between structure, dimensions and directions, on the one hand, and thought patterns or attitudes, on the other. 1Called the sie wo' wabe*. lCalled the 'ie we fig. Hewett and Dutton (1945, p. 43) reproduce the picture of this structure in the kiva of Nambe, and refer to it as an altar. In San Juan, it is somewhat higher and has more clearly masked steps than that of Nambe, and, at least today, is never used as an altar for sacred objects, 145 146 Seeking Life but rather for the picturesque enthronement of the Clowns, the guards, and the governor. 13in 1956, the Large Kiva in San Juan had been modernized; the hole in the lower side wall, through which formerly only women and children had been allowed to crawl, had been replaced by a side door which leads behind the 'i' we fig, and which is now used by everybody except the ceremonial dancers and their assistants. The stairs and side walls leading up to the roof have been widened and are now built of adobe. 14Spinden, 1933, p. 89. 5Charles, 1935, p. 33. 16Sims, 1949, Plates IV, V, VI, and VII. 17Sinclair, 1951, p. 7. l8Smith, 1952, pp. 294-310, especially Figs. 27 and 28, and Plates E and F. 19 For a discussion of early reports on Kachina dancers and a detailed bibliography, see Dockstader, 1954. 20Parsons (-1929a, p. 191) mentions the Harvest Dance as one of the ceremonies in which Kachinas appear without masks. However, my informants do not agree with Parsons on this. 2z Parsons, 1929a, p. 180. ZZCompare Bunzel, 1932b, p. 868: "When no mask is worn the same magical power that resides in the mask is imputed to the body paint." 23Waters, 1950, p. 261 ff. 24Anderson, 1955, p. 411. 25Parsons, 1928, p. 587. 6 In the 1920's, when many children began to attend boarding schools off the reservation, it became customary to delay the initiation considerably. This explains Parsons' statement that boys are initiated after the age of fifteen (1929a, p. 151). References 147 27Parsons (1929a, p. 151) states that the boys undergo a four day retreat with fasting before the initiation proper. It is likely that such a custom did exist. My informants report, however, that, at the present at least, boys do not have to observe a retreat and fast. The only initiation preceded by four days of fasting is that of adults who undergo the waterpouring. 28Parsons' assumption that girls are not initiated appears to be erroneous (1929a, p. 151). 29According to Dozier (1954, p. 347), the Tewa of the pueblo of Hano in northern Arizona used to have four Kachina night ceremonies, spaced equally throughout the year. 30Parsons, 1929a, pp. 168 if. 31Parsons, 1929a, p. 153. 32 Fewkes considers the Hopi Watersnake Ceremony as a theatrical exhibition and describes it in several "acts" (1903, pp. 40 ff). Collier emphasizes the dramatic quality of Pueblo ceremonies in general (1949, pp. 62, 63). 33 This identifies himself as the giver of the offering. 34 The original employs the term "xo' xu* n a"" 'to strengthen your legs and arms' which is the ceremonial term for "eating." 35The following is a shortened version of the much longer, formal speeches actually made. 36 The following is a more literal translation of the last three lines, also found in the last three lines of the next speech on p. 36: May all of us catch up with that Which we are thinking about most To have for ourselves; May we have in the house Plenty of meat. In this context, the term "meat" stands for everything which is needed in the home, therefore "plenty of meat" implies abundance. The preceding thought can, of course, be rendered in English in more than one way, thus explaining the slight variations in the translation. 148 Seeking Life 37For detailed description, see Appendix I, "Holy Water." 38See Appendix I, "Tobacco." 39This line refers to the rainbow. 40For a discussion of the basic meaning of this phrase, see p. 85. 41 This line shows the Christian influence; here the Clowns are making fun of the white people's religion. 42 The Clowns' jokes vary a great deal at each ceremony, and their number is, of course, unlimited. Only a few instances are given here as illustrations. Where personal names are used, they are fictitious. 43Again this is the Christian influence; formerly the Clowns' jokes were not resented. 44 This is the name of the trash pile at the outskirts of the pueblo. 45This is reference to the cow and sheep manure used in pottery making for purposes of slow burning. 46 This is an allusion to a romance going on between Flowermountain and Bearmountain. 47These names, although fictitious, refer to a man and a woman of the pueblo about whose romance some gossip had been going on. 4The Clowns say here the opposite of what they mean as they belong to the spirit world where everything is reversed. 490 'xu'a povi 'Cloudflower' is a beautiful, flowershaped cloud symbolizing the powers and the Great Goodness which the Raingods bring. 50This is the lake nearest San Juan. 51 The sacred Earth Navel is a secret shrine in the center of the pueblo where certain nightly ceremonies are performed. References 149 52 The Kachina are led by their Assistants who carry the"'I melons and yucca whips for them because the eyeslits in their masks are so small that the Kachinas cannot see enough to walk safely up and down the ladder by themselves. 53 This word is pronounced with a thunderous accent on the first and next to last syllables; its emphasis indicates that the climax has been reached. 54There are no swearing words in the Tewa language. Thus, where under the white man's influence swearing language is used, it is done either in Spanish or English, and implies a ridiculing of white man. 55The Raingods are supernatural beings; they must not be touched, nor can they move or talk like humans. They express themselves in gestures only, the meaning of which is translated to the People by either the Clowns or the Cacique. 6Seij posj p'a' 'Man Ceremony' is also the ceremonial term for sexual intercourse. 57There are two Summer virgins and two Winter virgins in each ceremony. 58The Clowns, representatives of the spirit world, say here again the opposite of what they are expected to say: "May you gain Life everlasting." "These are the feathers which the performers had worn tied to their waists and hanging down from their necks and over their foreheads. 60Collier, 1949, p. 63. 61 Lucas, 1949, p. 69. 62 Lucas, 1949, p. 65. 63Nietzsche, 1924, p. 56. "Goethe, 1827, p. 65Adolf, 1951, pp. 112 ff. 66Brasseur de Bourbourg, 1862. 67Whitman, 1947, p. 17. 150 Seeking Life 68Charles, 1948, p. 174. 69Aristotle, Poetics, Chapter 6, cited in Lucas, 1949, p. 14. In speaking about tragedies, Aristotle did not imply an unhappy ending. He simply meant "drama which renders human life seriously as contrasted with comedy which renders it grotesquely." 7Lane Cooper, Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (New York, 1913), p. 19, cited in Lucas, 1949, p. 26. 71Moreno, 1946. 7 Spinden, 1933, p. 99. 73Parsons' description of Yen sedo' (1929a, p. 153) deviates considerably as she states that his mask is "black with mouth in red, a triangle of red on the forehead and zig zag lines from the eyes in red, yellow, and blue," a description which my San Juan informants reject as erroneous. 74Parsons, 1929a, p. 153. 75Jung and Kerenyi, 1949, p. 131. 76 Parsons (1929b, pp. 9-10) states that this phrase is synonymous with ceremonial potency, personal courage, and adequacy. But she feels that "there is no implication of hermaphroditism." I agree with Parsons only in that the Tewa Indian is not conscious of a concept of hermaphroditism. However this does not exclude the possibility of such underlying symbolic meaning. 77Parsons, 1929a, p. 263. 78Frazer, 1935, Part I, Vol. 2, 130 ff. 79Frazer, 1935, Part I, Vol. 2, 136. 80Proclus in "Platonis Timaeum Commentarii, 293c, cited in Jung and Kerenyi, 194,9, p. 205. 8lFrazer, 1935, Part I, Vol. 2, 138. s8Frazer, 1935, Part IV, Vol. 1, 67-68. 83A. B. Ellis, The Ewe Speaking Peoples of the Slave References 151 Coast of West Africa (London, 1890), pp. 140 ff, cited in Frazer, 1935. 84Frazer, 1935, Part IV, Vol. 1, 67. For further references, see also Frazer, 1935, Part I, Vol. 2, 150 ff; and Penzer, 1952, pp. 131-184. 85Haeberlin, 1916, p. 37. 86 See Appendix III. 87Jung and Kerenyi, 1949, pp. 218-219. 88Haeberlin, 1916, p. 12. 89Fewkes, 1903, p. 17. 90Colton, 1949, p. 32. 91Stephen, 1936, pp. 291 ff. 92 Fewkes and Stephen, 1893, p. 281. 93Stephen, 1936, p. 331. 94Parsons, 1929a, p. 274. For the Arizona Tewa, see Stephen, 1936, pp. 342, 346. 9Wendorf, 1953, pp. 19-20. 6Parsons, 1929a, p. 86. 97Parsons, 1929a, p. 128. 98Parsons, 1929a, p. 303. See also Spinden, 1933, pp. 99, 123; James, 1927, pp. 127 ff. The latter tale of a big snake P'anyu', who provided abundance if a human life was offered to him every month, is said to have come from Pecos, but the author reports that the story was also well-known among the Tewa of San Ildefonso. "Parsons, 1929a, p. 274. S00Stevenson, 1914, pp. 79-80. 101Crooke, 1921, p. 415. 1zCrooke, 1921, p. 416. 152 Seeking Life '03MacCulloch, 1921, p. 409. 104 MacCulloch, 1921, p. 406. 105 Daniel G. Brinton, Nagualism, A Study in Native American Folklore and History (Philadelphia, 1894), pp. 49 f, cited in MacCulloch7921. l6MacCulloch, 1921, p. 408. 107Wake and Westropp, 1875, p. 42. 108Wake and Westropp, 1875, p. 71. See also Marr, 1936, p. 28. '09Horapollo, 1950, p. 57. "~Haeberlin, 1916, p. 57. '11Haeberlin, 1916, p. 23. "2Haeberlin, 1916, p. 20. 113 Haeberlin, 1916. 114Amsden, 1949, p. 100. 115Wormington, 1947, p. 19. 116 Whitman, 1947, pp. 25-26. 117Whitman, 1947, pp. 19-20. '18Whitman, 1947, p. 17. 19 Whitman, 1947, pp. 25-26. 20Goldfrank, personal communication. lZ Goldfrank, 1945, p. 536. '22Goldfrank, 1945, p. 536. 23 Goldfrank, personal communication. 124 Thompson and Joseph, 1944, p. 47. Refe rence s 153 l25It is understood that this statement refers only to the "inner happiness" or contentment, to a state of mind which existed before Tewa culture was shaken through contact with the white man's culture. The statement in the text must, therefore, not be interpreted as a reference to present day economic or cultural conditions. '26Benedict, 1949, p. 72. 127Parsons, 1929a, p. 127. 12sParsons, 1929a, p. 128. 129Zimmer, 1946, pp. 66, 67. 130Spinden, 1933, p. 123. 131 For details, see Zimmer, 1946, pp. 72-76. 132Zimmer, 1946, p. 73. 133Freud, 1932, pp. 405-410; Bachelard, 1938, pp. 106 ff. 34Wilhelm, 1931, pp. viii, 25. 135Zimmer, 1946, p. 90. 136Zimmer, 1946, pp. 98, 101. 137Dr. Helen Adolf of Pennsylvania State University has called to my attention the fact that a thought similar to that of the Tewa "loved and liked" concept is expressed in Wolfram von Eschenbach's great epic poem "Parzival," written in middle high German in the early thirteenth century. At the very end of the poem (827, 19-24), when the author summarizes the story of his hero who has found salvation in his quest for the Holy Grail, von Eschenbach praises a life which succeeded in combining God's grace and favor (hulde) by men. 138Dedication in infancy to the Bear society-when a parent was cured or hoped to be cured-was known in the past, but such membership is no longer enforced. There are also indications that formerly a person could become a member of the Bears by trespass. Children are warned by their parents not to play medicine man, for the Bears might come to adopt them into the society. However, during the last thirty years, no membership by trespass or by dedication in 154 Seeking Life infancy ("giving water") has been enforced by any of the religious societies of San Juan. 139A stone fetish. 140The bundle consists of the yia kwiyo', sacred Cornmother, wrapped with cornmeal and blessing feathers in a deerskin and outer reed container. 141 Parsons (1932, p. 317) reports that during the initiation of a shaman in Isleta some people are crying. 142 The Tewa word used here is p'ij *' wo nij 'hard on the heart.' 143 The Tewa word is Zu' ge 'i* 'evil spirits,' but also translated as 'witch.' 144See Appendix I for the use of this cornmeal. 14 The medicine waterbowl. 146 The stone fetishes. 147He takes a little sacred cornmeal from a pouch, blows his breath upon it, and sprinkles this cornmeal on the altar. 148The Bear men sit against the wall with their legs bent at the knees and drawn towards their body. Each Bear has directly before him his Bear paw, his sacred Cornmother, two eagle feathers, a stone fetish, and several small pouches with sacred ccAnmeal, herbs and stones. Bear women, who always sit at the outside of the row, do not have Bear paws as they do not fall into trance. Unlike the Caciques and other Fishpeople, the medicine men do not have individual altars, but their sacred objects are a part of the large corn meal altar drawn on the floor before them, with the holy waterbowl as its very center and two lightning stones at each side. Like most Pueblo altars, the cornmeal altar does not have a rectangular shape and its outlines are not well defined. 149 The lake, i.e., the medicine waterbowl filled with holy water, is in the center of the corn painting. The term, therefore, means the altar. 150There is some doubt about whether the fourth object is a bear paw or one of the smaller fetishes. References 155 151 Later, Xa ye- t'a' mentioned that the smoke from the P'o ku tat 's pipe reminded him of marijuana, "but marijuana makes you feel relaxed like walking on a cloud." The medicine man's trance after smoking his pipe is, however, not relaxed, but violent. 152 The same motion is used during the initiation of a medicine man in Isleta(Parsons, 1932, pp. 283, 315, 316, 355). This similarity may be due to Keresan influence through immigrants from Laguna. 153He has been helping the initiate to change his clothing in the Small Kiva. His absence lasts about fifteen minutes. 154His left leg is bent in a right angle, while the main body weight rests upon his sharply bent right leg. 155 The San Juan medicine men use old Keresan in their songs as a ceremonial language. 156 The trance begins to wear off. 157He had fasted eight days and is exhausted from the trance. 158Evidently this is done to purify the contents. 159T his wish is a reminder of the times when the Pueblos were afraid of the invading and plundering Navajos. 160Los Chicos refers to some of the land between U.S. highway 64 and the pueblo where a high, wild grass grows. 161 Songs from the Navajo Mountain Chant were first recorded and translated by Washington Mathews. The quotations in this book are from Mathews, 1887, pp. 462-463 (in the revised edition, Schevill, pp. 102, 103). 162A distinction between the great curing ceremony in which all members of a curing society take part and a less formal service which is performed by one or two shamen has also been reported for Zuni by Bunzel, 1932b, p. 791. 163 The cut ge 'Pi may be either male or female. 1'Parsons mentions this communal cleansing or exorcising ceremony of San Juan and defines its purpose as 156 Seeking Life cleansing the people, the houses, the fields, and the race tracks (1939, p. 912). 165Santa Clara has two curing societies. Healing ceremonies may be performed by individual society members or by all the members of one society. A communal healing ceremony is held at specified times by the two societies together (Dozier, 1954, p. 267). 166Reed, 1949, p. 181. 167The relationship between the economic system of a culture and the basic character of its religion has first been pointed out by Underhill, 1948, pp. viii f. See also Underhill, 1957, pp. 131, 133. 168Clements, 1932, p. 243. '69Stewart, 1946. 170Every adult male who is chosen may represent a Kachina, but only a man who has had a calling may become a shaman. Finding one or several of the sacred objects which are part of a medicine man's paraphernalia may be interpreted as a calling. But a man may also ask to join the Bears when he has been cured of an illness by the Bears, or when he is sick and feels that his sickness itself is the calling and that he must join the Bears to become cured. 171Keres is a linguistic term which refers to the language spoken in the pueblos of Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Cochiti, Santa Ana, Zia, Laguna, and Acoma. 172 For a description of Keres curing ceremonies see Dumarest, 1919, pp. 151-161; Goldfrank, 1923, pp. 188-196; Goldfrank, 1927, pp. 63-65; Parsons, 1920, pp. 119-122; Stevenson, 1894, pp. 72, 97-101, 125, 127; White, 1932a, pp. 107-125; 1932b, pp. 42-50; 1935, pp. 89-132. 173 For a detailed discussion of ceremonial glossalia, see May, 1956, pp. 75-96. 174Reed, 1943, p. 182. 75 Medicine men societies are much stronger developed among the Keres than among any other Pueblo group. The Santo Domingo have four medicine men societies: Flint, Cikame, Boyakya, and Giant. Parsons (1939, p. 912) mentions References 157 also three curing societies of San Juan: Flint and Fire, who organized the communal cleansing ceremonies, and a group of the Eagle people who present the Eagle Dance, and who "on the third night of its retreat welcomes anybody sick of anything who wants a drink from the medicine bowl on the altar." Presently, no curing societies are known in San Juan except one group of Bear people, and San Juan Indians consider Parsons' report as misinformation. 176Reed, 1943, p. 280. '77Underhill, 1948, p. 37. 178Reed, 1943, p. 280. 179Parsons, 1939, p. 127. 1~wWhite, 1935, p. 127. 'lClements, 1932, p. 242. 18ZA four day retreat of the medicine men precedes the appearance of the Kachinas. When a moiety group prepares a Kachina dance, the "doctors in retreat" come to the kiva and sing for the kiva group members to dance. The medicine men consecrate the masks of the Kachina dancers by sprinkling them with sacred cornmeal. When eventually the Kachinas are ready to come out, the head of the Kachina society and one medicine man announce to the Cacique that the Kachina have come. During the Kachina dance in Santo Domingo, the medicine men wear masks and dance with the others (White, 1935, pp. 93-97). 13White, 1935, p. 100. 184Among the Hopi-Tewa of the pueblo of Hano, whose Tewa ancestors had close contacts with the Keres before migrating about 1696 from the Gallisteo Basin in northern New Mexico to this first mesa in the Hopi country, there still exists a Kachina curing society, the shumakoli (Dozier, 1954, p. 348). The shumakoli ritual has been described by Stephen, 1936, pp. 818-823. l85 For a discussion of possible Spanish influence on the Pueblo Indian witch concept, see Parsons, 1927. 186 In using the term "active" trance, I am referring to a trance condition in which, with more or less success, an 158 Seeking Life attempt is made to attain a state of mental or physical power otherwise not at the disposal of the individual. Such a condition is very different from ordinary hypnotic sleep which might be relaxing without being weakening. 187Hastings, V, p. 122, defines possession as the "temporary embodiment of an influence or spirit alien to the subject." lssCharles, 1953, p. 122. 89La Farge, 1951, p. 51. 19 Robbins, 1916, p. 42. 191Haeberlin, 1916, p. 192Spinden, 1933. 93Parsons, 1929a, p. 166. GLOSSARY OF TEWA TERMS About the Pronunciation of Tewa Words The letters are pronounced approximately as follows: a as in French pas; a as in father; e as in silent; e- as in German gehen; e as in men; E- as in man; i as in hint; i- as in routine; o as in toe; u asa in yorench a as in Fre i nch digne; g as in sing; c as in German Katze; t as in child; s as in see; I as in she; e as in thing; x as in German ach; y as in yes. The following points deserve special mention: 1. Wherever possible, I have attempted to indicate nasalized vowels, rising and falling tone, and unusually long and short duration of vowels. 2. A vowel followed by a raised n (a") is nasalized; followed by an elevated dot (a-), it is long. 3. A grave accent over a vowel (a) indicates falling tone, an acute accent over the vowel (a) rising tone. 4. Glottalization is indicated by an apostrophe ('a). Glossary 'a'a'gE" A dance ceremony connected with the drinking of atole, a hot cornmeal drink. 'a-k'e-di The home of the refuse, a trash pile outside the pueblo. 'avaflu Watergod or waterserpent. ba'plpo "Well, " said in answer to "Hagtul e'g?" 'How are you?' bi so-xwa a "'Accept this cloud fog which I you (pl.) cloud fog make make" (a term from the Smoke Prayer). bi su-a ma'a "Come with your warmth." you (pl.) warm bring yourselves 159 160 Seeking Life bi xo- xuA an you (pl.) arm leg make buyabu'u "Build your arms and legs," i.e., "Come and eat." The informal healing ceremony. cave -yo6 Name of the masked dancing gods of the Turtle Dance. White Face cavey6-, the masked god of the Turtle Dance representing the Summer people. cc cE'ig face white ce feijdi face black Black Face cave-yo-, the masked god of the Turtle Dance, representing the Winter people. C '- o-'xwa spruce cloudbeing Spruce Raingod, a Winter Kachina. ci. wi Raingods (a term particularly used when the Raingod Ceremony is put on by the medicine men). ciwi- ka Medicine man's fetish, a perfect ear of white corn and feathers. ci' yo'pu Sprouting Ceremony, performed by all societies. Ea-'a Ceremonial clothing, paraphernalia. Ea'ame Noise of agitated waters churned up by the rising Raingods. Mu- g 'li Evil spirits, a witch which causes illness and which the medicine man must fight. Any costume or paraphernalia for a ceremony. fa-' o'xu a light, fire shadow Fire shadow, i.e., the obstructed view, partition, or backstage in the kiva formed by the blanket screen. The term may also be Glossary 161 used in reference to a blind person. fa- tege 'eno fire youth The youth who builds fires, i.e., The Fire God. The single ceremonial feather which hangs down over the forehead of dancers, priests, and Caciques during ring ceremonies. gi wo-a ci tune-" meg we life search go ham "We are going to seek life." Yes. haman "May it be so." hag 'u" ehow you are seated he-n f6 hair, feather hsmbi Wade Plains Indian fighter dance ho6i h6i i k'uto get on top of "How are you?"The downfeather tied to the prayer feather. War Dance. The ceremonial "very well," or "yes." The male affirmative only. Slang term for sexual intercourse. i* si.ge muni i se-k'ane you loved be you liked muni be "May you be loved and liked." ivi X6 xun 'a we arm leg make We build arms and legs, i.e., we eat, or let's eat. A ceremonial term. li- we fig The fireplacelike, step-shaped, adobe structure in the Large Kiva. 162 Seeking Life 'i wi WEJ A frightful shriek, expression of fear. ka- 'afie o-'xwa leaf smooth cloudbeing ka- w6-a pIleaf life to make kE' kE-mina Raingod of the Smooth Leaftree (blue spruce), a Winter Kachina. The leaf coming-out ceremony, celebrating the return to life of the leaves. A Bear man, medicine man. The name of a Winter Kachina wearing deer horns. k 'lwE-l' Initiation ceremony for boys and girls at puberty. k'o'sa The name of a group of Clowns, wearing 2 corn husk horns, recruited through trespass, dedication by parents, or self-dedication because of illness. ku gu Mother Kachina kuwE' A profane term for sexual intercourse. kwa" o.lxwa rain cloudbeing Raingod. kwaI o-'xwa E' rain cloudbeing little kwaa o-'xwa povi rain cloudbeing flower k'wea k'ugum stone kwi yo' woman elderly, wise kwi-rana Little Raingod (used as a personal name). Flowershaped raincloud, Cloudflower, which will bring rain and blessing. Pliable, workable rock, i.e., metal; also designates the Spaniards who first brought metals. Priestesses. The semi-Clowns, wearing one corn husk horn, recruited through Glos sary16 163 dedication in infancy or self-dedication. kwi wa-gi* seij wa-gi woman like man like bi abbe you (p1.) feel like 'Be a man and be a woman." ma yugi Ceremonial paraphernalia. na'iij bi- s e do- iij our (PI.) old men they nanna' oetxwa aspen tree cloudbeing na~n piyE nap'Io' ~u-n na.2 sipu plinge earth navel in the middle ns1wuE Our Great Ones. Aspen Raingoci, a Summer Kachina. This way, towards me. A sacred, blackish clay used as body paint; also the name of one of the summer Raingods. Earth Navel, a sacred and secret shrine on the plaza, for.. merly in the very middle of the pueblo. Here. nua hi secret good time Any Raingod Ceremony. o'ke San Juan. opa- ma~ko* dehorizon Sky, heavens. opa' nunni iij horizon over they there o'p 'u3 o ' xu'a Those from over the horizon, the Ralingods. Go!I Cloud. otxura povi cloud flower Cloudflower. 164 Seeking Life o-lxwa Cloudbeing, Kachina, Raingod. Raingod woman. o-'xwa kui o-'xwa t'ug yoU cloudbeing governor, chief Chief Raingod. o- yi- kaice The female deity through whom the Winter Cacique receives his strength. By extension, the term is also used for the Winter Cacique himself. o' yi- ke- (sen do-) ice The hard ice man, i.e., Winter Cacique, and his religious society. pa- t'owa Fishpeople. pa-nyo ka. summer The female deity through whom the Summer Cacique receives his strength, or, also, the stone fetish representing this deity: By extension, it is the term for the Summer Cacique himself. pa- yo o'kesummer San Juan pse k'acinnadeer kachina p'i- nal Summer Cacique of San Juan, also used to designate his Assistants and the religious society to which they belong. Deer Raingod, wearing deer horns. A Summer Raingod. To be magical. pliij E- wonig Hard on the heart, frightened. p'iB xeD Mountain lion, game priest. Ceremonial healing and blessing by a medicine man. p'i- va p 'o. ce'- p' okwii water clear lake Clear Water Lake, a lake close to San Juan. Glossary 165 poEg t~ 1 ceremony ceremonial chamber p'oh hun water to suck, draw out p'o kuwater pour in p'o ku' ta' water pour in father p'o kwig saaanwewater lake bowl po po-vi flower po- sedo Large Kiva. Ceremonial sucking of stones, rags, cotton, etc. Waterpouring Ceremony, the initiation of children or adults into a moiety. Father for Waterpouring, a godfather or sponsor. Medicine water bowl. Squash blossom. Moon, old man moon. po-vi yen flower Flowerman, the alternate name of the Silent One; see yer sedo'. p' o wa'n water air ha-n one's very life breath Departed Ones; literally, those whose very life and being consists of water and air. powilj Sade dance Corn maiden Dance. p'o waters, road or path yE' joining the two Communal Healing Ceremony. puffonu se~ p'i'i' man red Medicine man. Man rouge, a red color obtained from ground clay, used as body paint by men only. ser3 poce man ceremony seD poE p'a' man ceremony has done The ceremonial term for sexual intercourse. The Man Ceremony. He has done the Man Ceremony. 166 se ei- xua well night seg SadE man dance se'at'a dimu- pi'ii) physical body they are not si- plhoffe-nE si- wo- wabesoxwa moisture in the air ta- fli xe father parrot tail t'a- o-'xwa sun cloudbeing t'a- sedo sun old man t'a1 weg tembi bade dance t'ego o-'xwa cloudbeing te-'E so-fo t'affidite-k'etdi kiva mouth ti-'u pa-de-i younger older sibling sibling Seeking Life Good evening. Dance of man. One who has no physical body; those who have died; spirits; Raingods. Inner sanctum of the Small Kiva. Small circular opening in the center of the kiva ceiling. Ceremonial term for smoking. Parrot, or Parrot Raingod, wearing colored parrot feathers. A Summer Raingod. Sun Raingod, a Winter Kachina. Sun; old man sun. Bad luck, evil, sickness. Harvest Dance. Name of a Summer Kachina. Top opening of the kiva. Younger-Brother- Older - Than-I; a term referring to a twin relationship, used among all members, male or female, of the same religious society. Little, little people (ceremonial term). t'owa'e~ Glossary 167 t'oyam pi-'il) listening not t'ug "ade basket dance People who do not listen, who are disobedient, mischievous, bad. Basket Dance. ea" faya 6amnu Fetish of the k'o'sa. ei'i Butterfly Dance. u. U'l Expression of fear; see also 'i wi WEg. Wind, breeze, air. wa wo p'o be medicinal water round herbs container xa- axa~ xa- yxayE- na11 sipu stone fetish earth navel p'inge in the middle Medicine bowl. Sound of the Bears. Any sacred stone fetish. Stone fetishes of the sacred Earth Navel, part of the secret shrine in the center of the pueblo. xa-yz- t'amstone fetish striped, marked xe) o *xwa mountain cloudbeing lion xo heyv xo' x-" a" arm leg make ya wi- kimo ye l sed o old man Striped stone fetish. 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