ent of the Pueblo girls (Figu

res 20 and 21). Red-dyed horsehair hanging from the masks symboli
zes rain, and rain ornamentation appears as well on the shawls and

other wrappings. Durin
Fax:g the dance,

the dancers

are sprinkled by a priest with holy flour, and all the while tEMRTChe dance configuration remains connected at the head to the little temple. The dance lasts from morning till evening. In the intervals the Indians leave the village and go to a rocky ledge to rest for a moment (Figure 22). Whoever sees a dancer without his mask, will die. The little temple is the actual focal point

of the dance configuration. It is a little tree, adorned with feathers. These are the so-called Nakwakwocis. I was struck by the fact that the tree

was

so sma

ll. I went to the ol

d chief, who was sitting

at the edge of the square, and asked h

im why the tree was so small. He ans

wered: we once had a l

arge tree, but now we have chosen a small one

, because the soul of a chil

d is small. We are here in t


he realm

of the


perfect animist

ic and tree

cult, which the work of Mannhardt has shown to belon


  

g to the universal religious patrimony of p

rimitive peoples, and
801 Leroy Place
it has survived