A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola Part 14

In order to make clearer the relative positions of the various features of kiva construction that have been described several typical examples are here ill.u.s.trated. The three ground plans given are drawn to scale and represent kivas of average dimensions. Mr. Stephen has made a series of typical kiva measurements, which is appended to this section, and comparison of these with the plans will show the relation of the examples selected to the usual dimensions of these rooms. Fig. 22 is the ground plan of the mungkiva, or chief kiva, of Shupaulovi. It will be observed that the second level of the kiva floor, forming the dais before referred to, is about 15 inches narrower on each side than the main floor. The narrowing of this portion of the kiva floor is not universal and does not seem to be regulated by any rule. Sometimes the narrowing is carried out on one side only, as in the mungkiva of Mashongnavi (Fig. 27), sometimes on both, as in the present example, and in other cases it is absent. In the second kiva of Shupaulovi, ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 25, there is only one small jog that has been built midway along the wall of the upper level and it bears no relation to the point at which the change of floor level occurs. The ledge, or dais, is free for the use of spectators, the Indians say, just as the women stand on the house terraces to witness a dance, and do not step into the court. The ledge in this case is about a foot above the main floor.

Benches of masonry are built along each side, though, as the plan shows, they are not of the same length. The bench on the eastern side is about 4 feet shorter than the other, which is cut off by a continuation of the high bench that contains the katc.h.i.n.kihu beyond the corner of the room.

These side benches are for the use of partic.i.p.ants in the ceremonies.

When young men are initiated into the various societies during the feasts in the fall of the year they occupy the floor of the sacred division of the kiva, while the old members of the order occupy the benches along the wall. The higher bench at the end of the room is used as a shelf for paraphernalia. The hole, or recess, in this bench, whose position is indicated by the dotted lines on the plan, is the sacred orifice from which the katchina is said to come, and is called the katc.h.i.n.kihu. In the floor of the kiva, near the katc.h.i.n.kihu, is the sipapuh, the cottonwood plug set into a cottonwood slab over a cavity in the floor. The plan shows how this plank, about 18 inches wide and 6 feet long, has been incorporated into the paving of the main floor. The paving is composed of some quite large slabs of sandstone whose irregular edges have been skillfully fitted to form a smooth and well finished pavement. The position of the niches that form pipe receptacles is shown on the plan opposite the fireplace in each side wall. The position of the foot of the ladder is indicated, the side poles resting upon the paved surface of the second level about 15 inches from the edge of the step. Fig. 23 gives a ceiling plan of the same kiva, ill.u.s.trating the arrangement of such of the roof beams and sticks as are visible from inside. The plan shows the position of the four Spanish beams before referred to, the northernmost being the one that has the line and dot decoration. The next two beams, laid in contact, are also square and of Spanish make. The fourth Spanish beam is on the northern edge of the hatchway dome and supports its wall. The adjoining beam is round and of native workmans.h.i.+p. The position and dimensions of the large hatchway projection are here indicated in plan, but the general appearance of this curious feature of the Tusayan kiva can be better seen from the interior view (Fig. 24). Various uses are attributed to this domelike structure, aside from the explanation that it is built at a greater height in order to lessen the danger of ignition of the roof beams. The old men say that formerly they smoked and preserved meat in it. Others say it was used for drying bundles of wood by suspension over the fire preparatory to use in the fireplace. It is also said to const.i.tute an upper chamber to facilitate the egress of smoke, and doubtless it aids in the performance of this good office.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23. Ceiling plan of the chief kiva of Shupaulovi.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 24. Interior view of a Tusayan kiva.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LVIII. Fragments of Halona wall.]

The mud plaster that has been applied directly to the stone work of the interior of this kiva is very much blackened by smoke. From about half of the wall s.p.a.ce the plaster has fallen or scaled off, and the exposed stonework is much blackened as though the kiva had long been used with the wall in this uncovered condition.

The fireplace is simply a shallow pit about 18 inches square that is placed directly under the opening of the combined hatchway and smoke hole. It is usually situated from 2 to 3 feet from the edge of the second level of the kiva floor. The paving stones are usually finished quite neatly and smoothly where their edges enframe the firepit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 25. Ground plan of a Shupaulovi kiva.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 26. Ceiling plan of a Shupaulovi kiva.]

Figs. 25 and 26 ill.u.s.trate the ground and ceiling plans of the second kiva of the same village. In all essential principles of arrangement it is identical with the preceding example, but minor modifications will be noticed in several of the features. The bench at the katchina, or altar end of the kiva, has not the height that was seen in the mungkiva, but is on the same level as the benches of the sides. Here the sipapuh is at much greater distance than usual from the katchina recess.

It is also quite exceptional in that the plug is let into an orifice in one of the paving stones, as shown on the plan, instead of into a cottonwood plank. Some of the paving stones forming the floor of this kiva are quite regular in shape and of unusual dimensions, one of them being nearly 5 feet long and 2 feet wide. The gray polish of long continued use imparts to these stones an appearance of great hardness.

The ceiling plan of this kiva (Fig. 26) shows a single specimen of Spanish beam at the extreme north end of the roof. It also shows a forked viga or ceiling beam, which is quite unusual.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 27. Ground plan of the chief kiva of Mashongnavi.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LIX. The mesa of Taaiyalana, from Zui.]

This kiva is better plastered than the mungkiva and shows in places evidences of many successive coats. The general rule of applying the interior plastering of the kiva on a base of masonry has been violated in this example. The north end and part of the adjoining sides have been brought to an even face by filling in the inequalities of the excavation with reeds which are applied in a vertical position and are held in place by long, slender, horizontal rods, forming a rude matting or wattling. The rods are fastened to the rocky wall at favorable points by means of small p.r.o.ngs of some hard wood, and the whole of the primitive lathing is then thickly plastered with adobe mud. Mr. Stephen found the Pon.o.bi kiva of Oraibi treated in the same manner. The walls are lined with a reed lathing over which mud is plastered. The reed used is the Bakabi (_Phragmites communis_) whose stalks vary from a quarter of an inch to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. In this instance the reeds are also laid vertically, but they are applied to the ordinary mud-laid kiva wall and not directly to the sides of the natural excavation. The vertical laths are bound in place by horizontal reeds laid upon them 1 or 2 feet apart. The horizontal reeds are held in place by pegs of greasewood driven into the wall at intervals of 1 or 2 feet and are tied to the pegs with split yucca. These specimens are very interesting examples of aboriginal lathing and plastering applied to stone work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 28. Interior view of a kiva hatchway in Tusayan.]

The ground plan of the mungkiva of Mashongnavi is ill.u.s.trated in Fig.

27. In this example the narrowing of the room at the second level of the floor is on one side. The step by which the upper level is reached from the main floor is 8 inches high at the east end, rising to 10 inches at the west end. The south end of the kiva is provided with a small opening like a loop-hole, furnis.h.i.+ng an outlook to the south. The east side of the main portion of the kiva is not provided with the usual bench. The portion of the bench at the katchina end of the kiva is on a level with the west bench and continuous for a couple of feet beyond the northeast corner along the east wall. The small wall niches are on the west side and nearer the north end than usual. The arrangement of the katc.h.i.n.kihu is quite different from that described in the Shupaulovi kivas. The orifice occurs in the north wall at a height of 3 feet above the floor, and 2 feet 3 inches above the top of the bench that extends across this end of the room. The firepit is somewhat smaller than in the other examples ill.u.s.trated. Fig. 28 ill.u.s.trates the appearance of the kiva hatchway from within as seen from the north end of the kiva, but the ladder has been omitted from the drawing to avoid confusion. The ladder rests against the edge of the coping that caps the dwarf wall on the near side of the hatchway, its top leaning toward the spectator. The small smoke-blackened sticks that are used for the suspension of bundles of greasewood and other fuel in the hatchway are clearly shown. At the far end of the trapdoor, on the outside, is indicated the mat of reeds or rushes that is used for closing the openings when necessary. It is here shown rolled up at the foot of the slope of the hatchway top, its customary position when not in use. When this mat is used for closing the kiva opening it is usually held in place by several large stone slabs laid over it. Fig. 29 ill.u.s.trates a specimen of the Tusayan kiva mat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 29. Mat used in closing the entrance of Tusayan kiva.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LX. Taaiyalana, plan.]

The above kiva plans show that each of the ill.u.s.trated examples is provided with four long narrow planks, set in the kiva floor close to the wall and provided with orifices for the attachment of looms. This feature is a common accompaniment of kiva construction and pertains to the use of the ceremonial room as a workshop by the male blanket weavers of Tusayan. It will be more fully described in the discussion of the various uses of the kiva.

The essential structural features of the kivas above described are remarkably similar, though the ill.u.s.trations of types have been selected at random. Minor modifications are seen in the positions of many of the features, but a certain general relation between the various constructional requirements of the ceremonial room is found to prevail throughout all the villages.

_Work by women._--After all the above described details have been provided for, following the completion of the roofs and floors, the women belonging to the people who are to occupy the kiva continue the labor of its construction. They go over the interior surface of the walls, breaking off projections and filling up the interstices with small stones, and then they smoothly plaster the walls and the inside of the hatchway with mud, and sometimes whitewash them with a gypsiferous clay found in the neighborhood. Once every year, at the feast of Powuma (the fructifying moon), the women give the kiva this same attention.

_Consecration._--When all the work is finished the kiva chief prepares a baho and feeds the house, as it is termed; that is, he thrusts a little meal, with piki crumbs, over one of the roof timbers, and in the same place inserts the end of the baho. As he does this he expresses his hope that the roof may never fall and that sickness and other evils may never enter the kiva.

It is difficult to elicit intelligent explanation of the theory of the baho and the prayer ceremonies in either kiva or house construction. The baho is a prayer token; the pet.i.tioner is not satisfied by merely speaking or singing his prayer, he must have some tangible thing upon which to transmit it. He regards his prayer as a mysterious, impalpable portion of his own substance, and hence he seeks to embody it in some object, which thus becomes consecrated. The baho, which is inserted in the roof of the kiva, is a piece of willow twig about six inches long, stripped of its bark and painted. From it hang four small feathers suspended by short cotton strings tied at equal distances along the twig. In order to obtain recognition from the powers especially addressed, different colored feathers and distinct methods of attaching them to bits of wood and string are resorted to. In the present case these are addressed to the chiefs who control the paths taken by the people after coming up from the interior of the earth. They are thus designated:

To the west: Sikyak omauwu Yellow Cloud.

south: Sakwa omauwu Blue Cloud.

east: Pala omauwu Red Cloud.

north: Kwetsh omauwu White Cloud.

Two separate feathers are also attached to the roof. These are addressed to the zenith, hyap omuwu--the invisible s.p.a.ce of the above--and to the nadir, Myuingwa--G.o.d of the interior of the earth and maker of the germ of life. To the four first mentioned the bahos under the corner stones are also addressed. These feathers are prepared by the kiva chief in another kiva. He smokes devoutly over them, and as he exhales the smoke upon them he formulates the prayers to the chiefs or powers, who not only control the paths or lives of all the people, but also preside over the six regions of s.p.a.ce whence come all the necessaries of life.

The ancients also occupy his thoughts during these devotions; he desires that all the pleasures they enjoyed while here may come to his people, and he reciprocally wishes the ancients to partake of all the enjoyments of the living.

All the labor and ceremonies being completed the women prepare food for a feast. Friends are invited, and the men dance all night in the kiva to the accompaniment of their own songs and the beating of a primitive drum, rejoicing over their new home. The kiva chief then proclaims the name by which the kiva will be known. This is often merely a term of his choosing, often without reference to its appropriateness.

_Various uses of kivas._--Allusions occur in some of the traditions, suggesting that in earlier times one cla.s.s of kiva was devoted wholly to the purposes of a ceremonial chamber, and was constantly occupied by a priest. An altar and fetiches were permanently maintained, and appropriate groups of these fetiches were displayed from month to month, as the different priests of the sacred feasts succeeded each other, each new moon bringing its prescribed feast.

Many of the kivas were built by religious societies, which still hold their stated observances in them, and in Oraibi several still bear the names of the societies using them. A society always celebrates in a particular kiva, but none of these kivas are now preserved exclusively for religious purposes; they are all places of social resort for the men, especially during the winter, when they occupy themselves with the arts common among them. The same kiva thus serves as a temple during a sacred feast, at other times as a council house for the discussion of public affairs. It is also used as a workshop by the industrious and as a lounging place by the idle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXI. Standing walls of Taaiyalana ruins.]

There are still traces of two cla.s.ses of kiva, marked by the distinction that only certain ones contain the sipapuh, and in these the more important ceremonies are held. It is said that no sipapuh has been made recently. The prescribed operation is performed by the chief and the a.s.sistant priests or fetich keepers of the society owning the kiva. Some say the mystic lore pertaining to its preparation is lost and none can now be made. It is also said that a stone sipapuh was formerly used instead of the cottonwood plank now commonly seen. The use of stone for this purpose, however, is nearly obsolete, though the second kiva of Shupaulovi, ill.u.s.trated in plan in Fig. 25, contains an example of this ancient form. In one of the newest kivas of Mashongnavi the plank of the sipapuh is pierced with a square hole, which is cut with a shoulder, the shoulder supporting the plug with which the orifice is closed (see Fig.

30). This is a decided innovation on the traditional form, as the orifice from which the people emerged, which is symbolized in the sipapuh, is described as being of circular form in all the versions of the Tusayan genesis myth. The presence of the sipapuh possibly at one time distinguished such kivas as were considered strictly consecrated to religious observances from those that were of more general use. At Tusayan, at the present time, certain societies do not meet in the ordinary kiva but in an apartment of a dwelling house, each society having its own exclusive place of meeting. The house so used is called the house of the Sister of the eldest brother, meaning, probably, that she is the descendant of the founder of the society. This womans house is also called the house of grandmother, and in it is preserved the tiponi and other fetiches of the society. The tiponi is a ceremonial object about 18 inches long, consisting of feathers set upright around a small disk of silicified wood, which serves as its base when set upon the altar. This fetich is also called iso (grandmother), hence the name given to the house where it is kept. In the house, where the order of warriors (Kuleataka) meets, the eldest son of the woman who owns it is the chief of the order. The apartment in which they meet is a low room on the ground floor, and is entered only by a hatchway and ladder. There is no sipapuh in this chamber, for the warriors appeal directly to Ctukinungwa, the heart of the zenith, the sky G.o.d. Large figures of animal fetiches are painted in different colors upon the walls. On the west wall is the Mountain Lion; on the south, the Bear; on the east, the Wild Cat, surmounted with a s.h.i.+eld inclosing a star; on the north, the White Wolf; and on the east side of this figure is painted a large disk, representing the sun. The walls of the chambers of the other societies are not decorated permanently. Here is, then, really another cla.s.s of kiva, although it is not so called by the people on the Walpi mesa. The ordinary term for the ground story rooms is used, kikoli, the house without any opening in its walls. But on the second mesa, and at Oraibi, although they sometimes use this term kikoli, they commonly apply the term kiva to the ground story of the dwelling house used as well as to the underground chambers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 30. Rectangular sipapuh in a Mashongnavi kiva.]

It is probable that a cla.s.s of kivas, not specially consecrated, has existed from a very early period. The rooms in the dwelling houses have always been small and dark, and in early times without chimneys. Within such cramped limits it was inconvenient for the men to practice any of the arts they knew, especially weaving, which could have been carried on out of doors, as is done still occasionally, but subject to many interruptions. It is possible that a cla.s.s of kivas was designed for such ordinary purposes, though now one type of room seems to answer all these various uses. In most of the existing kivas there are planks, in which stout loops are secured, fixed in the floor close to the wall, for attaching the lower beam of a primitive vertical loom, and projecting vigas or beams are inserted into the walls at the time of their construction as a provision for the attachment of the upper loom poles.

The planks or logs to which is attached the lower part of the loom appear in some cases to be quite carefully worked. They are often partly buried in the ground and under the edges of adjacent paving stones in such a manner as to be held in place very securely against the strain of the tightly stretched warp while the blanket is being made. The holes pierced in the upper surface of these logs are very neatly executed in the manner ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 31, which shows one of the orifices in section, together with the adjoining paving stones. The outward appearance of the device, as seen at short intervals along the length of the log, is also shown. Strips of buckskin or bits of rope are pa.s.sed through these U-shaped cavities, and then over the lower pole of the loom at the bottom of the extended series of warp threads. The latter can thus be tightened preparatory to the operation of filling in with the woof. The kiva looms seem to be used mainly for weaving the dark-blue and black blankets of diagonal and diamond pattern, which form a staple article of trade with the Zuni and the Rio Grande Pueblos. As an additional convenience for the practice of weaving, one of the kivas of Mashongnavi is provided with movable seats. These consist simply of single stones of suitable size and form. Usually they are 8 or 10 inches thick, a foot wide, and perhaps 15 or 18 inches long. Besides their use as seats, these stones are used in connection with the edges of the stone slabs that cap the permanent benches of the kiva to support temporarily the upper and lower poles of the blanket loom while the warp is gradually wound around them. The large stones that are incorporated into the side of the benches of some of the Mashongnavi kivas have occasionally round, cup-shaped cavities, of about an inch in diameter, drilled into them. These holes receive one end of a warp stick, the other end, being supported in a corresponding hole of the heavy, movable stone seat. The other warp stick is supported in a similar manner, while the thread is pa.s.sed around both in a horizontal direction preparatory to placing and stretching it in a vertical position for the final working of the blanket. A number of these cup-shaped pits are formed along the side of the stone bench, to provide for various lengths of warp that may be required. On the opposite side of this same kiva a number of similar holes or depressions are turned into the mud plastering of the wall. All these devices are of common occurrence at other of the Tusayan kivas, and indicate the antiquity of the practice of using the kivas for such industrial purposes. There is a suggestion of similar use of the ancient circular kivas in an example in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly. At a small cl.u.s.ter of rooms, built partly on a rocky ledge and partly on adjoining loose earth and rocky debris, a land slide had carried away half of a circular kiva, exposing a well-defined section of its floor and the debris within the room. Here the writer found a number of partly finished sandals of yucca fiber, with the long, unwoven fiber carefully wrapped about the finished portion of the work, as though the sandals had been temporarily laid aside until the maker could again work on them. A number of coils of yucca fiber, similar to that used in the sandals, and several b.a.l.l.s of brown fiber, formed from the inner bark of the cedar, were found on the floor of the room. The condition of the ruin and the debris that filled the kiva clearly suggested that these specimens were in use just where they were found at the time of the abandonment or destruction of the houses. No traces were seen, however, of any structural devices like those of Tusayan that would serve as aids to the weavers, though the weaving of the particular articles comprised in the collection from this spot would probably not require any c.u.mbrous apparatus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 31. Loom post in kiva at Tusayan.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXII. Remains of a reservoir on Taaiyalana.]

_Kiva owners.h.i.+p._--The kiva is usually spoken of as being the home of the organization which maintains it. Different kivas are not used in common by all the inhabitants. Every man has a members.h.i.+p in some particular one and he frequents that one only. The same person is often a member of different societies, which takes him to different kivas, but that is only on set occasions. There is also much informal visiting among them, but a man presumes to make a loitering place only of the kiva in which he holds members.h.i.+p.

In each kiva there is a kiva mungwi (kiva chief), and he controls to a great extent all matters pertaining to the kiva and its members.h.i.+p. This office or trust is hereditary and pa.s.ses from uncle to nephew through the female line--that is, on the death of a kiva chief the eldest son of his eldest sister succeeds him.

A kiva may belong either to a society, a group of gentes, or an individual. If belonging to a society or order, the kiva chief commonly has inherited his office in the manner indicated from the eldest brother of the society who a.s.sumed its construction. But the kiva chief is not necessarily chief of the society; in fact, usually he is but an ordinary member. A similar custom of inheritance prevails where the kiva belongs to a group of gentes, only in that case the kiva chief is usually chief of the gentile group.

As for those held by individuals, a couple of examples will ill.u.s.trate the Tusayan practice. In Hano the chief kiva was originally built by a group of Sun gentes, but about 45 years ago, during an epidemic of smallpox, all the people who belonged to the kiva died except one man.

The room fell into ruin, its roof timbers were carried off, and it became filled up with dust and rubbish. The t.i.tle to it, however, rested with the old survivor, as all the more direct heirs had died, and he, when about to die, gave the kiva to Kotshve, a Snake man from Walpi, who married a Tewa (Hano) woman and still lives in Hano. This man repaired it and renamed it Toknabi (said to be a Pah-Ute term, meaning black mountain, but it is the only name the Tusayan have for Navajo Mountain) because his people (the Snake) came from that place. He in turn gave it to his eldest son, who is therefore kiva mungwi, but the son says his successor will be the eldest son of his eldest sister. The members.h.i.+p is composed of men from all the Hano gentes, but not all of any one gens. In fact, it is not now customary for all the members of a gens to be members of the same kiva.

Another somewhat similar instance occurs in Sichumovi. A kiva, abandoned for a long time after the smallpox plague, was taken possession of by an individual, who repaired it and renamed it Kevinyp tshmo--Oak Mound.

He made his friends its members, but he called the kiva his own. He also says that his eldest sisters son will succeed him as chief.

In each village one of the kivas, usually the largest one, is called (aside from its own special name) mungkiva--chief kiva. It is frequented by the kimungwi--house or village chief--and the tshaakmungwi--chief talker, councillor--and in it also the more elaborate ceremonies are observed.

No women frequent any of the kivas; in fact they never enter them except to plaster the walls at customary periods, or during the occasion of certain ceremonies. Yet one at least of the Oraibi kivas was built for the observances of a society of women, the Mamzrntiki. This and another female society--Lalnkobki--exist in all the other villages, and on the occasion of their festivals the women are given the exclusive use of one of the kivas.

_Motives for building a kiva._--Only two causes are mentioned for building a new kiva. Quarrels giving rise to serious dissensions among the occupants of a kiva are one cause. An instance of this occurred quite recently at Hano. The conduct of the kiva chief gave rise to dissensions, and the members opposed to him prepared to build a separate room of their own. They chose a gap on the side of the mesa cliff, close to Hano, collected stones for the walls, and brought the roof timbers from the distant wooded mesas; but when all was ready to lay the foundation their differences were adjusted and a complete reconciliation was effected.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXIII. Kin-tiel, plan (also showing excavations).]

The other cause a.s.signed is the necessity for additional room when a gens has outgrown its kiva. When a gens has increased in numbers sufficiently to warrant its having a second kiva, the chief of the gentile group, who in this case is also chief of the order, proposes to his kin to build a separate kiva, and that being agreed to, he a.s.sumes the direction of the construction and all the dedicatory and other ceremonies connected with the undertaking. An instance of this kind occurred within the last year or two at Oraibi, where the members of the Katchina gentes, who are also members of the religious order of Katchina, built a s.p.a.cious kiva for themselves.

The construction of a new kiva is said to be of rare occurrence. On the other hand, it is common to hear the kiva chief lament the decadence of its members.h.i.+p. In the Oak Mound kiva at Sichumovi there are now but four members. The young men have married and moved to their wives houses in more thriving villages, and the older men have died. The chief in this case also says that some 2 years ago the agent gave him a stove and pipe, which he set up in the room to add to its comfort. He now has grave fears that the stove is an evil innovation, and has exercised a deleterious influence upon the fortune of his kiva and its members; but the stove is still retained.