This shrub, when green, smolders and
emits a dense, pungent smoke, but when perfectly dry, burns with a
bright, sparkling flame.
Across the end of the kiva on the main floor a ledge of masonry is
built, usually about 2 feet high and 1 foot wide, which serves as a
shelf for the display of fetiches and other paraphernalia during stated
observances (see Fig. 22). A small, niche-like aperture is made in the
middle of this ledge, and is called the katchin kihu (katchina house).
During a festival certain masks are placed in it when not in use by the
dancers. Some of the kivas have low ledges built along one or both sides
for use as seats, and some have none, but all except two or three have
the ledge at the end containing the katchina house.
In the main floor of the kiva there is a cavity about a foot deep and 8
or 10 inches across, which is usually covered with a short, thick slab
of cottonwood, whose upper surface is level with the floor. Through the
middle of this short plank and immediately over the cavity a hole of 2
or 2? inches in diameter is bored. This hole is tapered, and is
accurately fitted with a movable wooden plug, the top of which is flush
with the surface of the plank. The plank and cavity usually occupy a
position in the main floor near the end of the kiva. This feature is the
sipapuh, the place of the gods, and the most sacred portion of the
ceremonial chamber. Around this spot the fetiches are set during a
festival; it typifies also the first world of the Tusayan genesis and
the opening through which the people first emerged.
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