Although a great deal of time has been devoted to the study of the native peoples of the Southwest and the prehistoric ruins in that region by many ethnologists and archaeologists our knowledge of them is still far from complete. There are many ruins which have never been visited by a trained observer; the Rio Grande peoples persistently oppose the study of their ceremonial life; and notwithstanding the great number of treatises on the Hopi, there is none of them which gives a satisfactory account of their everyday life and of their social customs and organization.