visionally
associated this beautiful vessel with those bearing the butterfly and
the triangle. The form of this vessel closely approaches that of the
graceful cooking pots made of coiled and coarse indented ware, but the
vessel was evidently not used for cooking purposes, as it bears no
marks of soot.[140]

DRAGON-FLIES

Among the most constant designs used in the decoration of Sikyatki
pottery are figures of the dragon-fly. These decorations consist of a
line, sometimes enlarged into a bulb at one end, with two parallel
bars drawn at right angles across the end, below the enlargement. Like
the tadpole, the dragon-fly is a symbol of water, and with it are
associated many legends connected with the miraculous sprouting of
corn in early times. It is a constant symbol on modern ceremonial
paraphernalia, as masks, tablets, and pahos, and it occurs also on
several ancient vessels (plates CXL, _b_; CLXIII, _a_), where it
always has the same simple linear form, with few essential
modifications.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVII

VESSELS WITH FIGURES OF HUMAN HAND, BIRDS, TURTLE, ETC. FROM
SIKYATKI]

The symbols of four dragon-flies are well shown on the rim of the
square box represented in plate CXXVIII, _a_. This box, which was
probably for charm liquid, or possibly for feathers used in
ceremonials, is unique in form and is one of the most beautiful
specimens from the Sikyatki cemeteries. It is elaborately decorated on
the four sides with rain-cloud and other symbols, and is painted in
colors which retain their original brilliancy. The interior is not
decorated.

The four dragon-flies on the rim of this object are placed in such a
way as to represent insects flying about the box in a dextral circuit,
or with the heads turned to the right. This position indicates a
ceremonial circuit, which is exceptional among the Tusayan people,
although common in Navaho ceremonies. In the sand picture of the Snake
society, for instance, where four snakes are represented in a border
surrounding a mountain lion, these reptiles are represented as
crawling about the picture from right to left. This sequence is
prescribed in Tusayan ceremonials, and has elsewhere been designated
by me as the sinistral circuit, or a circuit with the center on the
left hand. The circuit used by the decorator of this box is dextral or
sunwise.

Several rectangular receptacles of earthenware, some with