Zuñi Fetiches | Page 9

that passing wonderful were the Snail
People, and that no easy matter would it be to overcome their medicine

and their magic. But they hastened forth until they came near to the
cañon. Then the Shá'-la-k'o,[3] who guided them, gave directions that
they should make themselves ready for the hunt.
When all were prepared, he opened by his sacred power the magic
corral on the northern side, and forth rushed a great buck Deer.
"Long Tail, the corral has been opened for thee. Forth comes thy game,
seize him!" With great leaps the Mountain Lion overtook and threw the
Deer to the ground, and fastened his teeth in his throat.
The corral was opened on the western side. Forth rushed a Mountain
Sheep.
"Coyote, the corral has been opened for thee. Forth comes thy game,
seize him!" The Coyote dashed swiftly forward. The Mountain Sheep
dodged him and ran off toward the west. The Coyote crazily ran about
yelping and barking after his game, but the Mountain Sheep bounded
from rock to rock and was soon far away. Still the Coyote rushed
crazily about, until the Mountain Lion commanded him to be quiet. But
the Coyote smelled the blood of the Deer and was beside himself with
hunger. Then the Mountain Lion said to him disdainfully, Satisfy thy
hunger on the blood that I have spilled, for to-day thou hast missed thy
game; and thus ever will thy descendants like thee blunder in the chase.
As thou this day satisfiest thy hunger, so also by the blood that the
hunter spills or the flesh that he throws away shall thy descendants
forever have being."
[Footnote 1: The chief god of the Kâ[']-kâ, now represented by masks,
and the richest costuming known to the Zuñis, which are worn during
the winter ceremonials of the tribe.]
[Footnote 2: The Sá-la-mo-pi-a are monsters with round heads, long
snouts, huge feathered necks, and human bodies. They are supposed to
live beneath the waters, to come forth or enter snout foremost. They
also play an important part in the Kâ'-kâ or sacred dances of winter.]
[Footnote 3: Monster human bird forms, the warrior chiefs of

Pá-u-ti-wa, the representatives of which visit Zuñi, from their supposed
western homes in certain springs, each New Year. They are more than
twelve feet high, and are carried swiftly about by persons concealed
under their dresses.]
The corral was opened on the southern side. An Antelope sprang forth.
With bounds less strong than those of the Mountain Lion, but nimbler,
the Wild Cat seized him and threw him to the ground.
The corral was opened on the eastern side. Forth ran the Ó-ho-li (or
albino antelope). The Wolf seized and threw him. The Jack Rabbit was
let out. The Eagle poised himself for a moment, then swooped upon
him. The Cotton Tail came forth. The Prey Mole waited in his hole and
seized him; the Wood Rat, and the Falcon made him his prey; the
Mouse, and the Ground Owl quickly caught him.
While the We-ma-á-hâ-i were thus satisfying their hunger, the game
animals began to escape through the breaks in the corral. Forth through
the northern door rushed the Buffalo, the great Elk, and the Deer, and
toward the north the Mountain Lion, and the yellow Sá-la-mo-pi-a
swiftly followed and herded them, to the world where stands the yellow
mountain, below the great northern ocean.
Out through the western gap rushed the Mountain Sheep, herded and
driven by the Coyote and the blue Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward the great
western ocean, where stands the ancient blue mountain.
Out through the southern gap rushed the Antelope, herded and driven
by the Wild Cat and the red Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward the great land of
summer, where stands the ancient red mountain.
Out through the eastern gap rushed the Ó-ho-li, herded and driven by
the Wolf and the white Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward where "they say" is the
eastern ocean, the "Ocean of day", wherein stands the ancient white
mountain.
Forth rushed in all directions the Jack Rabbit, the Cotton Tail, the Bats,
and the Mice, and the Eagle, the Falcon, and the Ground Owl circled

high above, toward the great "Sky ocean," above which stands the
ancient mountain of many colors, and they drove them over all the
earth, that from their homes in the air they could watch them in all
places; and the Sá-la-mo-pi-a of many colors rose and assisted them.
Into the earth burrowed the Rabbits, the Bats, and the Mice, from the
sight of the Eagle, the Falcon, and the Ground Owl, but the Prey Mole
and the black Sá-la-mo-pi-a thither followed them toward the four
caverns (wombs) of earth, beneath which stands the ancient black
mountain.
Then the earth and winds were filled with rumbling from the feet of the
departing animals, and the