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Tatsiqtö
is the best known as Kooyemsi, or Mudhead. Hopi Mudheads and
their songs were originally Zuni. According to a Zuni
legend, they are the result of incest between a brother and
sister. Because of the stigma attached to their birth, they
are not katsinam. They live in a separate location near the
katsinam's home and help the katsinam announce events,
translate requests, give directions, and present other
information. Although they often entertain the crowd with
their antics, they are not clowns, but are healers,
messengers, warriors and magicians. Because they speak to
and for the Ancient Ones, they can be very dangerous. In the
knobs on their heads they carry seeds and particles of soil
collected from human footprints. The soil gives them power
over people. Made of mud, they symbolize the matrix where
humans originated. When they leave for the spirit world at
the end of the katsina season, they are given prayer sticks
by the clowns and sprinkled with cornmeal by the kiva
chiefs. (981-21-10/58605)
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