Zuñi Fetiches | Page 6

regions stood a very ancient sacred place (Té-thl?-shi-na-kw?n), a great mountain peak. In the North was the Mountain Yellow, in the West the Mountain Blue, in the South the Mountain Red, in the East the Mountain White, above the Mountain All-color, and below the Mountain Black.
We do not fail to see in this clear reference to the natural colors of the regions referred to--to the barren north and its auroral hues, the west with its blue Pacific, the rosy south, the white daylight of the east, the many hues of the clouded sky, and the black darkness of the "caves and holes of earth." Indeed, these colors are used in the pictographs and in all the mythic symbolism of the Zu?is, to indicate the directions or regions respectively referred to as connected with them.
Then said Pó-shai-a[n,]-k'ia to the Mountain Lion (Plate II, Fig. 1), "Long Tail, thou art stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore give I unto thee and unto thy children forever the mastership of the gods of prey, and the guardianship of the great Northern World (for thy coat is of yellow), that thou guard from that quarter the coming of evil upon my children of men, that thou receive in that quarter their messages to me, that thou become the father in the North of the sacred medicine orders all, that thou become a Maker of the Paths (of men's lives)."
Thither went the Mountain Lion. Then said Pó-shai-a[n,]-k'ia to the Bear (Plate II, Fig. 2), "Black Bear, thou art stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Mountain Lion, the guardian and master of the West, for thy coat is of the color of the land of night," etc.
To the Badger (Plate II, Fig. 3), "Thou art stout of heart but not strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Bear, the guardian and master of the South, for thy coat is ruddy and marked with black and white equally, the colors of the land of summer, which is red, and stands between the day and the night, and thy homes are on the sunny sides of the hills," etc.
To the White Wolf (Plate II, Fig. 4), "Thou art stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Badger, the guardian and master of the East, for thy coat is white and gray, the color of the day and dawn," etc.
And to the Eagle (Plate II, Fig. 5), he said: "White Cap (Bald Eagle), thou art passing stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Wolf, the guardian and master of the Upper regions, for thou fliest through the skies without tiring, and thy coat is speckled like the clouds," etc.
"Prey Mole (Plate II, Fig. 6), thou art stout of heart and strong of will. Therefore make I thee the younger brother of the Eagle, the guardian and master of the Lower regions, for thou burrowest through the earth without tiring, and thy coat is of black, the color of the holes and caves of earth," etc.
THEIR POWER AS MEDIATORS.
Thus it may be seen that all these animals are supposed to possess not only the guardianship of the six regions, but also the mastership, not merely geographic, but of the medicine powers, etc., which are supposed to emanate from them; that they are the mediators between men and Pó-shai-a[n,]-ki'a, and conversely, between the latter and men.
As further illustrative of this relationship it may not be amiss to add that, aside from representing the wishes of men to Pó-shai-a[n,]-ki'a, by means of the spirits of the prayer plumes, which, it is supposed, the prey gods take into his presence, and which are, as it were, memoranda (like quippus) to him and other high gods of the prayers of men, they are also made to bear messages to men from him and his associated gods.
For instance, it is believed that any member of the medicine orders who neglects his religious duties as such is rendered liable to punishment (H?[']-ti-a-k'ia-na-k'ia=reprehension) by Pó-shai-a[n,]-ki'a through some one of his warriors.
As illustrative of this, the story of an adventure of Mí-tsi, an Indian who "still lives, but limps," is told by the priests with great emphasis to any backsliding member.
Mí-TSI.
Mí-tsi was long a faithful member of the Little Fire order (Ma-ke-tsá-na-kwe), but he grew careless, neglected his sacrifices, and resigned his rank as "Keeper of the Medicines," from mere laziness. In vain his fathers warned him. He only grew hot with anger. One day Mí-tsi went up on the mesas to cut corral posts. He sat down to eat his dinner. A great black bear walked out of the thicket near at hand and