The painted motifs on this water jar represent similar concepts to those on several other jars. The top band of decoration is t’sipopa kyatsotanne (stripes with points) that represents timuci (thunder knife), a knife used by priests in many ceremonies. Between each pair is the alununanne (diamond) and neweyulinne (Newekwe Society face painting) motif. The diamond represents the sling used by boys to hunt birds. Beneath this band is a spirit line.
Two large double bands of paired netsikâ (a crook, or drumstick, used in ceremonies) motifs are on the body of the jar, one upper, one lower. Both the upper and lower pairs of crooks are each connected by what appears to be a variant of the pulakia lacowapa (butterfly with downy feather) motifs. Between these two bands are two bands of four zoomorphic images that appear to combine a wotsanawe (water bird), roadrunner, and pulakia (butterfly); the body shape resembles wotsanawe, the tail is more like a roadrunner’s, and the curled proboscis and wings are those of a pulakia. The three-part bands are separated by two large, vertical alununanne (diamond) and neweyulinne (Newekwe Society face painting) motifs. The diamond represents the sling used by boys to hunt birds. These motifs are usually placed horizontally, but here they are vertical. A spirit break around the bottom of the jar completes the painted decoration.
John Wesley Powell Collection of Pueblo Pottery (Illinois Wesleyan University)
