e heraldic bird motives toge

---

ther with the serpent, which for the Mokis-as in all pagan religious practice-commands cultic devotion as the most vital symbol. T

his serpent still appears on the base of contemporary vessels exactly as Fewkes found it on prehistoric on

es: coiled, with a feathered head. On the rims, four terrace-shaped attachments carry small representations of animals. We know from work on Indian mysteries that the

A native of rural Puerto de Luna, New Mexico, Dr. López served four years in the Air Force before earning three degrees from the University of New Mexico, all in political science.

Prior to coming to New Mexico Tech in 1987, Dr. López held several key leadership positions in state government and education. Under Governor Toney Anaya, he served as secretary of the state Employment Security Department for two years and secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration for two years.

se animals-for example, the frog and the spider represent the points of the compass and that these vessels are placed in front of the fetishes in the subterranean prayer room known as the kiva. In the kiva, at the core of devotional

practice, the serpent appears as the symbol of lightning (Figure 1 ). In my hotel in Santa Fe, I received from an Indian, Cleo Jurino, and his son, Anacleto Jurino, original drawings that, after some resistance, they made before my eyes and in which

they outlined their cosmologic world view with colored pencils (Figure 4).