In every pueblo house, a "battery"
of these mealing stones is to be found, and it is one of the commonest of
sights to find the women and girls on their knees, with the grinder in
hands, rubbing it briskly up and down with the swing of the body, while
every few moments, with a deft movement of the hand, the grain is thrown
between the grinder and the stone beneath. The motion reminds one much of
that required over the washing board. While thus at work, the Pueblo women
sing some of their sweetest songs.
Hair Dressing. Occasionally when a Hopi mother, whose daughter has reached
maidenhood, is located in the Hopi House, one may chance to find her
engaged in turning the heavy black hair of her "mana" into the big whorls
on the side of her head which are the Hopi emblem of maidenhood and purity.
The mother herself wears her hair in two pendant rolls. These are the
symbols of fruitfulness and chastity.
It is interesting also to see them make piki, a process elsewhere fully
described.
Various Baskets. In the various rooms on the ground floor, the observing
and curious will find quite a number of quaint architectural devices. The
chief attractions to most visitors are the various Indian goods. There are
baskets made by every Indian tribe in North America, Navaho wedding baskets
made by Paiutes and used also by Apaches as medicine baskets; Havasupai,
Pima, Hopi, and Katchina plaques; Hupa and Poma carrying baskets; Haida,
Makah, Mescalero, Apache, Mission, Chimehuevi, Washoe, and a score of
others.
