Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 22.djvu/30

 1 8 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 22, 1920

nawitcu) or clowns. 1 These represent sahuaros, the giant cactus, and wear turkey feathers on their heads to represent the fruit and carry rattles. They also carry long poles which represent the poles with which the sahuaros are gathered and hold representations of clouds made of cloth at the celebration. These nanawitcu go out among the houses and bring food and drink to the singers prac- tising and to the head-men who are too busy to go home to meals. They also bring the wood for the fire and all other needed supplies. There are about ten of these to each village.

There are furthermore two men known as tcu'i'wa^tau (singular Icu'i'wa^t) who probably represent shamans, one being stationed at Achi and the other at Santa Rosa. About three a.m. on the day following the erection of the village enclosures the two prepare to change places. While they are making their preparations the vi^pinyiu stand near and sing. The tcu'i'wa^t from Santa Rosa then goes to Achi where the people are waiting for him around a

1 " . . . the clowns are the funny men of the occasion, and their apparel and weapons are in accordance with their functions. Their bows are crooked mezquite roots with strings attached. Their ridiculous-looking arrows, four for each, are made from sahuaro ribs, with turkey feathers as the plumed part; like the hunter, the clown has two kinds, but his are out of proportion, three being thin and one very stout. His bracelet may be a piece of unborn deerskin wrapped around the wrist. The most striking part of the costume is the mask, which is made of canvas, like a hood that is drawn over the head; formerly perhaps basket work took the place, at least jn parts, of the canvas. Small holes for the eyes have been pierced in it and the top is adorned with a large bunch of plumes from the turkey, hawk, and a black sea-bird. "Horns" made of turkey plumes are attached to the sides, soft down from a hawk being tied to the top. The decorations on the facial part of the mask symbolize clouds. Under the clown's belt is tucked a wooden machete, and large strings of sea-shells run over the shoulders across the chest and back. He wears a huge tobacco-pouch and carries a sahuaro pole on which small greasewood sticks, tied at right angles, do duty as hooks.

" His bare arms, as well as his arrows, are decorated each with a spiral line made with chalk and encircling lengthwise, while his legs are daubed in spots, the color being afterward allowed to wear off. At the feast, the numerous clowns perform pranks everywhere; they visit the houses, offer food, and shoot at men disguised as deer. During the dancing they keep in the middle of the dancing place. They neither sing nor talk, though they may do so if requested. If a clown breathes on a sick man, the latter gets well. The mask when not used is kept in the house of the owner, usually in a covered earthenware jar. The dignity of the office, which does not imply the necessity of being a medicine-man, is confined to certain families, the father deciding which of his sons is to be the next clown." Lumholtz, pp. 93, 94; plate opp. p. 9 2 -

�� �