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64 MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND
else the material of a hornet's nest. This bread is
made from batter, colored gray with wood ashes, dex
terously spread very thinly with the hand over a
heated slab of stone. Piki bakes quickly, coming free
from the slab and is directly folded up into conven
ient compass and so crisp is it that it crackles like
paper. Sometimes it is tinted with attractive colors
for festal occasions, such as the Kachina ceremonies.
Before a dance the women busily prepare food and
the girls go about speechless, with mouths full of meal,
"chewing yeast" for the corn pudding. This and
other ins and outs of the kitchen make the knowing
traveler rather shy of the otherwise attractive-looking
Hopi food.
Surely corn is the "mother" of the HopL All the
powers of nature are invoked to grant a good crop
by giving rain and fertility, and the desire for corn
is the central motive of the numerous ceremonies of
the villagers of Tusayan. If the prayers of the Hopi
could be formulated like the "Om mane padme hum"
of the Hindus, it would be in the smaller compass of
these words, ' ' Grant us corn ! ' ' Nor are these simple
villagers ungrateful for such blessings. Kopeli used
to stand looking over his thriving cornfield and say
with fervor, "Kwa kwi, Kwa kuri," "thanks, thanks,"
and it was evident that the utterance was made with
true thankfulness and a spirit of devotion.
It is difficult to imagine the ancient people with
out corn ; but very long ago, as the legends tell, they