A S n ak e

ri t of W lpi in d nc
es

e a

ttir

( C o p y n gh t

by

C V r o m an )
.

With numero us illustratio ns

C F
.

ho rn pho to gr aphs mainly by

d E H Saunders

an

These peo ple, since they are fe w and their m anners go v ern
m ent and habits at e so d iffe rent fr o m al l the na ti o ns that hav e bee n
seen and disco v er ed in these w estow r egio ns m ust hav e co m e fr o m
l ies to the west o f
that part o f Gr eater India the co as t o f w hic
"
this
co untry
The N ar r ati ve of Cas taii ed a , Co r onado s
1
Chr oni cl er , 5 4 0 42
,

N ew

Yo r k

d Lo ndo n

an

( the R ntck er b ock et Dress

1912

C O PY R I

H T . 1 91 2

BY

A N CI S S A U N D E RS

CH A

RL E S

R a tchet back er

FR

p r ess , new Dock

l os 1 s 7
Ll B H
R I P

"

50

TH E

E V E R -P R E S E N T

M L M O RY o r

MY W I F E
THL

I N S P I R AT I O N

PU

OF

OUR

E B L O P EO P L E

J OUR N

W H OM

EY I N G S

SH E

1 5 LO VI N G L Y

LO V

AN D S T U D I E S AM O N G

E D T H I S

I N SC R IB

ED

V O LU M

THE

I ntr o d u
B

t th

Au

th o

wo

to r y

l d Li k

to

a v e

I t Re

H EN

we decided on our way to C ali

f o r nia a few years ago to stop off
for a week in N e w M exico s quain t
old capital we had in common with most Ameri
cans as little interest in Indians as in South Sea
Islanders and as little knowledge of them
T o be sure we remembered in a general way
from our school -books that the Indian had been
a troublesome thorn in the esh of o ur push
ing pioneers ; and that the Government now has
him systematically in hand under an Indian pol
icy opera ted from Washington often with great
in j ustice to the red man we also thought we
knew from R amona and o ne o r t wo less pop ular
romances
F urtherm ore we were aware that there are in
the lan d Indian schools wherein the aboriginal
youth are d rill ed in the white man s better way to
,

I N TR OD UC TOR Y

vi

the great comfort of the philanthropic t axpayer

and the cr edit of the G overnment if we were to
believe the pieces in the magazines and family
newspaper espe ci al ly at C ommencement time
T hat there was any other sort of Indian how
ver
than
the
warpath
treading
scalp
raising
e
stock of the novels and the Wild West sh ows we
did not know We did not kno w that i n o ur
outh
West there dwells a very di ff erent type of
S

I n di ans the P ueblos who even at the tim e of

the discovery o f Am erica were experienced stone
house b u il ders an d town -dwellers devotees of
peace and order with a fairly well developed
civilisation of their own ; wh o were then and still
are industrious self governing agriculturists and
who have never been at war with the U nited
States
I t was a revelation to u s when we lea rned
that more than a score of these settled picturesque
P ueblo communities still exist in northern New
M exico and Ari zona striving to live on in their
ancient way as well as o ur Governm ent will let
them
O ur state of ignorance at that tim e I have
reason to believe is still shared b y the major part
of our fell ow -citizens ; and it i s in the hOpe of
,

I N TR OD U CTOR Y

V ii

directin g more general atten tion to what our

country possesses in that remarkable abori ginal

remnant the Indians of the T erraced H ouses

as an old Spanish chronicler called them that

this book has been written
With the hope goes the earnest prayer that
something will be sympathetically done by the
people of our great R epublic to arrest the d i s
integration and sure extinction of these little

P ueblo republics an extinction towards which

the present well intended but misdirected govern
mental interference is inevitably tending What
John F i ske in his preface to The D i scov er y of
Am er i ca states of one section of the Pueblos

the H opis is true of them all :

,

Some

xtremely anci ent types o f s oci ety ! says thi s

American his to rian! still pres erv ed o n this co ntinent
in something li ke puri ty ar e among the most ins truo
tive monuments of t he past that can now b e fo und in
th e world
Such a type i s that of t he M o quis of
northe astern Arizona I have heard a rumo ur
that there ar e pers ons wh o wis h the U nited States
G overnment to int erfere with thi s peaceful and s elf
respecti ng peo pl e break u p their pueb lo li fe scatter
them in farm st eads and o ther wis e co m pel them
against their o wn wi shes to chang e their ha bits and
e

I N TR OD U CT OR Y

viii

customs If such a cruel and stu pid thing were e v er

to b e done we mi ght j ustly b e s ai d t o have equall ed
o r surpas s e d t h e folly of th e Spaniards who used to
make b o nres of Mexican hieroglyphics
.

very cruel and stupid thing is no w being

done and more doubtless is contemplated If
any steps to stop it are to be taken they need to
be taken quickly ; for the native arts and customs
o f the P ueblos and their individuality as a people
have suff ered more in the last decade o r two of
Washington than during the whole three centuries
o f Spanish domination ; and as a body going down
hill goes the faster the nearer it gets to the bot
tom so the Pueblo deter ioration hastens with each
returning year
I know no more direct way to enlist an interes t
in these unique ci tizens of the United States than
to star t at the beginning and tell what awakened
ours
T hat

C F S
.

P A SA D E N A ,

CA LI F ORN I A

Ac k

no w

l e d gm

nt

T he

author is indebted to the editors of The

I nter nati onal Stud i o Su nset M aga zi ne and The
P acif i c M o nthl y for their courteous permission to
reproduce in this work parts of certa in articles
which he contribute d to those perio dicals
,

n te n ts
P

C H APT E R

AG

O F O UR F I R S T S I G HT O F THE P UE B L O I N D I A N ;
OF TE S U Q UE A N D H OW W E T OO K A P H OT O
G RAP H THERE
CH APT E R

II

A C OMA PU E BLO OF T H E SK Y ; H OW E D WA RD
HU N T F O UN D U S L OD G I N G S THERE ; AN D OF
TH E F I E S T A O F SAN E S TE BAN

OF

C H A PT E R

III

O F W HA T B EFE LL U S U N DER THE R OC K O F A C O MA

A N D H OW W E TUR N E D C L I FF DW E L L ER S
C H A PT E R

14

32

IV

O F THE P UE BLO S OF THE RA I L R OAD S I DE LAG UNA

A N D I SL ETA AND H OW M AN U E L C A R P I O S AN G
I N THE S U N
,

43

C H APTER V

TH REE PUE BLO S OF THE J EME Z R I VER

VAL L E Y AN D S OME W H AT O F J O H N PA U L THE
C OWHE AD

OF TH E

xi

53

CON TE N TS

xii

VI
O F OTHER P UE B L O S O F THE U PP ER R I O G RA N D E
A N D H OW S AN T I A GO Q U I N TA N A T RA VE LL E D
F O R S HE LL S

AG E

C H A PT E R

C H AP T E R VI I

C ERTA I N P U E B L O S

OF

NE

A R S AN TA

FE

V III
TH I THE R

C H AP T E R

OF T AO S AN D THE

W AY

IX

C H A PT E R
OF

TH E

TH E

97

TA OF S A N G E RON I M O
DE L I GH T M A K E RS
F I ES

AT

T AO S A N D
,

1 05

CHAPTER X

U N T R Y OF T H E P E N I TE N TE S
H OW F R A N C I S C O D U R A
N S M O T H ER C O U L D
F OR G E T

O F PI C U R i S I N T H E C O

AN D
N OT

XI

C H APT E R

A N C I E N T Z U NI AN D H OW
D ORES CAM E To D I S C OVER I T

OF

1 12

TH E

C ON Q U I S TA
125

X II
O F Z U NI D I CK

C H APT E R
OF Z

U NI

I N TH E R AI N ,

AN D

C H APT E R
OF

H O U S E K EE P I N G I N Z U NI
HE L P E D U s TO B U Y M E AT

3O

37

X III

AN D

H OW Z

U NI D I CK

CON TE N TS

xiii
P

XI V

C H APT E R

ET S

I
SA W

OF

I T SI TA,

AN D SO M E W H AT

OF

S HE MAD E
Z U NI B A B I ES
H OW

A Z U NI G R IN D IN G SON G
P L UM ES

OF

TH E

DAN CE

NI HT

OF

AN D

C HAPT E R

1 42

OF

P RAY E R
1 48

XV I
SHA
LAK O GO D S

T HE

C H A PT E R

TH E

OF

L IF E

LATTE R -D AY

MOQ UI ;
T RO U BL ES
IN

THE
1 67

H IN T

OF

I TS

OF

W AL P I ,

AN D

TH E

1 92

XX

S NA K E D AN C E TH ERE

C H A PT E R

82

XI X

OF H OTAVI L A THE E I GHTH PU E BLO OF M O Q U I

AN D H OW I T LOO K E D BLA C K LY A T U S
C H APT E R

S3

XV III

AN D

C H APT E R

XV II

O F TH E E I GHT PU E BLO S OF M O Q U I AN D
WAY TH I THE R
C H APT E R

JA R S ;

XV

C H A PT E R
OF

US

AG E

2 03

XX I

OF THE A RTS OF THE PU E BLO S ES P E C I ALLY TH E

C E RAM I C
,

220

CO N TE N TS

xiv

P AGE

XX II

C H AP TE R
OF T H E

AN D

N AT I V E G OV E RN M E N T OF T H E P U E BL OS
T H E I R P O L I T I CA L S TAT U S U N D ER O U RS

2 33

XX III

C H APT E R

O F THE NAT I VE R EL I G I ON O F THE P UE BLO S

2 40

XX I V
O F W HA T THE U N I TE D S TATE S PO S SE SS E S I N THE

P UE B LO I N D I AN B E I N G A B R I E F S UMM I N G
UP

2 47

C H A PT E R

C H APT E R
OF

W H AT O U R

G O V E RN M E N T

XXV

IS

DO I N G W I T H

TH E

P U E BLO

2 53

C H APT E R

XXV I
O F THE FUTURE O F THE P UE B L O I F H E HA S ANY
,

2 72

A PP E N D C E S

A TA BL E O F APP R O XI M AT E P O P U L AT I ON
PUEBL O I N 1 9 1 0
S S A R Y AN D P R O N U N C1AT I O N
A MER I CA N AN D I ND I A N T E R M S

GLO

A PA R T I A L P U E B L O B I B L I O G R AP H Y

I ND X

OF

OF

EA CH
2 77

S PA N I S H
2 82

2 85

29 1

Il l u

s tr a ti o

ns
P

AGE

A Snake Priest of Walpi in dance attire

F r onti s pi ece

Tesuque pla za and church o n a feas t day

crowd i s watching a ceremo nial dance
,

Th e

A street in Acoma

14

church fort y years in bui l di ng Acoma

All the mat erial was brought up o n Indians
backs from the plain 3 50 feet bel o w

Spanish

'

20

tomb beater
E steb an

The

The melon sell ers ,

Acoma

of

San
26

Acoma

Women dancers Acom a

F iesta

o n San E

steb an day

28

F i e s ta o f San E st eb an

30

A
of co ma from the north east
Gr at
k
S y line of Acoma pue blo at ri ght of middl e
notch
e

R ock

Aco ma from the church belfry loo king to wards

seen in the middl e
the Enchant ed M esa
distance
,

Pottery

2
4

seller Isleta
,

The es tuf a ,

pueb lo of Isleta

0
5

ats o f the Jemez R iver at Santa Ana

pueblo which lies unseen under the mesa The

Saline

I L L US TKATI ON S

xvi

AG E

pueblo farms ar e ten mil es distant acro s s

a desert o ver which t he cr0ps ar e hauled each
autumn to the home pueb lo
Y sidro , Go vernor of Si a ,
E agle

in native attire

cage o n ho usetop J emez

in captivity f o r the sake o f
ceremonial u se
,

Eagl es

the

kept
feathers for
ar e

68

A Pueblo woman b earing wat er home from

well Open-air ovens in background

the

72

A Tesuque mo ther and baby T he child i s

asleep in the cradle s winging by cords fro m
b eams in th e ceiling
.

San

Juan wo man in her doo rway

N ote the

b ot like moccasins worn in certain pueblo s

o

86

94

pueblo Taos The go vernor stands on the

uppermost ro o f making an announcement to
the p eo pl e

N o rth

So uth

pueblo of

F i esta

Taos ,

arly morning

1 02

of San Geronimo Tao s The crowd

gathered to watch th e foo t-races
.

is

R ai sing th e

greased pole

T ao s

F i e sta

of

San

G er ni m o

A Taos Indian and Mexicans on

es ta

1 06

1 08

th e

way to a
1 10

I L L US TRATI ON S

xvii
P

i
wa
l
n
Z
u
n
i
s
sacr
d
mount
a
in
in
a
l
e
e
To
y
snow

Wo men burning pottery

AG

th e
1 30

Z u fi i

1 42

A Zuni man knitting hi s wife s leggi ngs The

m en also run th e s e win g-machine when a
ho usehold o wns o ne

Si

na-he (Zuni D ick) making b eads Zuni The

lo om at hi s back ho lds an un nished blanket
on which hi s wife was at wo r k befo re the p ho
She go t out of th e way
to gr ap h was taken
bein g afraid of the camera

4O

Th e

Zuni shrine

Z u fi i s to b e th e

patina believed by the

centre o f the earth which in
He

their vi ew is at
Shi p au

lu v i ,

1 52

1 64

Mo qui ac p lis like on a hi lltop

overlooking

ro

th e Paint ed D esert

6S

Walpi ho ein g hi s corn two

or three days aft er the Snake D ance N ote
h o w short t he s t alks ar e yet they ar e full
grown The man i s but v e feet hi gh

1 70

A H o pi potter preparin g to r e pottery bowls

H er home i s on th e distant m es a top b ut s he
h as co me do wn here b ecause a nearby corral
aff o rds abundant fuel o f dri ed sheep manure

I 82

A co rner
M o qui

1 86

Chi ef Snake Pri est

of

of

a pueblo of

th e

Second

M esa

I LL USTRATI ON S

xviii

A GE

Ablanket weaver Second H opi M esa Among

t h e m en ar e the weavers
the
t he H o p i s
reverse o f the N avaj o cu stom

1 90

A B eau

1 98

B rum mel

H Otav i l a

of

Wal pi like a medi e val fo rtress on

o f t h e Paint e d D e sert
,

the

dge
2 02

M ealing sto nes on which Pueb lo women grind

their co rn
Snake

2 06

B oy
Wal pi
C amera and hi s grandmother

N am

R ock ,

e
o
p y

wheel

is

afraid o f -the

2 10

moulding a water-j ar
ever used by Pue b lo pott ers
Tewa

of

N0

2 20

i war v

e
ery distinct fro m
Aco ll ectio n o f M o qu
all o ther Pueblo p o ttery both in fo rm and
deco ratio n

224

W at er -j ar o f San Ildefo nso and C o chiti with

b ird d eco ratio n s symb olical o f lightn ess

2 24

ware a feature o f whi ch i s the fre quent

d eer fro gs
u se of animal form s in th e d esi gn s
butteries etc The j ar decorated in curves
and lines depicts as explained by the potter
who m ade it for the author a pueblo ( blocks
against which rest poles with cross pieces
representing ladders ) and rain (vertical lines )
d e scending fro m cl o ud s ( ar che s ) ab o ve

226

Z u i

I L L US TR ATI O N S

xix
P

AG E

lack lustrous ware of Santa C lara and San

o
o
se
i
s
s
uan
y
rna
ntati
n
u
d
a
light
T
h
e
o
n
l
m
e
J
moulding as alo ng the bul ging e dge o f t he
do uble-ne cked j ar in the foreground

226

Water-j ars o f Acoma The prevalent de si gns

T he
ar e s ugges t ed by o we r and l eaf fo rms
o lder p o tt ers o ft e n intro duce d gures o f b irds
a s in th e upp er ri ght -hand j ar
s ym bo l ising
lightnes s

228

j ar s of Santo D omingo
Thi s ware
i s di s tin gui she d by an e spe ci al grace o f
Shape and a remarkable s cheme o f decoratio n
in triangles Circles and other geo metric
forms

228

Wat

r
e

A basket maker

of

Acupid o f Shimo

M i sho ng -novi M o qui

po v i

ver y small children

i n M o qui

The

attir ed in summer

u
n
o
g

H u sking
fo r

2 30

co r n o n a Zuni ho use top

t h e b urro s

F lush

2 38

times
2 48

Aman o f Tao s in native dres s Sheets ar e worn

in li eu o f blankets in warm weather

2 54

A little mother of the pueblo It i s a duty o f

t h e little Pue b lo gi r l s t o att end their b aby
bro thers a nd si s ter s when t h e parent s ar e
bu s y

2 6o

xx

I L L US TRATI ON S
P

Piki -b read

maker Si chu m o v i The bread i s

a
dd
e
b aked o n a
t griddl like stone o ver a
small r e

AG E

women b aking Wheaten bread at

o utdo o r o vens

Pueb l o

A little maid of
M ap

Taos

in native attire

the

2 64

Th

Ind i ans

Ter

Ch
Of

Ou

F i r st
e su

S i gh t

qu e

Ph

p te

th

nd

gr

to

f th

H ou

r ac e

Pu

W
Th

s e s

blo

To

e r e

Ind i a n
o

was N ovember 1 902 and Sylvia and I were

sitting at our rst brea kfast in Santa F wh en
we saw an ancient waggon drawn by two
burros coming up the street With that joy
which every traveller knows at each fresh incident
of a long -planned trip into new territory we were
smiling at the novel sight of the o d d little draft
animals with their great apping ears their nod
ding white noses their obvious disinclination
to go faster than at a snail s pace when w e were
T

ced

P r o no un

Te soo -k a
'

OUR F I R S T P UE B L O

attracted b y the remarkable nature of the load

which the o l d waggon bore pottery of various

colours shapes and sizes bundles of gaily -dyed
horseh air whips squat drums stained yellow and
red and other articles which our untrained eyes
failed to catalogue Suddenly from the other

Side of the cart appeared the driver an Indian

bareheaded save for a red llet binding his blac k
hair which was cut Short at the sides and caught
up behind in a club wrapped with red yarn A
b right red blanket dra wn closely about his bo d y
reached to his ankles H i s feet were encased in
beaded mocca sins
O ur waiter an English wanderer repairing his
broken fortunes in this most u n-E nglish of Ameri
can capitals icked his napkin from one arm to
the other and patronisingly observed :
H i nd i ans from T esuque sir come into town to
sell their pottery and such like Sir
ter
b
reakfast
we
fared
forth
guide
book in
Af
hand to View the conventional Sights of the q uaint
old city ; but there kept lingering in the minds of
both Of us the memory of that gleam of colour

in a grey l and a touch of the poetic in the driver s

way of carrying himself his primitive stock i n
,

'

OUR F I R S T P UE B L O

trade and his O riental donkeys that gave a certain

O ld World q uality to the whole aff air
F inally we paused before the cathedral a nd gazed
SO intently at its abbreviated towers that two M e x
i ca ns sunning themselves agai nst an ad o be wall
nud ged ea ch other and remarked one to the other :

Ah these American heretics ! Well may the y

admire ! What so beautiful a holy church haVe

they in their country ?

B u t they were d e
ceived in o ur thoughts for we
sa w not the church

Sylvia said : What did he m ean by T esuque

Indians ?

I replied
1 was thinking o f that myself
I
have hea rd of C hoctaws and C omanches and the
L ast of the M ohicans ; but T esu q ue is a new sor t
to m e We must nd out
T he hotel clerk was appeal ed to but he had not
been long in the T erritory and there were some
points about the T esu qu es he observed that he
had not learned

B u t why not go out and see them f or your

Y o u ca n do them in an
selves ?
he said

afternoon with a two horse rig

So it transpired that immediately after lunch
,

OUR

FIRST P UEBLO

eon we were in a buckboard with two tough

little broncos to draw u s on our way to spend a
couple of hours at the T esuque pueblo
It was a nine mile drive thither and as we
travelled we learned incidental ly from o ur driver
that T esuque is a small community of Indians
descended from those strange people known as the
ancient C liff D wellers ; that each community has
an especial nam e of its o wn like T esuque for this
o ne but that all have the sam e methods of life
general ly spea king as Pueblo
and ar e kno wn
I ndians because they live in pueblos

P ueblo you know

he explai ned
is the
M exican way of saying town
All these sort of

I njuns live in towns built to stay 0f rock and

ad obe
T hey do say some date back to C olumbus s
time and fu rther T hey r e sure old all right and

a good job o f building

T h e road was typica l of New M exico no w hard

baked adobe now sand ; now crossing dry ar r oyos
now climbing water worn hill sides where small
pi non trees and cedars made a scrubby growth
up to glorious views of majestic mountains wide
plateaus and vall eys with strange Spanish and
I ndi an nam es but never a Sign of life
,

O UR FI R S T P UE B L O

At last we cam e to a little valley with running

water foll owing which for a couple of miles we
crossed at a ford into a narrow lane fringed with
pea ch trees and wild plum s and in a few minutes
were in our rst pueblo
We had never looked upon the lik e before and
had we not felt competent to account for every
minute of time since we left our home in the E ast
we Shoul d have been tempted to think that we
had somehow been di verted into a trip to Syria
O ur vehicle had stopped in a large open pl aza
facing upon the four Sides of which was a solid
s q uare of ad o be houses excepting that o n one
side the white fa ca de of a church edice broke the
regular line of dwellings Some o f the house s
n
o
e
were
storied in height and some two ; but in
the latter case the second story was s et back so as
to make a terraced eff ect the roof of the front
room of the rst story servi ng as a front yard to
the second -stor y rooms
L adders were reared against many of the houses
aff ording means of reachi ng the second -story dwell
ings and people were going up and down busi ly
H ere and there upon the topmost roof erect
o r leaning against a chimney
were motionl ess
,

OUR FI R S T P UEB L O

I ndian

men enveloped in scarlet blankets which

they drew about them so as to cover the entire
head leaving o nl y the eyes visibl e and makin g
more than any hat a complete protection from the
shrewd N ovember wind which was now blowing
across the valley from the snow -el d s of the high
Aside from these statue
Sangre de C risto R ange
like watchers however the village was ful l of
activity Some Indian men who had driven in
behind us in a farm waggon were busy unhitching
their team ; an old man Sitting in the sun by his
open door was mending a broken moccasin ; a
bevy of young girls chatting and laughing came
across the pl aza each bearing upon her head a
potter y jar lled with water from the creek and
separating went each to her individual home
O ne climbed the ladder to the second story rooms
as lightly and gracefully as though the fragile
vessel on her head with its twenty pounds of
water were a feather weight Women were mov
ing in and out of the houses on domestic errands
o f one kind and another not the least interesting
of which to us was the tending of great mud ovens
in the pl a za and on the housetops in which
W heaten bread was baking
,

FIRST P UE BLO

OUR

attire of both women and men was strangely

di ff erent from anything we had ever seen and as
distinct in its way as the national attire of N o r

wegi an peasants or of people of the O ri e nt not

that it was like any of those however T h e di s
t i ncti v e fea ture of the men s attire when the blan
ket was removed was a loose cotton shirt worn
outside the trousers which in many cases were
short wide and apping T h e women s dress was
made of a dark woollen stuff neatly belted at the
waist I t came only a little below the kn e es
the lower part of the legs being swathed in buck
Sk i n wh i ch formed an appendage to their moccasins
A sort of coloured ca pe of light material hung
from the neck down the back
T h e women s
hair was invariably banged low across the fore
head and like the men s tied with red yarn into a
club at the back
O ur vague thought of all red men and women
being lazy savage s unattired save as to odds and
ends from mi ssionary boxes and subsisting upon
G overnment rations underwent rapid revision as
we looked on at this busy scene E verybody
appea red as th ough dressed for the sta ge
H ave they xed up beca use they knew we
Th e

OUR FI R S T P UEB L O

were coming ? we asked the d river with a touch of

the national egotism

he replied
F i xed up nothin g
G osh no !
T his is the way these P ueblo Inj uns always dress
the women in p ar ti c l ar T hey seem to think
their short skirts and buckskin leggins has the
T here s lots of
Paris fashions plumb skinned
missionaries and G overnment school teachers and
the like that has spent good money tr yi n to g et
them into sensible calico dresses with red and
yeller patterns to sort of catch the eye ; but they
could n t make it stick T he women are great
stay at home bodies and that makes em set in
their ways T h e men go about more among white
folks and some of em are b ein shamed into
overal ls and jumpers ; even a hat goes with a good
many of em now B u t L ord ! it S Slow changing
these Injuns ways T hey have good money to
spend too ; but it seems that when it comes to
doing anything with em it 5 a case of m anana

just as it is with the M exican D agos nothi n

doing to -day come to -morrow say s they

Somehow we failed to rise in spirit to this pro
i
T
r
ess
v
e
point
of
view
his slow life busy
g
enough as it appeared over necessary things
.

O UR FI R S T P UE B L O

looked rather pleasant to us fresh from the world of

sky scrapers department stores and automobiles
Suddenl y the quiet of the scene was broken upon
by the monotonous beating of a hollow voiced
drum It came from a point behind the bui ld i ngs
gr ew rapi d ly louder and alm ost before we could
draw our astoni shed breath there emerged into
the pla za from an alley among the buildings a
group of the most startling gures that our eyes
had ever beheld T here were some twenty -v e
or thirty of them inching along in Single le with a
curious sort of dance -step one bringing up the
rear with the drum a primitive affair made from
a hollowed log upon which he pounded without
cessation Some were men and some women
Save for a sort of kilt about the loins the m en were
nak ed their red bodies smeared with black and
vermilion paint Jingling shells and rattles hung
from their knees and wrists and about their necks
and corn husks were twisted fantastica lly in their
T he
streaming hair and about their ankles
women were dressed in gay attire each cheek
painted with a bright red spot while upon their
heads were fastened grotes q uely -patterned tablets
of wood that stood upright
.

OUR FI R S T P UE B L O

Io

A look of intense seriousness was in the faces of

the dancers N o t a glance was cast our way ; our
existence was apparently ignored Inch by inch
into the centre of the pl aza the stran g e dance
moved ; and now in rhythm with the untirin g
drum there arose from the throats of the dancers
a solemn musical chant in unison the same phrase
repeated over and over again ; yet in a way it was
fascinating to us We had never heard Indian
music b efore but we knew instinctively that this
was the rea l aboriginal thin g T here could be noth
ing else lik e it in the heavens or under the earth
Separating into two lines facing each other the
dancers footed it sid eway s up and down the middle
space of the pl aza to the unceasin g acco m p ani
ment of the music and certain movements of the
arms perform e d in precise unison Al l the While
the busy life of the pueblo continued almost
without interruption as little attention b eing paid
e
to the dance as though it were an very day
occurrence
An Indian who was strolling by was accosted
in Spanish by our driver who offered him a
ci garette and inquired the meaning of it all T hen
he i nf ormed us :
.

OUR FI R S T P UE B L O

1 1

T hese

are a bunch of visiting Inj uns from

C ochi ti pueblo about forty miles west o f he r e run
ove r to dance the corn dance with these folks
thi s afternoon We are in luck to catch e m at it
T hey have lots of these little private es ta s among

themselves that nobody else k nows about

At that time we were in the typical tourist class
understan di ng n either Indians nor N ew M exico
T herefore with the anticipation of rehearsing this
scene to friends on the Atlantic seaboard who
woul d never in the world believe u s unl ess we had
ocular demonstrations to submit we drew the k o
dak from its case T h e driver glanced at it

he warned
T hem thi ngs and I njuns don t mix
us

B u t they ca n never see what we are doing at

this distance
we replied the dance by this
tim e was the lengt h of the pl aza away from u s

B esides
remarked Sylvia
I 11 throw the
end of my wrap over the camera and they can t

know
and with a click the shot was tak en
Nothi ng we thought coul d have been more
unob served and quietly done

Oh ho w wonderful ! Shall I take another ?

asked Sylvia intent upon the kaleidoscopic pictur e
,

O UR FI R S T P UE B L O

I2

in the nder and snapping again

What 5 the

matter ? I S the dance over ?

As if the tin y click had been carried by magic
across the wide space and sounded in each dancer s
ear above all the chanting the music had ceased
s uddenly and the performers had broken into

disorder E verybody was looking looking too

anything but agreeably towards us ; and to our

dismay across the p l aza there came running wi th
whoops that made the chills run down our backs
two of the fantastic dancers with painted faces
more like demons than men An unintelligible
uproar of pagan speech rose from their lips as they
pressed their faces close to ours
Sylvia had a logical mind
It was she who had
insisted upon taking the p i ctu r e and it was plain
to her that now she was to be sca lped for it T here
was however a possibility that her companions
might avoid a like fate if She surrendered the
offending machine ; and snatching the camera
from beneath the cloak sh e thrust it trem blin gly
into the arms of the more ferocious -looking of the
savages and with blanched lips cried :

H ere take i t all !

Th e Indian looked at it gravely and at her
.

O UR

FIRST P UE BLO

13

With every movement of his body the corn husks

in his hair rustled my steriously and the rattles at
his knees clinked gruesomely H e spoke several
s entences in his outlandish tongue which did not
help to quiet our palpitating hearts T hen to our
astonishment he smiled good -hu m o ur e dl y and
said in perfect E nglish :

We do not like pictures taken here and you

wi ll please not do it again ; but if y ou want them
badly please see the G overnor P erhaps for v e
dollars he will let you photograph
D own the p l aza the drum began its monotonous
note again the dancers lined up and the chant
arose once more Ou r two interviewers took up
the refrain and departed to join the rest

T hem bucks is C arlisle fellows

gri nned the

T hey had you pretty well scared ; but

driver
you got o ff easy
I once seen em run a spear
plumb through a ca m era

F ive dollars the idea ! said Sy lvia absently ;

and I do believe I took both those pictures o n one

lm ! Is n t it too bad ?
.

Ch
'

01

Ac o m

Fo

Pu

nd U

blo

th

p te

L o d g i n gs T h

II

Sk

e r e ;

S a n Es t e b

y ;

nd

w Ed w
o

th

ar

d H

F i e s ta

nt

most poetic of al l New M exico pueblos

in point of Situation is Acoma a veri
table city o f the sk y built upon the at
seventy acre summit of a huge rock with p er
sides
thrust
up
some
th
r
ee
hundred
r
i
u
l
a
e
n
d
c
p
and fty feet out of the midst of a sandy soli
tude of plain B eyond the plain and encirclin g
it is a rim of mountains touched morning and
eveni ng with the mysterious colours of the desert ;
and if there is a world beyond the mountains it
is not evident to Acoma
e leaves
T o reach this village of the upper air o n
the train at L aguna where also is an Indian pueblo
C lose by are a few homes of white people with
whom arran gements can be made for transporta
HE

ced Ah co -m a

Pr o no u n

14

ACOM A AN D

I TS

FIESTA

tion to Acom a which lies fteen mi les to the south

M ost tourists who take the trip are after the man
ner of their kind in haste about getting home and
pare the time down to one day ; but a week is none
too much to devote to the si ghts of thi s miniature

wonderland whi ch has been described as the

G arden of the G ods mul tiplied by ten plus a

human interest
and to experience the spiri t of
its S imple life and i t s p ri mitive people T here is
however no accommodation available except that
o ff ered by Indian homes and as few travellers
ca re for that sort of adventure it is advisable for
intending sojourners to take their own blank e ts
and provisions and if it be in the season when
rain is likely a tent
T h e road from L aguna is through a char a cter i s
tic northern New M exico landscape dotted with
i
o
n

and cedar and black lava blocks around and

p
among which in summ er an ocean of sun owers
ows and ebbs ; and near and far ri se red and purple
mountains fanta stica lly cut and gashed by the
weather of ancient tim es into titanic battlemented
fortresses towers domes and pinnacles
As the roa d enters the valley of Acoma o u r eyes
ar e greeted with the sight of that fam ous table
.

ACOM A AN D

16

I TS F I E S TA

rock of the South West the

M esa
lifting its cylindrical block a gainst the turquoise
sk y
F our miles beyond towers the rock of Acoma
Similar in form but somewhat less lofty A few
cattle and Sheep are grazing on the wild grow ths
of the plain and an Indian on pony-back his
shock of jet black hair bound about with a sca rlet
llet and his white cotton trousers apping in the
breeze lopes by o n some errand toward the hills
A snatch of the barbaric melody which he Sings
drifts back to us as h e disappears around the sand
h i lls and we realise that it is happiness to be an
Indian in a real Indian country
Why the E nchanted M esa is enchanted I have
never heard explained T he term is a translation
of the name given to it by the rst Spaniards who

called it L a M esa E ncantada

T h e In di ans

K atz im o
A tragic interest attaches to it
s ay
because of the tradition of the Acomas that their
own to wn a long time before the coming of the
white man was located on its at top which was
accessible by only one trail O ne day when most
of the inhabitants were busy in their elds out in
the plain a storm destroyed this approach and it
was necessary for the people to establish a new
-

E nchanted

I TS FI E S TA

ACOM A AN D

17

home for them s el ves which they did upon the

present rocky site O f course the hard fact
scientist has fallen afoul of this legend and some
years ago a P rinceton professor thought to give
it a scientic burial After a brief visit to the top
accomplished only after several days labour he
saw nothing which would pass in New Jersey for
the remains of a prehistoric settlement and said
s o in print
T his nettled the arch aeologists of the
South -West and an expedition was tted out for
the scaling of the rock by D r F W H odge of the
Smithsonian Institution at Washington who dis
covered abundant evidence o i a human habita
tion at some very di stant time U nder the title

K a tzi m o the E nchanted

there is an interesting
popular account of this visit in the L and of Su n
s hi ne M aga zi ne for November 1 8 9 7
Th e curious
traveller desirous of following in the footsteps of
these venturesome climbers will not nd it possible
unassisted to approach nearer than within some
thirty or forty feet of the summit of the M esa ;
but arrangements may be made at L aguna for an
outt of ladders and ropes by which the top may
be rea ched by hard scrambling
O ne needs to be close under the cliff s o f Acoma
,

ACOM A AN D

18

I TS FI E S TA

before any sign of the village is visible as the

houses are of the same colour as the rock upon
which they stand and so far above the plain that
as old C asta neda the chronicler of C orona do s

expedition in 1 540 records it was a very good

musket that could throw a ball as high
The
hu ge m es a is of soft brown rock worn by the san d
which the wind of ages has hurled against it This
acting as a natural sand blast has cut the rock int o

many a gr otes q ue shape squat columns and airy

minarets caverns and ogres dens and strange
forms with features l i ke those of fabled creatures
of old romance Th e ne sand of the plains pil ed
up by these wind storms of the past has nally
created two or three giants pathways up and
around the cliff s on one Side B y one of these
animals are enabled to attain the summit though
it is not possible for vehicles to do s o H uman
beings usually reach the town by means of one of
two steep stairways of rock carved out and built
up through two of the crevasses of the mesa s side
T o one unaccustomed to climbing it certainl y i s a

dizzy sight the rst look up this dark and winding

i ght of aboriginal steps Y et the ascent is no t
difcul t having been made safe and ea sy b y
,

A COM A AN D

I TS

FIESTA

19

cutting hand holes in the soft sandstone at ticklish

places and the Indians ascend and descend non
chal antl y bearing back bowing burdens
It was up one of these trails that B rother Juan
Ra mirez the apostle to the Acomas unheral ded
and al one made his mi ssionary way one day in
B efore rea ching the top he was greeted
1 62 9
with ying arrows S hot at him b y a group of
Indians gathered on the cliff above ; for the
Acomas had by that outlived their love for white
m en Simul taneously with the arrows the story
goes a little girl accidentally fell over the ed ge of
the Cliff and lit unseen by the Indians on a
sheltered ledge within rea ch of the B rother s hand
H e picked her up unhurt and when he appeared a
little later holding in his arms the smiling child
whom the Indi ans thought dashed to pieces by
that time at the foot of the precipice their opinion
of him went rapidly to a premium and he was
received as a great medicine man Th e story is
recounted by L ummis in hi s fascinating book The
Spa ni s h P i oneer s ; and readers who would enjoy a
stirring recital of one of the most heroic assaults
in history will nd in the same volume an account
of the storming of Acoma in 1 599 by seventy Span
,

ACOM A AN D

20

I TS FI E S TA

rock manned by four hundred Indian

warriors was considered as impre gnable as Gi b r al
tar now is but the Spanish took it though every
man of them who was not killed was wounded
L i ke al l the New M exico pueblos excepting
Z u ni Acoma is a cure of the R oman C atholic
C h ur ch and is endowed with a patron saint
T o the average Sightseer the most i n
Stephen
t er es ti ng time to visit the old town i s on the

occasion of this Saint s feast the F iesta de San

E steban which occurs annually on September 2 d
Sy lvia and I engaged a L aguna Indian to drive us
over on the day before and when our tea m o f little
grey ponies their ancient harness held thriftily
together with baling wire landed us at the foot
of the Acoma cliff s we were greeted by E dward
H unt a large good -humoured Acoma Indian who
had picked up a Q uakerish name a fair knowled g e
of E nglish and Am erican ways enough to make
him think that a trader s store at the foot of
Acoma would be an agreeable and protable
vehicle I n which to make the journey of life T o
him we unfolded our plan Of spendin g a few day s
in the village and asked if he coul d help us to rent
a house up in the pueblo
i ar d s

Th e

ACOM A AN D

I TS FI E S TA

21

No he thought no one had any and smiled

geni ally ; and then seeing our disappointment
perhaps he turned more hopeful and added :

Well you eat your lunch and I guess I have to

go with you peoples pretty soon up the mesa and
look around Y o u wait awhile Pretty soon I

come again
With that he disappeared into the recesses of his

little ad obe half store half dwelli ng

We ate our luncheon and knowing something
from experience of the leisurely ways of the r e d
brother we did not hurry throu gh it T hen a
bit of s i es ta and s o into the store to look about for
T hrough a door he was discovere d in
E dward
the next room in the midst of his family chang
ing his Shirt H e smiled at us benignantly and
remarked :

Pretty soon I come

Y o u wait

We waited twenty v e minutes by the watch

At the end of that time he came out and
glanced leisurely around the store picked up a
large grey s om br er o adorned with a magnicent
hat -band s et it ca refully on his raven locks viewed
himself in a Sq uare inch or two of mi rror that hung
behind the door took one more last look slowly
,

ACOM A AN D

22

I TS FI E S TA

around the store went into the next room chatted

with his wife patted one of the children on the
head and then stepping fort h into the sunshine
o b served as though we had been keeping him
waiting :

Y o u ready ? Le t 5 go
l o hours had been thus consum ed in getting
E dward under way but three more went into the
maw of time before our lodging was found T h e
way of our aboriginal house hunt was this :
F irst E dward had to pause at the top o f the
trail light a ci garette and pass the time of day
with a knot of his cronies who were sunning them
selves at the brink of the broad rock where three
centuries agone their assembled ancestors spat
deance at the King of Spain T hen when pro
gress was resumed and we were really within the
pueblo friendly faces would peer out of sundry
doorways and the sociable E dward leaving us to
s i t on the steps and distribute candy to the children
who were trooping after us with murmurs of
i
would
disappear
within
a
house
where
t
e
s
o
o
g
we would descry him smoking more cigarettes and
passing more tim e o f day Emerging after a
whi le he woul d smile his kind indul gent smile
,

'

ACOM A AND

I TS

FIE STA

23

and remark as though communi cating the best

news in the world

Well he say No ( he being the woman of

M ebbe better luck some other

the house)

houses I don know L et s go !

And so to another house and another all to no
purpose ; for it seemed that because of the es ta
the hospitality of Acoma was
o n the morrow
taxed to the physical limit for the accommoda tion
who took precedence over the white
o f friends
strangers It looked as though we Shoul d have to
roll up in our blankets on the rock
At last we had exhausted the town and stood
o n the outskirts overlooking the ancient Spanish
church with its two -century -old balcony E d
w ard s roving eyes settled upon it as a last hope
and he observed insinuatingly :

Wel l what you say that porch way up on

T hat s pretty good place
no ?
the church ?
M ebbe the Governor he let you have that porch

What you say ?

We could hardly believe we were not drea m ing
T o have off ered us for our ver y own a balcony
overlooking al l Acoma the E nchanted M esa and

the sunrise a balcony with an ancient hand

,

ACOM A AN D

24

FIE STA

I TS

carved wooden railing around it as Sylvia had

observed the balcony of o ne of the most famous

churches in the N ew World famous because

every stick and ad obe brick in it had been carried
up the dizz y trails bit by bit from the plain three
h u ndred feet below on Indians weary backs and
because the church had been as long a bui lding
as the children of Israel were in getting out of the
wilderness i t was like a fairy tale to us and of

course we said Y es

L et us go ! said E dward
And so to the G overnor s T here we all sat
gravel y down as to the discussion of an inter
national m od u s vi vendi and after rolling a cigarette
apiece the G overnor and E dward launched out
upon a p ou r par l er which came with the Shadows
o f evening to this happy conclusion as interpreted
to us by E dward :

T h e G overnor he say church belong to all th e

people ; but you say what you worth to sleep there
two or three days and he be satised What yo u

say ?
We parried this by asking E dward what he
thou ght was ri ght and it was nally arranged
that we sho ul d pay fty cents to the Governor
,

A COM A AN D

I TS

FIE STA

25

for the rent fty cents to a friend of E dward s

who had a burro and would bring up our bundles
of blankets provisions and two cots and fty
cents to the G overnor s niece to bring us water
every morning in an Indian jar balanced on her
head as one sees in pictures
We were awakened at dawn the next morning
by the hollow voice of the tom b or o i cial dr um
and the stentorian tones of the public crier as he
walke d up one street and down another anno u nc

ing the exercises of the day at least we assum ed

this to be the purport of his words whi ch were in
the native to ngu e and by the time the su n had
risen all Acoma was astir B lankets and beds
were being shaken out from the upper roofs where
many had slept the night before Syrian fashion
under the glowing stars ; res were sending up their
smoke straight into the delicious air of the New
M exico morning ; girls with water jars poised upon
their heads climbed ladders to the upper terraces
and di sappeared into various houses
Into our
own airy balcony cam e the G overnor s niece and
silently setting do wn a brimming ti naja in one
corner as Silently depart ed C ertain fragrances
that rose from beneath us indicated that the pad r e
,

ACOM A AN D

26

I TS F I E S TA

whose apartments were immediately under o ur

balcony and who had arrived sometime during the
watches o f the night was prefacing his spiritual
labours with a substantial breakfast We met him

later in the morni ng a rotund little Spanish m an

jovial ly disposed by nature but that day sallow
and hollow eyed having it seems supped on
canned caviare and s u ff ered a colic during the
ni ght

B u t it was a sick p ad r e my friends

he said

sadly with a kindly shake of our hands that was

beneath you last night that detest caviare

,

b ah !

T he

rst order of the day at these Pueblo

es ta s of the saints is always the mass in the
church ; this apparently atones in advance for the
pa gan features which make up the b ul k of the day s
doings It was a pictures q ue throng that assem
bled before the church that sunny September
morning and upon which we looked down from

our balcony such a Sight indeed as one would

hardl y think possible in these U nited States O n
every hand mingling with the Indians were
swarthy M exica ns their wive s and chil dren decked
out in wondrous eff ects of green yellow white

T h e to m b b ea ter , A

co m a

F i es t a

of

San E s te

an.

I TS FI E S TA

ACOM A AN D

27

and red T he Acomas were in divers sorts of

raim ent : there were the rich progressives in broad
b r i rnm ed s om br er os set squarely on their heads
which with their plain faces gave them somewhat
of a Q uaker appearance T o a man this group
wore clean boiled Shirts black trousers open
black waistcoats without a coat and u nco m p r o
m i s i ngl y stiff new brogans enca sing their feet
T hei r bright new ba nd as wound about their hea ds
were the onl y visible remnants of the di stinctive
Pueblo dress and these were apparent onl y when
the men eased their heads by carrying their hats
in their hands In contrast to this group were
the hatless rich conser v atives resisters o f the
American invasion clad in Shirts that hung out
side app i ng white trousers with ample red
garters with tassels wound about their knee s F o r
the most part too they were enveloped in blankets
of strik ing designs wherein like as not a baby
was carried while the wife arrayed in Short
P ueblo sk i r t gorgeous leg moccasins s i lver neck
lace and Sil ver bracelets followed close behind
M ingling with these folk in gala attire were many
of the poorer sort clad in their every day overalls
and such scraps of clothing Am erica n and P ueblo
.

ACOM A AN D

28

I TS FI E S TA

their poverty might vouchsafe them B u t

everyone who coul d aff ord it had a new band a
about his hea d
Am ong the crowd too were wo lSh -looking
N av ajo s draped in gay blankets of their own
weaving thus displayed for sale and thou gh
hereditary enemies of the P ueblos come to barter
and pick up such loaves and shes as the day
mi ght vouchsaf e them And here too were In
dians from far Isleta Pueblo farmer folk with
baskets of fruit for sa le T here were loose clust ers
of sweet M ission grapes pears and persimmon
like plums and luscious peaches that reminded us
of the white O ctober peaches of the E ast ; and
there were long yellow muskm elons and little
round wat erm elons the size of one s head Very
gifts of the gods were these fruits to dwellers in
that sunburnt dewless plain of Acoma and none
remai ned unsold
After all that wo ul d had been drummed to
Church th e services there came to a close T hen
thron gin g out into the sunli ght the people form e d
in procession the image of Saint Stephen in th e ir
midst with mushroom halo and wooden hands
raised in blessing and marched about the village

as

The

mel o n s ell er s Ac o m a
,

on

San E s teb an d ay

ACOM A AN D

I TS FI E S TA

29

to the accompaniment of clanging bells from the

belfry the ring of muskets to keep o ff the devil
and the solemn chanting of a hundred reverent
voices So to a rustic shrine of corn plants and
leafy cottonwood branches which had been erected
for the occasion H ere deposited Saint Stephen
received that day with two old In di ans sitting at
the doorway of the S hrine to keep o ff errant swine
and other godless interlopers H ither for hours
the devout came bringing baskets heaped hi gh
with thank off erings which were tendered on

bended knee and left lying at hi s feet melons

peaches and corn chili peppers and candles and
brown loaves of fresh bread T he Saint would
have none go hungry on his day and at frequent
intervals basketfuls were handed out to the m ul ti
tude or thrown high into the air to be scrambled for
T o the visitors the main event was the Indian
dance L ong before F ray Juan R amirez ca me to
Acoma the people held festivals of prayer off ered
a
a
n
w
i
s
e
P
to
the
owers
bove
for
the
gift
of
A
g
p
rain and festivals of thanksgiving for harvests
vouchsafed T h e hea rt of Acoma is still warm to
its old love and the C hurch indulges it in such
o f the i rnm em o r i al practices as are innocent
of
,

ACOM A AN D

30

FIE STA

I TS

o ff ence against decent living So no feast day is

complete without i ts dance in ancient costume
Shortly after noon the dul l thumping of a
to m b was heard from an unseen q uarter and
streaming down from the upper stories of certain
houses came the dancers who formed in two line s
and to the chanting of a choir of Indian men
moved in step an inch at a time toward the
T h e men dancers were stripped to
Saint s b ooth
th e waist their faces and bodies painted in fantas
tic fashion while from neck and shoulders waist
and ankles depended all sort s of tinkling and gay
ornam ents T wigs of live spruce were thrust in
their head dresses wristlets and arm -bands and in
their hands were rattle s made of gourds with
pebbles within T h e re was no sign of levity for
this was a religious rite hallowed to the tribe by
ancestral usage and doubtless more rea l to them
than those morning services in the church Th e
women dancers had sweet shy faces and their
T heir costumes
eyes were modestly downcast
were very brilliant in colour and had the special
distinction of a curious head dress consisting of a
large painted board set upright and cut into Shapes
of s y mbolic signica nce
.

W o m en d ancer s

om a

F i e s ta

of

San E s te b an

ACOM A AN D

All the hot

I TS

FIE STA

31

afternoon the dancers

kept step to the choiring until the s u n sank low
in the heavens T hen suddenly the S inging
ceased and the dancers breaking ranks crowded
a b out the Saint s booth and knelt for a moment in
silent adoration before his image Th e booth was
then stripped of its green ; the ima ge was brought
out ; the faithful candl es in hand again formed
in procession and amid the ringing of the church
bells and the ring of guns as in the morning the
precious relic was borne back to its niche in the old
church and the feast of Saint Stephen was over
,

September
,

Ch
Of wh

ll U

nd

Tu

p te

e r

th

ne d

111
Ro

C l i ff D w

o
e

Ac o m a

lle

r s

nd

N quest of a new experience we took a hint from

a band of N av ajo s who had encamped among
some rocks islanded in the plain a quarter of a
mile or s o from the foot of the Acoma cliff s and
when the y struck camp on the night of the es ta
we moved down T o watch our goods for us
during a b sences from our camp and to bring us
water the redoubtable E dward secured us the
services at the stipend of a dollar a day of one
C arlitos an Acoma man who was admittedly

ignorant of E nglish but held to be very honest

Night had fallen when C arlitos having brought
down our last bundle from the pueblo bade us
ad i o s
T h e moon shining amid cloud drift r e
vealed far out on the plain the outlines of the
B edouin Cavalcade of departing Navajos cantering
into the desert and gave u s tf ul light as we
,

2
3

UNDE R ACOM A S R O CK

33

spread o ur blankets and set our sky roofed house

in order We had a small alcohol lamp whi ch we
lighted to boil water for a cannikin of tea and
opening a tin of sardines and a box of crackers we
prepared to discuss a bit of sup per before turning
-

in

Suddenl y

the quiet was disrupted by a blood

chilling yell which rose from b ehind a gigantic
rock close b y T he can opener dropped from my
nerveless ngers and Sylvi a s face blanched T hen
nea rer and if possible more
another scream
demoniac and before we coul d form a connected
theory as to what the fearful outcry mea nt there
staggered into a strip of moonl ight before u s a
Navajo crazy with whiskey H e was too blind
drunk to see us and plunged stumbling past us
down to the edge of some rocks where we dimly
made o u t the gure of an Indian woman gaunt and
black holding two poni es Stopping the reeling
man she succeeded in steering him to one o f the
horses and got hi m into the sa d dl e T hen mount
ing the other herself the two rode o ff at a mad run
side by side he still whooping devilishl y at inter
vals and she silently steadying him with one
hand until to o ur intense relief the night s wal
,

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

34

lowed them up It was o ur rst experience o f the

wretched aftermath of many Indian es tas when
whiskey is apt to be smuggled in by boot leggers
B u t there was more to come
H ardl y had the
crazy yelling died away in the di stance when we
heard the clatter of hoofs and where the woman
had b een three horsemen now were reining in their
br oncos
T hey too we coul d s ee were Navajos
and to our discomfort were looking intently our
way T hey hallooed something we did not under
stand and then two dismounting walked rather
u nsteadily towards us
Stepping close to us they
evilly surveyed our little tenderfoot camp with
its cots and alcohol lamp and all and muttered
something among themselves in their pagan
jargon
T hough our hearts thumped unmerciful ly I am
inclined to thi nk we outwardly bore ourselves
tranquilly I know Sylvia arranging crackers on
a tin plate was as compose d as Werther s C har
lotte sprea ding b read and butter
T hen the less drunk of the two growled out

somethin g that sounded like N avajo John

W ell N avaj o John said I putting up a bold

front what do you want ?

.

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

35

Navajo John ? he repeated interrogatively

this tim e I noticed and making an ugly dr unken
lunge forward with a heavy emphasis on the
John

said Sylvia
are the N av ajes
H e mea ns

gone O h do tell him that they are !

I did in E ngli sh in Spanish and i n an attempt
at the Sign language pointing out the di rection
they had taken
B y this time however the red brethren were
more interested in us and our ca mp than in pur
suing their d eparted company Th e light of the
alcohol lamp attracted their bleary gaze and had
to be maundered over between them o ne of them
Skeptically thr usting his nger into the tenuous
ame before believing in the power of its heat
T hey ngered our soft down q uilts with a kind of
awe and they tripped over the hidden leg of one
of the cots and that had then to be looked oriti
cally into T hi nking to hasten their departure
Sylvia plied them with soda -crackers and if it had
not been for the t hi rd man with the horses who
now began hallooing to them out of the inter
mittent moonlight they would have probably
spent the night with us AS it was they yielded
,

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

6
3

at last to their comrade s importuning and

motioning for soda crackers for him they at last
made o ff

And now said I as the trio galloped away

we 11 do what the P ueblos have had to do from

the dawn of time because of these pestiferous

N av ajo s ; we 11 turn cliff dwellers

While there had still been daylight I had
noticed hi gh up in the face of a cliff near us which
was a spur of the Acoma M esa a shallow cave
half hidd en behind a g reat boul der A sand dune
had formed below it and drifted gradually upward
till its summit owed into the cave and rendered
the latter easily accessible O ne camping th ere
would have a wide outlook over the plain and at
the same time be remote from the pathway of
travel to and from Acoma T hither with small
labour we quickly transport e d our blankets our
cots and ourselves leaving other thi ngs to b e
looked after by C arlitos when he should arrive in
the morning ; and settling down behind our bul
wark boulder we sought sleep
It was a troublous
night however ; for although no more N av ajo s
Came in the esh to disturb us our excited fanci e s
ersisted
in
ling
the
rocky
space
with
their

l
p
,

UNDE R ACOM A S R O CK

37

skulking forms and the echoes of their endish

yells ; and when the stars faded in the whi te dawn
our eyes were still unshut
We had however unwittingly stumbled upon

the most enjoyable way of doing Acoma An

ancient church balcony though enclosed by a
genuine antique hand -carved rail and with the
G overnor s ni ece to serve you with water in a
decorated Indian jar is undeniably romantic ; but
it is stri ctly speaking more of a sta g e property
than a permanent apartment for light housekeep
ing It is besides very public B u t camping as
we now did with C arlitos on guard by day and
our Cl iff chamber to sleep in by night (for the
disturbing spectres did not come again ) we had
all the privacy we wanted coul d mount the trail
to the village whenever we s o desired and at the
same time saw some phases of the happy life of
the L and of the T erraced H ouses which otherwise
we shoul d have missed
N 0w for the rst time we ca me to know the
spell of the E nchanted M esa silhouetted against
the sk y four miles away and melting from colour
to colour in the changing lights of the day s pro

gres s now clothed in indescribable tones of pink

,

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

38

of red and of yellow and again when storm clouds

hovered over it paling to an unea rthly white
Th e changes were often in the twinkling of an eye
We woul d avert our faces for a moment and when
we looked again a new glor y dwelt there M ost
enchanting was the M esa when invested in the
delicate hues of dawn those evanescent tints
which born of the su n cannot look on their lord

and live prophets of his co m ing who perish in his

ineff able presence E very morning as we looked
towards the ushing east from our gate in the
cliff our hearts san g an involuntary jubilate and
we coul d not wonder that the Pueblos re gard the
n
D
as the house of the
ivine
su
Su n worship
seems one of the most natural of religions and it is

no credit to our advanced civilisation that we

have ceased to pray at ever y dawn and to marvel
at the fresh miracle of the sunrise
With the dawn too the birds which shared our
cliff with us waked and aft er divers sleepy chirp
in g s ew abroad to the business of their day ;
certain ner vous little animals in grey coats that
we knew not peered out from behind stones and
rocks and scampered away in the sands and
B rother C oyote far out on the owery plain
,

UNDE R ACOM A S R O CK

yelped his matin notes just a s he di d in the youth

of the world when he and the Pueblo folk spoke
one tongue
With the risen sun Acoma men singly or in
pairs afoot or ahorseback woul d come by on
their leisurel y way to the co m el d s in the plain
O ften a s they went their joy in the morning
woul d nd vent in songs quaint aboriginal
melodies pitched high almost like Swiss yodels
one strain repeated over and over D escending
to our Navaj o rocks for breakfast we woul d nd
C arlitos sitting by the bucket of fresh water which
he had just brought enjoying his matutinal
cigarette C arlitos stock of E nglish as has been
stated was negligible In fact it consisted s o

far as we coul d ascertain of H ello ! picked up

from the courteous diction of the frontier white

pop ul ation and Y es which complaisant mono

syllable we fou nd he was prone to u se s o indis
crim inately as to be a pitfall to E nglish -spea king
inquirers who did not know hi s ways L ike most
New M exican Pueblos however he knew Spanish
and it was thus we communi ca ted with him And
s o we would say to C arlitos seat e d by the bucket

B u enos di a s
and he wo ul d smilingly reply
.

UND ER ACOM A S R OCK

0
4

d i as

and the intercourse of the day wa s

pleasantly begun
O ur ca mp was a feature that attracted all
passers -b y and there was none who did not call
on us
O ur rst visitors were two old men in
apping cotton pantaloons and moccasins T hey
were en route for wood and rabbits for one bore
an axe on his shoulder and the other had a bow
and a quiver full of arrows slung at his back T hey
shook hands all around and without furth er
formality sank on their haunches like O rientals ;
then rolling a cigarette apiece they proceeded to
gossip with C arlitos in the soft tones which the
Pueblo religion teaches that the gods commend
not only in women but in men also After a
decent length of time they rose to go when their
keen eyes spied one of Sylvia s water-colour draw
ings representing a street in Acoma T hey caught
it up eagerly and hung over it for a long time
oh -ing and ah -ing tracing the lines of the houses
with their pointing ngers disputing together ap
r
n
about
certain
features
which
were
not
a
e
t
l
p
y
clear to them ; and ending up with a laugh all
around they departed in high good humour
When we sought to learn from C arlitos what the
B

u eno s

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

1
4

turmoil all meant he mildly observed that they

thought the picture m a cho bu eno

T h e pictures
indeed were a drawing card with all our visitors
but even more astonishing than pictures was a
nickel -plated collapsible cup the fame of whose
magical way of appearing and disappea ring spread
abroad P erhaps it wil l be incorporated in Acoma
traditions and some twenty f th century folk
l o r i s t will think he has found in the story of it
another moon eclipse or su n myth
It was interesting to us to note in all our I ndian
callers what we afterwards found to be character

i s ti c of unspoiled P ueblos that they never begged

and never lounged If C arlitos was absent they
woul d si t awhile in digni ed silence as though to

be companionable then say adi os and move on

about their business ; but there was no suggestion
T hey
o f the loafer s attitude while they stayed
were prodigal of time but did not kill it If we
off ered them anything to eat or drink as we gener
ally did they woul d receive it gravely and either
consume it on the spot or stow it away in their
clothing Some things we found were not to their
liking ; but salty things such as bacon or sa lt
crackers they found very tasty and above all did
,

UNDE R ACOM A S R OCK

2
4

sweets appeal to them candy or sugar or a bit of

preserve A half -emptied tin of sweetened con
d ensed milk which we handed to a couple of
women one day seemed a special treat O ne
marked with her nger on the ca n what would be
half the cont ents and after dri nk ing to the line
handed the remainder to her companion to nish
This act illustrated anoth e r point we found

characteristic of Indian nature the practice of

sharing with one another E ven our half-shot
N av ajo s had done that with their soda crackers
Small Indian adventures these you will say but
they served to endear to us these gentle Pueblos
whose childli ke ways seem in keeping with the
present era of peace that has settled on our Indian
country ; and when our L aguna boy came to take
us back to the railroad we felt a little as though
we were leaving home
.

Ch
Of

th

Pu

blos

I s l e ta ;

f th

nd h

ap

te

Ra i l r

IV

M a nu

i n th

o a
e

l C

Su n

Si d
a r

pio

L a gu n a

nd

S a ng

wil l nd them both rather prosy after

Acoma ; but if you want a g limpse of
Pueblo lif e at a mi nim um of exertion to
yourself you may have it at either L aguna or
Isleta T hese are both sta tions on the Santa F
R ailway and the traveller has but to step from
the train and walk a few rods to be within either
pueblo
If you know a bit of Spanish you will remember
that l agnna means a lagoon or lake and you
wonder at such a nam e for this V il lage founded
on a rock -bou nd knoll with not even a duck pond
in the surrounding plain It seems however that
in olden times there was really a marshy lake
there due originally to the constriction o f the
channel of the n eighbouring little R i o de San Jos
OU

43

L AG UN A

44

AN D

I SL E TA

by a lava - o w supplemented by the work of

beavers which industriously dammed the nar
rows T he river waters thus held back sprea d
out in the form of a lagoon and hither about the
end of the seventeenth century came certain
pioneering P ueblos from various vill ages in the
neighbourhood of Santa F and set up a new pueblo

which was call ed and is still called in the L aguna

tongue Kow -ike meaning they say a lake T his

unmusical name did not suit the Spanish who
when they visited the pueblo to exact its oath of
vassalage to his C atholic C aesarian M ajesty the

San Jos de la
King of Spain redubbed it
L aguna
T h e proximity of humanity was not
agreeable to the beavers which in the course of
time levant e d and left their dams to the P ueblos
to maintain As the latt er liked the lake they
accepted the legacy of the beavers and kept up the
dams for several generations About half a cen
tury ago however internal dissension developed
in the community and while the disputing con
ti nu ed the co mm unal work was neglected When
peace returned the lake was gone for ever
vanished through breaches unrepaired
L agu na en j o y s the distinction of being the rst
,

L AG UN A

AN D ISL E TA

45

pueblo to have had a white teacher appointed to it

b y the U ni t e d States G overnment T hat was in
1 8 7 1 and this pu e b lo has ever since been pretty
much under the thumb of the white educationists
A white man R obert G M armon was even
elected governor of the pueblo at one tim e and
under the irreverent hand of Am erican domi nation
o ne old -time custom after another has been swept
into the ash bin Whatever essential good if any
may have accrued to L aguna from all this it
cannot be said that it has helped L aguna s man
n ers if the experience of Sylvia and myself is any
criterion ; for in no other pueblo were we so
thoroughly given the cold sho ul der as here and
we visited it several times
Sour looks and
turned backs were the features of our reception at
most houses instead of the smile and hospita ble

entr a
which the average P ueblo extends to a
visitor

O h yes we v e spoiled them both wi th ill

considered philanthropy and continually dum ping
i rnp er ti nent tourists on them from the railroad

here to pester them out of their lives remarked

an artist whom we encountered at the outskirts
of t h e vi llage at work under a big umbrella ; f o r
.

L AG UN A

6
4

AN D ISLE TA

with its rambling hilly streets and sky ey

V istas i s full of pictures que b its for the folk of the

brush ; if I were king for a day I d have a tight

stockade built about every pueblo and put St
Peter at the gate to keep out all school teachers
and missionaries whatsoever and every tourist
who had not passed a previous examination in
good manners
T o Isleta the railway pays the especial compli
ment of there stopping even its transcontinental
limited trains and travellers are thus aff orded a
leisurely look at the pueblo and an opportunity to
buy potter y and frui t from the picturesque Isleta
girls who at train time ock about the station
platform with their commodities Th e I sl eteo s
are enterprising traff ickers and in a small way
commercial travellers Not depending on the
La guna

mai n p uebl o of Laguna these I ndi ans m ai n

tai n hal f a d ozen far mi ng vi ll ag es i n th e nei g h b o ur h oo d v i z :
Sea ma Pahu ate Par aje M esi ta C asa B l anca and Santana
es t ab li sh e d to enabl e th e pe o p l e t o b e near c er ta i n tr ac ts o f
c u l ti vated l and The jur i s di cti o n of the go ver no r and co u ncil
at L agu na e x tend s o ver all th e s e o u tl y i ng v i l lag e s
th e i n
habi tants o f whi ch co nsi d er th e m o ther pu eb l o thei r o ffi ci al
h o me and r ep ai r thi th er f r o m ti m e to ti m e f o r th e jo i nt cel eb r a
ti o n o f nati ve r eli gi o u s ce r em o ni es
1 am i nd eb ted to J o hn M
G u nn of L agu na f o r sever al fa cts as to th e p ueb l o and i ts hi sto r y
gi ven in thi s chapter
B esi des thei r

Po tter

s el l er ,

I sl eta

L AG UN A

AN D ISLE TA

47

buyers that come to them they quite regularly

make up bundles of the small pottery knickknack
ery which tourists love and boarding the train
travel up to Albu querque where the chances of
sale are more numerous than at Isleta Isleta
pottery by the way is o nl y good enough for
tourists Th e clay of the neighbourhood is not of
the kind that makes r s t-class ware and s o for
their own u s e the Isletas buy the j ars of Acom a
In a land of p oco ti em p o like New M exico there
are more appropriate methods of travel than by
train and if you are at Albuquerque and have a
day and six or seven dollars to spare you will be
doing the sensible thing by getting a team put
ting a luncheon in your pocket and driving the
dozen m iles or s o to the pueblo D o not have a
driver ; there is no danger of mi ssing the way and
I never knew a hired dr iver yet that did not spoil

a trip he is always in such haste to get it over

Th e road is a broad highway ski rting the W ide
waters of the Ri o Grande and is one of the most
picturesque i n all the South -West p ar ticul arly in
the late autumn when the gr eat cottonwoo ds
i n their yellow g lory are lifted against the blue
sk y l ike gold on tur q uois e
,

L AG UN A

48

AN D ISLE TA

one morning through the delicious O ctober

sunshine di d Sylvia and I fare to Isleta traversing
a typical New M exico farming country where
drying chili -peppers streaked the landscape with
scarlet and ragged shepherds tended bands of
sheep
Now and again we jogged through quaint
a d o be villages
mellowed by time s kindly touch
and e mbowered in trees and shrubbery ; and where
a bout the store porches groups of M exicans were
lounging pictures q uely in the genial sunshine and
perhaps thinking a bit of what they should do on
the morrow ; for that day was too good to waste in
w ork O ther travellers passed us on the way to
Albuquerque and men driving bu r r os laden with
boxes of country produce touched their hats to

us and wished us B u enos d i as

O nce a M exican

w edding party led past u s a string of buggies

farm waggons and other nondescript vehicles In
the lead were the bride and gr oom in a buggy to
themselves she looking seriously into a bouquet
in her hand and he silently regarding the road
between the horse s ears while the end of the pro
cession was brought up by an open spring waggon

in which the orchestra a violin a ute and a

guitar sat in chairs and weightily smoked ci gar

So ,

L AG UN A

AN D

ISLE TA

49

It was a taciturn company al together and

we wondered if there had been a hitch in the pro
cee di ngs or if it was the fashion w ith M exican
weddings to begin thus solemnly
I t was the time of the corn harvest and we found
I sleta literally buried under the drying ears of
many colours spread out to su n upon the roofs
and in the little pla zi ta s before the houses each
l
a
i
t
a
w
i
th
a
neat
pathway
to
the
door
left
in
z
p
the midst of the corn We asked a woman looking
out from a doorway for permission to photograph
her y ard ful l of corn and sh e nodde d acqui e scence
backi ng into the shadow of the room As we
wanted her also in the picture we invit e d her into
the light ; but s he still held back American -like
I thought sh e wanted to be paid

D i ez centavos
said I holding o u t a dime

from the darkness

N o qu i er o

D os r eal es
I bid up showing a quarter

1 no wish
repeated the darkness
T h e n Sylvia stepped into the doorway and
ta king a seat that was hospitably proff ered
explained carefully our desire to make the picture
complete with an Isleta gure T hen the truth
came out T h e woman it seems did not live in
r i tos

L AG UN A

0
5

AN D ISLE TA

that house ; sh e was onl y a visitor and it was not

right for her to have her picture taken in another
woman s house B y and by the other woman
woul d come home and maybe she woul d let us
photograph her in the door ; for it was her own
house and that wo ul d be proper

B u t me no
concluded the woman in a tone
that showed further parley hopeless
O n its architectural side I sleta differs markedly
from the conventional pueblo being b ui lt liberally
over a wide space with great trees in and around
it and the houses as a rule are of but one story
instead of bein g terraced T hey are neat and
com fortable homes furnished more or less on the
American plan with bedsteads tables and chairs
and now and then a chest of drawers In most
however an Indian avour is preserved by Navaj o
rugs spread upon the oors or folded as mattresses
upon benches ext endin g along the whitewashed
walls T he I sl et eo s are a thrifty community
and everything about their pueblo b etokens it
Proud and independent they are neverthel e ss
not averse to Am erican innovations of a certain
sort when convinced of their suitability to Isleta
and they know as much as you and I about mow

L AGUN A

AN D

I SLE TA

1
5

in g
machines for instance and baling alfalfa L ike
all Pueblos they work literall y night and day
when the crops demand it ; when nothing is pressing
they have abundant leisure and know how to
enjoy it
T his explains our nding old M anuel C arpio
seated in his American chair in the sunshine of his
l
a
z
i
t
a
singing an aboriginal ditty at midday
p
H i s corn was all in the house ; his melons were
sliced and dr ying on the roof or jacketed in yucca
strips and swinging from the rafters indoors to
e
l
k ep ti l winter ; his chili peppers were sunning in a
vivid row above the door ; and had not his wife at
that very moment fo u r fat sacks of whea t safe in
the little black storeroom where her wafer-bread
stones were s et ? T here was something to sing
a b out ; why shoul d he not sing ? Seein g u s looking
through his bit of wicket gate he beckoned us
within called to hi s wif e to fetch two more chairs
and proceeded to nd out as well as our lame
Spanish wo ul d let him where we ca me from
where we were going and how much Sylvia
woul d take for the fur boa which She wore about
her shoul ders and which was evidently very
lovely in the ey es of both M anuel and his
,

'

L AG UN A

2
5

AN D ISLE TA

spouse for their ey es glistened as they handed

it from one to the other stroking it lon gingly
We shall alway s think of Isleta as a very honest
place ; for on leaving the C arpio home Sylvia
forgot the boa and before she had discovered the
loss behold M artinita running lau ghingly down
the street after us holding out the coveted article
in her hand H er Pueblo nature had merely seen
a great joke in what another might have seized
as an opportunity for theft of a coveted treasure
,

I sl eta has b een g i ven a s p eci al pl ace i n l i ter atu r e thr o u gh the
d el i gh tfu l s to r i es o f C h ar l es F L u mm i s wh o s p ent s o m e y ear s
a s a n i nh a b i tant o f th e v il l a g e and h a d u nu su al o pp o r tu ni ti es to
b e co m e a c qu ai nte d wi th th e i nne r l i f e o f th i s m o st i nter es ti ng
p eo pl e W i th u nu su al s ym p ath y he h as gi ven e xp r essi o n to thi s

i
l fe i n s ev er a l o f hi s b o o k s no tabl y A N ew M exi co D avi d and
.

P uebl o I nd i a n F ol k Stor i es

Ch
o f th
a

Th

r e e

nd So m

Pu

blo

wh

p te
f th

V
Je m

f J o h n Pa u l ,

R iv

e z

th

e r

wh

e a

ll e y

was a little after seven on a frosty O ctober

morni ng when the O verland deposited me at
B ernalillo and I looked into the welcoming
Spanish face of Juan P ablo C abeza de Vaca who
was there in response to my telegram sent the day
before
Nearby stood his team of two natty
little mares and an open buggy Juan Pablo
himself was attired in his Sunday best and wore a
new wide -brimmed s om br er o with a wonderful
hat band H e was about to make ten dollars
or possibly fteen and the occasion warranted
some outlay for personal adornment

L ittle cold weather this morning

he observed

You
aff ably as we climbed into the buggy

L
want to Jeme z
no ?

I answered : Y es by way of Santa Ana and Si a

T

c ed

Pr o nou n

Ha

mess

53

JE M E Z VAL L E Y

54

P UE B L OS

he rep l ied pulling on hi s gauntlets

L et s go !
and picking up the lines
T rotting jauntily through the wide leisurely
streets of the picturesque old county town where
no one was yet stirring past the court -house and
down the shady lane behind the pad r e s we came
o u t upon a bleak little b ri dge that here spans the
treacherous current of the Ri o Grande C rossing
upon this and climbing a steep grade we topped a
broad m esa sunburnt and wind -swept T here
before u s mile upon mile stretched white desert
sands and far on the north horizon C abezon
lifted his dim round head by the Ri o P uerco of the
N av ajo s
Somewhere at o ur backs along the wi llow
fringed river not far from where we had crossed
C oronado s army three hundred and seventy
years ago spent their rst N ew M exico winter
quartering themselves in an Indian pueblo from
which the inh abitants were ob l iged to turn out and
double up with their friends in an adjoining villa g e
Accordi ng to the Spanish chronicles there were
at that time a dozen pueblos in that vicinity the
largest being known as T i gu ex Th e result of an
idl e army of adventurers wintering in their midst
B

u eno ,

JE M E Z VAL LE Y

P UEB L OS

55

what the reader of American history will know

without being told r s t rapine and ravishment

by the whites then retaliation by the outraged
P ueblos and nally a wholesal e slaughter of In
dians to teach the re st a lesson
C oronado s lieutenant Al varado the rst white
man to s ee the T i gu ex country which this O ctober
morning I looked down upon de scri b ed the region

as a broad plain b y the river

sown with corn

plants
a description measura b ly apt to -day as
Juan Pablo showed me P ointing with his whip
u p -stream where the river came owing out of the
east through y ellowing willows and cottonwoods
as between ribbons of g old he said

Y o u s ee some corn sta l ks ? T hat is R anchito s

de Sant Ana the littl e ranches of Santa Ana you

sa y
Th e Sant Ana Indians they have a summer
pueblo there al on g th e riv er and raise everythin g
they eat because the old pueblo land back in the
desert where we go no good for crops T hey haul
everything back to the old pueblo to eat up in
wint er time ; then in the spring move down again
at th e rive r and raise some more Pretty soon we
s e e people hauling corn for old pueblo
After

while come winter

and Juan Pablo Shivered
was

JE M E Z VA LLE Y P UE BLOS

6
5

dramatical ly
and everybody from R anchitos
go to old pueblo for stay L ots of work that
makes no ? but what else can th ey do ? O ld
pue b lo good for stay in R anchitos good for

crops Y ou see ?
As we passed over the next hill and down into a
huge basin in the sand dunes waterless as Sahara
Juan Pablo s prediction was realised and we over
haul ed a train of laden Studebaker waggons at
which teams of scrawny Indian ponies were tugging
urged on by the cracking whips of half a dozen
picturesque P ueblos in apping shirts and red
band as plunging afoot through the sand alongside
T here was a joke in the situation somewhere and
Juan Pablo and the Indians bandied it about
among them with good humoured laughter until
we left them in the rear As the talk was an
unintelligible mixture of Indian and M exican I
could only guess how funny it was ; but doubtless
it was onl y a bit of the elemental joy of Childhood
which the P ueblo Indian never outgrows
In an hour our wheels were crunching over the
broad ats of the Jemez R iver at Santa Ana where
the white alkali frin ged the river side s like a snow
fall F ordi ng the thr ead of a stream we mounted
.

JE M E Z VAL L E Y P UEBLOS

57

the hi ll past the pictures que Spanish church and

halted in the d e serted pue b lo D oors were pad
locked wi ndows boarded up and the silence was s o
oppressive that even the barkin g of the mongrel
dogs whi ch are the senti nel s and scavengers of
every live Indian vi l lage would have b een wel
come

E verybody away at R anchitos like I said

Y o u like to walk around ?

obser v ed Juan P ablo
When I returned from an uneventful pasea r

Juan P ablo had found a gossip an old Indian who

it seems was the village caretak er i n the absence
o f the pop ul ation
H e appeared anything but
easy with our presence there even the solace of a
gift of tobacco failing to qui et him and when as
we were starting away I opened my kodak to take
a picture of the vill age es tufa hi s suspicions were
thoroughly awakened H e put his nger hesi ta t
i ngl y on the camera and leaning into the buggy
asked in excited Spani sh what we were doing

B r njeand o
repli ed Juan Pablo calml y
T h e poor Indi an leaped back as if he were shot
and inging his arms up cried with fear depicted
o n every line of his countenance :
,

Vamos

va mos , vam os !

JE M E Z VA LL E Y P UE BLOS

8
5

What 5 it all mean ? I asked of Juan P ablo

as we drove o ff
W hat did you tell him ?
T h e descendant of the C owhead grinned

H e want to know what you do with that

machine I told him you going to make witches
in the pueblo H e thought I was tell the truth

T hen he say get out !

and was scare
Which was to b e expected ; for b elief in witch
craft is as active an in uence among Pueblo In
dians to -day as it was amon g our own respected
forbears two or three centuries a go
T hat the Santa Anas shoul d shut up their pueblo
every sprin g and summer as a millionaire closes
his city hous e transport themselves bag and
baggage to their farming village by the river and
every autumn haul their gathered crops laboriously
across ten mil e s of sandy su n-scorched desert to
the pueblo again is a striki ng illustration of the
love of home ingrained in the Indian nature T o
the Y anke e mi nd the obvious dictate of common
sense would be to quit the worn out desert land
and settle permanently by the river where soil is
tillable and wat er ab undant T hat would mea n
however ,th e s everance of old associations sacred
and p ersonal which b ind their spirits mightily to

JE M E Z VAL L B

P UE BLOS

59

the crum bling old pueblo where the desert voices

call O f cour se the Pueblo under stress does

leave his dead the South West is marked with

ruined terraced towns which att e st his rovin g s
long centuries since ; b ut adverse circumstance h a s
not yet been strong enough to make the people
of Santa Ana a b andon the spot where their fathers
lived died and are buried T hither they retur n
not only with the winter frosts but on occasions
throughout the summer to bury their dead and
to render thanksgiving and praise to the gods of
their destinies
F rom Santa Ana it is si x miles or so of desert
i
travelling to S a perched upon a M oq ui like
promontory jutting out above the Jeme z R iver
T his is the most pathetic of all the pueblos for it
knows it is ghting extinction T he ground upon
which it stands is a barren hill strewn wi th dark
round stones of malpais and before it and below
extends the broad Jemez wash winding mile after
mile l eprous white with al kali among the dunes of
the desert F ar away on the north eastern horizon
stretches the long chain of the Jemez M ountains
with their romanc e of the C liff D wellers buried
cities and ancient shri nes of a vanished people
.

JE M E Z VALL E Y

6o

P UE B L OS

O nce among the nest and most populous of all

the pueblos according to the chroni cles of the
Conqu i s tad or es who set it down as C hia Si a is now
desolate its pop ul ation d wi ndled through wars
and epidemics to a b are hundred its buildings in
partial ruin and i ts light all but gone out AS we
drove in the G overnor a ne looking man in

orthodox P ueblo costume app i ng white cotton

trousers and cotton shirt worn blouse lik e outside
of them his head encircled with a red band a and
without a hat his feet encased in home made

moccasins came do wn to meet us and shook

hands hospitably M ost of the dwellings are
tenantless and to the casual visitor the place
seems hopelessly li feless and uninteresting Y et
here in moribund Si a a G over nment ethnologist
not long ago spent a year with the richest resul ts
enabling her to write one of the most illuminating
and readable scientic reports extant upon any of
the Pueblo communities
Apart from the pueblo at the foot of the m esa
stands a small American b uilding with a ags taff
before it betokenin g a schoolhouse G overnment
I ndian teachers in my experi ence are rather curt
,

The Si a ,

by M

ati l d a

Co x e Stev enso n

Y si d r o , G o v er no r

of

Si a , i n nat i

ve atti

re

JE M E Z VALLE Y

P UE B L OS

61

towards self invited visitors ; but the one at Si a to

my surprise proved to be a real lady who extended
me stranger that I was as cordial a welcome as
any Pueblo ever off ered me and that i s the best
praise I know M oreover sh e possessed unusual
qualication by virtue of sympathy with Pueblo
I ndian nature to teach thi s sensitive people

B u t it is sad business teaching here at Si a she

remarked
and watching the dying of a race
T hey are so reduced in numbers it is no longer
possible for them to keep up their institutions and
their heal thf ulness in the way their traditions r e
quire them to do ; yet they would rather die out
as Sias than amalgamate with another pueblo
T h e Santa Ana people would like them to go
over there which would seem a sensible course
strengthening both peoples ; but the Sias cannot
brin g themselves to the surrender It shows a
ne sp irit I think and I ca nnot help honouring
them for it suicidal as it i s At evening as I si t
here on my porch looking up at the pueblo there
I often watch the old men walk along to that point
jutting into the river and there they stand for the
longest time looking pathetically out over the
desert and up and down the river until the dark
-

JE M E Z VAL L E Y

62

P UE B L OS

ness shuts down on them I always wonder w hat

their thoughts are : whether it is despair brooding

over a prosperous past for Si a was a great pueblo

once o r hope in some prom ised saviour of their

people whose coming may any time gladden their

eyes B u t I am afraid it is only despair

Th e su n was near its setting as our brisk little
team splashed through the swift waters of the
upper Jemez R iver seven miles beyond Si a and
bore us into Jemez Pueblo a homelike vil la g e
with a picturesque setting of mountains at its back
and a pleasant green valley dropping away before
it The peaceful evening scene was typica l P ueblo
T h e smoke from indoor res where the evening
meals were preparing rose straight from scores of
chimneys into the sweet still air ; fathers and
grandfathers sat at their doorways nursing little
red babies as tenderly as ever women did for to
the masculine Indian heart nothing is more pre
ci o u s than the dimpled esh of childhood ; girls
bearing water -jars upon their heads pattered into
the pue b lo from the river and g lad burros dis
charge d of their b urdens tripped it lightly into
their corrals In the street b efore many houses
men were chopping wood while from open doors
.

JE M E Z VALL B Y P UE B L OS

63

came the plea sant hum of the m eta te and the

fragrance of grinding corn ; and through all rippled
the soft laughter of romping children mingled
now and then with a scrap of song from some
grown -u p s lips
Jemez enj oys the blessing of a bountiful wat e r
supply which issues from the cati ons at its back
F ruit orchards and vineyards extend down to the
river side so that the m enu s of Jemez are as varied
as Isleta s and in good years there is a surplus of
agricultural products to sell T o the tourist a
picturesque feature of the pueblo is an establish
ment of F ranciscan B rothers set up here for the
conversion of the Indians both Pueblo and Navajo
in that corner o f New M exico T he B rothers
clad in their bro wn gowns and cowls and wea ring
the white cord o f the order around their waists
work in the elds and about the mission buildin g s
and help us to picture that early d ay o f the Spanish
occupancy which was for the avowed purpose o f

seeing that the I ndians should become C hristians

and know the true G o d for their L ord and H i s
M ajesty the King of Sp ain for their earthly
sovereign
In return for their spiritual ofces
the B rothers collect from the Indians a tax in kind
,

JE M E Z VALL E Y

64

P UE B L OS

that is chili wheat corn eta which is readily

converted into money at the trader s

T h e trader who has a room or two at the d i s
posal o f travellers was eloquent to me in hi s esti
mation o f his red cl i entele H e said that in the
thirty years he had lived in the neighbourhood
he had never heard of a man being killed in Jemez

pueblo a record not likely to be equalled in any

Am erican to wn of the same size he thought

O f cour se
he remarked
they have their
Spats ; but they talk it o u t make up and forget
about it When it comes to farming they ar e just
natural born farm ers and irrigators There was a
government farmer here paid to teach them ; but
he co ul d n t tell them much that wo ul d stick And
when it comes to work in irrigating land no whi te
man can stand up with them The I ndians just
take off all their clothes except a breech -clout and
wade ri ght in T here i s nothing about water that
buf faloes them and they don t want no dinky hoe
neither Why bless you ! you can t get a hoe
too big for them There was an old scoop shovel
that I had here lying about the place whi ch was
just naturall y rusting away and one of them I n
di ans come in one day and asked me if I would n t
.

JE M E Z VAL L B

Y P UE B L OS

65

let him have it I said : Why what in thunder

do you want of that ? Why he says it s
u eno for hoe
Why you know the thing was
nearly three feet across and I co ul d n t see how he
co ul d lift it ; but he co ul d and next thing I knew
he d made a peach of a hoe o u t of it

R eligious ? Well they don t mind b el o ngi n

to the C atholic C hurch Y o u see the C atholics
don t particul arly interfere with their native
religion which is the o nl y religion that really goes
d own with them and they never let up on that
All thr ough the year they have their own religious
dances T here is one that comes in January that
would pay you to come out to s ee It is a dance

of animal s buff aloes antelopes and turkeys

L os R eyes
that 5 Spanish for
T hey call it
Kings T here is a story that once some dancers
way back turned into ani mals and these Jeme z
folks think that th ey are liable to come home every
year ; so they go out at the tim e of this dance early
in the morni ng before sunrise and after watchi ng
a bit on the m es a back of the pueblo they come
do wn to the p l aza and dance all day E very
morni ng there s somethi ng doing o u t o n that
mesa I thi nk ; because th e In di an pries ts go up
.

JE M E Z VAL L E Y

66

P UE B L OS

there and what goes on we white folks don t know ;

but it has something to do with their religion
Th e Pres byterians started a mission here once and
they sure worked hard for several years ; but all it
netted them was one convert H e was a black

s mith here was n t no good anyhow and nally

stole a man s gun and got arrested and then the
After that
Presbyterians excommunicated him
they decided to let Jemez go to H ades its o wn wav

D rinking ? Well of course they do some

drinking ; but it is mostly their own wine They
have lots of vineyards around here and make wine
and barrel it up and as long as it lasts of course
B u t I don t know as it harms them
they drink it
much It certainl y is n t as bad as s ul phuric acid
whi skey that they would get from the bootleggers
The big es ta that they have on the twelf th of
November which is their Saint s D ay is very apt
to wind up in a jolli cati o n when they all get
drunk and I suppose it woul d be better if they
did n t ; b u t I don t know how it i s going to be

stopped T hat is a big show you ought to see it :

all sorts here

Navajos Apaches M exicans and
I ndians from other pueblos
Shortly after supper the trader closed up his
.

JE M E Z VAL L E Y

P UE B L OS

67

store and he and I adjourned to his living room to

enjoy the warmth of an open wood re T here
we were joined by an itinerant chili buyer who had
been over at the B rothers house negotiating for
their s to ck of chili

T hey r e sports all right

he said as he bit o ff
the end of a cigar and stretched out his feet toward

T hey don t stand on no

the grateful warmth
two and a half cents a string lik e some folks I

know ( with a wink at me and a jerk of his h e ad

toward the imperturbable trader)

and they

always set out a bottle of wine

Y o u bet these Pueblo Indians ain t half a

bad lot
said the trader as though he had not

heard
I say they r e one o the best assets that
thi s country has T hey r e hard workers by night
just the same as by day when the moon s right an
the crops need it ; and then when they can be
spared from the pueblo lots of em go up to
C olorado and work in the elds there at wages I
sometimes thi nk they just naturally like to work
the way they joke and laugh about it when a white
man d just swear and sweat sulphur ; but s ay
they sure are funny to trade with Y o u know
i t s Indian nature to be close
mouthed I f you
.

JE ME Z VALLE Y

68

P UEB L OS

want to get any inform ation out of an Indian it s

no u s e asking hi m straight questions lik e you
would a white man H e just plumb shuts up
And it s the same way when he comes to trade
with you Y o u got to let him tell what he has to

tell when he s ready Just for instance o ne

come into the store to -d av and asked for a spool 0
thread I knew it was n t no use to ask hi m what
kind of thread he wanted ; so I guessed black f tv
and s et it out H e shook hi s head and said he
wanted big thr ead So I guessed again and put
N o bu eno he said and
o u t black number eight
handed it back B l anco he says meani ng white
,

So I

handed him o u t a spool 0 white thread and

that stuck Y o u see that took up about ve
minutes o f my time and his ; but it was i nter esti n

and tim e s nothing to an Indian

.

Ch
O f O th
h

e r

Pu

blo

w S a n t i a go Q

p te

VI

f th

i nta n a T r

Upp

e r

av e

R io

ll e d fo

r a

nd

Sh

lls

nd
.

I TH I N

a distance of about f ty miles

east of Albuquerque along the Ri o
G rande is a chain of fo ur pueblos
thre e of which are plai nl y visible from the train
and contribute their quota to the entertainment
of the car window traveller
T h e rst of these is Sandia in the shadow o f the
Sierr a de Sandia beyond whi ch nea r C erril los are
the ancient turquoise mines of the Pueblos Sandia
is a moribund little place whose present pop ul ation
is onl y about seventy -v e and half its houses are
tum bledown or transformed into corral s and store
rooms It presents little interest to the casual
visitor but is rather i mportant in i ts own estima
tion at the time of the autumn harvests when it
enjoys a brief heyday of prosperity through the
sel ling o f corn and al falfa to itinerant M exican
buyers wh o frequent the pueblo at that tim e
,

69

SAN D I A TO

0
7

COCHI TI

After the P ueblo revolt against the Spanish rul e

for some reason s o the old

in 1 680 the Sand i ans

men say vacated their pueblo and moved to

M oqui
Ahalf century later they returned to the
whether on account of the aridity of
o l d home
M oqui or because the voices of the past irresistibly
ca lled them the historians do not say H owever
they did not prosper ; and ill fortune in the Pueblo
philosophy means that the spell of witchcraft is
on you So Sandia settled down to witch -baiting
s o earnestly and so successfully that to -day there
are not only no witches there but almost nobody
else
T h e next in order of this chain of pueblos is San
F elipe on the opposite bank of the R i o G rande
Y o u may if you choose drop o ff the train at a
ag station within two or three miles of the pueblo
and walk to the river taking your chances of being
ferried across by a team or pillioned behind some
passing horseman F o r myself I found it more
agreeable to leave the train at B ernalillo and
engage Juan P ablo to drive me ten miles up the
pleasant valley of the R i o G rande through its

rustling corn plants and its whispering willows

After an hour of this our proximity to the
,

SANDIA TO

COCHI TI

71

pueblo was indicated by our meeting India ns

sometimes on horseback sometimes on foot some
times in Studebaker waggons on their way to the
trader s ti end a beneath the shady cottonwoods at
Al godones O ne old man in hi s bright red band a
and clubbed chongo his old fashioned apping
cotton pantaloons and mocca sins was such a good
picture of the ancient Pueblo type that we bar
gained with him for his r etr ato H e wa s at rst
reluctant to consent ; but when so me of his
brethren from the pueblo travelling the same road
were out of sight behind a bend in the hi ghway he
cou rageously agreed to accept a quarter and sta nd
for the picture but was manifestly nervous until
the operation was over lest some one else should
appear and catch him posing
No one greeted us in San F elipe as we drove
past the old Spanish church with its twin towers
and neatly -walled camp o s anto in front ; for b eing
harvest ti m e most of the men of the pueblo were
away in their elds gathering their crops and the
streets were all but deserted T here was a mur
m ur of childish voices from the little school where
the tired anxious faced teacher was endeavouring
to drill her very cheer ful little charges in th e
,

SAN D I A TO

2
7

'

COCHI TI

rudi ments of Am erican education ; and there was

R osario Sanchez the village policeman walking
importantly about the pueblo peering into sus
corners
for
the
purpose
of
discovering
and
i
i
o
u
s
c
p
rounding up such truants as were disposed to bolt
the paths of knowledge Now and then a girl
passed by from the river with her water-j ar
dripping on her head and shyly kept in the shade
as much as possible s o that any designs that the
stranger might have upon her with the camera
should be frustrated An old man with one baby
in the blanket at his back and another tag ging
alongside crossed the sunny pl aza singing an

Indian song doubtless an expression of the joy

in his heart but doubtless also with the ulterior
view of instructing the little fellow at his side in
some traditional melody of his people In the
s u nshine before one of the houses a shell -bead
maker was rubbing upon a Whetstone the bits of
shell which h e had broken up into small sizes and
whi ch after being thus ground into proper shape
woul d be bored and made suitable for strin ging
with his primitive pump drill that hung by the
doorway O n some of the housetops women were
spreading out ears of corn and round fat melons
,

A P u ebl o

o m an

g w a t er h o m e f r m
i n b ack g o u nd

b ea r i n

th e

el l

p en ai r o vens

SAN D I A TO

COCHI TI

73

to dry in the hot sunshine and upon the outer

wal ls of almost every house hung brilliant strings
of chili

Anice pueblo this I said to a man who came

out of a doorway

Nice ? he replied puzzled

Nice ? Q u i en
,

s a be

T hen

I said :

pueblo
and he said :

O h bu eno s i and laughed as though it were a

great joke that nice should mea n bu eno

It was all a quiet homelike scene and the people
themselves were so evidently in ful l enjoyment of
life that the sight would certainly have been a
surprise to some concerned philanthropists three
thousand miles o ff who are anxious to change all
aboriginal ways and to instil into the P ueblo mind

the principles of the higher life

ignorant or
unobservant of the fact that these red brethren of
ours have al ready chosen the simple path of a wi s
dom that is marked with pleasantness and pea ce
When the su n was straight overhead marking
high noon I looked about for Juan P ablo and
found him comfortably seated in one of the houses
upon a low stool and partaking of a hearty lunch
spread upon the oor T here were fr ijol es tor
,

u eno

SAN D I A TO

74

COCHI TI

a fried egg or two and a cup of black coff ee

while in the three -cornered replace there were
warming more fr i jol es and coff ee and tor ti l l as of
which a pleasant -faced matron smilingly invited
me to par take without charge F rom the rafters
overhead hung a score of watermelons each
snugly harnessed in strips of soapweed tied at the
bottom into a nea t bow like a necktie T here
they would hang well into the winter and would
be an item of refreshment in the wintry m enu of
dried things
As we ate it seemed a tting opportunity to
obtain enlightenment on a point in New M exico
cookery that had never been clear in my mind so
I said to Juan Pablo as he dreamily sipped his
black coff ee :

What is an enchi l ad a ?

It is somet hi ng you make of bread and meat

chop up with chili and all cook together

D o you have tamal es in New M exico ?

I
continued

F o r sure
he replied with a joyful smi le

H o w are they made ?

W ell s enor they r e made of some bread and

chop meat an chili cook together

ti l l as ,

SAN D I A TO

COCHI TI

75

In C alifornia we have ta m al es
I said ; but

we use corn meal not bread and wrap all up in

a corn husk before cooki ng
Y ou don t do that
with your tamal es ?

O h yes we wrap all that in the corn -husk and

we use corn -meal too

T hen how about the enchi l ad a ?

I s that

?
wrapped in a corn husk

n
i
s
e or that wrap in the corn husk
S

Well
said I
what is the diff erence then
between the enchi l ad a and the ta mal e?

Well s eor it is thees way : enchi l ad a and

tamal e very much alik e ; but they r e a leetle
diff erent too s enor
T hen Juan P ablo his luncheon nished took a
square piece of cor n -husk from h i s pocket and
r e ecti v el y scraped a little tobacco upon it which
with deft ngers he twirled into a ci gar r i to

L eetle warm weather to -day s enor no ?

he
ob served looking thr ough the doorway int o the
,

su n

Another ten miles to the ea st built upon at

,

bottom lands of the Ri o Grande i s Santo D o

mingo Among all the pueblos this i s the only one
that we had heard spoken of as showing i nh o s
,

SAN D I A T O

6
7

COCHI TI

towards white visitors T his attitude s o

far as it is a fact is due probably to the deep
rooted aversion of these people to having their
pictures taken and picture taking is a white man s
habit E ven artists with the brush whose guil e
less presence i n freakish clothing beneath white
umbrellas is tolerated and even enjoyed in other
pueblos because of their aboriginal love of colour
even artists have been denied the privilege of
painting in the streets of Santo D omingo and have
been summarily escorted without the wal l s As

for the m an with a camera h e is a very child of

the devil to these primitive folk and if he attempts
to operate his i nf ernal machin e there he is apt to
have it smashed and himself ejected Such b eing
Santo D omin g o s views upon American art Sylvia
and I decided that it wo ul d be best to b ow to them ;
s o paint -b ox and camera were left behind when we
drove over to the pueblo
Whether or not our mani festly free hands and
air of conscious innocence had a mollify in g i n
u ence I cannot say ; but in point of hospitality
we certainly had nothing to complain of It was
the day after the F east of the D ead which is a
es ta in all R oman C atholic pueblos held annuall y
p i ta li ty

SAND IA TO COCI I I TI

77

on the second of November ; and in every home we

entered coff ee meat and bread were set before
us and we were expected for the nonce to make
that home ours At one house a watermelon was

presented to us as we rose to go and water

melons you must know are among the choicest
of earth s fruits to the In di an not to be lightly
parted with
It is not only in its anta gonism to cameras and
brushes that Santo D omingo s conservatism is
T h e encroachments of the American
mani fested
school -teacher are even more di stasteful thou gh
less easily dealt with T h e resistance to whi te
education had led at the time of our visit to the
abandonment of the local day
school within the
pueblo ; but the result o f thi s has merely been
the transference of the children to the G overn
ment s big boarding school at Santa F e M uch
as the pueblo authorities deplore this they can
,

d eli g htfu l vol u m e f o r young pe o pl e

Amer i can I nd i ans no tes a si mil a r co r di ali ty o f wel co m e at Santo

h e says
D o mi ng o
r o de
T he o l d g o v er no r o f the p ueb l o
o u t t o m ee t u s and l ear n who we we r e and wh at we want e d
On
e x p l ai ni ng tha t we we r e s tr ang ers who o nl y wi s h e d to see th e
to wn we wer e tak en di r e ctl y to hi s h o u se o n th e to wn s qu ar e
H i s o l d wi f e h as tened to p u t b ef o r e u s ca k es and co ee
Af te r
we had eaten we wer e gi ven f ul l p er m i ssi o n to l oo k ar ound

F r ed er i k Star r i n hi s

SAND IA TO

8
7

CO CHI TI

not help themselves for the arm of the United

States Indian B urea u is longer than the longest
in Santo D omingo
In the matter of dress too the Santo D omin
gans conservative taste i s manifested ; for they
still cling tenaciously to many of the old fashions
which under the inuence of contact with the
whites are fast disappearing from most of the
E specially is this noticeable in
other pueblos
the attire of the women who are often beautiful of
countenance and as a class are nely developed
physically and who still wear the quaint sleeve
less manta o r garment of one piece which leaves
one shoulder bare and reaches a little below the
knee Th e fashion is precisely what C astaed a
writing of C oronado s expedition in 1 540 has

T h e women w ear blank ets which they

recorded :
tie or knot over the left sho ul der leaving the right
arm out
Another feature of Santo D omingo which is to
be credited to the conservatism of its gui ding
spirits is the sustained Indian quality of its
ceremonial dances August 4 th is the date of the
principal pu b lic es ta of the year and it rank s in
b eauty and in general interest with the religious
,

SAN D I A TO

COCHI TI

79

cerem onies of M oqui Zu i and T aos Th e ao

c es s i b il i ty of Santo D omi ngo from Santa F e and
Albuquerque draws to this es ta great crowds of
Americans M exicans and Indians of various
kinds who make a scene as picturesque in its way
as the dance itself
Th e fourth of the pueblos with which this
chapter deals is C ochit i It is a small place now
ten miles or so up the river from Santo D omingo
and far out of sight from the rai l road I t has
become s o much M exi cani sed that if you were to
drop into it without knowing where you were you
w ould not be likely to take it for a pueblo at al l
but rather for an ordinary M exican town Th e
houses one stor y structures are scattered about
without much system and very close to the en
trance Of the pueblo is a hideous one of frame

painted blue with a red roof the handi work we

were told of a Carlisle student Any pueblo that
tolerates withi n it a house like that is condemned
o u t of its own mouth
T h e C ochiti Indians what is left of them are
very hospitable and seem disposed to let the wave
of Americanism wash over and engulf them without
much protest on their par t Th e girls and women
,

SAN D I A TO

80

CO CHI TI

are quite as likely to be found dressed in calico

Skirts and shirt waists as in their native costum e
and have abandoned very largely the beautiful
ti najas of their people for store buckets and lard
pails in whi ch they lug water from the river by
the hand American wise T hey appear on the
whole rather spiritless T hey will even allow you
to take their pictures without bargaining and are
grateful for ten cents if you care to give it to
them for the privilege
B u t even in C ochiti the protest against Am eri
ca ni sm is not entirely dead
T here is Santiago
a
o
uintana
for
instance
antiago
is
a
S
m
u
c
h
o
s
b
i
Q
who in the councils of his people stands vigor
o u sl y for the old order
We found him a lively
old man in apping trousers and buckskin moc
whom we
ca s i ns and a discontented M exican
encountered loitering about the pueblo inf ormed
u s that things wo ul d be much easier for outsiders
when Santiago was once dead and buried ; that he
H e seemed to us how
wa s a stubborn old fool
ever just a kindly old P ueblo who loved the
ways of his fathers and wanted to see them main
H is
ta i ned as the gods of C ochiti had directed
eyes sparkled when we told him that we were fro m
,

SAN D I A

C alif ornia

TO COCI I I TI

81

and he plunged vivaciously into an ao

count o f a trip which as a young man he made
thither in quest of the great water where the shells
are cast up whi ch every true Pueblo prizes as the
white man prizes pearls H e travel led al l the way
on foot driving a pack bu r r o before him across
deserts and over mountains with leisurely stops
by the way and three moons had waxed and
waned by the time he caught sight of the Pacic

O ld as he was he looked to be seventy that

marvellous journey was to him as if it had ended
but yesterday H e was as fam iliar with the names
of San B em ar di no Lo s Angeles Santa B arbara
and San L uis O bispo as we were ; and o f the
picturesque o l d pastoral lif e of C alifornia which
exists now onl y in books Santiago knew in ni tely
more than we ever shall for he was for two years a
part of it As he coul d stick to a horse s back like a
Navajo he found occupation as vaqu er o on some of
the big Spani sh ranches whi ch half a century ago
were still untouched by the real -estate agent and
the sub di vi der and he must have laid by money
for hi s return was not afoot but on horse -back

And C ochiti looked ner to you than ever

when you got back did it not ? we asked senti

,

SAN D I A TO

82

ment al ly

is there ?
.

T here

Y es ,

COCHI TI

no place equal to C ochit i

there is
he answered unexpectedl y

boni to cam p o m u cho

C alifornia m uch better
tr i go fr u to s and i a ah s and i a !
(beautiful country
much wheat fruit and watermelons ah the

B u t here in C ochiti are all my

people my cousins my brothers my friends

my children these are all in C o chi t and here

my fathers lived ; so Santiago Q uintana he lives in
C ochiti
If you are ever at C ochit i it will be wort h your
while to make a trip into the magnicent moun
tain region north of the pueblo lands where numer
ous ancient remains ; attesting the romantic past

of the C ochiti community are to be found such

as the sculptured mountain lions of the Potrero de
las Va cas the rock paintings of L a C ueva Pintada
and the marvel lous ruins of the C ave City on the
Perhaps Santiago will guide
R ito de los F rijoles
,

gi o n no w under Go vernmental car e i s mor e exp edi

ti o u sl y r ea ch e d by au to m o b i l e fr o m Santa F e i f yo u l i ke t r avell i ng
T h e I nsti tu te of A r ch aeo l o gy o f
t o r u i ns b y su ch c o nveyanc e
th at c i ty h as be en a ct i ve f o r s o m e year s p as t i n u nc o v er i ng and
to s o me d eg ree r esto r i ng the r em ai ns o f thi s anci ent ci ty i n
o n o ne of the m os t c o m pl ete and i nter es ting
t he F r i jo l es Ca n
1L

T hi s

re

r ui ns o f

Wes t
the So u th -

SAND IA TO COCII I TI

83

you or if not Natividad Arquero or another ; but

go and when you return you wil l never again talk
of America s lack of ancient ruins or of a past with
out hum an interest T his region rich beyond
words in natural beauty and i n arch aeological
interest was rst made known to the world by
that sterling ethnologist Adolph F B andelier
who made C ochi ti his home for years and whose
romance The D el i ght M ak er s embo di es in the
form of ction a wea lth of information about
Pueblo Indians and their ancestors of the cliff
,

dwellings

Ch
Of C

e r

ta i n

Pu

t
e
p

blo

V II
ne

a r

S a nta F

HE

tourist in Santa F who has a few spare

days upon his hands may entertain him
self very pleasantly by hiri ng a team or an
automobile if he prefers it and visiting the half
dozen Indian pueblos which are within easy rea ch
o f New M exico s ancient capital
Nearest is T esuque of which some mention has
already been made but which will increase in
interest with ac q uaintance It is an unobserving
traveller wh o does not see something new upon
each succeeding visit to an Indian town ; for the
Pueblo does not wear his heart upon his sleeve and
b y no means shows at rst meeting all that he i s

T h e proximity of T esuque to Santa F e nine

miles has not been altogether good for T esuque

T h e constant contact with traders and tourists
has developed a decidedly commercial quality in
this people and they are paying much more at
,

84

P UEB L OS

FE

NEA R SAN TA

85

tention to the manuf acture of indiff erent curios

for an undiscriminating tourist trade than to any
serious prosecution of their native arts N ev er th e
less i t i s interesting to watch the mo ul ding of such
things as the imitation American pipes and tipsy
vases wobbly match trays and those hideous
monstrosities the rain gods which are in every
curio store in the South -West ; and to see the
returned scholars labouring at the bead -work
whi ch has been taught them in the Government
school as a suitable and remunerative vocation
for Pueblo artists Such occupations are carried
on in the common living -room of the family while
the hum of the m eta te lls the house with its dull
monotone and the slumbering baby strapped
securely on hi s padded board cra dl e suspended by
thongs from raf ters in the ceiling swings Slowly
back and forth
At T esuque more than at any other pueblo we
found our presence mainly tolerable in proport ion
to our willingness to spend money and we got
more than one ugly look when we declined to pay
two prices for the indiff erent wares that were
plentiful ly set before us Y et it was not s o at all

houses i n man y we found still the simple uncal

.

P UEBLOS NEA R SA N TA FE

86

hospitality of the unspoiled Indian as at

the home of Juanita C hinan a H er kind eyes
took note of us as we sat at luncheon on a log in
the shade of her man s corral and she brought
from her house two chairs for us to si t on while
her so n p ul led down a ake of alfalfa for ou r
D obbin
H e looked surprised at the silver coin

which we tendered him h e was still too unso

p hi s ti ca t ed to expect payment for ministering to

the wants of the stranger even though uninvited

within the gates
T h e date of T esuque s annual public es ta
November 1 2 th is one of Santa F s gala days and
the road thence to the pueblo is crowded that
morning with carriages farm waggons bicycles
horses and automobiles carrying visitors to the
festivities Th e character of this Indian dance
diff ers in diff erent years but is always interesting
and wi th the preceding mass and church p r o ces
sion consumes the greater part of a day Sitting
on a housetop looking down on the grea t pl aza at
the dancers in their beautiful barbaric costumes
and kaleidoscopic colour and on the encircling
spectators most of whom are M exicans in more or
less gay attire we seem to be looking at a foreign
cu l ati ng

AT es u qu e m o t he r

a nd

b ab v

T he

hi l d i

s a sl ee p

i n th e

cr a dl e

FE

P UE BLOS NEA R SAN TA

87

scene so unl i ke i s it to what we associate with our

T h e intoxication at T esuque on
Uni ted States
these occasions is often a distressing concomitant
of the novel beauty of the ceremonies and at the
time of our last visit many of the Indian spectators
were maudlin dr unk before noon Th e dancers
themselves however were entirely sober and
seemingly sui tably impressed with the solemnity
of the religious rite in which they were enga ged ;
but it seems the debauch with them was simply
postponed When the shadows dr ew long across
the pl aza and the dancers nally disappea red into
their ceremonial chamber we asked an Indian
standing near us if there was anything m ore to
come

No
he replied ingenuously
nothing more

now except to get drunk

About ten miles from T esuque beneath the

shoul der of the snow capped Santa F B aldy

is nestled the pretty little pueblo of N am b T ime
wa s when there was a good deal doing at N am b
which lik e Sandia had an evil reputation in the
matter of witches ; but those strenuous days are
now past and the little place is very much M exi
cani s ed and down at the heel and its atmosphere
,

88

PE

P UEBLOS NEA R SAN TA

is rather melancholy Nevertheless the old Pueblo

spirit is still there and on their annual es ta
which takes place on O ctober 4 th they render their
public dance with a half dozen participants just
as j o yo u s l y as though there were as many hundred
Th e country all about this pueblo is thickly
settled by M exicans whose lands are close up to
the pue b lo walls and it will probably not be long
before N am b will become as thoroughly swallowed
u p by these nei g hbo ur s of Spanish blood as the
extinct pueblo of P o ju a qu e ve miles farther
down the N am b R iver Po ju aqu e whe n its
population had dwindled to ten decided to quit ;
and two or three years ago the little remnant
m
b
moved to N a
and now the looker o n in
P o ju a qu e sees nothing to indicate that it eve r was
an Indian pueblo

If you are travelling by ca rriage and that is

the idea l plan of travel among the pueblos you

will nd Poju aqu e a convenient stopping -place for
the night ; and if you do stop there you might do
worse than lodge at Se nora B ouquet s whose long
rambling establishment part residence part store
and part stable is set there by the road The
.

c ed

P r o no u n

Po -b

wa k a
'

P UE BLOS NEA R SA N TA FE

89

is the Spanish widow of a F rench husband

O ld M an B ouquet of fra grant memory Y o u

will remember him if you have ever read T homas
A J anv i er s story Santa F s P a r tner T here is a
famous well embowered like ashrine am ong trees
just across the road from the house and you must
compliment the Se nora upon the deliciousness of
its wat ers ; for there is no ner in N ew M exico
Y ou will enjoy a stroll through her garden of fruit

trees too a thou sand of them sh e will tell you

which s he herself planted with her own hands

when sh e ca me to P o ju a qu e a bride ah how

many years ago gu i en sabe? and now many are

grown so big she cannot put her arm around
them
F rom P o ju aqu e a few miles through a lonely
su n scorched plain untilled and untillable gashed
and ditched by a thousa nd dry a r r oyos and ba r
r a ncas
and you come again to the R i o Grande
and the pueblo of San Ildefonso with its liberal
pl a za an ancient cottonwood in the midst Th e pic
tu r es qu enes s of the pueblo has s uf fered in the last
yea r or two by the erection of a barn -lik e R oman
C atholic edice within it replacing the historic
church of ad obe which dating from the time of the
Seo r a

FE

NEA R SAN TA

P UE B L OS

90

early Spaniards had become unsafe

L ooking
down upon the pueblo i s a huge a t -topped moun

tain of black lava the M esa H uerfana as the

Th e O rphan
M exicans call it that is
U pon
its summit San Ildefonso sought refuge when
after the bloody Pueblo uprising in 1 680 the
avenging army of D e Vargas appeared on the
other side of the Ri o Grande T h e siege of the
B lack Me sa lasted ni ne months o ff and on accord
ing to L um mis the beleaguered Indians resisting
four assaults upon their Gibraltar like fortress ;
but Spaniards in those days were of a mettle
hard to conquer and the San I ld ef o nsa ns were
nally brought to knee T hey had gone up free
men of the plain but they came down vassals of
the Spanish King T h e San Ildefonso which we
know to day at the foot of that black mount of
humiliation is not the original pueblo ; that stood
across the river
As at Namb e the M exican invasion of San
I ldefonso has begun and is little by little eu
cr oa chi ng upon the distinctive P ueblo features of
I

i t i s stated b y B and eli er , J ean l Ar ch

Y eg u e , wh o b e tr ay e d th e F r e nch e x p l o r er L a Sall e to hi s d eath ,
was m ar r i ed i n 1 7 1 9 to a Sp a ni s h l a d
I

Int

h at anci ent ch u r ch

PE

P UEBLOS NEA R SA N TA

1
9

the place Th e Indians are very hospitably dis

posed to white visitors kindly and good humoured
and our memory of their home by the great ri ver
is ful l of the joyous laughter of children which
even the dul l tasks of the Government day school
at the town s edge have not quenched

Y es
sighed the schoolmistress in char g e at

the ti m e of one of our visits an elderly New Eng

l andi s h spinster upon whom the responsi b ility of
her lively pupils lay very heavy
that s one

trouble with them they are too happy If they

only realised their real condition in life there would
be so me hope of their improving
E ight miles up the river from San Ildefonso i s
the Am erico -M exican village of E spa o l a where
you may put up your tired tea m and rent a roo m
from Shorty Shorty the B oniface of E spa o l a
is a spectacled gentleman of middle age and v e
feet three stouter than i s safe to b e red -V isaged
and during our ac q uaintance with him never
kno wn to be separated from a half-chewed ci gar
gripped in the corner of his mouth H e keeps a
saloon for the bibulous while M amma ministers
to the pangs of the hun g ry by running in the rear
of the pre mises a dinin g room of an excellence far
.

P UE B L OS

92

NEA R SAN TA FE

above what the surroundings would lead one to

expect H ere at E spanola you are withi n easy
reach of the wonderful cliff of Puy e with its
ancient cavate dwellings and its buried pueblo ;
and you are not far from C hamita the Site of the
rst Spanish settlement in all New M exico ; nor
from Ab i qu i i i of the P eni tentes; nor from Sanc
tu ar i o famous for miracles
Near at hand too
are the I ndian pueblos of Santa C lara and San
Juan as well as San I ldefonso whi ch has just
been mentioned
Santa C lara indeed is within after supper
walking distance and there is no plea santer time
of day than day s close to visit the place T h e
pueblo is on a sandy dune a mile or two south of
E sp ao l a overlooking the Ri o Grande which
here winds its muddy course through sunny green
bottom lands before disappearing around the
B lack M esa of San Ildefonso to be swallowed up
in the wild gorge of the P ea B lanca C ao n above
B eyond the river the jagged peaks of
C ochiti
the Sangre de C risto Sierra lift themselves against

the sk y the T ruchas the Santa F B aldy and

the cratered P eak of the L akes exceeding
feet and often snow-clad even in summer B ande
.

P UEBLOS NEA R SAN TA

PE

93

lier in one of his New M exico papers vividly

describes the beauty of this scene
,

If one stands in the evenin g ! h e wri tes! when the

s u n i s s ettin g and t h e shadows ar e al ready cas t o ver
t h e vall eys on th e swell ab o ve th e church o f Santa
C lara h e will s ee th e s now-p eaks gl owin g f o r a littl e
whi l e in ery r ed T h e crag s o f th e Tru chas blaze
like owing o r e An Alpin e lu s tre i s d i splayed l es s
so ft in co l o u rs than that o f the c entr al mo u ntains o f
E uro p e b u t mu ch m o re int ense and l o nger las ting
T h e mo untai ns s tand o u t gho s tl y p a l e a s so o n a s th e
las t glo w i s extingu i shed and a whit e shro ud app ears
to rest upon th e land s cap e
,

O ne is not long in Santa C lara before noticing

that many of these Indians are taller and more
slender in build than the short stocky P ueblos of
the south T heir hair too i s worn diff erently
being parted in the mid dl e and b raided at the
sides T his diff erence in l o ok has been attributed
to a probable mixture in past times with their
nomadic neighbours the U tes the Apaches and
,

Th e Santa C lara

women have made a substantial

reputation for themselves as makers of a peculiar
shiny black pottery the b e st of it very beautiful ly
fashioned ; for b eing without decoration i ts at
,

P UEBLOS NE A R SA N TA FE

94

must necessaril y depend largely upon

form
Th e clay of the re gion naturally burns
red but the potters long ago found that by
smudging the re at a certain stage in the opera
tion the black smoke is absorbed by the clay and
resul ts in a permanent black O ur interest in
pottery at the time of our rst visit to Santa C lara
several years ago developed an unexpected ev i
dence of the innate honesty of the old type of
P ueblo nature
We had bought some specimens
of b lack ware from old Pied ad and noticing on a
shelf some newly moulded forms still unburned
and showing the reddish nature of the raw material
we off ered to buy one Sh e shook her head vigor
and when we persisted in wanting it sh e
o u sl y
turned her distressed old face towards a young
man whose short hair indiff erent manner and
recumbent attitude b etoken e d the G overnment
scholar and said something to him in the native
tongue Interpreted it meant that he should tell
us that such ware would not hold wat er and it was
not right to sell pottery until red ; for it woul d
melt away and what then would we have for our
money ? It was onl y after she was made to und er
stand clearly that we knew this and would not
tr a cti v eness
.

San J u an

w o m an i n h

er

d o o r wa y

m o ccas i ns w o r n i n

cer tai n

N o te th e b o o t-l i
u eb l o s

ke

PE

P UE BLOS NEA R SA N TA

95

ubject the pottery in any way to the action of

water that she consented though still reluctantly
to let us bea r away a piece
San Juan also on th e banks of the Ri o Grande
but north of E spa nola eight miles was the town
that gave to the P ueblos their most famous leader
Pop e H e was the o r gani s er o f that one unani
m ous and therefore successful revolt of the
Pueblos against Spanish rul e which occurred in
1 6 8 0 and resulted in their killing or driving every
Spaniard from the Pu eblo country and keeping
them out for twelve years San Juan is in the
midst of a rather populous M exican community
and a well
as p o p u l o si ty goes in New M exico
travelled public highway runs through the pueblo
lands O n it John B arleycorn travels all too
frequently and San Juan s morals as well as
Santa C lara s are not bettered by the fact if the
school -teacher s gloomy report to us as to the
T h e day
prevalence of inebriety there is correct
we spent at San Juan however every one was
sober and rea sonably happy O ld men sat in the
s u n at their doors mending ta ttered m occasins
and now and then one reminiscently sang a scrap
of song as he sewed ; women busily came and went
s

'

P UEBLOS NEA R SA N TA FE

6
9

reparing
the
street
ovens
for
the
wheat
bre
d
a
p
baking ; and pleasant -faced girls with gl isten i ng
black ti najas of water on their heads as at Santa
C lara the gourd dippers clink ing against the
rims led in from the well F arm waggons
loaded with corn or with wood and now and then
a slaughtered sheep on top creaked in from the
country and children played about everywhere
It may have been here that one tod dl er stumbled
over a log and hurting itsel f fell to crying A
returned student who had been sullenly sitting
in the shade watching us jumped to his feet with
ever y sense alert and gathering up the little fellow
soothed it as a woman would

If the Pueblos are ever to be saved as Pueblos

m urmured Sy lvia
it will be a little child tha t

will keep them

-

Ch
o f Tao

p te

n d th

V III

T h i th

e r

you are a native -born America n

and though you may have travelled from
M aine to F lorida and from N ew Y ork to
C al ifornia and though you may have encircled
the entire globe a tim e or two I wonder if you have
ever heard of the T ao s country T he chances
are that you have not ; yet it is one of the m ost
delightful regions of our delightful country
Not the least interesting part of a visit to T aos
lapped i n the heart of the Southern R ockies one
h undred miles north of Santa F is the getting
there
The nearest rai l road is the D enver
Rio
Grande s Santa F branch which binds C olorado s
capit al to New M exico s Y o u leave this line at a
choice of stations Servilleta being as good as any
having rst written or telegraphed the liver y at
T aos to meet you with a team ; for the little way
Pro no u nced To wss
H O U GH

97

TAOS P UE B L O

8
9

station in the wilderness has no accommodations f or

travellers A drive of thirty glorious miles i s now
before you across a sunny open m esa count r y
rimmed about with magnicent mountains which
the declining su n touches with fascinating colour s
pink and red and wine amethyst and violet and
H alf -way on your journey and without
purple
warning the highway runs out to the brink of a
narrow precipitous gorge and si x hundred feet
below you the current of the Ri o Grande plunge s
and roars D own it into the depths your tea m
picks its way gin gerly by a road cut out of the
perpen di cul ar cano n sides to meet the river and to
cross it T here is a little riverside stopping -place
down there where you may break your journey if
you wish ; then climbing out of the gorge by the
where a hurrying
cano n of the Arro y o H ondo
stream of clear mountain water ashes and bounds
down among rocks you are a gain upon the wide
plain B efore you i s the ineffa b le splendour of the
R ockies their sides all splashed if it be autumn
with the orange and gold of the aspen groves and
yonder at the mountains foot where one canon
the G lorieta more noble than the rest pours a
ood of crystal water out into the plain lies T aos
.

TA05 P UE B L O

99

of T aos one must discriminate ; for

there are three of it F irst in point of size there
is F ernande z de T aos a M exican V illage with its
ad obe houses and gardens half hidden behind ad obe
walls its picturesque lanes and it s Shady pla za its
shops with their signs in Spani sh and i ts Spanish
newspaper its memories of Kit C arson and its
su mmer colony of E astern artists who nd the
place as foreign of atmosphere as E gypt is ; then
there is R anchos de T aos into which the rst
village merges in one direction ; and lastly there
i s T aos pueblo which lies a couple of miles beyond
the village in another O f the three the oldest is
the pueblo the most norther n of all pueblos and
I n old times the most exposed to harassment from
the C o manches and other predatory tribes of the
b u ff alo plai ns So hard indeed did those savages
press the T aos P ueblos some after scalps and some
after horses that the T aos people to save them
selves from extermination off ered grants of their
fertile and well watered lands to M exican immi
grants to help keep the marauders in check So
the M exican settlements ca me to be and T aos
pueblo remains on the map
The last mile of the road to the pueblo is a shady
Speaking

TAOS P UE B L O

I oo

lane bank ed h igh with wild ros es wi l d p lum tr ees

and clambering clematis Off to one side a l ine of
willows m arks the course of a stream and out
o f the tangle of bushy gro wt h s come s th e mus ic of
hi d d en waters rippling over st ones O penings
here and there in th e wild h edge revea l little e l d s
of wheat and tasselled corn f ringed about wi th
masses of purple asters yel low sunowers and
bigelovia and here groups of bareh eaded T ao s
Indian men are at work their blankets wrapp e d
about their wai sts and falli ng to their knees
resembl ing skirts T hi s sort of attiri ng combi n e d
with a fashion of weari ng the h air por ted in the
middl e the divisions braid ed and hang ing down in
long side locks in front of e ach shoul d er gi ves th e
men a remarkabl y fem inine look They are a
tall athletic looking lot as a class h o wev er a nd
thorough ly m asculine t hou gh the Pu eb lo gentle
ness shows in their faces
All t hi s whi le we see nothi ng of any I ndia n
village but now a turn in the road bring s us :into
t he open and the re ahead of u s t hrou gh t r ees w e
cat ch s ight of some outd o or thr eshi ng oo rs
where horses driven around a nd a round by
I ndians ar e t r eading out th e grain like t he u n
,

'

TAO S P UE B L O

101

muzz led oxe n of Scripture and beyond rise the

two gr eat p yramids that constitute T aos pueblo
etween
the
m
ows
a
broad
never
faili ng stream
B
issuin g in tr ansparent purity out of the Glorieta
I t is a poetic situa
Cao n at the pueblo s back
tio n and in the morning when the smoke of a
hundred hearth -r es rises into the crisp air o r at
evening when the mountains that look protect
i ngl y do wn on the peaceful village glow in the
sunset like alta rs al ight the sight is an unf orget
table one T o the scientica lly inclined T aos is
fascinating as an architectural study being among
contem porar y pueblos the most perfect specim en
of the terraced style of house b ui lding the stories
of one pyrami d numberi ng ve and o f the other
seven T h ese structures are indeed not co m
m u nal r es idences in the sense of their being co mm on
to all but rather are aboriginal apartment houses
E ach family has i t s suite of two or three rooms
opening out on its terr ace and maintains its own
individual privacy of life as though living in a
separate structure
Th e governing powers in T aos have very old
fashi oned vie ws as to conduct and it is la w here
tha t all the men whatever they may do when
,

TAOS P UEB L O

1 02

working outside shall within the pueblo go with

out hats and shall ent e r no house without their
P erhaps it is this edict which has
blankets on
given rise to the prevalent fashion among men in
summer weather of wrapping themselves in white
sheets ; for woollen blank ets would at that season be
uncomfort ably warm during the daytime White
however is a favourite among colours and blankets
of wh ite annel or wool are cherished possessions
In its way T aos is q uite progressive T he hum
of the sewing -machi ne i s hea rd from many an open
door M cC o r m i ck harvesters reap the wheat that
not long ago was pulled by hand Studebaker
wag gons and sturdy horses have largely supplanted
the bu r r o and the postmaster at F ernandez de
T aos will tell you that T aos pueblo trades by
mail with the C heyennes and U tes beyond the
mountains Y et when Pablito Antonito went a
step farther in progressiveness and as an America n
citizen appealed to the county court for redress
in a dispute with a fellow Indian of T aos he
became disgraced in the eyes of the pueblo for
carrying his quarrel outside So too when M ar
q u itos and F elipa fresh returned from C arlisl e
or it may have been Grand Junction or R iverside
,

TAOS P UE B L O

1 03

married

and put a big American window sash

and all in their front room public sentiment made
matters so warm for them that they had to remove
it and restore the little old peep hole which
conservative T aos believes in Y o u may see the
very window yet where the wall ing u p of the
enlargement is still plain T here i s progress and
progress
While no Pueblo In di ans as a tribe have ever
been at war with the U nited States T aos h as the
distinction of having been pretty close to it T here
has always been a certain masterful quality in the
make -u p of the T aos Indi ans which has made
them prone to be on hand when a ght was in
progress P op e of San Juan wh o headed the red
rebellion of 1 680 was a resident of T aos for some
time before he launched the trouble and undoubt
e dl y had strong counselling there
In the tu r b u
lent decade or two prior to the M exica n War and
the gathering of New M exico into the fold of the
U nited States the co -operation of T aos Indians
was often asked and obtained by the New M exi
cans i n the carrying out of their plots One of the
New M exico governors under the pre -Am erica n
rgim e was a T aos man Jos G on zalez ( 1 8 3 7
~

TAOS

1 04

P UEBLO

and the rst Am er ican governor B ent was

murdered in cold blood as the resul t of a conspiracy
of revolutionary M exicans aided by T aos Indi ans
M ute testimony to the a venging of thi s atrocity
is the ruin of the old C atholic church in T aos
battered down in the attack on the pueblo by
American tr oops seeking the murderers Al l this
T aos obstreperousness however was in di v i dual
work It is s o contrary to what we know of the
Pueblo mildness of character when even half
decently treated that one is inclined to believe that
at T aos as at Santa C lara there has been some
admixture of Plains Indian b lood C omanche or
Apache and that it crops out now and again in the
love of a ght
,

Ch
'

01

th e

F i e s ta

t
e
p

f San G
D

l i gh

e r

IX

nim

Mak

at

e r s

Taos.

n d th

AN T to buy so me greps
u ena sand i a ,

s ei t or o ,

tr ei nte

no ?

centavos !

D u r aznos m ucho bar ato

,

Comp r a mel o nes

co m

p ad r e ?

M el ones m u cho

u enos l

Yo u

might think it market day in som e to wn

of O ld M exico but you are still under the
Stars and Stripes and it is only the F iesta of
Th e edges of th e great
San G eronimo at T aos
pl a za in front of the north pueblo are jammed with
waggons loaded with grapes apples pea ches
melons Indian pottery and blankets the vir tues
o f which are set forth in Spanish or crippled E ng
l is h accor di ng to the nationality of inquiring
buyers B etween the waggons and the grand
promenade before the houses is a line of gaudily
decorated booths of lemonade and Sweetmeat
,

1 05

TH E F I E S TA

1 06

TAOS

AT

vendors and of fakirs of various sorts of catch

penny trinkets It is only nine in the morning
yet outside the terraced houses are lined from
base to apex with crowds of spectators waiting

for the ceremonies that are to come o ff no one

knows just when but poco ti em po and mean

time is not the sunshine plea sant to the soul and
the moving picture of the foreign looking crowd
entertainment enough ? E ver y moment brings
new arri vals ahorseback and afoot in farm
waggons and in buggies T hough Am ericans are
the dominant race in the land there i s but a
sprinkling of them in the vast throng but gathered

from a wide radius ranchers school -teachers

store -keepers invalids an artist or two seeking
diversion in this half -b arbaric es ta as city folk
visit a play M exicans are most in evidence the
elderly men and women in sober black the girls in
bright -hued silks and calicos the t of which cuts
little gure the colour b eing the thing ; and the
P ueblo women are o nl y a shade less gay in their
showy upper garments and silver necklaces T aos
men blanketed or sheeted to the eyes stalk about
in the crowd or stand watching the photograph
man with his li ttle nickel cannon make r etr atos
.

TH E F I E S TA

AT

TAOS

1 07

of foolish M exicanos and M exicanas in their gala

H ere is a Pueblo family from Picuri s the
ner y
man s unhatted head picturesquely crowned with a
Chaplet of quivering aspen leaves ; here is another
from far San Ildefonso with aload of pottery jars
to sell ; there are a couple o f phl egma tic Apaches in
som br er os with long feathers stuck in the band and
in their ears silver earrings s et with turquoise
t heir hands holding beaded belts and beaded
moccasins for whoever will to buy ; and over yonder
is an alert eyed Navajo car rying upon his arm
b l ankets whi ch however much he may asseverate
that they are hi s squaw s o wn weaving have
probably been entrusted to hi m by some crafty
white trader t o sell to the gullible tourist at two or
.

Al l this while the church bell is clanging at

intervals and worshippers in relays crowd into the
church and crowd out again ; but it is not so much
this as the aboriginal features of the esta that
interest the lookers o n from the housetops T hese
features are threefold : T here is a short dance of
blanketed Indian men bearing upright branches
of quivering aspen facing each other in two lines
and yelping from tim e to time l ike coyo tes
T hen
,

TH E FI E S TA

1 08

AT

TAOS

there is a hotly contested fo t race between the

youn g men of the two pyramids the participant s
naked except for a kilt of some kind about th e

loins and with feathers emblems of i gh t i n

the hair down the arms and encircling the ankle s
F inally there are the antics of a group of clowns

chio netti or
delight m akers as B and elier calls
them
T heir faces and naked bo di es smeared with
paint and their hair entwined with rustling co m
husks these buff oons come suddenly boundi ng and
yelpi ng into the pl aza and set the crowd into an
u proar of
la ughter with their horseplay which
con tinues o ff and on for hours Nothi ng is safe
fr om their irreverent touch T hey steal peaches
from a waggon and starting to eat spit the m o u t
wi th a wry face as if bitter ; they swarm up a
ladder to a housetop and into a room whenc e
scream s and laughter announce some prank and
in a moment they reappear one bearing a water
melon D escending to the pla za the thief stands
the melon on his head and the others line up before
him and dance and chant i n mockery of som e
ceremo ny T aken with a sudden thought they
all si t d o wn in a; circle on the gr ound and leaning
o

FIESTA AT TAOS

TH E

169

forward seem i ntent on some wonder in th eir mids t

Thi s of course excites the curiosity of the cr owd
who draw near only to be blinded wi th showers of
dust whi ch the rogues throw over their sh o ulders
T hen they rise put their heads plottingly to gether
looking from tim e to time into th e crowd
Suddenl y they advance grab a man fr om i t and
lifting his struggling form carry hi m in t riu mph
up and down the p la za meantim e blowing horns
which they have gotten som ewhe re T hen th ey
drop the fel low and ther e follow s a series of i m
r
o
m
t
t
o
i
n
conto
tions
and
twistings
and
u
r
s
o
s
p
p
p g
l e api ngs tooting horn s back ward between their
legs climbing upon one another s shoul der s until
their ingenuity s eem s at its limit and they s tand
T hen another
me di tati ng nger to forehead
w hi sper ed cons ultati on and separating they wan
Al l at once there i s a
der off ami d t h e crowd
s hout
foll owed by a childish scream of terror
A little boy in es ta attire of new purple tr ousers
has m et the eye of one of the clowns who swoops
the f rightened urchi n from the gr ound and swing
.

i ng hi m
t o wards

und er

hi s

ar m ,

m ar ch es

o ff

wi th hi m

the river followed by the oth er chionetti

smm di ng blasts upon their horns
Arrived at t h e
,

TH E FI E S TA

1 10

AT

TAOS

stream the little kickin g form i s dropped into the

water whence the boy is shed out by hi s o b ser v
ant mother and piloted home to be dried o ff while
the buff oons grunting and wa gging their rascally
heads trudge b ack to the p l aza Th e cli max of
their sports is the climbing of a greased pole at the

top of whi ch sundry prizes melons cakes a

whole sheep and s o o n are slung T hese secured

the clowns fade away to their estufa and q uite
undramatically the es ta comes to a close
Am ong the estas of the N ew M exico Pue b lo
I ndians there is none that the traveller is more
often urged to attend than this of San G eronimo
held annually on September 3 o th As an Indian
ceremony it i s rather disappointing though a
short dance at sunset the evening before in
which as on the es ta day the participants bear
branches of q ui vering aspens is very striking
with i ts background of the evening shadows and
the sunset light glorifying the orange and yellow
foliage of the shaken branches B u t the inter
est o f the San Ger Oni m o day is mainly in the pic
tu r es qu e crowd which assembles in the old pueblo
the largest gathering probably that ever attends
T his is
any of the South -Western Indian dances
,

TH E FI E S TA

AT

TAOS

11 1

due in part to the added attraction of a M exi

can es ta o f several days dur ation during the
sam e week held at F er nande z de T aos which
draws several thousand visitors from al l over
N orth E astern N ew M exico and Souther n C olo

rado M exicans whites and I ndians of several

tribes

Ch
O f Pi c u

f s i n th

w Fr

e
a

o u

o u

is

p te

ntr y

c o

u r

th

ld no t Fo

P e n i te nte s

M o th

ge t

nd

e r

H EN

you are through with T aos y ou

will do well to return to the railroad

by way of Picuris pueb lo that is pro

v i d ed you are sound of heart and lungs ; for P icuris
lies eight thousand feet above the sea encompassed
by mountains which must be crossed at an altitude
of ten thousand T his is a superb trip in itself
though a rough one and you need for it a stout
team and an experienced driver

said the livery man as

Th e team s all right
he came to see u s o ff and patted the two fat horses

big enough for B robdingnag and B allard S all

right ; he 11 deliver the goods

B allard the driver a serious -faced square
jawed youth made no response to this encomium

except to say So lon g as he gathered up the

,

1 12

PI C URIS CO UN TR Y

TH E

1 13

lines and drove us o ff into the glorious New

M exican sunshine of the clear O ctober morning
F o r several miles the road traversed a va lley
country crossed now and again by little brooks of
sparkling water fresh sprung from the high moun
ta ins at our backs O n ever y hand were apple
orchards where the reddening fruit glowed Cheer
l
fu ly beside some low rambling ranch house look
ing to E astern eyes less like a home than a fortress
with bar red gates and a high ad obe wal l joini ng the
house to the corral s and outbuildings the whole
forming a square about an enclosed courtyard
And then without warning ranches and green
pastures were as a tale that i s told and we were
winding upward through wild ravines beneath
huge scattering forest trees and climbing climb

ing climbing the U S hill

the steepest and
a b out the poorest apology for a hi ghway in New
M exico Never any too good it wa s now at its
worst from the unrepaired eff ects of the summ er
rains and in many places the original ro ad was
washed entirely away leaving onl y a wrack of
rocks and gul lies behind it At such spots B allard
would alight prospect for a promising way around
and then our team would blaz e a new road through
.

TH E

1 14

PI C URI S CO UN TR Y

brush and boulders until the old one wa s picked up

again And all the ti me we were climbing m i le
upon mile as up the side of a steep -pitched roof
We now saw the reason for the B robdingnagian
horses T hey i nch ed at nothing ; took ar r oyos
and boul ders with composure and when the steep
mountain steepened more sharply lea ned but hard
er into their collars Nevertheless at approach
ing two miles above s ea -level even B robdingnagian
breath comes short and as the summit ridge grew
nearer B allard would call a halt every few hundred
feet jam down the brake and let the horses b low
T hough the acclivity sometimes seemed nearly
forty -v e degrees s o that the team clung like a
y to a wall and Sylvia and I fully expected to see
the unblocked wheels when the brake was released
y backward and carry us all over the cliff the
strength and temper of the horses were alway s
equal to the resumption of p ul ling without th e
loss of an inch

C u s sed e s t proposition in the South -West

remarked B allard with simple fer vour when the
top at last reached he lit a cigarette and looked
backward down the mountain
O nce over the divide however the beauty of
.

PI C URI S CO UN TR Y

TH E

1 15

the scene was inexpressible as we b owled along

across open natural parks their grassy expanses
brightened with wild b loom and set in the midst
of magnicent coniferous forests whose inter
spaces were golden with the h eavenly sunl ight
N ow and then the road descended into some little
sequestered valley where runnin g waters made the
raising of wheat and chili possible and here was
always the conventional M exican village of ad obe
Clustered about a C atholic church with its cross
surmounted steeple and b ell O n th e outskirts of
these hamlets often in the wildest loneliest spots
would be a rude woo den cross planted near the
roadside in a heap of stones and again on the
summit of some hill whose sides were a mass of
i nty stones and thorny ca ctus clumps there
woul d stand a tall er cross

T hey are s et up by the P eni tentes

B allard

said in reply to our question

Th e P eni tentes
are a sort of C atholics who believe if they turn o u t
in Lent stripped to the waist and walk barefooted
over sharp stones with loads of cactus packed on
their b are backs and whip themse lves at the same
time with whi ps knotted with bits of sharp iron
till the blood runs o ff their bo di es li ke rain it 11
,

TH E

1 16

PI C URIS CO UN TR Y

make up for the sins they have co mmitted during

the year
Gosh ! it ought to ; for I m here to
tell you cactus hur ts to s ay nothing of the whips
and the stones N one of that society for m e
unl ess I could be an honorary member

Ar e these Indi ans who do this ?

B allard replied
Not on your life
they v e
too much sense No it s these greaser M exicans
Now those hill s you see with a b i g cross o n top
they call them places C alvary out of the B ible and
on Good F ri day they always hold so m e special

doings in such pl aces and time has been and not

long a go either when one of the bunch more

fanatic than the rest wo ul d have himself crucied
there B u t the C hurch won t stand for that and
they have had to cut it out though I would n t
swear it is n t yet done on the qui et T hese little
crosses near the road are where funerals have
stopped on the way to the graveyard D es cans os

they call them that means rest and whenever a

pious P eni tente comes along he is supposed to say
a pr ayer and chuck a stone or two on the pile at
the foot of the cross to help his cousi n out of
purgatory ; for pretty much all M exicans are

cousins

TH E

P I C URIS CO UN TR Y

117

And how does all thi s aff ect their mor als ?

we asked o ur thoughts still on the peni tential

D o they try to be good for the ensu

st ri pes
ing year so as to weaken the next dose of self

torture ?

No it works just the other way T hey d

rather play the devil for eleven months in the year
if they re sure they can wipe off the
any time
score with packing cactus for a week or two Wh y
I v e known a man to cut him self all up withi n an
inch of hi s life so he had to go to a hospital to get
made over ; and when he got out he was as bad as
ever again Worse in fact I t s human nature
,

if you believe in the c ur e O h they r e a hard

outt all right !

And so into Peas co with its o ne ram bling
street and at the end of it Senor Smi th s veran
d ah ed ad obe home with owers blooming about its
t
os
s
and
a
big
room
placed
at
our
d
i
sposal
with
p
two soft beds and windows Open to all outdoo rs
and a pretty M exican maiden who as she with
drew after l ling the pitchers said in the pleasa nt

Y o u are in your o wn ho m e ; please

Spanish way

let us know if there is anything you want

T wo miles from this P eni tente village of Peas co
.

TH E

1 18

PI C UR IS CO UN TR Y

and you are on the rim of a fertile valley through

which the little R i o P ueblo winds its b enecent
way between elds of corn and apple orchards and
thickets of wild plum to join th e Ri o G rande and
by its banks Indian women kneel to wash their
clothing and their wheat O n a slight eminence
in the midst of the valley is the pueblo of Picuris
a mile and a half above the sea yet high mountains
look down upon it their rounded summits that
early O ctober morning when we rst saw them
crowned with elds of snow above aspen belts of
gold
T ime was if tradition is to be trusted when
P ic u ris boasted its four thousand ghting men ;
but pestil ence swept o ff much of the population at
a breath and the spirit of emigration took away
others ; so that the P icuris of to -day harbours a
bare two hundred soul s to keep alive the ways of
the red fathers of the pueblo M exican squatters
dwell on the lands by the river and a P eni tente
m or ad a or meeting place is established in the very
shadow of the ancient Spanish church where San
L orenzo keeps watch and ward over his dim inished
ock

Y es they re pretty fair C atholics

said the
,

TH E P I C UR IS COUN TR Y

1 19

bachelor school -teacher who left his breakfast

dishes to welcome u s a rare proceeding for a Go v

er nm ent se rvant in the Indian country ; that is

they go to the priest to marry them and send for hi m
to b u ry them if he comes withi ntwenty four ho u rs
else the dead man is b lanketed and buried anyhow
C ertain co m lands b y the river ar e set aside to pay
for the priest s fees which he g ets in a lump for the
year s services B u t all the same the old I n di an
fai th is the one they live b y and is zealously kept
ali v e T here is a lot goes on in the old under
ground es tufas up there and at ancient shri nes in
the hills that no whi te man knows of It was
onl y the other day one of the Indian men cam e to
me and asked permission for his boy to be absent
fro m school for four days
What for ? I asked
T h at i s not for you to know he answered
It
sounds like a saucy speech to a representative of
the Uni ted States G overnment but he did not
mean it so and I knew very well it was some
religious rite that was to be performed schoo l or
Th e boy was
no school ; so I said All ri ght
back at hi s desk in four days and I said Com o
Pablito ? and he said B u eno and so the
s ta
matter ended ; but that scholar knew something
,

TH E P I C URI S

1 26

I di d n t

man

and never

CO UN TR Y

will nor

any

other white

the student of antiquarian tastes P icuri s has

a special interest by reason of certain old ruins
there which stand cheek by jowl with the more
modern dwellings that form the main part of the
pueblo O ne of these ruins is the so -called Scalp
H ouse in which hang scalps taken from con q uered
enem ies of a former generation perhaps by some
of those four thousand ghting men af o r em en
L ess gru e some is the C asa Vieja or the
ti o ned

old house an example of the mud architecture

of the pre Spanish pueblo
O ne of the rst
things the Pueblos learned from Spain was the
making of brick B efore that where stone was
not used they built up walls by making a mud
base and when this was dry piling more on top
and so on T his method the C asa Vieja plainl y
shows
Picuris seem ed deserted of natives until we i n
nocently drew o u t the camera T hen apparently

from the earth before us sprang an old man the

war captain it turned out i n tight trousers with

wide aps down the side who put his veto upon
o u r photographic intent
T h e schoolmaster ar
To

'

TH E

PI C URI S CO UN TR Y

121

with him in Spanish and we in E nglish ; but

he was adamant against the taking of pictures in
the pueblo unless we pa id ve dollars As we
could see nothing in the place wo rth that su m
of money we shut up the camera This was an
evident disappointment to hi m as he had undoubt
e dl y ca lcul ated upon us as a source of revenue
T h e M ayor of C hica go it seems had once been to
Picuris and paid that su m for the privilege and
why shoul d not we ? So the school -tea cher ex
plained
Whether fro m the hope that we mi ght
yet relent o r from a suspicion that if left to o u r
selves we wou ld do as we pleased the man stuck
to us closer th an a brother while we walked about
U pon other subjects than the cam era however he
was more compl ai sant and even beca m e co mm uni
cati ve upon matters pertaining to the present life
of the pueblo H e was no friend of the Am erican
was pernicious to
education whi ch in hi s view
Pueblo m oral s

Th e young people
he remarked
ar e not
what they were We cannot trust them any more
as we used to nor teach them the secret things of
our people ; so they r e ignorant of a great many
thi ngs that it would be good for them to know
e
d
u
g

TH E

122

PI C URIS CO UN TR Y

then the whisk ey every young man in

And

nowadays gets drunk whenever he h as a

chance T hat is very b ad 0 m u cho m alo !
P leasant faces looked out at us from doorways
where crooning voices told of babies being put to

sleep and the hospitable sal utation entr a eu

c o ur a ge d us to enter more than one habitation
and sit with the family awhile T here was the
usual interest in where we had come from and
where we were going and was it hot in C alifornia
and did many people live there A peculiar kind
of pottery is made here of glistening micaceous
clay which is serviceab le for cooking vessels ; and
what with b uyin g some of this and distributin g
candy liberally among the children our popularit y
in the pueblo waxed s o much that I am not sure
but a bid of a dollar to our trucul ent capi ta n d e
might
at
last
have
secured
u
s
per
m
ission
to
r
r
a
u
e
g
photograph the C asa Vieja B u t our dignity for
bade our reopening negotiations and he of the
apping trousers made no overture ; so P icuris
remained for us unphotographed save from the
outlying hill
As we walked towards our carriage to return to
Pea s co we heard a cry behind u s and turning
Picuri s

TH E P I C URI S

CO UN TR Y

1 23

an old Pueblo wo man and a young man

running towards u s
The woman was gesti cu
lating violently and when she was close to u s
addressed us rapidly in Spani sh

Do
M y so n ! we interpreted her wailing
you know F rancisquito in C alif orni a ? I am so

very sad here

placing her hands upon he r
b reast T hen throwing up her hands sh e moaned

O h my son my so n! F o r many years now

nothing from my son !

T here was more we could not understand and
we turned for an explanation to the young man
who then spoke to u s in E nglish

Thi s woman she is my mother and she has a

boy my brother and hi s name is F rancisco D uran
A long time ago he left P icuris and went to C alif o r
ni a where you come from where the ocean is
T hat was many years ago and he has never come
back and he has never written to s ay if he is well
When you go back to C aliforni a my moth er says
you s ee if you cannot nd him where he is and
when you see hi m you tell him to send word to his
mother in Picuris how he is Sh e i s very s ad in her
heart about him and she wants to know Y o u

wi ll do this ?
saw

TH E

1 24

PI C URIS CO UN TR Y

in red
as in white dw ells the uni
versal mother hea rt which never forgets but
yearns unceasingly for the chi ld whom the w orld
has rapt fro m her sight
So

Ch
Of

A n c i e nt

Zu ii i

nd
to

XI

t
e
r
p
h

w th

D isco

v e r

Co nqu i s ta d
It

o r es

I T H Z u i

and its picturesque life the

general reader is p r obably more par
ti cul ar l y acquainted tha n with any of
the other pueblos and this because of the writings of
the poet eth nologist F rank H C ushing who for a
time made a P ueblo Indian of himself and dwelt
som e thirty years ago in this terraced town
T hough inevitably undergoing modernisation it i s
still a place of uni que interest the largest of all the
pueblos and perhaps the most tenacious of the
ancient way
Z uni was the rst of the P ueblo communities to
be seen by O ld World eyes and those eyes were a

negro s one E stv ani co s Th e way of it was this :

In 1 53 6 there unexpecte dl y appeared in the
Spanish settlements of M exico out of the north ern
wilderness thr ee Spaniards and this negro the
,

1 25

SP AI N

126

D IS CO VERS

z UNI

sole survivors of N ar v aez s expedition of di scov

eight years before ha d
er y and conquest w hich
landed in F lorida and later perished miserably of

swamps and Indians all but these four who had

worked their painful way across the entire south
ern border of what is now the U nited States T heir
tale excited the gold hunting Spani sh in M exico
to the desire of exploring that more northern
country ; but as the wanderers had come out of it
empty hand e d it was thought prudent by the
Spanish V iceroy in M exico before tting out an
expedition to despatch a small reconnoitring
party to ascertain in advance if an expedition
were wort h while
T his reconnaissance whi ch was made in 1 539
was placed in charge of a F ranciscan friar known
to histor y as F ray M arcos de N iza H i s co m pan
ions were another F ranciscan B rother ( who how
ever soon became i ll and had to be left behi nd )
several M exican Indians and the negro E stv ani co
After a little the negro was
aforesaid as guide
sent on before with orders to make report from
time to time by Indians of what he found T hese
reports proved very glowing and contained among
other matter the assertion that a month s journey
,

D IS CO VERS Z UNI

SP AI N

127

ahead was a province ca lled C ibola containing

seven large cities all subject to one lord In them
were houses of one two and three stories built
terrace -like and the chief s residence was of four
stories ; there were many decorat ions on the houses ;
the people were well clothed ; and there was wea lth
of turquoise
T hus encouraged the friar pushed o n a cco m
i
n
a
e
d
by
his
Indians
all
footing
it
across
the
p
midsummer desert of what in our day is South
B astem Arizona
N 0w and again an Indian r u n
ner brought back word from E s tv ani co of his
safe progress until at last F ray M arcos was within
an easy journey of C ibola s seven cities T hen a
great blow befell F ugitive Indians of E stv ani
co s escort on a sudden appeared with news of the
negro s ar ri val in C ibola and of hi s murder there
T h e African it seems left s o long to hi s own de
vices had grown arrogant and upon reaching
C ibola although hospitably received had s et
about mistreating the women
T his infuriated
the men of the pueblo who incontinently repaid
the outrage with d ea th ; for as C oronado
,

ho r o u g hl y th e negr o s o ff ence ar o u sed the Pu ebl o m en

i s i nd i ca ted b y C o r o nad o s s ta tem ent i n a l etter sent a y ea r l a ter
I

H ow t

SPA IN DIS CO VERS Z UNI

1 28

records
their women the I ndians lov e bett er
than themselves
U nder these circum stances the place being in
a fever of resentment prudent B ro ther M arcos
decided that if he was to deliver a report of his
ndings to the Viceroy he had best stay out Of
C ibola
Nevertheless if he might not enter the
towns of his quest he did lik e M oses on N eb o s
peak get at least a glimpse o f the Promised L and
from a hilltop overlooking the great plain in which
the villages lay O n that height he tells us he
planted a woode n cross symbol of the faith th at
was some day to b e preached there and then
descending bea t his retreat towards M exico carry
ing such stories of settled towns and fertile valleys
that the Spanish adventurers when they heard
the tale felt sure o f the presence there o f gold and
other treas ure
fr o m Ci b ol a to the Vi cer oy Mendo za to the eff ect that althou gh
he h ad b een i n th e p u eb l o so m e ti m e he ha d no t been p er mi tt ed
to s ee any of th e w o m en wh o m th e m en k ep t unde r gu ar d fr o m
th e str anger s
gi ven fr o m the Pr o vi nce o f Cev o l a
Thi s l etter
and t hi s c i ty o f G r ana da ! Co r o nad o s new ch r i s teni ng o f the
p u ebl o i n w hi ch he was qu ar ter ed ! the 3 d of Au gu st 1 540 b y
F r anci s co Vasquez d e C o r o nad o wh o k i ss es the hand o f hi s mo s t
i ll u s tr i o u s l o r ds hi p the Vi c er o y
gi ves a ver y gr aphi c and r ead
a b l e acc ou nt o f Pu eb l o l i fe a s the r s t Sp ani ar d s f o u nd i t
It
wi l l b e f ound i n Wi nshi p s Cor onad o
,

SP AI N D I S CO VER S

Z UN I

129

was the ground cleared for the memorable

expedition of C oronado which s et out from M exico
the next year ( 1 540) and resulted in the discovery
of all the P ueblo towns which at that tim e num
bered upwards of three score The C ibola of F ray
M arcos was what we now know as Z u i ; but the
seven little cities of that early day are now but
rubbish heaps of interest only to the arch aeologist
and the curio hunter T he present pueblo ancient
as it looks i s post -Co r o nadi an a consolidation of
the original seven but its human life is essentiall y
unchanged from what that knightly servant of the
Spanish King observed and recorded
So

th e
see

F or
si

an

i nter esti ng

ccount of

xteenth -centu r y m y ster y

B and eli e r
9

of

cati o n o f

the id enti
the

Se

ven Ci ties

Ci b ol a in The Gi ld ed Man

Zu n
i

of

wi th

C i b ol a

"
,

Ch
O f Z u ni

n th

p te

Ra i n

XI I
nd

f Zu i D ick
'

the sun shines upon New M exico

three hundred days on an average out of
the three hundred and sixty -v e it was
raining on the O ctober evening when we arrived
Th e next morning the rain still de
at Zuni
scending we decided it woul d be more comfortable
o u t in the real thing than in our ad o be room where
from a variety of leak s in the roof an intermittent
drip fell emphatically upon the oor unless inter
cep ted by some part of our bodies
So clad in
rubb er we went forth to investigate the old pueblo
T here was a streak of light in the west where th e
s k y bent down to Arizona but in the east T owa

Y all eni M ountain of the Sacred C orn was still

wrapped in mists out of which diverse winds blew
shrewdl y o ne colder than its predecessor now
and again turning the rain to short lived spits of
snow
T h e tortuous little streets were gummy
H O U GH

1 3o

WE M EE T Z UN I

D I CK

13 1

as only ad obe can be on a wet day and deserted

of lif e E ven the pi g s do g s and bu r r os were
hidden away under lee walls and the turkeys
lurked disconsolate in the covered alleys B u t
hum an Z uni was as gay as though the s u n shone
I t s good humour was but increased by the wet
which meant the showered blessings of the gods
lling the springs and making the earth fruitful
A dusky face benea th a crown of glossy black
hair l l eted about with a bright magenta head
band looked out at us from a half -opened door
way and the smi ling Zu i man said :

Y o u happy ? Where you go ?

We stopped and smiled back

I Z uni D ick
continued the Z uni
Y o u no

Y o u come in my houses
hul l y ?
The door was hospitably opened ; one puppy
was lifted by the nape of its mangy neck and
deposited outdoors while another was shunted
under the table and we were invited to si t down
in the household s two cherished Am erican chairs
I t wa s a typical Z u ri i interior with clean White
washed walls and a beamed ceiling of unh ewn logs
,

gu a ge h as no s o u nd o f
li ke th e C hi nes e p r o no u nces as a n I
I

i l an
Th e Z u n
,

r,

whi ch the Zu ni to ngu e

132

WE MEE T Z UN I D I CK

At one end of the great roo m were the mealing

stones a

half dozen square slabs of malpais

di p ped to the oor at an angle of forty v e degrees
At one of them a
and boxed about with stone
young girl knelt and with a smaller stone was
rubbing corn up and down as on a washboar d and
crushing it to meal Th e air was fragrant with the
sweetness of the bruised grain and musical with
About the
the hum of the stones in contact
roo m at the base of the wal ls ran a low bench of
whi tewashed ad obe which served as a seat as well
as a shelf for the blankets that by night were
spread on the oor for beds T acked to the wall
b eside a bundle of gourd rattles and a lea ther
pouch for sacred meal was a row of coloured
covers of maga z ines and weeklies whose publishers
li ttle suspected the extent of their Circulation A
r o w of water jars with decorations in red and black
gave a bright touch to their corner and a gaily
coloured blanket still i n the loom am ed o u t
fro m one of the walls A triangular replace
built into the cor ner near the door was aglow with
a l eaping re of juniper wood set on end while in
a po t cocked against the bla z ing sticks roasting
pi non nuts were being stirred by D ick s wife who
-

WE M E E T Z UN I

D I CK

1 33

with a deft toss of her head as we entered had

c aused her long hair to fall modestly over her face
to veil it It was a scene in our twentieth -centur y
Am eri ca not essentially diff erent from scenes with
which the old Conqu i s tad or es of three centuri es
ago were familiar Zu i is conservative

rem arked D ick compla

I all a tim e busy
centl y as he rubbed bits of turquoise bea ds upon a
at stone in his lap to make them smooth T hen
as he prattled on we gathered that he was local
policeman by the grace of the I n di an agent at
B lack R ock and wore a blue coat with brass
buttons and a Kossuth hat with gold cord Th e
duties of this offi ce consisted principally in con
V o yi ng to the G overnment school truant little
Z u fi i s who preferring sunshine and freedo m to
paleface knowledge vanished from sight when the
school -bell rang It was a busy life this of round
ing -u p these luckless young savages involving not
onl y exercise of leg but nimble argum ent with
conspiring matrons who wanted to keep their
progeny uncontam inated by inuences which made
for bad manners and for skepticism regarding the
red gods of their fathers Saturday and Sunday
however were holidays and D ick was then free
.

WE M EE T Z UN I

1 34

D I CK

devices one

to follow his o wn
of which was to
cultivate the acquaintance of white visitors to
Zu fi i and let them into such of its mysteries as he
thought suitable for white folk to know
P erhaps then he could take us where we could
watch a Zurf i S ilversmith at work ? We wanted to
s ee a Z u i man make a bracelet

Y e-es
he said indul gently
I Show you

When you want to go you come to my houses

When we came out of D ick s houses

the
clouds had parted and the su n was shining glori
D oors stood open that
o u s l y in the blessed blue
had been shut against the rain ; men were astir
catching donkey s to ride on one errand or another ;
the turkeys and the pigs and laughing children
were abroad again A bright -faced woman was
patiently leading a blind man to a warm corner
where he might bask in the sun while she went to
the town well to ll her jar the gourd dipper
clinking within it as she walked
T h e Silversmith was a young man with the face
of an angel and hu ge turquoise earrings H i s
shop was set up in the one room of his house for
exceptin g N ick the storekeeper who wears white
man s clothes and a hat and was once strung up
,

WE M E E T Z UN I

D I CK

1 35

for a witch and lives out of hi s shop no Z urfi man

di vorces business and home

Y o u want im make lil cl o sses like 01 time ?

asked D ick to whose Zu i heart the characteristic
double-barred crosses of his people were very dear

or necklace of beads with piece of moon on end

o r you want i m b l acel e t with p i ctu put on ?

We explained that what we desired was a brace
let with ornaments stamped on it

Y ou want i m make b l acel et

pursued D ick

Y o u give
im money
dolla
half dolla I

dunno you know Pull y quick he make b l acel et

you see
you give i m all sam e money again
you take b l acel et
We understood enough o f t hi s to realise that it
was needful to supply the craftsman with the raw
material at the outset ; s o we produced a M exican
silver half dollar and taking two proff ered chairs
sat down to abide the issue

Said D ick :
Y o u stay and s ee no be a ai d

all same home good b y and departed

T h e S i lversmith blew up the re in a little for g e
which stood against the wall and into a small
crucible which he picked from the ash e s of a
previous re he dropp e d our coin to its melting
,

WE M EE T Z UN I D I CK

1 36

Then

he poured the puddle of molten meta l into

an oblong depression of the forge hearth and the
resul t was a short pig of silver T his he placed
upon an anvil and hamm ered patiently heatin g
and rehea ting it as it cooled until it had become a
at narrow strip of bruised and blackened silver
which bent into a circle until the two ends all but
touched woul d t the wrist ( Unl ike the bracelet
of civilisation the I ndian bracelet has a gap in its
circle through which the wrist is passed ) The
blank surface was then ready for decoration O ur
s mith took from a basket a handful of small iron
punches each of whi ch bore at its tip a die of

diff erent design from its fellows dots variously

arranged combinations of slashes crescents stars
and what not
With these he composed an
el aborate ornamentation punching it upon the
Silver with hamm er taps F inally the bracelet
was dipped in boiling water in which a lump or
two of a cleansing white earth gathered in the
neighbouring hills had been dissolved and was
handed to us unsoiled and fresh as from the mint
We paid another half doll ar for the work and the
negotiation was completed
.

Ch
o f H

ou se

e e

p te

p i ng i n Z
e

lp

d U

ni

to

XI I I

nd h

u y

w Z u fi i D i c h

Me at

Zu i

temporary sojourners have the

choice of thr ee ways of existence Th e
G overnment school may take you to
board but as it is not a boarding house that is
not to be counted on Almost any Indian family

woul d harbour you the Z u fi i s not yet having

been civilised out of the primitive virtue of hospi

tality but unless the ways of civilised life rest as

lightly upon you as they did upon C ush i ng yo u
would not stomach that T he third way is to hire
a room ( the missionary may accommodate you )
and board yourself We di d that and prospered
T h e Indi an trader will provide most of the neces
sa r i es of life at rates as a rule not exceeding one or
two hundred per cent over the prices of civil isation

h e must live and some luxuries may be had

G
from allup forty v e miles away when a tea m
.

S7

O UR

1 38

Z UN I

H O USE KE E P I N G

comes thence F resh mea t is to be had of the

Indians as also eggs As two sparrows in B iblical
times were sold for a farthing s o it is the unwritten
law of Z uni that three eggs sell for a nickel T hus
forewarned and provi ded with a borrowed e gg
which held up shoul d make known o u r need for
we talked no Z u fi i and few Zui s speak E nglish
we had no trouble
T h e quest of meat proved a more serious matter
and we decided to call on D ick for assistance H e
was not at home when we knocked at his door
but his wi fe smilingly gave us seats made some
matter-o f -fact remark in Z u i and went on dyeing
wool We sat expectant for three quarters of an
hour ; then our C aucasian impatience getting the
better of us and the su n being low we said good
by and left T wo corners away we found D ick
passing the time of day with a neighbo ur

Y o u want sheep meat or cow ? he asked

If sheep meat was not goat we shoul d like that
w e thought
D ick meditated then said :

Y o u come mebbe some Zu i man he have

cow meat I dunn o we see

We led across the great pl aza through a black
.

O UR

Z UN I

H O USE K E E P I N G

39

covered passage into the little north pl a za

clamorous with dogs all a to ngu e at our intrusion
then zigzag by one lane and another till we were
lost Th e evening res were gleaming in the
houses and throu gh doors ajar we could hear the
pleasant voices of the inmates gathered about
their suppers It occ u rred to us then that though
we had been three days in Z uni we had not heard
a cross word spoken by man or wo man or seen
a child harshl y treated After a stay of seven
weeks we could s ay the same T he gods of Zu i
have no ear for rough speakers
D ick knocked at a door and we all entered
A
murmur of welcome greeted us and an elderl y
Z uni man alertly came forward and shook hands
In the di m twilight we could distinguish seven or
eight people in the room collected about a lit
tle cook -stove in the centre
O ur host set three
stools for u s

L ong time ago sam e as M eli can s i t-down

chai s explained D ick
A few minutes decorous sil ence and then all the
Z uni s joined in a leisur ely conversation ; now and
then a cigarette was lighted and enjoyed and
there was an occasional musical laugh at some
,

0 UR Z U N I H OUSE K E E P I N C

1 46

witticism of D ick s who seemed to be a h um o u ns t

T hrough a window we saw the moon beginni ng to
ood the street with radiance and so far as we
could judge the meat was as far from us as ever
B y and by three cups and a pot of coff ee a pan of
meat and a basket of bread were placed on the
oor in front of us

Y o u eat
said D ick it no cost you mossing
T hen more talk and nally our host went to an
inner room and reappeared with a foreleg of beef
which he deposited upon the oor

Y o u want im meat
said D ick you take

H o w much for fty cents ? we asked

I dunno said D ick ; you got scales ? M eb b e

you weigh some

We explai ned that we did not carr y a butchering
outt in our pockets and they must cut o ff fty
cents worth Whereupon a saw and an axe were
brought and with these and the assistance of
most assembled a piece was hacked o ff and placed
in our han d s au na tu r el
We tendered our benefactor half a dollar H e
glanced at it and said something in Zu fi i We
looked appealin gly at D ick

H e say seventy -v e cents

,

0 UR Z UN I H O USEK EEP I N C

141

we ordered only fty cents worth

Another outburst of Z u f I i and then D ick
observed as though shedding new light upon the
subject :

H e say seventy -v e cents

B u t we o nl y ordered fty cents worth

T ell
him to throw in a soup -bone and we will give sixty

cents
And on this basis the negotiation was concluded
with a handshake all around
B

ut

'

Ch

O f S e -w i -e t s i -t s i t a
a

nd So m

p te

wh

h
a

XIV

w Sh
o

Mad

f 2 1 31 161 B

U s Jar s;

b ie

E EP

in a hillside at the foot of the pueblo

is the great well of Zu ni H ere sometimes
we would si t of a morning to watch the
Th e Zu i water -ca rriers
fashion in water-jars
are invariably women or girls and R ebecca at her
well was not a fairer sight we fancied than some
of those Indian maidens in their pictures q ue
pueblo dress H ere all day they cam e and went
sin g ly or in couples pausing for a moment s g ossip
in the cool cavern of the shady well before setting
their b ri mming jars upon their heads T hen
erect as arrows and without touching hand a gain
to their burdens they mounted the broad stairway
and climbed the hill to home
T h e making of pottery is to the Z u i s what
b lanket -weavin g is to the N avajos
It is their
characteristic industry Th e material used is a
.

1 42

Z UN I PO TTER Y M AK I N G
-

1 43

bluish clay which is obtained from the summ it of

T owa -Y all eni several miles di stant and brought
laboriously home slung in a blanket upon the
potter s back T h e clay is powdered on a stone
m eta te to the neness of meal mixed with water
and kneaded until the mess resembles blue co m
mush T he building -u p of the jar is done entirely
by hand excepting the b ase which i s moulded upon
the bottom of an old pot T here is a concavity in
the bottom which just ts the head of the carrier
and helps hold it steady there U pon this base coil
upon coil of the plastic mud is b u ilt up the crea ses
of conjunction being smoothed away with a bit of
gourd The jar is then set aside to dry thoroughly
O ne day we saw one in this unnished stage in
Sa wi etsi tsi ta s house and asked her if sh e woul d
let us watch her decorate it to which she consent
ing we came with candy for the babies and spent
an afternoon T he colours used in decoration are
made from mineral s found in the hills about Z uni
and are white red and a brown that is alm ost
black Sa -wi -etsi -tsi ta is an artist and feels the
inspiration of appreciative visitors her face glow
ing with content and the joy of creation as she
works She sits at upon the oor and after
,

Z UN I PO TTER Y-M AKI N G

1 44

covering the jar with a coating of white and

polishing it with a smooth stone until the surface
shines she lays on the gures of the decoration
with a sliver of yucca leaf shredded at the end to
make a brush of it O ut of the storehouse of her
memory the design grows without an error and i s
balanced in all its parts as perfectly as though the
jar had rst been measured and sectioned o ff for it
with rule and compass T he design may be purely
geometrical symbolic perhaps of clouds and rain ;
or it may be of conventionalised leaves and owers ;

or it may b e and her Z un i soul loves this above

all representative of swimming ducks and of deer

with visible hearts ; but whatever the design once
start ed it is worked out on certain conventional
lines which have come to her by tradition and can
not be arbitrarily varied Sa -wi -etsi -tsi ta made s ev
eral pieces of pottery for us during our stay at Zu fI i
and of one the pattern was so exceedingly plain in
severe lines of brown on white that we asked her
not to do that for u s again but always to put in some
red decoration too O ur Am erican ignorance dis
appointed her for did we not know what every
Zu i knows that that design never permits red ?
T he nal stage of pottery -mak ing i s the rin g
,

'

T
R
N
P
T
E
Y
M AK I N G
ZU I
O

1 45

and when this is reached the entire female portion

of the household is agog T h e decorated jar is
carefully born e into the street a place protected
from wind and travel is chosen and the jar is s et
mouth down upon a circle of small stones or scrap
iron T hen a cy linder of dry sheep -manure chips
is built up around the jar Ki ndling of cedar
shreds is laid within together with a sheep shank
u
i
sa
b
?
i
or head ( why q en
e
Sa w etsi t s i ta only
knows it makes the re burn better) and the whole
is red L ittle by li ttl e th e ame spreads and
fattens upon the unpromising fuel and through
the open chinks of the chips one may see the pot
b rightening in the intense heat as safe as D aniel
in his ery furnace When the fuel is consumed
the jar is carefully lif ted out and s et aside to cool
when it is ready for service
Woman s invasion of man s time -honoured voca
tions has not yet reached Z urfi T here the old
fashioned partition of lif e s labours between male
and female is as it was in the days of the ancients
M en plant the corn and har v est it ; the women
M en tend the
grind it and make the b r ea d
T h ey m ake th e b es t c o r ncak es I h av e ever seen anyw h er e
wr i tes Co r o nad o fr o m Zu ni i n 1 54 0 and thi s i s w hat ever yb o d y
,

IO

1 46

UNI PO TTER Y-M AK I N G

sheep and cattle and go rabbit hunting ; the women

cook the meat T he women are the potters and
blanket -weavers ; the men are the silvers miths and
do the knitting and moccasin -mak ing and most of
the sewing on the America n machines which many
households possess T he men build the houses ; the
women plaster them and build the ovens and bit
t er l y disappointed woul d they be if they shoul d not
be allowed to put these ni shing touches to houses
to be consecrated at Sh alako time by the pres
ence of the T al l Gods and their attendant maskers
As to the babies everybody has a care of them
T heir lives are one round of pleasant happenings
When they are not sleeping they are eating and
when they are doing neither of these they are

taking the air so runs their infant world away

T o the little girls and the grandfathers falls the
lion s share of nursing the little folk ; but it is no
unusual sight to see smiling mid dl e -aged or young
fathers striding along about their business with a
baby in a blanket swung upon their backs T h e
men cannot bea r to hea r a child cry and we have
.

hey have th e ver y b est ar r ang em ent and

m ach i ner y f o r g r i ndi ng th at ev er was s een
And the fashi o n
i n c r nc ak es i s s ti l l as i t was i n Co r o nad o s ti m e
o r d i na r i l

eat s

s l e gg i ng s
g
T he m en al s o
se wi ng -m a ch i ne wh en a h o u s e h o l d o wns o ne

A Z u rf i m an ni t ti n h i s wif e
,

run

t he

Z UN I

O
TER
Y
P T
M AK I N G

1 47

seen them stop their work to pick up a fretting

H o w the babies
baby and ta ke it out for a walk
got on the back was as much of a puz zle to u s
until we saw the deed done as was the apple in
the dumpling to the old philosopher The man
humped himself as for leap -frog swung the de
lighted infant so that it lit lightly on its stomach
upon the broad of his back its arms and legs
spread out lik e a swimm ing frog s and then the
blanket was ca ught under and around the child so
a s to hold it as in a sack

In Z uni the ba by is never in the way o f all the

blessings of the gods it i s the most desired and the
most cherished
H igh up on the M ountain of
the Sacred C orn is a double spire of rock which
according to Zuni folk -lore represents the meta
m or p h o sed bodies of two children sa criced in
D ick
ancient days to save Z u ri i from a ood
pointed them out to us one day

Z uni man and woman

he remarked
they
get m alli ed B i rneb y no have any chillen T hey
soll y They come to mountain climb way u p
put on player plumes
up T hen next year

mebbe have chillen and all happy

.

Ch
Of

Zu i G

e
t
p

i n d i n g S o n g,

XV

nd

f Pr

y er

Pl u m

e s

NE

afternoon a knock came at o ur door

and there stood D ick

Y o u no busy ? he inquired
Y ou

want l isten em sing song ? Y ou come with me

It wa s the week before the great
So we went
lako gods and Z u ni was
annual festival of the Sh a
all preparation for the joyous feast F o r weeks
by waggon and bu r r o back the corn had been
coming in from the distant elds and housetops
and yards were piled high with the rustling harvest
Women and old men were sitting in the sun
stripping the husks from the ears which were of a

score of colours red yellow blue white black

magenta orange lilac pink

and tossing them
into kaleidoscopic piles T here would be no hun
g er in Z urfi this year for the harvest was abound
ing and even the bu r r os shared in the general good
di
humour fee ng and fattening knee deep in co m
husks
.

1 48

GR IND ING

SO NG

1 49

We ascended a ladder at the su n priest s house

a nd
crossing a number of roofs cam e to a door
fro m which the sound of a drum issued Th e
small room dimly li ghted by t hree windows under
the roof was thronged T wo mustachioed N ava
were
bartering
s
lv
r
trinkets
with
a
little
soft
i
e
o
s
j
voiced Zu i man behind the door ; a cluster of
women were coo king at the re and through the
door others came and went bearin g baskets hea ped
high with meal or corn In a dusky corner was a
choir of eight young men singing to the a cco m pani

ment of a pri mi tive drum a lar ge jar with a skin

stretched tightly over its mouth Across the
room where from one of the windows the light fell
upon them were ve or six young women grinding
corn upon as many mealing stones their lithe
bodies rising and descending in unison and keeping
time with the music of the men As one would
tir e her place would be t aken b y another in the
room So the grinding never ceased and would
not till the su n s et T h e faces of the grinders were
half hidden by the veil of hair that hung down
bef ore them ; but their dress of many colours their
brown arms encircled at the wrists with silver
bra celets the ash of shell or silver necklaces
,

1 56

GR IND ING

SO NG

swinging as they knelt over the mealing bins

made an animated scene
As for the music it too never agged The air
changed from time to time ; one singer or another
might pause to puff a cigarette or drink from a
gour d of water but the stream of the music
suff ered no stoppage It was a Z uni grinding

song a song of thanksgiving it might be or an

invocation for rain and good crops the words

of which had come down from father to son for
generations Sometimes the Singers turned rever
ent faces upward ; sometimes they lifted their
hands as in supplication ; never was there a sign
that they held the performance as otherwise than
of the most solemn import Indeed the vim the
precision the religious fervour which these eight
serious men put into the music made us feel that
we were in a household of faith where the depend
ence of humanity was realised and the daily gifts
of Go d to men were received not as matters of
course but with thankfulness of heart
I t was heathendom s testimony to the power
and goodness of Go d and we felt humbled as we
stepped into the air We passed one of the Govem
ment teachers on the way to her C hristi an home
,

A GR I N D I N G

H ello

S ON G

1 51

sh e

remarked
been visiting the

savages ? F ind em pretty dirty don t you ?

Z u fii s prayers are breathed to little bunches of
feathers set in the earth or deposited by certain
sacred springs which are peep -holes of the gods to
keep watchf ul eyes on Zu ri i or laid in the recesses
of certain stone shrines of the valleys and the hill s
one of which on the great plain just outside of the
pueblo marks the spot known in Z un i geography
as the centre of the earth We used sometimes to
s ee men wal king silently fro m one house to another
carrying in their blankets wooden boxes with
sliding lids of whi ch one projecting end was carved
in the terraced shape that symbol ises to Z urf i the
rain cloud O ne day in D ick s house we saw one
o f these boxes open
out of which our dusky
friend was solemnly taking feathers of various

kinds turkeys
hawks
and bluebirds and
making them up into prayer plumes according to a

strict ritual fasteni ng them with cotton string to

short painted sticks and laying them in a cere
monial basket by hi s side

B y and by do you say prayers to them ? we

asked
D ick nodded
,

'

A GR I N D IN G SONG

52

What do you pray for ?

Oh

lots of lain to ll up wells and make plenty

co n for Z u fi i man and white ma n too so ev y
body all happy ; and lots chill en for ev yb o d y ;

and plenty l il sheep and goat and lil cow

a
kindly prayer we thought which in its inclusive
ness put us to shame who had not always been s o
min dful of those not of our o wn household
L ater in the day we saw D ick and four of his
clan their red blankets wrapped about them and
the tips of prayer plumes peepin g from the folds
wending thei r way in single le with grave down
cast eyes out to the plain where Zuni s sacred
places are ; and a little prayer was born in our
hearts that the Go d whom these children of H i s
ignorantly worshipped would incline H i s ear to
their prayer now and for evermore
,

Ch
0f

th

N i gh

p te

Da n c e

XV I
th

Sh lah

H E Sh alako

festival of Zuni which occurs

eve ry y ear near the end of N ove mber is a
remark able sacred drama enacted in the
open for the dou b le p ur pose of invoking the divine
blessing upon certain newly built houses and of
rendering to the gods of Zun i thanks for the har
vests of the year T he exact date of the coming
of the Sh alako is xed each year by some occult
formul a of the Zuni priests and while the ap
pointed day is generally known s everal weeks in
advance the of cial publication of it is not made
until the eighth evening before the event T h e
immedi ate eff ect of this announcement which is
given out by ten masked b u o ons in the principal
pl azas i s to quicken the easy going life of the old
pueblo into a bustle of industry The labour on
the new houses whi ch has dragged along half
heartedly for weeks receives a fresh impetus the
,

'

1 53

TH E SH AL AK O

DA N CE OF

1 54

women putting on the mud plaster with rabbit

skin mittens as the men lay do wn the roofs
D aily from outlying farming vill ages of the Zu fi i s
country waggons arrive laden with corn in the
husk beans in the pod and little round water
melons all white within o r piled high with trunks
and branches of p i fi o n and cedar where with to set
the Sh alako hearths ab l azi ng
On the housetops and in the sunny doorw ays the
huskers go merrily on with thei r husking cluttering
the narrow streets with the rustling sheaths
which crones too old for h eavier labour gather up
in blankets and carry o ff to be burned F rom the
ceilings of nearly every house are swinging the

fresh carcasses of sheep or goats or cattle the wet

s k ins tacked out on the oor to dry and every

where as you thread the tortuous alleys of the
town the air is sweetened with the fragrance of
fresh -milled corn as the women grind kneeling
at the mealing stones their voices the while lifted
in weird minor son gs keeping time with the
movement of their b odies
At the little ad obe store which N ick conducts in
the heart of Zuni the ordinaril y slug gish pulse of
trade leaps to fever temperature in the last day s
.

TH E SH AL AK O

DA N CE OF

1 55

before Sh al ako M en women and children crowd

in front of the counter behind which N ick his
u
l
placid f l moon of a face surmounted with a a t
crowned broad -brimmed hat s et well down over
his ears dispenses sugar and coff ee leather gaunt
lets checked calico and scarlet blankets in trade
for p i fi o n nuts sheepskins silver bracelets hens
eggs and wheat N omad N avajos from Gallup
and beyond arrive on tough little ponies in
companies of three and fou r bedecked with silver
neckl aces belts and bangles which they are ever
ready to barter away to trafcking Zunis T hen
one eveni ng as the sun drops to the Arizona line a
bugle sounds upon the plain and a troop of U nited
States cavalry in command of a pleasant -faced
lieutenant rides qui etly in and pitches its tents
just without the village
Sh alako being a night ceremony we might as
well have left our camera at home
T o be sure
w e had hopes of snapping the G o d of the L ittle
Fire w ant-co u r i er of the Sh alako as he came in
from the plain just before sundown on the eventful
day but F ive -C ent M armon the teni ente wi se in
the ways of the white man divined the intent and
enjoined us beforehand
.

DA N CE

6
5

OF TH E

SHA L A K O

M an said he with an eye upon a suspicious

bul ge of one of my coat pockets

you take

We assented

i
c
t
u
p

till Sh alako gone

he

Y o u s a be ?
dissented
I say so
So the G o d of the L ittle F ire carrying in one
hand a smoul dering torch of twisted cedar bark
his bare painted body spotted with many -coloured
sparkles and his head eclipsed within a hemi
spherical mask also dotted that rested like a starry
dome upon his slender shoulders came and went
unpictured as becomes a god
B efore him walked a Zuni priest in ceremoni al
dress a great white buckskin slung across his
shoulders a bunch of rabbits depending from his
belt and bearing reverently before him a basket of
prayer plumes upon which his downcast gaze
rested It was our old friend D ick in apotheosis
Th e two made the tour of the village planting the
pra y er plumes at certain appointed places and
followed by a group of dancers who i rnp er s o nat ed
gods of the Zuni pantheon and wore wonderful
masks presenting an ensemble of superb colour as
they danced and chanted
no take

Y ou

TH E SH AL AK O

DA N CE OF

57

sight of these strange beings more like

denizens of another world than of this put us in a
fever of expectation and we impatiently awaited
the darkness under whose cover the Giant Gods
shoul d a rrive
As the twilight deepened to dusk slowly movin g
groups upon the plain coul d be dimly seen ap
n
i
Zu
from
the
southe
hills
stoppin
i
n
r
n
h
r
o
c
a
g
g
p
on the farther side of the river that ows p ast the
F
pueblo
ive C ent M armon wrapped to the e y es
in his b lank et strode by u s

he observed in a burst of
Sh alako come
friendliness
B u t not till darkness had completely settled

down w e mea nwhile shiver ing on the bank

and anathematising Indian deli b eration did the

groups nal ly cross the stream T hen they
paused in a ho l low of the bank the Sh alak os k neel
ing while the attendants gave the nishi ng touches
to their make u p
In Zuni mythology the Sh alako G ods are the
couriers of the divine rain makers s tationed at
each quarter of the compass whi ch in Zu fi i cos

m o gr ap h y has six points N orth South E ast

W est Zenith and N adir So gigantic in stature
Th e

D A N CE OF

1 58

TH E

SHA L A K O

are the Sh al akos that they must be represented

in ef gy astonishing creatures ten feet or so in

height with st aring painted eyes horns for ears a
horizontal wooden snout that opens and shuts
with a snap and a head -dress like an open fan
F rom the
of upright eagle or turkey feathers
gu r e s waist which is at the height of a man s
head swings a huge hoopskirt of heavy white
cotton of native weaving ornamented in colour
around the bottom with the inverted pyramids
that symbolise rain clouds C ompletely hidden
w ithin this is the efgy s motive power a Zuni
man whose m o cca si ned feet ar e seen below the
s k irts H e carries the efgy by means of a pole
lodged in a pock et of his belt As the Sh alak o

moves teetering along like a superannuated

dandy i t utters at tim es a shrill whistle and snaps

the jaws of its snout with nerve -racking violence
It was now pitch dark a thin layer of snow
aked the ground and the wintry wind blowing up
from the icy river chilled the marrow of our bones
N o w and again the Sh alakos would make as though
to resume their progress only to settle down once
more to an interminable wait F inal ly the few
white spectators who with ourselves were watch
,

DA N CE OF

SHA LA K O

TH E

1 59

ing developments grew tired and at seven o clock

decided to go indoors somewhere and get warm
As for us some experience with red human nature
had taught us that when the C aucasian s patience
with Indian ways has all leaked out something
is apt to happen So we decided to remain a
little longer and wrapping our blankets closer
about us we shrank into the corner of an old corral
a few rods o ff that shielded us from the wind and

waited and waited and waited B y and by

we shifted our positions and again waited
And now there is a stir among the Sh alakos and
we see the grotesque heads and shoulders rise from
the ground into distinct outline against the starlit
sk y
far above the level of the crowd of Zuni
attendants
With a commingled wheezy whi stl
ing and snapping of snouts the Giant G ods sway
into single le ; suddenl y there bursts in unison
from a hundred throats a majestic chorus a
simple minor theme repeated over and over fas
ci na t i ng and so ul -compelling in the darkness ; and
the weird procession is o ff upon its march about
the vill age
We rush beside it breathl ess and excited and
fall into step
,

DA N CE

1 60

OF TH E SH AL AK O

As the notes of the solemn chorus penetrate into

the dwellings the doors are thrown open emitting
the light of a multitude of glowing hearths and the
people throng out upon the housetops and on the
streets watching the coming of the long-expected
divinities M any from the houses hurry out and
swel l the procession which stops at each new
dwelling where the ceremony of blessing is to be
performed and there leaves a Sh alako K neeling
before the open doorway the gigantic god waits
while to the chanting of the chorus and the contin
ual sprink ling of sacred meal the priests plant in
front of the steps the prayer-laden bunches of
feathers which constitute the vehicles of the Zunis
invocation to the powers above T hen stooping
the great efgy passes in We follow and nd a
seat to our great content near the replace where
a cedar log is crackling
I t is to a feast of fat things that every visitor to
a Zuni house comes on the ni ght of the Sh alako
a feast that is the ful l blown ower of Zuni cul inary

art T here is for instance meat stew mutton or

beef or rabbit even a tasty mess of mountain rat

garnished with onions and chili peppers ; there is
blue wafer-bread of corn and grey wafer-bread of
,

D A N CE OF

TH E SH AL AK O

61

beans ; there are wheaten loaves and f r ijol es

roasted p i on nuts and watermelons none the
worse to aborigina l taste if they are frosted ; and
there is coff ee owing free as milk in C anaan F o r
two or three hour s the feast i ng i s kept up until
about midnight the ceremonial dances begin
B eside the primitive altar which is erected in
the room there sits a choir of men who supply
the music which is entirely v ocal except for the
accompaniment of gourd rattles and a hollow
voiced drum made in the orthodox Zun i way of
a huge earthen jar
T h e spectators throng the walls of the long room
o r crowd the doors and windows that open from

the inner apartments of the hous e a motley

lot interesting indeed under the aring lights
Predominant of course are the Zun is some in the
picturesque costum e of their fathers from head
band to moccasins ; others in the nondescript attire

that the trader sells them grey s om br er os blue

overalls suspenders and clumsy brogans There
is too a sprinkling of other Pueblo people from
Acoma and L aguna or even the distant H opi
m es as
Of N avajos traditionary enemies of Zuni
yet never debarred from the hospitalities of Sh al
,

D A N CE OF

1 62

TH E

SHA LA K O

ako there are many their gaunt -visaged women

with roly -poly uncomplaining babies by their
sides strapped in queer little r o ck er l ess cradles
either asleep or blinking at the unaccustomed
lights Afew whites are looking on too but they

employ s of the G overnment agency

s oon tir e
and schools a surprised tourist or two lured
hither perhaps by a railroad adverti sement and an
occasional hard -faced trooper of the lieutenant s
squad Only M exicans of all the world are for
bidden to V iew the Sh alako and no word of
Spanish i s permitted to be spoken during the
ceremonies T h e dancers come and go in bands

each with its leader one s et appearing from the

outer darkness as another departs into it
H our after hour until da wn streaks the sk y
beyond the eastern m es a the singing and the
dancing go zealously on and lest any of the
spectators shoul d so far forget the proprieties of a
religious occasion certain of the dancers carry a
yucca switch sharper than birch which they lay
lustily upon the shoulders of any tired wight who
nods N o w and then the Sh alako takes the oor
its head al most touching the ceiling and after a
few conventional rounds breaks into a brisk run
,

DA N CE OF

TH E

SHA L A K O

1 63

that seems aimed to annihil ate some frightened

o nl ooker in the front row but with surprising
dexterity the huge gure whirls about in the nick of
time and drops again into the customary shuf e
N o w and again there is a pause in the music and
the dancers perspiring at every pore retire to be
replaced by a fresh band arriving from another
house
E ach set of dancers is diff erently attired and
in their songs and accoutring represent diverse
features of the complex Zu fi i mythology that only
the initiated may comprehend B u t whatever it
may mean on its esoteric side to the uninitiated
the spectacle appeals as a thing of marvellous
beauty growing m ore beautiful as the night w ears
on The intense earnestness of the dancers
trained in their movements to act as one man ; the
neness of many of the faces that for the time
being are l ighted with the glow of a god -like
enthusiasm ; the litheness and grace of the more or
less nude gures painted in harmonious hues and
adorned with tink ling ornaments of shell and
turquoise and silver and the native loveliness of
th e furry skins of wildcat or fox ; the music of the
voices sounding in unison now erce and fortis
,

D A N CE

1 64

SHA L A K O

OF TH E

simo now tender and low now tempered with

almost organ -like majesty ever varying with the
sense of the legendar y words that proceed from the

lips of dancers and choir all this enacted by men

who render it as a free ser vice to the Omnipotence
that rul es their lives is as different from the work
of players acting for pay as light is from darkness
T h e beauty of the make -u p of these dancers is a
revelation to one who thinks of Indian art as a
hod ge -podge of crudities in form and of glaring

colours o f anything so it be red and yellow ! As

a matter of fact the Indians as a race have a true
ar tistic sense the phenomena of nature serving as
their most frequent models ; and the harmony and
balance of colour evidenced in the shifting scenes
of the Sh alako dancers are a delight to the most

cul tivated eye an exhibition indeed that woul d

do credit to any metropolitan stage with the

added fact that it i s no make -believe but the real
thing
T h e last song had been sung the last dance had
been danced and the G iant G ods showered with
sacred meal from the surging crowd led slowly
away under the risen sun towards the gullied m esa
out of which the night before they had appeared
,

TH E SH AL AK G

DA N CE OF

1 65

Ou r

sleepy eyes followed the strange procession of

swaying gures until it reached the foothills where
breaking into a run it passed from view to r e
appea r in a year bringing to Z u fi i renewed assur
ance that the gods of the harvest and the rain do
not forget Over at the troopers camp the round
up for departure was on and the Government
mul es were lending their patient backs once more
to the pack -saddl es ; the visiting N av ajo s w ere
bunching together and striking into the north
trail that led o ff to the hoga ns of their people ; the
Zuni folk were vanishing into thei r houses for a
nap ; and the dance of the Sh alako was over
As we strolled back to our o wn quarters to pack
up for home we marvelled at the indiff erence of
our countrymen to this beautiful religious cere
mony of a race who antedate us as Americans
P eople travel far to attend the P assion P lay or
metropolitan representations of the N ibelungen

C ycle or Shakespearean revivals to s ee indeed

any sort of dramatic make believe if it be well
enough staged ; but thi s sacred service of the Zunis
to their gods which is no play though performed
with dramatic fervour and with a magnicent
setting that symbolises the living things of their
,

DA N CE OF

66

TH E SH AL AK O

faith to this service of life only an occasional

stray traveller comes or an ethnological student

now and then and some nomad I ndians
Th e shadow of F ive -C ent M armon fell across
our threshold as w e sat thinking it over

Y o u take p i ctu now ? he observed ; all light

you take p i ctu

I say s o
Sh a
l ako gone
B u t the tem ente was outwitted
T hough we had
obeyed hi s orders and pocketed the camera we
had none the less secured the picture of Sh alako
impressed indelibly upon the enduring hn of
memory
,

'

xv
Of

th

E i gh t P u

blos

T h i th

HE

M o qu
e r

n
i,

n d th

M oq ui s ? What are they to the H opis ?

I know the Snake D ance Some

And M aria went
body tol d me of that
to a lecture about it once N o t r eal rattlesnakes ?
Oh a wf ul ! B u t their fangs m u s t be taken out rst
-o
And we se wed for them one winter
f cou r se
in our K ing s D aughters and sent them a box of
nice annel shirts poor things
Oh not for the
snakes you ri di c ul ous thing for the pe Opl e ! Ye s
I really know a great deal about them H o w dr ead
f ul for them to live way out in Arizona ! And now

do te ll me about the cotillion last ni ght ; I heard

etc

T he M oqui s ? Where have I heard of them ?

T hey r e D akota Indians are n t they ? Arizona ?
A fellow wanted
Oh yes that s s o I remember
me once to take a trip to see them when we were
Oh yes

1 67

M OQ UI

68

P UE B L OS

our way to C alifornia H e said they beat the

band for picturesqueness and all that but Great

Scott ! it takes two days by waggon across a desert
to get to them and carry your o wn booze So I

said : N o t on your life my boy this train suits

me ! Y o u go if you want to and tell me the
features when we meet again
I have n t heard
of hi m sin ce so maybe he got scalped Anyhow
it seemed a fool trip to me H o w s the shing at

C atalina nowadays ?
T his is what you get when you try to interest
the average citizen of the U nited States in the
case of the ei ght pueblos of M oqui Shall I gain
an y more attention by writing it out on paper ?
P erhaps not
N evertheless I shall try
At lea st
I shall not be interrupted till I am through with
the story I have to tell
on

N o r th war d

a hundred miles or so from the rail

road beyond the muddy ow of the R i o C olorado
C hiquito beyond the mirages and sand
storms
the unutterable droughts and the summer cloud
bursts of the P ainted D esert of Arizona are the
eight pueblos known collectively as M oqui and
individually by names of such rare dif cul ty to
,

M OQ UI P UE B L OS

1 69

pronounce that I shall disturb you with them as

little as possible T his M oqui i s the region which
the ancient Congu i s k zd or es called the Province of
T usayan
C oronado resting on hi s arms after
the conquest of Zuni in 1 540 heard of it and sent
one of hi s lieutenants with half a dozen musketeers
up from Zuni to ascertain what it was like T his
lieutenant s name was Pedro de T obar or T ovar
and he enjoys a twentieth -century fame having a
great hotel named for him a hundred miles from
M oqui on the rim of the Grand C afi o n of the
C olorado in Arizona
L ittle cities of stone built fort ress -like upon the
apexes and dizzy edges of four lofty rocky p r o m o n
tories that jut out into the desert and housing a
popul ation of some two thousand P ueblo Indians
the pueblos of M oq ui have a sublim e outlook
without parallel in America or probably in the
world upon desert sk y and distant mountains
Silence and sunl ight by day starlight and sil ence
by night and always the desert s o wn pecul iar
mystery envelope this land of M oqui where no

man except he be an America n o fce holder can

live for a day without being sensible of his individ
ual i nsi gnicance in the make u p of the universe
.

M OQ UI

1 7o

P UE B L OS

H ither ,

long centuries ago came the ancestors

of the present dwellers in M oqui after movings
whose course is fairly well marked to this day by
ruins of prehistoric towns scattered along the
valley of the L ittle C olorado in the canons o f the
Whi te M ountains of Arizona and among the M o
n
T
here
is
every
reason
to
believe
that
o
l
l
o
es
g
they came seeking in this desert fastness an asylum
from war and the depredations of their enemies
F o r the L ord of L ife it seems had implanted in
the hearts of these red children of H i s not a spirit

of unrest rapine and war qualities whi ch our

superior civilisation invariably associates with the

unreconstructed red man but the love of peace

of home and of tilling the ground I ndeed they
called themselves and still do H opi meaning

the Peaceful ; and because their settled abodes

and ordered lives of industry as agriculturists and
artsmen enabled them to gather to themselves
property which excited the cupidity of warlike
nomads of the South West such as the U tes the
,

hey ar e als o quite g enerall y calle d M oqui s (or M oki s) ;

b ut this i s really a ter m o f contem pt as D ag o f o r an I talian or
M ick f o r an I ri sh man I n thi s b ook th e word M o qui i s u sed
in i ts geog rap hic sense meanin g the locality in wh ich the H op i s
l ive
T

C hi ef Sn k e P ri es t of W alpi hoein g hi s corn t wo or three day s

ft r th e Sn ake D anc e N ot e ho w short th s t alk s ar e yet
th ey a e full g ro w n T h e m an i s b ut e feet hi gh
a

M 0Q UI P UE B L OS

1
7

Apaches and the N avaj 05 their elds and terraced

,

towns would appear to have been the object of

attack and spoliation by these enemies T hen to
escape the ceaseless har r yi ng o f marauders came
the ight of the H opis to the desert taking to them
selves the barren waste as an ally and establishing
themselves where the hardship of getting at them
would minimise the liability to invasion

So the pueblos of M oqui came to b e no man

can say when but certainly before the coming of
the sixteenth -century Spaniards ; and to reach
them across the long su n-scorched waterless
leagues was in old Spanish parlance literally u na

o
d
u
r
t
m
a
d
a
m
e
journey
f
death
H
ere
in
e
e
a
o
j
M oqui the H opis planted their corn of many
colours and set up al tars and shrines that stand to
this present day ; and with invocations and thanks
giving to the red gods that had brought their
fathers up from the darkness of the underw orld to
this w orld of light they wrestled unceasingly with

the desert for a l iving and won

I n a land where the annual rainf all is but a fe w
inches and that conned principally to t wo su m
mer months and where the sandy ground shifting
continually before the wind is almost as unstable
.

M OQ UI

1 72

P UE B L OS

as the waves of the s ea this untutored race has

scored over adverse nature a victory which wins
the admiration of every serious minded person
scientist or layman who visits M oqui T he H opis
have searched out every spot in the desert within
a score of miles where moisture lingers long enough
to mature a crop of corn or beans or melons and
industriously cul tivate it and protect it from
burial by shifting sands from seed time to harvest
Of the desert s resources practically nothing e s
capes them Of its rocks and stones they have
fashioned implements and built stable towns ; of
the bres of its plants and the skins of its animals
they have made clothing ; of its clay they have
moulded serviceable and beautiful pottery ; of its
grasses they have woven baskets of superior weave
and design ; upon its bitter shrubs the y pasture
their ocks ; cert ain saponaceous roots provide
them with soap and many herbs contribute to
their vegetable di eting In fact their knowl edge
of the desert plant life is little short of marvellous
Ou t of one hundred and fty known species of

plants growing wild in M oqui a white farmer

would call them all weeds the H opis have found

use it i s said for about a hundred and forty F rom
,

M OQ UI P UE B L OS

1 73

the Spaniards who sought to C hristianise them

but whose iron rule only succeeded in driving these
-disposed Indians to such
uakerly
desperation
Q
that they nally threw the pri ests over the cliff s
and demolished the church taking its beams for

roong their o wn pagan fanes from the Span

i ar d s they got enrichment of their lot in the shape
of horses bu r r os sheep iron implements and
T
h
e
peach trees
peach orchards are to day a
special feature in the environs of every H opi town
the deep green of the foliage billowing the yello w
sands b eing visible to the traveller as he ap
long
before
the
to
w
n
itself
distinguish
o
h
e
s
i
s
r
ac
p
able from the rock upon which it i s founded
T he nearest railroad to M oqui is the Santa F e s
transcontinental line and the pueblos lie seventy
T o them are
v e to a hundred miles north of it
four principal waggon routes and unl ess you are
used to desert travel whichever one you take
you wi ll likely wish you had chosen another ; for
at the best the trip is a hard one Y o u may rst
of all set out for M oqui from Ca fi o n D iablo a
ag-station where a lone trading -post h as bee n
established for many years ; amply capable ho w
ever o f tting y ou out in thorough style T his
,

M OQ UI

1 74

P UE B L OS

way is the shortest to Oraibi the westernmost

pueblo T hen there is the route from Winslow
T his Ari zona to wn has the advantage of superior
hotel accommodations ; s o from there you may
count upon star ting well fed The third route
H
that from olbrook a smaller place thirty three
miles east of Winslo w is a direct one to Walpi
L astly there is the G allup route the longest of all
taking from three to three and a half days as
against two days by either of the other roads It
it ho wever the pleasantest from the standpoint
o f co mf ort and general interest w ith a minimum
o f desert to cross and a good deal of pine forest to
traverse Th e latter is very lovely especially in
the autumn when the resplendent foliage of small
oaks scattered through the pines lls the wood
lands with a glory of bright colour
Th e Gallup road also crosses a considerable part
of the great N avaj o R eservation aff ording the
traveller a goo d opportunity to observe this
remarkable tribe at close range B oth the H 01
brook and Gallup routes present one imp ortant
advanta ge over the other two in that their starting
point is north of the L ittle C olorado R iver the
fording of which is thus avoided T hi s is an i m
,

M OQ UI

P UEB L OS

1 75

portant consideration as in time of rains the river

is not i nf requently ooded and impassable for
days As both C a non D iablo and W inslo w lie
south of the L ittle C olorado this possib i lity of the
risen river s causing delay is to be reckoned with
from those points
It was with the view of including the world
famous Snake D ance at Walpi that we timed our
expedition to the H opi m esas in August One of
the few things we did know about the trip before

hand and this was conrmed by experienc e

was that even in August w e shoul d not encounter
any overwhelming heat E verything else how
ever which the midsummer elements coul d fur

nish we had in liberal doses including wind and

cloudbursts radi ant sunshi ne by day and delicious
ni ghts for slumber
,

We decided upon the

route We are
not of the robust type of travellers and previous
experience with desert and I ndians had taught u s
our physical limitations We accordingly made

r
careful provision in advance for a st class team
and competent driver as well as for as many
comf orts as coul d be packed under the seats On
t w o nights of the journey w e knew t hat lodging ao
Gallup

M OQ UI

1 76

P UEB L OS

co m m o d ati o ns

could be had ; but one other night

must be spent in the open ; while as to M oqui we
knew not how we should be housed and fed there
So we included in our impedimenta two folding
cots ; two do wn quil ts folded lengthwi se and
turned up a few inches at the side and bottom and
pinned there with safety -pins making sleeping
bags using them by day for cushions in the car
r i age ;
a telescope satchel containing nee dful
changes of clothi ng ; and a box of such provisions
delicacies and the ner grade of necessaries
as we should not likely nd in Indian traders
stocks F urthermore to rel ieve the minds of
anx ious friends we carried a vial of permanga
nate of potash crystals for use in case of getting

bitten at the Snake D ance a very very remote

contingency
T hough one may travel forty miles without
sight of a white face there are no dangers on a
trip of this kind any greater than would be met
with in motoring from N ew Y ork to B oston T h e
stock bugaboos of the tenderfoot such as venom

I ndians on the war path and

b ad
o u s snakes

men of the shilling shocker t y pe are negligible

factors Ou r frontier W est develops in its men
,

M 0Q UI P UEB L OS

1 77

along with some picturesque vices a broadness of

dealing com b ined with a certain chivalry where
women are concerned that makes it the safest
of regions for travellers who mind their own busi
ness and if these do not put on airs and b ecome
condescending or instructive they will be always
in the hands of their friends At the lonely post
of the white trader or in the N avajo hogan they
are welcome without charge to such b oard and
lodging as the place aff ords As one hospitable

Your coin don t pass

Arizonian put it to us :
here brother ; it s hard enough to have to travel

this countr y without payin g out money

N evertheless it was somewhat of a strain on our
faith when we applied at the livery stable at
Gal lup for the team we had arran ged for some
weeks in advance to be told apologetical ly by the
proprietor that the experienced man whom he had
counted on to drive us had sprained his arm and
he would have to put us in char ge of his onl y other
driver a seventeen -year-old boy who had never
been thirt y miles from home

B u t he 11 pick u p the way all right

he

continued comf ortin gl y ; y ou see you travel most

of the time over the N avajo R eservation and B o b
,

12

M 0Q UI

1 78

P UE B L OS

talks N avajo with a regul ar Parisian accent Why

when he tal ks I m here to tell you it just makes
the squaws weep he does it so good : s o if there s
ever any doubt about the road he can ask an
Indian and it s just the same as if he knew the
road himself
Accommodating ? Y es si r you
b et ; he ll play ball all right
H e d better ; his
job depends on it H e s over to F ort D eance to
day with a party T hat s on your road and he
s tarts b ack in the morning So if you r e ready
to hit the trai l to morrow I ll drive you out and
we 11 meet him fteen or twenty miles out ; then
he 11 turn in with you and I will brin g his bunch
of people on into Gallup H e 11 deliver the goods

all right don t you worry

As there was no alternative w e did not worry
though there seemed some cause for solicitude in
being put in the care of a stripling on a t w o hundred
and fty mile trip through a wilderness that was as
unkno wn to him as to ourselves ; and the next
morning found us early on the road
B o b when we met him proved to be a tall
youth with a serious countenance an olive com
plexion and calf -like e y es H e wore a hat with
the cro wn pinched up into an elevated peak blue
.

M OQ UI P UE B L OS

79

jumper and overalls and long legged yellow boots

H e listened without comment as his employer
delivered him his orders

T his lady and gentleman ar e going up to the

M oqui country and will be gone three or four
w eeks Y o u are to take them H ere 5 twenty
dollars for the expenses of the team and if you
need any more ask the gentleman for it If you
kill one of the horses buy another and if you need
to pay any cash down he 11 give you a bunch of
money And here 5 your war-bag ( holding up to
view a small telescope some eighteen inches long )

Y our mother packed it for you

T here s a
couple 0 pair 0 socks and a bunch o f cigarette
papers i n it ; that will keep you for a month N o w

you get aboard here and ad i os everybody

So without more formality the transfer of B o b
was eff ected and we drove o ff over a p i o n ridge
and do wn into a wide solitary waste of sagebrush
where all the world was as new and fresh to us as
to our rst parents when they stepped forth into
the great world without E den

I t was through a country of w ild beauty that

three days trip Every day our J ehu lost the
way ; but through the goodness of Providence that
-

M OQ UI

8O

P UE B L OS

watches over i nf ants found it again ; every day

were hard thunder -show ers of an hour or two
succeeded by a radiant glory of clearing ; and every
day there were such bursts of sunshine out of a
turquoise sk y where huge cumulus clouds gath
ered and moved in stately procession as only the
outh
West knows Wild owers bloomed on every
S

hand tangles of yellow sunowers and forests of

purple cleome sometimes as high as the horses
heads ; and always ahead of us long at-topped
m esas bathed in soft tones of pink and mauve and
amethyst stretched themselves into the plain
beckoning us on H ills of mystery they seemed
like the ramparts of some heavenl y city let do wn
into this world of sense awakening in us far from
all thi ngs the hope of all things N o wonder the
old Co ngm s tad or es kept striving towards them !
here
is
that
in
the
alluring
warm
toned ca non
T
gashed steeps that makes the presence of a pot of
gold there or a pocket of precious stones seem the
most natural thing in the world Of human life
there were onl y occasional N av ajo s men and
women always ahorseback and often driving
before them great bands of sheep B o b never
missed the opportunity of intimate conversation
,

'

M OQ UI P UEB L OS

181

with them to assure himself of the road and the

location of water for his team F o r ourselves we
had in the carriage two canteens fresh -ll e d every
morning And by and by we came out of this
semi desert upon pure desert and caught our rst

sight of M oqui the pueblo of W alpi perched

upon a lofty outstretched promontory silhouetted
a gainst a streak of light in the w estern sky the
long streamers of the rain descending waveringly
out of black clouds upon the to wn
,

Ch
0 f th

Mo

L i fe in

p te

qu i
a

XV I I I

Tr

nd

o u

H i nt

ble

f i t s L a tt e r

the foot of Wal pi s steep is a scattering of

houses the G overnment school the eld

matron s the doctor s and a few that
Indians dwell in In one a H opi trader keeps a
little store T o Americans his name is T o m and
him we had been instructed to nd and consul t as
to our lodging while in M oqui As we drew up
before th e store an I ndian came briskly forth to

greet u s a small man with a pleasant smi le jet

black hair cut square at the neck and a clean
white shirt that bellied picturesquely in the breeze

N 0 he was not T o m
h e was T om s b r u z zer n
law P ercy and yes he sought mebbe he knew
about some house if we wanted to hire one till after
Snake D ance ; mebbe his sister M ary Snak e

P riest s wife s h e would hire hers

i t wa s j ust

bow shot away and sh e would go up to the

m es a and stay ; he would spoke to her

82

A H op i

pott r pr p ri ng to pott ry b o wl H hom i s

on th e di t ant m
top b ut h h com do wn h r
b c ause n rby corr l afford ab undant fuel of dri d
s h eep m nur
e

es a

ea
e.

re

as

er

e e
e

L I FE TO D AY IN
-

And

M OQ UI

1 83

it came to pass that in the course of an

hour we found ourselves for a consideration of a
dollar and a half a week sole tenants of a tight
roofed one -roomed stone house with a little
walled front -yard and a glorious view eastward
across the yellow desert to pink and purple moun
tains H ere and there ami d the sands were
green patches of growing corn beans and melons
and far away in the sunshine an Indian was ri di n g
warbling a H opi yodel as he rode An o l d man
naked to his breech clout this August day was
singing too and driving two dun pack bu r r os
aeld to whose sober coats a touch of vivacity
was given by red sad dl e blankets C hildren were
tumbling and romping in the dunes where wild
owers bloomed and the air was sweet with the
music of their laughter T he natural l ife of the
Pueblo is happy and gay in h i s sunlit land I want
to tell you thi s before the Government has civilised
the j oy of hi s native life out of hi m
All M oqui like om ni a Gal l i a is divided geo

graphically into three parts three nger -like m e

s as which extend out into the P ainted D esert the
tips approximately ten miles each from the o ther
Upon the eastern or F irst M esa stand three o f the
so

L I FE TO-D AY I N

1 84

line W alpi

M OQ UI

pueblos in a
Sich omovi and T ewa
so close together that they real l y are lik e one long
rambling village N evertheless they preserve
their respective individualities even to the extent
of one employing a radically diff erent language
from the others Th e Second or M iddle M esa i s
forked at the tip and upon it are three more
villages On one prong of the fork are perched
M i sh ng novi and the acropolis like Shipa d lovi
while on the other prong is Shi m op ov i
I wish
the names were less formi dable looking in print
but they are not unmusical from H opi lips T h e
Third M esa was until recently the site of but one

puebl o Oraibi the largest of all in M oqui ; but a

new one H o tav il a now shares the M esa with it
T hen there is a farming colony of Or ai b i ans known
as M oenkopi twent y -v e miles or so to the west
ward ; but it is not customarily reckoned a separate
entity from Oraibi
In all eight villages life is much the same though
the inuence of white contact is more marked in
some than in others Perhaps Oraibi and Walpi

have been most aff ected b y this Shi m op ov i the

least s o and our visit to this conservative place
was delightful in proportion ; for conservatism
,

L I FE TO-D AY I N

M OQ UI

1 85

means having a mind of your own and stickin g to

it and that makes people interesting Shi m p o v i
internally is full of quaint bits and corners dis
tracting to an artist and at the time of our visit
the streets were clean and neat and the village
was the home of as peaceful and happy a primiti v e
life as one co ul d desire to see It i s of course the
happiness of the unprogressive and condemnable
accordingly you will say ; but then is there no t
apostolic authority for abiding in the same calling
wherein one is called and for being in whatsoever
state one is therein content ? All doors opened
to us in Shim p o v i and a smile of welcome was on
every face In one home a mother with a t i ny
baby extends it for our inspection looking at it
meantime with unspeakable depths of mother love
in her eyes as s he pats the little round cheeks
I n another home a fam ily seated on the oor at
dinner bids us enter and eat stewed mutton and
p i ki bread with them and receives o ur apologetic
declination with pleasant merriment F arther on
three old women their wri nkled faces tender with
grandmotherly kin dl iness sit weavin g the peculiar

b asketry for which the Second M esa is famous a

w eave known nowhere else on this continent
.

FE
T
LI
O D AY IN

1 86

M OQ UI

though practised by certain tribes of N orthern

Af rica E ach of the old women is dressed in a
single garment of close -woven dark -blue cloth the
typical squaw dress of M oqui comfortable and
convenient and involving none of the continual
care which their sisters over at Walpi are beginning
to learn under white direction goes with sundry
curious pieces of underwear
Th e voices of the old dames are as soft as music ;
they motion u s to be seated supplying us with the
two stools that their little room aff ords and then
go pleasantly on with their gossip in the still
sunny afternoon We are welcome to stay as long
as we wish and when we leave a smiling Shim o
v
i
a
n
r
o
i
is
chorused
to
us
o
r
ev
p
C hief among Pueblos the H opis appear to have
been deemed especially needful of an all -round
educational uplift and during the last decade or
two they have certainly had an old fashioned
allopathic dose of it W hat with day schools
reservation boarding schools and non reservation
boarding schools all having their turn at train

ing the H opi young idea what with professional

farmers eld matrons resident agents to cut H opi

hair and what not the reconstruction of M oqui

.

A corn e r of

pueblo

of

t he

Second M esa M o qui

,

TO-D AY IN

L IFE

M OQ UI

1 87

has been going on at a pace that would be found

humorous in some aspects if it di d not spell the

speed y death as a distinctive class of this little

people of peace
T h e picturesque and healthful costume o f old
M oqui is being replaced by America n ugliness
Overalls suspenders ragged coats and more
ragged trousers clumsy store shoes hats with
hang -dog b r i rns that the wind delights to whirl o ff
are now everyday features of men s attire where
but a few years ago the loose cotton blouse and
wide apping cotton pantaloons deerski n mocca
sins that t the rocky trail with the sureness of the
foot itself and the blanket that is hat coat and
gloves in one were the general vogue As for the

women the sensible native woven squaw -dress

of one woollen garment free at the throat neat
belted and short ski rted is being s y stematically
replaced by slovenly shirt waists bedraggled long
skirts and conventional undergarments of the

white woman a style of attire which is well

enough in a land where the T roy L aundry has an
agency at every corner but rather out of key in
the yellow dust of an unpaved Arizona desert with
forty miles bet w een water holes Open replaces
,

L I FE

1 88

T O-D AY IN

M OQ UI

which have always been an import ant means of

ventilation in the pueblo rooms are being closed
up and American cook -stoves are being everywhere
s et up making the houses unhe althy and tu b er cu
l o si s -breedin g and encouraging the introduction
of American forms of food and cooking distinctly
unwholesome to a people always accustomed to a
plain diet cooked in a radicall y diff erent way The
people furthermore are discouraged from living
in their o wn towns on the breeze -swept m esas and
the G overnment has erected a number of houses
for them at the m esa foot in the sands of the
desert
A row of these which we visit ed at
Oraibi had a pathetic interest in the fact that
every family inhabiting them had from one to
many members sick T he good sense of the H opis
is sho wn by the fact that whenever possible they
rent such houses to white people and go back to
the old towns on the heights L ast but not least
potent in the reconstruction of H opi li fe is the
allotting agent whose business is to apportion to
each I ndian a stated amount of land in severalty

and so b reak up the communal o wning of land an

unobjectionable feature of Pueblo life as ingrained
in the people as its opposite is ingrained in
,

L IFE
us

TO-D AY I N

M OQ U!

1 89

When he gets through there will probably be

I
.

a considerable portion of the present reservation of

M oqui for sale ; b ut any white man ought to be
ashamed to be ca u ght owning the land of a race
who have gained their title to it by such hard
earned conquest of its resources
W orse than all this the touch of aggressive
white domination is bringing about a deterioration

of the H opi spirit the old old story that ever

attends C aucasian meddling in the native life of

inf erior races the inoculation of a

so called
ne contented wholesome people with the virus

of
civilised
vice unrest and disease Th e
practical resul t i s that the H opis are developing
into a body of parasites instead of perpetuating
the sturdy independence of a people whom all
travel lers even a s late as ten years ago spoke of
with enthusiasm At Oraibi particularly the
evidences of white in uence are simply sickenin g
Any one who doubts it has onl y to go and s ee for
.

lan ds of the N ew M exico Pueb lo s which were

S p ani s h g ra nts s ub sequ entl y con rm ed to th e
all or in p art
I ndi an s by U nit ed S t ates pa tent s th e M oqui land i s a G overn
m ent Res ervation e xi s tin g by executive order and accor di ngly
li ab l e to divi sion ali enation or whatev er el se C ong ress m ay
dictate
U n like th e

L I FE TO D AY I N

1 90

M OQ UI

himself Seeing is a better basis for correct inf o r

mation than reading G overnment reports
F rom the rst appearance of the G overnment
teachers among them the H opi counsellors recog

ni s ed the
white peril and the people protested
against it Why should they with an ancient
cul ture of their own sufcient to their condition
and hallowed to them by a thousand memories and
traditions give it up for the way of the white man
with his record of broken promises and duplicity ?
Asking nothing whatever from our Government
and willing to work and pay for all they need what
do they want with a white education for their red
children ? They know things enough already of
real worth to put thei r teachers to shame ; but they
do not attempt to force their I ndian codes upon

the whites even had they the power they woul d

not be so impertinent Why then shoul d they be
white jacketed ? B u t the benighted views of this
handful of Q uaker I ndians of course had no
standing as against the progressive policies of an
enlightened Great R epublic with a hungry family
of place hunters and land -seekers to be cared for
out of the public providing So at the present
time most of the H opis have given up the ght and
.

A b l ank e t
m en

ar

w v r S cond H opi M sa Am on g th H opi s

e th e w e v e r sth
r vers of th N av j o cus to m
ea

th e

L I FE TO-D AY I N

M OQ UI

191

have resigned themselves to what see ms to be the

inevitable
N o t all of them however
T here is the case of

H o tav i l a the ei ghth pueblo of M oqui four years

old this year of grace 1 9 1 1 a little bit of an

I ndian village whose less than a hundred families
have dared to try to live independently of the
dictation of our G overnment in their internal
aff airs even as our o wn fathers aforetime resented
the interference of certain over -sea kings in mat
ters too intimate B u t this i s matter for another
chapter
.

Ch
Of

ta v i l

th

w it L

p te

E i gh t h
o o

XI X
Pu

blo

d B la

h ly

o
a

M o qu

u s

E AD I N G

i,

nd

your evening paper some ve

years ago in your smoking -jacket and
slippers you may have noticed a despatch

of half a dozen lines your E astern journal would

har dl y have spared it more space about a H opi

uprising in Arizona and the soldiers from F ort
Wingate being sent to quel l it That i s what
soldiers are for out West s o you probably forgot
all about the incident as quick ly as read and
turned to the more important matter of the
divorce scandal elaborately reported on the same
page
T h e uprisin g was not against this Government
but was a famil y revolution among the H opi of
Orai bi pueblo whom the Government s educational
policy had divided into two factions One party

pop ul arly kno wn as the F rien dl ies feeling it

,

1 92

H OTAVI L A

93

useless to contend against the power of Wash

i ngto n was for accepting the Government s
plans i n toto and grafter -like getting anything
else it co ul d for itself out of the United States

T he other faction called the

H ostiles
was for
entire independence of the United States Govern
ment wanting no favours and unwilling to accept
any asking only the reasonable privilege of con
ti nu i ng undisturbed the mode o f life their fore
fathers had found good
T h e crisis came on September 7 1 906
At
that time the population of Oraibi was in round
numbers one thousand persons and about h alf
the families were enrolled in each faction When
the break came each party tried to oust the other
from the pueblo not with weapons o r military
tactics but by the homely old w ay of pushi ng

and p ul ling catch as catch can T he H ostiles

were worsted and without disputing the issue
p oceeded v e mi les along the high wedge o f land
o n w hich
Oraibi stands to H o tav il a Spring
where in the succeeding months they built for
themselves a new pueblo T his body o f separatists
standing for the principle of H opi land for the
H opis were looked upon by the I ndian B ureau

13

H OTAVIL A

1 94

as disturbers of the public peace and promoters

of trouble and the more determined among them
were either put to hard labour for several months
on the public roads o f Arizona o r jailed for periods
varying from a f ew months to three years
H ere then was somethi ng ne in pueblos and
we felt a keen interest to s ee t hi s little cradle of
liberty
Oraibi was prehi storic in 1 540 ; the vil
lages of the F irst and Second M esas too run well
back in the centuries and loo k it ; but here is a
chance to see a pueblo only just out of its long
clothes B u t when we announced our intention
o f making the trip thi ther
our host the trader
an Am ericanised gentleman of Spanish descent
married to a C alifornia I ndian lifted his arms in
wonderment and hi s half -consumed cigarette
fell from hi s paralysed lips
H e was a rotund
merry man and spoke with such intensity that
the perspiration stood out in beads on hi s face

H ombr e ! he cried
and take the lady ! Why 8
the reason you go there ? I t s just a wil derness
,

S ince the f oreg oin g was w ritt en a f ew f am ili es o f the H ostil e

p art y who eventuall y con sent ed to sen d their children to s chool
a nd oth e rw i s e s u b m it th em s elv es to th e G o v ernm ent s reg ul a
tion s have es tab li sh ed a littl e vill ag e o f th eir ow n call ed B acab i
a b out v e m il es north -eas t o f Or ai b i

H OTAVIL A

1 95

i t is desert

and the road there my dear sir

desert desert and a very devil of a hill deep

to the hub in sand and then more desert and

what then ? N othing my dear sir you w oul d
not s ee better right here at Oraibi Oh yes they
are an all right kind of people and independen t
as any Americans that ever were
Why my
dear s i r let me tell when they want to do trading
do you suppose they come to my store where the
other Or aib i s trade ? N o my dear si r you bet !
T hey go right by with their bu r r os and straight
on seventy miles across the desert to Winslow
seventy miles mind you and seventy back !
What do you know about that now my dear s i r

for spirit and in an I ndian too ! M ad r e d e D i os

it 5 money out of my pocket and I like a silver

p es o as well as the next man ; but say they r e

the stuff

T hat s why you want to s ee them ? Well

o f course that 5 di fferent
Oh you can t miss
the road my dear si r
I t runs between t wo hills
like and you coul d n t get o ff it if you tried
I f you must spend a quarter I ll send a M oqui
runner al ong to start you right ; but it s just giving

the money away my dear sir just givin g it away

,

H OTAVIL A

1 96

And he shook his head bitterly at the thought of

such American waste
We had travell ed enough to be skeptical of
.

the road that cannot be missed ; s o we bespoke the

M oqui runner for sunrise the next morning and
when w e got him we raised his wages and kept
him all the way to H o tav i l a and back again
N ever was money better invested ; for the road
so called was in many places hardly more than
a faint waggon -track in the sand with many di
vergencies to corn lands and melon patches ; and
moreover the new pueblo was by its position
so cleverly hidden from the direction of our ap
proach to it that we had no hint of its existence
until we w ere immediately upon it clinging like
a swallow s nest to the mes a edge overlooking
the Painted D esert
I f this little ad obe to wn were a ruin like a bit
of ancient R ome if it had behind it some heroic
legend as of another H oratius l led with the love
of country defending with his life the birthright
of a people now long dead and buried I suppose
it would not be considered sentimental to do
reverence to the spot or unpatriotic to sympathise
with its people s stand for liberty B u t being
,

H OTAVIL A

1 97

only an I ndian village on a hot hot hillside in

twentieth century Arizona the case is ess entially
di fferent i s it not ?
F o r almost the rst time in a long acquaint ance
with Pueblos we found ourselves distinctly u nwel
come visitors F rightened women gathered t heir
children into the houses at the sight of our whi te
faces ; a fe w men with averted looks strode
past us o n their way to cultivate their crops of
beans corn and melons which we had seen
growing on the mesa; others watched us su sp i
ci o us l y from the shado w of doorw ays and street
co r ners I t goes against the grain ho wever
with the Pueblo I ndian to be inhospitable ; he is
by nature a sociable happy hearted being and
though tenacious of his o wn ways he likes to make
strangers welcome in hi s home So as the day
wore on and we neither attempted to kidnap
children nor to open negotiations for a day school
the atmosphere cleared We had shells and candy
coloured magazine pictures and tobacco and as
w e were neither insistent nor aggressive nor i p
pant and remained contentedly in the streets
while closed doors conf ronted u s smiles by degrees
took the place of sco wls and considerable interest
,

H OTAVIL A

1 98

centred in us as b earers of such delectable pre

sents and probable buyers of the at baskets
in the making of which the T hird M esa women
have long been specialists So after all we had
a happy day at H o tav il a and drove o ff at last
with many pleasant memories
B u t w e co ul d not forget the black looks of the
rst hour or two and stopping shortly afterwards
at the pleasant home of the Government F ield
M atron below Oraibi we asked to know something
further concerning the relations of the whi tes to
the separation of the two factions at Oraibi Sh e

was glad of our interest a sweet -faced woman

dwelling in the neatest and cleanest of houses
which if an Indian were to be moved by ex
ample woul d surely have been an irreproachable
object lesson of American household ideals She
o ff ered u s comfortable rocking -chairs and brought
a pitcher of cool water and as we s at on the shady
porch with the pleasant rustle of cottonwood
leaves in our ears and looking up at the grey
old pueblo on its sunny heights far above us
s h e answered our questions in her soft -toned voice

I certainly am glad you got over to H o tav il a

They are nice people over there
I n fact all
.

A B eau

rumm l of H ot
e

av

i ll e

H OTAVI L A

1 99

these Indians are nice I am very fond of them

I was really sorry when they had to separate
Y o u see those people
B u t after all it was better
over at H o tav il a are very obst inate and won t
let us do a thing for them T hey keep saying
that they do not want any help ; but really you
kno w they ought to have it T h e C ommissioner
says it is due to the I ndian chil dren to have the
same chance as the whi te children have ; and I
think the Government ought to make the people
take what is best for them Y o u see they don t
like the white people at all though I can t see
why when we want to uplif t them and do the best
for their o wn welfare

T he great trouble came after the separation

when the tr00ps were sent over to mak e the children
T
h
e
H
s
to
school
ostiles
they
call
them
had
o
a
g
just been put o u t of the old village which had
always been their home and had started in to live
at this new place and they had not more than got
it under way when it was decided by the Washing
ton authorities to send some of the men to prison
and put most of the rest to hard labour o n the
roads over beyond K eam s C a o n because of
their rebelliousness T hat left hardl y anybody
.

H OTAVI L A

2 00

but women and children in the new vill age and

it was hard enough times for them to get alon g
with winter coming on soon ; but about that
time as the women wo ul d not put the children
to school as of course they shoul d have done
the troo ps w ere sent to bring them by force I
had to go and help the soldiers as I knew all
the people and it was about as disagreeable a
piece of work as ever I had to do T h e mothers
were perfectly frantic T hey hi d the babies and
children in inside rooms and under our sacks and
beneath beds and shook their sts in my face
actual ly and told me they had thought I was
their friend but that I was nothing but a traitor
and held on to the children until the soldiers
had to pull them away Of course poor thin gs
they did not know where they were going and
they certainly do love their children I t did seem

too bad
T here was a soft cry in the house
T he F ield
M atron excused herself and went in Presentl y
s he came out holding in her arms a beautiful
baby of perhaps a year old T h e tiny arms
clasped her neck the little head with its loose
curls lay on her shoulder in satised content
,

H OTAVIL A

2 01

motherly arm held him rmly and w ith the

other s h e stroked the child s head as she said :

M ust you go ? Well come again before you

leave these parts I t is real pleasant to see some

new white faces now and then

We understood better no w the black looks at
One

H o tav i l a

white visitor to M oqui i s quite at liberty

if he so desire to drive his panting team up the
interminable sandy hill to H o tav il a and walk
about the neat streets of this little pueblo of
independence the last stand of conserv ative
M oqui still looki ng o ff upon the immemorial
mystery of the Painted D esert out of which ages
ago the fathers of the H opis came ; but he must
not be surprised if he meets with sullen looks from
barred doorways and if women hide their babies
away as he passes And it is a trip well worth
the taking ; for here at H o tav il a and only less
at the neighbouring pueblo of Shim op o v i
so
its close second in conservativeness one sees the
best of H opi life to day The peaceful happy
simplicity of their ancient way of living poor
in material advantages though it be makes a
remarkable contrast to the conditions at some of
T he

H OTAVIL A

2 02

the other villages where Government inuence

has undisputed sway as for instance in the

model settlement
the
Government s
under
Oraibi cliff s where the unrest sickness aimlessness
o f purpose and general misery which were pain
ful ly apparent among its people when the writer
visited it were more suggestive of the slums of a
great city than anything that seemed possible in
the sweet air and under the turquoise s k y of
Arizona
,

Ch
Of

l p i,

n d th

p te

XX

Snak

Da n c e

Th

e r e

ER E

it not for the annual Snake D ance

of the H opis it is probable that few
travellers except those of the reside
would have any knowledge of these people As
it is the Snake D ance has been so industriousl y
written up and talked over that it has become a
magnet which every August draws more or less of
a crowd of tourists and holiday makers across
the desert sands to witness this most entrancing
and most dramatic half -hour entertainment that

America has to o ffer I u se the word enter

t ai nm ent
hesitatin gly knowing that is all it is to
the average white onl ooker ; but it sho ul d be borne
in mind that to the I ndian it is a solemn and

religious rite the public dno nement of a nine

days secretly -conducted intercession for the divine
favour I t is in the snake element that the
attraction centres ; for there are countless other
,

2 03

THE WALP I SNA KE DA N CE

26 4

pu b lic dances in M oqui which to the casual visi

tor woul d be even more picturesque and pleas
i ng as spectacles than this ; but hardly any white
person sees them
T here is reason to believe that at o ne time
Snake C eremonies were a part of the religious rites
among all the pueblos ; but at this date the o b
servance is conned to ve or si x of the H opi
to wns I t i s an annual ceremony but all villages
do not hold it the same year T he most elaborate
presentations are at Walpi and Oraibi occurring

o n alternate years
at Wal pi on the uneven years
1 9 1 3 etc
1 91 1
and at Oraibi on the even years
1 9 1 4 etc
1912
T h e specic day of the month
varies being determined afresh each year by some
secret sacerdotal formula that keeps the white
man guessing until the priests descend to their
underground rites in the k i vas or council rooms
which always begin nine days before the public
dance with the serpents T he railroad company
arranges to be posted as to this at the earliest pos
sible moment and to its agents one should apply
for information respecting the exact date of the
dance which one may be reasonably certain
will not be earlier than August tenth nor later than
,

THE WAL P I SNA KE DA N CE

August twenty

26 5

It takes place just before

s u ndown and consumes about thirt y v e minutes
So little interest has the generality of our people
in the native home -life of o u r Indians that most
visitors time their attendance to the one day on
which the dance occurs or at most from the
evening before until the morning after F o r
Sylvia and myself however interesting as most
ceremonies at the pueblos proved to be an even
greater interest attached to the domestic side of
their life ; and keeping ourselves as much in the
background as possible w e liked to watch the
village activities as the preparations for the great
events were carried busil y forward
T here are for instance the moulding and burning

of pottery knickknacks cups and little pitchers

ash trays and shavi ng mugs later to be s et

al luri ngl y in the house windows to catch the visi
tors eyes ; for M oqui has already acquired the
traders trick o f manufacturing down t o the
buyers taste and has been quick to learn that
among the tourists whom curiosity brings to them
there are comparatively few who care enough and
know enough to bu y the beautiful native art -ware
that conforms to H opi ideas when they can get
f th

WAL P I

TH E

2 06

S N AK E D AN CE

for a picayune some useless gimcrack made in poor

imitation of the white man s utensil T o such

Philistine sense is it not pretty good for I ndian

work ? T hen there is a house cleaning indus

tr i o u sl y going on in every home

the sprin k ling
of the oors with the precious water from the
desert well and the vigorous brooming and brush
ing with little grass W hisks Th e babies of the
household in the meantime are sent forth in the
sunshine on the willing backs of larger sisters to
be out of the way Ol d men sitting in sunny
doorways are mending cloaks of mottled rabbit
skin and sewing up worn moccasins ; young men
( the few that are visible for many are in the
k i vas ) are killing and skinning sheep and pegging
the skins out on the rocks to dry laughing and
joking together the while ; girls are grinding meal
within doors in an atmosphere fragrant with
crushed grain and their mothers are making wafer
bread and green corn pudding ; other women are

plasterin g anew the fronts of their homes a

cherished privilege of Pueblo women everywhere ;
bu r r os come clatterin g along the rocks laden with
r e wood from the m es a or corn from far away
elds and women with water -jars slung on their

M ealin g

ton es on which P ueb lo wo m n g rind their corn

e

THE WAL P I SNA KE DA N CE

26

backs pass and repass with noiseless tread on

the deeply worn trail that leads to the m esa
water -holes
At the open door of a house we paused to look
in at two stout women cutting up the meat of a
recently killed sheep T heir hair had lately been
washed in yucca suds and was clubbed up in a
picturesque topknot that stood upri ght and bobbed
above the forehead One of them looked at us
and said something in her native tongue

What does she say ? we asked of a young girl

with her hair done up in the squash blossoms
that we had often seen in photographs and whom
w e suspected of understanding E nglish

Sh e say sh e glad to see you

T ake seat and

s i t do wn
E nteri ng we discovered another young w oman
seated upon a sheepskin spread on the ad o be
oor and surrounded by small pieces of unburned
pottery upon which she was painting designs
with a strip of yucca leaf H er hair hung down in
strings and her countenance lacked the welcome
o f the others
H er pottery was poor and on

American models roosters and pigs mostly

I s she your sister ?

we asked of the smiling
.

WAL P I

TH E

2 08

S N AK E D AN CE

Squash B lossoms who was

preparing to take her

position at the me aling stones to resume the
grin di ng which our entrance had interrupted
She nodded brightly

Why does n t she wear the pretty squash

blossoms of o l d times ? we asked reprovingly

We think the squash blossoms a pretty way

for young women to wear their hair

B ecause s he married and must n t wear them

said Squash B lossoms shyly her smile

no more
breaking bounds into a giggle T hen she said

something in H opi evidently a translation of

our little sermon and all the women laughed

merrily And so we learned that squash blossoms
stand for maidenhood in H opi s ym b o li s m
As we rose to go we noticed a male gure clad
in white man s attire prone upon the oor
I t slowly turned towards us revealing the face of
a young man chewing a straw H e raised his
arms stretched them and thrusting them under
his head for a pillow stared impudently at us
,

Thi s way of wea rin g th e h air w oul d seem to h ave b een th e

fashion in f orm er ti m es at oth er pueb lo s al so Thu s an ol d
S p ani sh chronicl er d es cri b in g Z uni cu s tom s in C oron ado s ti me
s ay s :
T h e w o m en w ea r th eir h air g ath er ed ab out th e ears
like littl e wh eel s
I

THE WAL P I SNA KE DA N CE

2 09

Without rising and without preamble he proceeded

,

to catechise us

Where you come from ? C alifornia eh

Whereabouts C alifornia Y ou come Snake

et ceter a a nd
D ance P H o w long you came ?
.

so

wei ter

have been to school have n t you ?

we observed when his ideas had run o u t

he replied with a yawn

Sure

D i d you study at C arlisle ?

Y ou

NO

I
.

Where then ?

J unction C olorado
We pointed to the rooster and pig pottery

Who taught her to do that ?

he asked
D o what ?

T o make those miserable forms of ani mal s

he said sull enly

H er brain I guess

Y o u tell her not to do that but to make the

beautiful bowls and jars that the old people al
ways used to make I t is not good to makethose
pigs and roosters T hat is not I ndian work
Grand

it is just copying Americans

T he young man ya wned again and muttered

You don t have to buy them

e villy

TH E

210

With which

WAL P I

S N AK E D AN CE

P art hi an

shot he turned over

,

on

his face
We could not but note that this youth gr atu i
tously endowed by o u r Government with the
education whi ch is expected to make him an u p

lifting inuence among his benighted people

w as the only idle gure in the busy home and his
was the only voice that was unresponsive to o u r

parting Good -bye

I n all M oqui there is no more picturesque
setting for a Snake D ance than the little p l a za
at Walpi
A w all of terraced houses shuts
in one entire side and part of another T h e
south side is dominated by a towering rock
spread o u t at the summit like a great petried
mushroom Along the eastern edge where there
is an uninterrupted view across the desert for scores

o f mil es it is but a step into eternity

a sheer drop
down the face of a perpendi cular cliff to waiting
rocks thirty or forty feet below T here is no bar
rier of any sort along this dizzy edge and the
fact that spectators at the dance do not back o ff
it and H opi chil dren at other times do not roll
over it witnesses doubtless to the red gods con
t i nu ed care of M oqui and of M oqui s friends
.

Snake R ock W lpi

,

and

fr i d
h i s g ra nd m othe r

o y -a

-o t
.

C am era

he-

WALP I

TH E

S N AK E D AN CE

21 1

and again as we rambled a b out Walpi

in the days preceding the dance the solemn
chorused chant of pri ests woul d ow up from the
underground k i vas near the pla za and hold u s
spe ll bo und D o wn there were the snakes and
great was our curiosity to descend to them We
asked Percy if that were pos sible of acco mplish
ment ; but tha t astute so n of peace woul d not
en courage u s Y es people had been down

people fro m Was hi ngton to see tha t ev er ysi ng

w as bei ng done all ri and M r C u rtis the picture
man he h ad be en down yes ; but it cost very

much money seventy dollar he sought Of

course we might spoke to som e Snake people ;
?
but maybe we no want to pay seventy dollar
We certai nl y di d not and upon second thought
we did not feel easy anyhow to attempt from
motives of mere curi o sity to force ourselves
into the mi dst of a religi ous ceremonial the par
t i ci pant s in whi ch plainl y did not want o ur
presence A quiet reques t howev er did gain u s
a dmittance to a k i va where
in the dim under
ground ill umin ed onl y by the daylight co m i ng
through a door in the roof so me dancer s were
N ow

TH E

212

WALP I

S N AK E D AN CE

their cotton kil ts with lightning symbols string

ing bracelets and necklaces of shells colour
ing their bodies and tying feathers in their hair
N o children preparing for a party could be more

garrul ous but in whispers always o r more vain

as each ornamentation nished its wearer showed
it o ff admiringly to a neighbour and lighting
a cigarette rested aw hil e before beginning on
another
Th e day o f the Snake D ance i s ushered in by an
early -morn i ng foot -race of young men starting
at certain traditional points out on the plain and
ending within the pueblo As the sunrise tints
the desert m es a with red the windows and roofs
o f the houses and the rim of the mes a on whi ch
the pueblo stands are cro w ded with eager spec
t ato r s their eyes all turned to ward the north
E very rocky cape and promontory that o ff ers
an advantageous vie w i s pre empted by I ndians
who silhouetted picturesquely against the blue
are gazing intently to ward one distant spot in
the desert Suddenly hands are shot up here
and there and then a shout from the housetops

Th e runners are in sight mere specks of brown

o n the yellow plain

a scattering band of fteen
,

THE WALP I SNA KE DA N CE

2 13

or twenty with one lithe fellow already well in

the lead I n and out over and around sand
dunes and rocks he runs like an antelope no w
plunging at full speed down an ar r oyo t h en leaping

up its precipitous sides beyond slowly h er e

but still running the rest surging after him
pelted by co m stal ks and melon vines thrown
by laughing boys and girls gaily dressed and
painted and jingling with bells awaiting the
runners among the rocks Th e other racers

prove bad seconds all except one who by her

cu l ean spurts manages to get close to the leader s
heels for a few minutes ; but the pace is too much
for him and he drops back just as the whole pack
now close to the foot of the m es a is lost to Vi e w
under the cliff s
T h e crowd of spectators run along the dizzy
m es a edge towards the south point where the trails
from the foot come up in order to catch rst
sight of the winner as he emerges from the rocks
below T here are some minutes of suspense then
a cheer from an excited American with a u tter
ing red necktie and the nude runner glisten
ing with perspiration hi s head thrown back
and hi s long black hair borne splendidly on the
,

THE WAL P I SNA KE DA N CE

2 14

breeze leaps up into the level sunbeams Th e

crowd falls back ; there i s the click of kodaks ;
dogs bark and yelp ; and H opi throats split the
air with shouts of appreciation as the tense gure
bounds through the covered passageway that is
Wal pi s southern portal ashes by the k l vas
of the Antelope and Snake people and disappears
wit hi n an open door T h e rest o f the racers
follo w at intervals of a few minutes the crowd
breaks up and ever ybody goes home to breakfast

I t is a busy day in M oqui this of the Snake

D ance
Al l the morning the rock-ribbed streets
resound to the clatter of hoofs and the shuffl e of
human feet N avajos come riding in o n their
tough little ponies keen to trade their blankets
and silver trinkets for American dollars and ren t
their horses for trips on the trail H opis from
other vill ages some from distant M oenkopi have
urged their tired teams drawing laden creaking
waggons with canvas tops up the steep road
cut in the m es a s side and are hobnobbing with
old friends Wh ite visitors stroll about snapping
kodaks in people s faces inspecting H opi home
life chaff ering for pottery sampling pi led bread
and other I ndian cookeries and outspokenly
.

THE WAL P I SNA KE DA N CE

215

marvelling at the squash blossoms of H opi maiden

hood Some of the ladies have even bargained
with a native hairdresser to d o their hair in that
engaging fashion and ar e adm ired accordingly
T h e children o f the pueblo are i n a hi gh state of
excitement and are decked o u t in g al a attire
ranging all the way from orthodox little squaw
dresses o f native weave to our sacks and U nited

B esides H opi delicacies principally

States ags

dripping slices o f melon they are recipients of

candy from such experienced w hite visitors as
kno w the value o f sweetmeats to reach the I n
dian he art B rother Si m the photographer and
ex -priest from Gallup who carries an enormous
camera and whose rotund countenance w ears an
all -embracing smile has brought two o r three
buckets of candy in hi s outt and like a mid
summer Santa C laus thr ows handfuls of it high

in the air for the children to scramble for he

meantime photographi ng the scrimmage
As the afternoon shadow s lengthen the air of
expectancy thi ckens and the visitors begin to
congregate about the pl aza and pick out their

seats a preference being noticeably shown by

many for the roofs and upper stories ; for rattle
.

TH E

216

WAL P I

S N AK E D AN CE

snakes like elephants are poor climbers Pr o

f e ssi o nal photographers and moving -picture men
take their places and a yell ow-clad squad o f
U nited Stat es troopers who arrived and camped
o n the plain last night stroll in in a blas way
carbines o n shoul der and toothbrushes in their
hatb ands and come to a stand about the Snake
B y ve o clock the outskirts o f the lit
R ock
tle pl aza are packed with expectant humanity
The housetops are a rainbow of colour : Pueblo
women in bright es ta attire ; girls from I ndian
schools in new starched calicos and hats of the
latest F lagstaff style ; N av ajo s in bro wn v elveteen
shirts and red head bands ; a contingent of Am eri
can ladi es with their escort s i n corduroy and
khaki and here and there a girl o f the Golden
West type in spurred riding boots aming ban
danna neckerchi ef and T exas s ombr er o jammed
down on the back of her head About the pl aza
besides I ndians of various sorts are co w men with
long love -locks curling about their ears cartridge
belts around their waists and glittering spurs
clinking at their high heels T here are helmeted
tourists from Engl and N ew Y ork Australia
and D enmark and there are enthusiastic young
,

WAL P I

TH E

Easterners

S N AK E D AN CE

217

roughi ng it under
weather beaten s om br er os and marvellous hat
bands and various sorts o f N avajo adornments
bracelets silver rings and wri st guards A dash
o f returned H opi students in di nky hats some even
with cameras and a sprinkling of Governm ent
o f cials and teachers from territorial I n di an
schools help to round out as picturesque and
motley an assembly as the traveller o f ten runs
across in America
Wh o can do justice in words to the Snake D ance
itself ? The s i lent swinging entrance o f the
priests in single l e decked in a remarkable har
mony of sombre tones from the copper coloured
tuft of feathers in their hair to the tawny fringed
moccasins relieved only by a fe w lines and zig
n
zags o f white lightning painted o the semi nude
bodies and o n the kil ts ; their rapid striding four
times around the p laza and stamping with res ound
ing foot blows upon the plank that symbolises
Shi po p a the entrance to the undergro und w orld ;
the hummi ng chant of the Antelope pri ests ao
companied by rattles that never ceases before
the leafy prison of the snakes ; the mouthing and
lightning -like handling of the writhing serpents
on

a vacation

TH E

218

WAL P I

S N AK E D AN CE

b y the successive trios of celebrants ; the tossing

of the reptiles into a s quirming pile within the
mystic circle of scattered meal outlined for them
at the foot of the D ance Rock ; and the nal
act of the priests snatchi ng up the snakes b y the
handful and eeing with them some to the north
some to the west some to the south and some to
the east do wn th e precipitous trails to the open
desert there dropping them to carry the people s
supplications for rain to the gods of the waters
all this without pause in the movement makes
an u n aggi ng cr es cend o of dramatic action that
baffl es description B eing a real religious act
there is no self -consciousness on the part of the

participants they are not playing to the galleries ;

the activity of the venomous snakes makes that
impossible even if the desire existed ; and from
start to nish the attention of the spectators is

tensely held N o t only i s there no levity hard

indeed to subdue in an American white crowd
but on the contrary one sometimes sees among
the more emotional onlookers twitching faces
and eyes wet with tears
As Sylvia and I joined the crowd on their wa y
down the trail to the cam p s and the horses we
,

TH E

WAL P I

S N AK E D AN CE

219

suddenly stopped and looked at each other

struck with a common thought T he perman

a
n
t
f
i
t
potash
had
forgotten
to
bring
a
e
o
!
w
e
g

I s it not too bad ? Sylvia mourned

E mily
was so anxious for us to have it with u s and

o f course the snakes m i ght have bitten u s

,

Wh at i s the S nake D ance all ab out y ou ask ? I t i s an

el ab or a t e invoc ation to th e diviniti es o f M oqui entru s t ed to th e
serp ent s w hich it i s b eli e ve d w ill conv ey th e pr ay er s to the g od s
a nd b rin g th e b l ess ing o f r ain in r eturn
T hi s ex pl ain s w h y th e
s n ak es a r e n ever h urt b y th e pri es t s
I t i s al s o a dram ati sa tion
o f an anci ent m y th conc e rnin g th e ori g in and ea rl y hi s tory o f

th e S n ak e and Ant elo p e f r at erniti es

th e t w o cl an s w hich con d uct
th e c er em on y
See The M ohi Snak e D ance b y Wa lt er H ou g h
f r a con den s ed s ta t em ent o f th e s n ak e l eg end or J W alt er
F ewk es s d eta il ed account in the J ou r nal of Amer i ca n E thnol ogy
a nd Ar che ol ogy v ol
iv
I

Ch
O f th

Ar ts

p te

f th

Pu

e r a

XXI

b lo

m i

Es p e

i ally

th

ON G

before the interloping Spaniard and

the later Anglo -Saxon had penetrated into
their country the Pueblo Indians had
developed a fair kind of civilisation of their own
and with it arts that were a vital expression of
Pueblo life
T h e w onderful beauty of that land
most of it semi desert and some of it pure desert
sublime in its colour and natural conformation
is an inspiration to ever y artist who visits it
and it is not strange that these dwellers in it
from prehistoric times shoul d be an artist people
work in g into their various arts the conventions
of natural objects and the s y mbolism of the
pagan faith given to their forefathers in the dawn
of time Among such arts are the weaving of
woollen and cotton garments on rude looms set
up in the rooms of their homes ; the making of
I t was f ro m the Pu ebl os that th e N av ajo s the b est know n o f
,

22 0

N a m p eyo

of T wa m ouldin g a wat e r-jar

by P ueb lo potters
e

No

wh l i
ee

s e

v r us d
e

( C o pyr i g h t

by

Vr o m a n

P UE B L O

AR TS

22 1

basketry of varied forms from native plants ;

the manufacture of necklaces from beads wrought
with innite care from shells broken up ground
into disks by hand on a wet stone and pierced

with a curious pump drill an entirely diff erent

art by the way from the latter day w ork of
the Plains tribes using the glass beads of American
factories Among the minor arts too I like to
include the chipping of arrow points T his is
no w practical ly extinct since guns have replaced
the bow ; but the work of dead and gone makers
is continually off ered to visitors and forms a
feature in Pueblo curio collections A really
good assortment of arrow-points i s a revelation
of the hidden beaut y of stone T hey are made of

various minerals moss agate i nt ch al cedony

sardonyx lava obsidi an and hold wonderful

charm of colour I n form they are often exquisite
some for small game being quite tiny but all
revealing in every patiently wrought line the
love of an artist for hi s art
At the present time the Pueblo art par excell ence
our ab ori gin al weavers l ea rn ed thi s ar t Am on g th e P ueblo s
to-day onl y the H opis and Zu fi i s do any all -roun d w eavin g
thou gh sash es and chon g o ti es ar e w ov en in oth er p u eb los as
w ell
,

P UEB L O

222

AR TS

is pottery making which is done invaria b ly b y

the women T h e form which it takes is varied ;
but principally water and storage jars canteens
bowls and cooking vessels I t i s fashioned entirel y
by hand no wheel or mechanical device being
employed and in one of the preceding chapters
of this book the process has been described in
some detail I n the prehistoric days of Pueblo
art as e v i denced by the pottery found in ancient
f
clif dwellings glazing was practised but that art
has been lost and the modern Pueblo ware is
n
I
un glazed
the case of water jars this is a
distinct advantage as the porosity of the vessel

causes a sweating which tends to keep the

water cool
T h e designs of the P ueblo pottery are a study
in themselves and of exceeding interest T hey
are handed down from mother to daughter and
being traditional their signicance ma y not
always be understood by the artist herself In
the main they are conventionalised forms of certain
features of her little world and of the phenomena

of nature the mountains the birds and animals

the clouds the falling rain the wind the lightnin g

a sh ; or of her religion such as the creatures of

-

AR TS

P UE B L O

2 23

her people s origin myths the faces of the gods

of the Pueblo pantheon or the suggestion ( rarely
absent from the work of the older potters ) of
the mystic gateway of Shi papu ; through which the
soul s of the new-born enter this world and the
spirits of the dead pass out of it

U sually three colours red white and black

are employed though occasionally only two are
used and in some few of the pueblos the pottery
is solid black or solid red u no m am ented I n
the last named pottery the dependence for beauty
is entirely on the grace and dignity of the shape
Pottery for cooking i s invariably without decora
tion
T h e accompanying il lustrations o f Pueblo pot
ter y are from examples in the writer s collection
bought in many cases directly from the potter
herself As wi ll be noted the work of di ff erent
villages has characters of its o wn distinguishing
it from the work of others yet has a certain
harmony with the rest that holds all together in
the bond of a common art
T he collection of M oqui is almost entirely the
work of N am p eyo the most famous of the Pueblo
potters and her daughter
T o see N am p eyo
,

P UE B L O

2 24

AR TS

at work is to the art lover one of the most interest

ing sights in M oqui Sh e is a simple -hearted
unpretentious squaw who sits on the oor of her
dwelling moulding her vessels of clay or adorning
them with her wonderful lines and rising now
and then to stir the mutton stew as it cooks upon
the re or lift the baby o u t of reach of the ame
T hough her w ork in the words of D r G eorge

A D orsey has gone far and wide over the curio

loving world s he is apparently unconscious that

her gift is anyt hi ng out of the common and has
all the shy modesty that distinguishes the women
of her race T h e M oqui ware is very distinct
from other P ueblo pottery both in form and
decoration T he most common shapes are a lo w
at bowl and a shallow wide spreading water jar
both adorned with remarkable designs in red and

black on a white ground designs frequently

suggested by the masks of the K atchi nas or dancers
of the M oqui religious ceremonials T he best
M oqui ware is particularly appealing in its colour
th e white ground upon which the decoration
is laid being distinguished b y a soft creamy tone
flushed usual ly with red
I n marked c o ntrast to the work of M oqui is
.


A collection of M o qui wa re ve ry di s tinct fro m

pottery b oth in for m

Water-j ars of

San

I ld efon s o
sv

a nd

d coration
e

oth er

u b lo
e

C ochiti w ith b ird decoration s

of li g htnes s

a nd

m b o l i cal

al l

P UEB L O

A R TS

225

the pottery of Zu ni A feature of the Zu fii

decoration is the frequent incorporation of real

i sti c animal forms in the design deer ducks

frogs butteries tadpoles As with the M oqui
ware the colours used by the Zu fi i s are custom
but a
ar il y red and black upon a white surface
notable exception i s a red ware upon w hich the
decoration is laid on in white T he colour w ould
appear to be an integral feature of any p ar ti cu

lar form or decoration that i s given a particular

design it should be p ainted on in one particul ar
colour establishe d by tradition I f other colours
are wanted the design must be changed !
F lo wer forms are rarely used by the Zu nis
though a very striking design sometimes met
with is a conventionalised sunower T h e potters
o n the contrary
whose work
o f Acoma pueblo
is noteworthy for its exceptional lightness have
made rather a specialty of oral and leaf adorn
ment and some suggestion of plant life is intro
T hi s is the more
d u ced into almost every design
remarkable as their town is buil t upon a bare
rock that rises almost perpendicularly thr ee or
four hundred feet from a great sandy plain
a singul arly barren inhospitable situation w here
.

:8

P UE B L O

226

AR TS

there is scarcely earth enough to aff ord a ower

a foothold I n the Indian s art work ho wever
he loves to preserve the suggestion of that whi ch i s
most dear and precious to his poetic mind ; s o
from his standpoint it is entirely tting that the
leaves and owers o f the plain and mountain
brought from a distance to this rock -founded
village of the sk y and employed in many secret
religious rites as well as in the public dance cere
monials sho ul d nd representation on the pottery
I ntermingled with these on the Acoma ware
are the vertical or slanting parallel lines which
in Pueblo symbolry represent the falling rain
and the terraces and steps which conventionalise
the clouds of heaven A peculiar checker-board
design is also not uncommon in the Acoma work
but its especial signi cance is unkno wn to the
writer B ird forms were common in the older
work of the Acomas as well as of other Pueblos
though no w less frequent As a bird in ight is
the embodiment of airy lightness the adornment
o f the water vessels with the pict ur es of birds
would in the Indian s fancy add li ghtness to the

cla y a great desideratum as the jars whi ch

when lled are borne upon the carriers heads

Z u i

wa re a f a ture o f which i s the frequent u s of ni m l form i

b utt e r i es tc T he j r d corated i
the d es i g n sd e r frog
curv s and lin d pict s as xpl in d by th pott er who m ad
it for th e uthor a pu b lo ( b lock s ag in t which r t poles wit
cro ss pi c s r pr ntin g l dd r ) nd rain ( ve rtical lin e
descendin g fro m cloud ( rch es ) b ove
,

es ,

e e

s,

ese

e s
a

es

P UE B L O

A RTS

227

often contain a weight of water equal to thirty

pounds or more and to this the vessel s weight
is ad di tional
At Santo D omingo a very superior grade of

P ueblo pottery i s made a rather heavy ware

but one distinguished in many cases by an almost
Greek grace of shape
Th e decoration used is
a series of triangles circles and other geometric
forms in black on white that are little short of
marvellous in their variety T he chalky whi te of
Zu ni and the creamy white of Acoma are replaced
in the Santo D omingo ware with a pinkish tint
h
uite
recently
there
as been developed there a
Q
deep red jar with pink and black decorations
extremely interesting as a variant of the original
geometric design s of this place in white and black
T h e Santa C lara potters until recently were
pre eminent among the Pueblos as makers o f a
lustrous black ware the colour being produced
b y the smudging of the re s o that the black
smoke was absorbed into the clay T he pot
was then rubbed by hand until the desired lustre
was produced U nfortunately American i n u
e nces have done much of late to lower the art
standards of these peo p le who in some instances

AR TS

P UE B L O

228

now u se a cheap varnish for their eff ects T h e

clay used at this town natural ly burns red if
there is no smudging and Santa C lara ware is
accordingly often to be had in solid uno r na
m ented red as w ell as black
T h e neighbouring Pueblo to wn
San Juan

has taken up the black art of Santa C lara and

is conservatively disposed to hold to the tried
ways which made Santa C lara s reputation
T heir w are however still lacks the grace of outline
which has long distinguished the Santa C lara
pottery A double necked water jar is a charac
t er i s ti c shape of both those pueblos though not
pecul iar to them as some form of double mouth
appears to have been made at times by other
pueblos As the two mouths are joined by a bar
convenience in handling may have had something
to do with this shape Th e San J uan pottery i s
thin and light and it will be interesting to s ee
whether it will eventually gain the crown of
excellence which Santa C lara because of too much
American kindergartening has lost
A rougher black ware used in cooking at T aos
Picuri s and N am b represents another sort of
Pueblo art
Where the proper kind of clay i s not
.

W ater j ars of Aco ma T h e pr v l nt d i g n s ar e ugg e t ed by

Th
old r pott er s oft en introduc ed gu
nd l e f for m s
b ird s s in th e upp r ri ght h nd ja s y m b oli in g li ghtn ess
-

W at r

e -i ar s

of Santo D omin o

es

a e

r,

T hi w r
s

is

di tin
s

d l

P UE B L O

AR TS

2 29

readily obtainable near the village or where the

activities of the people nd more congenial exercise
in other lines than the potter s the people are con
tent to make only cooking vessels crude in form
and b are of design obtaining by trade from other
Pueblos the carefully mo ul ded and decorated ware
which is the delight of every Pueblo household
B esides the commoner shapes of Pueblo pottery
employed in the every -day business of the house
hold there are some forms especially designed
for use in connection with religious ceremonials
Among such are the bo wl -like vessels for holdin g
the sacred meal which is sprinkled upon part i
I n some o f
ci p ant s in religious rites and dances
these ceremo ni al pieces the rim i s mo ul ded to
represent ascending and descen di ng step s s ym
U pon others are painted forms
bo li s i ng clouds
showing how i m
o f frogs tadpoles or b u t t er i es

portant a part the element o f water that ever

present need in desert life plays in the prayers of

these people A characteristic Zu ni desi gn i s the

mo ul ded form uti lised as a han dl e o f K ol oo

wi s s t the sacred serpent which in the myths of
that people is represented as havi ng brought
seeds from the gods to ancient Zuni
,

P UE B L O

2 30

AR TS

Although this native American art thanks to

a few discriminating traders scattered through
the Pue b lo country of Ar izona and N ew M exico
still survives in its beauty it bids fair to pass
out of existence wi thin another decade T he
quickening cause is to be found in the system
of American schooling whi ch the United States
Government compels the children to accept and
in which instruction in dra wing is part of a gen
eral educational scheme T h e Pueblos are a gen
tle biddable race unconscious of the marvels of
their own artistic gifts and in the hands of a push
ing inartistic schoolmistress from N ew E ngland
or the M iddle West the chil dren produce fee b le
copies in bright coloured crayon of the white
man s art which their ignorant teacher sho w s

with pride to visitors as examples of what an

I ndian can do when he is taught

M eantime
such a teacher i s utterly unappreciative of the
superiority of the beautiful examples of native
pottery gifts from her timid pupils whi ch gather
dust in corners of the schoolhouse
T h e natural
,

ob tu sen ess o f this kin d o f min d was illustrated in anoth er

way by an Am erican d w ell er in a di s trict of N ew M ex ico di s t ant
f ro m th e pott ery -m ak ers
H e h ad a b eauti f ul jar o f San I ld e
1

The

P UE B L O

t hi s

A RTS

23 1

resul t of
pseudo education is that the young
generation of Pueblo women are growing up in
comparative ignorance of the art of their mothers
and of the art symbols and traditions of their race
T h e idea that there i s an I ndian art worth at
tention did get di mly into the mind of a former
head of the Government s Offi ce of I ndian Aff airs
but such attempts as he instituted with the view
of condescendingly fostering the art have been
in the hands of emplo y s who seem to be quite
incapable of intelli gently handling the case It
appears impossible for the average American to
dispossess himself of the conceit that his nation s
way is the o nl y really correct way I t does not
occur to him that to Ameri can i se Pueblo art is
as absurd as to as k J apanese artists to learn
kindergarten methods T he truth i s the Pueblos
are to be learned from not taught T heir art
is the expression o f their nature and o f a long
traditional past and to set such a people to
drawing co p y-book designs can teach them no
thing while it does stie absolutely the real art
-

m ake which h e s ho wed u s a dm irin gl y with th e n ai ve

rem ark T h at mu s t s urel y have been d on e by a g irl wh o had
g on e to s chool

f o nso

P UE B L O

2 32

AR TS

sense in them T hey are a body o f conservative

artists who can be trusted if not interfered with
to develop in their o wn way the inherited gift of
centuries and to perpetuate the one native Amer
ican art of to day C annot the more enlightened
minds of the country realise that the only right
policy for this nation to pursue toward such a

f
people i s that of hands o f
and to begin it at
once before the old generation of potters i s dead
and their traditions dead with them ?
.

Ch
O f th

Th

ti v
e

p te

o v e r

nm

XX I I
nt

i r P o l i ti c a l S t a t u

nd

th

e r

Pu
Ou

blo

r s

nd

E N T Y SI X

little republics in the bosom

th at in a phrase
o f our great r ep u b l i c
i s the political case of the Pueblo comm un
ities E ach i s an independent political entity
and while of course the authority of the U nited
States is over them all and acknowledged by all
each prefers to manage i ts o wn aff airs w ithout
reference to o ur Government or to one another
T here i s ho w ever no occasion for any one else

even the United States to interfere ; for the

P ueblo governmental method is a good one for
Pueblos and lif e and property under it are as safe
as anywhere i n the land
Th e Pueblo form of government is essentially
republican but conjoined with a theocracy the
latter under the headshi p of the Caczgu e or C hi ef
People who have much to d o w ith
Priest
g

23 3

N ATI VE GO VE R N M E N T

2 34

Pueblo

authorities are inclined to the v iew that

the Cactgue is the real power behi nd the throne ;

or to put it in the picturesque gure of a Gove rn

ment o ffi cial in Santa F that the old man holds

the trump card in every deal and the bunch goes
along
While this may be s o in the case of

masterful mi nds in Caczgu es as in the bosses of

o u r o wn political system
the Caci gu e is by no

means o i ci al l y a dictator H e is the spiritual

care taker o f the community and the keeper of
its traditions H e is supposed to be able to reveal
the mind o f the Powers Above and in order to
keep hi s spiri tual perceptions keen he fasts and
undergoes m o r ticati o n of the esh on occasion
for the good of the people H i s term of off i ce is
for life and he educates an understudy to succeed
him U pon the death of the Cactgne there is
usually a decent interregnum of a year o r more
before the new incumbent enters upon his
duties
T h e executive department of the government
consists of a governor a lieutenant governor ( or
teni ente) a war -captain an al gu aci l ( or sheriff)

and a few other o fci al s all elected annuall y

by the voice of the people T he o fcials are

'

N ATI VE GOVER N M E N T

235

as sisted in their administration b y a pe rmanent

council of old men o r ju nta de pr i nci pal es
in some pueblos these being the ex governors
With the Pueblos the elective o ffi ce does not
dignify the man as with u s ; an elected o fcial is
a public servant in fact and as such deserves no
par ticul ar reverence T his was a surprise to the
monarchical Spani sh pioneers who o n o ne o c
casion captured the war -captain o f a pueblo
and held him as hostage thinking so great an

o i ci al a note w orthy pri ze ; but he w as not

in
the I n di an view he was just one man So too on
o u r rst visit to T aos when w e asked to see the
G overnor who was not in hi s house a little
child was unceremoniously despatched to fetch
him and in quick time he came without any
ourish o f trumpets whatsoever Sancta s i mpl i
ci ta s
indeed
Th e lands o f each pueblo are held in common
for all the people E very head o f a family makes
application for what he needs to till and this i s
s et aside to him whil e he works it
F ail ure to use
it for a certain period causes it to revert to the
pueblo to be parcelled out to a ne w applicant
What each man raises is his o wn to be carried
.

N ATI

2 36

VE

GO VER N M E N T

home to his wife ; and when beneath her roof it

is hers in trust for the family I t is well to bear
this in mind if you wish to make a present of
eatables to a Pueblo man Once at a certain
pueblo thinking to make a little acknowledgment
to a man who had befriended us we carried a
basket of fruit for him to his home We found him
industriously at work by his reside and handed
him the fruit with a suitable speech H e took it
rather sheepishl y we thought gave it a hungry
look and passed it on to his wife who was standing
condently by and who promptly walked o ff with
it Th e public utilities of the pueblo the outdoor
ovens the corrals for animals the grazing lands

the wells and waters are enjoyed in common ;

but every family dwells strictly by itself in its
own apartments and lives of its o wn industry
independently of others K nowing from past
experience of the possibility of crop failures it
is the practice to hold over enough of each crop
until the succeeding one is assured and danger of
a famine is past I f famine come in spite of all
the Pueblo starves along as best he may until he

can raise a new crop d ies if must be and outts

for Shi po p a but does not beg
,

N ATI VE GO VE R N M E N T

237

political status of the P ueblo In di an is

distinctly diff erent from that of our other native

races H e is not a ward of the Government

but from the beginning of our authority over him
a U nited States citizen U nder M exican law
the Pueblos were citizens of the R epublic of
M exico and the treat y between the U nited
States and M exico entered into at G uadalupe
H idalgo in 1 84 8 where b y the south -west terri
tories were ceded to this country provided f o r
the extension of tho se rights of citizenship under
our law T h e courts of N ew M exico have several
times a frmed that the Pueblos of that terri tory
are citizens of the U nited States and had there
been no special legislation to the contrary their
ri ght to vote at general elections co ul d not have
been denied L uckil y for the Pueblos the exer
cise of such a right was deemed inexpedient and
the N ew M exico Legislative Assembly in 1 8 54

passed an Act excluding the Pueblo Indians for

the present and unt i l they shall be declared by
the C ongress of the United States to have the

right
from the privil ege o f voting except in

matters proper to their own pueblos accordi n g

to their ancient customs

The

N ATI VE GO VE RN M E N T

238

M oreover the lands occupied by the N ew

M exico Pueblos are not G overnment R eserva
tions as in the case of other I ndians ; but are the

Pueblos o wn originally by grants of the Spanish

cro wn and later conrmed to them by U nited
States patents with some subsequent additions
in the case o f cert ain pueblos by E xecutive
order

T he Ari zona Pueblos the H opis have been

less fortunate in the recognition of their political
,

status T heir lands are theirs only by grace of

an E xecutive order of D ecember 1 6 1 8 8 2 creatin g
the M oqui R eservation and judging by past
I ndian history the H opi Pueblos of M oqui ma y

be moved on whenever enough white people

of necessary inuence who want the land say so
At present there i s a Government allotting agent
at work there seeking to apportion lands to i n
d i v i d u al s under the terms of the general Allot
ment Act of Co ngress T here seems also a curious
disposition o n the part of the Ofce of Indian
Aff airs to exclude the H opis from the class of
Pueblo I n di ans
T hey were up to 1 896 d e si g
nated in the reports of the Indian Office as M oqui
Pueblos ; but since that they gure therein shorn
.

Acupid of S hi m o rovi

ver y sm all children g o un attir d

in s u mm r in M oqui
.

T he

NA TI VE GOVE R N M E N T

2 39

of their Pueblo appendage The Government s

treatment of them is practically as of any R eser v
ation I ndians and their decadence i s correspond
i ngl y progressin g
.

Ch
O f th

ti v

p te

XX I I I

l i gi o n

f th

Pu

blo

there i s o ne thing more than another which

forces itself upon the convictions of the
sympathetic student of American -I ndian
character it i s that the I ndian in his native estate
is intensely religious T o this the Pueblo is no
exception H i s religion i s s o ingrained in his being
that he gives it up only wi th life itself I t is not
a matter o f one day in seven with him but of
every day B y this I do not mean his devotion
to R oman C atholicism to whi ch seventeen out of
the t wenty -six Pueblo communities are nominal
adherents each with a pad r e to confess and pay
tithes to E very o ne who knows the Pueblo
I ndian knows that as a rule s o far as his pr o f es
it is his pastime ; his
s ion of C hristianity goes
real religion is that remarkable system of rites
which his fathers have delivered him as a trust
from the foundation of the world in which he
,

2 4o

N ATI VE REL IGI ON

24 1

an explanation satisfactory to hi s poetic

mind of the origin of his people and the destiny
o f the individual in the w orld to come
Of course the Pueblo s p agan conception of
D eity di ff ers widely in many particul ars from that
of the C hristian yet in certain fundamentals

o f vital religion
that relationship which binds

the spirit of a man to hi s C reator the Pueblo

stands where all the rest of us stand T here is
for instance an abiding sense o f humanity s de
n
n
H
P
e
d
e
c
upon
igher
owers
that
r
e
and
e
u
l
p
uphold the world and the affairs thereof ; and there
is faith in the continuance of their ancient care
if appealed to So there i s n eed of prayer contin
and of thanksgiving to
u all y to those Powers
them for the favours of life ; and whether the
people starve or feast mourn or frolic labour
or idle in the sun the red gods of their fathers
fathers get their due I t is the childlike attitude
towards the Lord of the H arvests and the Shaper
of M en s D estinies innate in all primitive races
but run out of civilised ones save as the latter
are individually converted and born ane w into the
kingdom o f the little chi ld and of Go d T here

is a spot outside certain of the pueblos and it

nds

16

N ATI

2 42

VE REL IGION

may be of all where every morning at sunrise

,

ome representative of the people stands and o ff ers

o ne for all an invocation to the Su n F ather and
scatters sacred meal to the six mystical regions
o f the w orld w est south east north zenith and
nadir C ontinually through the year prayers
are being breathed upon feathers selected from
various sorts of birds according to a xed ritual
and bound to especially prepared sticks a few
inches long and then deposited at immemorial
shrines o n mountain and plain and by certain
sacred springs So by a feather is the prayer
borne to the ears of the gods
T h e public dances
which white people nd delight in attending as
spectacles besides countless others to which
outsiders are not admitted are with the Pueblos
religious ceremonies in many of which the par
t i ci p ant s masked and fantastically attired r ep r e
sent divine personages of the people s elaborate
s

harp eyes o f the ea rly S p ani sh exp lorers d et ect ed th ese

p l ur ned pr ay e r s tick s h er e and th er e ab out th e pu eb los in th eir
d ay and w ond er ed at th em
C ert ain of th em cross-sh ap ed
ar e m inut el y d es cri b e d by C s ta n
ed a th e chronicl e r of C oron ado s
e x p e dition
I t ce rt ainl y seem s to m e h e pious l y ob s erv es

that in s om e way !th e I ndi an s ! mu s t h ave r ec eive d s ome li ght

fro m the cros s of our R ed eem er Chri s t nd it m ay h ave com e
by way of I ndia f rom w h ence th ey proceed ed
1

Th e

NA TI VE REL IGIO N

243

mythology Some are in the nature of sacred

dramas akin one may s ay to the mystery plays
of the M iddle Ages and when rendered in pueblos
where the white inroads are least are very im
pressive their eff ect heightened by the chanting
of ancient songs and the accompaniment of
gourd rattles and native made drums P ersonal
purication fasts and abstinence attend these
ceremonials as well as being precedent to them
I n the matter of spiritual belief the Pueblo is

an animist that i s he holds to a spiritual essence

in all creation even those things which w e C hrist
ian folk cal l inani mate such as trees and rocks
and water the corn plant of his o wn raising and
hi
the jar which s potter wife has moulded H e
believes in the persistence of the spirits of all
these companions of his earthly sojourn as well
as of hi s o wn spirit in an unseen w orld to which
physical death is the portal I t is no t apparent
ho wever that he regards that future estate as one
of reward and punishment for deeds done here in
the esh but rather as another stage of life
Pagan as we may call such a faith it has fos
ter ed in the Pueblo virtues which all the civilised
worl d applauds and very largely falls short of
.

N ATI VE R EL I GI ON

2 44

incul cates kindliness to one another and

gentleness of speech hospitality to the stranger
though an enemy reverence for old age truth
fulness obedience to parents tenderness to
childhood and the bringing up of children as we
wo ul d say in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord as H e is dimly perceived in that polytheistic
twilight I t w ould seem that that universal
grace of Go d which Paul preached as appearing
to all men teaching the denying of ungodliness
has appeared to Pueblos too All this was very
surprising to the Pueblos Spanish discoverers
and C asta neda noting down his observations in
Zu ni in 1 540 records his belief that the elders

must give certain commandments for the people

to keep for there is no drunkenness among them
nor sodomy nor sacr ices neither do they eat

h uman esh nor steal but are usual ly at work

I t is to the credit of the Spanish guardianship
of the Pueblos through three centuries and the
i nnate virility of the native faith that their moral
code is still much as C oronado found it
It

rring dou b tl ess to the practice of hu man sacri c es

T h er e i s no
a m on g th e cont em por a ry Az t ec s of Ol d M exico
evid enc e th at th e P u eb lo s m ad e s uch s acri c es
R ef e

NA TI VE REL IGIO N

2 45

Amythology as complex and fanciful as Greece s

involving a pantheon as numerous goes with the

native religion of the Pueblos ; but the subject is
to o technical to be discussed here
I ndeed in
spite of the eff orts of our scientic dwellers
among the I n di ans comparatively few o f their
myths are understood The aborigine i s very
loath to lay bare his inner heart to one of alien
blood and his religious beliefs come out onl y a
little at a time to s y mpathetic friends who have
been tried and found worthy of all condence A
suspicion of contempt or ridi c ul e or even con
descension is enough to close hi s mouth E ach
Pueblo comm unity appears to have its o wn body
of myths accounting for i ts origin in the w orld
and narrating its primitive wanderings and ad v en
tures under the care of the gods The stories of
origin di ff er marke dl y though certain features
are common to many of them as the Su n F ather
and M oon M other of the race the creation o f the
rst people in a subterranean world up from which
they were l ed by the D ivine Ones through the
opening Shi p o pa into this world of light and the
part played by the T win H eroes o r Go ds of
War in the early aff airs of men The curious
,

N AT I VE RE L IGION

2 46

are referred to those deli ghtful volumes Z u ni Fol k

Ta l es by F H C ushing and P u ebl o I ndi an Fol k
Stor i es by C has F L ummis ; as well as to the r e
ports Of the American B ureau of E thnology for
more technical presentations
.

Ch
Of

at

th

p te

U n i te d S ta te

Ind i a n

i ng

X XI V

Po

ss e ss e s

i n th

ie f Su m m i ng U p

Pu

b lo

H E Pueblo

is something more than just an

I ndian
H e i s somet hi ng more than pic
tur es qu e H e represents a uni que develop
ment among the aborigines o f the U nited States
native
born
civilisation
or
semi
civi lisation
a
if you wi ll which before the white man stumbled
upon it embodi ed a settled habitation with a d i s
ti ncti v e architecture a stable form of democratic
government a religious ritual free from human
or animal sacrices the practice of monogamy
the equality o f woman an orderly pursui t of
agricul ture well -developed arts and the love of
peace H e was o u r rst apartment -house b ui lder
our rst irrigationist o u r rst cotton -spinner
.

cotton gr ew in d ig enousl y in p arts o f the Pu eb lo

country and b ef ore th e introduction o f s heep by the S pani s h
th e cotton b r e was u sed in w ea vin g g a rm ents
A

p eci es

of

2 47

S UM M IN G UP

248

and his w ife was our rst artist in ceramics As

the Pueblo was when hi story discovered him s o
in essentials is he to -day B et ween him and his
neighbour the Apache for instance there is as
much diff erence it has been well said as between
the B roadway merchant and the B owery tough
T hanks to the literary habits of hi s Spanish
conquerors we possess of the Pueblo a more
complete historic record than of any other ah
origine o f the United States ; and the labours of
our o wn arch aeologists and ethnologists have very
convincingly connected his ancestry with those
fascinating monuments of a remote past the ruined
U nder Spanish
Cli ff dwellings of the South west
association he added many amenities to his way

of life the indispensable bu r r o for instance ;

iron tools and carts ; horses sheep and cattle ;
wheat grapes and peaches H e acquiesced

though at rst somewhat rebelliously i n being

hi s
complaisant nature
R om an -C atholicised
hospitably h arbouring the new religion along with
the old which he has never surrendered T o
pain
also
he
owes
his
present
land
titles ; for the
S
Spanish I ndian policy was in the main one of
humanity and common -sense and recognisin g
.

H usking corn on

uni hous top

e

Flu h ti m for th b urro

s

es

s.

S UM M I N G UP

2 49

the Pueblo at something like his worth secured

to him by royal grant s u i ci ent land to maintain

I t is fortunate
him in his way of life
says a

caustic historian o f the Pueblo that the Spaniard

was his brother s keeper H ad the Pueblo enjoyed
sixteenth -century acquaintance with the Saxon
we shoul d be limited no w to unearthing and

articul ating his bones

P
As a citizen the ueblo is peaceable self su p
porting hospitable honest and merry -hearted
minding hi s own business Hi s w ife who i s in no
sense an inferior but hi s ackno wledged equal
owns the home and i s the trustee for the fami ly
o f what the house contains
Ol d age i s respected
and its counsel cour ted T he chil dren are obedi
ent wel l -behaved and intensely beloved not only
by parents but by grandparents and all their kin ;
they are taught industry and obedience from the
beginni ng o f their years the boys helping in the
farming w oo d gathering herding and h unting ;
,

C F L u mmi s in The Land of P oco Ti empo

C o m p are thi s with wha t M r s H ugh F raser says o f J ap an ese

L itt l e child ren ar e c all ed

ch ildh oo d in h er L etter s f r om J apa n:
th e tr eas ure ow ers o f l i f e and th at w hic h m ini s t ers to th eir
h ap p iness i s never con si der ed tri vi al b ut reg ar d ed as a n ec ess a ry
T h i s m i g ht hav e b een w ritt en
p art o f the f amil y occupations
o f the Pu ebl o l ittl e f ol k s
1'

S UMM I N G UP

2 5o

the girls in pottery -making com -grinding cooking

and other domestic vocations T hey are taught
regard for one another and the care o f little folk
of eight or ten over their younger brothers and
sisters i s a touching trait to be witnessed in any
pueblo where white inuence has not rooted out
the aboriginal virtues
Th e contemporary life of the Pueblos has been
invaluable beyond w ords in thro wing light upon
the endeavo urs of our arch aeologists and ethno l o
gists to explain the remarkable remains of pre
historic human l ife in our great South west
It
further assists to an understanding by the com
r
method
of
much
that
concerns
the
past
a
t
i
e
a
v
p
of the human race as a whole ; for it helps us to

in getting
u se the apt phrase of J ohn F iske

down int o the stone age o f human thought

,

Am ericans !says that sam e sterling histo ri an!

realise h ow highl y our country i s favour ed in having
within i ts lim its such com m uni ties as tho se o f the
M o quis and Zunis Our land i s certainl y la ck ing in
su ch features of hum an interest as the ruins o f
B u t we m ay
m e di eval castles and Gre cian t em p les
b e to som e ext ent cons ol ed when we re ect that
within our b road domain we have survi v ing r em
nants of a state of s o ciet y s o old-fashi oned as to m ak e
F ew

'

S UM M IN G UP

that o f
p aris o n

the B

oo k

f Genes i s

s ee m

251

m o dern

by

co m

In s o m e res p e cts the M o quis and Zunis

m ay b e call ed hal f ci v ilis ed ; b ut their turn of thought
i s s till very p rim itive
T hey ar e p eaceful and s e lf
res p ecting p eo p le : and in true renem ent and b e
hav iour ar e far sup erior to ourselves We have s till
m u ch to learn from them concerni ng anci ent socie t y
and we ought not to b e in too grea t a hurr y to
civilise them es p eciall y if the y do not demand it o f
.

us

The Pueblo ,

being human has his faults and

shortcomings of course T here is room for his
improvement just as for yours and mine ; but
the genius w hich enabled him to w ork up to
the plane of civilisation where Spain found him
and left him is still his and is quite capable
solving his twentieth century problems in
of
the Pueblo way U nl ike the R eservation tribes
who have been crowded o ff their native land by
the advance of white civilisation the Pueblo s
foot is still o n his ancestral heath and the
heath i s capable of supporting him in his ab
original way o f living which to him is a happy
way The features o f that existence form an
interesting and instructive object lesson in the
simple life for which the soul o f o ur complex
,

S UM M IN G UP

2 52

time is crying out H i s is the last of our indige

nous races which i t is now possible to preserve
in anyt hing approach ing i ts native estate ; and one
would think it worth an effort to conserve it

to put up a no trespass sign on its lands and

guard it from molestation One would think that
such a people might be suff ered to live out its
destiny in its o wn harmless way by this great
republic which has m ade much advertisement
of itself as standing for the right of all men to life
liberty and pursuit of happiness
What is reall y happening in the matter is out
lined in the next chapter
.

Ch
Of

t O

u r

p te

o v e r

Pu

nm
e

XXV

nt i s

blo

Do i ng

w i th th

considering the activities of the United

States Government to wards the Pueblos it
is necessary to bear in mind that the case
of the Pueblos is ess entially a di ff erent one from
that of the at one time nomadic tribes of the

plains and forests that i s the R eservation tribes

of to -day The latter the red men of F enimore
C ooper and the W ild West Show have for gener
gradually pushed o ff their native
ati o ns been
hunting grounds by the ever advancing line of
the white man s settlements have been fought and
cheated bargained with and broken faith with
until no w they are as men without a country in
surroundi ngs totally diff erent from those in which
nature placed them and in which nature tted
them to live T hat this aboriginal remnant sho ul d
have something done for it by the race that has
,

2 53

2 54

GO VE RN M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

crowded it o ff its earth i s just and that that some

thing shoul d be i n the nature of an education to
equip it to cope with alien conditions of life is
reasonable T hat roughly summed up i s the
theory of the Government s educational poli cy
towards the I ndian and it i s not within the
province of this book to discuss it in practice
The Pueblo case ho w ever is not that at all
A sedentary people advanced in the arts and
practices o f a native civilisation the Pueblos
thanks to Spanish prevision have not been di s
possessed o f their lands ; they still inhabit their
Syri an -like to wns that are old er than anything
and
o f white men s building o n this continent
they still till the self same ground which their
fathers fathers worked long ago and which
i s hallo w ed to them wi th associations that reach
back to the days when the gods walked the earth
and the animals talked with men Unl ike the
Plains I n di ans whose main source of livelihood
was the chase and who have to be taught to be
farmers the Pueblos are born agricul turists who
from inh erited experience are singul arly capa b le
of raising crops under the exacting climatic con
di ti o ns of their semi -desert home
T hey have
,

A m an of

Taos in n ati ve d ress S heet s ar e worn in li e u

of b lank t in warm weath r
,

e s

GO VE R N M E N TAL

A C TI VI TIE S

2 55

of course learned much from their association with

Spaniard and Anglo Saxon ; from bo th they have
adopted improvements which they apply in their
very respect in a
o wn way and they are still in e
position to live out their quiet useful lives after
the fashion of the red nature which the L ord of
L ife implanted in them
When unspoiled by too
much white interference thei r communities are
entirely self supporting and law -abiding and as
contented as humanity ever gets to be here b e

low the most picturesque and natural class of

people in our articial dead -level doll ar -driven
United States
I n the mechanical application to the Pueblos of
an I ndian policy which was framed for all the

I ndians the Government has to give the devil

his due d one some comm endable things I t has

for instance exempted the Pueblo lands from
taxation ; it has sought to keep the whisky -seller
away from the pueblos ; and it undertakes to
provi de me di cal care for the prevention of the
epidemics of such diseases as smallpox d iph
theria measles and the like which more than
any other one cause nowadays keep do wn the
growt h of the pop ul ation On the other hand
,

2 56

GO VERN M E N TAL

however and this

ACTI VI TIE S

is

the crux of the case as

between Government and Pueblo the I n di an

Offi ce lumps the Pueblo with the rest of the I ndians
and drops him into the comm on educational
melting -pot prep ared by C ongress for all red m en
D ay schools have been established in most o f
the pueblos and the children are forced into them
unless the parents prefer to send them to some
boardi ng -school I n the more important pueblos
eld matrons are quartered for the purpose of
teaching housekeeping to the Pueblo women
who have been skilful housekeepers from the da wn
of time ; farmers also are sent to some to acquaint
this race of farmers who have no memory o f a
time when their ancestors were not farmers and
who practised irrigation before any one in the
U nited States ever heard of such a t hi ng ho w to
raise corn and beans
At Santa F at Al buquerque at B lack R ock
at K eam s C a non large boarding -schools are
maintained and paid for by the taxpayers of the
U nited States w here w hite education in part
literary and in part industrial is crammed do wn
the young Pueblo throat in steam -heated rooms
and in an atmosphere often foul to suff ocation
,

ACTI VI TI E S

GO VE R N ME N TAL

2 57

agents of more distant schoo ls as at R iverside

in C alifornia Grand J unction in Colorado C arlisle
in Pennsylvania are busy in season drumming
up recruits that their institutions too may have
p art in the same educational game
I t i s the
boarding -schools the more distant from the pueblo
the better that nearest meet the ideal o f the
I ndi an educator ; for thereby the child i s most
"

thoroughl y separated from his tribal relations

and is more perfectly at the mercy of the Great
White F ather who has s o benevolently undertaken
to undo the C reator s handiwork and turn these

beni ghted red people into wh ite

When you ask the gentlemen of the I ndian
Ofce for the reason of this active onslaught o f
education they will doubtless tell you as they
have told the present writer that in i ts capacit y
as a civilising agent the Ofce has a special edu
cati o nal duty to dischar ge to w ards the chil dren
of these I ndians who must be prepared for the
future and to adjust themselves nally as citiz ens
to our modern civilisation T hi s statement ap
pea rs to be part of the Offi ce xtures p asse d do wn
from Co mmissioner to C ommissioner and so far as
it is not buncombe doubtless applies wel l enough
T he

:7

GO VE R N M E N TAL

2 58

ACTI VI TI E S

to the R eservation Indian I t is not plain how

ever that it does t the case of the Pueblo who
i s already a citizen and quite as well able in hi s
pueblo to take ca re of himself and be a useful
member of society as a Shaker or a D unkar d
an Am i sh m an a F ranciscan friar or any other
member of a score of peculiar sects in the U nited
States who are given to clannishness of living and
are freely conceded the right to do s o
As a matter of fact the Government s educa
ti o nal activities towards the Pueblos are making
practically to this end : the destruction of the
characteristic features of a very wonderful and i n
ter e sti ng communal life racy of our soil and the
wiping of the Pue b los as a people out of existence
Such a proceeding is not only cruel and u n
American but it is needless ; for the Pueblo has
a very good system of education of his o wn
though it i s not literary
I n the normal life of the Pueblo the native
education of the child begins as soon as it can
talk and continues daily by precept and example
until it i s grown ; for the children are constant
companions of their elders and having no thought
but to respect them are constantl y learning
.

GO VER N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

2 59

from them F o r instance at an age when little

white girls are making mud pies their small
Pueblo sisters are having just as much enjoyment
in learning of their o wn volition to copy in cla y
the beautiful bowls and water -j ars which their
potter mothers are experts in making T he boys
follow their fathers and grandfathers to the eld
and gather with them in the es tuf as or private
council chambers of the men and there little by
little become familiar with the ancient tra di tions
of their people I n the ceremonial dances whi ch
are one of the outward forms of worship practised
by the Pueblos boys and girls sometimes hardly
more than infants take their little parts with
earnestness and solemnity So by degrees the
elements of the simple sunny wholesome life
are acquired and the young tted to carry it
forward if the I ndian way is allowed to prevail
B u t when the Pueblo children are sent to the
white school as by hook and by crook the Govern
ment is seeing to it that they are all this is changed
as it is designed that it sho ul d be T he children
are being taken at as near the age of four as they
can be gotten hold of and by bein g inhumanly
kept away from their parents as long as possible
.

GO VE R N M E N TAL

2 60

ACTI

VI TI E S

lose during the most formative years of their

lif e the advantage of the parental training and
companionship As a nation we have never
been a success at raising children and certainly
the c ase of this Congressional fathering of the
Pueblo youth has added no lustre to our cro wn
I have v i sited every one of the Pueblo communities
and have lived in several for longer or shorter
periods and I can s ay u nqu al i edl y that their
most disheartening feature to -day is furnished
by returned scholars One knows the young men
of thi s class by their short hair their slouchy
ways and their ill manners ; the girls are disposed
to indolence and distingu ished by rats in their
hair and peek-a-boo shirt -waists unl ess th eV have
resumed their native comfo r table and suitabl e
Pueblo dress
T he minds of both sexes bright enough on s u b
t
s
c
of
I
ndian
lore
are
a
r
e
slow
to
st
pid
e
as
u
l
u
j
ity in matters of the white man s curriculum and
it is amazing to see ho w little has really been
assi m ilated in the years of labour which their
generally conscientious teachers have besto wed

upon them F ar from uplifting their people

the favourite dream of their educators the y

,

littl e m oth r of th pu blo I t i dut y of th littl Pu b l

girl s to tt nd th ir b by b roth r nd i t r wh n th
p r nts
bu y
e

a e

ar e

s a

e s

s s e s,

o
e

GO VE RN M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

26 1

onl y lacking in initiative but helpless to

teach what they have but imperfectly learned
and they hang around the pueblo a positive dr ag
upon its busy life R are indeed i s it to nd o ne
at all qualied to Compete with the white man
in any walk of life above that of day labo urer ;
w hile they have lost irretrievably years o f a native
education that woul d reall y have helped them in
the l i fe for which nature has pecul iarly adapted
them F urthermore these educated ones are
often handicapped by a substanti al start in
tuberculosis contracted in the conned lif e of
the school ; are more or less pauperised by their
years of being boarded and lodged gratis and are
pretty sure to be tinctured with an assortment
of white vices
The lot of these young people i s indee d hard
Untted by nature to meet the keen competition
of the whi te man s world and u ntted by education
for the life of the pueblo there is nothing for them
but to begin afresh and learn to live as their fathers
lived or else go to the bad generally As a matter
of fact some follo w one course and some the other ;
but in either case the net resul t of the American
e ducation to the Pueblo is a moral drop
The
ar e

no t

2 62

GO VER N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TIE S

elders of the Pueblos kno wing from hard exper i

ence the inevitable result seek persistentl y to
keep their children from the contamination of the
schools ; and in several instances have run the day
schools from the pueblo I t is to no purpose
however for the Government agents hunt do wn
the children u hd er the very skirts of their mothers
and by one argument or another secure them and
pack them o ff to the boarding -schools

T he G overnment still regarding the Pueblos

as ignorant of the conditions of a xed life as
thou gh they were Apaches or C omanches fresh
from the warpath instead of the peaceful im

memorial town dwellers that they are assumes

furthermore that they need the white point of
view in their housekeeping H ence the eld
matron referred to above H er uplifting inuence
is directed at the women of the pueblo whom she
is expected to instruct in the care of the house
personal cleanliness the adornment of the home
the care of the sick and incidentally to brighten

the darkness of the benighted by introducing

among the little folks of the Pueblos the sports

of white children
In spite of some absu rdities as regards the
,

GO VE R N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

2 63

in the G overnment regul ations there is

some under current of sense in the eld matron s
o fce if it were possible to have it admi nistered
by a woman of tact and experience in sympathy
with I ndian nature ; for the need of better know
ledge o f some fundamentals of sanitation for
instance and the care of the sick is a real need
I n practice h owever the fi eld
i n the pueblos
matron is a more or less conscientio u s lady of
mature age who may or may not speak her
native tongue grammatical ly and who h as as
likely as not been transferred to her p u eblo
from the C omanche R eservation or the Piutes
or some other distant place and does not in the
least know the essential diff erence between such
tribes and the Pueblos
Pueblos

At a pu eb lo

w hich th e w riter vi s it ed r ec entl y he found a el d

m tron o f thi s s ort in ch arg e tran s f erre d thith e r f ro m an Okl
hom a Reserv ation Sh e was ab s olutel y i g norant of the P u eb lo
m anner of l if nd ha d f ro m th e G ove rnm ent a print ed b l nk e t
f or m of in s truction s w hich o f cours e g av e no hint o f o ne I ndi a n s
diff erin g f ro m anoth er The lad y was low in h er s pirit s as to
th e tr a n s f e r
T h ey w on t t alk any E n g li s h to m e h ardl y
s h e co m pla in ed o f h e r new ch a r g es
and I don t kno w a ny m or e
S p anis h than a g oat
T o a Pu eb lo m an w ho c am e in to do s o m e
s e win g on a s e w in g -m a chin e s h e g r ant e d p e rm i s ion b ut a dd e d
v ry d i s tinctl y so h e could c atch th full i m port
And if y ou
b r eak th at m achin e b roth er I ll s trin g y ou up by th e n eck
I t i s not to b e inf erred that h e b it e w ould h v e been as b ad
,

e, a

2 64

GO VE R N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

the Pueblo women leisurely with their

work instead of rushing about it like vi ctims of
Americanitis such an o ffi cial sets them do wn as
lazy ; and because their dress bears the stain of
the prevail ing dust of the Southwest they are
in her eyes dirty So perfectly convinced that

Pueblo women are as benighted as the au th o r i

ties i n Washington think they are s he proceeds
to revolutionise the Pueblo household
T ake the matter of cooking for instance : Th e
Pueblo w oman has inherited from her forbears
whi ch
a really admi rable system of cookery
if the baking-powder and cheap co ff ee of the
border whites can be kept out of it produces
results whi ch are both simple and nutritious
T here are in most households two meals a da y
breakfast about ten or eleven in the morning
and supper or dinner about sunset or later
after the labours of the day are concluded T hese
meals are prepared in four principal ways :
F irst : I n the open r eplace which is an
feature of the Pueblo living room
e ssential
F inding

bark b ut it

m s h ardl y n eedf ul to co mm ent u p on th e

uplif ting in uence of s uch ass oci ation upon a sen s itiv e
m i ab le race lik e the P u eb los

as

h er

s ee

ACTI VI TIE S

GO VER N M E N TAL

2 65

H ere

all stews are s et to simmer and beans to

cook in a clay cooking pot of native make T his
replace serves further the double purpose of
insuring good ventilation in the room and of
provi ding a means always at hand of doing away
with scraps and dirt which the Pueblo housewife
many times a day sweeps with her broom of dried
gras ses into the blaze of the hearth
Secondl y : U pon a large at stone resting on
four short ones and heated by a re beneath
s he bakes a s upon a griddle the w afer bread of
cornmeal and water kno wn variously as pi k i

hw or wa yah vi
F olded in packets or rolled
into sticks this i s a staple of Pueblo diet sweet
to the taste and not excelled in digestibil ity by
the twice -baked breads of o ur modern hospitals
Thi rdly : I n the N ew M exico pueblos the
dome shaped ad obe bake ovens are a striki ng
feature built always outdoors either in front
of the house or on the roof Thi s makes it i m
e
i
e
r
a
t
v
for
the
house
w
ife
to
be
in
the
health
p
giving air during the entire time of heating the
oven and baking the bread I n these ovens
yeast -risen wheat b read is baked in an even
heat with the thorou ghness that distingui shed
.

GO VE R N M EN TAL

2 66

ACTI VI TIE S

the loaves which our grandm others baked in

their great brick ovens
F ourthly : I n the Arizona pueblos there is a
permanent pit sunk to the depth of a couple of
feet in the ground near the house In this
the housewife builds a hot re and when the sides
and bottoms of the pit are thoroughl y heated
sets a vessel within
s h e takes o u t the embers
lled with cornmeal batter covers the mouth of
the pit with a at stone seals it up with ad obe
mud and leaves it for hours T h e resul t i s a
thoroughly cooked nutritious mush prepared
exactly on the theory of the r el es s cooker of
N o better system could be
civilisation
our
desired
T he cul inary methods above described serve

two noteworthy ends they insure wholesome

thorough cooking and they conserve that open
air life essential to I ndian well -bein g whi ch ex
i stence in permanent to wns is prone to curtail
N o w w hat generally happens when a eld
matron acting under orders from Washington
gets under way is the introduction of the American

cook stove an article in ever y wa y unsuited

to that land whose almost perpetual sunshi ne
.

u b lo wo m n b aking wh at n b r d
e

ea

at

th e

outdoor oven s

GO VE R N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

is

2 67

ever cal ling to life under the sky T hen the

P ue b lo woman closes up her indoor replace
abandons her outdoor cooki ng pit kindles a
furious r e in her new stove indoors and puts into
the oven a quantity of bread whi ch scorches o n
the outside while still underdone in the middle
U pon this she feeds her family as well as with
o ther dyspeptic matters which are sure to follow
u nder the tuition of the dyspeptic nation w hich

has undertaken the uplifting of the benighted

Pueblos
The continually close ai r
following
upon the overheating o f the room and the clos
ing up of the self-ventilating replace develops
coughs and colds E xpectoration i s on the oor
whi ch remains unswept longer no w that there is
no convenient replace to brush litter into and
consumption enters So the national work of

civilising the I ndian o u t o f existence is helped

along
I have dwelt upon the cook -stove episode at
considerable length because it aff ords a concrete
instance of what is persistently ignored by o u r
nation namely the fact that the Pueblo I ndians
have as systematically developed a domestic
econom y as we ourselves have ; one which is
.

2 68

GO VE R N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI ES

uli arly tted to their nature and environment ;

and one to which white inter ference i s di stinctly
prejudi cial besides being impertinent
What h as been said of the cooking i s true of
other innovations which are stupidly b eing forced
upon the Pueblos by our Government T heir
disti nctive dress for instance is as picturesque
as that of the Swiss peasantry ; but it h a s besides
picturesqueness a side of comfort and especial
adaptation to the people s habit of life not so
appar ent until studied I t i s really scientic
in its looseness and openness which besides
allowing the free play of the limbs in exercise
admi ts between the body and clothing in a way
that our dress does not the circulation of that
wonderful south -western air to whose cleansing
and antiseptic qualities the I ndian largely owes
Y et white agencies are too den se to
hi s health
understand this and must needs treat the Pueblo
as though he were clothed in the conventional G
string and paint of savagery H i s dress must be
Americanised and the beginning i s with the
children who as fast as they are rounded up in
the schools have their hair shorn and their bodies
divested of Pueblo garb and are all put into

c
e
p

A little maid of Ta o s in n ative attire

GO VE R N M E N TAL

A C TI VI TIES

2 69

vari ously tting abomi nation s including under

clothing of the one and o nl y civilisation I n a
community without bathtub s and laundries
living in a country where rain i s the rarest of
H eaven s gif ts is it any wonder that the res ul t of
such sartorial revolution is a degree of uncleanness
both of body and clothing never kno wn under the
native r gime and at times unspeakable ? T here
woul d be some sense in encour aging neatness and
cleanli ness i n the nati ve d r ess where laxity was
apparent but there i s none at all in abolishing
that perfectly adequate native attire for another
designed for a people of other traditions livi ng
under diff erent conditions
I n every other instance which I have seen of
the attempt to make this people s customs con
form to white standards the result i s equally
detrimental Assuming that there i s o nl y one
right way and that i s our way we have taken it
for granted that these communities are undis
must be
ci pli ne d savages and knowing nothing
taught w hat is good for them
N obody better understands the fundamental
er ror of this than the Government employ s at
the pueblos when they think for themselves
,

GO VER N M E N TAL

2 70

ACTI VI TIE S

course it is their business to carr y out the

time and time
D epartment regulations ; but
again I have heard them deprecate the polic y of
sending teachers to a people like the Pue b los
wh o are already as good citizens as their nei gh

bour whites
Y et
they add
what can we
do about it ? T he work means o ur bread and

butter
I t is not the purpose of this chapter to advocate
holding back any I ndians who reall y des i r e to
participate in the whi te man s education N o w
and then one nds a Pueblo whose native bent
is such as to enable him to assimilate something
from our present day American civilisation just
as generations ago his ancestors adopted somewhat
from their Spanish conquerors mode of life
While it is the present writer s conviction based
on observation that even in such cases what the
man loses in hi s lapse from native ways i s greater
than hi s gain yet to such an one he wo ul d cordially

s ay
Go ahead and if you can nd anything to
your liking in jumpers and overalls and cowhide
brogans in simplied spell ing and in ability to
read about the latest murder in C hicago or the
graft cases in San F rancisco and if with this
Of

GO VE R N M E N TAL

ACTI VI TI E S

271

equipment you think you can beat the white man

at hi s o wn trade for goodness sake go to school

and be educated
The plea made is solely for

those and they are the large majority who d o

not desire t hi s whi te wash o n their red skin who
protest vehemently against being trained as white
men when the Lo rd created them red for ever
more and yet o n whom the United States
G overnment is sedulously forcing an education
which in practical resul ts experience sho w s to be
productive of more harm to the Pueblo than

good an education which too often sharpens

the young people s wits at the expense o f their
morals so that they even overreach their parents
I s it any wonder that the old people resist the
schools ?

Ch
O f th

Fu

tu

r e o

p te

f th

Pu

XXV I
e

blo

if H

as

Any

the Pueblo Indian has a future it rests with

the rank and le o f the people of the U nited
States to assure it to him
N ew M exico and
Arizona ought to do it but they are too busy
with mi ning and sheep herding to bother about
an I n di an who scalps nobody and steals no horses
C ongress as at present enl ightened cannot be
expected to do it ; for it i s not in evidence that
C ongress ever heard of a Pueblo I ndian
The
I ndian Ofce will not do it ; for that Of ce is a
machine gr inding out a traditional cut -and -dried
policy
Strange J uggernaut of our boasted
,

ce appreci at es the f act that in th eir contact w ith

m o dern civi l i s ation m uch of the val ue of the Pueb los as a
picturesque f actor in the national lif e i s b ein g sacri ced
R eg ardin g th eir anci ent l aws and cu s to m s al thou g h in s o m e
resp ect s adm irab le those w hich d o not coinci de w ith th e national
l aw s mu s t inevitab l y g ive way To th e older I ndi an s who clin g
to th es e cus tom s thi s m ay seem a h ar dshi p at ti mes b ringin g
th em into m ore or l ess con ict with the rep resent ati ves o f th e

T h e Of

2 72

F U T URE O F THE P UE B L O

2 73

free republicani sm thi s I ndi an policy of ours !

T hough our literature i s full of denunciation of
it though ethnologists even of the Go vernment
deplore the stupidity of it though o ur text -boo k s
record its inhumanity it goe s stoli dl y on in i ts
deadening work and o ur complacent nation clips
coupons goes to church and lets it !
Y et while the I ndian betrayed by his Great
White F ather at Washington and disposses se d of
hi s heritage is a stock gure of American history
and jeremiads a plenty have been written bewail
ing an irrevocable past gone to judgm ent the
nation has in the Pueblos one last chance to save
a ne remnant o f aboriginal life before the whole
fabric i s utterly gone T he procedure i s simplicity
itself : Stop our education of them ; or if we must
teach something let it be onl y at day schools
,

th es e matters ar e bei n g g radu all y adj u s ted

with as much ta ct and di pl o mac y as is consis tent with a pos itive
attitu d e to w ar d s th e s itu ation

Th u s th e Of c e i s conf ronted with con dition s not al togeth er

es th etic p oint
o f i ts o wn m akin g and h o w ever d es ir ab l e f ro m an a
ci vi l i sa tion
o f vi ew it m i gh t b e to m aintain thi s qu aint old s em i i n our m id s t it i s not al tog eth er p ra cticab l e
( F ro m a l et ter date d S eptem be r 2 9 1 9 1 0 f rom F H A bbo tt
Assi s tant Co mm i ss ion er o f I n di an Aff airs to th e author Th is
m ay b e con s id er e d offi ci al notic e th at th e d ea th w arr ant of
Pu eb lo l i f e h as b een s i g n ed )
G over n m ent

B ut

"

18

F U T URE O F THE

2 74

P UE B L O

the pueblo in the simplest ru di ments

and without interference in the native ways
C oincidently the present wise law of exem p
tion from taxation should be continued ; for it
will take a long time for the Pueblo mind used
to communal ways to assimilate the C aucasian
theory of taxation and meantime inevitable de
l i nqu enci es would speedily result in the Sheri ff s
sale of every pueblo in the South-West Surely
the country has gotten land bargains enough o u t
of its aborigines to warrant this item of generosity
M oreover the matters o f medical supervision
and liquor regulation should continue increasingly
to b e of Government concern
T his will not make good the harm already done
to the Pueblos but it will enable a naturally
capable an
d contented people to work out their
destiny in their natural way whi ch interferes
with that of nobody else T hey are a people
worth saving and their arts are worth fostering
which it is to be observed does not mean Ameri
Within

cani s i ng

U nfortunately ,

many of their communities are

hopelessly demoralised by this time and can
only be left to their fate ; but others where a
,

F U T URE OF TH E P UE B L O

2 75

considerable conservative element yet rem ains

such for instance as the large pueblos of Zun i
Santo D omingo Isleta J emez and T aos in N ew
M exico and the smaller but still virile H opi
villages of Shim p o v i and H o tav il a in Ariz ona
can still be helped if left to the inherent strength
of their native institutions I nstead of consign
ing them to the educational mill to be ground
away between the upper and the nether millstones
of school teacher and eld matron it would seem
a truer ph i lanth ropy to make easy for them the

path of development alon g native lines a tried

pathway on which they had themselves sta rted
before Washington took charge o f them and upon
which they had wonderfully progressed
I n that vast region of sunshine desert and
elemental majesty where the P ueblos dwell
they supply a feature of contemporar y human
interest uni que in the world T heir country
l i ke our N ational Parks is already part of o u r
nation s holiday grounds and will be increasingly
s o used
We are intent enough down there
upon exploring and protecting from desecration
the remains of a remarkable prehistoric civilisation
which once ourished where the Pueblos now live ;
,

F U T URE OF THE

2 76

UEB L O

M exico has es tablished a well equipped

I nstitute of Archaeology and is sp ending money to
maintain the crumbling homes of her ancient
C liff D wellers ; yet both nation and state have
been incredibly blind to the greater living w onder
of this Pueblo race which is made up of descend
ants of those vanished denizens of the cliff s and
is pursuing to day in all essentials the same
kind of lif e While w e are thus busy co nser v
ing the material evidences of humanity dead and
gone is it not a better work to save a living p eo ple
from extinction ?
N ew

Table

Ap p r o xi m

E a c h Pu

W ith

th e E

blo

Po p u l a ti o n
i n 19 10

a te

ng li sh p ronunci ation o f i ts nam e

railroad s ta tion

a nd

nea res t

i ts

Ar i z o na

L ATI ON

P PU
FI

RST ME SA

Wal p i ( Wol pee )

'

Si ch u m

T ewa
H an o

T
a
wah )
(

OND

M i s hon g

1 50

Gallup N

mil es
90 m il es

80

1 20

m il es

ME SA

novi

2 50

125

Sh i m o po v i

225

01
o
r

'

TH I RD

N E A RE ST RA IL RO AD
STAT I ON

1 00

ov i

Shi p au l

b los

SE C

W inslo w A ri z
H ol b roo k A ri z

2 50

ov i

Pu

W in sl o w
or

A riz

bl o

90

C ao n D ia

mil es

500

75

mi l es

80

m il es

H o tav i l a

400

B
a
h
ca
bee)
(

1 00

T ot al p o pu lation of
Ariz on a p ueb l os
approxim at el y

2 1 00

ME SA

rai b i (Ort bee)

( s u mm er p ueb lo
M oenk o p i)
acab i

P OP

278

UL A TIO N O F EA CH

UEB L O

of
anado
and
K
eam
s
a
n
on
G
C
J
Arizona gives the following list o f principal

H opi ceremonies and dances the exact days of

the month are not xed :
N ovember N ew F ire C eremony ; D ecember
War D ance ; J anuary B uff alo D ance ; F ebruary

B ean Planting ; M arch

M ystery Play ; M ay
K atcina D ances ; J uly D eparture of K atcinas ;
August Snake Antelope and F lute D ances ;
September B asket D ance ; October B asket and
H and T ablet D ances
L

H ubbell ,

M e x i c o Pu

PO FUL A

blo

PRI NCI P AL

NE ARE ST R AIL R O AD
ST ATI ON .

TI O N

A co ma ( Ah co ma)
(incl u sive o f i ts

u mmer pueb lo
A co mi t a)

8 00

S ep t

L ag

una

15

m i l es

10

miles

25

miles

( M cCar ty s f o r
Aco mi ta )

C ochiti ( C ochi
tee

'

3 00

I sl ta ( I s -l tt - )
s

1 000

-m es s
m
z
H
a
e
)
(
J
L ag u n a ( includin g
s i x f a rm in g vil
lages )

500

J ul y

o m ingo
I leta

14

ug 2 8

'

ep t

N ov

rn ali ll o

12

19

La

N am

be (

N am b a

1 500

1 00

Sept
OC t

guna

( E s pa fi o l a
( Santa

m il es
1 5 I u il e s

12

P OP UL AT ION OF E ACH P UE B L O

PRI NC I P AL
PO F UL A P U B L IC
POP
F I E S TA
TI ON

Picuri s

rees )
S ndi a ( Sandee -a)
Sa nta Ana ( San
ntt

an a

mi les
1 m il e

20

1 00

75

2 00

S anta C lara
S anto D omin g o
S n Feli p e ( F
a

2 50

7 00

l ee -p a)

San

os

uan

Si a ( See

Ta

500

Il d f on so

San J

2 00

(H wahn)

500

1 00

-a

( T o wss )

Tesuque (

500

Te 800

k a)

NE A RE ST RA I L RO AD
S TAT I ON

-oo
P
i
c
(

2 79

u ni ( Soo -n y e e
S p a n -Am e
Zoo -nee Am e r )
( I ncl us ive o f i ts
s u mm er p u eb l o s )

1 50

N ov

12

Santa F

mi les

0
4

m il es

1 6 50

A b out N o v
0
( di ff e rent
3
ea ch y ea r )
Gall u p
.

otal popul ation

of N ew M exico
pueb lo s ap p rox
,

i m atel y

The hi re

92 00

of

a double team and driver in the

Pueblo co untry is from $ 5 to $ 8 a day including
,

P OP UL ATI ON OF E ACH P UE B L O

2 80

keep and of a saddle pony with saddle

per
day exclusive of keep
F o r an extende d trip a good w ay i s to contract
with a reliable man who knows Spanish and who
can cook to supply team covered waggon and
services at a xed rate per week o r per month
1
00
0
a
basis
of
to
per
month
w
o
d
be
fair
u
l
$
$
(
9
)
the travell er to pay additionally for the animals
feed and the provi sions for himself and the man
T his plan permits stopping where one pleases
with entire indepe ndence of local accommodations
which a r e sometimes exceedingly primitive in
the Pueblo land
I f one prefers horseback for a trip covering some
weeks and kno w s enough about hor se es h to take
the risk it is economy to purchas e a pony and
saddl e outright T he pony woul d cost from
to
according to age size condition
etc ; a saddle and bridle from
to
If bought with discretion and used not too hard
such an outt co ul d be resold at the end of the
trip at little or no loss After Jul y 1 sth and until
the beginning of winter the cost of keep for the
pony woul d not exceed twenty v e or fty cents
a day for grain feed which should be gi ven every
,

P OP UL ATI ON OF E ACH P UE B L O

28 1

day the ani m al is being ridden ; for though wild

forage then i s sufcient to take the place of hay
so much time w ould be consumed grazing at night
where gro wth is sparse that if not grain -fed
the pony wo ul d not get proper rest Scotch rolled
oats i s found by m
any riders a satisfactory feed
to provide I f one travels in company a pack
animal for the baggage must be calcul ated upo n
I n hiring horses or teams in a country where
it i s sometimes a day s travel be t ween water holes
and where every man must be hi s o wn repairer
o f breaches it i s w el l to remember the old adage

N o w here does
that the best i s the cheapest
i t pay better to pay for responsibility in those
wi th whom you deal
,

G l o s s a r y a n d Pr
i s h -A m e r i c a n

n u n c i a ti o n

Ind i a n T

nd

Adios ( ah -d e
a di eu
Al g o d on es ( al -go -d o -n ess ) san d d un es
Arro yo b ed of a s tream u su a ll y dr y

f Sp
e r

an

d a,

b n d u u ll y fold d h n dk rch i
a

ef , e

ncirclin g the hair

r to ( bar ah -to ) chea p

B a rra n ca a gull y
B u eno ( b wa -no M ex and I nd wa-no ) g oo d
B u eno s d i as ( d ee -a s ) g oo d -m ornin g
C ab eza d e Va ca ( ca -b a -sa d e v ah -ca ) co w he d
C ab ezon ( cab -a
b i g head th n me of a N w M e xico
m ount ain
C aci que ( ca-s ee -k a) the s piritual chi ef in a pu b lo
C a m po San to hol y g round con secrat ed b uri al -place
C rrillos ( ce -r ee -yose ) turquoi ses
C hon g o the club b e d queue in which P ueb los wear their hair
C i b ola ( see -bO-l a) ol d S pani s h na me for Z u ni
C in t a a n arro w b an d or ri b b on f o r windin g ab out the chon g o
or s i d e locks
C o m o sta ? H o w ar e you ?
C o m p adre ( co m-pah -d r a) l i t g o d f ath er b ut u sed colloqui lly
C o m pra melo nes com p ad re ? W i ll
f o r f ri en d or b roth e r
you b uy s ome melon s b roth er ?
C orral an enclo sure as for cattle
D ura z no ( d oo-rah s -no ) p ea ch
E n tra co m e in
E s tuf a ( es -too -f a) a s p eci al roo m u s u all y und er g roun d wh e re
m ee ting s o f Pu eblo m n r h eld and s cr t reli gi ous rite s
pe rf ormed The word i s S p ni s h for s tov or a warm room
B

a a

'

'

'

a e

2 82

e,

P R ON UN CIATION OF

IN D IAN

TER M S

2 83

ppli ed by the Conqu i stad or es to s uch cha mb ers

b eca use of th eir war m th
Faja (f ah -ha) the sas h worn ab out the wai s t by Puebl o wom en
l es ) b ea n s
F ri jol es (f ree-hO
K iv a ( k ee -v a ) sa me as es tuf athe H o p i wor d
M al p ai s ( m al -p i ) a sort o f v o l canic roc k u se d f o r makin g
m et ates
M a ri a na ( m an-yah -na) to -m orro w
M an ta a wo ma n s d ress ; l i t b lanket
M esa ( m a -se ) tab l elan d or a t-toppe d m ountai n
M e t at e ( me ta h -ta) a s tone on which corn i s g roun d
M ucho ( m oo -cho ) ve ry ; li t m uch
M ucho Sab io ( m oo -c h o sah -b io ) o ne w ho kno ws m uch a Pu eb lo
council lor
N ava j o ( nav -a
ho ) a large I n dian tri be adj oinin g th e P ue b los
Oll a ( oh -ya ) a water -jar
Pa dr e ( pah -d r a) a C a tho lic p ri es t
P asear ( pah -s e
to take a walk
P i ki ( pee -k ee ) waf e r b rea d ( H opi ) ; the sam e as Zu i h
w
-wa
- ah -vi o f the Rio G ran d e Pu eb lo s
h
h
h

a
n
d
t
e
w
a
(
)
y
Pl az i ta ( p l a-s ee -ta ) a dooryar d or inte rior court o f a r esi d ence
P o co littl e ; p o -co ti -e m p o in a littl e whil e
P ue b lo (poo -eb -lo ) a to wn ; w h en ca pitali sed an I n di an o f the
pueb los
Pu erco ( p war -co )
m u dd y ; whence the S -W -Amer te rm

perky f o r a m u d dy cr eek
-en s ah ui
n
b
k
b e) I d o not kno w ; l i t wh o kno ws ?
e
sa
e
ee
Q
(
-er -a
-o
k
u
i
ro
k
r
I
w
a
nt
ui
e
r
e
e
e
;q
)
) y ou want
Q
(
(
R a nchito ( an-ch ee -to ) a litt l e f arm
R ea l ( a
12 %
cents E ig ht o f them ma de the o ld
Sp ani s h pi ece of ei ght Used in multiples o f t wo as d os
( 2 ) real s 2 5 c ents ; cua tro ( 4 ) real es 50 ce nt s etc
R etr ato ( a-tr ah -to ) any picture ; s trictl y a portr ait
Sandi a ( san-d ee - ) wa term elon ; sandi a u ena t r ei nte centa v os
g ood wa te rm lon 3 0 cents
gat way to the n ex t world
Shi p ap u ( s hip -a
So mb rero ( s o m -b a -t o ) a wide-b ri mme d hat
and

was

'

'

'

'

'

'

-e

'

P R ON UN CI ATI ON OF I N D IAN TE R M S

2 84

Teni en te ( tenta) , li eutenant

eeen
Ti en da ( teeend a ) , a s h o p or s t ore

ha) . a ater T i naj a ( tin ah jar

T o m e ( to m -b a) , an n di an d rum
'

w
I

T ortilla ( tor
pancake
T usayan (too sa y-an) an o l d S p ani s h n ame for
Vam os (v ah -mo s ) be gon e ; l i t l et u s g o

tee y a) , a

M oqui

P a r t i a l Pu

b l o B i b l i o gr

h
p

have an im p o rt ant rep resentatio n in

a
T
i
r
i
n
ral
liter
ture
h
in
u
ng reader will nd
e
e
e
g
q
them entert ainingl y treated in the fo ll o wing work s
am ong others whi ch have a p l ace in p ub lic li b rari es :
Th e Pueb l o s

The D el i ght

M ak er s by Adol p h F

1 8 90

B andeli er , N ew

Yo rk
a ro m ance o f the C liff D well ers
treasu ry o f infor m ati on ab o ut
em b o d yi n g a
Pueb l o native customs by o ne of the forem o st
Am erican ethno logi sts
P u eblo Ind i a n Folk Sto r i es by Charles F L umm is

N ew York 1 9 1 0 a deli ghtful sheaf o f ab ori ginal

tal es put into E ngli sh by o ne who go t them at
rst hand ; o r i ginall y publ ish ed ( 1 8 94) under the
title The M an who Mar r i ed the M oon
The L a nd of P oco Ti empo
A N ew M exi co
,

D a vid

Some Strange Co r ner s

ou r

Cou ntr y

A Tramp acr oss the Conti nent ( 1 8 92 )

all by Charles F L umm i s

co ntai n m any chap
t ers o n the Puebl o s and their ances to rs the C l iff
D well ers
and

2 85

2 86

A P AR TIAL

The J

P UEB L O B

IB L IOGRAP H Y

f Cor onad o edited by George

o u r ney O

Park er

1 904
a transl a tion fro m

Winshi p N ew York
Sp anish docum ents of the C on quest with m an y
illum inating notes by the edi tor T hi s littl e
volum e depicts graphicall y the condi tion of the
Pueb los as seen by those who discovered th em
Zu ni Fol k Tal es by F rank H Cushi ng N ew Y o rk

I go I
a collection of E n glish transl ations by t h e
p oet-ethnol o gist who understood the Pueblo
heart as p erhap s no other white m an has ever
k nown it

M y Ad ventu r es i n Z u ni by the s am e author three

deli ghtful articles in the Centu r y M agazi ne D ec
,

1 8 82 ,

F eb

M ay

1 8 83

The So ng of the Anci ent P eopl e,

by E dna D ean Proctor

B ost o n 1 8 93 a p oem whi ch

a s a rendering o f
M o qui -Zuni thought i s a contri bution of great

and p erm anent val ue to Am erican literature

There ar e notes and p reface by J ohn F is k e the
hi stori an and a com m entary by F H C ushin g

Ind i ans of the Sou th Wes t by George A D ors ey a

-b ook issued in 1 0
D
u
i
de
by
the
P
ss
n
e
r
e
a
e
g
g
9 3
m
n
t
h
F

hi
ar
t
e
of
t
e
t
c
son
o
p
e
k
a
S
a
nta
A
T
p
R ailroad ; a com p endi um of authorit ative i n
form ation concerning the Pueb l o s am o ng others
The S na k e D a nce of the M ogu i s of Ar i zo na by C a p t
J o hn G B o urk e U S A N ew York 1 8 8 4
,

A P AR TI AL

P UE B L O B I B L I OGR AP H Y

287

contains a vivacious account of the general

features of Pueblo life a generation ago
L ol a m i i n Tu saya n by C l ara K ern B ayliss B looming

a child s story p ortra yin g life in a

to n Ill 1 903
H o p i pueb lo b efore the whi te advent
Am ong the P u ebl o Ind i a ns by C arl and Lilian W

an un p retentious
Ei ck em eyer N ew York 1 8 95
travel tale of San Ildefonso Santo D omingo and
T aos
The F l u te of the God s by M arah E ll is R yan N ew

1
York 909 an historical romance of the Sp ani sh
C o n qu es t
Ind i a n L ov e L etter s by Marah E llis R yan C hicago
1 907 an idealistic p resent ation wi th good loc al
colour of the case of a H o pi m an educated in a

G overnment school and

gone b ack to the
b lank et
The Ind i a ns of the P ai nted D es er t R egi on by G eo
Wharton J ames B oston 1 903 includes inform a
tion as to H o p i life in recent y ears with a detail ed
a ccount of the Snak e D ance
The Indi a ns B ook by N atalie C urtis N ew York 1 907
-cont ai ns a section devoted to the Pueb los wi th
th e m usi c of a num b er of their son gs
The La nd of the P u ebl o s b y Su s an E Wallace N ew

York 1 8 88 a s eri es of p l eas ant old-tim e hom e

l ett ers by the wife of the author of B en H u r
.

2 88

P UEB L O B I B L I OGRAP H Y

A P AR TI AL

Indi ans and three o ther arti cl es

by Frederick I Monsen with es p eci al reference
to the H o pis nel y illustr ated from the autho r s
photo graphs in The Cr afts man Magazi ne for
M arch Ap ril M ay and June 1 907
Ind i a ns of the Stone H ou s es by E dward S C urtis in
Scr i bner s M agazi ne F eb
1 909 with b eautiful
illustrati ons from the autho r s photo graphs
The D es tr ucti on of

ou r

'

the s cientic student o f Pueb lo life the avail able

M entio n m ay b e m ade of
m ateri al i s very extensive
th e fo l l o win g titles am on g m any :
Fo r

Fi na l R epo r t of

Inv esti gati o ns

the Ind i a ns

a m ong

the

Wes ter n Uni ted States by Adol ph F B ande

li er Pap ers of the Ar chmol o gi cal Institute o f
Am eri ca 1 8 90 1 892
The Z u ni Ind i a ns by M atilda Coxe Stevenso n
B ur eau o f Am eri can E thno l o gy 1 905
The Si a by M atilda Coxe Stevenson em b o died in th e
E l eventh Annual R ep ort o f the B ureau of E th

nol o gy Washi ngton 1 88 9 90

The Am er i can Indi an as P r od u ct of E nvi r onm ent wi th
E s peci al R efer ence to the P u ebl os by Arthur J
F ynn B o sto n 1 907
The Gi ld ed M a n by A F B andeli er N ew York 1 8 93

incl udes hi s to ri cal p ap ers o n Zuni Acom a

Santa C l ara etc
Sou th

P AR TI AL P UE B L O B I B L I OGRAP H Y

Annual

P otter y of the Anci ent P uebl os , F our th

B ureau

The Spani s h P i o neer s ,

1 8 93

Repo rt

Washi ngton
by C harles F Lummi s Chicago

E thno logy

of

2 89

Am er i ca by J ohn Fisk e B o ston 1 8 92

touches in the li ght o f m odern ethno lo gy o n
the status o f the Pue blo s with rel atio n to o ther
Indi ans and to Ol d Wo rld peo p les also
The Spani sh Co nqu es t of N ew M exi co by W W H
D avis D o yl est o wn Pa
contai ns a d e
I 8 69 tailed account fro m o ri ginal Sp ani sh so urces o f
th e co n icts b e twee n the Sp ani ar ds and th e
Pue b l o s p ri o r to 1 7 03
The Tr ad i ti o ns of the H opi by H R Vo th F i eld
C o lum b i an Museum p ub l icatio n Chicago 1 90 5
A Stud y of P ueblo Ar chi tectu r e i n Tu sayan a nd Ci bol a
by Victo r M i nd el e in Ei ghth Annual R e p o rt
B ureau of E thnolo gy W as hi ngton
Zu ni M elodi es by B enjam in Ives Gilm an in J ou r na l
of Am er i ca n E thno l o gy a nd Ar chaeol o gy
i
v ol
H opi Songs by the sam e i n sam e p ub li ca ti o n v o l v
The D i s cov er y of

ddition to these there ar e sco res of co ntr i b u

tio ns to uchi ng u po n ever y phase o f Pueblo life by
trained scientic wo rk ers such as B andel ier C u shi ng
D o rsey F ewk es H o dge H o lm e s H o ugh M cG ee
M i nd el eff Stevenso n etc to b e fo und i n the bo und
In

19

A P AR TIAL

2 90

P UE B L O B

IB L IOGRAP H

vo lum es of the R ep orts of the B ureau of Am erican

E thno lo gy t h e Am er i ca n Anthr op ol ogi s t the Sei en
tic Am er i ca n Sci ence the J ou r nal of Am er i ca n Folk
L or e and si m il ar s cientic p erio dicals
,

Ind

ex
PAG E

Abi qui ti
Aco ma
Archi tect u re

92
1 4 et s eq , 2 2 5
.

5 , 50, 7 9 ,
8 5 , 1 3 5,

A rts
B

1 01 , 1 32

2 2 0, 2 3 1

aca b i

1 94

ketry
B e nt G o vernor m ur d er o f
B l ack M esa s i ege o f
B ou quet Se ri o r a
B as

1 85
1 04

90
88

C h m ita
92
C ha ract er o f Puebl os : I n d ustry 5 1 64 6 7 1 7 2 ; g ood h u m our
me 58 ; love o f c hild ren 62 9 6 1 2 3
39 4 o 5 1 9 1 ; love of hom
1 4 6 2 49 ; re tic enc e 6 8 ; j o y o f li f e 7 3
1 8 3 ; p ea cea b l n ess
1 03
1 7 0 ; g e nt l en ess 2 3 o ; h o s pit alit y 8 6 9 1
1 61
1 85 1 97 ;
con se r vatism 1 02 1 84 ; naturall y ar tis tic 2 3 1 ; d is like o f
cam era 1 2 7 6 1 2 0 1 56
C i b ol see Z uni
C ivili sa tion native
C liff D we ll e rs Pueblo s relationshi p to
C ochiti
C o Ok er y P ueb lo
a

a,

nces
D eli gh t make rs
D r es s
Da

71

duca tion native

E nchante d M esa
Es p anola
,

291

I N D EX

2 92

F ield m tron
F i ta S n E t ban
a

PAGE

1 9 8 , 2 62

Santo Domin go 7 8 ; at Tes u

nii m o 1 05 et seq Also vi d e Shalako Snake
que 8 6 ; San Ger on
Dance
Gove rn m ent native
Govern m ent s ( U S ) att
i tu d
ttitu
de tto ward s Pueb los
H opi s
es

s:

s e

2 5 et seq

at

H o tav ila

I ntem perance
I l ta
s e

J e me z
La guna

M esa E ncantada
M esa H uerf a na
M exican e ncroachment
M i s hon gno vi
M o enkopi
M oqui

N am e

pey o
Orai b i
Pen
as co
Penitentes
N am

P la ns

I ndi

Po juaqu e

ans ,

h o w Pueblo case di ers f rom that o f

olitical s tatus of Pu eb los

P o pe
P op ul a tion by p ueb los
Potter y
P ray er p l u mes
P

Puy

I N D EX

li gion na tive
R ito d e l o s F ri j ol es

Re

Sa nctu ar i o

F l ip
n I l d f ons o

San
Sa

San J

uan

Santa Ana
Santa C la ra
Santo Domin g o
Sc hola rs return ed
Sc h ool U S G ov rn m nt
S halako ce remoni es
,

Shi m po v i
Si a

S ichom ovi
S i erra San gre d e C ri s to
S nake d ance H opi
Sp ani sh gu a rd ian shi p
,

Taos

Teach e rs
Tes u que
T e wa

G ov e rnm ent

Ti gu ex

ruchas Las
T u be r culos i s

W itchcraf t b eli ef in
W omen s tatus o f
,

Z uni ,

di scovery of

2 93