Note 32 — CLASSIFICATION OF KATCINAS

The Katcinas, sometimes spelt Cachinas, are believed to be the same as the Zuñi Kókos and possibly the Nahuatl teotls. The derivation is obscure; possibly it is from kátci, spread out, horizontal, the surface of the earth, náa, father, abbreviated na, surface of land, father. The Tusayan Indians say that their Katcinas are the same as the Zuñi Kóko, pronouncing the word as here spelled. Cushing insists, however, that the proper name of the organization is Kâ′kâ. I find Mrs Stevenson, in her valuable article on the Religious Life of a Zuñi Child, has used the spelling Kok′ko, which introduces the o sound which the Tusayan people distinctly use in speaking of the Katcinas of their nearest Pueblo neighbors. This variation in spelling of one of the more common words by conscientious observers shows one of the difficulties which besets the path of those who attempt etymologic dissection of Pueblo words. Many Zuñi words in the mouths of the Hopi suffer strange modifications, so that I am not greatly surprised to find idiomatic differences between the Hopi dialect of the East mesa and that of Oraibi. How much may result after years of separation no one can tell, but the linguist must be prepared to find these differences very considerable.