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Show creation of the first Mudheads, the son created Kolhu/walatwat43 . . . Recognizing their changed condition, (he) declared, "We must prepare a place for our others," and he descended to the plains below and drew his foot through the sands and created the Zuni and the Little Colorado rivers and a lake, and in the depths of the lake a group of houses were created, the center one being a great dance-house having four windows, through which those not privileged to enter might view the dance. When the Zuni drew near they were astonished to see the waters. Stevenson continued, describing those original supernatural inhabitants of the town at the bottom of the waters, and the creation of what she called the "Council of the Gods.44 The name of the mystic lake is . . . "weed-water place," and is so called from the quantity of flags in the marsh surrounding its banks. The name usually applied to the lake is Kothluwalawa, "Dance Village," which has reference to the abiding place of the gods, who 43. Stevenson, Matilda Coxe "Zuni Ancestral Gods and Masks," American Anthropologist, Vol. XI, No. 2, 1898, p. 35. Stevenson, 1904, og. cit., pp. 32-34, also describes the creation of Kolhu/walatwa, "Si'wulutsi'wa and his sister also created two mountains, one of them to be his perpetual home. The village is Ko'thluwala'wa, having the great ceremonial house of the gods in its center. This house is provided with four windows, through which those not privileged to enter may view the dance." On page 237 of the same work Stevenson discusses the Shalako ceremony, pointing out, that the Shalako shrine south of the village is prepared with piles of sand representing the two mountains at Kolhu/walatwa, and a place between representing Kolhu/walatwa itself. 44. Stevenson, 1898, og. cit., p. 35. Stevenson, 1904, op_. cit., pp. 21 and 32-34, reports that the the lake is called Hatm tkiaiakwi (Listening Spring), which referred to the sounds of the voices from the village that rose up from the waters. The lake was usually called Kolhu/walatwa, for the village, but also has the archaic, ceremonial name of We'nima. - 32 - |
