What is a Kiva?

Kiva is the Hopi Indian name for the specialized structures used for religious purposes, ceremonies, and assembly. (The first Spanish reports refer to kivas as estufas, or stoves, in the mistaken idea that they were used as sweat houses.) The structures are characteristic of Pueblo Indian villages, both preColumbian and modern, in the southwestern United States, and there is some archaeological evidence that they were used also in Mexico.

Pueblos having the moiety system, or dual division, have two kivas; those where each clan or fraternity maintains a separate meeting place have a greater number. Archaeological excavations have demonstrated the evolution of the kiva from an early, domiciliary pit house into a ceremonial structure serving much the same purposes as a church or a clubhouse. The exact usage and function of prehistoric kivas can only be surmised on the basis of present-day information and use, however, and the identification of such structures is based on the occurrence of certain definite features.

Kivas are divided into styles depending on their construction, which may be subterranean or surface; on their shape, which may be rectangular or circular; and on their size, which ranges from 8 to more than 75 feet across. The kiva was ordinarily entered through a trapdoor in the roof.

Special features usually associated with it are a fire pit, either box or basin shaped and set in the floor; an ash pit, a secondary pit in which ashes cleaned from the fire pit are placed; a ventilator, an L-shaped shaft opening under the floor or at floor level and extending up outside the kiva wall to provide a draft for the fire; a sipapu, a small hole in the floor that, according to tradition and origin myths, represents the place of emergence of the First People from the underworld; a deflector or built-up "altar" between the fire pit and the ventilator; a bench of stone or adobe around the wall; loom holes (traditionally, Pueblo Indian men were weavers, and the weaving of ceremonial costumes was carried on in the kivas) ; niches in the wall for the hiding or storage of ceremonial material or offerings; painted walls (many kivas of the late prehistoric and modern period have very elaborate paintings depicting scenes from ceremonies, mythical creatures, and objects related to myths and legends); and roof supports, upright poles or logs set in the floor to help hold up the roof. All or only a portion of these features may be found in anyone structure. The main floor features are usually oriented in a line extending in the direction of the east to south quadrant.

The placement of a kiva or kivas varies. Some are separate from the houses but close to the plazas or open areas where dances are held; others, usually the rectangular type, may be hidden in the room blocks. Rectangular kivas are characteristic of the Hopi, Zufii, and Acoma pueblos, while the circular type is characteristic of the pueblos in the Rio Grande area.