After this, all went well and it began raining and rained at frequent intervals. Everything went on all right and during that summer and fall the people had plenty of everything. The people were still at White House.
In the winter Antelope Man though of trying out the Kopishtaiya, Country Chief called out that the people should make prayer sticks to call the Kopishtaiya. So, after vomiting for 4 days, the men who were to take part met again in kiva. They made prayer sticks (pl. 14, fig. 1) and prepared the masks. 43 (There are no seeds in the Acoma Kopishtaiya masks as at Laguna.) 44 They worked for 4 days in kiva. They made songs different from the katsina songs. They were not songs for dancing but for manliness (hachtsia).
After 4 days in kiva, the impersonators left at midnight and went out toward the east, taking their masks and costumes with them; they painted up in kiva before leaving. They went out into the country away from the people. (One of the Kopishtaiya is female, 45 although impersonated by a man.) Country Chief told the people that on the fourth day they were to expect the Kopishtaiya to visit them from the east.
The Kopishtaiya impersonators got ready just as the katsina impersonators had done. But their prayer sticks were different, being made of hard wood to represent masculinity. They were painted differently and had different feathers. These men went out in pairs in different places in the east to hide. They dressed and prayed, asking the Kopishtaiya to help them. They adopted the yell and accent of the Kopishtaiya they were to represent. They were instructed to be sure to come near the pueblo in pairs and to meet just before sun-up, so they could enter just before sunrise. It was very cold and as soon as the men were dressed they started running to keep warm. When they got together near the pueblo, they all went in together. Antelope Man acted as before, opening the road with corn meal. (They come in pairs, they run and turn back to keep warm, run and turn back, shouting the while.) 46
When the Kopishtaiya first came, they brought all kinds of evergreen trees, leaving them in the plaza for the people to make a tea of them and purify themselves. Some of the real Kopishtaiya, when they came, showed manliness by bringing cactus on their backs, others carried
Everything went well and during the winter there was plenty of snow, which helped them catch game. Weapons were not strong at this time, so the snow was a help. 62:43 Informant's note: "The masks used for katsina impersonation are the same that are used for the Kopishtaiya; they are merely painted and decorated differently." [See White, 1932, p. 8, b, and pl. 10, a.] 62:44 Laguna Gomaiowish masks have knobs on them containing seeds. The informant must be confusing Kopishtaiya masks here with Gomaiowish masks, for the former have not been reported from Laguna or, indeed, from any other Keresan pueblo. 62:45 Cf. p. 16. 62:46 Cf. White, 1032, pp. 85-88; Boas, 1928, pt. 1, p. 201.
Footnotes