Page 174 - TheHopiIndians

166 MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND

The Yayawimpkia are fire priests who heal by fire.
They are experts in the art of making fire by drilling
with a stick on a bit of wood and they perform this
act in the Sumaikoli or Little New Fire Ceremony.
There are few of them remaining, and their services
are sometimes called for when a burn is to be treat
ed, or some such matter. One woman whose breast
had been blistered by a too liberal application
of kerosene was healed by the Yaya, who filled his
month with soot and spurted the fluid over the burn,
the theory of the Taya being that wounds made by
fire should be checked by fire or the products of fire.
The Taya priests are supposed to be able to bring
to life people who have been killed in accidents.
There is a story that a man who was pushed off the
high mesa upon the rocks below was restored to his
friends by the magical power of the Yaya. Other
fabulous stories, always placed among the happenings
of the past, tell of the wonderful doings of the Yaya.
The Hopi relate that one Yaya standing at the edge
of the mesa said: "Do you see that butte over yon
der [the Giant's Chair, 30 miles distant] ; it is black,
is it not! I will paint it white." So with a lump of
kaolin the Yaya made magical passes skyward, and be
hold, the mountain was white ! A brother Yaya said,
yan New Fire Ceremony, by J. Walter Fewkes; Proc. Boat.
Society Nat. Hist, Vol. 26, 1895. The New Fire Ceremony at
Walpi, by J. Walter FVwkes; Am. Anthropologist (N. S.), Vol.
2, Jan., 1900.