Several days were consumed by us in exploring this immediate vicinity.
On breaking camp, our old Indian guide seemed determined to tarry
behind. I remained with him. As the party rode off he took a large
quantity of food which he had carefully stored away behind a tree--he
having observed an almost absolute fast in order to make a large
offering to the spirits of the departed--and heaped this food upon
the embers of the camp fire, by the side of which he stood for a long
time, supplicating in a most solemn manner the spirits of the departed
to receive his offering.
Certain men are selected, who, with bodies nude save the loin skirt
and with bare feet, walk from Zuni to the lake, a distance of 45
miles, exposed to the scorching rays of the summer sun, to deposit
plume sticks and pray for rain. If the hearts of those sent be pure
and good, the clouds will gather and rain will fall, but if evil be in
their hearts no rain will fall during the journey and they return with
parched lips and blistered skin. The K[=o]k-k[=o] repeat the prayers
for rain with their intercessions to the Yae-t[=o]-tka, the Sun, and
by them the plume sticks are sent to the same great god. So constantly
are the lesser gods employed in offering plumes to the great god
that at night the sacred road (the Galaxy) can be seen filled with
feathers, though by day they are invisible. They believe that the soul
or essence of the plumes travels over this road, just as the soul from
the body travels from Zuni to the spirit lake, and in their offerings
of food the food itself is not received by the gods, but the spiritual
essence of the food.
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