The Religious Life of the Zuni Child Part 1

The Religious Life of the Zuni Child.

by (Mrs.) Tilly E. (Matilda c.o.xe Evans) Stevenson.

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ZUnI MYTHOLOGY.

The Pueblo of Zuni is situated in Western New Mexico on the Rio Zuni, a tributary of the Little Colorado River. The Zuni have resided in this region for several centuries. The peculiar geologic and geographic character of the country surrounding them, as well as its aridity, furnishes ample sources from which a barbarous people would derive legendary and mythologic history. A brief reference to these features is necessary to understand more fully the religious phases of Zuni child life.

Three miles east of the Pueblo of Zuni is a conspicuously beautiful mesa, of red and white sandstone, to-wa-yal lan-ne (corn mountain). Upon this mesa are the remains of the old village of Zuni.

The Zuni lived during a long period on this mesa, and it was here that Coronado found them in the sixteenth century. Tradition tells that they were driven by a great flood from the site they now occupy, which is in the valley below the mesa, and that they resorted to the mesa for protection from the rising waters. The waters rose to the very summit of the mesa, and to appease the aggressive element a human sacrifice was necessary. A youth and a maiden, son and daughter of two priests, were thrown into this ocean. Two great pinnacles, which have been carved from the main mesa by weathering influences, are looked upon by the Zuni as the actual youth and maiden converted into stone, and are appealed to as "father" and "mother." Many of the Zuni legends and superst.i.tions are a.s.sociated with this mesa, while over its summit are spread the extensive ruins of the long ago deserted village. There are in many localities, around its precipitous sides and walls, shrines and groups of sacred objects which are constantly resorted to by different orders of the tribe. Some of the most interesting of these are the most inaccessible. When easy of approach they are in such secluded spots that a stranger might pa.s.s without dreaming of the treasures within his reach. On the western side of this mesa are several especially interesting shrines. About half way up the acclivity on the west side an overhanging rock forms the base of one of the pinnacles referred to. This rock is literally honeycombed with holes, from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter. I visited the spot in the fall of 1884, with Professors E.B.

Tylor and H.N. Moseley, of Oxford, England, and Mr. G.K. Gilbert, of the United States Geological Survey. These gentlemen could not determine whether the tiny excavations were originally made by human hands or by some other agency. The Indian's only answer when questioned was, "They be long to the old; they were made by the G.o.ds."

Hundreds of these holes contain bits of cotton and wool from garments.

In the side of this rock there are larger s.p.a.ces, in which miniature vases, filled with sand, are placed. The sand is ground by rubbing stones from the same rock. The vases of sand, and also the fragments of wool and cotton, are offerings at the feet of the "mother" rock.

Here, too, can be seen a quant.i.ty of firewood heaped as shown in the right-hand corner of the ill.u.s.tration. Each man and woman deposited a piece, that he or she might always have plenty of wood for heat and light. Some three hundred feet above is another shrine, directly attached to the "father" rock, and to the white man difficult of access. Here I found many offerings of plume sticks (Te lik-tki-na-we).

Before entering upon the purely mythologic phases of Zuni child life I will present a brief sketch of some of the Zuni beliefs. There are thirteen secret orders in Zuni, in many of which women and children are conspicuous, besides the purely mythologic order of the Kok-ko.

All boys are initiated into this order, while but few girls enter it. It is optional with a girl; she must never marry if she joins the Kok-ko, and she is not requested to enter this order until she has arrived at such age as to fully understand its grave responsibilities and requirements.

Let us follow the Zuni tradition of the ancient time, when these people first came to this world. In journeying hither they pa.s.sed through four worlds, all in the interior of this, the pa.s.sageway from darkness into light being through a large reed. From the inner world they were led by the two little war G.o.ds ah-ai-u-ta and Ma-a-se-we, twin brothers, sons of the Sun, who were sent by the Sun to bring these people to his presence. They reached this world in early morning, and seeing the morning star they rejoiced and said to the war G.o.ds: "We see your father, of whom you have told us." "No,"

said the G.o.ds, "this is the warrior who comes before our father;"

and when the sun arose the people fell upon the earth and bowed their heads in fear. All their traditions point to the distant land of their appearance in this world as being in the far northwest; from, there they were accompanied by ah-ai-u-ta and Ma-a-se-we. These little G.o.ds occupy important positions in Zuni myth and legend. After long journeying, it was decided that the Priest Doctor (Ka wi-mo sa) should send his son and his daughter in advance to discover some favorable spot upon which to build a village. The youth and the maiden finally ascended a peak from, which to have an extended view of the country. "Rest here, my sister, for you are tired," said the youth, "and I will go alone." From fatigue, the girl soon sank into a slumber, and when the youth returned, he was impressed with the surpa.s.sing loveliness of his sister. They remained for a time on this mountain, and at their union they were transformed--the youth into a hideous looking creature, the Ko-ye-me-shi (Plate XX); the maiden into a being with snow white hair, the Ko-mo-ket-si. The [t]Ko-thla-ma (hermaphrodite) is the offspring of this unnatural union. The youth said to his sister, "We are no longer like our people; we will therefore make this mountain our home. But it is not well for us to be alone; wait here and I will go and prepare a place for our others." Descending the mountain, he swept his foot through the sands in the plains below, and immediately a river flowed and a lake appeared, and in the depths of this lake a group of houses, and in the center of this group a religious a.s.sembly house, or kiva, provided with many windows, through which those not privileged to enter the kiva might view the dance within. After he performed this magic deed, he again joined his sister on the mountain, from which they could see their people approaching. The mountain has since that time borne the name of Ko-kok-shi--kok-shi meaning good.

The first of the ah-shi-wi, or Zuni, to cross this river were the an-shi-i-que, or Bear gens; To-wa-que, Corn gens; and [t]Ko-oh-lok-ta-que, Sand Hill Crane gens. When in the middle of the river the children of these gentes were transformed into tortoises, frogs, snakes, ducks, and dragonflies. The children thus transformed, while tightly clinging to their mother's necks, began to bite and pinch. The mothers, trembling with fear, let them fall into the river. ah-ai-u-ta and Ma-a-se-we, missing the children, inquired, "Where are the little ones?" The mothers replied, "We were afraid and dropped them into the water." The war G.o.ds then cried out to the remainder of the people, "Wait, wait until we speak with you,"

and they told the women to be brave and cling tightly to the children until they crossed the river. Obeying the G.o.ds' commands, they carried the little ones over, though they were transformed just as the others.

Upon reaching the opposite sh.o.r.e, they were again restored to their natural forms, excepting their hands, which were duck-webbed. These webs were cut with ah-ai-u-ta's stone knife and thus restored to perfect hands.

The mothers whose children fell into the waters were grieved and refused to be comforted. The Priest Doctor was also grieved, and said, "Alas, where have the little ones gone?" ah-ai-u-ta and Ma-a-se-we replied, "We will go and learn something of them," and upon descending into the lake they found the beautiful kiva, in which the children were a.s.sembled; but again they had been changed; they were no longer reptiles, but were of a similar type to the Ko-ye-me-shi and Ko-mo-ket-si, and since that time they have been worshiped as ancestral G.o.ds, bearing the name of Kok-ko; but the little war G.o.ds knew them, and addressed them as "My children,"

and they replied, "Sit down and tell us of our mothers." When they told them that their mothers refused to be comforted at their loss, they said, "Tell our mothers we are not dead, but live and sing in this beautiful place, which is the home for them when they sleep. They will wake here and be always happy. And we are here to intercede with the Sun, our father, that he may give to our people rain, and the fruits of the earth, and all that is good for them." The ah-shi-wi then journeyed on, led by ah-ai-u-ta and Ma-a-se-we, to the present site of Zuni. Many, however, lingered at a spring some fifteen miles west of Zuni, and there established the village Tkap-que-na (Hot Spring).

The Ko-ye-me-shi and Ko-mo-ket-si pa.s.sed down through the interior of the mountain into the depths of the lake, the waters of everlasting happiness. In the pa.s.sageway are four chambers, where the couple tarried on their way and where at the present time the two priests of the Kok-ko rest in their journey to the sacred waters. So credulous are the people that the priests delude them into the belief that they actually pa.s.s through the mountain to the lake.

Having heard of the wonderful cave in this mountain, our little party visited the place, prepared to explore it. Mr. Stevenson and Mr.

H.L. Turner entered the fissure in the rock and squeezed through the crevice for sixteen or eighteen feet to where the rock was so solid that they both determined no human creature could penetrate farther.

They examined the place most carefully by means of an artificial light. Through a small aperture stones could be thrown to a depth from which no sound returned, but excepting this solitary opening all was solid, immovable rock. In this cave many plume sticks were gathered.

Near the opening of the cave, or fissure, is a shrine to the Kok-ko, which must be very old, and over and around it are hundreds of the plume sticks and turquoise and sh.e.l.l beads.

I would mention here a little incident ill.u.s.trative of the superst.i.tious dread these Indians entertain of violating the priestly commands. We found it very difficult to persuade an old Zuni guide, who had visited the sacred salt lake, the mountain of the war G.o.ds, and other places of interest with us (to these he had gone by special permission of the High Priest), to accompany us to the spirit lake and the mountain of the Kok-ko. Our persuasive powers were almost exhausted ere we could induce him to guide us to them, but having consented he was willing to go even if he should be punished by death.

He was a man renowned for bravery, but he was so overcome by his superst.i.tious fears that his voice sank to a whisper and finally became scarcely audible. The morning of the day on which we reached this place, the old man, who had been riding by my side, ahead of the rest of the party, suddenly halted and said in a half-angry voice, "Why do I go ahead? I am not the chief of this party. Those who belong at the head must go to the head." And he would not move until Mr.

Stevenson and I went in advance. By this change he sought to transfer the responsibility to us. Finally he rode up to us and said in a whisper, "We will camp here." The whole expression of the old man's face was that of ghastly terror. I was much annoyed, for I thought that, at the eleventh hour, his fear had overcome his desire to gratify us. Just then a Mexican lad on horseback approached; we were all mounted. I asked the lad, "Is there a lake near by?" He replied, "Yes, a half a mile off." The old Indian said, speaking in a whisper, "And you have seen it?" "Yes." "And you were not afraid?" "No; why afraid?" "And you looked into the waters and you did not die!" With a look of bewilderment the youth rode off. I signaled to the old man to accompany us to the lake. "No, no; I would only die, and you must not go or you will die." "No," said I, "we will not die if our hearts are good, and if you will not go it is because your heart is not good and you are afraid."

We found the lake so surrounded by marshes that we could not get within an eighth of a mile of the waters. One of our party attempted to reach it on foot, but could get very little nearer. We made a circuit of the lake along the slightly elevated ground and could distinctly see it.

On completing the circle a striking picture met our eyes. Boldly outlined by the setting sun stood the old man, his hair blown by the evening breeze, for he had bared his head of the usual kerchief worn around it, and, with his hand holding the sacred meal extended toward the glorious sunset, he stood repeating a prayer. We halted, and he continued his prayer, wholly unconscious of our presence; as he turned we surprised him. I extended my hand and said, "Now I am happy, for you are again brave and strong." "Yes," said he, "my heart is glad.

I have looked into the waters of my departed people. I am alive, but I may die; if I die it is well; my heart is glad." From that moment the gloom was gone and he was bright and happy. We could not induce the old man to ascend the mountain of the Kok-ko with us, as none go there except certain priests; but the lake is visited by those who are designated by these priests.

Several days were consumed by us in exploring this immediate vicinity.

On breaking camp, our old Indian guide seemed determined to tarry behind. I remained with him. As the party rode off he took a large quant.i.ty of food which he had carefully stored away behind a tree--he having observed an almost absolute fast in order to make a large offering to the spirits of the departed--and heaped this food upon the embers of the camp fire, by the side of which he stood for a long time, supplicating in a most solemn manner the spirits of the departed to receive his offering.

Certain men are selected, who, with bodies nude save the loin skirt and with bare feet, walk from Zuni to the lake, a distance of 45 miles, exposed to the scorching rays of the summer sun, to deposit plume sticks and pray for rain. If the hearts of those sent be pure and good, the clouds will gather and rain will fall, but if evil be in their hearts no rain will fall during the journey and they return with parched lips and blistered skin. The Kok-ko repeat the prayers for rain with their intercessions to the Ya-to-tka, the Sun, and by them the plume sticks are sent to the same great G.o.d. So constantly are the lesser G.o.ds employed in offering plumes to the great G.o.d that at night the sacred road (the Galaxy) can be seen filled with feathers, though by day they are invisible. They believe that the soul or essence of the plumes travels over this road, just as the soul from the body travels from Zuni to the spirit lake, and in their offerings of food the food itself is not received by the G.o.ds, but the spiritual essence of the food.

One of the most important characters in Zuni mythology, the Kak-lo, finding himself alone in the far Northwest, saw many roads, but could not tell which one led to his people, and he wept bitterly. The tear marks are still to be seen on the Kak-lo's face. A duck, hearing some one's cries, appeared and inquired the cause of the trouble. "I wish to go to my people, but the roads are many, and I do not know the right one." The sagacious duck replied, "I know all roads, and I will lead you to your people." Having led the Kak-lo to the spirit lake, he said, "Here is the home of the Kok-ko; I will guide you to the kiva and open for you the door." After entering the kiva the Kak-lo viewed all those a.s.sembled and said, "Let me see; are all my people here? No; the Ko-lo-oo-wit-si (plumed serpent) is not here; he must come," and two of the Kok-ko (the Soot-ike) were dispatched for him. This curious creature is the mythical plumed serpent whose home is in a hot spring not distant from the village of Tkap-que-na, and at all times his voice is to be heard in the depths of this boiling water.

In the days of the old, a young maiden, strolling along, saw a beautiful little baby boy bathing in the waters of this spring; she was so pleased with his beauty that she took him home and told her mother that she had found a lovely little boy. The mother's heart told her it was not a child really, and so she said to the daughter; but the daughter insisted that she would keep the baby for her own. She wrapped it carefully in cotton cloth and went to sleep with it in her arms. In the morning, the mother, wondering at her daughter's absence, sent a second daughter to call her. Upon entering the room where the girl had gone to sleep she was found with a great serpent coiled round and round her body. The parents were summoned, and they said, "This is some G.o.d, my daughter; you must take him back to his waters," and the maiden followed the serpent to the hot spring, sprinkling him all the while with sacred meal. Upon reaching the spring the serpent entered it, the maiden following, and she became the wife of the Ko-lo-oo-wit-si.

The Ko-lo-oo-wit-si soon appeared with the two Soot-ike who had been dispatched for him. They did not travel upon the earth, but by the underground waters that pa.s.s from the spring to the spirit lake. Upon the arrival of the Ko-lo-oo-wit-si, the Kak-lo issued to this a.s.semblage his commands, for he is the great father of the Kok-ko. Those who were to go to the North, West, South, East, to the Heavens, and to the Earth to procure cereals for the ah-shi-wi he designated as the Sa-la-mo-bi-ya. Previous to this time the ah-shi-wi had subsisted on seeds of a gra.s.s. "When the seeds are gathered," he said, addressing the serpent, "you will carry them with water to the ah-shi-wi and tell them what to do with the seeds.

I will go in advance and prepare them for your coming." "But,"

said his people, "you are our father; you must not walk," and the ten Ko-ye-me-shi accompanied him, carrying him on their backs, relieving each other when fatigued. The Kak-lo visited the ah-shi-wi nine days in advance of the Sa-la-mo-bi-ya and Ko-lo-oo-wit-si, instructing the people regarding the Kok-ko, how they must represent them in the future and hold their ceremonials, and telling them that the boys must be made members of the Kok-ko, and that this particular ceremony must occur but once in four years.

He also gave to the people the history of himself, how the duck had befriended him and led him to the home of his people.

BIRTH CUSTOMS.

Having now briefly sketched the mythology relating to the ceremonials to be described, I invite your attention to the main subject of the present paper: the Religious Life of the Zuni Child.

First we will notice the birth customs.

Zuni child life may be divided into two parts. One I will call the practical or domestic; the other, the mythologic or religious. The former is fairly exemplified in the habits, customs, games, and experiences of our own domestic child life. The other is essentially different; in it are involved the ceremonials, legends, and myths which surround the Zuni child from its birth.

Previous to the birth of a child, if a daughter be desired, the husband and wife proceed together to the "mother" rock, and at her feet make offerings and prayers, imploring her to intercede with the great father, the Sun, to give to them a daughter, and that this daughter may grow to be all that is good in woman; that she may be endowed with the power of weaving beautifully and may be skilled in the potter's art. Should a son be desired, the couple repair to the shrine above, and here, at the breast and heart of the "father" rock, prayers and plume sticks are offered that a son may be given them, and that he may have power to conquer his enemies, and that he may become distinguished in the Kok-ko and other orders, and have power over the field to produce abundant crops. In both cases the sacred meal is sprinkled, and, should the prayer not be answered, there is no doubt that the heart of one or the other was not earnest when the prayer was offered.

The Zuni child is born amid ceremony. At its birth only the maternal grandmother and two female doctors are present. After the birth of the child, the paternal grandmother enters, bearing as offerings to the new born babe a large pottery bowl and inside of it a tiny blanket.

She then prepares warm suds of yucca root in the bowl, in which she bathes the infant, at the same time repeating a prayer of thanks for the life that has been given them and praying for the future of the child. She then rubs the entire body of the child, except the head, with warm ashes held in the palm of the hand and moistened with water.

This process is repeated every morning during infancy and the same paste is put upon the face of the child until it is several years old. I would remark that this paste is seldom noticed upon the older children because it is put on in the morning and drying soon is brushed off by the child. It is a.s.serted by the Zuni that in four days after the birth of a child the first skin is removed by exfoliation and is supplanted by a new one. After applying the ashes, the paternal grandmother places the infant in the arms of the maternal grandparent, who performs other offices for the little one and wraps it in a piece of cotton cloth. The paternal grandmother prepares a bed of warm sand by the right side of the mother (leaving a cool spot for the child's head); she then receives the infant and lays it upon its bed, and over it she arranges the little blanket which she brought; she then places upon the sand and at the right side of the child an ear of white corn; if the child be a girl, the mother, or a three-plumule, corn is selected; if a boy, the father, or single ear, corn. The fourth day after the birth the child is again bathed in the yucca root suds by the same grandmother, who again repeats a long prayer. During the first ten days of the child's life the paternal grandmother remains in the daughter-in-law's house, looking after the mother and helping in the preparation of the feast that is to occur.

On the morning of the tenth day the child is taken from its bed of sand, to which it is never to return, and upon the left arm of the paternal grandmother it is carried for the first time into the presence of the rising sun. To the breast of the child the grandmother carrying it presses the ear of corn which lay by its side during the ten days; to her left the mother of the infant walks, carrying in her left hand the ear of corn which lay by her side. Both women sprinkle a line of sacred meal, emblematic of the straight road which the child must follow to win the favor of its G.o.ds. Thus the first object which the child is made to behold at the very dawn of its existence is the sun, the great object of their worship; and long ere the little lips can lisp a prayer it is repeated for it by the grandmother.

The Zuni are polytheists; yet, while they have a plurality of G.o.ds, many of whom are the spirits of their ancestors, these G.o.ds are but mediums through which to reach their one great father of all--the Sun.

[Ill.u.s.tration XX: ZUnI MASKS AND KO-YE-ME-SHI.

2 PA-OO-Ti-WA. 1 KO-YE-ME-SHI. 3 SAI-A-HLI-A.]

Returning to the house, the paternal grandmother again bathes the child in yucca suds; then, for the first time, the little one is put into the cradle. The baby's arms are placed straight by its sides, and in this position it is so strapped in its cradle that it cannot even move a hand. These cradles have hood-shaped tops, and over the whole thick coverings are placed, so that the wonder is the child does not smother. The cradle is usually deposited in some safe corner, and the baby is left to sleep or amuse itself with its infantine thoughts. The cradle is sometimes attached to two ropes to form a swing, and when the mother becomes conscious of the child's awakening she uncovers its head at times and the tiny thing casts its eyes around. On the tenth morning both parents of the child are bathed in suds of yucca, the whole body of the mother but only the head of the father. This office is also performed by the paternal grandmother. The immediate blood relations (female only) then a.s.semble at the infant's home; that is, all the household of the father's house and those of the mother's house. Each woman from the father's house brings to the baby a gift of a little blanket. This select gathering partakes of a feast, which is presided over by the maternal grandmother. At the close of the feast the infant is carried by the oldest sister of the father to the paternal grandmother's house, where it is presented to the paternal grandfather, who prays to the Sun (Ya-to tka) to send down blessings upon the child.

INVOLUNTARY INITIATION INTO THE KOK-KO.

The present ceremonials are in direct obedience to the orders and instructions given at the time of the appearance of the Kok-ko upon the earth, and their masks are counterparts of the original or spiritual Kok-ko (Plate XX). The Kak-lo rides, as of old, upon the backs of the Ko-ye-me-shi, and he is the heralder for the coming of the Ko-lo-oo-wit-si. Arriving at the village in the morning, he divides his time between the kivas, there being six of these religious houses in Zuni, one for each of the cardinal points, one for the zenith, and one for the nadir. In each of these kivas he issues to the people a.s.sembled the commands of the Kok-ko and gives the history of the Kak-lo and the gathering of the cereals of the earth by the Sa-la-mo-bi-ya. At sunrise he is gone. The morning after the arrival of the Kak-lo, those who are to represent the Kok-ko prepare plume sticks, and in the middle of the same day these are planted in the earth. The same night they repair to their respective kivas, where they spend the following eight nights, not looking upon the face of a woman during that period. Each night is spent in smoking and talking and rehearsing for the coming ceremony. The second day all go for wood, bringing it home on their backs, for so the ancients did when beasts of burden were unknown to them. The third day is also spent in gathering wood, and the fourth day likewise. On the same day the ten men who are to personate the Ko-ye-me-shi, in company with the [t]Si-[t]si-[t]ki (great-grandfather of the Ko-ye-me-shi), pa.s.s through the village, inquiring for the boys who are to be initiated; before such houses as have boys ready for this ceremonial these men a.s.semble; one of them enters the house and, greeting the mother of the boy with "Good morning," inquires the name of her son.

She replies: "He has no name," and requests the Ko-ye-me-shi to give him one. The man then joins the group, repeating the words of the woman. In pa.s.sing from the kiva through the village the Indian screens his face with a blanket, so as not to see the women as he pa.s.ses. On the fifth day they go on a rabbit hunt, the capture of but one rabbit being necessary. The rabbit is carried to the He-i-i-que (or Kiva of the North) by the [t]Si-[t]Si [t]ki, who, after skinning the rabbit, fills the skin with cedar bark; a pinch of meal is placed for the heart and the eye sockets are filled with mica; a hollow reed is pa.s.sed through the inside filling to the mouth. The sixth day the inmates of the kivas again go for wood; the seventh day large Te-lik-tki-na-we are made of eagle plumes; the eighth day is consumed in decorating the masks to be worn. As these people have not the art of mixing their pigments so as to be permanent, masks and altars have to be freshly decorated before using; and, when the masks are completely decorated, they, with the other paraphernalia, are carried on the same day by the men and youths who have to wear them to some secluded nooks among the rocks, a distance from the town, where they put them on, returning to the village by early moonlight.

The impressive ceremonial of initiating the youth into the order of the Kok-ko occurs but once in four years. No male child above the age of four years may, after death, enter the Kiva of the Kok-ko unless he has received the sacred breath of the Kok-ko. Those who personate the Kok-ko are endowed for the time being with their actual breath. Besides the Sa-la-mo-bi-ya of the North, West, South, East, Heavens, and Earth, and a number of younger brothers who appear on this occasion, there are Pa-oo-ti-wa (Plate XX), father of the Sun, ten Ko-ye-me-shi, and the Ko-lo-oo-wit-si.

The Sa-la-mo-bi-ya of the North wear yellow (hlup-si-na) masks; those from the West, blue (hli-an-na); those from the South, red (shi-lo-a); those from the East, white (ko-han); those from the Heavens, all colors (i-to-po-nan-ni); those from the Earth, black (quin-na). (Plate XXI.) These colors represent the cardinal points, the zenith, and the nadir: