File:Indians of the Southwest (1903) (14762032991).jpg

Identifier: indiansofsouthwe00dors (find matches)
Title: Indians of the Southwest
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Dorsey, George A. (George Amos), 1868-1931 Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Subjects: Indians of North America
Publisher: (Chicago) Passenger department, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway system
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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of the mask are tad-poles, frogs and squash blossom symbols, and at the back is alightning symbol. Even the body itself, painted black withcorn smut, is an invitation for the rain to come and wash it off. The Anga Katcina is a well known Katcina dance, onevariety being known as the Sia Anga, so termed because borrowedfrom the Sia or Zuni, and illustrating how certain phases ofreligion and ceremonies are borrowed by one tribe from another.In this dance the body of the dancer is painted red. There areother small variations in the costuming of the dancers, but, asa rule, all the masked dancers wear the ceremonial kilt, sash,the womans belt, a fox skin behind, Katcina moccasins, andarm and leg bands. In addition to the Katcina dances of these spring monthsare many other dances, some religious or even social in theirnature. Such is the so-called Buffalo Dance, during whichhead dresses imitating the heads of buffalo are worn; or theso-called Paiute Dance, when neither mask nor head-dress is
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136 worn, but the dancers costume themselves as nearly as possiblein the garb of the Paiutes and dance according to the fashionthey have learned from the Paiutes. The Niman Katcina, of nine days duration, is annuallyheld in five Hopi villages the latter half of August. It is per-formed by men of the Powamu order and in the same kiva wherewe saw erected the elaborate Powamu altar. This altar, with theexception of the sand mosaic, the lightning frames and theslabs, is the altar of the Niman Fraternity, thus leading to thebelief that there is an intimate connection between the two cere-monies. During the final performance a large variety of Kat-cinas appear, among them being several of those more sacredKatcinas seen only on rare occasions. The symbolic meaningof the ceremony is the return of those minor deities which havethronged the streets of Oraibi and other villages in the form ofmasked personages for the past four months. They nowreturn to their proper underworld. As the kivas were

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