Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 3, 2007 13:08:43 GMT -5
Fetishes - Acoma
When hunters go on a big hunt they get fetishes from Eagle Man which they
bring along. When the hunter takes the heart out, the fetish is made to
drink blood from the heart. These fetishes are kept in each family. Iatiku
made the first one for Eagle Man and he taught the others how to make them.
They should be made of a hard stone, flint, or gypsum, with eyes of
turquoise set in pitch. Small ones are carried for protection and because
they represent the prey animals. Any man can make a fetish, which he may
call wolf, lion, or whatever he pleases. He then brings it to the Eagle Man
of the Hunters' society. The Eagle Man and the society then pray to it and
sing over it, putting into it the spirit and the power of the lion (north),
wolf (west), lynx (south), wildcat (east). The power of the fetish is drawn
from all these equally.
The head man holds the fetish in the palms of his hands, swinging it to the
four directions to the following song:
It comes alive
It comes alive, alive, alive.
In the north mountain
The lion comes alive
In the north mountain, comes alive.
With this the prey animal
Will have power to attract deer, antelope;
Will have power to be lucky.
(Repeat for wolf of the west, lynx of the south, and wildcat of the east.)
With each verse the Eagle Man faces the direction indicated, swinging his
hands in that direction. The man who holds the fetish (head man) is praying
another way and does not sing with the other singers. When the song is
finished the fetish is laid in front of the altar beside the fetishes of the
society where it remains over night. During this time it becomes alive. The
next day it is given to its owner. When the new fetish has been placed in
front of the altar each member of the society in turn approaches it and
says, "Drink the blood of the lion (or whatever it has been named)."
In the kiva is one large, fetish representing each of the four beasts of
prey: múkaiitcha, "lion" (n); kakan, "wolf" (w); shohóna, "lynx" (s); gyat
"wildcat" (e). These names are preceded by Shaiyaika (Hunters' society) to
indicate that they are fetishes. Each fetish is placed in its proper
direction in front of the altar. The fetish to be given life is placed
alongside the one for which it is named. The head man, when he places it in
front of the altar, places it by its "mother" from which it draws its power,
and it leaves as offspring of , quoting from S. F. Baird, Mammals of the
Mexican Boundary, 1857, pp. 7-8. See, also, Bailey, 1937, pp. 283-284).
Coronado's letter to Mendoza of August 3, 1540, sneaks of lions and tigers
[jaguars] the "mother." When the fetish is returned, it still has a
connection with the one on the altar. It may be recalled from the owner if
the society wants to use it. This is often done when the owner has been
lucky in the hunt. When the society finishes with it, it is returned to the
owner. These fetishes are handed down in the family.
When a hunter kills an antelope or a deer he brings it into the pueblo. The
father or mother of the [hunter's] house comes out with some corn meal in
her hand with which she makes a "road" into the house and up the ladder, if
they live above. Then they help the hunter with his pack, and lay the deer
on the floor with its head toward the fireplace, about 10 feet from the
fire. Beads are laid on the neck. (Beads of lignite are preferred, as the
hoofs of the deer are supposed to be made of this substance.) The deer would
wear these back. They are taken away when they think the spirit has left, in
about an hour. If relatives of the hunter come in, they go up to the deer
and touch it and then rub their hands over their faces because they say the
deer is pretty and not lazy. They say, "We are glad you have come to our
home and have not been ashamed of our people." A dish of corn meal is placed
near by and all visitors feed a little to the deer asking him to come next
to their house, as they believe the deer will be reborn.
When the beads are taken off, they blow them into the other room. (Beads are
supposed to have power to attract; women wear beads to attract men.) They
then start to skin the animal up to the neck. The skin is all taken off. The
head is boiled in a pot without taking the horns off. In the pot is placed
corn, pumpkin seeds, and piñon nuts. These are called the deer's ear rings.
Before they eat this the hunter would call the clan of his father (not
mother) to come and help eat the head. The mother of the hunter's father, if
still living, takes the eyes and eats them. If she is not there, the oldest
female relative in the father's clan does this. The hunter, or any man, is
supposed not to eat the eyes of a deer lest he always have water in his eyes
(tears) and not be able to see far. The hunter must not eat the tongue as
this will make him thirsty. Nor may he eat the udder lest his teeth not be
strong.
After the meat is all eaten from the head, it will be placed on top of the
house to dry. When he has time, the hunter takes it back into the mountains
where he prays that it will come alive again. First it must be painted as
the deer was originally. A black line is painted down the middle of the
face; under the jaw is white. Balls of cotton are stuffed in the eye sockets
and the centers painted black. Then a string is tied across the antlers and
to this feathers are attached.
All large game is treated like the deer: mountain sheep, elk, buffalo, also
lions, lynx, bear. Rabbit skulls are treated in the same way except that
they are not painted or prepared in any way.
This is the way Iatiku made the first hunting society.
Origin Myth of Acoma and Other Records by Matthew W. Stirling, 1942, Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 135.
When hunters go on a big hunt they get fetishes from Eagle Man which they
bring along. When the hunter takes the heart out, the fetish is made to
drink blood from the heart. These fetishes are kept in each family. Iatiku
made the first one for Eagle Man and he taught the others how to make them.
They should be made of a hard stone, flint, or gypsum, with eyes of
turquoise set in pitch. Small ones are carried for protection and because
they represent the prey animals. Any man can make a fetish, which he may
call wolf, lion, or whatever he pleases. He then brings it to the Eagle Man
of the Hunters' society. The Eagle Man and the society then pray to it and
sing over it, putting into it the spirit and the power of the lion (north),
wolf (west), lynx (south), wildcat (east). The power of the fetish is drawn
from all these equally.
The head man holds the fetish in the palms of his hands, swinging it to the
four directions to the following song:
It comes alive
It comes alive, alive, alive.
In the north mountain
The lion comes alive
In the north mountain, comes alive.
With this the prey animal
Will have power to attract deer, antelope;
Will have power to be lucky.
(Repeat for wolf of the west, lynx of the south, and wildcat of the east.)
With each verse the Eagle Man faces the direction indicated, swinging his
hands in that direction. The man who holds the fetish (head man) is praying
another way and does not sing with the other singers. When the song is
finished the fetish is laid in front of the altar beside the fetishes of the
society where it remains over night. During this time it becomes alive. The
next day it is given to its owner. When the new fetish has been placed in
front of the altar each member of the society in turn approaches it and
says, "Drink the blood of the lion (or whatever it has been named)."
In the kiva is one large, fetish representing each of the four beasts of
prey: múkaiitcha, "lion" (n); kakan, "wolf" (w); shohóna, "lynx" (s); gyat
"wildcat" (e). These names are preceded by Shaiyaika (Hunters' society) to
indicate that they are fetishes. Each fetish is placed in its proper
direction in front of the altar. The fetish to be given life is placed
alongside the one for which it is named. The head man, when he places it in
front of the altar, places it by its "mother" from which it draws its power,
and it leaves as offspring of , quoting from S. F. Baird, Mammals of the
Mexican Boundary, 1857, pp. 7-8. See, also, Bailey, 1937, pp. 283-284).
Coronado's letter to Mendoza of August 3, 1540, sneaks of lions and tigers
[jaguars] the "mother." When the fetish is returned, it still has a
connection with the one on the altar. It may be recalled from the owner if
the society wants to use it. This is often done when the owner has been
lucky in the hunt. When the society finishes with it, it is returned to the
owner. These fetishes are handed down in the family.
When a hunter kills an antelope or a deer he brings it into the pueblo. The
father or mother of the [hunter's] house comes out with some corn meal in
her hand with which she makes a "road" into the house and up the ladder, if
they live above. Then they help the hunter with his pack, and lay the deer
on the floor with its head toward the fireplace, about 10 feet from the
fire. Beads are laid on the neck. (Beads of lignite are preferred, as the
hoofs of the deer are supposed to be made of this substance.) The deer would
wear these back. They are taken away when they think the spirit has left, in
about an hour. If relatives of the hunter come in, they go up to the deer
and touch it and then rub their hands over their faces because they say the
deer is pretty and not lazy. They say, "We are glad you have come to our
home and have not been ashamed of our people." A dish of corn meal is placed
near by and all visitors feed a little to the deer asking him to come next
to their house, as they believe the deer will be reborn.
When the beads are taken off, they blow them into the other room. (Beads are
supposed to have power to attract; women wear beads to attract men.) They
then start to skin the animal up to the neck. The skin is all taken off. The
head is boiled in a pot without taking the horns off. In the pot is placed
corn, pumpkin seeds, and piñon nuts. These are called the deer's ear rings.
Before they eat this the hunter would call the clan of his father (not
mother) to come and help eat the head. The mother of the hunter's father, if
still living, takes the eyes and eats them. If she is not there, the oldest
female relative in the father's clan does this. The hunter, or any man, is
supposed not to eat the eyes of a deer lest he always have water in his eyes
(tears) and not be able to see far. The hunter must not eat the tongue as
this will make him thirsty. Nor may he eat the udder lest his teeth not be
strong.
After the meat is all eaten from the head, it will be placed on top of the
house to dry. When he has time, the hunter takes it back into the mountains
where he prays that it will come alive again. First it must be painted as
the deer was originally. A black line is painted down the middle of the
face; under the jaw is white. Balls of cotton are stuffed in the eye sockets
and the centers painted black. Then a string is tied across the antlers and
to this feathers are attached.
All large game is treated like the deer: mountain sheep, elk, buffalo, also
lions, lynx, bear. Rabbit skulls are treated in the same way except that
they are not painted or prepared in any way.
This is the way Iatiku made the first hunting society.
Origin Myth of Acoma and Other Records by Matthew W. Stirling, 1942, Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 135.