, not
knowing that the Awatobi idols were still used in the Mishoninovi
ritual, had removed them to his residence, but when this was known a
large number of priests begged him to return them, saying that they
were still used in religious exercises. With that consideration which
he has always shown to the Indians, Mr Keam allowed the priests to
take the images of _Alosaka_. The figurines were this time carried to
Mishoninovi, the priests sprinkling a line of meal along the trail
over which they carried them. The two idols[80] have not been seen by
white people since that time, and are now, no doubt, in some hidden
crypt near the Mishoninovi village.

There is a shrine of simple character, near the ruins of smaller
Awatobi, which bears evidence of antiquity (figure 258). It consisted,
in 1892, of a circle of small stones in which were two large
water-worn stones and a fragment of petrified wood. There was no
evidence that it had lately been used.

[Illustration: FIG. 257--Alosaka shrine at Awatobi]

On the extreme western point of the mesa, at the very edge of the
cliff, there was also a simple shrine (figure 259). Judging from its
general appearance, this, likewise, had not been used in modern times,
but there were several old prayer-sticks not far away.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXII

PAINT POTS, BOWL, AND DIPPER FROM AWATOBI]

At the foot of the mesa, below the point last mentioned, however,
there is a shrine (figure 260), the earth of which contained hundreds
of prayer-sticks, in all stages of decay, while some of them had been
placed there only a few days before my visit. This shrine, I was
told, is still used by the Mishoninovi priests in their sacred
observances. Among other forms of prayer offerings there were many
small wooden cylinders with radiating sticks connected with yarn, the
symbolic prayer offering for squashes.[81] In former times Antelope
valley was the garden spot of Tusayan, and from what we know of the
antiquity of the cultivation of squashes in the Southwest, there is
little doubt that they were cultivated by the Awatobians, and that
similar offerings were made by the ancient farmers for a good crop of
these vegetables.

[Illustration: FIG. 258--Shrine at Awatobi]

[Illustration: FIG. 259--Shrine at Awatobi]

POTTERY

The mounds of Awatobi are entirely covered with fragments of pottery
of all the various kinds and colors known to an