The Zuni, Ashiwi, are a Native American tribe who live in western New Mexico in the Pueblo of Zuni, along the Zuni River. At the junction of the Zuni and Little Colorado Rivers, in a large village, live the Zuni Kachinas, at the bottom of the mythical Lake of the Dead, which is in Listening Spring Lake.

Offerings of food are tossed into the lake by the Zuni Peoples. These spirits that the Zuni honor are the Koko. Occasionally, the Koko leave their village to visit the Zuni. When they do, it is in the form of clouds.

Other Koko, spirits of men, come as ducks and bring much needed rain and offerings of help with the hunts of the Zuni. After the People emerged from the underworld, there were children who drowned. These were the first Koko. There were others who died and returned to the underworld and they also Koko. It is the belief of the Zuni that the recently deceased and ancestors who died are the spirits, the Koko, who bring good health, rain and abundant crops to the people.

Women of men who have returned to the underworld are allowed to rejoin their husbands, but not their children, for the children become spirits that are transformed intouwanammi, water creatures, who are given the power to bring rain to the people.

Like the Hopi, the Zuni carve Kachina dolls for ceremonial purposes. The Hopi carve their dolls from one piece of the cottonwood root. The Zuni carve their dolls from pine and they are usually longer than the Hopi dolls, with movable arms.

The Zuni are famous, world-wide, for their artistry in pottery, jewelry, fetishes, Kachina dolls and bead work. This is how many of the Zuni support their families.

The Zuni still hold their traditional yearly ceremonies and dances and some of these are open to the public. Shalako is a Zuni ceremony which is held the first week in December each year. They practice all year long to perform the duties sacred to the ceremony. Seven new houses must be built to welcome the Shalakos, who are the Giant Couriers of the Rainmakers, and the Longhorns, who are the Rain Gods of the North. Huge quantities of foods are prepared for the people and their visitors.

The Shalako ceremony is to close the old year and welcome the new year. Rain is prayed for, as well as abundance of propagation of plants and animals, and for the health and well being of the people.

The ceremony begins when the Little Fire God Kachina descends from the hills, followed by the Shalakos, the Longhorns, the Mudheads, and many other Kachinas and priests. They go to their respective houses where lengthy prayers are recited. Then comes the period of rest before the food is served. And then the dancing begins.

Resembling birds, the Kachinas are ten feet tall. While dancing rhythmically, they clack their beaks. They dance till near sunrise, when the head priest of the Longhorn offers a prayer for good fortune of the people in the village for the coming year. A race is then held on the second day. Each participant must run from one end of the river to the other without tripping or falling. To trip or fall would bring misfortune to the pueblo.

After this race, the Kachinas return from whence they came and the people begin to prepare for the next year's festivities.
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