In the design on the bowl figured inplatecxli,e, tail-feathers hang from a curved band, at each extremity of which is a square design in which the cross is represented. It has been suggested that this represents the feathered rainbow, a peculiar conception of both the Pueblo and the Navaho Indians. The design appearing on the small food bowl represented inplatecxli,f, is no doubt connected in some way with that last mentioned, although the likeness between the appendages to the ring and feathers is remote. It is one of those conventionalized pictures, the interpretation of which, with the scanty data at hand, must be largely theoretical.
Figures of feathers are most important features in the decoration of ancient Sikyatki pottery, and their many modifications may readily be seen by an examination of the plates. In modern Tusayan ceremonials the feather is appended to almost all the different objects used in worship; it is essential in the structure of thetiponior badge of the chief, without which no elaborate ceremony can be performed or altar erected; it adorns the images on the altars, decorates the heads of participants, is prescribed for the prayer-sticks, and is always appended to aspergills, rattles, and whistles.
In the performance of certain ceremonials water from sacred springs is used, and this water, sometimes brought from great distances, iskept in small gourd or clay vases, around the necks of which a string with attached feathers is tied. Such a vase is the so-calledpatnewhich has been described in a memoir on the Snake ceremonies at Walpi.[147]The artistic tendency of the ancient people of Sikyatki apparently exhibited itself in painting these feathers on the outside of similar small vases.Platecxlii,a, shows one of these vessels, decorated with an elaborate design with four breath-feathers suspended from the equator. (See alsofigure 273.) On the vases shown inplatecxlii,b,c, are found figures of tail-feathers arranged in two groups on opposite sides of the rim or orifice. One of these groups has eight, the other seven, figures of these feathers, and on the two remaining quadrants are the star emblems so constantly seen in pottery decorated with bird figures. The upper surface of the vase (figure 274) shows a similar arrangement, although the feathers here are conventionalized into triangular dentations, seven on one side and three on the other, individual dentations alternating with rectangular designs which suggest rain-clouds. This vase (platecxliii,a,b) is also striking in having a well-drawn figure of a bird in profile, the head, wings, tail, and legs suggesting a parrot. The zone of decoration of this vessel, which surrounds the rows of feathers, is strikingly complicated, and comprises rain-cloud, feather, and other designs.
Fig. 273—Pendent feather ornaments on a vase.Fig. 273—Pendent feather ornaments on a vase.
In a discussion of the significance of the design on the food bowl represented inplatecxxxix,a,b, I have shown ample reason for regarding it a figure of a highly conventionalized bird. On the upper surface of the vase (platecxliv,a,b) are four similar designs, representing birds of the four cardinal points, one on each quadrant. The wings are represented by triangular extensions, destitute of appendages but with a rounded body at their point of juncture with the trunk. Each bird has four tail-feathers and rain-cloud symbols on the anterior end of the body. As is the case with the figures on the food basins, there are crosses representing stars near the extended wings. A broad band connects all these birds, and terraced rain-cloud symbols, six in numberand arranged in pairs, fill the peripheral sections between them. This vase, although broken, is one of the most beautiful and instructive in the rich collection of Sikyatki ceramics.
PL. CXLIII— VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIIIVASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CXLIV— VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIVVASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CXLV— VASES WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVVASES WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI
Fig. 274—Upper surface of vase with bird decorationFig. 274—Upper surface of vase with bird decoration
I have not ventured, in the consideration of the manifold pictures of birds on ancient pottery, to offer an interpretation of their probable generic identification. There is no doubt, however, that they represent mythic conceptions, and are emblematic of birds which figured conspicuously in the ancient Hopi Olympus. The modern legends of Tusayan are replete with references to such bird-like beings which play important rôles and which bear evidence of archaic origins. There is, however, one fragment of a food bowl which is adorned with a pictograph so realistic and so true to modern legends of a harpy that I have not hesitated to affix to it the name current in modern Tusayan folklore. This fragment is shown infigure 275.
Fig. 275—Kwataka eating an animalFig. 275—Kwataka eating an animal
According to modern folklore there once lived in the sky a winged being called Kwataka, or Man-eagle, who sorely troubled the ancients. He was ultimately slain by their War god, the legends of which have elsewhere been published. There is a pictograph of this monster nearWalpi,[148]and pictures of him, as he exists in modern conceptions, have been drawn for me by the priests. These agree so closely with the pictograph and with the representation on the potsherd from Sikyatki, that I regard it well-nigh proven that they represent the same personage. The head is round and bears two feathers, while the star emblem appears in the eye. The wing and the stump of a tail are well represented, while the leg has three talons, which can only be those of this monster. He holds in his grasp some animal form which he is represented as eating. Across the body is a kilt, or ancient blanket, with four diagonal figures which are said to represent flint arrowheads. It is a remarkable fact that these latter symbols are practically the same as those used by Nahuatl people for obsidian arrow- or spearpoints.In Hopi lore Kwataka wore a garment of arrowpoints, or, according to some legends, a flint garment, and his wings are said to have been composed of feathers of the same material.
PL. CXLVI— BOWLS AND POTSHERD WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIBOWLS AND POTSHERD WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CXLVII— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS, FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIIFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS, FROM SIKYATKI
From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended to represent this monster, of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise represent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so closely to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the Tusayan villages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and consequently figures of him are commonly associated with star and cloud emblems; he is a god of luck or chance, hence it is not exceptional to find figures of gaming implements[149]in certain elaborate figures of this monster.
By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, I believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the United States, is that figured inplatecxlvi,d. This remarkable object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this pueblo, several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly conventional figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is difficult to determine the different parts. The four appendages to the left represent the tail; the two knobs at the right the head, but the remaining parts are not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed crosshatching on the body is astonishing, considering that it was drawn freehand and without pattern. The coloring is bright and the surface glossy.
The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in design. Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this specimen, and so fresh are the colors that some have found it difficult to believe it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The specimen itself, now on exhibition in the National Museum, gives a better idea of its excellence than any figure which could be made. This specimen, like all the others, is in exactly the same condition as when exhumed, save that it has been wiped with a moist cloth to clean the traces of food from its inner surface. All the pottery found in the same grave is of the finest character, and although no two specimens are alike in decoration, their general resemblances point to the same maker. This fact has been noticed in several instances, although there were many exceptional cases where the coarsest and most rudely painted vessels were associated with the finest and most elaborately decorated ware.
The ladle illustrated inplatecxlii,e, is one of the most beautiful in the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an unknown animalwith a single feather on the head. The eyes are double and the snout continued into a long stick or tube, on which the animal stands. While the appendage to the head is undoubtedly a feather and the animal recalls a bird, I am in doubt as to its true identification. The star emblems on the handle of the ladle are in harmony with known pictures of birds.
The feather decoration on the broken ladle shown inplatecxxxi,f, is of more than usual interest, although it is not wholly comprehensible. The representations include rain-cloud symbols, birds, feathers, and falling rain. The medially placed design, with four parallel lines arising from a round spot, is interpreted as a feather design, and the two triangular figures, one on each side, are believed to represent birds.
The design on the food bowl depicted inplatecxxxi,e, is obscure, but in it feather and star symbols predominate. On the inside of the ladle shown inplatecxxxi,c, there is a rectangular design with a conventionalized bird at each angle. The reduction of the figure of a bird to head, body, and two or more tail-feathers occurs very constantly in decorations, and in many instances nothing remains save a crook with appended parallel lines representing feathers. Examples of this kind occur on several vessels, of which that shown inplatecxlv,a, is an example.
Fig. 276—Decoration on the bottom of plate CXLVI, fFig. 276—Decoration on the bottom ofplate CXLVI,f
There are many pictures of birds and feathers where the design has become so conventionalized that it is very difficult to recognize the intention of the decorator.Platecxlvii,f, shows one of these in which the feather motive is prominent and an approximation to a bird form evident. The wings are shown with a symmetric arrangement on the sides of the tail, while the latter member has the three feathers which form so constant a feature in many bird symbols. Inbof the same plate there is shown a more elaborated bird figure, also highly modified, yet preserving many of the parts which have been identified in the design last described.
The beautiful design shown inplatecxlvi,e, represents a large breath feather with triangular appendages on the sides, recalling the posterior end of the body of the bird figures above discussed.
The interior of the saucer illustrated inplateclxvi,f, is decorated with feather symbols and four triangles. The remaining figures of this plate have already been considered.
PL. CXLVIII— FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIIIFOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CXLIX— FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIXFOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
The figures on the vessel shown inplateclxviiare so arranged that there can be little question of their homologies, and from comparisons it is clear that they should all be regarded as representations of birds.There appears no necessity of discussing figuresaandbof the plate in this interpretation. In figurecthe center of the design becomes circular, recalling certain sun symbols, and the tail-feathers are readily recognized on one side. I am by no means sure, however, that the lateral terraced appendages at the opposite pole are representations of wings, but such an interpretation can not be regarded as a forced one. Figuredshows the three tail-feathers, lateral appendages suggestive of wings, and a square body with the usual decorations of the body and head of a bird. The design shown in figurefsuggests in many ways a sun-bird, and is comparable with those previously studied and illustrated. There is no question of the homologues of tail, head, and wings. The meridional band across the bowl is similar to those already discussed, and its relationship to the head and tail of the bird identical. This design is interpreted as that of one of the numerous birds associated with the sun. The crescentic extension above what is apparently the head occurs in many bird figures and may represent a beak.
Many food bowls from Sikyatki are ornamented on their interior with highly conventionalized figures, generally of curved form, in which the feather is predominant. Many of these are shown inplatescxlviiitoclvii, inclusive, and in studying them I have found it very difficult to interpret the symbolism, although the figures of feathers are easy to find in many of them. While my attempt at decipherment is not regarded as final, it is hoped that it may at least reveal the important place which the feather plays in Tusayan ceramic decoration.
Platecxlviii,a, shows the spiral ornament worn down to its lowest terms, with no hint of the feather appendage, but its likeness in outline to those designs where the feather occurs leads me to introduce it in connection with those in which the feather is more prominent. Figurebof the same plate represents a spiral figure with a bird form at the inner end, and a bundle of tail-feathers at the outer extremity. On this design there is likewise a figure of the dragon-fly and several unknown emblems. Figurechas at one extremity a trifid appendage, recalling a feather ornament on the head of a bird shown inplatecxxxviii,a. Figuredhas no conventionalized feather decoration, but the curved line terminates with a triangle. Its signification is unknown to me. For several reasons the design inereminds me of a bird; it is accompanied by three crosses, which are almost invariably found in connection with bird figures, and at the inner end there is attached a breath feather. This end of the figure is supposed to be the head, as will appear by later comparative studies. The bird form is masked inf, but the feather designs are prominent. This bowl is exceptional in having an encircling band broken at two points, one of the components of which is red, the other black.
Feather designs are conspicuous inplatecxlix,a,b, in the former of which curved incised lines are successfully used. Inc, however, isfound the best example of the use of incised work as an aid in pottery decoration, for in this specimen there are semicircles, and rings with four triangles, straight lines, and circles. The symbolism of the whole figure has eluded analysis. Figuredhas no feather symbols, butemay later be reduced to a circle with feathers. The only symbols in the design shown infwhich are at all recognizable are the two zigzag figures which may have been intended to represent snakes, lightning, or tadpoles.
When the design inplatecl,a, is compared with the beautiful bowl shown inplatecxlvi,d, a treatment of somewhat similar nature is found. It is believed that both represent birds drawn in profile; the four bands (a) are tail-feathers, while the rectangle represents the body and the curved appendage a part of the head. From a similarity to modern figures of a turkey feather, it is possible that the triangle at the end of the curved appendage is the feather of this bird. An examination ofbleads to the conclusion that the inner end of the spiral represents a bird's head. Two eyes are represented therein, and from it feathers are appended. The parallel marks on the body are suggestive of similar decorations on the figure of the Plumed Snake painted on the kilts of the Snake priests of Walpi. The star emblems are constant accompaniments of bird designs. Figurechas, in addition to the spiral, the star symbols and what appears to be a flower. The design shown indis so exceptional that it is here represented with the circular forms. It will be seen that there are well-marked feathers in its composition. Figurefis made up of several bird forms, feathers, rectangles, and triangles, combined in a complicated design, the parts of which may readily be interpreted in the light of what has already been recorded.
The significance of the spiral in the design onplatecli,a, is unknown. It is found in several pictures, in some of which it appears to have avian relationship. Figurebof the same plate is a square terraced design appended to the median line, on which symbolic stars are depicted. As in many bird figures, a star is found on the opposite semicircle. There is a remote likeness between this figure and that of the head of the bird shown inplatecxlv,d.Platecli,c, is a compound figure, with four feathers arranged in two pairs at right angles to a median band. The triangular figure associated with them is sometimes found in symbols of the sun. Figuredis undoubtedly a bird symbol, as may be seen by a comparison of it with the bird figures shown inplatecxxxviii,a-f. There are two tail-feathers, two outstretched wings, and a head which is rectangular, with terraced designs. The cross is triple, and occupies the opposite segment, which is finely spattered with pigment. This trifid cross represents a game played by the Hopi with reeds and is depicted on many objects of pottery. As representations of it sometimes accompany those of birds I am led to interpret the figure (plateclvii,c) as that of a bird, which it somewhat resembles.The two designs shown inplatecli,e,f, are believed to be decorative, or, if symbolic, they have been so worn by the constant use of the vessel that it is impossible to determine their meaning by comparative methods. Both of these figures show the "line of life" in a somewhat better way than any yet considered.
PL. CL— FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLFIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLI— FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIFIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
Inplateclii,a, is shown a compound figure of doubtful significance, made up of a series of crescents, triangles, and spirals, which, inc, are more compactly joined together, and accompanied by three parallel lines crossing three other lines. The curved figure shown inbrepresents three feathers; a large one on each side, inclosing a medially smaller member. Indis shown the spiral bird form with appended feathers, triangles, and terraced figures. Figurefof this plate is decorated with a design which bears many resemblances to a flower, the peripheral appendages resembling bracts of a sunflower. A somewhat similar design is painted on the side of the helmets of somekatcinadancers, where the bracts or petals are colored in sequence, with the pigments corresponding to the six directions—north, west, south, east, above, and below. In the decoration on the ancient Sikyatki bowl we find seven peripheral bracts, one of which is speckled. The six groups of stamens(?) are represented between the triangular bracts.
The designs shown inplatescliiitoclv, inclusive, still preserve the spiral form with attached feathers, some of them being greatly conventionalized or differentiated. In the first of these plates (figureb) is represented a bird form with triangular head with four feathers arranged in fan shape. These feathers are different from any which I have been able to find attached to the bodies of birds, and are thus identified from morphological rather than from other reasons.
The body of the conventionalized bird is decorated with terraced figures, spirals, flowers, and other designs arranged in a highly complicated manner. From a bar connecting the spiral with the encircling line there arises a tuft of feathers. Figureaof the same plate is characterized by a medially placed triangle and a graceful pendant from which hangs seven feathers. In this instance these structures take the form of triangles and pairs of lines. The relation of these structures to feathers would appear highly speculative, but they have been so interpreted for the following reason: If we compare them with the appendages represented in the design on the vase shown incxliii,b, we find them the same in number, form, and arrangement; the triangles in the design on this vase are directly comparable with the figures inplatecxliii,b, in the same position, which are undoubtedly feathers, as has been shown in the discussion of this figure. Consequently, although the triangles on the pendant inplatecliii,a, appear at first glance to have no relation to the prescribed feather symbol, morphology shows their true interpretation. The reduction of the wing feather to a simple triangular figure is likewise shown in several other pictures on foodvessels, notably in the figure, undoubtedly of a bird, represented inplatecxlvi,a.
In the two figures formingplateclivare found simple bird symbols and feather designs very much conventionalized. The same is true of the two figures given inplateclv.
The vessels illustrated inplateclvi,a,b, are decorated with designs of unknown meaning, save that the latter recalls the modification of the feather into long triangular forms. On the outer surface this bowl has a row of tadpoles encircling it in a sinistral direction, or with the center of the bowl on the left. The design of figurecshows a bird's head in profile, with a crest of feathers and with the two eyes on one side of the head and a necklace. The triangular figure bears the symbolism of the turkey feather, as at present designated in Tusayan altar paraphernalia. As with other bird figures, there is a representation in red of the triple star.
Figuredis the only specimen of a vessel in the conventional form of a bird which was found at Sikyatki; it evidently formerly had a handle. The vessel itself is globular, and the form of the bird is intensified by the designs on its surface. The bird's head is turned to the observer, and the row of triangles represent wing feathers. The signification of the designs oneandfis unknown to me.
Figureseandfofplateclviare avian decorations, reduced in the case of the former to geometric forms. The triangular figure is a marked feature in the latter design.
The designs represented inplateclviiare aberrant bird forms. Of theseaandbare the simplest andcone of the most complicated. Figuredis interpreted as a double bird, or twins with a common head and tails pointing in opposite directions. Figureeshows a bird in profile with one wing, furnished with triangular feathers, extended. There is some doubt about the identification offas a bird, but there is no question that the wing, tail, and breath feathers are represented in it. Of the last mentioned there are three, shown by the notch, colored black at their extremities.
Inasmuch as they so readily lend themselves as a motive of decoration, it is remarkable that the ancient Hopi seem to have used plants and their various organs so sparingly in their pottery painting. Elsewhere, especially among modern Pueblos, this is not the case, and while plants, flowers, and leaves are not among the common designs on modern Tusayan ware, they are often employed. It would appear that the corn plant or fruit would be found among other designs, especially as corn plays a highly symbolic part in mythic conceptions, but we fail to find it used as a decoration on any ancient vessel.
PL. CLII— FOOD BOWLS WITH BIRD, FEATHER, AND FLOWER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIIFOOD BOWLS WITH BIRD, FEATHER, AND FLOWER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLIII— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIIIFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
In a figure previously described, a flower, evidently an aster or sunflower, appears with a butterfly, and in the bowl shown inplatecxxxiv,e, we have a similar design. This figure evidently represents the sunflower, the seeds of which were ground and eaten in ancient times. The plant apparently is represented as growing from the earth and is surrounded by a broad band of red in rudely circular form. The totem of the earth today among the Hopi is a circle; possibly it was the same among the ancients, in which case the horizon may have been represented by the red encircling band, which is accompanied by the crook and the emblem of rain. The petals are represented by a row of dots and no leaves are shown. From the kinship of the ancient accolents of Sikyatki with the Flute people, it is to be expected that in their designs figures of asters or sunflowers would appear, for these plants play a not inconspicuous rôle in the ritual of this society which has survived to modern times.
Sun worship plays a most important part in modern Tusayan ritual, and the symbol of the sun in modern pictography can not be mistaken for any other. It is a circle with radiating feathers on the periphery and ordinarily with four lines arranged in quaternary groups. The face of the sun is indicated by triangles on the forehead, two slits for eyes, and a double triangle for the mouth. This symbol, however, is not always used as that of the sun, for in the OraibiPowalawûthere is an altar in which a sand picture of the sun has the form of a four-pointed star. The former of these sun symbols is not found on Sikyatki pottery, but there is one picture which closely resembles the latter. This occurs on the bowl illustrated inplateclxi,c. The main design is a four-pointed star, alternating with crosses and surrounded by a zone in which are rectangular blocks. While the identification may be fanciful, its resemblances are highly suggestive. The existence of a double triangle adjacent to this figure on the same bowl, and its likeness to the modern mouth-design of sun pictures, appears to be more than a coincidence, and is so regarded in this identification.
In the design shown inplateclviii,a, one of the elaborate ancient sun figures is represented. As in modern symbols, the tail-feathers of the periphery of the disk are arranged in the four quadrants, and in addition there are appended to the same points curved figures which recall the objects, identified as stringed feathers, attached to the blanket of the maid (platecxxix,a). The design on the disk is different from that of any sun emblem known to me, and escapes my interpretation. I have used the distribution of the feathers on the four quadrants as an indication that this figure is a sun symbol, although it must be confessed this evidence is not so strong as might be wished. The triangles at the sides of two feathers indicate that a tail-feather is intended, and for the correlated facts supporting this conclusion the reader is referred to the description of the vessels shown inplatecxxxviii.
It would appear that there is even more probability that the picture on the bowl illustrated inplateclviii,b, is a sun symbol. It represents a disk with tail and wing feathers arranged on the periphery in four groups. This recalls the sun emblems used in Tusayan at the present time, although the face of the sun is not represented on this specimen. There is a still closer approximation to the modern symbol of the sun on a bowl in a private collection from Sikyatki.
Inplateclviii,c, the sun's disk is represented with the four clusters of feathers replaced by the extremities of the bodies of four birds, the tail-feathers, for some unknown reason, being omitted. The design on the disk is highly symbolic, and the only modern sun symbol found in it are the triangles, which form the mouth of the face of the sun in modern Hopi symbolism.
One of the most aberrant pictures of the sun, which I think can be identified with probability, is shown in the design on the specimen illustrated inplatecxxxiv,b. The reasons which have led me to this identification may briefly be stated as follows:
Among the many supernaturals with which modern Hopi mythology is replete is one called Calako-taka, or the male Calako. In legends he is the husband of the two Corn-maids of like name. The ceremonials connected with this being occur in Sichomovi in July, when four giant personifications enter the village as have been described in a former memoir. The heads of these giants are provided with two curved horns, between which is a crest of eagle tail-feathers.
Two of these giants, under another name, but with the same symbolism, are depicted on the altars of thekatcinasat Walpi and Mishoñinovi, where they represent the sun. A chief personifying the same supernatural flogs children when they are initiated into the knowledge of thekatcinas.
The figure on the bowl under discussion has many points of resemblance to the symbolism of this personage as depicted on the altars mentioned. The head has two horns, one on each side, with a crest, apparently of feathers, between them. The eyes and mouth are represented, and on the body there is a four-pointed cross. The meaning of the remaining appendages is unknown, but the likenesses to Calako-taka[150]symbolism are noteworthy and important. The figure on the food bowl illustrated inplatecxxxiv,c, is likewise regarded as a sun emblem. The disk is represented by a ring in the center, to which feathers are appended. The triangle, which is still a sun symbol, is shown below a band across the bowl. This band is decorated with highly conventionalized feathers.
PL. CLIV— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIVFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLV— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLVI— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVIFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
It may be added that in this figure we have probably the most aberrant sun-symbol yet recognized, and on that account there is a possibility that the validity of my identification is more or less doubtful.
The three designs shown inplateclviii,c,d,e, evidently belong in association with sun or star symbols, but it is hardly legitimate to definitely declare that such an interpretation can be demonstrated. The modern Tusayan Indians declare that the equal-arm cross is a symbol of the "Heart of the Sky" god, which, from my studies of the effigies of this personage on various altars, I have good reason to identify with the lightning.
Most of the pottery from Sikyatki is ornamented with geometric designs and linear figures, the import of many of which are unknown.
Two extreme views are current in regard to the significance of these designs. To one school everything is symbolic of something or some religious conception; to the other the majority are meaningless save as decorations. I find the middle path the more conservative, and while regarding many of the designs as highly conventionalized symbols, believe that there are also many where the decorator had no thought of symbolism. I have ventured an explanation of a few of the former.
Terraced figures are among the most common rectangular elements in Pueblo ceramic decorations. These designs bear so close a likeness to the modern rain-cloud symbol that they probably may all be referred to this category. Their arrangement on a bowl or jar is often of such a nature as to impart very different patterns. Thus terraced figures placed in opposition to each other may leave zigzag spaces suggesting lightning, but such forms can hardly be regarded as designed for symbols.
Rectangular patterns (platesclxii-clxv) are more ancient in the evolution of designs on Tusayan pottery than curved geometric figures, and far outnumber them in the most ancient specimens; but there has been no epoch in the development reaching to modern times when they have been superseded. While there are many specimens of Sikyatki pottery of the type decorated with geometric figures, which bear ornamentations of simple and complex terraced forms, the majority placed in this type are not reducible to stepped or terraced designs, but are modified straight lines, bars, crosshatching, and the like. In older Pueblo pottery the relative proportion of terraced figures is even less, which would appear to indicate that basket-ware patterns were secondary rather than primary decorative forms.
By far the largest element in ancient Tusayan pottery decoration must be regarded as simple geometric lines, triangles, spirals, curves, crosshatching, and the like, some of which are no doubt symbolic,others purely decorative (plateclxvi). In the evolution of design I am inclined to believe that this was the simplest form, and I find it the most constant in the oldest ware. Rectangular figures are regarded as older than circular figures, and they possibly preceded the latter in evolution, but in many instances both are forms of reversion, highly conventionalized representations of more elaborate figures. Circles and crosses are sometimes combined, the former modified into a wavy line surrounding the latter, as inplateclix,c,d, where there is a suggestion (d) of a sun emblem.
A large number of food bowls are decorated with simple or elaborate crosses, stars, and like patterns. Simple crosses with arms of equal length appear on the vessels shown inplateclix,c,d. There are many similar crosses, subordinate to the main design, in various bowls, especially those decorated with figures of birds and sky deities.
Plateclx,a, exhibits a cruciform design, to the extremities of three arms of which bird figures are attached. In this design there are likewise two sunflower symbols. The modified cross figure inbof the same plate, like that just mentioned, suggests a swastica, but fails to be one, and unless the complicated design in figurecmay be so interpreted, no swastica was found at Sikyatki or Awatobi.Plateclx,d, shows another form of cross, two arms of which are modified into triangles.
On the opening of the great ceremony calledPowamûor "Bean-planting," which occurs in February in the modern Tusayan villages, there occurs a ceremony about a sand picture of the sun which is calledPowalawû. The object of this rite is the fructification of all seeds known to the Hopi. The sand picture of the sun which is made at that time is in its essentials identical with the design on the food bowl illustrated inplateclxi,c; consequently it is possible that this star emblem represents the sun, and the occurrence of the eight triangles in the rim, replaced in the modern altar by four concentric bands of differently colored sands, adds weight to this conclusion. The twin triangles outside the main figure are identical with those in the mouth of modern sun emblems. These same twin triangles are arranged in lines which cross at right angles inplateclxi,d, but from their resemblance to figurebthey possibly have a different meaning.
The most complicated of all the star-shape figures, like the simplest, takes us to sun emblems, and it seems probable that there is a relationship between the two.Plateclxi,f, represents four bundles of feathers arranged in quadrants about a rectangular center. These feathers vary in form and arrangement, and the angles between them are occupied by horn-shape bodies, two of which have highly complicated extremities recalling conventionalized birds.
PL. CLVII— FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU Of AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVIIFIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLVIII— FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF SUN AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVIIIFOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF SUN AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI
A large number of crosses are represented inplateclxii,d, in which the remaining semicircle is filled with a tessellated pattern. A spiralline with round spots at intervals adorns the specimen shown inplateclxi,a. Parallel lines with similar spots appear on the vessel illustrated inplateclxii,e, and a network of the same is shown infof the same plate.Plateclxvii,b, represents a compound star.
While simple swasticas are not found on any of the Sikyatki pottery, modified and compound forms are well represented. There are several specimens of figures of the Maltese cross, and one closely approximating the Saint Andrew's cross. It is scarcely necessary to say that the presence of the various kinds of crosses do not necessarily indicate the influence of Semitic or Aryan races, for I have already shown[151]that even cross-shape prayer-sticks were in use among the Pueblos when Coronado first visited them.
Among the most common of all geometric designs on ancient Tusayan pottery none excel in variety or number those which I place in the above group. They form the major part of all decoration, and there is hardly a score of ornamented vessels in which they can not be detected. In a typical form they appear as stepped designs, rectangular figures with diagonals continuous, or as triangular designs with steps represented along their sides.
While it is probable that in some instances these figures are simply decorative, with no attempt at symbolism, in other cases without doubt they symbolize rain-clouds, and the same figures are still used with similar intent in modern ceremonial paraphernalia—altars, mask-tablets, and the like. Decorative modifications of this figure were no doubt adopted by artistic potters, thus giving varieties where the essential meaning has been much obscured or lost.
Among the forms of geometric designs on ancient Tusayan pottery there are many jars, bowls, and other objects on which a crook, variously modified, is the essential type. This figure is so constant that it must have had a symbolic as well as a decorative meaning. The crook plays an important part in the modern ritual, and is prominent on many Tusayan altars. Around the sand picture of the rain-cloud, for example, we find a row of wooden rods with curved ends, and in the public Snake dance these are carried by participants called the Antelopes. A crook in the form of a staff to which an ear of corn and several feathers are attached is borne bykatcinasor masked participants in certain rain dances. It is held in the hand by a personage who flogs the children when they are initiated into certain religious societies. Many other instances might be mentioned in which this crozier-likeobject is carried by important personages. While it is not entirely clear to me that in all instances this crook is a badge of authority, in some cases it undoubtedly represents the standing of the bearer. There are, likewise, prayer offerings in the form of crooks, and even common forms of prayer-sticks have miniature curved sticks attached to them.
Some of the warrior societies are said to make offerings in the form of a crook, and a stick of similar form is associated with the gods of war. There is little doubt that some of the crook-form decorations on ancient vessels may have been used as symbols with the same intent as the sticks referred to above. The majority of the figures of this shape elude interpretation. Many of them have probably no definite meaning, but are simply an effective motive of decoration.
In some instances the figure of the crook on old pottery is a symbol of a prayer offering of a warrior society, made in the form of an ancient weapon, allied to a bow.
The ordinary symbol of germination, a median projection with lateral extensions at the base (platecxlix,e), occurs among the figures on this ancient pottery. In its simplest form, a median line with a triangle on each side attached to one end, it is a phallic emblem. When this median line becomes oval, and the triangles elongated and curved at the ends, it represents the ordinary squash symbol,[152]also used as an emblem of fertility.
The triangle is also an emblem of germination and of fecundity—the female, as the previously mentioned principle represents the male. The geometric designs on the ancient Sikyatki ware abundantly illustrate both these forms.
In examining the simple encircling bands of many of the food bowls, jars, and other ceramic objects, it will be noticed that they are not continuous, but that there is a break at one point, and this break is usually limited to one point in all the specimens. Various explanations of the meaning of this failure to complete the band have been suggested, and it is a remarkable fact that it is one of the most widely extended characteristics of ancient pottery decoration in the whole Pueblo area, including the Salado and Gila basins. While in the specimens from Sikyatki the break is simple and confined to one point, in those from other regions we find two or three similar failures in the continuity of encircling lines, and in some instances the lines at the point of separation are modified into spirals, terraces, and other forms of geometric figures. In the more complex figures we find themost intricate variations, which depart so widely from the simple forms that their resemblances are somewhat difficult to follow. A brief consideration of these modifications may aid toward an understanding of the character of certain geometric ornamental motives.
PL. CLIX— CROSS AND RELATED DESIGNS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIXCROSS AND RELATED DESIGNS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLX— CROSS AND OTHER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXCROSS AND OTHER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI
PL. CLXI— STAR, SUN, AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXISTAR, SUN, AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI
If any of the interlocking spirals on bowls or vases are traced, it is found that they do not join at the center of the figure. The same is true when these spirals become frets. There is always a break in the network which they form. This break is comparable with the hiatus on encircling bands and probably admits of the same interpretation. In a simple form this motive appears as two crescents or two key patterns with the ends overlapping. This simple ornament, called the friendship sign, is commonly used in the decoration of the bodies ofkatcinas, and has been likened to the interlocking of fingers or hands of the participants in certain dances, the fingers half retracted with inner surfaces approximated, the palms of the hands facing in opposite directions and the wrists at opposite points. If the points be extended into an elaborate key pattern or curved into extended spirals, a complicated figure is produced in which the separation is less conspicuous although always present.
The same points may be modified into terraced figures, the separation then appearing as a zigzag line drawn across the figure, or they may have interlocking dentate or serrate prolongations imparting a variety of forms to the interval between them.[153]In order to trace out these modifications it would be necessary to specify each individual case, but I think that is unnecessary. In other words, the broken line appears to be a characteristic not only of simple encircling bands, but also of all geometric figures in which highly complicated designs extend about the periphery of a utensil.
The decorations on the exterior of the ancient food bowls are in most instances very characteristic and sometimes artistic. Generally they reproduce patterns which are found on the outside of vases and jars and sometimes have a distant relationship to the designs in the interior of the bowl upon which they occur. Usually these external decorations are found only on one side, and in that respect they differ from the modern food bowls, in which nothing similar to them appears.
The characteristics of the external decorations of food bowls are symbolic, mostly geometric, square or rectangular, triangular or steppedfigures; curved lines and spirals rarely if ever occur, and human or animal figures are unknown in this position in Sikyatki pottery; the geometric figures can be reduced to a few patterns of marked simplicity.
It is apparent that I can best discuss the variety of geometric designs by considering these external decorations of food vessels at length. From the fact that they are limited to one side, the design is less complicated by repetition and seems practically the same as the more typical forms. It is rarely that two of these designs are found to be exactly the same, and as there appears to be no duplication a classification of them is difficult. Each potter seems to have decorated her ware without regard to the work of her contemporaries, using simple designs but combining them in original ways. Hence the great variety found even in the grave of the same woman, whose handiwork was buried with her. As, however, the art of the potter degenerated, as it has in later times, the patterns became more alike, so that modern Tusayan decorated earthenware has little variety in ornamentation and no originality in design. Every potter uses the same figures.
Fig. 277—Oblique parallel line decorationFig. 277—Oblique parallel line decoration
Fig. 278—Parallel lines fused at one pointFig. 278—Parallel lines fused at one point
Fig. 279—Parallel lines with zigzag arrangementFig. 279—Parallel lines with zigzag arrangement
The simplest form of decoration on the exterior of a food bowl is a band encircling it. This line may be complete or it may be broken at one point. The next more complicated geometric decoration is a double or multiple band, which, however, does not occur in any of the specimens from Sikyatki. The breaking up of this multiple band into parallel bars is shown infigure 277. These bars generally have a quadruple arrangement, and are horizontal, vertical, or, as in the illustration, inclined at an angle. They are often found on the lips of the bowls and in a similar position on jars, dippers, and vases. The parallel lines shown infigure 278are seven in number, and do not encircle the bowl. They are joined by a broad connecting band near one extremity. The number of parallel bands in this decoration is highly suggestive.
PL. CLXII— GEOMETRIC ORNAMENTATION FROM SIKYATKIBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXIIGEOMETRIC ORNAMENTATION FROM SIKYATKI
Four parallel bands encircle the bowl shown infigure 279, but they are so modified in their course as to form a number of trapezoidal figures placed with alternating sides parallel. This interesting pattern is found only on one vessel.
The use of simple parallel bars, arranged at equal intervals on the outside of food bowls, is not confined to these vessels, for they occur on the margin of vases, cups, and dippers. They likewise occur on ladle handles, where they are arranged in alternate transverse and longitudinal clusters.
Fig. 280—Parallel lines connected by middle bar.Fig. 280—Parallel lines connected by middle bar.
The combination of two vertical bands connected by a horizontal band, forming the letter H, is an ornamental design frequently occurring on the finest Hopi ware.Figure 280shows such an H form, which is ordinarily repeated four times about the bowl.
Fig. 281—Parallel lines of different width; serrate marginFig. 281—Parallel lines of different width; serrate margin
The interval between the parallel bands around the vessel may be very much reduced in size, and some of the bands may be of different width, or otherwise modified. Such a deviation is seen infigure 281, which has three bands, one of which is broad with straight edges, the other with serrate margin and hook-like appendages.
Fig. 282—Parallel lines of different width; median serrateFig. 282—Parallel lines of different width; median serrate
Fig. 283—Parallel lines of different width; marginal serrateFig. 283—Parallel lines of different width; marginal serrate
Infigure 282eight bands are shown, the marginal broad with edges entire, and the median pair serrated, the long teeth fitting each other in such a way as to impart a zigzag effect to the space which separates them. The remaining four lines, two on each side, appear as black bands on a white ground. It will be noticed that an attempt was made to relieve the monotony of the middle band of figure 282 by the introduction of a white line in zigzag form. A similar result was accomplished in the design shown infigure 283by rectangles and dots.
Fig. 284—Parallel lines and trianglesFig. 284—Parallel lines and triangles
The modification of the multiple bands infigure 283has produced a very different decorative form. This design is composed of five bands, the marginal on each side serrate, and the middle band relatively very broad, with diagonals, each containing four round dots regularly arranged. Infigure 284there are many parallel, noncontinuous bands of different breadth, arranged in groups separated by triangles with sides parallel, and the whole united by bounding lines. This is the most complicated form of design where straight lines only are used.
Fig. 285—Line with alternate trianglesFig. 285—Line with alternate triangles
We have thus far considered modifications brought about by fusion and other changes in simple parallel lines. They may be confined to one side of the food bowl, may repeat each other at intervals, or surround the whole vessel. Ordinarily, however, they are confined to one side of the bowls from Sikyatki.
Fig. 286—Single line with alternate spursFig. 286—Single line with alternate spurs
Fig. 287—Single line with hourglass figuresFig. 287—Single line with hourglass figures
Returning to the single encircling band, it is found, infigure 285, broken up into alternating equilateral triangles, each pair united at their right angles. This modification is carried still further infigure 286, where the triangles on each side of the single line are prolonged into oblique spurs, the pairs separated a short distance from each other. Infigure 287there is shown still another arrangement of these triangular decorations, the pairs forming hourglass-shape figures connected by an encircling line passing through their points of junction.