Note 56 — CLASSIFICATION OF KATCINAS

With the coiled stone, which resembles the cast of some large fossil shell. I venture to suggest that the reason we find petrified wood in some shrines can be explained in the following manner: In times long past trees were believed by the Hopi to have souls and these breath bodies were powerful agents in obtaining blessings or answering prayers. The fossilized logs now put in shrines date back to the times of which I speak, consequently they are efficacious in the prayers of the present people. This is but the expression of an animistic belief in the souls of trees.