Wanderings, Part IV

WANDERINGS, PART IV

It happened that a man came and wanted to be a chaianyi. So Oak Man told (him) he would be Kapina chaianyi. Oak Man asked Iatiku what this Kapina was going to represent. Iatiku said he would represent Tiamuni (her husband). Iatiku left it to Tiamuni to say how the altar would be made. So Tiamuni instructed Oak Man to make a tsamai'ya ¹⁰⁰. Tiamuni told Oak Man to gather two ears of corn, one to represent the male (long), the other the female (small). The male was to be named tsamaiya; the female, umahia. ¹ The materials needed were the same as for making honani, except that more feathers were necessary. He was to get feathers from as many birds of prey as possible. After this was done Tiamuni came and instructed Oak Man how to make it up and he blew his breath into the corn ear and closed it with cotton. It was made up like the honani except

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that the "seat" was abalone shell wrapped in cotton. It was then wrapped halfway up from the bottom with buckskin (pl. 13, fig. 2).

When Tiamuni blew in his breath he put in flesh from bashya, "kangaroo mouse." This was the first flesh animal given Nautsiti and Iatiku to eat. It was, therefore, to represent all animal food. This would insure the people of always having meat. If a man wishes to go on a hunt, he should go to his altar as it represents all food animals. Tiamuni, being a male, the breath he blew in represented bravery, initiative, strength, and long life.

Then Tiamuni instructed him how to make the sand painting (ha’atse tsitiă chăn, "earth drawing") for this altar. The drawing was to be made the same as for the honani altar excepting that tracks

Click to enlarge
FIGURE 3.--Kapina society altar.

of the different game animals are put on the center of the figure of the earth, which is to be gray, and the direction colors for north, south, east, and west are added.

The female umahia represents the "mother" of the people.

So Tiamuni taught him songs different from the ones sung before the altar of Iatiku. This altar was not to cure the sick like that of Iatiku, but was to give strength to the people.

The foundation of this altar is of hoak’^a yaoni (sky stone) to represent the sky. The altars in the kiva are always set on the north side in the direction of Shipapu. As one stands facing south, on the right side of the altar is the tsamaiya (male) and on the left is the female (umahia) (fig. 3). The female is like a mother "guardian angel" who represents the female instincts of maternity toward the people and holds them in her affection and heart; the male represents power and virility.

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Both were alike, only one was large and one, small. They were more than a foot through and as high as a man or woman. There is nothing back of the altar like that of Iatiku--just the two fetishes and the drawing with the bowl in the middle.

Tiamuni told them to fast for 4 days as Iatiku had done. Everything was done in order as Iatiku had done; Tiamuni was present to give it life. Tiamuni told this medicine man to gather plants for medicine; they must be hardy plants. He was to get oak balls and leaves from dyapi (ironwood?) (rabbit sticks are made from it), leaves from witsthuich (arrows made from it), wishuits (bows and arrows made from it). (Weapons are made from these four trees.) These leaves and oak balls were to be dried and ground to make medicine. Tiamuni told him also to have yucca blades there in a basket. A woman had also [?] stopped to be a chaianyi and she was to help him. Tiamuni told the medicine man that this altar was for work during daylight. He was to fast 4 days, as in Iatiku's instructions, and especially not to eat flesh.

When all was ready, Country Chief went to get Tiamuni. The one to be initiated as chaianyi of this Kapina altar took Tiamuni by the hand and seated him behind the altar. They started singing the first song of the ceremony, this song was to give life to the medicine bowl. There was another song about the trees of the different color-directions. Then the chaianyi got up and with his feathers sprinkled the two fetishes as they came to life. Then the chaianyi brought out the man and the woman who were to be initiated. The chaianyi took some medicine in a shell and gave some to each. Then they passed the yucca blades to Tiamuni (the large variety, hatuni, that gives fruit of seedy brown). "Here is my life," said Tiamuni, "with this (the yucca blades) you will clothe yourself with manliness and with athleticism." So he gave it (the yucca) to the man to be initiated. Tiamuni said, "Here is my mother. You will keep our life stored here and we will be forever dependent on you and nourishment will be from you." So Tiamuni handed the basket to the woman who was to be Kapina chaianyi.

After they had finished with the altar it was time to bring food for the fetishes. So Country Chief told the people and they brought food to the door and offered it to the spirits in the different directions. After they had gone, the ones who were to become chaianyi then ate. The Country Chief notified the people that it was time for them to come in. When it came time to initiate, Tiamuni came in front of the altar, dipped the yucca blades in the medicine which had been mixed and the two to be initiated were brought out to the tsiwaimitiima, the hollow place with altar in kiva. Then came the song to which they were to dance on it. At a part of the song called "héăsh" [fog], Tiamuni struck the man candidate four times on the

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back with the yucca (during this the woman and man candidates were holding the basket between them). This was done because the basket represented the female fetish. After the man was struck four times, it was the woman's turn. The man held the basket and the woman was struck four times when the "heash" part of the song came. During all this Oak Man was back of the altar singing. This completed the initiation.

So the people were told it was their turn, the ones who had brought feathers as offerings to the two fetishes. All came to the front with their feathers and started to pray. The Kapina chaianyi received the feathers from the people and started to put them in the fetishes, the man chaianyi putting them in the male fetish and the woman, in the female.

When all was finished another song was begun and all who had brought feathers lined up and Tiamuni gave the yucca blades to the Kapina chaianyi, telling him he now knew how to impart the power of the yucca blades. Country Chief came past followed by his two helpers, each in turn holding the basket together with the woman chaianyi, while the male Kapina chaianyi struck each in turn four times on the back. (Nowadays people line up to be in front of the line as the yucca does not hurt so much at first.) That finished the ceremony and the people were allowed to go home with instructions from Tiamuni that the altar was to be cared for, and telling them they now knew the work it had to do. (This altar has nothing to do with curing sickness.)

Footnotes

37:97 Recruiting members for the secret societies is a common practice among the Pueblos. For Acoma, see White (1922, pp. 111-112, and 1942); Santo Domingo (White, 1935, pp. 131-132); San Felipe (White, 1932 a, p. 18); Cochiti (Goldfrank, 1927, pp. 52-53); Tewa (Parsons, 1929, pp. 128-129); Zuñi (Kroeber, 1919, p. 167).

37:98 Cf. White, 1932, p. 97; 1935, pp. 30, 52; 1942.

37:99 Cf. White, 1932 a, p. 17, and Stevenson, 1894, pl. 10, A; White, 1935, pl. 3.

37:100 Cf. White, 1932, p. 48; 1942. The fetishes are called Tsamai'ya and Tsamahi'ya. In general, these terms refer to (1) spirit warriors (Stevenson, 1894, p. 130), to (2) war chiefs in Keresan pueblos (Parsons, 1920 a, p. 66; White, 1925, p. 39) or to (3) ceremonial stones placed on altars (Parsons, 1920, pp. 118-119; Boas, 1928, pt. 1, p. 39; Fewkes, 1902, p. 489; Stephen, 1936, p. 745, fig. 332, pl. 17).

37:1 Yu'mahaia is the warrior of the south in Sia cosmology (Stevenson, 1894, p. 130).