BY S.A. BARRETT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY Vol. 12, No. 10, pp. 397-441, 8 text-figures July 6, 1917 BY S.A. BARRETT...

It has been at least twenty years since the last of the Pomo ceremonies was held in a truly aboriginal fashion. Elaborate ceremonies of a more recently introduced "Messiah" cult were held as late as perhaps fifteen years ago, but these "Messiah" ceremonies contain only a few features common to the indigenous tribal observances. Dances are even yet to be seen in connection with some celebrations, principally on the Fourth of July, but there now remains so little that is really primitive about the

The ceremonial organization of the Pomo was very loose. There was no secret society of importance, as there was among the Maidu and presumably among the neighboring Wintun, and no organized priesthood vested with control over ceremonies. The ordinary chiefs, however (or "captains," as they are more often called), were prominently concerned with all ceremonies, and there were other officials in charge of particular rites. We may begin therefore by mentioning the various officials in the order of

This ceremony was perhaps the most important of the four-day ceremonies of the Pomo. It was usually held in the spring and was witnessed only by properly initiated men, never by women or children. The uninitiated men, as well as the women and children, were much afraid of these dancers and kept a very respectful distance when they entered the village. This was due to the belief that to approach closely would produce serious illness. Such esoteric ceremonies are unusual among the Pomo, though the

Gū´ksū or kū´ksū, as he is called in the different Pomo dialects, was a supernatural being living at the end of the world toward the south, one of six supernatural beings living at the ends of the world in the six cardinal directions. The term is also applied to a large mosquito-like insect, called locally "gallinipper." Toward the east lived Ca´lnis, the only one of these deities who was associated especially with Gū´ksū in the ceremonies of the Pomo. Toward the north lived Sū´ūpadax (whirlwind

The dances either formed integral parts of the above ceremonies or, as stated, might be incidental and entirely unrelated to them. The word for dance is xe in the Eastern Pomo dialect, and ke in that of the Central and Northern Pomo. The following is a list of the Pomo dances: In a large measure the various dances were very similar to one another so far as the steps were concerned. The characteristic step of the men was a rhythmic stamping of the feet, with the body held in a half-crouching post

During the latter years of the nineteenth century a "Messiah" cult has been introduced among the Pomo by the Wintun of the Sacramento Valley. In comparatively recent times the "prophets" of this cult acquired great importance and, while the cult flourished, to a certain extent superseded the leaders of the old ceremonies. This cult first appeared among the Pomo at Upper Lake, then at Sulphur Bank, then at Long Valley, and finally in the Ukiah Valley. The function of the prophet, or dreamer, as h

Pomo ceremonies were in general quite simple and the ceremonial life was characterized by an absence (1) of any fixed ceremonial season or sequence of ceremonies, and (2) of any extensive priesthood or secret order controlling ceremonial matters. Some of the ceremonial performances possessed certain esoteric features, such as initiation rites and special restrictions on the part of the uninitiated. We note the presence of a few fairly elaborate ceremonies and a considerable number of dances, som