| OCR Text |
Show drink. An underground passage is supposed to extend from this spring to the lake, in fact, Ko'thluwala'wa is said to be connected with all sacred springs and lake by underground roads. Stevenson said water from this spring was put into gourds and carried back to the village (on the return journey water from the four sacred springs mentioned above is also placed in gourd canteens and taken back to the village). The group stays the night, dancing until midnight, and then in the morning continues the ceremonies. While at Kolhu/walatwa willows are ritually cut along the river banks, for use as prayer sticks in the coming year. Yellow ocher is collected for use as paint, as is the very sacred pink pigment used by the Mudheads as body paint. In the past, turtles .were collected on the shores of the lake, but the twentieth century water control developments along the upper Little Colorado has made this difficult today. If they are not found near Kolhu/walatwa turtles are still collected for religious use by the Zunis at nearby Lyman Lake at a later date. Stevenson noted that the pink pigment is used during these ceremonies and in ceremonial functions during the remainder of the year, as is mud from the lake. The cattails that were gathered at Kolhu/walatwa also have important ceremonial function. The tortoises are ritually cooked, cleaned, and made into rattles to be used on religious occasions. After the ceremonial the tortoises are taken home by those who caught them and are hung by their necks to the rafters till morning, when they are thrown into pots of boiling water. The egss are considered a great delicacy. The meat is seldom touched except as a 93. Stevenson, 1904, OJD. cit., pp. 148-162. - 64 - |
