Children Receiving Gifts

The morning after the Dance

The Kiva is closely surrounded by houses. This is at the Northeast end of the village, where the dirt road starts down. In the pre-dawn morning, people are already on house tops, as there they will not interfere with the Kachinam. From the Kiva roof hatchway, slowly coming up and gaining speed as a spaceship in launching, two eagle feathers appear fire-like macaw tailfeathers. Next comes the headdress, step-designed profile, cloud-like; then the green collar of spruce, the painted body, the kilt covered with greens, finally the black, red and white mantas. One after another, four in all. They line up on each side of the Kiva. With them is the green-faced "Long Hair and Beard," Ankachina. Finally the Oldest of All, Eototo, so simple, so white, so wise. A finality which is also the beginning. Now then, the Kachina Fathers will recite prayers, beg the Kachinam to come back, beg them to send clouds again so that the late crops may be fully harvested. They ask also for snow, so that moisture can accumulate with the frost. They pray that they will have many children for they want clans to be enriched with lives. "Kwakwai thank you once more for having come again and brought corn and joy and food and good hunting. Many children were born! Bless all the World, not only all people and all houses in all nations, but brothers of the Animal World, brothers of the Plant World, brothers of the Earth and Rock World: and do come again! Please, do! Waiting for your return, we shall walk the 'Hopi Way' in which we were born, we shall walk with a Good Heart As they finished their harangue, the Kachinam promise that they will return at the proper time, at the proper Moon, at the proper place, in order. One by one they go. They go toward the slope which is a dark mass against the pre-dawn light. From the rooftops, the peaceful people of the Hopis spit on them, as if the rain had already come. And they walk away to prepare their return to the San Francisco Peaks. Still, you can hear the turtle shells.

YELLOW CLOWN DESCENDING FROM ROOFTOP artist: Richard Pentewa, New Oraibi Byron Hunter, Jr. Trading Post Where is the Kachina Chief?

The Kachinam will be away until the new cycle, year after year. The magic of life continues. So again, we are in the middle of the season.

It is Tikive, the day of the dance. It is Kinsovi, the place of the dance.

It is a drab day for it is early spring. Also, it is early for Kachinam to appear, early in the defrosted month with remains of snow on the north side of the hills. There is no wind, no dust. There is little light behind thin clouds, just a vast blanket of gray promise for life-giving rain. A non-aristocratic dog follows a rugged fighter. They sit where a few children are playing in the dust with a backstage of empty benches, stools, and a few folding chairs. Smoke from the chimneys, the new electrical wires bringing life to some bare bulbs in a few kitchens. Some TV aerials on the 15th century homes. The dog snuffles at a child who playfully kicks him away. All this we see in a long silence which allows us to imagine, soon to feel, and finally to recognize the bells and rattles of Kachinam. The pertinence of the rattling, the musicality of the bells, is expectation, immediacy. The silhouette of an old man appears, coming slowly toward the dance plaza. In his humble, ragged clothes with canvas shoes, patched Levis, clean shirt hanging loose, he comes, the symbol of humility, of Mankind, making a trail of blessings with the cornmeal that he sifts through his fingers, leaving a white trail as he walks. Suddenly the presence of a dazzlement of colors, shimmering feathers tied in a powerful design with ears to hear prayers and blank eyes of understanding. A rich torso covered with a poncho of velvet, black or deep purple, one blue. The boughs of evergreen neatly circle the neck; the rattle in the right hand; the bells on the ankle, of course. Then, in the tonal rhythm of each footstep comes the others alike but dissimilar, young, old, tall, short, heavy, or willowy, with their shirts, black, purple and even blue. Each face marked by each being's similar patterns, individual treatments, singular prayer in community symbol. As the forty Messengers of the Gods line up on the Kisonvi, an instantaneous eruption of people of every age mushroom from everywhere. Only the dogs have gone. The children crowd the first rows. The women come as shrines themselves in the angular form of blankets pyramided above their shoulders and heads. Teenage boys in Levis and old men with red scarves around their foreheads cover the rooftops. Non-mini-skirted teenage girls with their long hair, all black, blown now by the winds of snowy San Francisco Peaks. The sound of one rattle in the middle of the row of these living statues. A response: a foot hitting hard Mother Earth; the sound of bells, of course, punctuated by the strange noise of two turtle backs attached at the right calf of each dancer. Now, the drum, the deep sounding drum, heavy, fat, almost colorless like the voice of the desert sand, like a big boulder that will speak or command. "Dance! Dance!" Haliksai, that is right! Let's Go! Pantani, let it be! With computer-like precision all the dancers move, heel down and up shuffle, down and up, shuffle, shuffle, then they turn, one at a time, like a long wave progressing throughout the row of dancers. Then the song begins a song so deep it doesn't come from the throat, but from the heart, from the guts, sky-bound from earth. The feathers vibrate; and the greens dance around the heads and the rattles shake, commanding movements of life, sounds of chanting. Messengers for the gods, the Kachinam are dancing. In the crowd there is stillness. Eyes are alive with expectation. Children are frozen in almost the position of their last play in complete fascination, old people in communion. Families are united in religious respect, in the sense of the eternity that started with the Mud Head and is never-ending projection into the future of the race.

A two-year-old, half nude in front of his mother, beats the earth synchronized with the Kachinam.

The Kachinam have stopped and gone to the altars on the mesa side. Now, they come back to the plaza, bringing gifts to the villagers.

From a rooftop on the north side of the plaza come strong calls and yells. Five beings painted yellow, with funny shoes from Sears, cut out, patched, torn pants from Wards, fancy make-up à la Marcel Marceau, black and white as skeletons, exploding with laughter, gestures, threatening to jump from the rooftop to the plaza with the inequilibrium of clowns as opposed to equilibrium of tight rope walkers. Beings under, beings above, they made it, they landed one at a time, with laughter, but no applause.

The yellow clowns go their shrine and deposit the doll that their leader had tucked in the belt on his back. Now they are playing games, entertaining the crowd, changing into holy priests as the Kachinam return. Along with the "Fathers" they go around each Kachina and bless his shoulder with cornmeal from a decorative bag which is hanging very obviously on each clown's chest. Since the Kachinam have finished their three prayers the clowns will play their game to catch all of the Kachinam by running, their arms extended, along the line of the dancers, to detain them all and not allow them to go for a rest. Another game is a big run to find the leader: They go around asking this Kachina, then the other, if he is it. No answer! And so it goes, the sky is clear with the late afternoon sun creating deep shadows on the ambassadors of the gods. Reverent feelings expressed by laughter. A civilization so far away from oursI wonder what happened? Did it happen? What would it be like to be a Kachina? What would it be like to be blessed by a shower of corn pollen? How would it feel to have a clownpriest put some pollen into your mouth and sprinkle the rest on your shoulder as seen so many times for so many years in so many dances? What would it be like, as a human, to have such an experience? To be dancing there, anonymous (or could one be), stamping the ground of Mother Earth and escalating from south to north, from north to south, conscious of the humble position of Man in the Cosmos? What would it be like to be called the Kachina-leader and to be pushed into the row of the dancers, in the middle, next to the leader with the talkative rattle? Could one feel possessed, incarnated by the Spirits thousands of years old and suddenly feel a new power in one's self?

I am sitting back on my bench, Hopi children on my lap, friends at my sides, smiling people around, this part of the dance is finished. Lined up at the end of the row, the clowns are sprinkling the departing Kachinam. "Kwakwai" - "Thank you," they call, and repeat, and bless. What would it be like to have been one of them for a few minutes?The Kachinam have gone.The clowns are eating right there, all the food that the women folk bring them. How do I come to have cornmeal on my shirt? Taste of it in my mouth? I feel strange and humble as if I had gone through an unusual (maybe the most unusual) experience of my life. Have I danced with the Kachinam or has the beat of the drum wrought in my somnolence an almost impossible happy dreamAlmost.

RITUAL CALENDAR OF THE YEAR

CALENDAR OF CEREMONIES

Kachinam, living spirits and messengers of the gods, are used only in the ceremonial period from December through August, the remaining months being set aside for preparation, initiation and other clan duties. The number of Hopi kachinam varies from 300 to 400, as some disappear and some new ones appear. Kiva pictographs tell us that the kachinam visited the Hopi before the advent of the Spanish in 1540.

The kachinam are named for their appearance, and they represent all human characteristics, such as the Left-Handed Kachina, Beautiful Kachina, Mocking Kachina. Kachina dolls, or tihu are given to girls, it is said, by the kachinam, so that they will know the shape, form, color and symbolism of each. The elders relate the legends of the kachinam to the children during the winter nights at home.

There are two kinds of kachinam and dolls: one very sacred, in imitation of spiritual life and known only to the Hopi, the other respected and seen by all, but not worshipped. The kachinam have face-like masks, and depending on the particular ceremony and time of year, any number from one to more than fifty may appear.

The Hopi views the cosmos as organized, just with no principles of reward or punishment, dynamically interrelated, where everything past and present, natural and supernatural has a place, everything is classified and established in levels. There are vibrations in everything, material or spiritual. Man has to learn and live within rules and duties increase with maturity. Perfection must be approached, and there must be a balance of mind and a strong body. A peaceful nature is essential: anger and other emotional excesses hurt everyone, because all things are interrelated. Maintaining this control assures good health, rain and good crops and if harmony is not established, failure results.

They believe in silence and meditation; peace of mind is essential in order to exist and to receive the blessings of the gods. The Hopi say that harmony with Nature is beauty to walk in, as is health and laughter. And laughter is healthy and sacred, too, as some kachinam are clowns.

The Hopi kivas are very special to the people, seldom open to visitors. The kiva is an underground ceremonial chamber, generally reserved for the men and used for meetings, ritual preparations, weaving, rest and seclusion.

from page 5 Responsibilities. They also have association through phratries, specific other clans which help each other in ceremonies but between which there cannot be intermarriage.

Lines of demarcation are clearly drawn among the Hopi clans some kachinam are kin only to certain clans and cannot be shared even with their phratries, as are special ceremonies, medicine and healing powers. As in their daily life, it follows that each clan respects the ways and beliefs of the others regarding all things ceremonial.

The Hopi religion is based on a belief in animism, i.e., there is life and natural power in all parts of nature, whether stone, plant, animal or man. They believe in a pantheon of Supreme Power and One Who Created All, and that their needs will be fulfilled if these needs are in communion with the gods. Benison is sought through prayer, sacrifices such as purification, fasting and chastity, and symbolic actions. Ritual dances and chants or songs are also an important part of certain ceremonies, performed in accordance with the Hopi ceremonial calendar at specific times of the year.Each kiva belongs to a specific clan, and is named accordingly, such as the Two-Horned Kiva. Hopi kivas are rectangular rooms, with one third of the floor slightly elevated for public use. They are ceremonially entered through a roof opening by a ladder, but a practical side door also exists. Stone benches run all around the walls, and niches and storage places are available. The fireplace today, often a charcoal stove sits directly under the hatch, and next to it is the Sipapu hole in the ground, symbol of the Place of Emergence, which is covered when not in use. The largest part of the floor is used not only for dancing but also weaving and other male activities. Each village has many kivas and each kiva has its leader.

This, then, is the Hopi The Peaceful Ones, a people steeped in tradition and respect for their forebears, with a basic philosophy and attitude toward life that can hardly be faulted, though their gods, their customs and beliefs may be strange to the uninitiated.

How to enjoy the Ceremonies.

Now that paved Highways 87-77-264 reach the different Mesas, the public will be able to visit villages, to buy arts and crafts and to arrive in time for ceremonies. In most places visitors are welcome, if they behave with decency, quietness and respect. The following remarks can be of help to all: Do not take the attitude that the White Man knows all, owns all.

Do not take the attitude that money buys everything including happiness.

Do not take photographs, sketches, notes or tape recordings during ceremonies. Have formal permission of village "Chief," if you can find him. Children, houses belong to the Woman, who is the head of the house. Make arrangements with individuals for photographs.

Do not speak, laugh, or call to each other loudly as silence is an Indian quality.

Do not expect to understand Hopi religion or ask questions. Many aspects belong to certain clans.

Do not ask at what time an event will happen. It will happen when it should.

Do not park, sit, climb on rooftops or come close to kivas and shrines.

Do not walk on happy trails, lines of corn meal on ground.

Do not bring any kind of intoxicants on the Reservation.

During Ceremonies:

Do not sit on stone benches except if invited as they are reserved clan places (bring your own water, containers and stools).

Do not follow Kachinas when they go away.

Do not smoke (it is part of ceremonial life); women never smoke.

If Kachinas pass near, men should remove their hats.

Do not pick up feathers fallen from Kachinas.

Do keep children quiet - as in church.

Keep a "good heart" -- Respect is not enough during a dance, you should mentally accept, never doubt or criticize. All people attending join in silent unison pray (laugh when clowns do) with the Hopi people (remember they are praying for you, your homes, and your countries as well.

If you receive a gift, stand up and say: Kwakwai (for men) asquali (for women), which means thank you.

If you visit homes, bring presents to the head of the house, a woman (Hopis exchange gifts all the time). You might bring oranges, grapefruit, melons, small boxes of cookies, food, etc.), give them at noon time when the procession of food goes to "Kachina place." Do not join the procession.

Clothing. Wear Indian jewelry and moccasins if you wish. Traditionals prefer women to not wear pants or slacks, no mini skirts or low-cut blouses, nor bikinis or shorts. Wear boots or flat shoes.

Weather: Because of high altitude, sunburns can occur. Also sudden changes of weather or temperature. Umbrellas are practical, so are sweaters and large straw hats.

Do not talk about rain, do not look at clouds or point in any way.

Do not put on raincoat or plastic poncho before it rains.

Arts and crafts - There are several places (trading posts) near or on the villages, some staffed by Hopis. Objects are priced for quality, do not bargain. There are motels at Keams Canyon and Second Mesa arts and crafts center, rooms exist at new Oraibi. Motels near reservation at Holbrook, Winslow, Tuba City, Ganado Mission. Restaurants and grocery (some close at 6 p.m. on Saturday) at Keams, Second Mesa Sekakuku trading post. Second Mesa: Hopi cultural center, Arts and Crafts - New Oraibi, Tuba City; also groceries, pop, etc. in all villages.

SPECIAL NOTICE

Photographs of live Kachina ceremonies are forbidden. The figures shown in the photographs of this issue are wooden dolls, each one made by Hopis. They vary in size from three inches to three feet in height.

Although the dolls represent a live Kachina, who appears in religious dances as a representation of a Kachina spirit, the doll image has intentional faults and incorrect detail, so that commercial application of the doll will not be considered sacrilegious. The photographs in this special edition were taken by or under the direction of the author, Paul Coze, and photographed at the location chosen for the mood of Kachinam depicted. Cameras used were Rolleiflex and Asahi Pentax. No specific camera data is available because all photos resulted from a bracketed series of exposures from which the one with the best mood interpretation was chosen.

No illustration in this magazine may be reproduced, in part or whole without written permission by the author, the artists, and the owners concerned.

Please address all communications for information regarding the text or illustrations herein to PAUL COZE, 4040 East Elm St., Phoenix, Arizona 85018; or, HOPI TRIBAL COUNCIL, Clarence Hamilton, chairman, P. O. Box 123, Oraibi, Arizona 86039.