Zuñi Fetiches | Page 5

many of
all kinds of beings changed to stone. Thus, too, it happens that we find,
here and there throughout the world, their forms, sometimes large like
the beings themselves, sometimes shriveled and distorted. And we
often see among the rocks the forms of many beings that live no longer,
which shows us that all was different in the "days of the new."
Of these petrifactions, which are of course mere concretions or
strangely eroded rock-forms, the Zuñis say, "Whomsoever of us may be
met with the light of such great good fortune may see (discover, find)
them and should treasure them for the sake of the sacred (magic) power
which was given them in the days of the new. For the spirits of the
We-ma-á-hâ-i still live, and are pleased to receive from us the Sacred
Plume (of the heart--Lä-sho-a-ni), and sacred necklace of treasure
(Thlâ-thle-a); hence they turn their ears and the ears of their brothers in
our direction that they may hearken to our prayers (sacred talks) and
know our wants."
POWER OF THE FETICHES.
This tradition not only furnishes additional evidence relative to the
preceding statements, but also, taken in connection with the following
belief, shows quite clearly to the native wherein lies the power of his
fetiches. It is supposed that the hearts of the great animals of prey are
infused with a spirit or medicine of magic influence over the hearts of
the animals they prey upon, or the game animals (K'ia-pin-á-hâ-i); that
their breaths (the "Breath of Life"--Hâ-i-an-pi-nan-ne--and soul are
synonymous in Zuñi Mythology), derived from their hearts, and
breathed upon their prey, whether near or far, never fail to overcome
them, piercing their hearts and causing their limbs to stiffen, and the
animals themselves to lose their strength. Moreover, the roar or cry of a
beast of prey is accounted its Sá-wa-ni-k'ia, or magic medicine of
destruction, which, heard by the game animals, is fatal to them, because
it charms their senses, as does the breath their hearts. Since the
mountain lion, for example, lives by the blood ("life fluid") and flesh of

the game animals, and by these alone, he is endowed not only with the
above powers, but with peculiar powers in the senses of sight and smell.
Moreover, these powers, as derived from his heart, are preserved in his
fetich, since his heart still lives, even though his person be changed to
stone.

PREY GODS OF THE SIX REGIONS.
THEIR ORIGIN.
Therefore it happens that the use of these fetiches is chiefly connected
with the chase. To this, however, there are some exceptions. One of
these may be partly explained by the following myth concerning
Pó-shai-a[n,]-k'ia, the God (Father) of the Medicine societies or sacred
esoteric orders, of which there are twelve in Zuñi, and others among the
different pueblo tribes. He is supposed to have appeared in human form,
poorly clad, and therefore reviled by men; to have taught the ancestors
of the Zuñi, Taos, Oraibi, and Coçonino Indians their agricultural and
other arts, their systems of worship by means of plumed and painted
prayer-sticks; to have organized their medicine societies; and then to
have disappeared toward his home in Shí-pä-pu-li-ma (from
shi-pí-a=mist, vapor; u-lin=surrounding; and i-mo-na=sitting place
of--"The mist-enveloped city"), and to have vanished beneath the world,
whence he is said to have departed for the home of the Sun. He is still
the conscious auditor of the prayers of his children, the invisible ruler
of the spiritual Shí-pä-pu-li-ma, and of the lesser gods of the medicine
orders, the principal "Finisher of the Paths of our Lives." He is, so far
as any identity can be established, the "Montezuma" of popular and
usually erroneous Mexican tradition.
PÓ-SHAI-A[N,]-K'IA.
In ancient times, while yet all beings belonged to one family,
Pó-shai-a[n,]-k'ia, the father of our sacred bands, lived with his children
(disciples) in the City of the Mists, the middle place (center) of the
Medicine societies of the world. There he was guarded on all sides by

his six warriors, Á-pi-thlan shí-wa-ni (pí-thlan=bow, shí-wa-ni=priests),
the prey gods; toward the North by the Mountain Lion (Long Tail);
toward the West by the Bear (Clumsy Foot); toward the South by the
Badger (Black Mark Face); toward the East by the Wolf (Hang Tail);
above by the Eagle (White Cap); and below by the Mole. When he was
about to go forth into the world, he divided the universe into six regions,
namely, the North (Pï[']sh-lan-kwïn táh-na=Direction of the Swept or
Barren place); the West (K'iä[']-li-shi-ïn-kwïn táh-na=Direction of the
Home of the Waters); the South (Á-la-ho-ïn-kwïn táh-na=Direction of
the Place of the Beautiful Bed); the East (Té-lu-a-ïn-kwïn
táh-na=Direction of the Home of Day); the Upper Regions
(Í-ya-ma-ïn-kwïn táh-na=Direction of the Home of the High); and the
Lower Regions (Ma-ne-lam-ïn-kwïn táh-na=Direction of the Home