ANCESTOR WORSHIP OF THE HOPI INDIANS.

By J. WALTER FEWKES,

Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology.

[With 7 plates.]

There coexists among the Hopi, with sun and fire worship, already described,1 another type of religious expression to which with much hesitation is given the name Ancestor Worship-the cult of the Katcinas, spirits of the deceased or "other members of the clan." An attempt is made in the following pages to outline the objective or salient points of this worship.

The mystery of life has made such a profound impression on the mind of man in all stages of education that attempts to explain it are coeval with the origin of human consciousness. But despite all philosophic inquiry and researches of biologists the question, "What is life?" still remains unanswered. The great variety of genera and species catalogued by naturalists and the brilliant contributions of the embryologist and the experimental botanist and zoologist have led many thinkers to believe that this riddle of the universe may ultimately be solved on a material basis while others remain still skeptical that consciousness can ever be explained by this method of investigation.

The untutored mind, ignorant of the great advances made in the interpretations of physical and vital phenomena, regards life as a magic power incapable of explanation. The scientific mind is confident that the nature, origin, future, and interrelations of life, being the highest subjects of scientific investigation, will later be comprehensible.

It is recognized by men of all races that man has a life independent of the body, and this belief in the future life is well-nigh universal among the North American Indians. There is evidence that the same idea was widespread among aborigines on this continent in prehistoric times. This vital element, known as the spirit or "breath-body," is recognized as distinct from the physical body that dies and decays. Not only has man an individuality distinct from his body, but also

1 See Smithsonian Reports for 1918 and 1920.

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everything else organic and inorganic has life, which may be influenced by magical processes, rites, songs, and prayers. The Hopi believe that a few days after burial this spirit leaves the grave and follows the sun to his realm in the underworld. It is customary to place bowls containing food on the grave, and it is thought that the spirit of the food nourishes that of the dead, but coyotes or other wild animals consume the material food left in these mortuary bowls. Prayers are said to the spirit.

There exists also a belief that is strictly aboriginal-having originated independently of white influence, although possibly somewhat modified by it-that the spirits of the dead return to earth either to vex or bless mankind. The place of abode of the various tribes who believe in a future life is supposed to be the underworld. Of this abode little is said by the Indians, but there are descriptions of it in Hopi stories, showing that in their minds life in it is like that on the surface of the earth.

This world, inhabited by spirits of the dead, or the underworld, is spoken of in a vague way as being the home of the unborn. Out of it in the beginning came the races of man. It might be called the womb of the earth, while the place of emergence is known to the Hopi as the sipapu. The life of the spirits of the dead in this underworld resembles that on its surface. Here they preserve their clan organization, have their altars and sacred rites, and plant and harvest.

The relation between the living and the dead is apparently not severed by death, but the "breath-bodies" of those that have passed on revisit the pueblo and are represented by masked personations called Katcinas (pl. 1), which are past members of living clans. They are identified as ancestors, but perhaps it would be better to call them "other clan members." These personations of the dead, or Katcinas, return to the earth and take part in the pageants, also called Katcinas, that indicate many existing beliefs of the Hopi as to their nature.

Various definitions have been given of the word katcina. It was derived by one writer from the Spanish word "cochino," pig; by another from katci, life, na, father of, a much more probable interpretation. The word is not confined to the Hopi, but is widespread in the Rio Grande pueblos, from which it possibly originally came. The Zuñi equivalent appears to be koko, and it is instructive to note that Katcinas or Kokos are believed to return to the "Dance Hall of the Dead," Kothualowan, said by both Hopi and Zuñi to be situated at Winema, in the Little Colorado Valley, about midway between the two peoples.

It is the author's belief that the idea of personating the ancients by masques existed in the Rio Grande pueblos and that it was transmitted to the Hopi mesas via the Little Colorado Valley.

The symbolic home of the Hopi Katcinas is ceremonially associated with the San Francisco Mountains, Ariz., far to the southwest of the Hopi but in sight of their pueblos. On account of this association personifications of the Katcinas sometimes wear twigs of cedar in their belts, wristlets, or armlets. In the mortuary ceremonies of the Hopi the defunct is addressed as a Katcina: "You have become a Katcina; grant our request," is the burden of a prayer to the dead.

The "breath-bodies," or spirits of the dead, are supposed to follow the sun as it sinks in the western sky. The place of sunset at the winter solstice is behind a notch on the horizon silhouetted against the sky and known as the Sunhouse, indicated by a depression between the San Francisco Mountain and Eldon Mesa. The festival that celebrates the departure of the Katcinas from Walpi is known as Niman (go home) Katcina. The dancers perform the last dance of their departure about sunset, after which they follow the western trail" down the mesa." In the foothills near this trail is the shrine where the offerings to the dead are deposited, often called the Badger shrine, because the Badger clan is said to have introduced the important Katcinas, whose altars are erected in February on the dramatization of their arrival and in July when they formally leave the pueblo.

While the author was living at Walpi in 1900 he was informed one day that the Hopi were in great distress because the covering of this shrine had been removed, and the mystic Badger had emerged from the underworld and was burrowing in the graves of the dead. So intense was the superstitious feeling of the evils this event portended that no one would even venture into the neighborhood of the shrine. Even the men who reported the event could not be induced to go to this place and determine the damage. After a few days, however, the fear subsided, as some persons killed a real Badger, who had been detected burrowing into the earth at the foot of the mesa near the cemetery. This dread of the offended mystic Badger was allayed by prayers and incantations. The opening through which he emerged from his subterranean home is the shrine where prayer sticks are placed by Katcina personators.

A Katcina dance is a family festival in which the ancients, personated by masked men who are supposed to become these supernatural beings when they put on the masks, participate. The identification of the clan to which they belong is indicated by the symbolism depicted on the mask, much of which is probably secondary in origin and explained by myths known to the initiated. When an explanation is sought for the meaning of this symbolism it should be obtained from members of the appropriate clan, as those not belong

ing to the clan do not pretend to know the meaning of the symbols on masks of other clans.

The Katcina masks are commonly kept hanging on the wall of back rooms in the pueblo, and as they are needed year by year are repainted and redecorated for use. Most of the helmet masks (figs. 1, 2) that have been examined are not very old, many being made of old bootlegs or leather from old Spanish saddles, or even cloth or

felt hats. There are, however, many ancient masks kept as heirlooms and never brought out in public dances which are still preserved, even when the clans that once used them have become extinct.

The masked or Katcina dances ordinarily occur in the summer months and vary somewhat each year. The arrival and departure of the Katcinas are fixed festivals and never vary, but at some time in the course of winter or early spring the Hopi chiefs hold an informal council to determine what particular abbreviated Katcinas they will

personate the ensuing summer. Although there is no standardized program year after year, there is a similarity in successive years, and there are certain dances that are very popular; others that are performed in payment to a neighboring village that has visited them a former season. The variety of masked dances on the East Mesa is great, for there are three pueblos on this plateau and two different languages spoken: Tanoan in Hano, and Hopi in Walpi. The inhabitants of Sitcomovi also speak the Hopi language, and the characteristic masked ceremonials the three pueblos perform

are somewhat different. The names of the masked dancers at Sitcomovi are derived from the Zuñi language; the ceremonial dancers, altars, and other ceremonial paraphernalia of Hano have Tanoan

names.

It is natural that the existence of these three pueblos of divergent linguistic and clan origins should have led to a greater variety of nomenclature, and Katcina personations that occur on the East Mesa are absent on the Middle Mesa and Oraibi.

Walpi is the dominating pueblo of the East Mesa. Naturally it has been most studied and has a typical Hopi ritual, but it is more or less affected by alien elements. As compared with other pueblos