man, and is supposed to make
the customary responses to the salutations. Hikuli is not as great as
Father Sun, but sits next to him. It is the brother of Tata Dios; and
the greatest hikuli is his twin brother, and is therefore called uncle.

Sometimes these plants are dressed up in pieces of blankets, and
cigarettes are placed before them. Boys must not touch hikuli, and
women only when they act as the shaman's assistants and have to grind
it. As a matter of fact, only shamans can handle it properly, and even
they wash their hands carefully, and sometimes elect not to touch it
at all, making use of little sticks instead of their fingers. Certain
shamans washed their hands and rinsed their mouths immediately after
eating from my vessels, because hikuli would be angry with them for
eating strange food cooked by strange people.

Hikuli is not kept in the house, because it is extremely virtuous,
and might become offended at the sight of anything immodest. It is
placed in a special jar or basket, in a separate store-house, and is
never taken out until tesvino and meat have been offered to it. If this
were neglected, it would eat the Indian's soul. If anything happens
to hikuli--for instance, if irreverent mice eat it--the owner fears
that he may be made crazy as a punishment for his failure to guard
it. If anyone should steal hikuli, he would be sure to go crazy,
unless he returned the plant to its original owner. He must also kill
an ox and make a big feast, in order to set himself right again with
the mighty god and with the people.

After four years, hikuli grows old and mouldy, and loses its
virtues. It is then buried in a corner of the cave or the house, or
taken to the place where it came from, and fresh plants are obtained
instead. According to tradition, when Tata Dios went to heaven in the
beginning of the world, he left hikuli behind as the great remedy of
the people, Hikuli has four faces and sees everything. Its power is
well shown in the following myth:

The Bear in a cave said to Hikuli, "Let us fight and let us first
smoke over there." They smoked and they fought, and Hikuli was stronger
than the Bear. When Hikuli threw the Bear down, all the wind went out
of the Bear; but the Bear said again, "Let us smoke and let us fight
a few times more." And they did so, and Hikuli again threw down the
Bear, and the Bear seated himself on a stone and wept, and went away,
and never returned.

Hikuli is not indigenous