THE ZUNI POTTERY GIRL SINGERS THE SPIRITUAL HEART OF CEREMONIAL
T
here was one group not on the program for that first Ceremonial in 1922. Legend has it that Zuni performer Lonkeena took his wife and another woman to Gallup at the last moment. It took two days by wagon, with a layover around Cousins. The ladies were to march carrying large water jugs (ollas) on their heads, an activity seen all over the Pueblos from early times. They don’t actually have water in the jugs when they dance. Water carriers were possibly the most photographed subject in the Pueblos in the early days. Every tribe made pottery jars and everyone carried water from the spring, well, reservoir, pool or pond. Few homes had running water until well after MR. & MRS. LONKEENA WWII.
A VERY EARLY GROUP
Lonkeena (no other name) and Mrs. Lonkeena (her Zuni name was too difficult to pronounce) created the act based on an every day activity. Young girls learned to balance the heavy jugs on their heads, leaving hands free for climbing ladders. Just one of the many tasks to be mastered as a girl matured into womanhood in traditional Pueblo life. Lonkeena was aware of how popular this sight was to tourists who spent miles of film to record it. At the turn of the last century, Edward Curtis photographed in Zuni. He took several photos of the water carriers, several of which he turned into highly collectable post cards. It is not recorded if those first two ladies sang as they marched, but to make an eve-
LADIES GOING SOUTH ON THIRD STREET 1935
