Page 144 - TheHopiIndians

136 MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND

skin white or brown, the desire for rain so there shall
be food and life. To wheedling, placating, or coercing
the agencies which are thought to have power to bring
rain all the energies of the Hopi are bent. Included
among these petitions are prayers for other things
that seem good and desirable, and the ceremonies also
embrace such episodes as the installing of a chief, or
the initiation of novitiates, the hunts, races, etc.
From these ceremonies, which fall under one or the
other of the thirteen moons, we may select the more
striking for a brief description of their more salient
features.
No one can determine which ceremony begins the
Hopi calendar, but perhaps the Soyaluna, celebrated
at the last of December, should have the honor. Not
because it nearly coincides with our Christmas, but be
cause it marks the astronomical period known as the
winter solstice, an important date which ought by
right to begin the new year. Few strangers see the
Soyalnna, but those who have braved the winter to be
present say that it is one of the most remarkable of
the Hopi ceremonies. All the kivas are in use by the
various societies taking part, and while there is only a
simple public "dance," there are dramatic observ
ances of surprising character going on in the meeting
places.
When the faint winter sun descends into his "south
house," which is a notch in the Elden Mesa near Flag
staff, there is great activity in the Hopi pueblos, and