Page 184 - TheHopiIndians

176 MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND
sacred places, knowing that the keen eyes of the Hopi
watch from the mesa top, yet casually some of the
more interesting shrines may be visited.
At the point of the Walpi mesa where the old town
stood several centuries ago, are several shrines, to one
of which the kachinas after the ceremonies go in order
to deposit their wreaths of pine brought from the San
Francisco Mountains and to make "breath-feather"
offerings of paint and meal. Here also they make
offerings of food to the dead. At another spot the
bushes are hung with little disks of painted gourd,
each with a feather representing the squash flower.
A heap of small stones is a Mas a uah shrine, and a
stone is added by each one who passes as an offering
to the terrible god of the earth, death, and fire. Xo
orthodox Hopi would dare to omit throwing a stone
accompanied with a prayer to Masauah, of whom all
speak in fear and with bated breath. For a good rea
son, then, many shrines to this god may be seen in
Hopiland, as it is necessary to appease this avenging
being.
Everyone who goes to Walpi sees the great shrine in
the gap which is called the "shrine of the end of the
trail." The base and sides are large slabs of stone,
and within are various odd-shaped stones surrounding
a coiled fossil believed by the Hopi to be a stone ser
pent. During the winter Sun ceremony this whole
stone box blossoms with feathered prayer-sticks, al
most hiding the shrine, and converting it into a thing
of beauty.