Palülükoñti, or Añkwanñti
This festival, like the two preceding, is an excellent one in which to study Hopi symbolism, for many masked personages appear in the dramatizations in the kivas and on the plazas outside. As has been shown elsewhere, the proceedings in the kivas are theatrical exhibitions which vary from year to year accordingly as one chief or another controls the different acts. Throughout the performance at which the author was present two old men, who may be called the kiva chiefs, sat by the fireplace in the middle of the room and continually fed the flames with small twigs of greasewood, the sole method of lighting the room on that night. The heat was very great and the ventilation was so poor that the atmosphere was stifling. The audience consisted mainly of women and children, who occupied one end of the room, the remainder being empty except while performances were being enacted. Everyone was gladly welcomed to see the performance, and there were probably not a dozen persons on the mesa who did not attend. No one paid admission to this theater and no actor received a recompense. It was a festival for all to enjoy, as all contributed to its success. Except in one act, no woman took part as an actor, and there were few men in the audience. The spectators assembled about 9 p.m., each clan seeking that kiva with which it had social affiliation. These acts are thus described in another paper:[1]
Acts Performed in 1900
First Act
A voice was heard at the hatchway, as if someone were hooting outside, and a moment later a ball of meal, thrown into the room from without, landed on the floor by the fireplace. This was a signal that the first group of actors had arrived, and to this announcement the fire tenders responded, "Yuñya ai" ("Come in"), an invitation which was repeated by several of the spectators. After considerable hesitation on the part of the visitors and renewed cries to enter from those in the room, there was a movement above and the hatchway was darkened by the form of a man descending. The fire tenders rose and held their blankets about the fire to darken the room. Immediately there came down the ladder a procession of masked men bearing long poles, upon which was rolled a cloth screen, while under their blankets certain objects were concealed. Filing to the unoccupied end of the kiva, they rapidly set up the objects they bore. When they were ready a signal was given, and the fire tenders, dropping their blankets, resumed their seats by the fireplace. On the floor before our astonished eyes we saw a miniature field of corn, made of small clay pedestals out of which projected corn sprouts a few inches high. Behind
- ↑ A theatrical performance at Walpi, in Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. II, Washington, 1900, pp. 607-626.
