The midwinter rite in which the altars are employed is called _Tûñtai_ by the Tewa, who likewise designate it by the Hopi name _Soyaluña_. This latter term may be regarded as a general one applied to the assemblages of different families in all the kivas of the East Mesa at that time. The name of the Tewa rite is a special one, and possibly the other families who assemble at this time once had or still retain their own names for their celebrations. The _Tûñtai_ altars were brought by the ancestors of the present people of Hano from their old eastern home, and the rites about them are distinctly Tewan, although celebrated at the same time as the Winter Solstice ceremonies of the Hopi families.
The pueblo called Hano is one of three villages on the East Mesa of Tusayan and contained, according to the writer's census of 1893, a population of 163 persons. It was settled between the years 1700 and 1710 by people from Tcewadi, a pueblo situated near Peña Blanca on the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Although only six persons of pure Tanoan ancestry are now living at Hano, the inhabitants still speak the Tewa dialect and claim as kindred the peoples of San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Nambe, and Tesuque.[5] The best traditionists declare that their ancestors were invited to leave their old home, Tcewadi, by the Snake chief of Walpi, who was then pueblo chief of that village. They claim that they made their long journey to give aid against the Ute Indians who were raiding the Hopi, and that they responded after four consecutive invitations. The Walpi Snake chief sent them an embassy bearing prayer-sticks as offerings, and although they had refused three invitations they accepted the fourth.
According to traditions the following clans have lived in Hano, but it is not stated that all went to the East Mesa together from Tcewadi: _Okuwuñ_, Rain-cloud; _Sa_, Tobacco; _Kolon_, Corn; _Tenyük_, Pine; _Katcina_, Katcina; _Nañ_, Sand; _Kopeeli_, Pink Shell; _Koyanwi_, Turquoise; _Kapolo_, Crane; _Tuñ_, Sun; _Ke_, Bear; _Te_, Cottonwood; _Tayek_ (?); _Pe_, Firewood; and _Tceta_, Bivalve shell.
The early chiefs whose names have been obtained are Mapibi of the _Nañ-towa_, Potañ of the _Ke-towa_, and Talekweñ and Kepo of the _Kolon-towa_. The present village chief is Anote of the _Sa-towa_ or Tobacco clan.[6]