The Religious Life of the Zuñi Child | Page 3

with [=A]h-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?" [=A]h-ai-[=u]-ta and
M[=a]-[=a]-s[=e]-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 assembled; but again they had been changed;
they were no longer reptiles, but were of a similar type to the
K[=o]-y[=e]-m[=e]-shi and K[=o]-m[=o]-k[)e]t-si, and since that time

they have been worshiped as ancestral gods, bearing the name of
K[=o]k-k[=o]; but the little war gods 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 [=A]h-shi-wi then journeyed on, led by [=A]h-ai-[=u]-ta and
M[=a]-[=a]-s[=e]-we, to the present site of Zuñi. Many, however,
lingered at a spring some fifteen miles west of Zuñi, and there
established the village Tk[=a]p-qu[=e]-n[=a] (Hot Spring).
The K[=o]-y[=e]-m[=e]-shi and K[=o]-m[=o]-k[)e]t-si passed down
through the interior of the mountain into the depths of the lake, the
waters of everlasting happiness. In the passageway are four chambers,
where the couple tarried on their way and where at the present time the
two priests of the K[=o]k-k[=o] rest in their journey to the sacred
waters. So credulous are the people that the priests delude them into the
belief that they actually pass 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 K[=o]k-k[=o],
which must be very old, and over and around it are hundreds of the
plume sticks and turquoise and shell beads.
I would mention here a little incident illustrative of the superstitious
dread these Indians entertain of violating the priestly commands. We

found it very difficult to persuade an old Zuñi guide, who had visited
the sacred salt lake, the mountain of the war gods, 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
K[=o]k-k[=o]. 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 superstitious
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