much time to their amusement. They make dolls of their Katcinas
which are given to the children to play with. A Katcina is the
emblem of a deity that is represented either in the form of a
doll carved out of wood, woven into a plaque or basket, or
painted on tiles and pottery. There are between three and four
hundred Katcina dolls each one representing a different divinity.
When a doll is given to a child it is taught what it means, thus
combining instruction with amusement. The method is a perfect
system of kindergarten teaching, which the Moquis invented and
used centuries before the idea occurred to Froebel.

When the girl is ten years old her education properly begins and
she is systematically inducted into the mysteries of
housekeeping. At fifteen she has completed her curriculum and
can cook, bake, sew, dye, spin and weave and is, indeed,
graduated in all the accomplishments of the finished Moqui
maiden. She now does up her hair in two large coils or whorls,
one on each side of the head, which is meant to resemble a
full-blown squash blossom and signifies that the wearer is of
marriageable age and in the matrimonial market. It gives her a
striking yet not unbecoming appearance, and, if her style of
coiffure were adopted by modern fashion it would be something
unusually attractive. As represented by Donaldson in the
eleventh census report the handsome face of Pootitcie, a maiden
of the pueblo of Sichomovi, makes a pretty picture that even her
white sisters must admire. After marriage the hair is let down
and done up in two hard twists that fall over the shoulders.
This form represents a ripe, dried squash blossom and means
fruitfulness.