rn stored within it belong to the women of the household. No matter what occurs in a marriage, the women stay with the house for life. Their husbands are considered outsiders for it is the women’s brothers who are tied to household affairs. A man goes to his mothers house for any important occasions. It is not until the children are mature that a father has authority in his wife’s household (Benedict, 74). Seated at the highest level of social life is the priesthood. There are four major and eight minor priesthood’s. They are revered as holy men; their sacred medicine bundles containing the power they retain. The bundles are kept in bare inner rooms within the priests home. It is forbidden for anyone to enter the room, save for the priest during rituals. The priests never hold public ceremonies but are a constant presence during the preliminary rites before a public ceremony begins (Benedict, 70). The heads of the major priesthood’s, with the chief priest of the sun cult, and the two chief priests of the war cult, make up the ruling body, the council of the Zuni. They make appointments for ceremonies, initiate the events of the Zuni calendar and pass judgements on sorcery but as far as our understanding of government goes, they have neither jurisdiction or authority (Benedict, 71). The cult of the masked gods is the most popular in the Zuni affection for they are the chiefs of the supernatural world. Their popularity is due to their direct involvement with the people by adorning masks resembling their gods and commencing ceremonial rites (Benedict, 71). The third division of the Zuni ceremonial structure is that of the medicine societies. The medicine societies are the keepers of the great esoteric narratives, which is memorized piece by piece. They are the fire walking, sword swallowing men of medicine resigned to the position of tribal doctors. They perform ceremonies geared towards mass healing...
