The Pueblo of Zuñi is situated in Western New Mexico on the Rio Zuñi, a tributary of the Little Colorado River. The Zuñi have resided in this region for several centuries. The peculiar geologic and geographic character of the country surrounding them, as well as its aridity, furnishes ample sources from which a barbarous people would derive legendary and mythologic history. A brief reference to these features is necessary to understand more fully the religious phases of Zuñi child life. Three mi

Having now briefly sketched the mythology relating to the ceremonials to be described, I invite your attention to the main subject of the present paper: the Religious Life of the Zuñi Child. First we will notice the birth customs. Zuñi child life may be divided into two parts. One I will call the practical or domestic; the other, the mythologic or religious. The former is fairly exemplified in the habits, customs, games, and experiences of our own domestic child life. The other is essentially di

The present ceremonials are in direct obedience to the orders and instructions given at the time of the appearance of the Kōk-kō upon the earth, and their masks are counterparts of the original or spiritual Kōk-kō ( Plate XX ). The Käk-lō rides, as of old, upon the backs of the Kō-yē-mē-shi, and he is the heralder for the coming of the Kō-lō-oo-wĭt-si. Arriving at the village in the morning, he divides his time between the kivas, there being six of these religious houses in Zuñi, one for each of