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'•r'v.f ^'i'V-fc^*^ ^«.«*»rf*-^Vi.-j^*r«L^v\Vi'.* .••■^
•"i^%irX%«V»-tftVA* >. ^ 'afc««^^->v.*iJ«.*.
A journal of American
ethnology and archaeology
Jesse Walter Fewkes, Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition, Hemenway ,.,i
^e-L^J^LO.lOO
tidL.l^.CS^fc
l^arbarli CoUese i.ibrars
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.ajt«^...m';^,.- ^.w«i/.,m^
1
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CORONADO'S EXPEDITION.
The map given in Rage's Das Zeitalter der ErUdeckungeriy p. 417. With slight oorrectioDS,
this is as accurate as our present information permits. Melchoir Diaz penetrated farther north;
and crossed the Colorado. Tignex should be placed west of the Rio Grande, between Acoma
and Quirex. The Rio *' Sangra '' is probably a mistake for *' Sonora.''
From Narrative and Critical History of America, By permission of Houghton, Mffflin ^ Co.
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. '^---^
A JOURNAL
OF
AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
EDITOR
J. WALTER FEWKES
VOL. in.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
C()e Biber0tlie Ij^xtaa, Cambriliffe
1892
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gT -r' ^ 1 '■
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JAN 26 1893i-iSf9'/,(acJ(rJ^
Ttvx_ ^Clti t.<Vt.
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PREFACE.
In calling the monograph which the following pages present " An
OutCne of the Documentary History of the Zuni Tribe/' I base this
title upon the following considerations : —
The material is exclusively derived from Spanish documents, written
and printed, which relate to the Zuni Indians. But this material is in-
complete. The Archives of New Mexico have been thoroughly searched
for the purpose, and I may say that use has been made of everything
of any importance which they contain. The Archives of Mexico have
also jdelded much material, but the time allotted for study at Mexico
was too short for exhaustive investigation. Hence, only a part of what
may exist on the subject, in the Archives of the Mexican Republic, is
here represented. Lastly, I was unable to consult the most important
source of information, namely, the documentary material contained in
the Archives of the Indies, at Sevilla, in Spain. Under these circum-
stances, the work has remained necessarily incomplete, and it cannot
pretend to be more than an outline sketch.
There are two methods of presenting a documentary history. One
is to give the texts of the documents, in their chronological sequence,
with such annotations as may be important or interesting. The other
is the plan which I have followed, to take the documents as a basis for
a historical picture. My preference for the latter method originated
in the conviction that it might prove more readable, while at the same
time sufficiently accurate as far as conformity with the sources was con-
cerned.
A documentary history always presents but one side of every ques-
tion of which it treats. This is especially true here, where the docu-
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IV PREFACE.
ments are limited to but one group of the actors. The Indian version,
which is as well entitled to a hearing as the Spanish, is but incidentally
represented in the writings of the latter. I cannot, therefore, present
the monograph as an impartial history, but merely as a contribution to
future researches on the subject.
AD. F. BANDELIER.
Saitta Ytj New Mexico, AprU 16, 1891.
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CONTENTS.
^^»
I. An Outlinb of the Documentaby Histoby of the Zu£^ Tbibb.
Chapter I. First Discovery of Zaiii by the Spaniards, A. d. 1538-1539 . 1
Chapter II. The Tribe of Zaiii. — Its History from 1539 to 1600, ac-
cording to Early Spanish Documents .... 21
Chapter m. Zaiii in the Seventeenth Centary 87
II. SOMATOLOGICAL ObSEBVATIONS ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST . . 117
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G
AN OUTLINE OF THE DOCUMENTARY fflSTORY OF THE
ZUNI TRIBE
By a. F. BANDELIEB
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AN OUTLINE OF THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
OF THE ZUNI TRIBE.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST DISCOVERY OF ZUNI BY THB SPANIARDS^ A. D. 1638-1639.
Whether or not the ^' seven towns," of which Nuno de Guzman
heard in Mexico about the year 1529,^ were those now known as the
seven pueblos of Cibola or Zuni, it has been hitherto quite impossible
to determine. It should be remembered that the public mind in Spain
and Italy was just as well prepared to believe in seven legendary cities
as in the tales about the fabulous Amazons. The story that the Bishop
of Oporto and seven other prelates fled to the island of ^^ Antilia " in
the ninth century of our era, and founded there seven cities, was
known to cosmographers ere news of Columbus' landing on Watling's
Island had reached them.^
Whatever part this legend may have played in the expectations
which the Spaniards at Mexico nursed in regard to northern countries,
it is certain that, as early as the middle of the year 1538, news of the
New Mexican pueblos reached New Spain. Fray Pedro Nadal and
Fray Juan de la Asuncion (or de Olmeda) penetrated into southern
Arizona,^ and on nearly the whole journey heard of a country settled
^ Castafleda, ReLation du Voyage de contained in a MS. quoted bj Joannes a
Cibola (p. 1, chap. i.). Bosco, Bibliot Florice (p. 602).
* Jan Rujsch, Universalior Cogniti • The names of the two friars are g^ven
Orbis TalnUaf 1608. The first notice ap- by Juan Domingo Arriciyita, CrSnica se-
pears on Martin Behaim's celebrated rdfica y apostdlica del Colegio de Propor
planiglobe ; but previous even to it it was ganda fide de la Santa Oruz de QuerS-
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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
by people who wore clothing, and who had houses with terraced roofs
of earth, not only one story high^ but of many stories. They also
heard of a great river with large settlements along its banks, of an
abundance of turquoises, and of cows ^^ larger than those of Spain/' ^
Upon the return of these monks. Fray Marcos of Nizza set out. He
left the City of Mexico in September, 1538,^ and Culiacan in Sinaloa
on the 7th of March (old style), 1539.^ In the early part of April he
taroy 1792 (Frdlogo) : '< El ailo de qoini- printed first in 1870 (lib. iv. cap. xi. p.
^ntos treinta y ocho por Enero sali^ron de
Mexico, por drden del Seftor Yirrey, los
Padres Fr. Juan de la Asuncion, y Fr.
Pedro Nadal; y caminando al Norueste
como seiscientas leguas, Uegaron i, un Rio
muy caudaloso que no pudidron pasar ; y
el Padre Nadal, que era muy inteligente
en las matem^ticas, observd la altura del
Polo en treinta y cinco grados." Mota-Pa-
dilla, Historia de la Nueva Oalicia (cap.
xxii. p. Ill), calls one of the friars Juan
de Olmeda. The earliest mention is by
Fray Toribio de Paredes, sumamed '^ Mo-
tolinia " : Historia de los Indios de Nueva^
EspafUi (coll. Ycazbalceta, toI. i. trat
iii. cap. y. pp. 171, 172) ; but he gives no
names. The year is positively given as
1538, while he wrote '^en el principio
del afio de 1540." The MS. of Lt-CoL
. Josd Cortds, Memorias sobre las Frovin-
eias del Norte de Nueva Espaflay 1799
(fol. 87), mentions Fray Juan de la Asun-
cion. The most detailed report on this
(yet obscure) event is found in the MSS.
of Mateo Mange : Luz de Tierra incdg^ni-
ta, 1720 (cap. viii. p. 166, etc.). There
is also a brief notice of it by Fray Fran-
cisco Garc^ in his Diario y derroteroy
1775-76 (p. 364).
^ Motolinia, Hist, de los Indios, etc. (p.
172), copied by Mendieta, Historia ec-
olesidstica Indiana^ written in 1596, but
399), and of course by Fray Juan de
Torquemada, Los veinte i un Libros rU-
uales i monarchia Indiana^ 2d edition,
1723 (Hb. xix. cap. xxii. pp. 357, 358).
The text of Fray Toribio Motolinia says :
^^De esta manera anduvo mas de tres-
cientas leguas, y casi en todo el camino
tuvo noticia de una tierra muy poblada
de gente vestida, y que tienen casas de
terrado, y de muchos sobrados." Men-
dieta, whom I have translated in the text,
varies somewhat. He makes, for instance,
the ^cows" larger than those of Spain,
whereas Motolinia says: ^^menores que
las de Espafia." There are other dis-
crepancies besides, which almost lead to
the inference that the friars may have
heard of the Ko Grande.
' Fray Jerdnimo Ximenez, Carta al muy
Reverendo Fadre Fray Tomds de Villa-
nueva, 9 Oct., 1539 ("Nueva Goleccion
de Documentos," Ycazbalceta, p. 194) :
" Este pasado mes de Setiembre hizo un
aflo que partid un fraile de S. Francisco,
francds de nacidn, desta cindad de Mexico
en busca de una tierra de que los gobema-
doros destas partes han tenido noticia, y
no la han podido descubrir." This con-
firms the reports about the anterior voy-
ages of Fray Nadal.
' Fray Marcos de Nizza, Relation (trans-
lation by Temaux-Gompans, Appendix to
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FIRST DISCOVERT BY THE SPANIARDS. O
received the first tidings of Cibola through a message sent him by the
negro Estevan, who was then among the Opata Indians of the Sonora
valley.^
The information conveyed by this message, and subsequently veri*
fied by the priest himself , establishes, first of all, that there existed, in
1539, and prior to it, quite an intercourse between Zuni and the
land-tilling aborigines south of the Gila River. That intercourse took
the form of journeys made by the Opatas,^ the Southern and Northern
Pimas,' and possibly the Eudeves and Jovas, to Cibola-Zuni, for the
Relation du Voyage de Cibola^ p. 256) :
'^ je snifl parti de la ville de San Miguel,
de la province de Cnliacan, le Tendredi,
Bepti^me jour da mois de mars de Tann^
1539." The same date is in Herrera, His-
torta gSniral de los Hechos de los Castel-
lanosy etc., ed. of 1726 (dec. vi. lib. vii.
cap. vii. p. 156) : ^' ^ siete de Marge de
este afio.*'
1 Relation (pp. 260, 261) : « Le n^e
Est^yan partit avec ces ordres le dimanche
de la Passion apr^s-diner ; je restai dans
cette viUe qui, comme je I'ai dit, se nomme
Yacapa. Qaatre jours apr^s, des envoj^
d'Est^van aniv^rent avec une croix de la
grandeur d'un homme ; ils me dirent de
sa part de partir k Tinstant sur ses traces,
qu'il ayait trouv^ des gens qui lui parlaient
d'un pays le plus grand du monde, et qu'il
avait avec lui des Indiens qui j avaient
6t6 ; il m'en envojait un. • . . Tlndien me
dit qu'il 7 avait trente jours de marche
depuis I'endroit oh ^tait Est^van jusqu'k
la premise yille du pays que Ton nomme
Cibola." Herrera, Historia (dec. vi. p.
156) : ^^ y al cabo de cuatro dias bolvi^ron
mensageros de Estevanico, avisando al P.
Fr. Marcos, que luego le siguiese, porque
havia hallado relacion de una gran Tierra,
que llaman Cibola," — I have elsewhere
proven that Yacapa was near or on the
site of the old mission of *' Matape," south
of the Sonora River in central Sonora.
The distance from it to the Sonora River
is about fifty to sixty miles, according to
the point where the latter is reached.
Compare, on Yacapa, in the Magazine of
Western History^ September, 1886, my
essay on ^'The Discovery of New-Mex-
ico by Fray Marcos of Niza " (p. 662).
That the Opatas inhabited the Sonora
Yailey needs no further proof.
* Relation (p. 265).
* Idem, p. 262 : <^ Le m^me jour, trois
Indiens de la race que Ton appelle Pinta-
dos (points) vinrent me voir. Us avaient
le visage, la poitrine et les bras points, ils
habitent dans la direction de I'Est Un
certain nombre r^ident dans la direction
des sept villes." These were the lower
Pimas or ^^ N^bomes " ; their northern
relatives live on the Gila. Besides he
speaks, farther on, after having crossed
the first desert, of a tribe of village In-
dians ''ces naturels connaissaient anssi
bien Cibola, qu'k la Nouvelle Espagne on
connait M^ico, et Cuzco au P^rou " (p.
268). These were the " Sobaypuris " in
the valley of the Rio San Pedro (Ari-
zona), a branch of the northern Pimas.
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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU:StI TRIBE.
purpose of acquirmg turquoises and buffalo hides/ in exchange for
which they gave parrots' feathers/ and probably sea-shells/ or which
they earned by working for the Indians of Zuni.^ No mention is made
of the people of Cibola visiting those of the souths which is quite
natural, since buffalo hides and turquoises were more important to
the latter than plumes and shells were to the former. The information
which Fray Marcos gathered among the Opatas proved to be quite
trustworthy ; it embraced the Moquis, or Totonteac/ and Acoma or
Hacus.^ Still it bears a stamp which plainly shows that the intei^
course, while it took place, was neither steady nor regular. We must
always bear in mind that Fray Marcos traveled only, nowhere making
* Sea-fihellfl among the Paeblos comey
aod came, mosUj from the Gulf of Calif or-
Compare my Discovery of New Meodeo
by Fray Marcos, etc. (p. 664), also my
publication on << Cibola " (N York Stoats-
zeitung).
» Relation (pp. 263-266, 271, 272, etc.).
Herrera (dec. vi. pp. 156, 157).
^ This is indicated by Alvar Noftez Ca-
beza de Vaca, Naujragios, y Reladon de
la Jornada que hizo h la Florida (Vedia,
voL L p. 543) : " Ddbannos tambien mu-
chas cuentas y de unos corales qae hay en
la mar del Sur, machas turqaesas muy bu-
enas que tienen de h^cia el norte, . . .
les pregont^ que ddnde las habfan habido,
y dijeron que las traian de anas sierras
may altas que estdn hicia el norte, y las
compraban i, traeco de penachos y plumas
de papagayos, y declan qae habla alU
paeblos de macha gente y casas may
grandes." The Indians whom Cabeza de
Vaca met in the Sierra Madre were the
^^Jovas," a branch and dialect of the
Opatas, as I have shown in the July num-
ber of the Magazine of Western History y
1886, <' Alvar Nufiez Cabeza de Vaca, the
first overland traveler of European de-
scent," etc. (pp. 331, 335, 336). Com-
pare, also, the German text of Cibola.
nia. To-day, if asked whence they have
the large iridescent bivalves worn as orna-
ments and used for sacred purposes, the
Rio Grande Pueblos invariably reply:
'< Puerto de Guaymas." UntU 1859 the
Pueblos made annual trading expeditions
into Sonora, exchanging blankets, buffalo
robes, turquoises, etc., for shells, coral,
and parrots' feathers.
* Relation (p. 264) : " Je leur deman-
dai centre quoi ils ^hangeaient ces mar-
chandises ; ils me r^pondirent que c'^tait
avec leur sueur et le travail de leurs mains ;
qu'ils allaient k la premiere ville nomm^e
Cibola, et qu'on les y occupait k creuser la
terre et k d*autres travages ; que les habi-
tants leur donnaient des cuirs de vaches et
des turquoises en paiement." This may
have been a misunderstanding; it may
have applied to other work, such as the
manner of extracting the turquoises from
the rock, for instance. The means of un-
derstanding were imperfect.
* Idem (p. 263). Herrera (p. 157,
dec. vi.) has " Tonteac."
* Idem.
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 5
any protracted stay, and that consequently he could not gather much
detail. His means of conversation, furthermore, were limited ; ^ hence
grave misunderstandings could not be avoided. One of the most curi-
ous instances of the kind occurs in the description given by the priest ,
of a certain animal whose hide was given to him by the natives, as
f oUows : ^^ In this valley they brought to me a hide one and one half
times larger than the skin of a cow ; they told me it belonged to an
animal that had but one horn on his forehead ; this horn bends down
to the breast and then rises in a straight point, which gives so much
strength to the animal that there is no object, no matter how hard
it may be, which it cannot break.'* The Opatas had never seen the
buffalo.^
Fray Marcos is very careful to state whenever he gathers informa-
tion from hearsay, and to distinguish it from what he has seen himself.
Thus the statements about a large and extensive trade with Cibola are
given by him as reports of the Opata Indians ^ and, later on, of the
Sobaypuris, who then (and as late as 1763 or 1767^) inhabited the
valley of the Rio San Pedro from Contention to near the Arivaypa.
Among the Sobaypuris he met the first Zuni Indian, an old man ' who
must have left his home a long time previous, as a fugitive. He was
^ He took with him, from Mexico, six (p. 335). These interpreters were there-
Indians from northern Sinaloa, as inter- fore of little use to him among the Opatas.
preters. These Indians had been educated Even if they were Pimas, the conversa-
there for that porpose. Herrera (dec. vL tion always remained a broken and diffi-
lib. yiL cap. viL p. 155) : '^ seis Indies de colt one.
aqnella Tierra, qne eran Esdavos, i did * Relation (p. 271). Herrera mentions
el vissorrei al P. Fr. Marcos para su com- it also (dec yL p. 158). It may also
pafiia, qae los havia tenido en Mexico, para haye been several hides of mountain-sheep
que se hiciesen ladinos, i tomasen amor ^ stitched together,
las cosas de los Chrislianos. . . ." The • Relation (pp. 263, 265, etc.).
languages spoken in that comer of Peta- ^ Rudo EnsayOj tentativa de una pre-
tlan, with the exception of ^^ Bamoa," which vencionaZ Descripeum Oeogrdphica de la
was <' Pima," and a settlement made upon Sonora (1761-2, published by Buckingham
the return of Gabeza de Vaca with Pima Smith, pp. 102, 103, 105) has 1763. Arri-
Indians, were dialects of the ^^Yaqui." civita, Crt^ica ^eref/^ca (p. 410), says 1769.
Orozo y Berra, Oeografia de las Lanffuas * Relation (pp. 269, 270).
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6 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZTJltl TRIBE.
the first person to mentioii ^* Abacus/' or " Ha-ui-cu," as the largest
village of Cibola.^ From him the friar gathered information about
Marata^ or Matyata^ the pueblos southeast of Zuni. This information
conveys interesting historical data, and refers to events which trans-
pired some time previous to 1539. It deserves to be transcribed in
fuU: —
^^He told me that towards the southeast there exists a kingdom
which is called Marata, where there are very considerable settlements,
that all have houses of stone several stories high, that they have been
at war, and are still warring against the sovereign of the ^ Seven
Towns/ According to him these hostilities have greatly diminished
the power of the kingdom of Marata ; nevertheless, it is powerful yet
and continues to hold its own." ^
Neither Melchior Diaz nor Francisco Vasquez de Coronado men-
tions these settlements, although the former heard of Cibola, and
the latter visited it within about a year after Fray Marcos' return.
It is quite certain that they had already been abandoned at the time
the friar heard of them as a ^^ kingdom," still at war with Zuni ; yet
his informants could have had no interest in inventing such a state-
ment. The ruins southeast of Zuni show excellent preservation, and
tl^e inference is that the old man in the San Pedro valley spoke of
events which happened during the earlier days of his life. If such is
the case, then it places the abandonment of the villages mentioned
at the close of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century,
— between 1480 and 1539, — and the cause of their ruin would appear
to be, not the hostility of the Apaches, but intertribal strife and the
final absorption of the people by the more powerful cluster in the Zuni
basin.^
^ Relation (p. 271). Herrera (dec. tL taba xnui disminuido, por la gaerra qne
p. 157). tenia con el Seflor de las Ciudades. . • ."
• Relation (p. 270). Herrera (dec vL • This story is another evidence of the
p. 168) : << i que ^ la parte del Oeste e»- infreqnency and irregolariiy of inter-
taba el Reino de Marata^ adonde solia course. In Sonora Fray Marcos also
haver grandes Poblacionesy con casas de heard of Marata as a still existing tribe
piedra, i cal, como en Cibola, el qual es- or '* kingdom/' as the terminology of the
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 7
North of the Sobaypuri villages, that is beyond the Arivaypa, began
the " great desert," or rather uninhabited country, which it required
fifteen days' march to cross, and at the end of which lay Cibola.*
This desert is the mountainous country now inhabited by the White
Mountain and San Carlos Apaches ; still Fray Marcos makes no men-
tion of any Indians dwelling there or roaming through it. A year
later the Apaches are described by Castaneda.^ It is certain that they
never interfered with any of the Spanish explorers and armed bodies
between 1539 and 1542 ; it appears, also, that they were not trouble-
some to the sedentary Indians of Sonora and Zuni at that time, else
Fray Marcos and his immediate successors could not have failed to
notice it. It is possible, also, that the appearance of the strange peo-
ple kept them temporarily at bay, causing a lull in the otherwise cus-
tomary hostilities.
Fray Marcos entered the " despoblado " May iJ ; ' and, after travel-
ing twelve days, met an Indian who had escaped death at the hands of
the Zuni people, and who brought him news of Estevan*s fate. The
neg^o must, therefore, have been killed about the 30th of May, 1539.^
There are a number of versions of the cause and manner of his
death, more or less contemporaneous with the event. I shall give them
in the original text, so as to enable comparison, selecting for that pur-
pose the principal ones only.^
period haa it (p. 263). News trayeled p. 168) : <^ se partid, i entrd en el despo-
very slowly. blado i, nueve de Maio," nineteenth of
^ Relation (p. 272). Herrera (dec. vi. May, new style,
p. 168) : " poTsqae desde el principio del * See above. Twelve days after the
Despoblado, hasta largos quince dias de 19th May bring ns to the 31st of May.
camino. . . ." Consequently they met the Indian on the
^ Voyage de Cibola (p. ii. chap. iii. Ist of June. The man was fleeing ; and
p. 162) : ** qui ferment la nation la plus even if it took three days' march yet to
barbare que Ton ait encore trouv^ dans Zufii, an Indian, when he dreads pursuit,
ces parages. Ces Indiens habitent dans goes quicker. The death of the negro,
des cabanes isol^s, et ne vivent que de therefore, took place probably on the 30th
chasse." of May, early in the morning.
* Relation (p. 273) : << J'entrai dans le ^ I give them as literally as possible,
d^rt le neuf de mai." Herrera (dec vL
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8 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUm TRIBE.
1. The two versions given by Fray Marcos^ in 1539.
2. The confirmation of the above by Melchior Diaz^ in 1540.
3. The version of Pedro de Castaiieda.
4. The one of Juan Jaramillo.
Versions 3 and 4 were written much later than 1539, but the data
were obtained on the spot one year after the occurrence.
5. The version of Hernando Alarcon, in 1541.
6. The version of Antonio de Herrera, about 1600, gathered from
anterior sources.
(l.) DEATH OF E8TEVAN AS REPORTED TO FRAT MARCOS OF NIZZA,
ON THE FIRST DAY OF JUNE, 1539, BY A FUGITIVE SOBAYPURI IN-
DIAN.^
" One day previous to reaching Cibola, Estevan sent his gourd with
some messengers, as it was his custom, in order to give notice of his
arrival. To this gourd were attached a string (rosary) of rattles (bells)
and two plumes, one white and the other red. When the messengers
arrived before the chief, who represents the sovereign in that town,
they gave him the gourd. The man took it, and, seeing the bells,
gfrew furious, threw the gourd down, telling the messengers to leave,
and saying that he knew the strangers, and that they must not come
into the town, otherwise he would kill them all. The messengers re-
traced their steps and reported to Estevan how they had been received.
The latter replied that it was nothing, that those who showed the
^ As to the date, see above. That he Finally (p. 281) : '^ Je repassid le d^ert
was a Sobaypori is proTen by the follow- avec eux ; mais on ne m'y fit pas un si bon
ing words in Relation (p. 274) : " Quand accueil qae la premiere f ois parceque les
je fas arriv^ dans cet endroit, je f us rejoint hommes et les f emmes ^taient tons en
par an Indien, fils d'un des chefs qui m'ac- pleurs h, cause de leurs parents que Ton
compagnaient, et qui avait suivi Estevan avait tu^ k Cibola. J'en fus ^pouvant^,
le n^gre." Among the Sobaypuris (p. et je quittai aussitdt les habitants de cette
273) : ^' lis me dirent qu'Est^yan, le valine." This shows that the Indians
n^gre, ^tait parti de chez eaz suivi de plus with Estevan were Sobaypuris, and from
de trois-cents hommes qui loi servaient the Rio San Pedro.
d*escorte ou qui portuent des vivres."
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS, 9
greatest displeasure at his coming always received him the best after-
wards. He therefore continued his journey to Cibola. As he was
about to enter the town he was stopped by some Indians^ who con-
ducted him to a large house outside of the town, and took away from
him all he carried, the objects for exchange, the turquoises, and many
other presents which he had received during his trip. He and his
companions passed the night in this house without anything to eat or
drink. Next morning, this Indian, feeling thirsty, went out to get a
drink at a river which flowed near by. Soon after he saw Estevan
running away, pursued by the inhabitants of the town, who were kill-
ing the natives of his escort. As soon as the Indian perceived this,
he followed the course of the river and hid himself ; then he took the
road to the desert." *
(ll.) DEATH OF ESTEVAN, AS REPORTED TO FRAY MARCOS BT TWO
SOBAYPURI INDIANS, ABOUT THE 3d OF JUNE, 1539.
^^ Finally they told me that Estevan, having arrived within a day's
march of Cibola, had sent to that town messengers carrying his gourd,
to make known to the chief that he was coming to treat for peace and
to cure the sick. As soon as the messengers gave the gourd to the
chief and he saw the rattles (bells), he became angry, threw the gourd
on the ground, and said : ^ I recognize these people by the rattles
(bells), they are not friends of ours ; tell them to turn back at once,
otherwise not one of them shall live. He continued to appear very
angry. The messengers went away much troubled ; they were afraid
to tell Estevan what had occurred, yet finally decided to do so. He
told them not to be afraid, that he intended to go into the town, and
although they had been treated in an unfriendly manner, he should
be well received. So he continued to advance, and reached Cibola
at sunset, accompanied by his entire retinue, which amounted to about
three hundred men, not counting the women. He was not allowed
to enter the town, however ; the Indians showed him, for lodgings, a
^ Relation (pp. 274, 275). To avoid the Descubrimiento de la Siete Cibdades
prolixity I do not give the original text of here. It is found in Documentos InSdUos,
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10 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
large house and good quarters outside of it. They at once took every-
thing that Estevan had^ and carried it away from him, saying that it was
according to the orders of their chief ; they gave neither food nor drink
to our Indians during the whole night. Next morning, at the first
rays of the sun, Estevan went out of the house, followed by some of
the chiefs who had accompanied him ; at once a number of the inhab-
itants of the town presented themselves ; as soon as he saw them he
took to flight, with the allied Indians. They sent us a shower of
arrows, and uttered loud cries ; we fell ; they pursued ; and we re-
mained prostrate until evening without moving. We heard great
shouts in the town, and saw on the terraces a considerable number of
men and women looking on. We did not see Estevan again ; we believe
he was killed with arrows, together with those who accompanied him ;
we alone escaped." ^
(hi.) from the letter of MELOHIOR DIAZ TO THE VIGEROT,
DON A2!^TONIO DE MENDOZA, RECEIVED BT THE LATTER ON MARCH
30, 154:0.
" Estevan, the negro, came to his death in the manner reported by
Father Marcos to your lordship ; for this reason I do not speak of it
here. I will only say that the inhabitants of Cibola have sent word
to those of this village and of the surrounding country, warning them
not to receive the Christians if any of them should come, but to kill
them, and declaring that they know them to be mortal, for they have
the bones of the one who visited them ; if they do not dare to kill
them, they request them to send word, that they may come and do it." *
Melchior Diaz gathered these reports in Northern Sonora, cold prevent-
ing him from proceeding farther north.*
^ Relation (pp. 276-278). liacan, Melchior Diaz commen9a k entrer
* Don Antonio de Mendoza. D<m- dans un pays froid, et il gela tr^fort
zihne lettre a VEmpereur Charles V., 17 Plus il avan^ait plus le froid ^tait grand.
April, 1540. (Appendix to Voyage de ... En consequence, il se d^termina k
Cibola, pp. 296, 297.) ne pas s'avancer davanti^, jnsqu'k ee que
• Idem (p. 292) : " A cent lieues de Cu- Thiver fut pass^. . . ."
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 11
(iV.) FROM THB ^* BBLATION OF THE JOURNEY OF OIBOLA UNDER-
TAKEN IN 1540," BY PEDRO DB GASTANEDA.
^^Estevan arrived at Cibola with a great number of turquoises, and
several handsome women, who had been presented to him on the road.
He had with him quite a number of Indians who had been given to
him as guides in the places that he passed through, and who believed
that under his protection they might traverse the whole world without
fear. But as the Indians of Cibola are more shrewd than those whom
Estevan brought with him, they shut him up in a house outside of their
village. There he was interrogated by the old men and the Cacique
on the cause that had brought him to their country. After having
questioned him for three days, they came together to deliberate upon
his fate. The negro having told the Indians that he was the forerun-
ner of two white men, sent by a mighty prince, who were very learned
in matters of heaven, which they came to teach, these people thought
he might be the g^de or spy of some nation who intended to subju-
gate them. It appeared, above all, incredible to them that he, who
was black, should come from the country of white men. Estevan had
demanded their wealth and their women, and this seemed hard to con-
sent to. They therefore decided upon killing him, which they did,
without doing the least harm to those who accompanied him. They
kept a few boys, and sent back aU the others, who numbered about
sixty." ^
* Relation du Voyage de Cibola entre- and deliberate lying, as I have shown in
pris en 1540 (i. chap. iii. pp. 12, 13). Discovery of New Meodoo by Fray Mar*
Oastafieda is very bitter against Fray cos, etc. (pp. 667-669).
Marcos, and does not even stop at slander
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12
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
(v.) FROM THE "RELATION OP THE JOURNEY MADE TO THE NEW
• COUNTRY UNDER THE ORDERS OP GENERAL FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ
DE CORONADO," BY CAPTAIN JUAN JARAMILLO.^
" It is in this place that Estevanillo was killed^ the negro who had
come from Florida with Dorantes, and who had returned to this coun-
try with Fray Marcos of Nizza." *
(VI.) HERNANDO ALARCON, "RELATION OP THE NAVIGATION AND OP
THE DISCOVERY," 1540 AND 1541.^
Alarcon anchored off the mouth of the g^eat Colorado River of the
West, with his two vessels, on the 25th of August (old style), 1540.
On the following days he ascended the Rio Colorado in two boats, with
twenty-two men.* He ascended it for eighty-five leagues (two hundred
and thirty miles) twice,^ and had frequent communications with the
Indians on its banks. He made on an average five and a half leagues
(fifteen miles) per day.® When about half way up the river, in the
^ (In Appendix to Castafieda'B Cibola^
yi.) '^ Relation du voyage fait h, la Nou-
yelle Terre sous les ordres du g^^ral
Francisco Vasquez de Goronado, com-
mandant de Texp^tion" (pp. 364-382).
The Spanish original is printed in Docw-
mentos IrUditos, under the title of ^' Bela-
cion hecha por el capitan Juan Jaramillo
de la Jornada que habia hecho i, la Tierra
nneva en Nueva Espafia y al descubrimi-
ento de Cibola.'" Herrera's account of
Goronado's expedition is largely taken
from Jaramillo.
* Relation du Voyage (p. 369). Her-
rera, Hist g6n6ral (dec. vi. li}>. ix. cap.
xi. p. 205) : " En pocos dias de camino
llegaron i, la primera poblacion de Cibola,
adonde mataron i, Estevanico de Orautes/'
» (Castafieda, Appendix IV.) " Rela-
tion de la navigation et de la d^ouverte
faite par le Capitaine Alarcon " (pp. 298-
348). The Spanish original is also in
Documentos InSditos. Herrera (dec. vi.
lib. xi. cap. xiii.-xy.) copies it almost lit-
erally.
^ Alarcon, Relation (i. p. 302). Her-
rera (dec. vi. p. 209) : '* por loqual el
capitan, con el veedor Rodrigo Maldonado,
i el contador Gaspar de Castillejo, en un
batil, bien armado, subid por el rio este
dia, que eran veinte i seis de Agosto."
The original says two boats.
* Relation (p. 347). Herrera (dec. vi.
p. 213) : ''' que havia subido por aquel
rio 85, Leguas."
• Relation (vii. p. 339). Herrera (ut
supra) : ^^ Determinado de tornar i, la
Mar, anduvo en dos dias, lo que agua ar-
riba navegd en quince." Original says fif-
teen and one half.
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 13
vicinity of the Cocopa villages/ he heard of " Cevola." The Cocopa
Indians told him that Cevola was thirty days' journey from their
country, but that it could be easily reached by a trail which followed
the river, in which case forty days would be needed.^ One or two
days farther on he questioned one of the same Indians again. '^ He
told me that the chief of that country had a dog similar to the one I
had with me. Having expressed a desire to eat, this man, seeing the
plat^ brought in, said that the chief of Cevola had similar ones, but
that they were green, and that the chief was the only one who owned
such plates. He had four of them, which had been given to him,
together with the dog, by a man who was black and bearded. He did
not know when this black man had come, but he had been told that
the chief of Cevola caused him to be killed.^ His informant was an
old Cocopa Indian who accompanied him, and who had been to Zuni
in person." ^ On another occasion, when Alarcon asked him about
Cevola again, and whether the inhabitants of that country had ever
seen people like us, he replied, " No, except a negro who wore on his
feet and arms something that gave a ringing sound." " Your lordship
will remember that the negro who accompanied friar Marcos had rat-
tles (bells), and feathers on his arms and legs, that he had plates of
different colors, and that he came to this country a little over a year
ago. I wished to know why he had been killed. He said, " The chief
of Cevola having asked him whether he had other brethren, the negro
replied that he had an infinite number, that they carried many weapons,
and were not very far off. Upon this statement a great many chiefs
gathered in council, and agreed upon killing the negro, so that he
^ The Cocopa villages are scattered be- an Indian and a Cocopa. This man is so
tween 48 and 132 miles above the mouth often mentioned that I need but refer to
of the Colorado. Alarcon 's report in general, without fu]>
^ Relation (v. p. 324). Herrera (vi. ther details. Also to Herrera. In regard
p. 211) : " que estaria de allf camino de to his journey to Zuiii, see Relation (p.
un mes." 324) : " J'appris de lui qu'il avait 4t6 k
• Relation (v. p. 326). Herrera Cevola . . . qu'en faisant ce voyage, il
(Idem), n'avait eu d'autre but que de voir Cevola,
^ Alarcon. had an interpreter with him, parce que c'^tait un pays extraordinaire."
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14 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUHtl TRIBE.
might not impart any information to his brethren in regard to the
country of Cevola. Such was the cause of his death. His body was
cut into a great many pieces, which were distributed among all the
chiefs, in order that they might know that he was surely dead. He
added that the negro had a dog like mine, and that the chief of Cevola
caused the animal to be killed some time afterwards.'' ^ Among the
Yumas ^ Alarcon heard positive reports of the arrival of Coronado at
Zuiii, and of the engagement which the Spaniards had with its people.
Two of the Yumas had just returned, or were expected to return, from
a trip to Cibola. They had been met by one of their friends, and
had told him that their original intention was to go farther, but that
they had found in that country a people as brave as we are, and of
like appearance, who had made war on the inhabitants of Cevola be-
cause the latter killed one of their friends who was black; that they
had asked the natives of Cevola : " Why did you kill him? what has he
done to you? has he taken your food? has he done you any harm?"
and similar questions. The Indians added that these strangers
called themselves Christians, that they dwelt in a large house, and had
cows like those of the inhabitants of Cibola, and little black animals
covered with wool, having horns ; that they had others on which they
rode, etc., etc." *
(VII.) ANTONIO DK HERRERA, "GENERAL HISTORY OP THE DEEDS
OF THE OASTILIANS," ETC., WRITTEN ABOUT 1598.*
This great and cautious compiler has followed closely the version of
Fray Marcos in the case of Estevan ; he gives a Kteral copy of the text
^ Relation (yi. pp. 331, 332). animales grandee,! otros peqaefios negros,
^ The Yamas lived, and live, along the i armas de fuego, como las que le mostnir
river, above the Cocopas. ron ; i con estas, i otras sefiales, que le die*
• Relation (yn.^.SS7). Herrera (dec. ron, diciendo, que aqueUos havlan casti-
vi. p. 211) : "haciendo instancia por unod gado al Seftor de Cibola, porque havla
doe que referian, que havlan estado en Ci- muerto i un Hombre negro, conocieron.
bola, le Uevaron uno, que dixo haver visto que era el Exercito de Juan Vasquez de
muchoB Hombres, que se Uamaban Chris- Coronado."
tianos, eon barbas, i que Uevaban ciertos * The Hiatoria gSniral was published
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 15
of the friar's report, with the exception that, quoting the report of the
two Indians whom he met last, Herrera abbreviates somewhat, saying :
^^ And in turn they were conformable to all that the first Indian had
told," also, farther on : ^' Forthwith many of the people of the city fell
upon them, and fleeing, the companions of Estevan fell over each
other ; there were more than three hundred of them, without counting
the women; those who were wounded threw themselves among the
dead until night, when they arose and fled." ^ The latter is a clearer
description than the one given by Fray Marcos.
It is evident that only two of the seven versions just quoted could
have been obtained at Zuni, — those of Jaramillo and of Castaiieda
(y. and rv.). The first one is of no consequence beyond confirming
the fact. Castaneda, however, varies greatly from the tales which
the Sobaypuri fugitives told the friar. The former speaks of an inter-
view, and of a delay of three days, before the Zunis put the negro to
death;, he also says that none of the Indians accompanying Estevan
were killed. That a parley took place is proved by the reports gath-
ered from the Yuma Indians by Alarcon, and it was natural for the
dismayed Sobaypuris to have forgotten to mention it, as well as for
Fray Marcos to have overlooked it. It is equally possible, that owing
to the throng of people which must have at once surrounded Estevan,
the survivors did not witness the first interview. But while I concede
the fact of a preliminary examination, I am unwilling to admit the
three days' delay and the killing of Estevan alone. The eye-witnesses
knew better than Castaneda, who came to Zuni a year at least after the
event. They say that they came to Cibola at sunset, and that on the
next day at sunrise Estevan was murdered^ together with his Indian
first in four volames folio, and from 1601 dieron en ellos machos de la Ciudad, i
to 1615. The authorization, however, bears huiendo, caian los de Estevan unos sobre
the date of 1599, beginning with the 3d otros, que eran mas de trecientos, sin las
of Janaarj. Consequently it was finished mugeres, i que entonces los flecharon, i
in 1598. dieron aquellas heridas, i que se echaron
^ (Dec. vi. lib. vii. cap. viii. p. 158) '< i entre los muertos, hasta la noche, que se
en suma se conformaron con todo lo que el levantaron, i huieron."
primer Indio havia dicho . . . ^ luego
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16 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUm TRIBE.
escort. They themselves "reached home covered with blood and
wounds/' ^ and their friends on the San Pedro ^^ were in tears on
account of the relatives whom they had lost at Cibola." ^ That the
killing of Estevan was decided upon in a council held that same night
at Quiaquima is likely^ and I believe that it was the intention of the
Zurds to kill him alone. But it is equally certain that the following
morning the negro tried to escape with his retinue, and that this at-
tempt precipitated his death, as well as the slaughter of his Indians.
Now as to the motives for the murder. The story told by Pedro de
Castaneda, that Estevan demanded the women of the Zuiiis, may be
true, although it is not likely that he would have introduced himself
by such an outrageous demand. The Yumas heard nothing of it.
Their version appears to me the one most likely of all to be true. The
Zunis were evidently displeased from the outset. Estevan's boldness
further irritated them, and when he spoke of the powerful nation to
which he belonged, and of which some people were on the way thither,
they became frightened ; the negro appeared to them as a dangerous
man ; a forerunner of evil, or a spy j finally, when he stated that his
brethren were white, in spite of the darkness of his own complexion,
they thought him guilty of falsehood, and therefore resolved to kill him.
Fray Marcos was not dismayed at his companions' misfortune. He
was determined at least to see the country of Cibola. Castaiieda denies
that he came any nearer than sixty leagues. This is one of the many
slurs which the growling chronicler casts at the friar, and, like the oth-
ers, it is a slander. The missionary was only three days from the place,
and as he rightly says himself : " I told them that I must see the town
of Cebola at all events ; " so he finally persuaded his Indian chiefs to
follow him.^
^ Relation (p. 276) : "ils arrivferent ^ Relation (p. 281). Herrera (dec. vi.
converts de sang et de blessures." Her- p. 159) : "i entrando en el Valle, fueron
rera (dec. vi. p. 158) : " d una Jornada de grandes los llantos por los muertos, por lo
Cibola toparan otros dos Indios, de los que qual se despidid luego."
havian ido con Estevan, muy ensangrenta- ' Relation (p. 279). Herrera (vi. p.
dos, i heridos ; i en viendolos, se comenyo 159) : " dixo, que no se havia de bolver
entre todos un lastimoso llanto." sin ver a Cibola."
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FIRST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 17
Counting inevitable delays^ Fray Marcos must have come in sight
of the desired spot four days later than the 31st of May ; therefore^ on
the 4th of June he must have looked down upon the basin from the
heights of its southern border^ whence it indeed presents the appear-
ance as described by him : ^^ It is built in a plain, on the slope of a
round hill." ^ This simple description is one of the many proofs of the
fact that Fray Marcos got within sight of the Zuni plain. He could
not have invented it, nor given it in so graphic and true a manner,
and in as few words, had he only repeated the words of an Indian
description.
Among the remarkable instructions given to the missionary by Don
Antonio de Mendoza there is the following : ^^ I authorize you to take
possession of the new country in the name of His Majesty ; you will
perform all the acts and fulfill all the formalities which may appear
necessary to you." ^ Therefore, after Fray Marcos had " observed the
appearance of the town, I thought it proper to name the country the
new Eangdom of Saint Francis. With the aid of the Indians I erected
on the spot a great heap of stones, and placed on top a small cross, not
having the took necessary for making a larger one. I proclaimed that
I built the stone heap and erected the cross in the name of Don Anto-
nio de Mendoza, viceroy and governor of New Spain, for the Emperor
our Sovereign, in token of taking possession, in this place, of all the
Seven Towns, and also of the Kingdoms of Totonteac, of Acus, and of
Marata, although I did not visit them, wishing to return and report
what I had seen and done." ®
* Relation (p. 279) : " Elle est b&tie • Fray Marcos, Relation (p. 280).
dans one plabe sur le penchant d'une col- Herrera (vi. p. 159) : ^' con el aiada de
line de forme ronde." Herrera (dec. vi. los Indies higo en aquel lugar un monton
p. 159) : *^ que estd asentada en un llano, de piedra, i puso encima una Cruz, i dixo,
en la falda de un cerro redondo." que la ponia en nombre de Don Antonio
' <' Instruction donn^e par Don Antonio de Mendoza, Visorrei, i Govemador de
de Mendoza, vice-roi de la Nouyelle-£s- Nueva-Espaiia, por el Rei de Castilla, i
pagne, au P^re Marcos de Niza " (App. de Leon, en sefial de posesion, la qual alii
to Cibola, i. p. 252). Herrera (vi. p. tomaba de aquellas Siete Ciudades, i de los
156) : '^ tomase posesion de ella, con los Reinos de Totonteac, de Acus, i de Marata,
Autos mas legitimes, que le pareciesen." i que no pasaba d ellos, por bolver con
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18 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSi TRIBE.
This first act of taking possession included, besides Zuni, the Moqui
villages and Acoma. It took place, in all probability, on the fourth
day of June, 1539, and conveyed as much of a legal title as in modem
times the unfurling and planting of a flag on the shores of some in-
habited island, or in a village whose inhabitants are under the gentle
persuasive powers of a ship of war turning its broadside towards the
land. Hereafter, Zuiii or Cibola, Moqui or Totonteac, and Acoma or
Acus, were looked upon as parts of the Spanish Empire, and, should
their inhabitants resist, they would appear in the light of rebels.
This view of the matter is by no means one of the past, as evidenced
in the South Sea, and by our own intercourse with the Indian tribes of
to-day.
After performing this formality. Fray Marcos fled. He could do
nothing else, if he wanted to secure the knowledge of his discovery to
the government that had sent him : " I feared that in case I were
killed, the knowledge of the country might be lost." * It was in obe-
dience to another part of his instructions that he proceeded so cau-
tiously : " You shall always endeavor to travel with as much safety as
possible. You shall first ascertain if the natives are at war with each
other, and avoid giving them any occasion to act against your person,
as it would compel proceedings to punish them, in which case, instead
of enlightening them and doing them good, the reverse would occur." ^
In the presence of these facts, how unjust appears the reproach of
cowardice which Castaneda makes against the priest !
The Zunis do not seem to have noticed the presence of Fray Marcos.
relacion de lo hecho, i visto, i con esto se Herrera (vi. p. 156) : ^' Qae siempu faese
bolvid i, la gente, qae dixd atras. . . •" lo mas seguramente, qae padiese, infor-
^ Relation (p. 280). Herrera (dec. vi. mandose primero, si las tierras estaban de
p. 159) : " i afirmaba el P. Fr. Marcos, paz, 6 de gaerra los unos Indies con los
que estavo tentado de entrarse en la Cia- otros, porqae no hiciesen algan descon-
dad, pero qae considerando, qae si morfa, cierto contra sa persona, porqae serfa dar
no se podria tener relacion de aqaella ti- caasa, k qae por el castigo se procediese
erra, qae le parecfa la mejor de lo desca- contra estos, porqae en lagar de irles A
bierto." hacer bien, seria lo contrario."
* Instruction donnSe, etc. (p. 251).
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FIEST DISCOVERY BY THE SPANIARDS. 19
But the appearance of the negro roused them to preparations for war,
in case his white countrymen should appear. This was noticed by
Melchior Diaz in northern Sonora. It seems that the people of Cibola
endeavored to form a coalition with the Sobaypuris and Opatas against
the dreaded strangers ; for Diaz remarks at the close of the passage
quoted in No. iii. : " I believe it is true, and that they have formed an
alliance, judging from the coldness with which we were received, and
from the sour faces which they made." ^
The influence of the friar's report upon pubhc opinion in New Spain
will be considered in the next chapter. All that remains to be no-
ticed here is a summary of the condition of Zuiii, as presented in docu-
ments relating to the events connected with its first discovery in 1539.
That Zuni was Cibola it is needless to attempt to prove any further.
The tribe inhabited seven pueblos, the largest of which, at that time,
was Abacus or Hauicu. This last village is probably the one of
which Melchior Diaz says : " At one day's march from the last-named
province, there exists a town whose natives are at war with each other.
The houses, the people, and their relations are similar. They assure
me that this town is the largest of all." ^ As for outside enemies, we
have seen that the war with Marata was then a thing of the past ; but
Alarcon states that, having asked his old interpreter whether the na-
tives of Cibola had any enemies, he replied, ^^ Yes," and also mentioned
fourteen or fifteen chiefs who were at war among themselves.^ Who
those enemies were is not stated, and, as I have already remarked, there
is no mention either of the Apaches or the Navajos.
The Zunis, it appears, were at that date an autonomous tribe, inde-
pendent of all others in the land. The terms used by authors are, of
course, those of the period. For " kingdom " and " province " we
must substitute the simple " tribe," and for " sovereign," " chief."
The most advanced among Europeans had no idea of the social organi-
zation of these Indians. Although the picture presented of the Zunis
in 1539 is only the result of a glimpse obtained from a distance,
^ Mendoza, Deuxihne lettre, p. 297. • Alarcon, Relation de la Navigation
^ Iderny p. 296. et de la D^couverUy p. 332.
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20 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZVSl TRIBE.
still it is astonishing to observe how much Fray Marcos and Melchior
Diaz ascertained about them in so short time. Much of it is adorned
with Indian flourish ; there are misunderstandings and consequent mis-
statements^ but there remains a solid body of interesting facts. These
factS; valuable to ethnology^ might properly find their place here, but
I prefer to reserve them for the next chapter, where they will come
in as useful corollary to the reports of later Spanish explorers.
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CHAPTER n.
THB TRIBE OF ZUNI. — ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600, ACCORDING
TO EARLY SPANISH DOCUMENTS.
[Section L 1540-1642.]
The reports of Fray Marcos of Nizza are the only source of
knowledge about the Indians of Zuiii which we have at command up
to the year 1539. I believe that I have established, with the aid
of Mr. Cushing's labors, and some collateral documents, the fact that
Fray Marcos' statements are truthful. Still, it cannot be overlooked
that there existed a widespread distrust of the monk's assertions among
his contemporaries, and that the contrast between his picture of the
country and the appearance of things in reality excited a cry of indigo
nation among the soldiers of Coronado, and the bitterest reproaches
of Coronado himself.^ Why this difference between the written
statements and the popular version thereof ? If Fray Marcos lied in
speech, could he not as well have lied in writing ?
It is one thing to describe certain countries hitherto unknown, and
strange objects eating there, and another thing to create an accurate
conception thereof in the minds of others. In the first half of the six-
teenth century it was extremely dijBBcult to be sober in relating, and
equally difficult to be soberly understood. We have many examples of
this frame of mind in modern times, even. As soon as an ^^excite-
ment " takes hold of the public, then no report is too " big " to be true,
and even truthful descriptions become invariably distorted through pop-
ular repetition. From 1492 to 1560 Spain and the Spaniards were very
^ Coronado, Carta al Emperador^ 20 << visto que no abia ninguna cosa de las qae
October, 1641 {Documentos inidUos del iraj Marcos dijo."
Arehivo de Indias^ vol* xiii* p. 267) :
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22 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZVSl TRIBE.
much excited Everythmg they saw and heard in regard to America
was exaggerated. Hence^ a large number of accurate reports on
American topics were disregarded at the time^ because they did not
suit the attitude of the public mind.
Besides the official report of Fray Marcos, we have a number of
statements of what he told verbally y and how it was interpreted by the
listeners.
During the litigation carried on by Nuno de Guzman against Cortes
and Hernando de Soto about their respective rights to discover and
pacify the regions north of Mexico, seven witnesses were examined on
the subject of Fray Marcos, his discoveries, and the popular reports
concerning them. Not one of these had heard the friar speak ; they
only spoke from hearsay. According to the words of one of them
(which agree with the utterances of the others), he "heard it
stated publicly, that about a month and a half ago there came a
monk, lately arriving from some newly discovered land which, they
say, is five hundred leagues from Mexico, in the country of Florida,
and towards the north. Of this country it is said that it is rich in
gold and other valuable products, and has large villages. The houses
are of stone and earth, after the manner of those of Mexico, the people
use weights and measures, they are civilized, marry only once, dress in
woolen goods, and ride on certain unknown animals." Another
witness testifies " that his son-in-law is a barber, and shaves the friar
who came from the said country, and that he informed him that, while
shaving the friar, the latter told him that before reaching that country
there was a mountain-chain and beyond it a river; that there were
many cities and towns well peopled, that the cities were walled and
the gates guarded ; that the people were very wealthy ; that there were
silversmiths ; that the women wore jewels of gold and the men girdles
of gold, and white woolen dresses; that they had sheep, cows, and
quails, and that there were butchers and smithies." ^
* Proceso del MarquSs del Valle y Tierra nueva^ 1541 {Documentos inSdi-
Nufio de Gvxman y hs Adelantados Soto tos, vol. xv. pp. 394, 396), Garcia Navarro
y Alvarado, aobre el deacubrimiento de la testifies : ** ques verdad questando este
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
23
A contemporary of Fray Marcos, Fray Ger6nimo Ximenez de San
Estevan, wrote to Saint Thomas of Villanueva, under date of the 9th
of October, 1539 : ^^ A year ago last month, a Franciscan friar of
French origin left the City of Mexico in search of a land. ... He
traveled five hundred leagues through a settled country, and met with
a stretch thickly populated; he says that the people are civilized,
and have walled cities containing many houses ; they wear shoes and
gaiters of hide, and many of them wear dresses reaching to the feet.
He tells so much of the riches of this country that it is almost incredi-
ble, and thus much the same friar has told me personally, that he saw
temples of idols, the walls of which are covered, as well within as with-
out, with precious stones. At first he told me they were emeralds.
He also relates that farther on there are camels and elephants." ^
testigo en M^co, oyo decb publicamente,
puede haber un mes y medio, poco mas 6
menoB, que habia venido un fraile, nueva-
mente, de una tierra, nuevamente descu-
bierta, que dicen ques quinientas leguas
de M^co, en la tierra de la Florida, que
dicen ques hicia la parte del Norte de la
dicha tierra; la qual diz, que es tierra
rica de oro 6 plata 6 otros resgates, 6
grandes pueblos ; que las casas son de pie-
dra 6 terrados d la ^manera de M^ico, 6
que tienen peso 4 medida, 6 gente de ra-
zon, 6 que no casan mas de una vez, 6 que
visten albomoces, 6 que audan cabalgando
en unos animales, que no sabe cdmo se
Uaman." . . . Andres Garcia testifies:
"questando este testigo en la ciudad de
M^co, . , » 4 queste testigo tiene un
yemo barbero que afeitaba al fraile que
yino de la dicha tierra ; 6 quel dicho su
yemo, le dixo este testigo, questando af ei-
tando al dicho fraile, le dixo como antes
que llegasen d la dicha tierra estaba una
sierra, 6 que pasando la dicha tierra estaba
un rio, 6 que habia muchas poblazones de
ciudades 6 villas, 6 que las cindades son
cercadas 4 guardadas i, las puertas, 6 muy
ricas; 6 que habia plateros ; 6 que las
mugeres traian sartas de oro 6 los hombres
cintos de oro, 6 que habia albamios 6 obe-
jas 6 yacas 6 perdices 6 carnicerfas 6 her-
rerfa, 4 peso 6 medida; 4 que un Boca*
negra, dixo £ este testigo que se quedare.''
The other witnesses examined on the sub-
ject, — Pedro Nufiez, Francisco Serrano,
Pero Sanchez, Francisco de Leyva, and
Hernando de Sotomayor, — all testified in
the same manner. The first one says:
''que habia venido un fraile Francisco,
que se dice Fray Marcos, que venia la
tierra adentro,'' thus establishing the fact
that it relates to the celebrated monk.
* Carta de Fray Jerdnimo Ximenez
de San Estehan d Santo Tomds de VUr
lanueva, 9 October, 1539 (Nueva Coleo-
don de Documentoa para la Historia
de MSxico, Gkkrcia-Ycazbalceta, pp. 194,
195) : '' Este pasado mes de Setiembre
hizo un alio que partid un fraile de S.
Fkuncisco, francos de nacidn, desta ciudad
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24
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZVm TRIBE.
Such were the popular reports about Pray Marcos* discoveries.
They find a parallel^ a century and a half later^ in some entries on the
map to Th^venot's " Recueil de Voyages " of 1681. In the west,
and on the great plains, the aforesaid map indicates that there are
^' nations who have horses and camels.^^ ^ It is manifest that the
American hunch-backed bison has given rise to this misinterpretation ;
but if it was pardonable to blunder in this way at a time when no
white man except Cabeza de Vaca and his companions had ever
seen the buffalo, and when Fray Marcos himself spoke of it only by
hearsay, it was less pardonable in 1681, when both French and English
had hunted the great quadruped beyond the Alleghanies. In regard
to the other statements, it is plain that the turquoises of Fray Marcos
easily became gems of much higher value in the eyes of an enthusias-
tic public. How an Indian pueblo may grow to the size of a European
city, I believe to have shown.^ The process is simple. It requires
only want of reflection and lack of knowledge of the true conditions
at a given time and place. But there is, in addition to this, another
de Mexico en busca de una tierra de que
los gobernadores destas partes ban tenido
noticia, y no la ba podido descubrir. £1
anduvo quinientas leguas por tierra, y al
cabo, pasado an desierto de mds de sesenta
legaas, did en una tierra muy poblada y
de gente de mucba policia, que tiene ciu-
dades cercadas y grandes casas, y calzan
zapatos y borcegufes de cuero, y mucbos
visten ropas de seda hasta los pi^. De la
riqueza de la tierra no escribo, porque dice
tanto que no parece creible ; este me dijo
el mismo fraile, que vid templo de sus
idolos, que dentro y fuera tenia cubiertas
las paredes de piedras preciosas; pienso
me dijo esmeraldas. Tambidn dicen que
en la tierra m^s adentro hay camellos y
elefantes." Tbe statement about the tur-
quoises (amplified here into emeralds) is
also found in Fray Marcos de Niza, Des-
cobrimiento de las siete CiudadeSy p. 333 :
'^ T por que me parecid digno de poner en
este papel lo queste Indio, que Estdban me
enyid, dice la tierra, lo quiero hacer, el
cual afirma y dice, ... y en las portadas
de las casas principalis muchas labores de
piedras turquesas." . . •
^ '< Nations qui ont des chevaux et des
chameaux." See map to Father Mar-
quette's journey in Thdvenot, Recueil de
Voyages^ 1681.
* See chapter i., and my essay on The
Discovery of New Mexico by Fray Mar-
cos of Nizza {Magazine of Western His-
tory), Also, La Decouverte du Nouveau
Mexique par Is Frhre MarcoSy de Nice en
Savoie, en 1539 (Remie ethnographique,
Paris) ; Cibola (N. Y, Staatszeitung^
Sunday Edition, 1836).
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ITS HISTORY FROM 16S9 TO 1600. 25
factor^ which no one who has ever husied himself with the history of
the Southwest has sufficiently considered^ if it has ever attracted any
attention at all. This factor is : the true cause of the expedition set on
foot on the strength of Fray Marcos* statements. I refer to Coro-
nado's expedition to New Mexico.
It is well known that the return of that expedition in 1542 aroused
in the highest degree the anger of Don Antonio de Mendoza^ the vice-
roy of New Spain. He wanted Coronado and his people to stay in
New Mexico. The chief magistrate at Mexico was very much disap-
pointed when the troupe came back.^ This has been interpreted by
Gomara and others, who were " outside of the ropes/' as a deception,
on account of the great expectations harbored in regard to wealth in
New Mexico.^ Certain documents of the period place it in an entirely
different light.
About the time that Coronado was sallying forth, " banners flying
and trumpets blowing/' for the barely discovered North, a complaint
was made against him on the ground that he was taking away the den-
izens of Mexico, and enticing them into joining his enterprise. The
complaint appeared serious enough to induce the viceroy to instigate
an official investigation of the case.^ It shows, in the first place,
^ Thus Francisco Lopez de Gomara, ' This is hinted at hy Matias de Mota-
Histaria de las Indias (Historiadores Padilla, Historia de Nueva Galieia, cap.
primitivos de Indias, Vedia i. p. 288) r xxii. p. Ill : " Determind el virey lograr
^' Macho pesd d don Antonio de Mendoza la ocasion de la mucha gente nohle que.
que se volviesen ; " Fray Juan de Torque- hahia en Mexico ; que como corcho sohre
mada, Monarchia indiana, lih. v. cap. el agua reposado, se andaha sin tener qu6
xi. p. 609 ; Antonio de Herrera, Historia hacer ni en qud ocuparse, todos atenidos d
General de los heohos de los Ca^stellanos, que el virey les hiciese algunas mercedes,
dec. yL lih. ix. cap. xii. p. 208, and many y i, que los yecinos de Mexico les susteor
other authors. tasen £ sus mesas, . . ." p. 169. " Fu^e
* Gomara, Historia, p. 288 : ^^ . . . por- i, Mexico, en donde no fud hien recihido
que hahia gastado mas de sesenta mil pe- del virey, por haherse vuelto sin su drden."
80S de oro en la empresa, y adn dehia mu- But the fact hecomes transparent through
chos dellos, y no traian cosa ninguna de the Informacion del Virey de Nu&ua Es-
alk^, ni muestra de plata ni de otra ri- jpafZa, 2). Antonio de Mendoza, de la
queza ; " Castafieda, Relation du Voyage gervte que va d poblar la Nueva Galieia
de Cibola, p. 227. eon Francisco Vazquez Coronado, Gober-
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26
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUm TRIBE.
that Mexico was then so poorly supplied with colonists, that any at-
tempt to draw them towards another section of America was regarded
as dangerous to the existence of the colony ; hence, that that colony
afforded but a trembling staff to European domination. On the other
hand, it proves that even among the scanty population of Europeans
there was a crowd ready to engage in anything, provided it was new
and striking. In other words, circumstances then were just as they
have been in the Southwest but lately. As soon as anything new \&
discovered, everybody rushes for it. With such a class of men, re-
ports like those of Fray Marcos fell on fertile soil.
The viceroy encouraged Coronado's expedition by all possible means.
His main object was to eliminate from Mexico elements unfavorable
to a steady progress of the country. He was afraid that if a leaven
of a certain kind was left it would produce a fermentation detrimental
to the interests of Spain and of civilization in general; for it should
not be forgotten that Spain cherished then the same exalted ideas
about its duties as the banner-bearer of progress as every other nation,
including the American, has since.
Don Antonio de Mendoza was not blind to the ultimate results of
nador de eUa {Doc. delndias, vol. xiy.),
in which Coronado makes a formal com-
plaint to the effect that '^ algnnas personas
por no tener buena yolontad desta homada,
. . . . han dicho, que machos vecinos de la
ciudad de M^co 6 de las demas ciadades
. . . por niego 6 inducimiento mio, van
en la dicha homada; de cuya causa la
dicha ciudad de M^ico 6 de Naeva Es-
pafSa, queda sola 6 con poca gente," p.
374. He prays for an investigation. Con-
sequently a review of the whole corps was
held at Compostela on the 21st of Febru-
ary, 1540, at which review nine persons
were appointed to inspect and identify the
men who were to take part in the expedi-
tion. These inspectors were afterwards
examined under oath, and they unani-
mously declared that there were only very
few residents of Mexico. To the ominous
query: "st hucen faZta los que van,"
Antonio Serrano de Cardona replies, p.
378 : '^ que antes facen provecho en ir, que
daflo . . . ; " Gronzalo de Salazar : '^ aunque
uno de los mayores bienes que se han
hecho en esta Nueva Espafia, fue sacar la
gente moza e viciosa questaba en la dicha
ciudad 6 en toda la Nueva Espafia," p. 379 ;
Pedro Almides Cherino: ^^6 que al pa-
recer deste testigo, hise sido cosa mny
provechosa que saliese de Mexico la gente
que fu^, que antes dafiaban en la ciudad
4 vecinos della, que aprovechaban por ser
los mda caballeros mancebos 6 viciosos, sin
tener que hacer, etc., etc.," p. 380.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 16S9 TO 1600. 27
overreaching, and the startling information secured by Fray Marcos
and its effects upon the mind of the public did not escape his notice.
He secretly caused an agitation in favor of the ^^ newly discovered
country," in order to get rid of people who were a nuisance in New
Spain, and with the faintest of all hopes that they might, perhaps,
prosper in the far distant North.^
Whatever popular reports may tell us of the verbal statements of
Fray Marcos, they do not impair the scientific value of his "Rela-
tion," which remains a true and reliable picture of sights seen and tales
heard, and it possesses the great advantage over many reports of the
present time, that it indicates honestly " such and such a thing I saw,
and such and such a thing I have only heardP
It is no wonder, therefore, if Coronado in his expedition, which
commenced in the early part of the year 1540, took Fray Marcos for
a g^de, and if the monk conducted him safely and surely to Zurii,
as to a place where he had been the year before, and where the
Spaniards were to judge for themselves of the truth or untruth of his
reports. Had Fray Marcos not felt innocent of the accusations that
were afterwards heaped upon him, he would certainly not have gone
along and shown Coronado the way.
^ It 18 not the only instance in the life nueve dias del mes de Julio de 1560, salid
of this great administrator, Don Antonio Pedro de Orsaa de los Motilones, que es
de Mendoza, when he purified the prov- en la proyincia del Perd ; " Relacion muy
ince which he governed by sending off, on verdadera de todo lo siicedido en el Rio
a '^ wild goose chase," the unruly and dan- del Maraflon, en la pravincia del Dorado,
gerous elements. While viceroy of Peru, AeoAa por el Gobemador Pedro de Orsua,
he set on foot, and in the same manner, etc. (Idem, p. 217) : '* De entonces acd
the brainless enterprise in search of the nadie se habia atreuido d pedir la dicha
'^ Dorado," under command of the unfor- entrada, por ser cosa de tan gran gasto y
tnnate Pedro de Ursua, in 1660. Rela- costa, hasta que Pedro de Orsua la pidid
don breve fecha por Pedro de Monguia, al Marques de Cafiete, y se la did, no teni-
Capitan que foe de Lope de Aguirre, de endo mas de una capa y una espada, y le
lo mas svstancial que ha acontecido, segun ayndd de la casa de S. M. con quince mill
lo que se rne aaierda, de la Jornada del pesos para ello, por dar remedio A muchos
Gobemador Pedro de Orsua, etc., etc. caballeros 6 hijosdalgo que en Pird anda-
{Doc. de Indias, vol. iv. p. 191) : " A ban perdidos."
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28
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUfti TRIBE.
After these introductory remarks about the much criticised monk, 1
shall turn to the Expedition of Coronado, and consider the informa-
tion it affords us in regard to the Indians of Zuni.
It is well known that Coronado, having established his headquarters
at Culiacan, in Sinaloa, left there the bulk of his army, and started in
advance in search of Cibola, Fray Marcos acting as his guide. He took
with him, according to Castaneda, ^^ fifty horsemen, a few men on foot,
and his best friends." ^ Jaramillo, who was one of the number, says
that there were sixty horsemen.^ An anonymous reporter, whose
statements appear very precise, asserts that Coronado was accompa-
nied by ^' only seventy-five companions on horseback, and thirty foot-
men (peones)." ' Another anonymous relation, also written at the time,
and while in New Mexico, gives the number at ^^ eighty horse and
twenty-five on foot." ^ Both of the latter statements nearly agree, and
they are made by eye-witnesses, on the very ground, and at the very
time, whereas Castaneda and Jaramillo, although members of the expe-
dition, wrote from recollection, the former more than twenty years, the
latter, perhaps, a still longer time afterwards.^ It is therefore most
^ Relation du Voyage de Cihoia, p. 35 :
'* Au bout de qainze jours le gdn^ral prit
les devants avec cinquante cavaliers, quel-
qnes fantassins et ses meilleors amis."
* Relacion hecha por el capitan Juan
Jaramillo, de la Jornada que habia heeha
d la Tierra niieua en Nv^eua Espafla y al
Descubrimiento de Cibola (Doc. de In-
dias, vol. xiv. p. 304) : " A. esta villa se
vuelve y va como al Norueste de aqni los
sesenta de ^ caballo qae fuimos con el
Greneral, . . . Dej6 sn ej^rcito j fu^ ^
con los dichos en descnbrimiento del dicho
cainino."
*' Traslado de las Nueiias y Notidas
que dieron sobre el Descnbrimiento deuna
cibdad, qiie Uamaron Cibola, situada en la
Tierra Nueva {Idem, xix. p. 529). " En
el y alle de Culiacan d^xo S. Md. la major
parte del exercito, j con solamente setenta
J cinco compafieros de ^ caballo j treinta
peones, parti6 para aca."
^ Relacion del Suceso de la Jornada que
Francisco Vazquez hizo en el Descubri-
miento de Cibola (Idem^ xiv. p. 318):
'^Francisco Vazquez debidid 6 partid el
campo, el cnal tom6 ochenta de i, caballo
6 veinte cinco peones, j cierta parte de la
artillerfa, 6 partid," etc.
* Voyage de Cibola (Introd. p. ix.) :
'^ Comme il 7 a plus de vingt ans que cette
exp^ition s*est faite;" Jaramillo, Relar
eion hecha, p. 307 : " y esto digo por ha-
ber tanto tiempo que aquello pasamos, que
podria ser engafiarme en alguna jomada,
que en lo demas no."
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
29
likely that Coronado made his first move upon Cibola, or Zuiii, with
one hundred men.
He left Culiacan on the 22d of April, old style (2d of May), of the
year a. d. 1540.^ The route which he took I have already discussed,
and have nothing new to add, or any corrections to make. The whole
trip lasted seventy-seven days, so that he came in sight of the first
pueblo of Cibola on the 7th of July (17th).^ Which one of the seven
villages was it?
Castaneda says that Cibola^ or rather the first village thereof, was
eight leagues from the banks of the " Rio Vermejo," ® so called on ac-
count of its red and muddy waters. The Rio Vermejo is the little
Colorado, and eight leagues correspond to twenty-two English miles.
The first village of the Zuiiis reached by the Spaniards under Coronado
cannot, therefore, have been " Quia-Quima," where the negro Estevan
was killed, but it was ^^ Ha-ui-cu," near the thermal springs, or '' Aguas
calientes de Zuni." This is further proven by a statement of the
anonymous writer of 1540 : " on the XIX of the past month of July
he went four leagues from the city to see a rock, where he had been
told that the Indians used to fortify themselves." * This rock is evi-
^ Trashdo de las Nuevas y Noticicu, p.
529 : " partid para aca jueves 22 de Abril ; "
Castafieda, Cibola, p. 30, says that thej
arrived at Culiacan the day after Easter ;
and p. 35: ^'au bout de quinze jours le
g^i^ral prit les devants.''
* Traslado, p. 530 : " liego £ esta pro-
yincia miercoles 7. deste mes de Julio pa-
sado . . . por manera que tardo S. M. en
el camino, hasta Uegar aqui, setenta j
siete dias." The author of Relacion del
Suceso, p. 319, says : '* i, los setenta y tres
llegamos £ Cibola.'^ But I follow the for-
mer, since his dates are positive, and they
agree with the number of days.
' Cibola, p. 41: '<Au bout de quinze
jours lis arriv^rent k huit lieues de Cibola,
sur les bords d'une riviere qu'ils nomm^r-
ent Rio Vermejo, ^ cause de son ean trou-
ble et rouge ; " Jaramillo, Relacion hecha,
p. 307, says that the " arroyo que pusimos
Bermejo " was two days from the first
pueblo of Cibola : '* de aqui fuimos en doe
dias de camino al dicho pueblo y primero
de Cibola." From the little Colorado be-
low San Juan, the distance to '^ Hauicu "
in a straight line is not over thirty miles.
Coronado went from Show-low east of
north, therefore he struck the " Rio Ver-
mejo" above the mouth of the "Rio de
Zufii." Following the road, Hauicu is
about thirty-five miles from San Juan.
* Traslado, p. 532 : "y que d XIX del
mes de Julio pasado, fue quatro leguas de
esta ciudad i, un pefiol, donde le dixeron
que los Yndios desta provincia se hacian
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30
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUHtl TRIBE.
dently the famous mesa of ^^ To-yo-al-ana/' or thunder-mountain^ and
the distance given agrees well with the bee-line stretch extending from
Hauicu to the gigantic table-mountain. It is therefore Hauicu^ and
not the village where Estevan was killed^ which received the first air
tack of the strangers. That Jaramillo should say : ^^ It is in this place
that Estevanillo; the negro, was killed/' ^ must not surprise us, since he
wrote, as I have already said, many years after the occurrences.
When the Spaniards arrived upon the banks of the little Colorado,
they met the first Zuni Indians. The latter fled at once, and gave the
alarm. On the night before reaching the place, the Spaniards had
already been frightened by the yells and shouts of the natives, who
crept up to the camp and aroused the soldiers by their piercing cries.^
As soon as the pueblo was in sight, the Spaniards knew that their
reception woiild be anything but friendly.
They had advanced to within a short distance, when a great number
of the warriors were discovered scattered outside the village to the dis-
tance of a cross-bow shot of its walls. It was found out afterwards that
all the non-combatants had been removed to other pueblos, and that
the men alone remained.^ It does not seem that the six other
faertes, — y volvid el mismo dia, que an-
dubo en ida j venida ocho leguas." If it
had been ^' Quiaquima," he would have
been at the very foot of the mesa. That
" To-yo-al-ana " was the place of refuge
for the Zuiiis in case of extreme danger,
we shall proTe in the third chapter.
^ Relacion heclui, p. 308 : "j aqui ma-
taron i, Etebanillo el negro."
* Castafieda, Cibola, p. 41 : «Ce fut Ik
qu'on aper^ut les premiers Indiens du
pays ; ils prirent la fuite en voyant les Es-
pagnols, et all^rent donner Talarme. Le
lendemain, pendant la nuit, lorsqu'on
n'^tait plus qu'd deux lieues du village, des
Indiens, qui s'^taient places dans un en-
droit silr, jet^rent des cris si per9ants que
nos soldats en furent un peu effrayds, quo!
qu'ils s'y atendissent; il y en out m§me
qui sell^rent leurs chevaux k Tenvers, mais
c'^taient des gens de nouvelle lev^e. Les
plus aguerris mont^rent k cheval et par-
coumrent la campagne. Les Indiens qui
connaissaient le pays s'echapp^rent facile-
ment, et Ton n'en put prendre aucun. Le
lendemain on entra en bon ordre dans le
pays habits." Jaramillo, Relacion hecha,
p. 307, merely says: "Aqui vimos un In-
dio 6 dos que parescieron ser despnes de
la primera poblacion de Cibola."
* Traslado, p. 531 : " Estaba la cindad
despoblada de hombres de sesenta aflos
arriba y de veinte abaxo, y de mugeres y
nifios ; todo lo que habia, era, hombres de
guerra que quedaron para defender la cin-
dad, y muchos salieron della, obra de un
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
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pueblos of Zuni furnished material aid to the Hauicu people.^ They
treated the whole matter as if it had not been ^^ their own fight/' and
left their neighbors to face the newcomers. This is truly Indian^ and
very characteristic of the nature of Indian society.
The disproportion in numbers does not appear to have been unusu-
ally great. Castaneda attributes to Hauicu two hundred warriors.^
The three anonymous relations state that the largest Zuni villages
contained from two to three hundred families.^ One village alone
could not, therefore, oppose to Coronado more than twice the number
of his own men, and if, in addition, they committed the imprudence
tiro de ballesta, haciendo grandes fieros ; ''
ReUxcion del Suceso, p. 319 : " El dia que
llegamos al primer pueblo, nos salieron de
guerra parte dellos, 6 los detais quedaban
en el pueblo fortalecidos ; " Castafieda, Ci-
hoUij p. 42 : " Ces Indiens nous attenda-
ient done en bon ordre k qnelque distance
du village ; " Matias de Mota-Padilla, His-
toria de Nu&oa Ocdieiay p. 113 : ^^ Antes
de llegar el general, salieron mas de dosci-
entos Indies de guerra, j aunque se les re-
querid con la paz."
^ Castafieda, Cibola, p. 42, says : '' Les
habitants de la province s'y ^taient r^u-
nis ; " but Relcunon del Suceso,^ p. 319 :
" Luego que los Indies se dieron, desam-
pararon el pueblo y se f ueron i, los otros
pueblos ; *' Traslado, p. 632 : " porque
como los Tndios vieron la determinacion
de S. Md en quererles eutrar la ciudad,
luego la desmampararon." The sudden
appearance of Coronado was a surprise to
them, and all they could do was to send off
the women, children, and old men, and
prepare for a hasty defense. There may
have been a few warriors from the other
pueblos also, but not in any great num-
bers. The time was too short to make a
general levy.
* Cibolay p. 42: "Cibola, . . . il pent
contenir deux cents guerriers." As to the
Spaniards, their number had only de-
creased by one foot-soldier and a few In-
dians and negroes. Traslado, p. 530:
" Llegd . . . con toda la gente que sacd
del valle, muy bueno . . . escepto un Es-
pafiol que murid de hambre cuatro jorna-
das de aquf, y algunos Negros 6 Yndios que
tambien murieron de hambre y de sed ; el
Espaflol era de los de pi^, y llamavase Es-
pinosa;" Relacion del Suceso, p. 319,
only speaks of the " muerte de algunos In-
dies ; " Jaramillo, Relacion hecha, p. 307,
says the death of Espinosa and two men
occurred near Show-low: "y en este ar-
royo y puesto, muri6 nn Espafiol que se
decia Espinosa, y otras dos personas, de
yerbas que comieron, por la grande neces-
idad que Uevaban." This would indicate
that they ate poisonous plants out of hun-
ger.
« Relacion del Suceso, p. 319: "Los
pueblos son de d trescientas i doscientas,
^ de d cincuenta casas;" Relacion pos^
tr&ra de Sivola [MS.]: "Sivola es un
pueblo de hasta ducientas casas . • . son
siete pueblos en esta provincia Sivola • . •
el mayor sera de ducientas casas."
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32
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
of facing cavalry in the open field defeat was inevitable. Coronado, as
soon as he grasped the situation, rode towards the Indians, accompa-
nied only by two of the priests (Fray Marcos, probably, and certainly
the lay-brother, Fray Luis Descalona), and made the customary at-
tempt at conciliation and peace.^ To this he was compelled by Span-
ish law,^ and a refusal to comply with a requisition of this kind, and
to receive the Spaniards peaceably, was considered equivalent to a
refusal, in England, to listen to the reading of the Riot Act. The
country had been taken possession of legally (after the customs of the
time) by Fray Marcos ; if now the people of Hauicu remained hostile
in the presence of a legal summons to surrender, it was the duty of
Coronado to proceed against them by force.^
A shower of arrows, defiant shouts and yells, and other threatening
demonstrations, were the only reply of the Hauicu Indians. A horse
was wounded by an arrow-shot, and the cassock of Fray Luis touched
by another.^ It was clear that aU efforts at negotiation would be vain.
Although the Spaniards, as well as their animals, were worn out by the
long and tedious journey,^ they promptly obeyed the order to charge.
* Castafieda, Cibola, p. 42 : « Loin
d'accepter la paix, qaand ils en furent re-
quis par les int^rpr^tes, ils nous firent des
gestes mena^ants ; " Reladon del Suceso,
p. 319 : " con los cuales no se pado acabar
annque se procord arto la paz ; " Traslado,
p. 531 : ^* 7 el Greneral mismo se adelant6
con dos religiosos, y el Maestre de Gampo,
ik requerirlos, como se usa en tierras nue-
vas ; " Mota-Padilla : Historia, p. 113 :
'^y annque se les requerid con la paz, bar
cian rayas en el snelo para que no pasasen
de ellas."
' There are two decrees of Charles Y.
to that effect, one of June 26, 1526, and
another of the 20th of November, 1528,
both of which are embodied in the Reco-
pilacion de Leyes de los Rej/nos de las In-
dias, lib. iii. tit. iv. ley iz. foL 25
* Pray Marcos, as we have already
stated in the first chapter, had taken pos-
session; acting according to instmctionB
from the viceroy.
* Mot^Padilla, Historia,^. 113: "ha-
cian rayas en el suelo para que no pasasen
dellas, y al intentarlo los nnestros, despi-
di^ron una rociada de flechas ; " Traslado,
p. 531 : '^ y la respuesta que le daban, era
muchas flechas que soltaban ; y hirieron d
Hernando Bermejo su caballo ; y al Padre
Prai Luis, compafiero que era del Sefior
Obispo de Mexico, le cogieron las f aldas
de los habitos con una flecha.''
* Idem, p. 530 : " no fue recibido como
lo hubiera menester, la gente que traia,
porque todos venian muy fatigados del
gran trabajo del camino ; luego, y de car-
gar y descargar como unos arrieros, y de
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600.
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and ere the Indians could take shelter inside of the houses, several of
them were killed. On the Spanish side no man appears to have been
hurt, but three horses were killed, and seven or eight wounded.^ Thus
ended, as might have been foreseen, the first encounter of Zuni Indi-
ans with white men.
But the fight was not over. Routed easily in the open field, the
natives had only improved their position, for the moment at least, by
retreating into the many-storied houses, where they replied to any at-
tack by a flight of arrows, and especially by a shower of stones hurled
from the flat roofs. Still, Hauicu had to be taken; by persuasion
if possible, by assault if necessary.^ It seems that no further sum-
mons were made to surrender, and that the onslaught on the pueblo
followed immediately upon the skirmish. The Spaniards were fam-
ished ; they had not found a single grain of corn on the whole trip,
from the Rio San Pedro into New Mexico.^ If Hauicu was not taken
no coiner tanto como quisieran, que traian
mas necesidad de descansar alganos dias,
7 no de pellear, aunqne no habia en todo
el campo, hombre, que para todo no tra-
gese buenas ganas, si los caballos los ayuda-
ran ; que traian la misma necesidad que
los amos." As to the number of Indians
killed, see below.
^ I give the difEerent Spanish versions.
TrasladOy p. 531: ^*j como esto visto,
tomando por abogado al Seflor Santiago,
arremeti6 ^ ellos con toda su gente, que la
tenia mny bien hordenada ; y aunque los
Tndios volvieron las espaldas j se pensa-
ban acoger i, la cindad, que estaban cerca
della, antes que llegasen, fueron alcanza-
dos 7 muertos muchos dellos ; j ellos ma-
taron tres caballos, y hirieron siete 6 ocho ; "
Relacton del Suceso^ p. 319 : '^ por lo cual
fu^ forzoso rompellos i muertos alganos
dellos. Los demas luego se retragieron al
pueblo ; " Gastaiieda, Cibola, p. 42 : '< On
les chargea au cri de Sant-Iago, et on les
mit promptement en fuite ; " Mota-PadiUa,
ffistaria, p. 113 : '^ con lo que se les aco-
metitfy y quedando en el campo muertos mas
de veinte, se encastillaron en sus barrios."
^ Traslado, p. 531 : " Llegado el Gen-
eral, mi Seflor, d la ciudad, vid que toda
era cercada de piedra & casamuro, y las
casas muy altos, de cuatro y cinco y aun
de seis altos cada una, con sus azoteas y
corredores ; y como los Yndios se hicieron
fuertes en ella, y no dejasen llegar £ la
cerca 6, bombre que no flechasen ; '^ Cas-
tafieda, Cibola, p. 43 : " Cependant il f al-
lait s'emparer de Cibola."
* Traslado (ut supra) : " y no tubiese-
mos que comer sino se lo tomabamos ; "
Idem, p. 530 : '^ y en todo el camino hasta
esta provincia no se hallo un celemin de
mais ; " Relation del Stuieso, p. 319 : " no
hubo maiz en todo el camino sino fu d^ste
yalle de Sefiora que sacaron un poco."
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34 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZTlSl TRIBE.
they were lost, both horses and men.^ So the pueblo was attacked
forthwith.
Castaiieda says, ^^ Cibola is built on the top of a rock." So is
Hauicu. That pueblo belonged, in a measure, to the type called poly-
gonal. The slope is gradual towards the south and southeast ; more
abrupt on the other sides. The ascent is steep in only a few places,
and the eminence crowned by the houses is not higher above the imme-
diate soil of the valley than fifty feet. Still, as the slope towards the
southeast has a length of four hundred feet, and not the slightest
protection is afforded, whereas the Indians, from the roofs of houses
several stories high, commanded the entire ascent, and that ascent,
furthermore, had to be made on foot, it was not an easy undertaking.
Coronado led the storming party in person. He wore armor which
was richly decorated, which made him a conspicuous mark for the
/enemy .^ The Hauicus had covered the terraced roofs with heaps of
pebbles, and the hail of these missiles was directed against his person in
particular. One stone hit him with such force that he fell, and would
have been killed by the rocks that the Indians kept showering upon his
prostrate form, had it not been for the timely interference of several of
his men. A second time was he stunned, felled, and injured ; he was
also wounded by an arrowshot.^ In spite of this lively resistance, the
Spaniards penetrated the pueblo about an hour after the assault had
^ See note preceding. dos veces, 7 lo abollaron la armadura de
' Traslado, p. 531 : <^ 7 como entre to- la cabeza, que & no ser tan buena, dudo
dos yra sefialado con sns armas doradas j que saliera vivo de donde entr6 ; 7 con
un plnmage en la armadura de cabeza, to- todo esto, pongo k Nuestro Sefior que 8ali6
dos los Tndios tiraban k el, como k hombre por bus pi^s, dieronle en la cabeza 7 hom-
sefialado entre todos." He led the attack bros 7 piernas muchos golpes de piedra, 7
on foot, while mounted men surrounded en el rostro saco dos heridas pequeflas, 7
the village to prevent the escape of the en el pi^ derecho un flechazo ; " Rdacion
Indians : " acord6 S. Md dentrar la Ciu- del Suceso, p. 319 : '< Francisco Vazquez
dad & pie 7 cercarla de gente de i caballo, salid mal tratado de algunas piedras, 7
por que no se f uese Tndio de los que den- aun tengo por cierto, quedaria alii sino
tro estaban." fuera por el maestro de campo D. Garci-
• Idem, p. 532 : "7 de las azoteas, & Lopez de Cdrdenas que le socorrid; " Cas-
piedra perdida, lo derribaron en el suelo tafieda, Ciholay p. 43 : ^< Le Gdn^ral fat
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
35
beg^^ and the Indians, throwing down their arms, surrendered.^ On
both sides the losses must have been slight. Of the Spaniards, no
one was killed, though some may have been seriously injured. The
Indians, on the other hand, fought under protection, and gave up the
fight as soon as the enemy came up to closer quarters.^ It was
probably much less bloody than the short running fight in the valley
below the pueblo.
Hauicu was filled with com.^ It appears that the Indians expected
to successfully resist the strangers, and even to inflict upon them a de-
cisive defeat. The stores had not been removed, not that they antici-
pated a siege or a long blockade, but simply because they had no time
for it, and, probably, did not deem it worth while. But although the
men threw down their arms and made peace with Coronado, they left
the pueblo on the same day and joined their families among the other
villages of the Zuni group. This was done not so much out of mis-
trust of their conquerors, as in consequence of the previous removal
of the non-combatants. Coronado consented to this proceeding for
two reasons : first, because it placed the whole village at his disposal,
renvers^ d'an coup de pierre en montaut
a Tassaat ; et il aurait 6t6 txi6 sans Garci-
Lopez de Cardenas et Hernando d'Alva-
rado, qai se jet^rent devant lai et re^arent
les pierres qui n'^taient pas en petit
nombre."
^ Castafieda, Cibola, p. 43 : " mais,
comme il est impossible de roister k la
premibre farie des Espagnols, en moins
d'nne heure le village fut enlevd." There
is another version, by Mota-Padilla, His-
toria, p. 113 : '' y laego aquella noche se
pusieron en fuga ; el dia sigoiente se pose-
sionaron los nuestros de la easeria." But
the village was surrounded, and the Relo/-
don del Suceso, p. 319, says : ^' y aquella
tarde se dieron." The same document
also speaks of artillery which Coronado
had taken along ["y cierta parte de la
artillerfa"] and which, after the first as-
sault of the pueblo had been repulsed,
caused the Indians to surrender: "^ ^
causa del mucho dafio que nos hacian de
las azoteas nos f u^ f orzado retiramos, y de
fuera se los comenz6 hazer dafio con la
artillerla y arcabucos."
* Trasladoy p. 532 : " porque como los
Yndios vieron la determinacion de S. Md
en quererles entrar la Cindad, luego la des-
mampararan."
' Traslado, p. 532 : '< hallamos en ella
lo que mas que oro ni plata abiamos me-
nester que es mucho maiz, y frisoles, y
gallinas, mayores que las desta Nueva Es-
pafia, y sal, la mejor y mas blanca que
he visto en toda mi vida; *' Castaileda,
Cibola, p. 43: "on le trouva rempli de
vivres, dont on avait le plus grand besoin."
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36 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
together with the provisions it contained, and, secondly, because it
facilitated his intercourse with the remainder of the tribe, and gave
him a foothold among them.^
The capture of Hauicu on the 17th of July, 1540, was the only
engagement fought between the Zuiiis and Coronado's troops. There-
after both parties dwelt side by side in perfect peace until the winter
months of the same year, and so long as Coronado and his people re-
mained in New Mexico there was never any interruption of the cordial
feelings, in as far as cordiality may reign between peoples who could
not converse with each other, and whose notions and beliefs were so
widely apart. Difficulties undoubtedly arose from time to time, but
they brought about no conflict, occasioned no bloodshed.
All the sources agree in placing the number of pueblos composing
the cluster of Cibola at «ei?cn. Of these, Fray Marcos made us
acquainted with one, Quiaquima, at the foot of the great mesa, where
the negro Estevan was killed. Through Castaneda's account we learn
of another, Ha-ui-cu, at the Zuni Hot Springs. Of the remaining five
only one is mentioned by name. This is Ma-tza-qui, the Ma-ga-que of
Castaneda's original manuscript,^ which is corrupted into Muzaque in
the superficial translation of Temaux-Compans.^ Matzaqui is situated
near the Rio de Zuni, in the comer of the plain on which the present
village is standing. It is consequently the most northeasterly pueblo
of the seven, and distant from Hauicu (which is the most southwest-
erly), in a straight line, about fifteen miles.
We have seen what Fray Marcos says of Quiaquima, and how reliable
is his description of its situation and its appearance in general. The
chroniclers of Coronado's expedition furnish a great many details in
regard to the villages of Cibola in general, and to some of them in
particular. The picture they present of the cluster of Zuni pueblos as
they were in 1540 is worth recording here.
Beginning with Castaiieda, who is the best known, though not
^ Tmdadoy p. 232 : '^ et bientOt toute New York, and the word is foand on foL
la province fat forc^e d*accepter la paix." 107, recto.
^ The original is at the Lenox Library, ' Cibola, p. 163.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
37
always the most reliable of these writers, I quote the following pas-
sages : —
^^ The province of Cibola contains seven villages, the largest of which
is called Muzaque. The houses of the country have commonly three
or four stories, but at Muzaque there are some which have as many as
seven stories." ^ He estimates the number of people in the pueblos of
Zuni and Moqui, together, at three to four thousand.^
Jaramillo speaks of five pueblos only at Cibola, ^^ which are at one
league's distance from each other in a circuit of six leagues." ^
The anonymous relation of the events of Coronado's expedition says :
^^ The Father Fray Marcos had understood that the district or region
in which there are seven pueblos was one single village which he
named Cibola ; but the whole settlement and surroundings bear that
name. The pueblos contain, some three hundred, some two hundred^
and some one hundred and fifty houses. In some of them the houses
are joined together ; in others they are divided into two or three sec-
tions. But in most instances they are connected and have courts in-
side, in which are estuf as for winter use. Outside of the pueblos they
have others for the summer." *
The " Relation of Sivola " preserved by Father Motolinia says : —
^ Cibola, p. 163 : " La province de Ci- ^ entender que el circnito 6 comorca en
bola contient sept villages ; le pins grand se
nomme Mazaqae ; les maisons dn pa^s ont
ordinairement trois ou quatre Stages ; mais
k Muzaque, il j'en a qui en ont sept"
' Idem, p. 165: ''On compte trois oa
^atre mille hommes r^pandus dans les
qoatorze villages de ces deux provinces."
• Reladan hecha, p. 308: "Hay en
esta provincia de Cibola, cinco pueblezue-
los con este, todos de azoteas y piedra y
barro como digo : . . . est^n estos pueblos
apartados el uno del otro como ^ legua y
^ mas, que vendr^ ^ ser como en circuito
de seis leguas."
* Relacion del Suceso, p. 319 : « El
padre fraj Marcos babia entendido 6 dio
que estin siete pueblos, era nn solo pueblo
que Uamaba ^ 6 toda esta poblazon 6 co-
marca se llama Cibola. Los pueblos son
de ^ trescientas 6 doscientas, 6 de i, cien
cincuenta casas; algunos estin las casas
de los pueblos todas juntas, aunque en al-
gunos pueblos estlUi partidos en dos 6 tres
barrios ; pero por la mayor parte son jun-
tos y dentro sus patios, y en ellos sus estu-
fas de inviemo, 6 fuera de los pueblos, las
tienen de verano." Tbese winter and
sunmier estufas recall the ancient division
of the Tehuft Indians into winter-people
[" Oyi-que "] and summer-people [" Payo-
qne"], the yellow winter-sun and the
green summer-altars, etc., etc.
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38 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
"There are in this province of Sivola seven pueblos within five
leagues. The largest one may have two hundred houses ; two more
have two hundred ; the others, sixty, fifty, and thirty houses." *
Matias de la Mota-Padilla was not a contemporary of the expedition
of Coronado, since his " History of New Galicia " was written about
1742 ; still he had consulted materials left evidently by writers who
took part in the enterprise. His statements, therefore, deserve al-
most the same degree of attention, at least, — though not of absolute
credit, — as the contemporary chroniclers themselves.
According to him, Hauicu was divided into two q[uarters, and there
were six other villages of the same description.^
Francisco Lopez de Gomara was a contemporary, though not an eye-
witness ; and he derives his information from contemporary sources : —
" Sibola contains as many as two hundred houses of sod and unhewn
timber, of four or five stories, with doors like the scuttles of a ship.
They ascend to them by ladders made of wood, which they raise at
night and in time of war. . . . The famous seven cities of fray Mar-
cos of Niza, which are within a circle of six leagues, may contain over
four thousand men." ^
I hope to have made it plain, that the Cibola of Coronado's time is
not the same village as the one which Fray Marcos saw the year be-
fore ; that the former is " Hauicu " and the latter " Quiaquima." But
the two villages pertained to one and the same tribe, and were within
a half day's journey of each other. Of Quiaquima no further descrip-
^ RelcLcian postrera [MS.] : " son si- at his command manuscripts kept at 6aa-
ete pueblos en esta provincia de Sivola, en dalajara in the last century,
espacio de cinco leguas : el mayor ser& de ' Historia de las Indias, p. 287 : ** Es
ducientas casas j otros dos dos [sic] de d Sibola de hasta ducientas casas de tierra j
ducientas, y los otros d sesenta y d cincn- madera tosca ; altas cuatro y cinco spbra-
enta y d treinta casas.'' dos, y las puertas como escotillones de nao.
^ Historia de Nueva OaliciOy pp. 113, Suben d ellas con escaleras de palo, que
114. He consulted papers left at Culia- quitan de noche y en tiempos de g^erra.
can by Pedro de Tobar, p. 168, and other . . . Los famosas siete ciudades de fray
sources of the time which he does not Marcos de Niza, qui estdn en espacio de
name ; but from some of the data given seis leguas, tendrdn obra de cuatro mil
by him, I presume that he must have had hombres."
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 39
tion from that period has yet been discovered ; of Hauicu there are
several.
Beginning again with Castaneda : —
^^ Cibola is built on a rock^ and it is so inconsiderable^ that many
haciendas of New Spain have a better appearance. It can contain two
hundred warriors. The houses have three or four stories ; they are
small) not spacious, and have no courts. One single court serves for a
whole quarter." ^
The anonymous report on the capture of Hauicu, so frequently men-
tioned, says : —
"When the General, my Lord, reached the city, he found that
everything was surrounded by stone walls, and that the houses were
very high, of four, five, and even six stories each, with terraces and
porches. . . ."^
Mota-Padilla, who derives his materials probably from writings left
by Tovar : —
" They arrived at Tzibola, which is a village divided into two quar-
ters, surrounded by a wall in such a manner as to make the pueblo cir-
cular. The houses are connected, of three and four stories, with doors
opening upon a great court or square, leaving in the wall one or two
gates to go out by. In the centre of the square was a trap-door or
scuttle by which a subterranean hall was reached, whose roof was made
of large timbers of pine wood, on its floor there was a small fireplace,
the walls were whitewashed. . . ." ^
* Cibola, p. 42 : " Cibola est constrait « Traslado, p. 631 : " Llegado el Geoe-
snr an rocher : ce Tillage est si pen con- ral, mi Seilor, d la cindad, yi6 que toda
sid^rable, qu'il y a des fermes dans la era cercada de piedra A casamnro, y las
nouvelle Espagne qui ont meillenre appa- casas muy altas, de caatro j cinco j ann
rence. II peat contenir deax cents guer- de seis altos cada ana, con sus azoteas y
riers. Les maisons ont trois on qaatre corredores."
Stages ; elles sont petites, pen spacieuses ' ffistoria, p. 113 : " Llegaron d Tzi-
et n'ont pas de cour ; ane seule cour sert bola, qae era an pueblo divide en dos bar-
it toat an qnartier." The eminence on rios, que estaban cercados de manera que
which Haaica statids is indeed a rock, hacian al paeblo redondo, y las casas uni
althoagh not a high one. das de tres y caatro altos, cuyas paertas
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40
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
There is also a description of Matzaqui furnished by Castaneda. It
would seem that he went with the main body of Coronado's troops,
when that body left Zuni for the Bio Grande, in the latter part of the
year 1540. He relates as follows : —
" The first day they went to a village which was the handsomest, the
best, and the largest of the whole province. Houses were seen in it
seven stories high, such as are not found elsewhere. They belong to
private individuals and are used as forts ; they rise so high above the
others that they appear like towers. There are embrasures and loop-
holes to shoot through with arrows and thus defend the place. As
these villages have no streets, and the roofs are all on a level and com-
mon to all the inhabitants, these large houses which serve for defense
must first be taken. Here it began to snow, and our soldiers took
refuge under the porches of the village, which project like balconies
and are supported by wooden pillars ; wooden ladders ascending to
them lead to the e^trances to the buildings, for there are no doors
below/' ^
caiian ^ nn grande patio 6 plaza, dejando
en el muro una 6 dos puertas para entrar
7 salir ; en medio de la plaza habia ana
portallaela 6 escotillon por donde se
bajaba i, una subterr^nea sala, cnya te-
chnmbre era de grandes vigas de pino, y
en el snelo un pequefio fogon, y las pa-
redes encaladas ; alii se estaban los Indios
dias y noches jugando, y las mnjeres les
llevaban de comer, y esta era la yida de
los Indios de los pueblos comarcanos."
* Cibola, p. 80 : " Le premier jour ils
all^rent loger dans un village, le plus
beau, le meilleur et le plus grand de la
province. On y trouva des maisons de
sept Stages, ce que Ton ne voit que Ik,
elles appartiennent k des particuliers, et
servent de forteresse. Elles s'^^vent
tellement au-dessus des autres, qu*elles ont
Fair de tours. II y a des embrasures et
des meurtri^res pour lancer des flbches et
d^fendre la place. Comme ces villages
n'ont pas de rues, que tons les toits sent
de niveau, et communs k tons les habi-
tants, il faut d'abord s'emparer de ces
grandes maisons qui servent de defense.
Dans cet endroit il commen^a k neiger, et
nos soldats se r^fugi^rent sous les auvents
['' alaves "] du village, qui s'avancent
comme des balcons, soutenus par des
piliers en bois : on y monte par des esca-
liers exdtrieurs ; c'est Ik Tentr^ des mai-
sons, car il n'y a pas de portes dans le
bas." The distance from ^^ Hauicu " to
" Matzaqui " is just one day's march for
a body of several hundred men slowly
marching, and ^' Matzaqui " was indeed
the last village on the plain on the road to
Acoma.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600. 41
Lastly^ we have an instructive, though short, description of the trail
from the Zuni basin to Acoma. It is due to Hernando de Alvarado
and Fray Juan de Padilla, when they traveled to Pecos [^^ Cicuic "], in
the fall of the same year.
^^ We left Granada on Sunday the day of the beheading of St. John,
twenty-ninth of August, 1540, on the road to Coco [Acuco or Acoma],
and after having gone two leagues, we struck an ancient edifice similar
to a fortress ; a league farther on we met another, and afterwards
another; then we came to an ancient city, very large, all in ruins,
although a great portion of the wall was still standing, which may
have been thirty-six feet in height ; the wall was well built, of well-
worked stones, with gates and ditches like a city of Castile. Half
a league farther on we found the ruins of another city, the wall of
which must have been very good, being built to the height of six feet
of very large granitic stones, above which there was very good
masonry. Here the road divides ; one goes to Chia, and the other to
Coco ; we took the latter." *
The trail which Alvarado followed passes, from Hauicu, south of the
Zuni plain, and the pueblo ruins mentioned are those of the cluster
called " Ma-tya-ta " or " Ma-kya-ta," the Marata of Fray Marcos of
Nizza. They had been abandoned by the Zuni Indians before the ar-
rival of the Spaniards^ and before the Zuiiis had heard of the white
men.
The seven pueblos of Cibola-Zuni stood, therefore, with the excep-
^ Relacion de lo que Hernando de At- muralla estaba enhiesta, la coal tenia seis
varado y Fray Joan de PadiUa deacubrir estados en alto, el muro bien labrado de
eron en demanda de la mar del Sur, 1540 baena piedra labrada, de bus pnertas y al-
[Docde Indias, 3, p. 511] : ^^Partimoe vaflares como una ciadad de CastiUa. Me-
de Granada, domingo dia de San Jaan de dia legna adelante desta obra de ana legua,
collatione veinte y nueve de Agosto de 40 ; hallamos otra ciudad destruida, la cerca
la via de Coco, j andadas dos legoas, di- de la cual debia ser may bnena, hasta
mo8 en on edificio antiguo como fortaleza, on estado, de piedras berroquefias may
y ana legaa adelante hallamos otro, y poco grandes, y de alii arriba de may baena
mas adelante otro, y adelante destos hal- piedra de canterfa. Aqal se apartan dos
lamos ana ciudad antigua, harto gprande, caminos, ano para Chia y otro para Coco ;
toda destraida, aunque mucha parte de la tomamos este. . . ."
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42 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUfti TRIBE.
tion of Hauicu^ on the plain of Zuni proper. We have identified three
of them akeady ; the four others will be found farther on, when we
come to examine the documents concerning the definitive annexation
of New Mexico by Juan de Onate in 1598.
Detailed and reliable information respecting the numbers of the pop-
ulation of the seven villages of Cibola-ZuSi can hardly be expected in
the documents of the time of Coronado. Castaiieda estimates the num-
ber of " men " of the whole Zuni tribe and of the Moquis together at
from three to four thousand.^ This might be so construed as to indi-
cate a total number of souls of about twelve thousand, of which one
half can be ascribed to Zuni alone. But the term men [Hombres]
refers certainly not to the able-bodied males alone, but to the whole
population all told. This can be deduced from the following passage
of the same author. Speaking of the pueblos which the expedition of
Coronado saw, the aggregate number of which he states to be seventy-
one,^ he says : —
" Where we had been promised numerous treasures, we found not
the slightest trace. In place of settled countries we found deserts.
Villages of two hundred souls in lieu of large cities, and hardly eight
hundred or a thousand inhabitants in the largest pueblos." ^ The total
number of " men " in the seventy-one pueblos enumerated by him is
estimated at twenty thousand.^ The word " Hombres," therefore, is
employed by Castaiieda in the sense of inhabitants, and not in the
sense of warriors alone. If we now take the testimony of the anony-
mous reports, they agree substantially in computing the number of
households in the seven pueblos of Zuni at seven to eight hundred at
the most.^ This would place the total number of inhabitants at from
^ Cibda, p. 165. villes, et tout au plus huit cents on mille
^ IderHj p. 182. habitants dans les plus grands villages."
• IdetHy p. 145 : " Oh Ton nous avait * Idem, p. 182 : " lis peuvent renfenner
promis de nombreux tr^sors, nous n*en environ ving^ mille hommes k en jnger par
trouv&mes pas la moindre trace ; au lieu Tapparence."
de pays habits, des deserts ; des villages ^ Rdacion del Suceso, p. 319 ; Reld-
de deux cents ftmes, au lieu de grandes cion postrera, estimates about eight hun-
dred families [" casas "].
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 43
two to three thousand^ a figure which agrees fairly well with the esti-
mate made by Gastaiieda. Furthermore, it is confirmed by the plans
that I have secured of three of the original Cibola-pueblos, among which
are the two largest ones, Matzaqui and Hauicu. In estimating the
population of the entire cluster of Cibola at four thousand, therefore,
we probably exceed the real figure.
In what relation did the tribe of Zuni stand to other Indians at the
time of Coronado ? With the Moquis [Tusayan], who were the ulti-
mate village-Indians to the northwest, there seems to have existed but
little intercourse. The distance alone, which was considerable, could
not have been the cause of the great indifference, even bordering upon
hostility, that prevailed at Cibola against Tusayan,^ and vice versa.
The surmise may not be altogether misplaced that, as one of the docu-
ments leads us to infer, there existed at the time a feud between the
two clusters.
That commercial relations existed between the Sobaypuris of the San
Pedro valley and Zuni we have been able to gather from our review of
Fray Marcos' journey in 1539.^ These relations were neither regular
nor extensive, however; they bore the character of those occasional
trading expeditions which the pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley
were wont to undertake to the Comanches and Cayohuas until a few
years ago. It seems, also, that whereas the Sobaypuris visited Cibola,
the Zunis but seldom returned the visits. The same thing with the
Opatas of the Sonora valley. We recollect that in that valley, and
' Castafieda, Cibola, p. 58 : '' Bs appri- Nueva Espafia, de M^co y en el Pefd,
rent aux fispagnols, qu'il existait une del Cuzeo; y tan particularmente conta-
proYince oh il y avait sept villes pareilles ban la manera de las casas y de la pobla^
k la leur. Mais ils ne s'accord^rent pas cion y calles y plazas della, como personas
tons sur ce point, car ils n'avaient pas de que liabian estado en ella muchas veces, y
rapport avec cette province. EUe se que traian de aJld, las cosas de pulicia,
nomme Tusayan ; elle est ^ vingt-cinq que tenian habidas por su servicio, como
lieues de Cibola.'* los de atr^ ; " p. 340 : " y tan particular^
' See chapter i. and Fray Marcos do mente me contaban della, como gente que
Niza, Descubrimiento, p. 339 : " Aquf cada alio van allf i, ganar su vida."
habia tanta noticia de Cibola, como en la
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44 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZVSl TRIBE.
even farther in the centre of Sonora, Cibola was well known, and that
the natives obtained from Zuid the turquoises and many of the tanned
hides with which they adorned and protected their bodies.^ Fray Mar-
cos fails to tell us what the southern Indians gave the Zunis in return.
He understood them to say that they worked at Cibola for the inhab-
itants, and received the turquoises, etc., in compensation.^ The term
^^ working " is employed by the Indian in many ways and for a great
many different things. He '' works " when he is fasting, he " works,"
also, as often as he travels, be it on the hunt, on the war-path, or on a
trading tour. Everything that causes him trouble, that requires reflec-
tion or physical exertion, is " work " to the Indian. It is therefore
likely that when the Opatas signified, rather than told. Fray Marcos,
that they obtained their trinkets from Cibola by " work," they simply
meant to say that it cost trouble to go there, and trouble to return, as
well as " work " to sell their wares and barter for those of the Zunis.
It was also " work " to pass safely through the Apache country, and
all this justified the Indian expression, that they obtained their tur-
quoises at Zuni by "working" for them.
It is not without interest to inquire into the nature of the exchanges
which the people of Zuni-Cibola may have obtained from their southern
neighbors. Mezcal (the toasted stalks of the small Arizonian variety
of the agave) may have been used by the Sobaypuris. Among the
more southern tribes, parrots' plumes were certainly the main article
brought to Zuiii to obtain the much coveted green stones. Thus much
is plainly told us by Cabeza de Vaca in his original report.^ The
green parrot, called in that country " Guacamayo," is common in the
^ Descuhrimiento, pp. 335, 336. * Alvar Nafiez Cabeza de Vaca, Nau-
^ Ut supra : " Y que sirben alll en c»- fragios y Relacion de la Jornada que
bar las tierras y en otros servicios, y que hizo d la Florida, Vedia i. p. 643 : " y
les dan cueros de vacas, de aquellos que digeron que las traian de unas sierras luuy
alii tienen, y turquesas, por su servicio." alias que esUn h^cia el norte, y las com-
The expression " cabar la tierra " [bur- praban & trueco de penachos y plumas de
row in the earth] probably alludes to the papagayos, y decian que habia alii pueblos
manner in which men obtained the tur- de mucha gente y casas muy grandes."
quoises : breaking the rock.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 45
Sierra Madre^ and its feathers were used by the Opatas largely in
their dances.
The tribes of the Bio Colorado also had occasional intercourse with
Cibola, in a commercial way. The Gulf of California furnishes shells,
bivalves mostly, which are highly prized by all the pueblo Indians. In
exchange for these, the Cocopas, Yumas, and Mojaves secured at Zuiii
skins (sometimes of the buffalo), turquoises, and many of the innumer^
able trinkets which the Indian holds valuable, and even sometimes sa-
cred.^ There was thus a trade at Cibola-Zuiii, on a small scale, which,
besides increasing, in a limited manner, the resources of its inhabitants,
or rather diversifying them, also extended their circle of knowledge,
and exercised a slow, gradual influence upon their notions of creed and
belief. Geographical knowledge, imperfectly imparted through tales
from distant lands, and by the sight of hitherto unknown objects, be-
comes an integral part of the folk-lore of the tribe, and historical
events, whose real nature is easily forgotten, become the basis of a my-
thology, as stories " about the gods."
It is strange that none of the chroniclers of Coronado's march has
mentioned the Apaches-Navajos, who were then certainly neighbors of
the Zuiiis, as they are to-day. Still, it may be inferred from the re-
marks made by the Spaniards about the large houses occupied by the
Zunis, and their defensive character, that the inhabitants of Cibola had
occasion to fear hostile neighbors.
To the east of the cluster of Zuiii, the pueblo Indians of New Mex-
ico proper begin. With the village dwellers of northern Arizona, the
Moquis, there seems to have been but little intercourse. It may even
be presumed that both tribes were rather unfriendly towards each
other. This estrangement, the cause of which is as yet unknown to me,
did not, however, prevail in their relations with the tribes farther east.
There was no regular trade, but even the Pecos Indians did not hesi-
tate to make the long and perilous journey to Zuiii in order to trade
^ Hernando Alarcon, Relation de la 338). The statements are not direct, but
Navigatwn et de la dScouverte (Cibola, they lead to the inference.
Appendix, pp. 324-326, 329, 331, 337,
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46 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUm TRIBE.
buffalo-robes and turquoises for whatever of value to them the Zunis
could offer in exchange.^ It does not appear^ from any document at
my command; that the Zunis ever undertook to visit the great plains in
order to hunt the great American quadruped^ after the manner of the
Bio Grande pueblos^ those around the Salines of the Manzano, and the
Pecos and Taos. They obtained their hides through trade and barter,
and mostly at their own villages^ from visitors from the centre and east
of New Mexico.
In regard to the mode of government adopted by the Cibola Indians,
Castaiieda is the only author of the time who speaks of it. He contra-
dicts himself in a manner which is quite astonishing. Thus, on page
61, speaking of the Indians of Moqui [" Tusayan "], he asserts :
" These Indians are governed, like those of Cibola, by a council of old
men." ^ On page 164, he says of the people of Cibola : " There are
no regular Caciques as in New Spain, Neither are there any councils
of old men. They have priests who preach ; these are aged men who
ascend to the highest terrace of the village and deliver a sermon at
sunrise. The people sit around and listen in profound silence. These
old men give them advice in regard to their manner of living, which
they think it their duty to observe ; for there is no drunkenness among
them, no unnatural vice ; they do not eat human flesh ; there are no
thieves ; on the contrary, they are very laborious." ^ Castaneda no-
where explains these contradictory statements on his part. Still, we
* Castafteda, Cibola, pp. 68, 69. lards leur donnent des conseils but leur
^ ^' Ces Indiens sont gouvern^s, comme mani^re de vivre ; je crois mime qa'ils
cenx de Cibola, par un conseil de yieil- ont des commandements qa'ils doivent ob-
lards. Ds ont des goavernears et des server ; car ni 11 n'y a parmi eux ni ivro-
capitaines." gnerie, ni p^ch^ contre nature ; ils ne
'^ ^^ n n'7 a pas de caciques r^guliers, mangent pas la chair humaine, ne sont pas
comme h. la Nouvelle Espagne, ni de con- voleurs ; mais trbs-laborieux." In connec-
seils de vieillards. lis ont des pretres qui tion with this I quote the very unflattering
prbchent, ce sont des gens ag^ ; ils mon- remark from Relacion del Stcceso, p. 320 :
tent sur la terrasse la plus ^ev^e du vil- " son demasiados de buena casas, major-
lage et font un sermon au moment oh. le mente para estos que son bestiales 6 no
soleil se l^ve. Le peuple s'assied k Ten- tienen otra policfa sino en las casas."
tour et garde un prof ond silence ; ces vieil-
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600. 47
easily recognize in the " priests who preach " from the housetops, the
public crying; of daily occurrence among the pueblos in general.
The absence of exterior demonstrations of governmental power leads to
the conclusion, that the government of the Zuiiis was at that time very
nearly as it is to-day, namely, a military democracy guided by the ad-
vice and oracles of religious organizations.
About the creeds and beliefs of the people of Cibola, I find but one
short notice in one of the anonymous relations : ^^ They perform rites
and sacrifices to certain idols ; but what they most worship is water, to
which they ofEer painted sticks and plumes, or bunches of yellow
flowers ; and this they do commonly at the springs. They also offer
turquoises, which are, however, poor in quality." ^ This is the earliest
mention made of the prayer-plumes and prayer-sticks so universally in
use among the pueblos. As to yellow flowers, it is natural that the
narrator should have noticed them particularly, for the Spaniards occu-
pied the Zuni pueblos in the summer and fall when the wreaths and
bouquets worn in the dances are usually yellow. Not a single mention
is to be found of the numerous dances of the Zunis and of the pueblo
Indians in general. Still, this need not surprise us. The Spaniards
came from newly-conquered Mexico ; they had lived among, or seen, at
least, the natives of Sinaloa and Sonora. Indian dances were not at
all new or striking to them, therefore. The uncouth symbolical
pageantry at the dances of the New Mexican village Indians could not
compare with the display made on similar occasions by the sedentary
aborigines of more southern countries, where the gorgeous plumages
of the parrot, of Trogon resplendens^ and other tropical birds, re-
placed the painted head-boards and masks of the New Mexican tribes.
What strikes us forcibly at present was, to Coronado and his men, even
to the priests accompanying the expedition, nothing but an imperfect
^ Rdcusion del Suceso^ p. 320 : << Los flores, y esto es lo m^s ordinario en las
rit06 6 sacrificios que tienen son algunos fuentes. Tambien ofrecen alganas torqae-
idolos ; pero 4k lo que mas husan es l( la sas, que las tienen, aunque ruinet."
agua, ^ la qual ofrecen unos palillos pin- ' The " Quetzal-tototL''
tados, 6 plumas, 6 poblos amarillos de
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48 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^ TRIBE.
imitation of what they were wont to see farther south. Had they not
witnessed any dances here^ their absence would have struck them and
they would have told us so.
We are better informed in regard to the arts of husbandry and the
occupations of daily Uf e. Of agriculture we are told : —
^^ Their food consists maiiily of maize^ beans^ and melons^ with some
fowl obtained from Mexico. The latter they keep for the feathers
rather than to eat^ because they make pelts of them^ as they have no
cotton." *
Castaneda, page 164 : —
^^ Maize does not grow very high ; the ears grow almost out of the
roots^ and each ear has seven to eight hundred grains^ which had not
yet been observed in the Indies." *
" Belacion postrera : " —
^' They g^ow maize^ beans^ and calabashes^ which are sufficient to
support them^ for there are but few people. The soil where they
plant is all sand ; the waters are alkaline ; the soil is very arid." ^
Jaxamillo : —
^^ It is a cold country, and in the houses and estufas they keep on
hand enough to eat of maize, beans, and calabashes ; • • • the soil is
somewhat sandy and not well covered with grass." *
^ Relacum del Suceso, p. 320: ^^La sept oa huit cents grains, ce que I'on
comida que tienen es mucho maiz 4 fri- n'avait pas encore vu aox Indes."
soles, 6 melones, 4 algunas gallinas de las ^ ^* Cogen mayz j friaoles j calaba^as,
de Mexico ; 7 estas las tienen m^s para la lo que les basta para su mantenimiento,
pluma que para comer, porque hacen della porque es poca gente. La tierra donde
pellones, £ causa que no tienen ningun al- siembran es toda arena : son las aguas sa-
godon ; 4 se visten de mantas de Hene- lobres : es tierra muy seca : tienen algu-
grien 4 de cueros de venados 4 algunos de nas gallinas, aunque pocas : no saben que
yaca." By " melones " must be under- cosa es pescado."
stood the calabash ; melons are of Spanish * Relacion hecha, p. 308 : '^ es tierra
importation. fria, y ansi en las casas y estufas que tie*
* Cibola^ p. 164: ^^C'est une* valine nen, se demuestra tienen comida harta
^troite entre des montagnes escarp^es. para ellos, de maiz y frisoles y calabasas \
Le mais n'y vient pas tr^-haut ; les ^pis . . . es la tierra algo arenisca y no muy
partent presque du pied, et chaque ^pi a solada de yerva." I add here the testi*
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 49
It seemS; therefore^ that there was no cotton planted at Zuiii. Stilly
they had mantles of cotton, as we shall see farther on ; but these gar-
ments, or the material therefor, must have been obtained through trade
with the Rio Grande pueblos [or the Moquis ?] where cotton was raised
quite abundantly ; in propoiiion to the limited means at the natives'
command. Of irrigation I find no mention; but this is no proof
that the Zunis were unacquainted with the art.
It is almost superfluous to refer to the architecture at Cibola. The
many-storied houses of the pueblos are well known, and several of the
descriptions of villages, which have been quoted, give ample proof that
in 1540 the Zunis built in the main as they build to-day.
According to the " Belacion del Suceso," page 319 : —
^^ In some pueblos the houses are joined together ; in others they
are divided into two or three sections ; in most cases, however, they
are connected and have courts within, in which are the winter estufas ;
while outside of the pueblos they have others for summer. The houses
are of two and three stories ; the walls being made of stone and mud,
or of sod." *
The " Relacion postrera : " —
" Sivola is a village of about two hundred houses, from two to five
stories in height, with walls a span thick : the timbers are about as big
round as the wrist. In place of planking there are slender canes with
their leaves, and over them pounded soil. The walls are of soil and
clay. The doors of the houses are like the scuttles of ships. The
houses are built connecting ; in front of them are estufas built of clay
in which they take refuge from the cold in winter." ^
monj of Gomara, Histaria, p. 287 : " La estafas at Cibola, p. 165 : ^^ Lea Staves
tierra es arenosa y de poco fruto ; creo que sont rares dans ce pays." I refer again
por pereza dellos ; pues donde siembran, to the fine description of a subterranean
lleva maiz, frisoles, calabazas y frutas ; y estufa given by Mota-Padilla, p. 113, see
aun se crian en ella gallipavos, que no se note 51.
hacen en todos cabos." The turkey was ^ '^ Sivola es un pueblo de hasta ducien-
the only domestic animal of the pueblos, tas casas : son a dos y tres y cuatro y
Znfli included. cinco sobrados : denen las paredes de un
^ I have already copied the passage in palmo de ancho : los palos de la madera-
note 45. Castafleda says concerning the cion son tan gruesos como por la muileca,
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50 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftl TRIBE.
I have already quoted Castaiieda's description of Hauicu and Matza-
qui^ and shall merely add a remark made by Mota-Padilla : —
^^ The pueblos of Tzibola are constructed of plates joined together
with clay or mud-mortar/' *
The present village of Zuiii forms, in fact, but one extensive many-
storied house. It seems that the older villages were built in the same
manner ; and Hauicu, indeed, as I have already remarked, belongs to
what I have elsewhere termed the polygonal one-house pueblo type.^
Matzaqui, as far as a survey of its ruins has permitted me to judge,
pertains to the same class of communal architecture. Quiaquima is too
much obliterated to venture an opinion in regard to it. As a general
rule, however, there has been a change in pueblo architecture since the
advent of the Spaniards. The single houses or buildings have grown
smaller, and the rooms larger. The original honey-comb composing
the village has divided into a number of smaller ones. In New Mex-
ico, Zuni and Taos have least yielded to this improvement.
Of household implements, the metates are, of course, noticed promi-
nently by the Spanish chroniclers. Mota-Padilla gives a very perti-
nent description of these slabs, as well as of the manner in which they
were used. ^^ And in the manner of grinding their maize, they are
different from the other settlements, for they break the corn on a
rougher stone, and then successively on a second and third, reducing it
to a powder-like meal." ' I omit purposely the accurate descriptions
of Castaiieda, since they apply to the Rio Grande pueblos.
y redondos : por tablas contienen cafias ciaban en que los puebloB de Tzibola son
may menudas con sua hojas, y encima fabricados de pizarras unidas con arga-
tierra presada : las paredes son de tierra masa de tierra." Gomara, Histaria^ p.
y barro : las paertas de las casas son de la 287, copies the Relacion postrera almost
manera de escotillones de navios: estan word for word, — a proof that he had
las casas juntas, asidas unas con otras: the manoscript of Motolinia at his com-
tienen delante de las casas unas estufas de mand.
barro de tierra donde se guarecen en el ' In the Reports to the Arclueological
inviemo del f rio, porque le han muy Institute of America,
giiande, que nieva seis meses del afio." * Historia de Nueva Galicia, p. 159 :
^ Historia, p. 159 : ''si bien se diferen- ^'y en el moler el maiz se diferencian de
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ITS HIS TOBY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 51
Costume is quite fully described in the old chroniclers. It was new
to them and striking, so they took pains in recording as many details
concerning it as possible. I begin with Castaneda : —
" The Indians of this country are very inteUigent. They cover the
natural parts of their bodies and the waist with pieces of cloth similar
to towels, which are ornamented with tassels and embroidered at the
comers; they tie them about the loins. These natives also have a
kind of pelts, of feathers or of hare skins, and cotton cloth. The
women wear on the shoulders a kind of mantle which they tie around
the neck, passing it under the left arm. They also prepare dresses of
well-tanned skins, and comb their hair behind the ears in the shape of
wheels, suggesting the handles of a cup." ^
The " Relacion postrera : " —
^^ Of these people, some wear mantles of cotton, of maguey, or of
tanned deer-skin, and shoes of the same hide reaching to the knee.
They also make mantles of rabbit and hare skins, with which they
cover themselves. The women dress in mantles of maguey reaching
to the feet, with girdles ; they wind up the hair behind the ears like
wheels."^
The ^^ Relacion del Suceso," in addition to the feathei^mantles already
las demas poblacioneB, porque en una pie- droit ; dies se font aussi des y6tements de
dra mas Itopera martajan el maiz, y pasa peaux tr^bien pr^par^s, et retroussent
^ la segunda y tercera, de donde le sacan leurs cheveux derri^re les oreilles en form
en polvo como harina." de loae, ce qui ressemble aoz anses d'une
* Cibday p. 163 : " Les Indiens de ce coupe."
pajs sont tr^intelligents ; ils se couvrent ' ** Desta gente algunos traen mantas
les parties naturelles et tout le milieu du de algodon y de maguey y cueros de vena-
corps avec des pi^es d*^toffes qui ressem- dos adobados, y traen ^apatos de los mes-
blent des serviettes ; elles sont gamies de mos cueros hasta encima de las rodillas :
hoapes et d'une broderie aux coins ; ils les tambien hacen mantas de pellejos de
attachent autour des reins. Ces naturels liebres y de conejos, con que se cubren :
ont aussi des e^p^es de pelisses en plumes andan las mujeres vestidas de mantas de
ou en peaux de li^vres, et des ^toffes de maguey hasta los pi^ : andan cefiidas :
coton. Les f emmes portent sur les ^paules traen los cabellos cogidos encima de las
une esp^e de mante qu'elles nouent au- orejas como rodaxas."
tour du cou, en les passant sous le bras
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52 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSi TRIBE.
quoted from the same document^ says : ^^ and they dress in mantles of
Hennequen and deer-hide, or of cow-skin." ^
Jaramillo is more explicit : —
" The dress of the Indians consists of deerskins, very well dressed j
they also have a few tanned cow-hides with which they cover them-
selves. These are like shaggy woolen goods and very warm. They
have square cotton mantles, some larger and some smaller, about one
and a half ell in length. The women wear them on their shoulders,
similar to the custom of the gypsies, and they wind around the waist
several folds of the same cotton cloth as a girdle." ^
Already Fray Marcos had given some reports about the costume of
the Zuni Indians. For the sake of curiosity rather than for their accu-
racy I quote them also, remarking, however, that the monk positively
states that he was only told, and had not seen the costume himself.
^^ They told me . . . that the vestments of the natives were wide
cotton shirts that went down as far as the feet ; that they were tied
around the neck with a button and a long string that hung from it ;
that the sleeves of these shirts were of equal width above and below.
• . . They say that they gird their bodies with turquoise girdles, and
over these shirts some wear excellent mantles, and others cow-skins
finely decorated, which are considered to be the easiest and best gar-
ment in the country. The women are dressed in a like manner ; they
also wear garments that reach down to the feet."^ It is easy to recog-
^ Page 320 : ^^ ^ se yisten de mantas traen puestas por el hombro i, manera de
de Hennegrien ^ de cueros de venados, Gitanas y cefiidas una vuelta sobre otra
^ algnnos de yaca." Gomara, Historia, por su cintara con ana cinta del nuBmo
p. 287, bat condenses the Relacion pos- algodon." I have not been able, as yet,
trera. to find any statement from the time of
^ Relacion hecha^ p. 308 : ^^ el yestido Coronado to the effect that the Zuflis knew
de los Indies es de caeros de yenados, how to spin and weave cotton, whereas it
estremadisimo el adobo, alcanzan ya alga- is positive that the Rio Grande paeblos
noB caeros de vacas adobado con que se did. It is very likely, ii not altogether
cobijan, qae son ^ manera de hernias y de certain, that cotton mantles formed a chief
mucho abrigo ; tienen mantas de algodon object of trade between these two groups
cuadradas ; unas mayores que otras, como of village Indians,
de vara y media en largo ; las Indias las ^ Descuhrimiento de las siete Cindades^
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
53
nize in the above a distorted^ or misunderstood^ attempt at description
of the Zuni costume^ or rather of pueblo costume in general. The
blankets made of rabbit hair were also mentioned to Fray Marcos, as
being worn by the people of Totonteac, in the following manner : —
" I was dressed in gray cloth, called Zarago^a. . . . The chief of
the lands and other Indians touched my cassock and said that there was
much cloth of the same kind at Totonteac, and that the natives wore
dresses made of it. I told them, with a smile, that it could not be po»-
sible, and that it must be cloth similar to their own cotton mantles.
But they replied : ' Do you think that we do not know that this tissue
differs from the one we wear ? Yon must know that at Cibola the
houses are filled with goods like ours, but at Totonteac there are little
anirnalfl that furnish the material out of which that tissue is made.' • • •
They told me these animals were as big as the two greyhounds which
Estevan had with him. They afBrm that there are many of these ani-
mals at Totonteac, but I could not find out what kind they were." ^
p. 336: "Dix^ronme qae la manera del
yestido de los de Cibola es : anas camisas
de algodon, largas hasta el empeine del
pi^ con on boton £ la garganta y un torzal
largo que cuelga d^ j las mangas destas
camisas, anchas tanto de arriba como de
abajo; ^ mi pareser es como yestido bo-
bemio. Dicen que andan cefiiJos con
cintas de torquesas, j qne encima destas
camisas, los mios traen may baenas man-
tas 7 los otros cneros de yacas, muj bien
labrados, qae tienen por mejor yestido, de
qae en aquella tierra dicen que hay mucha
cantitad, y asimismo las mujeres andan
yestidas y cabiertas basta los pi^, de la
misma manera."
I add here the report which an Indian
from the Colorado Riyer made to Alarcon,
Relation^ p. 325 : ^^ Us portent des man-
teaax et des cuirs de yache, et ces man-
teaox sont bord^ d'ane peintare. Leur
chef est y6ta d'ane longae chemise, et
serr^ par une ceintare. Bs mettent par-
dessus plusiears manteaox; les femmes
portent de tr^longs y^tements blancs, qui
les couyrent enti^rement"
^ DescuhrimientOy p. 338 : " y me dixe-
ron que de aqaello habia macho en Toton-
teac, y que lo traian yestido los natarales
de allf, de lo cual yo me ref, y dixe que
no seria sino de aquellas mantas de algo-
don quellos traian ; y diz^ronme : ' piensas
que no sabemos que eso que tu traes y lo
que nos otros traimos es diferente? sabe
que en Cibola todas las casas estdn llenas
desta ropa que nosotros traemos mas ; mas
en Totonteac hay unos animales pequefios,
de los cuales quitan lo con que se hace
esto que td traes.' Yo me admir^, porque
no habia oido tal casa hasta que Uegu^
aqui, y quiseme informar muy particular-
mente dello, y dix^ronme, que los animales
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54 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUffI TRIBE.
The g^reat ^* jack-rabbit " ^ is not much smaller than the grey-
hounds which accompanied the negro on his last fatal trip, and the
comparison is, therefore, not so much out of place as might appear at
first. Both animals run with like speed, and their color is nearly the
same. As to the rabbit-blankets, they are still worn at Moqui, and
there are a few at Zuni. On the whole, the descriptions of the cosr
tume, as the chroniclers of Coronado give them, are exact. One of the
objects mentioned has disappeared now ; the ^^ mantles,'' or rather skirts,
which they say were made of the agave [maguey]. This garment is
out of use altogether, and it was not made of the leaves of maguey,
but of strips of yucca ^ plaited together. Specimens have been found
in caves formerly inhabited, especially on the upper Rio Gila.*
Of the weapons used at Cibola no special mention is found in the
sources which I have at command, beyond the fact that the Indians of
Hauicu fought the Spaniards with bows and arrows, and with stones
hurled from the housetops. But while Coronado was at Cibola, a del-
egation of pueblo Indians from Fecos came and presented him, says
Castaiieda, ^^with tanned hides, shields, and helmets."^ It is to be
presumed that the Zuni Indians possessed the same kind of defensive
armor; in fact, we know that shields of buffalo hide, elaborately deco-
rated with rough paintings, are still found in their possession. Mr.
Cushing has discovered that they wore caps of thick buffalo hide over
their heads in war, and these morion-like* protections may have been
compared by the Spanish narrator, and quite appropriately too, with
helmets. Their purpose was indeed the same ; and they could arrest
an arrow, provided it was dispatched at some distance from the warrior
at whom it was aimed.
Of other manners and customs but little definite information is
obtainable from the authors of that time. Castaiieda tells us : —
8on del tamafio de dos galgos de Castilla ^ Chiefly YiMcaangustifoliawiA Yucca
que Uevaba Est^an ; dicen que haj hacata.
machos en Totonteao ; no pude atinar que * At Mangas Springs,
g^ero de animales faese." ^ Cibola^ p. 69 : << lb lai offrirent en
^ Lejms caUotis. present des cuirs tann^, des boucliers et
des casques.*'
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600. 55
** A man never marries more than one wife. They construct estufas
which are seen in the courts of the houses^ and in the places where
they gather in council • • • they regard it as sacrilegious for a woman
to enter the same place twice. The cross with them is a symbol of
peace. They burn their dead^ and with them all the implements used
by them in their lifetime." ^
The custom of cremating is even described rather minutely by Mota-
Padilla: —
^'And on one occasion the Spaniards saw that an Indian having
died, they erected a large platform, on which they placed the body,
covered with a robe, and forthwith the entire village, men and women,
placed on this wooden bed pinole, calabashes, beans, atole, parched
com, and whatever else they used to eat, and set fire to it on all sides,
so that in a short time it was reduced to ashes, together with the
corpse.*' ^ It is not quite clear, however, whether he relates this as
having occurred at Zuni or among the Rio Grande pueblos. The In-
dians of the Colorado River, which Alarcon interrogated on the sub-
ject of Cibola, made quite different statements concerning the funeral
customs there. They told him : —
" When a chief dies, they bury with him all he possesses.'' * The
same Indians also told Alarcon that ^^ the people of Cibola use bows,
^ Cibola, p. 164 : ^* Un homme n'^pouse minaria de lefia, sobre que positron el
jamais plus d'ane seale femme. lis savent cuerpo cubierto con una manta, j laego
constmire des Staves ; on en voit dans les todos los del pneblo, hombres y mujeres,
cours des maisons et dans les places oil ils fueren poniendo sobre la cama de lefia,
Be r^anissent en conseil ; " p. 166 : ^^ Les pinole, calabazas, frijoles, atole, maiz tos-
^tuves sont rares dans ce pays. Ils re- tado, y de lo demas que usaban comer, y
gardent comme an sacrilege que les dieron faego por todas partes, de suerte
femmes entrent deux f ois dans un endroit ; que en breve tiempo se conyirtio en ceni-
la croix est chez eux an symbole de paix. zas con el cuerpo."
lis brtQent les morts, et avec eux les in- * Relation, p. 325 : '^ D'apr^s le rap-
stmments qui leur ont servi k ^xercer leur port de ces naturels de Cibola ils n'ont
metier." qu'une femme qu'ils ^pousent Lorsque
' Histaria, p. 160 : '^ y en una ocasion les chefs meurent, on enterre avec eux
vieron los espaftoles, que habiendo muerto tout ce qu'ils ont possed^." See, also, p.
on Indio, armaron una grande balsa 6 lur 332.
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56 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
arrows^ clubs, sticks, and round shields, and marry but one wife." * I
leave the point undecided as to whether Castaneda or the Indians from
the Colorado are correct ; and after this review of the ethnological in-
formation contained in the chroniclers of Coronado's march, turn to
the events following the capture of Hauicu and the surrender of the
Zuni tribe.
Hauicu remained Coronado's headquarters during the time he oc-
cupied the Zuni district. Thence he sent out three expeditions, the
first of which went to the Moquis [Tusayan]. It was commanded by
Don Pedro de Tobar, and consisted of about twenty men. Fray Juan
Padilla, who was afterwards murdered by Indians in eastern E^ansas,
accompanied the troop. Tobar returned to Hauicu with the news of
the submission of the Moquis, and Garcia-Lopez de Cardenas was sent
out again to the Moquis to examine the upper course of the Colorado
River. These expeditions were made in the summer and early fall of
1540.^ Meanwhile, the delegation from Pecos, which I have abeady
mentioned, had arrived, and Coronado improved the opportunity to
push a reconnaissance to the eastern limits of the territory over which
the New Mexican pueblos were scattered. He sent, therefore, Her-
nando de Alvarado and Fray Juan de Padilla, with twenty horsemen,
to accompany the Pecos Indians on their way home.^ We have seen
abeady that the report, which the two leaders made of their trip, en-
lightens us on the condition of the country southeast of Zuni. We
need not follow the track of Alvarado farther ; he did not return to
Zuni till two years later, when Coronado left the southwest forever.
These bold excursions show that Coronado felt perfectly safe among
the Indians of Zuni. No trouble whatever, of any magnitude, seems
to have arisen between him and them. After Alvarado had left, and
^ Relation, p. 325. * He left on the 29th of August, old
' Castafieda, Cibola, pp. 68, 61, 62 : style [8th of September], Relacion de la
" quoique Ton fut en 6i6 ; " MotarPadilla, qus Hernando de Alvarado y Fray Joan
Historia, p. 114 ; Relacion del Suceso, de Padilla descubrieron, p. 511 : " veinte
pp. 320-322. As these expeditions are 7 nueve de Agosto de '40."
foreign to my subject, I merely refer to
the sources without giving the text
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ITS HIS TOE Y FROM 15S9 TO 1600. 57
previous to the return of Gareia-Caxdenas from the Colorado River,
there were not over sixty Spaniards at Cibola, and these were not in
the least in danger. It was not merely fear that kept the Indians
quiet, neither was it the " mild nature and disposition " so often and so
falsely attributed to the New Mexican pueblo people. The conduct of
the Spaniards themselves must have been in strict accordance with the
ordinances and regulations promulgated, which were at that time al-
ready favorable to the natives, and which subsequent decrees continued
to improve. The Zunis remained on the same friendly terms with the
whites as long as Coronado stayed in the southwest.
When he left CuUacan, he had given orders to the main body of his
troops to follow after him within twenty days, and rejoin him at Ci-
bola.^ Don Tristan de Arellano, who commanded that body, executed
these orders much later than the time specified. He left, it is true, on
the day stated, but remained in the valley of the Rio Sonora, in order
to found a colony there, until the last of September.^ When the troops
got to within a day's journey of Hauicu, it had already begun to snow.*
As soon as the whole ai-my was together at Cibola (a few reconnoi-
tring parties and the troop commanded by Alvarado excepted), Coro-
nado again moved forward with thirty men only, in order to rejoin
his lieutenant among the Tiguas on the Rio Grande at Bernalillo.^
Twenty days later the main body followed in the same direction, and
the Spaniards evacuated Zuiii completely.^ But it remained a conven-
ient relay between them and Sonora, and the Indians never ceased to
maintain the friendly relations which had once been established.^
I do not propose to write the history of Coronado's expedition in
general. What happened to the Spaniards after they evacuated the
Zuiii basin — the sanguinary strife at BemaUllo, and the reckless enteiv
^ Castafteda, Cibola, pp. 36, 43 ; Bela- dirigeant yen Cibola poor re joindre le
cum del Stteeso, p. 318. ^ g^n^ral."
* Cibola, p. 48 : " Etvers la mi-septem- * Idem, p. 66.
bre le reste de Tarm^e se mit en marche * Idem, p. 76.
en bon ordre, et charg^ de vivres, en se * Idem, p. 78.
• Idem, pp. 112, 220, etc.
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58 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUttl TRIBE.
prise into Kansas in search of Quivira — had nothing to do with Zani
and its inhabitants. It is only when Coronado, disg^ted, and suffer-
ing from the effects of an injury received from his own horse, deter-
mined upon abandoning all further discoveries, as well as all efforts at
colonizing a country that realized none of the popular fancies in regard
to it, and upon retreating to Mexico, that Cibola comes into prominence
again for a very short time. In April, 1542 (not 1543, as Castaiieda
has it), the remnants of the once buoyant Spanish corps left the Bio
Grande and retraced its steps back to Cibola/ On the road over thirty
horses died, possibly from the poisonous effects of the " Garbancillo,"
a plant with a beautiful purple flower and a sweet, but dangerously
narcotic root, which animals eat when hungry.^ At Cibola the corps
rested for a few days, previous to entering upon the desert stretch sep-
arating Zuni from the Rio Gila.
The last noteworthy thing connected with Zuiii and its people during
the expedition of Coronado is the fact that a number of Indians of
Mexico, who had accompanied the Spaniards in the capacity of servants
and guides, Indians from Jalisco and Sinaloa, remained voluntarily
among the people of Cibola ! ^ The Zuiii Indians even followed the
little army for two or three days, and used every effort to induce other
members of the troop to go back with them and stay.^ The Nahuatl-
speaking natives who remained at Zuni married into the tribe, and we
shall meet with them hereafter at the time of Espejo's visit to Cibola.^
Beyond this increase of population through the admixture of a for-
eign linguistic stock, and a few notions dimly conceived,, and soon dis-
figured by the effects of time, the celebrated march of Coronado has
left no permanent record among the people of the Zuni villages. It
* abda, p. 214 ; Jaramillo, Relacian * Ideniy pp. 219, 220.
hecha, pp. 316, 317. • Antonio de Espejo, Relaci<m del Vir
2 Castaiieda, Cibola, p. 216. The " Gar- age {Doc. de Indias, xv. p. 118) : " y a qui
bancillo " is the so-called " Loco-weed." hallamos tres Indios cristianos, que se di-
• Idem, p. 217 : " il y eutmlme quelque jeron llamar Andr& de Cuyuacan, Gaspar
Indiens du M^que qui nous avaient ac- de Mexico y Anton de Guadalazara."
compagn^, qui y rest^rent et s'y ^tabli-
rent."
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 59
came unexpectedly ; it went away leaving scarcely any trace. But it
prepared the ground for subsequent attempts to settle the country^ and
the beneficial results of the good relations which Coronado succeeded in
maintaining with the Indians of Zuni were harvested forty years after
by explorers whose deeds will form the basis of the second part of this
chapter.
[Section IL 1542-1599.]
The Spaniards of Coronado had given a name to CibolarZuni, —
they called it " Granada." ^ Fray Marcos of Nizza, when he took pos-
session of the country^ gave it the name of ^^ the new kingdom of Saint
Francis." ^ The latter was soon forgotten, but as late as 1657, at all
events. New Mexico appears on maps under the name of " Nueva Gra-
nada." Still the same maps carry also, in a position about correspond-
ing to the one of Sante-Fe, the inscription " Real de Nueuo Mexico." ^
The designation New Mexico was used as early as the year 1568, but
it then was applied to northern Durango only, and Francisco Cano, who
claimed the right of discovery, referred in his claim to the shores of the
lagune of Tlahualila, or of Farras,^ and in no way to the distant North
beyond the yet untrodden regions of Chihuahua. This was a step for-
ward in the direction of New Mexico, however, aud led not only to the
settlement of Farras, in Coahuila, but also of Santa Barbara and the
* TrasladOj p. 530 : " y si comieramos Ptolomeo, Geografia^ 1548, by Messer
macho mas de lo que comiamos el dia que Pietro Andrea Matdolo Senese Medico ;
lleg({ S. Md. i, esta Ciudad de Granada, P. Bert, TabtUarum Oeographicarum
que asi le ha puesto por nombre en memo- Contractaruniy 1552, p. 620 ; Cornelius
ria del Virrey ; y porque dicen que parece Wytfliet, Descriptwnis Ptolemaicce Aug-
al Albaicin ; " 66mara, Historia, p. 287 : rnmUiim sive Occidentis NotiticBy 1597 ;
" Ejitraron los nuestros, y nombraronla and Jean Janssen, Atlantis^ Pars quarta,
Granada, por amor del Virey, que es nat- 1657.
ural de la de Espafla.*' A good deal more ^ Testimonio del descubrimierUo y p(h
evidence could be adduced. sesion de la La^na del Nuevo Mexico^
* Descuhrimiento de las siete Ciudor Jtecho por Francisco Cano, Teniente de
des, p. 343 : " parescidme llamar aquella AllcaZde Mayor de las Minos de Maxipi
tierra el nuevo reino de San Francisco." en la Nueva Galicia {Doc. de Indias, xix.
' Compare for instance the maps in : pp. 536, etc., November, 1568).
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60 DOCUMENTARY HI8T0B.Y OF THE ZUM TRIBE,
valley of San Bartholome/ and ultimately to the opening of the mines
of Parral.^ The route to the north hy way of Sinaloa and Sonora was
abandoned for the time, the failure of Coronado's attempt on that line
disgusted the Spanish colonists as well as the viceroys themselves, and
the discovery of rich mines in the centre of northern Mexico ^ carried
the drift of advance away from the Pacific slope. As soon as the mines
of Santa Barbara became known a small settlement was effected there,
and along with the prospector and the miner came the missionary,^
with the purpose of ministering to the spiritual wants of the adventur-
ous white man, as well as with an earnest desire to convert and civilize
as many of the savage aborigines as possible. In 1580 a lay brother
of the order of St. Francis, Fray Agustin Rodriguez, was at Santa Bar-
bara, occupied in the arduous duties of a missionary among the Tepe-
huanes and Conchos. Fray Rodriguez was an old man : still he shrunk
from no work or danger, and if he thought his duty demanded his life,
he was ready to sacrifice himself.* When, therefore, news reached
Santa Barbara that in the distant North there were settlements of na-
tives that might afford a wide field of activity for a Christian mission-
ary, he went to the city of Mexico on foot, to implore the viceroy for
permission to go there, and to devote the remnant of his days to the
conversion of these people.^ It was indispensable to obtain this official
permit, as the royal decrees strictly prohibited discoveries, colonizations,
and conquests, as well as attempts at conversions, from being made
without special license.^ The Count of Coruiia willingly anticipated
* Santa Barbara, a short distance from Zacateca^, 1737, pp. 64, 65 ; Rdacian
Parral, and San Bartholom^ were occu- IiecJia por Joan de Miranda, clerigo, al
pied by the Spaniards about 1562. Doctor Orozeo, 1575.
^ In 1632. Real Cedida, 30th June, * Pray Gerdnimo de Mendieta, Risto-
1668 (MS. Archives of Mexico). ria ecdesidstica Indiana (lib. iv. cap. xi.
• Informe al Rey por el Cabildo eclesi- p. 401).
dstico de Guadalajara, 20 January, 1570 ' Idem, pp. 401, 763 ; Fray Agustin
{Doc» para la Historia de MSxico, Joa- de Vetancurt, Menologio franciscano, ed.
quin Garcia Ycazbalceta, 2, p. 494); of 1871, p. 413.
Fray Francisco de Arlegui, Chr&nica de • Nuevas Leyes y Ordenanzas para la
la Frovincia de N, S. P. S. Francisco de Oobemacion de las Indian, 4 June, 1643
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ITS HISTORY FROM 16S9 TO 1600. 61
the decision of the court at Madrid, and authorized the monk to un-
dertake the journey, allowing him two companions of his order and an
escort of not over twenty men. Fray Rodriguez being a lay brother, a
priest, Fray Francisco Lopez, was sent along as commissary, and Fray
Juan de Santa Maria was the third.^ The escort consisted of eight sol-
diers on horseback under Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado, and twenty-
three Indian servants on foot. The little party left Santa Barbara on
the 5th of June, 1581,^ in search of what afterwards proved to be the
pueblo Indians of New Mexico.
I can but briefly sketch the itinerary of this adventurous trip. They
traversed Chihuahua, striking the Rio Grande above the mouth of the
Rio de las Conchas.^ They ascended the course of that river beyond
El Paso del Norte, till at last they met with the first pueblos at the
place where now stands San Marcial.^ These belonged to the Piros,
and their villages extended as far north along the river as Los Lentes.^
North of the Piros began the settlements of the Tiguas, and there, at
the pueblo of " Pua-ray,'* opposite Bernalillo, the region which Coro-
(Doe.p. la Hist, : de Mexico, Icazbalceta,
2, pp. 216, 217, and the Laws of 1573 es-
pecially).
^ These facts hardly require proof. In
addition to Mendieta and Yetancurt, al-
ready quoted, I refer to Testimonio dado
en MSxico sobre el Descuhrimiento de Do-
scientas Leguas adelante, de las Minos
de Santa Bdrbola, Gobernacion de Diego
de Ibarra ; cuyo Descubrimiento se hizo
en virtud de cierta Licencia qice pidid
Fr : Agiistin Rodriguez y otros Religio-
SOS franciscanoSy 1582 and 1583 (Doc. de
Indias, xv. pp. 80, 82, 88, 98, 101, 130,
etc.).
• Relacion breve y verdadera del Des-
cubrimiento del Nuevo MSxico {Doc. de
Indian, xv. p. 146) ; Pedro de Bustamante
and Hernan Gallegos, Testimonio dado,
pp. 83 and 90, both say the 6th of June.
' For these details, I refer to the docu-
ments above mentioned.
^ It is not the place here to discuss this
question. I have carefully examined the
route and the country, and find that San
Marcial is the point. South of it, the
many storied pueblo-houses are not any-
where to be found, the ruins showing a
different type of architecture. Francisco
Diaz de Vargas, Testimonio dado, p. 131,
identifies the "San Felipe" of Chamus-
cado and his men with Cibola, but the
error is plain. San Felipe was on the Rio
Grande south of Puaray. Puaray is well
known. I surveyed its ruins and have the
plan. It lies opposite Bernalillo.
^ Near the station of '^Los Lunas."
The pueblo at Los Lnnas belonged to the
Tiguas. It was called "Be-juij Tu-aij"
[Be-juy Tu-ay] — village of the Rainbow.
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62 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUfti TBIBE.
nado called " Tiguex," the priests determined to remain^ giving t^^eir
escort freedom to return.^ It was heroic but very imprudent, as the
sequel did not fail to show. Seeing the determination of the monks to
remain alone, Chamuscado determined nevertheless to explore the coun-
try. The people of the pueblos appeared to be very friendly, the
small number of Spaniards did not in the least impair their safety,
and they boldly started out from Puaray in search of the valley of
" Cami," which is on the side towards the South Sea, where they found
six villages of from thirty to a hundred houses, of two and three sto-
ries, built of stone, with many Indians clad like the others. While
there they were told of the valley of Asay, and that in it there were
five large pueblos with many people. From what the Indians gave
them to understand, they concluded that two of the latter pueblos must
be very large, and that in them more cotton was raised than in any
other portion of the country which they had seen ; but on account of
snow they could not go any farther, and were obliged to return to
Puaray.^
West of the Rio Grande and in the direction of the Pacific Ocean,'
the nearest pueblo-cluster of any consequence is Zuni. Acoma is only
one village, and its situation is so exceptional that the Spaniards could
^ Testimonio dado, p. 87, etc. grandes, y que en todos ellos se criaba
^ Pedro de Bustamante, Testimonio mucha cantidad de algodon m^ que en
dado, p. 86 : '^ en el cual tuvieron noticia otra parte ninguna de las que abian yisto ;
de cierto valle y poblacion de diferente y por nevarles, no pudieron pasar ade-
lengua, que llaman el Valle de Cami, que lante ; y les fu^ forzoso volverse ^ el
est^ & la banda del Sur, de donde con esta dicho pueblo de Puaray, donde abian
nueva, salieron y llegaron & el dicho Valle, salido." Gallegos, Idem, p. 93, has
^ donde hallaron seis pueblos de ^ treinta, " Osay " [Osaij]. The termination ** ay"
cuarenta y hasta cien casas, con muchos [aij] is Tiguan. It recalls somewhat the
Indies vestidos al modo de los dem^s, y las *' T-usay-an " of Castafleda.
casas de dos y tres altos de piedra ; y es- ' Idem, p. 86 : " que est^ £ la banda
tando alll, les dieron nueva del Valle de del Sur." This means towards the South
"^SAy, y que en ^1 abia cinco pueblos Sea, a mode of expression often observed
grandes de mucha gente, y segun las in Spanish American documents of the
sefias que los Indios dieron, entendieron period. It indicates, therefore, not south,
que los dos de los dichos pueblos eran mny but west
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 63
not have failed to mention the fact^ had they seen that famous rocky
stronghold. ^^ Cami " must^ therefore^ have been Zuni. Indeed^ we
find in a series of examinations taken about the year 1600, for and in
behalf of D. Juan de Onate, the conqueror of New Mexico, the follow-
ing testimony concerning the explorations made by Chamuscado : —
'^ They discovered the province of Zuni or Sumi, as Chamuscado calls
it with the six last villages of his report, of poor people, great workers
and domesticated, and in all the pueblos * * * very well made, on ac-
count of Coronado and Chamuscado having been there. They live in
houses of three and four stories of stone." ^
This identifies the '^ Cami " of Chamuscado's soldiers with Zuni, and
therefore also with Cibola ; the word '' Cami " seems to be a misprint
or a mistake in copyiog the original manuscript.
Thirty-nine years after Coronado's departure from New Mexico,
it thus appears that Zuni was visited again by the Spaniards. It also
seems that notwithstanding the small number of these visitors, they
were not exposed to any danger from the Indians. The recollections
of the inhabitants from the time of Coronado, therefore, cannot have
been unfavorable. Still, the same thing might be said of the Tiguas
of the Rio Grande, with whom Coronado and his people had had a
series of bloody engagements. At Puaray, the monks and their com-
panions were received with hospitality. But that friendly spirit did
not prevail long. After Chamuscado had departed for the South again
matters changed on the river, and before the end of the year 1581 the
three missionaries were dead. Fray Augustin Rodriguez was the last
one to perish at the hands of the Tiguas; his mutilated body was
thrown into the Rio Grande.*
^ Testimonio de la erUrada que hizo at la proyinda de Zufli 6 Somi, como la nom-
Nuevo Mixico, Francisco Sanchsz ChO" bra Chacuscado con los seis poetreros pue-
mu9cado con ocho addados y trea frailes, bios de su relacion, de gente pobre, grandes
aflo de ochenta S uno^ 1602 (Doc, de In- trabajadores y dom^sticos ; y en todos
dia^^ xvi. p. 203, has ^^ la nacion Cabri." los pueblos . . . muy bien hechas per ha-
Testimonio de la entrada que hizo Anton ber estado alll Coronado y Chamnscado ;
de Espexo aflo de ochenta S doe d estas yiven en casas de tres y coatro altos de
provincias, con trece compaHeros y dos piedra, las m^, de amolar."
fraUeSy 1602 {Id, 206), " Descobrieron * This fact is too well known to require
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64 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUfti TRIBE.
Previous to the departure of Chamuscado for Santa Barbara, the
youngest of the friars, Fray Juan de Santa Maria, had abready perished
in an attempt to return to Mexico from Galisteo by way of the eastern
Salines.^ The news of his death created a natural uneasiness for the
fate of the others, and a wealthy colonist, Antonio de Espejo, a native
of Cordova in Spain, determined to relieve the dangerous situation of
the remaining priests.^ He accordingly armed and equipped fourteen
men, and set out with these and the Franciscan Fray Francisco Bel-
tran for New Mexico ; as Chamuscado and his men baptized the re-
gion which they had partially explored. The name. New Mexico,
was, therefore, given to the territory at present so called and those
parts of Arizona bordering upon it in 1581.^ Espejo left Santa Bar-
bara on the 10th of November, 1582,* mostly following the route pur-
sued by his predecessors until he reached Fuaray, only to find that the
missionaries had been murdered. The Indians, fearing that he might
take revenge for the deed, retired to the mountain fastnesses.^ Espejo
wavered for a moment as to whether he ought not to abandon further
explorations and return to Chihuahua ; ® but seeing that even the small
number of men under his command inspired a wholesome respect, and
being personally endowed with extraordinary tact and skill in dealing
with Indians,*^ he determined to push on boldly, and see as much of
the country and its people as possible. From Puaray he marched east,
to the Tanos of the Galisteo-basin,® thence to the Queres on the Rio
Grande.^ Crossing that river to the west, he successively visited
proof. Besides, it is not directly con- '^ que estos nombraron San Felipe de Nu-
nected with the history of Zafii. evo Mexico."
^ Vetancurt, Menologio, p. 184 ; Fray * Relacian del Viage, p. 103.
Grerdnimo de Zdrate-Salmeron, Rdacion ' Idem, p. 113.
de todas las cosas que en el Nuevo Mexico • Idem,
se han visto y sabido, 1626 (MS. Archives ^ There is no proof of it in his whole
of Mexico, S. 7 and 8). career while in New Mexico. See also,
* Antonio de Espejo, Relacion del Ft- Testimonio de la entrada, p. 207.
a^e, October, 1583 (Doc. de Indias, xv. ' Idem, p. 114, he calls them '< Mi^
pp. 102, 165). guas."
• Vargas, Testimonio dado, p. 131 : • Idem, p. 115, "los Quires."
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 65
Cia/ the Jemez group of villages,^ Acoma,® and finally, ^* We went on
journeying westward, twenty-four leagues, till we came to a province
with six pueblos." ^ I must here interrupt the quotation in order to
refer to discrepancies in the two texts which I am consulting. The
" Relacion del Viage," under date of October, 1583, says : " and they
call it Am^, and by another name Cibola." ^ A copy of it, embodied
in papers touching the subsequent proposition which Espejo made to
the crown to colonize New Mexico at his own expense, says : " Which
they call Zuni, and by another name Cibola." ® The corrupt and dis-
figured text published by Hakluyt in his "Divers Voiages" has
Zuny,*^ but I cannot conscientiously refer to it, since it frequently
changes the meaning of the original and makes it unintelligible.
The Report then continues as follows : "... in which there are
a large number of Indians, it appeared that there were as many as
twenty thousand, where we learned that Francisco Vazquez Coronado
and some of the captains he had with him had been in this province.
We found crosses placed near the pueblos, and three Christian Indians
called Andres of Cuyuacan, Gaspar of Mexico, and Anton of Guadala-
xara, who said that they had come with the said Governor Francisco
Vazquez. These we set right again in the Mexican language, for they
had almost forgotten it. From them we learned that Francisco Vaz-
quez Coronado had been there, and also Don Pedro de Tobar, the latter
having been informed of the existence of a great lagune where, the
natives said, there were many settlements. They told us that in that
^ Relacion del Viage : " hallamos otra bodied in the Expediente sobre el Ofrecir
provincia que llaman los Panames, que miento que hace Francisco Diaz de Var-
son cinco pueblos, que la cabezera se dise, ga^^ 1584 {Doc, de Indias, xy.) : '^ Fuimos
Siay." '* Pu-na-ma," in Queres, signifies caminando cuatro jornadas, veinte j cua-
westem people, and the Cias are indeed tro legaas h^ia el Poniente, donde halla-
Queres living west of the Rio Grande mos al cabo dellas, una provincia, que son
pueblos. seis pueblos."
* Iderriy p. 116, "los Emexes." * Relacion, p. 117.
* Idem. It is the earliest mention I • Idem, p. 180 : " que la provincia 11a-
find of the name " Acoma." man Zufii, y por otro nombre Cibola."
* Idemy p. 180. It is the copy em- ^ " El Viaie que hizo Antonio Espeio."
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66 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSl TRIBE.
country there was gold^ that the people wore clothings bracelets^ and
earrings of gold^ and that it was sixty days distant. They also told
us that the people of Coronado went twelve days beyond this province,
and returned not having found water, their own drinking water having
given out. They gave us tokens of an unmistakable nature of the
lagune country, and of the riches owned by the Indians living there,
together with much other information in regard to it ; but, although
I, myself, and some of my companions wished to visit it, others refused.
They told us, also, that they gave Francisco Vazquez Coronado and his
people many metals, but they could not make use of them for lack of
machinery. We here found Castilian flax, which seems to grow in the
field without being sown. At Cibola, in a village called Aquico, Fa-
ther Fray Bemaldino, Miguel Sanchez Valenciano and his wife Casilda
de Anaya, Lazaro Sanchez Nebado and his sons, Gregorio Hernandez,
Cristobal Sanchez, and Joan de Frias, — all of whom came with me,
said that they wanted to return to New Biscay, whence we had come,
because they found that Francisco Vazquez Coronado had discovered
neither gold nor silver and had returned, and so they did. The cus-
toms and rites are the same as those of the provinces which we left
behind us; the people dress in cotton mantles and in others which
appear to be of coarse linen ; there is much game. Here we heard of
another province towards the setting^un, four days of seven leagues
each, at the end of which we found a province called Mohoce, with five
pueblos."^ Espejo went to Mohoce, which is the Queres name for
^ P. 180 : '' en la cual hay mucha can- gna mexicana que ya casi la tenian olvi-
tidad de Indios, qae parecid habia mas de dada ; destos supimos que habia llegado
yeinte mil Lidios, donde supimos haber alii el dicho Francisco Vazquez Coronado
estado . Francisco Vazquez Coronado, y y bus capitanes, y que habia entrado aUi
algunos capitanes de los que lley6 consigo ; Don Pedro de Tobar, teniendo noticia de
y en esta provincia hallamos puestas junto una laguna grande, donde decian estos
i, los pueblos, cruces ; y aqui hallamos tres naturales, hay muchas poblaciones ; y nos
Indios cristianos que se digeron llamar An- digeron habia en aquella tierra, oro, y que
dr^s de Cuyacan y Gaspar de Mexico y eran gente vestida, y que traian brazaletes
Anton de Guadalajara, que digeron haber y oregeres de oro, y que estaban sesenta
entrado con el dicho Gobemador Fran- jornadas, y que la gente del dicho Coro-
cisco Vazquez, y reform^ndolos en la len- nado, habia ido doce jornadas, adelante
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600.
67
Moqui. Only nine of his men accompanied him^ one hundred and fifty
Zunis, and the three Mexican Indians. It is well known that Espejo
penetrated even beyond Moqui into northwestern Arizona.^
It strikes us again, with what surprising boldness Espejo acted, con-
sidering the limited number of men that were along with him. In
addition to a remarkable faculty of gaining the confidence and friend-
ship of the Indians, he must have seen that these Indians were under
impressions, from the time of Coronado's visit, exceedingly favorable
to the whites, which he knew how to improve judiciously. It was no
small risk to leave six Spaniards, one of whom was a defenseless priest.
desta provincia, j que de alll se habian
Yuelto, por no haber hallado agna, y se les
habia acabado el agua qae llevaban, y nos
dieron sefias may conocidas de aquella lar
gana y riquezas que poseen loslndios que
en ella viven, y aunque yo, y alg^nos de
mis compafieros, quisimos ir i, esta laguna,
otrofi no quisieron acudir ^ ello; en esta
provinda hallamos gran cantidad de lino
de Castilla, que parece se cria en los cam-
po6 sin sembrallo, y nos dieron mucha no-
ticia de lo que habia en estas provincias,
donde estd la dicha laguna grande, de
como habian dado aquf al dicho Francisco
Vazquez Coronado y ^ su gente, machos
metales, y qae no los habian beneficiado
por no tener aderez para ello ; y en esta
provincia de Cibola, en un pueblo que lla-
man Aquico, el dicho padre Fray Bemal-
dino y Miguel Sanchez Yalenciano y su
mujer Casilda de Anaya, y Lazaro San-
chez y Miguel Sanchez Nebado, sus hi joe,
y Gregorio Hernandez y Crist6bal San-
chez, 6 Joan de Frias, que iban en nuestra
compafiSia, digeron que se querian volver ^
la Nueva Yizcaya, ^ donde habiamos sa-
lido, porque habian hallado, que Francisco
Vazquez Coronado no habia hallado oro ni
plata, y se habia Yuelto ; que tambien ellos
se querian yolver como lo hicieron. Las
costumbres y ritos son como los de las pro-
yincias que dejamos atrtLs, y tienen mucha
caza, y vistense de mantas de algodon y
de otras que parecen anjeo aqui tubimos
noticia de otra provincia que estll hAcia el
Poniente, cuatro jomadas, de 4i, siete le-
guas ; y al fin dellas, hallamos una provin-
cia que se llama Mohoce, con cinco pueblos,
en que i, nuestro parecer, bay mas de cin-
cuenta mil Animas ; y antes que lleg^emos
A ella, nos embiaban A decir que no fu^se-
mos allA, sine que nos matarfan."
With the exception of the change in the
name, Ami or Am^ for Zufii, the texts of
both copies are alike. There are consid-
erable variations, however, from Hak-
luyt*s version, which I reject as unreliable
and misleading.
* P. 182 : " . . . yo con nueve compafie-
ro8 que quedaron conmigo, que son Joan
Lopez de Ibarra, Bemado de Luna, Diego
Perez de Lujan y Graspar de Luxan,
Franco Barreto y Pedro Hernandez de
Almansa, Alonso de Miranda y Gregorio
Hernandez y Joan Fernandez, fuimos A
la dicha provincia de Mohoce.*' . . . The
word Mohoce is a Queres word. It is pro-
nounced Mo-o-tztt.
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68 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSl TRIBE.
among a native population of two or three thousand souls, for months,
and go off on a hazardous journey hundreds of miles away. When he
returned to Zuni, however, he found there ^^ the five companions whom
I had left, and the said Father Fray Bemaldino, who had not yet
departed with his companions. To all of them the Indians of the prov-
ince had given what they needed for their sustenance, and with all of
us they greatly rejoiced. The caciques came out to receive me and my
companions ; they gave us food and Indians as guides and carriers, and
when we took leave of them they made many promises, telling us to
return soon with many more Castillos (for so they call the Spaniards),
and declaring that in anticipation of it they would sow much com that
year, so as to have food for all." *
Espejo left Zuni in the first half of the year 1583 ; the exact date
of his arrival and departure are unknown to me.^ Although reliable in
a great many points, there is still about his narrative a certain doubt
which might, unless for somebody who is well acquainted with New
Mexico in general and the pueblos in particular, amount to a real cloud.
It is his fabulous estimate of the population, almost in each and every
case. We have seen that he gives the Zuni-pueblos twenty thousand
inhabitants ! Moqui he endows with fifty thousand,^ Jemes with thirty
thousand,^ Pecos with forty thousand,^ and so on. The exaggerations
^ P. 184 : '' Uegado qae fuf £ la pro- pafioles ; y que por esta causa sembraban
vincia de Zafii, hall^ en ella, los dichos mucho maiz, aquel afio, para darles de co-
compafierofi que alU deg^, j al dicho padre mer ^ todos ; j desde esta provincia, se
Fray Bemaldo, que aun no se habia Tuelto Yolvid el dicho padre Fray Bernaldiuo, y
con los compaiieros ; ^ todos los cuales, las personas que con ^1 habian quedado, y
loslndios de aquella provincia, habian dado con ellos, Gregorio Hernandez."
lo que para su sustento habian menester ; ' I am as yet unable to find either
y con todos nosotros se holgaron mucho, month or day, though I conjecture that he
y ^ mi y mis compafieros nos salieron ^ came to Zufii in November or December,
recibir los caciques, y nos di^ron muchos 1582.
bastimentos i Indios para guias y cargas ; ' P. 182.
y cuando dellos nos despedimos, hicieron ^ P. 179.
muchos ofrecimientos, diciendo que volvi- * P.^185. He calls the Pecos "Tamos."
^semos all^ otra vez, y que llev^emos mu- The identity of the Tamos with the Pecos
chos Castillos ; porque asi Uaman ^ los Es- is proven by the Journal of Oflate : Dis-
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ITS HISTORY FROM 15S9 TO 1600. 69
are manifest, and they tend to impair the reliability of his other state-
ments. Nevertheless, they can be explained and Espejo relieved from
the charge of willful misrepresentation.
I have already called attention to the fact that any Indian pueblo
of New Mexico appears, at a distance, twice and even three times as
large as it really is. This is a result of the peculiar architecture.^
Espejo traveled rapidly through many tribes ; he estimated the popula-
tion of most of the villages from their appearance at a distance, and in
this fact alone there was a source of involuntary exaggeration. But
the main cause of his mistake lies in the manner in which the Indians
received him. At the first villages he was met, not only by their inhab-
itants, but by as many as possible of the inhabitants of all the others
pertaining to the same group.^ Curiosity and suspicion caused the peo-
ple to gather upon his passage and to stay around his camp in the
pueblo as long as he remained. The same thing happens nowadays,
whenever any considerable party of whites visits a pueblo. Had Es-
pejo remained any length of time anywhere, he would have discovered
the error and modified his estimates accordingly. But, with his rapid
movements, he could not become enlightened. It is very likely that
often more than one and even more than two thousand Indians gath-
ered in one village to see him, and stayed there as long as he could
himself. The number may easily have been greater on several occa-
sions. He naturally assigned the number to that village alone, and
then computed the numbers of the tribe upon this basis, judging of
distant settlements by looks only. The extravagant population given
by Espejo for the Indian pueblos of New Mexico is, therefore, no re-
flection upon his truthfulness in general. He was sincere, and is reli-
able in most of his statements.
Through his report we learn for the first time of a name which it
is impossible not to recognize at once. ^^Aquico" stands in Espejo's
curso de las jomadas que hizo d campo ^ I have alluded to this in the paper on
de 8U magestad desde la Ntieva Espafla the identity of Zufii with Cibola.
dlaprovinciadelaNxievaMSxicOy 1599. ^ Relacian^ p* 172»
{Doe, de IndiaSf xvi. p. 258.)
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70 DOCUMENTABY HISTORY OF THE ZUMi TBIBE.
writings for " Hauicu ; " there can be no doubt about it. More valu-
able yet is his positive identification of Zuni with Cibola ! He says,
not as Hakluyt's version has it, that the Spaniards call it so/ but pos-
itively that it is Cibola. He also informs us that Coronado had been
there, and he found there the Indians from Mexico who remained after
the departure of Coronado and his men. We know from Castaiieda
that such was the case, and that the place where those Indians remained
was Cibola.^ Furthermore, Espejo tells us that at Zuni he heard of
the expedition by Pedro de Tobar to the west, and of the trip on which
the Spaniards were forced to return through want of water. This was
the excursion made by Garcia-Lopez de Cardenas to the Colorado River
of the West, and that excursion started from Cibola, passing through
the Moqui pueblos.^ The evidence furnished by Espejo in favor of the
identity of Zuni with Cibola is undeniable. " Tusayan " must also be
Moqui, as well as the " Asay " or " Osay " of Chamuscado.*
Espejo remarks, that the rites and customs of the Zuni people were
the same as those of the other New Mexican pueblos.
Speaking of the Rio Grande villages he remarks : " Now that we
found ourselves in the aforesaid settlements, and traveling up the
river, inside of two days we met ten occupied villages on the banks,
and on both sides of them, at some distance, other pueblos, which ap-
peared to contain over twelve thousand souls, — men, women, and chil-
dren. While we were passing through this province the people of each
village came out to receive us, they led us into them, and gave us a
quantity of fowls of the country, also maize, beans, and tortillas, and
other kinds of bread which they prepare in a different way from that
of the Mexican people. They grind the corn on large stones, and grind
it raw, five or six women doing the work together on one mill ; and of
this meal they make many different kinds of bread. The houses are
of two, three, and four stories, with many apartments in each house.
For winter-time they have estufas. In each one of the squares of the
^ '^ y los Espafiolee la llaman Cibola." * It is the only duster of pneblos north*
^ *' y por otro nombre Cibola." west of Zufii.
' See the first part of this chapter.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 71
pueblo they have two estufas^ which are houses built underground, very
warm and closed, with seats within to lean against. At the entrance
to each estufa there is a ladder which to descend, and great quanti-
ties of fire-wood, so that strangers might be comfortable there. In
this province some of the natives dress in cotton, also in cow-skins
and buckskins. The mantles they wear after the fashion of the Mexi-
cans, with the exception that below the privy parts they wear a cotton
handkerchief of many colors. Some also wear shirts, the women cot-
ton skirts, many of which are embroidered with colored threads, over
them a manta, like those of the Mexican women, tied with a handker-
chief like an embroidered towel, which they fasten around the waist with
tassels. The skirts serve as shirts, since they wear them on the body,
• . . both men and women wear shoes and boots, the soles of which are
of cow-hide and the uppers of buckskin. The women wear their hair
well combed, and arranged on both sides of the head . . . otherwise
they go bareheaded. Each pueblo has its caciques in proportion to
the number of inhabitants. These caciques have their Tequitatos
who are like Alguaziles, and execute in the village the orders of the
caciques as among the Mexicans. When the Spaniards ask the ca-
ciques for anything, the latter call the Tequitatos or public criers, who
publish the matter. Forthwith the people attend to it with celerity.
The decorations of the houses, and other things for their dances,
music as well as the rest, are like those of the Mexicans. They drink
roasted pinole, which is parched com in water, and apparently have no
other beverage or anything intoxicating. In each of the pueblos there
is a house where they feed the devil, keep small idols of stone, and
practice idolatries. As the Spaniards place crosses along the roads,
so these people erect from one pueblo to another, in the paths, little
piles of stones like shrines, where they leave painted sticks and plumes
saying, that here the demon comes to sit and talk to them. They plant
maize, beans, calabashes, and picietl. They irrigate their fields, have
large water-tanks, work their crops like the Mexicans, and each one has
in his field a shed on four posts, to which he goes to eat and rest at
noon ; for commonly they remain in the fields from morning till night.
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72
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUKl TRIBE.
. . . Their weapons are bows, arrows, clubs, and shields. The arrows
are of sticks hardened by fire, the points are sharp flints which easily
pass through a [^' esta," — a word which I am unable to find] ; the
shields are of cow-hide, like targets, the clubs of wood, half an ell in
length, very thick at one end." ^
* Relcunon, p. 172: "Ya que estabap
mos en las dichas poblaciones, prosigui-
endo el dicho rio arriba, en dos dias, ha-
llamos diez pueblos poblados, riberas de
dicho rio 7 de una y de otra banda junto
^ ^, dem^ destos pueblos, que parecian
desviados, en que pasando por ellas parecia
haber mas de doce mil ^mas, hombres y
mujeres y nifios ; pasando por esta provin-
cia, nos salieron & recibir de cada pueblo
la gente d^l y nos llevaban ^ ellos y nos
daban cantidad de gallinas de la tierra, y
maiz y frisol y tortillas y otras maneras
de pan que hacen con mas curiosidad que
la gente mexicana; muelen en piedras
muy crecidas y muelen maiz crude, cinco 6
seis mugeres juntas en un molino, y desta
harina hacen muchas diferencias de pan ;
tienen casas de dos y tres y cuatro altos y
con muchos aposentos en cada casa, y en
muchas casas dellas, tienen sus estufas para
tiempo de inviemo ; y en las plazas de los
pueblos en cada una dos estufas que son
Unas casas hechas debajo de la tierra, muy
abrigadas y cercadas de poyos, dentro de-
llas para asentarse ; y asimismo tienen ^ la
puerta de cada estufa una escalera para
abajar, y gran cantidad de lefla de comu-
nidad, para allf se recojan los f orasteros ;
en esta provincia se visten algunos de los
natorales, de mantas de algodon y cueros
de las vacas, y de gamuzas aderezadas ; y
las mantas de algodon las traen puestas al
uso mexicano, eceto que debajo de partes
yergonzosas traen unos pafios de algodon
pintados, y algunos delloe traen camisas,
y las mugeres traen naguas de algodon y
muchas dellas bordadas con hilo de colo-
res, y encima una manta como la traen los
Indies mezicanos, y atada con un paflo de
manos como toaUa labrada, y se lo atan
por la cintura con sus borlas, y las naguas
son que sirven de faldas de camisa & raiz
de las carnes, y esto cada uno lo trae con
la mas ventaja que puede; y todos, asf
hoinbres como mujeres, andan calzados
con zapatos y betas, las suelas de cuero de
yacas, y lo de encima de cuero de yenado
aderezado; las mugeres traen el cabello
muy peinado y bien puesto y con sus mol-
des que traen en la cabeza uno de una
parte y otro de otra, ^ donde ponen el ca-
bello con curiosidad sin traer nengun to-
cado en la cabeza ; tienen en cada pueblo
sus caciques d la gente que hay en cada
pueblo ; asi hay los caciques, y dichos ca-
ciques tienen sus tequitatos que son como
alguaziles que executan en el pueblo lo que
estos caciques mandan, ni mas ni menos
que la gente mexicana ; y en pidiendo los
Espafioles ^ los caciques de los pueblos
cualquier cosa, llaman ellos i, los tequitatos
y los tequitatos publican por el pueblo, ^
yoces, lo que piden ; y luego acuden con
lo que se les manda, con mucha breyedad ;
tienen todas las pinturas de sus casas y
otras cosas que tienen parH bailar y dan-
zar, asi en la mdsica como en lo demas,
muy al natural de los mexicanos ; beben
pinole tostado, ques maiz tostado y molido
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1639 TO 1600.
73
He mentions idols in several other places/ and while at Acoma he
describes a dance recalling the Snake-dance of the Moquis.^
We are reminded here of many present customs of the pueblo In-
dians. In fact, many of the points noticed by Espejo are found rather
among the Zunis to-day than among the villagers on the Bio Grande.
The latter have suffered greater changes, their mode of living is not
any longer as primitive as that of the Zunis.
7 hechado en agaa, no se sabe qae tengan
otra bebida ni con qae se emboirachen ;
tienen en oada nno destos pueblos una casa
donde Uevan de comer al demonio, y tie-
nen Idolos de piedra peqaefios donde idol-
atran ; y como los Espalioles tienen cmces
en lo8 caminos, elloe tienen en medio de an
paeblo ^ otro en medio del camino, anos
coizillos ^ manera de hamilladeroB hecho
de piedras donde ponen palos pintados y
plomas, diciendo, va alii ^ reposar el de-
monio y ^ hablar con ellos ; tienen semen-
teras de maiz, frisol y calabaza, y piciete,
qae es ana yerva may sana ; y de todo
esto hay sementeras de riego y de tem-
poral con may baenas sacas de agua y
qae lo labran como los mexicanos; y
cada ano en sa sementera tiene an portal
con caatro pilares donde le Uevan de
comer ^ medio dia y para la siesta, por-
qae de ordinario est^ en sas sementeras
desde la mafiana hasta la noche i» aso
de Caslilla; en esta provincia alcanzan
machos montes de pinales qae dan pifiones
como los de Castilla, y muchas salinas de
ana parte y de otra del rio, hay mas de
ana legaa y mas de cada banda de are-
nales, natural tierra para coger macho
maiz; tienen por armas arcos y flechas,
macanas y cbimales, qae las flechas son de
varas tostadas y las pantas dellas de pe-
dernal esqainadas, qae con ellas f acilmente
pasan una cota ; y los chimales, son de cu-
eros de vacas como adargas, y las macanas
son an palo de media vara de largo, y al
cabo d^ may gordo, con que se defienden
en estando dentro de sus casas."
I have copied the text of Espejo's re-
port as reproduced in the Expediente. It
will be easy to notice the few differences
between it and the text of the other copy,
which I have translated. What remains
unintelligible in the latter : the word ^' Es-
ta," which is here ^' cota," a coat of mail
or armor in general, is perfectly plain.
There are two expressions, also, taken
from the Nahaatl-language of Mexico,
which I have not translated. '^ Tequitato "
or Tequitlato: he who assesses tribute,
also the public crier. '^ Picietl " is a small
plant used in Mexico as a vegetable, and
also for medicinal purposes. Alguazil is
a Spanish word equivalent to the English
constable, an executive officer. Cuizillo
comes from '^ Cu," a Maya-word for place
of worship or sacred hillock.
^ At the pueblos of the Rio Grande,
Queres, p. 178. At Jemez, p. 179.
* P. 179 : " hicieron nos un mitote y
baile muy solemne, saliendo la gente muy
galana y haciendo muchos juegos de ma-
nos, algunos dellos, artificios con vivoras
vivas, que era cosa de ver lo uno y lo
otro."
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74 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
I have purposely copied from Espejo's report the tales which were
given him concerning the great lagune " sixty days' journey " from
Cibola, and about the large settlements and treasures of gold and sil-
ver found in its vicinity. These tales do not, as might be supposed,
refer to an unknown country, although Espejo understood it so. They
are simply recollections of what the Zunis had heard, from the Span-
iards as well as from the Mexican Indians who came with Coronado,
about Mexico, the valley, and its great natural pond. It is an instruc-
tive illustration of how, in the first place, tales of foreign countries
become fastened upon the mind of the aborigine, and, secondly, of
how often such tales, which properly related to countries whence the
Spaniards came, induced explorers to run after phantoms. Had Fray
Beltran not remonstrated, Espejo would have gone in search of the
lagune in the northwest, and might have found the great Utah Salt
Lake, but neither wealth nor pueblos. In all likelihood he would have
found death lurking on his path, — death from hunger, thirst, or from
hostile roaming natives. Still that tale, borrowed from the time of
Coronado, and relating to the valley of Mexico, has been incorporated
in subsequent reports as a piece of genuine information derived from
actual knowledge possessed by the Indians of Zuni.^
The further career of Espejo is well known. He returned to Santa
Barbara by way of the Pecos River .^ He did not make, and would
not make, any settlement in New Mexico at that time.^ The stories
about his founding Santa F6 in 1583 are inventions. But upon his
return, he submitted to the crown a proposal for settling the new coun-
try, which proposal could not be considered, since he died soon after.
In this document he contemplates the foundation of a colony at
Acoma ! Not a word is spoken about the region where Santa F^ now
stands, except that a reconnoissance should be made of the country of
the " Maguas," — these were the Tanos, on whose range Santa F6 was
subsequently established.*
* Fop instance, according to Fray G«r6- • Idem, p. 187.
nimo de Z^rate-Salmeron, Relaciones de * Expedients y Relacian del Viaje que
todas las cosas, etc. (MS. 102, 103). hizo Antonio de Espejo, 1584 {Doc. de
* Reladon del Vic^e, p. 186. Indias, xv. pp. 156, 157).
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 75
No further visit to Zuiii appears in the Spanish annals until the
close of the year 1598. Twice the Spaniards made dashes into New
Mexico, between the time of Espejo's return and that year; but
neither Caspar Castano de Sosa on his unauthorized foray, nor the raid
of Leyva and Humana, touched Zuni. Castano went only as far north
as Santo Domingo, where he was arrested by order of the viceroy, and
brought back in irons.^ The fate of Leyva and Humana was decided
on the great eastern plains, whence they never returned.^ But after
Juan de Onate, having at last obtained permission to move from the
mines of Caxco with his body of soldiers and colonists, entered New
Mexico by the Bio Grande route and established his headquarters at
the Tehua village of " Oj-Que," or San Juan, in August, 1598,* the
time had come when the invitations extended by the Zurds to Espejo
and the Spaniards in general — to stay among them permanently —
were to be realized. New Mexico was now included among the Span-
ish possessions de factOy not merely de jure^ as it had been heretofore,
and the pueblo Indians became direct vassals of the crown of Spain.
How this happened in regard to Zuni I shall now consider.
All the Spanish explorers previous to Oiiate had limited themselves
to taking possession of the country in general. Onate went through
the same formality on the banks of the Rio Grande, south of El Paso
del Norte.* When he reached the Queres village of Santo Domingo
^ Memoria del descubrimiento que Gas- • Discurso de las JomadaSy p. 262.
jpar Castaflo de Sosa ; hizo en el Nuevo It was on the 11th of August, 1598, that
Mexico, 1592 (Doc, de Indias, zy.). work was commenced on the Spanish set-
^ In regard to the expedition of Leyva- tlement at San Gabriel, where now is the
Bonilla and Humafia, great obscurity still station of Chamita on the D. & R. 6. R. R.
prevails. I have been able to fix the date On the 23d work was begun on the church,
approximately at 1595. They moved up which was finished on the 7th of Septem-
on the east side of the Rio Grande val- ber.
ley, in the plains, and out of sight of the ^ On the 30th of April. Discurso, p.
pueblos. A prairie fire, probably kindled 242. Also, Traslado de la Posesion que
by the Indians, destroyed the. whole party, en nombre de su Magestad tomd Don
with the exception of three, only one of Joan de Oftate ; de los Reynos y Provin-
whom was ever seen by the Spaniards cias de la Nueva Mexico (Doc. de Indias,
thereafter. xvi. pp. 88, 101).
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76 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUHtl TRIBE.
or ^^ 6ui-pu-j/' he found it necessary to tie each tribe by a special act
of allegiance to Spain. Of these documents there are seven, and
among them one executed at Zuni. The tenor of all is substantially
alike ; but the two first ones, the one at Santo Domingo, dated 7th of
July, 1598, and the one at San Juan, dated 9th of September, the
same year, differ from the others inasmuch as they include a number
of pueblos speaking distinct idioms, and are thus in a measure collec-
tive acts. Thus at Santo Domingo there were present, in addition to
the Queres, representatives of the Rio Grande Tiguas, of the Jemez,
and of Cia. The text of the documents says : —
^^All the aforesaid chiefs of the different nations were called and
assembled by the aforesaid Governor Don Joan de Onate; and, after
having heard mass with his lordship, they were summoned to appear
before him in the principal estufa of the aforesaid pueblo, and before
me Joan Perez de Donis, royal notary, and secretary of the government
of the said kingdoms and provinces, and by means of Joan del Caso,
interpreter in the Mexican tongue, and of the persons of Don Thomas
and Don Christobal, Indian interpreters of the languages which the
aforesaid natives use in these provinces, after having placed them
under oath and made the other acts touching the fidelity of the said
interpreters, he declared and proposed to the said chiefs the end and
object of his coming, saying, that he was sent by the most powerful
king and monarch of the world called Don Phelipe, King of Spain,
who, being desirous of serving God our Lord and of saving their souls,
and also wishing to have them for his vassals and to protect them and
secure them in justice as he had done in the case of all other natives
of the Indies, east and west, had sent him hither from distant lands at
heavy cost and with much difficulty. Now, then, since he had come
for this purpose, as they now saw, it behooved them and was very
important to them, that they should, out of their free will and for
themselves and in the name of their villages and commonwealths, give
obeisance and take allegiance unto the aforesaid King Don Phelipe
our lord, from which great benefits would arise to them, living in
peace and justice, protected from their enemies, with a rational govem-
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ITS HISTORY FROM 15S9 TO 1600. 77
ment and improvements in arts and trades^ in crops and in flocks ; to
which all answered, through the aforesaid interpreters, unanimously, of
common consent and with many demonstrations of pleasure, so that it
was plain that the coming of his lordship and his will as freely ex-
pressed, caused them satisfaction. They said that they desired to
become vassals of the aforesaid Most Christian King our lord, and
that as such they forthwith gave obedience and took allegiance to him,
and the said lord governor replied, that they should ponder it well,
that by taking allegiance and becoming vassals it meant to subject
themselves to his will and to his commands and laws, so that in case
they should not obey these, they would be punished severely as trans-
gressors of the commandments of their king and lord, that, therefore,
they should consider well what they wanted and answer. To this they
replied that they understood and wished to take allegiance to his
majesty, and to be his vassals, that they spoke sincerely, having con-
ferred several times among themselves and with their people. And
the said lord governor again told them about his coming in the name
of the aforesaid king our lord, and that since they took allegiance and
became his vassals of their own free will, they having seen that he did
them no harm nor permitted his soldiers to harm them, they should
kneel down and give obeisance and acknowledge allegiance to, and in
the name of, his majesty, in token that they and the Spaniards were
henceforth but one, and vassals of one and the same king." ^
^ Obedieneia y VasaUaje d su Mage- j por medio j lengaa de Joan del Caso,
stad por lo8 Indios de Santo Domingo, barahena en la lengaa mexicana, y de las
7th of July, 1598 {Doc. de IndiaSy zvi. personas de Don Thomas y Don Chripst<S-
pp. 103, 104) : <* Todos los sobredichos bal, Indies interpretes de las lengoas que
capitanes de las diferentes naciones Ua- los sobredichos naturales usan en estas
mados y congregados por el sobredicho provincias; despues de haberles tornado
Seflor Gobernador Don Joan de Ofiate, y jnramento hechas las diligencias d la fide-
despaes de haber oido Su Sefiorfa, missa, lidad de los dichos interpretes, reqoisitas
los fizo parecer en su presencia en la Es- declard y propose d los sobredichos capi-
tofa mayor de este sobredicho pueblo, y tanes, el intento y fin de su venida, did-
ante mi Joan Perez de Donis escribano de endo : —
8u Magestad Real y secretario de Gober- '' Como 41 era imbiado del mas pode^
nacion de los dichos Beynos y Provincias ; rose Bey y Monarca del Mundo Uamado
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78
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSti TRIBE.
The documents close with an exhortation to become baptized, etc.
They prove, that the pueblo Indians took the oath of allegiance to the
Spanish crown consciously, knowing what it meant and implied 1
There appear to have been no Zunis at the Santo Domingo meeting.
But at San Juan it is possible that they were represented. At least,
the Acomas took part in it, and there is a direct mention made of
Zuni.*
Don Phelipe Bey de Espafia, 61 que con
deseo del servicio de Dios Naestro Sefior
7 de la salvacion de bus almas, principal-
mente ; j assf mismo de tenerlos por sua
yasallos j ampararlos j mantenerlos en
justicia como & todos los demas naturales
de las Indias Orientales j Occidentales,
habia hecho j hacia ; j que i, este fin los
Labia ymbiado de tan lejas tierras d las
suyas, con excesiyos gastos j grandes trsr
bazos ; j que assi, pues, d esto era venido
como vian, les convenia muy muebo 6 im-
portaba que de su propia mera j libre yo-
luntad, por sf y en nombre de sus pueblos
J republicas como principales capitanes
que eran dellas, dar la obediencia y yasa-
Uaje al sobre dicho Rey Don Phelipe Nu-
estro Sefior, y quedar por sus subditos y
yasallos como lo habian hecbo los Reynos
de Mexico, Descues, Mecchoacan, Tlax-
cala, Guatemala y otros, de donde se les
seguiria yiyir en paz y justicia, y ampara-
dos de sus enemigos, y en pulicla racional,
y aproyechados en oficios y artes, y en
semillas y ganados; ^ lo qual, todos re-
spondieron mediante las dichas lenguas
un^nimes y de comun consentimiento y
con mucba demostracion de alegrfa ; i, lo
que notoriamente se yia y entendia que
tenian mucho contento con la yeoida de
su Seflorfa y de un acuerdo y delibera-
cion espont^nea de su yoluntad, dixieron :
que querian ser yasallos del dicho crixti-
anisimo Rey Nuestro Sefior, y como tales.
desde lu^o le daban la obediencia y yasal-
laje ; y el dicho Sefior Gobernador les re-
plied, que mirasen y entendiesen que el
dar la obediencia y yasallaje al Rey Nues-
tro Sefior, era sujetarse ^ su yoluntad y ^
sus mandamientos y leyes, y que sino los
gnardasen, serian castigados asperamente
como transgresores d los mandamientos de
su Rey y Sefior; y que ansi, yiesen lo
que querian y respondian ^ esto; £ lo
qual dixeron, que yd lo entendian y que
querian dar la obediencia d su Magestad,
y ser sus yasallos; y que ellos ablaban
yerdad, y que aqnello decian sin engafio y
sin hablar otra cosa detras ; y esto habien-
dose ablado durante esta pUtica, algunas
yeces entre si mismo, con sus macequales,
d los que les tornd d decir el dicho Sefior
Grobernador, que ^ yenia en nombre del
sobre dicho Rey Nuestro Sefior, y que
pues le daban la obediencia y yasallage de
su libre yoluntad y habian yisto que ^ no
les habia hecho mal ninguno ni consen-
tido que sus soldados lo hiciesen, que en
sefial de que todos eran nnos, los Espafioles
y ellos, y yasallos de un Rey, se incasen
de rodillas y le diesen la dicha obediencia
y yasallaje en nombre de su Magestad ; y
& esto tornaron i, responder, que asi era
yerdad y lo habian yisto y esperimentado ;
y luego se leyantaron y empezaron d incar
las rodillas en el suelo delante del dicho
Sefior Gobernador."
* Obediencia y VaaaUaje d su Mage*
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600. 79
The gathering on the 9th of September, 1598, in the principal
estufa of the village of San Juan was by far the most important one.
Its purpose was, to have the allegiances received previously at Santo
Domingo ratified,^ and the whole territory divided into parochial dis-
tricts, properly as many Missions, in the presence and with the consent
of the natives. In order that the Indians should come, Onate sent a
messenger, with a friendly address from himself, to the tribes of the
Tiguas, Queres, Tehuas, Pecos, Picuries, and Taos.^ Delegates of all
these pueblos were, therefore, present,® but the Zunis are not men-
tioned as having been represented ofKcially. Neither is Acoma ; still
the fact, that Indians, even influential members of the pueblo, were at
San Juan is asserted by Captain Caspar Perez de ViUagran, an eye-
witness and confidential officer of Onate.* The whole territory of
New Mexico and northern Arizona occupied (as far as known at that
time) by sedentary aborigines became thus divided into seven parishes
or mission districts,^ Zuni, under the misspelling of ^^Truni," being
assigned to Fray Andres Corchado. The paper reads : " To the
Father Fray Andres Corchado, the province of the Trias and the vil-
lages of Tamaya, Yacco, Tojagua, and Pelchiu, together with the
province of Acoma with its surrounding pueblos and neighbors, also
stad par los Indios del Pueblo de San los Taos ; y algana cantidad de sua mace-
Juan Baptista, 9th of September, 1598 guales en la Estraza mayor de este Pueblo
(Doe. de Indios, xvi.). j Valle de Sant Joan Batista."
^ Idemy p. 109 : " parescera tom<5 se- * Historia de la Nueva M^xico^ 1610
gonda vez bacer general janta de las pro- (Canto XVT. fol. 143) : —
yincias hasta agora descobiertasj que las " A muchoe braves baroAroB que aoiaii,
tiene tan sosegadas y sngetas." Venido por espias 4 espiarnos.
* Idem: "que con solo un mensagero Y £ ver las f ner^as y armas que alcan^anan,
• J. i«v Ml J • Alli los Espaftoles cnio brio,
mdio y un libnllo de memonas suyo per- ^ . . . ,
De mng^na nacioii foe mas notado,
sonal acudieron luego todos i. su mando y Como despues yeremos adelante,
llamamiento." Que de la fuer^a de Acoma tnuo,
'"yd nueve del mes de Septiembre Entre nosotros una grande espia,
deste afio de noventa y ocho, ayunt<$ los ^^ '"^^1 larga raaon lleu4 de toda"
Indios capitanes de las provincias de los * Obedienda y VasaUaje • . , de San
Cbiguas y Puaray de los Cherechos, de los Jiian Baptista, pp. 113-115 ; ViUagran,
TeguaSy de los Pecos, de los Picuries y de Historia, etc., fol. 156.
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80 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
the proyince of Truni and the proyince of Mohoce with all its pueblos^
all of which lie to the west of the great pueblo of Tria." ^
There is another misspelling in the case of Tria. It should be Cia^
or rather Tzia^ whence the mistake arose in copying from the original,
" Tz " being changed into " Tr/' A still more peculiar error has
occurred in the case of Acoma. This pueblo appears twice. First as
"Yacco" ("Y", "and" in Spanish, and "acco"), and under its
proper name. The same occurs in regard to Zuiii, and in this same
document. Fray Juan Claros is assigned to the Bio Grande Tiguas,
and " besides, the province of Xalay, the province of Mohoqui with its
pueblos." ^ Thus Zuni, under the name given to it by the Tiguas,
which is " Xaray," is assigned to one precinct, and under the name of
" Truni " to another.
Such confusions have frequently occurred, and in the enumerations
of pueblos in early documents we must always look for the same village
under various names, according to the language of the tribe from
which the Spaniards derived their information.
Zurd thus became endowed with a priest, or rather with two at once.
But I may as well state here that, owing to the immense territory
which each mission embraced, the appointment of a minister remained
purely nominal in the beginning. Besides, circumstances, to which I
shall refer in the next chapter, made it impossible for missionaries to
attend to their distant missions. Neither Fray Andres Corchado nor
Fray Juan Claros ever resided in any of the Zuni villages. I do not
even find any evidence of their having visited them. The ten priests
who accompanied Onate were employed elsewhere by him, to their own
great disgust and to the detriment of the Indians. They saw nothing
of their missions, excepting those who were assigned to pueblos in the
^ Obediencta [ut supra] : " Al Padre * Idem : " Al Padre Fray Joan Claros,
Fraj Andr^ Corchado, la Provincia de • • • 7 nias, la Provincia de Xalay, la
los Trias ... y la Provincia de Truni, y Provincia de Mohoqui con sus pueb-
la provincia de Mohoce con todos sus los."
Pueblos, que todos caen al Poniente del
gran Pueblo de Tria.*'
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600,
81
vicinity of San Juan. This first religious organization was, therefore,
only a provisional arrangement, which made no impression upon the
villages in the extreme west, such as Acoma, Zuiii, and the Moquis.
After this second gathering and council with the pueblo Indians,
Onate determined to visit the whole territory, repeating the same for-
mula of allegiance as often as possible in all the leading villages and
tribes. He set out accordingly from his camp, which was at the same
time the first Spanish establishment in New Mexico, and lay directly
opposite San Juan, on the delta between the confluence of the Bio
Grande with the Chama,^ on the 6th of October, 1598, for Pecos,^
thence to the Salines about the Manzano,^ thence to the Rio Grande at
Puaray,^ and from Puaray to Acoma, where he arrived on the 25th of
the same month,^ leaving this place soon after for Zuiii. The journal
of his march describes the route very clearly : —
^' From the rock of Acoma, traveling to Juni and Mohoce ... it is
four leagues to the source of Bad News Biver." ®
*^ To the spring of the rock, eight leagues."
^* To the brook that runs to Juni, four leagues, — here there are
three ruined pueblos."
^ The first settlement of the Spaniards
in New Mexico was made near where the
station of Chamita is now, opposite the
Indian pueblo of San Juan.
' Discurso de las JamaddSf p. 266.
' Idem; also: Ohedienciay VasaMaje
d su Magestad por los Indios del Pueblo
de Acolocd; and Obediencia. . • . del
Ptieblo de CuSloce, Both docaments are
in the collection of the Indies, vol. xvi.
The first bears the date of 12th of Octo-
ber, the second 17th of October, 1698.
* Discursoy p. 267.
* Idem,
* Idem, p. 274 : " Del Peflol de Acoma,
caminando & Jani j Mohoce, provincias
de may buenos Indios, ay qnatro legnas al
nacimiento del Rio de la Mala naeya."
** Al agaa de la Pefia, ocho leguas."
'^Al manantial qne ya ^ Joni, qoatro
legoas."
<' Al primer paeblo de Jani, tres legaas."
I cannot easily identify the points in-
dicated on this TOuiJd. It appears to me
that Oflate was led, or followed, a direct
trail, with which I am anacqaainted. But
when he reaches '^ the source that goes to
Juni," it is evident that he means the
Zuiii River, and the three ruins noticed
along the stream are easily recognized.
The "River of Bad News" was called
thus because on its banks he received the
dismal report about the massacre at
Acoma.
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82 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUNi TRIBE.
" To the first village of Juni, three leagues."
The three ruined villages along the Bio de Zuiii are those between
Pescado and the Zuni basin, and the first Zuni pueblo was '^ Matzaqui/'
as at the time of Coronado it was the last one which the Spaniards,
coming from Hauicu, were wont to meet.
The journal says : ^' Here they received our people very well ; it is a
country with a good deal of game ; there are crosses from times past
to which the Indians offer devotion and sacrifices, as well as to their
idols. Here were found children of the Mexican Indians whom Coro-
nado left there." ^
Villagran has left us a more elaborate description of the reception
afforded Onate by the Zuiiis, but this description is in verse, and
more valuable for its contents than for its poetic merit. I do not
attempt any direct translation, therefore, but limit myself to giving
the substance of the cumbersome rhyme.^
The Indians of Zuni came out to receive Onate at some distance
from the first village. They carried sacred meal, and sprinkled it over
the Spaniards, and as the troop entered the pueblo, the women did the
same from the tops of the roofs. They threw such quantities of flour
to the men that the latter had to protect themselves. Afterwards the
Spaniards were treated to the food of the country, and when the feast
was over, Onate caused a big cross to be erected in the square of the
pueblo. Mass was said, and then the Indians invited their visitors to
a grand hunt, on the plain of the Zuni basin. Villagran says that
^ *< Alii rescebieron may bien i, los Ofiate met their children still at the same
naestros, con todo lo necessario ; es tierra place.
de mucha caza, ay craces de dias atras, i. ^ The book contains very heavy, nay
quien los Indios tienen devocion, y ofrescen domsy, poetry. Still it is exceedingly
lo qae i, sus Idolos ; alii se hallaron hijos valaable. Villagran was an execrable
de los Indios mexicanos qae alii dex<5 poet, bat a reliable historian as far as he
Coronado." We have a confirmation of saw and took part in the events himself,
this fact in the whole series of writers from His narration of the tragedy at Acoma
Castafieda on. The latter says that Coro- and of the recaptare of the pueblo is too
nado left the Indians at Cibola, Espejo Homeric altogether; bat in this he fol-
foand them at Zaiii forty years later, and lowed the style of the period.
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ITS HISTORY FROM 1539 TO 1600.
83
over eight hundred men took part in it. These divided into two par-
ties^ each one fonning an arc of a circle. In this manner the game
was fully encompassed and driven gradually towards the centre, where
the Spaniards on horseback were clustered together as spectators. The
results of this butchery were eighty hares, thirty-four rabbits, and a
large number of smaller carnivorous animals. The game was offered
to the guests, who, of course, found it delicious. Returning to the
pueblo, Onate sent one of his officers to the South with orders to ex-
amine and report upon the salt marshes,^ while he proceeded to the
formality of receiving the oath of allegiance from the Zuni people.
* Historia de la Niieva Mexico (Canto
XVin. fol. 162, etc.) : —
" Con eBto fle paiti<5 de aqnella fuerQa,
Paaaando 4 Mohoce, Zibola, y Zufii,
For ooiaB nobles tienas descubrimoB,
Una gran tropa de Indios qne yenia,
Con oantidad hazina que eepardan,
Sobre la gente toda muy aprieasa,
T entrando aan en Iob pnebloe las mujeres,
Dieron en airojamoB tanta della,
Que diinos en tomarles los coetales,
De donde resnlt^ tener con ellas
Unas caznestolendas bien refiidas,
De grande passatiempo may trabadas,
Y Inego qne cansados ubo pazes,
Entre ellas y nosotros, por conoierto,
Con snino regooijo nos trazeron,
A todos qne corner en abnndancia,
T estando assi oomiendo nos dizeron,
Que aqnella cerimonia se hazia,
Por damos 4 entender con mas certoza
Que aasf como no puede ser qne el hombre
Pneda passar yiniendo alegremente,
Aqnella yida triste sin snstento,
Qne assi no era possible que paasasen,
Sin semos siempre amigos yerdaderos,
T yiendo que una cmz alll arbolamoe
Como nosotros la adoraron.
Al General y 4 todos oombidaron,
Para una ilnstre caza qne bazian,
T danddes en esto tanto g^nsto,
Tonuunoe los canallos y partimos,
Y llegado al pneblo estauan juntos,
Mas de ochocientos bamaros amigoe,
Y assi como nos yieron arrancazon,
Haziendo dos grandiosas mediae lunas,
Y cerrando los cnemos se mostraron,
En ciroulo redondo tan tendidos,
Que espacio de una legna rodeanan,
De sola trauesia, y en el medio
Con toda nnestra esquadra nos tanimos,
Y luego que empezaron el ogeo,
Cerrando todo el circulo yinieron,
A meter donde juntos nos quedamos,
Tantas liebres, oonejos, y raposos,
Qne entre los mismos pi^ de los canallos,
Pensaban gnarecerse, y sooorrerse,
Bien quisieron algnnos i>or sn gusto,
Andar alii 4 las bneltas con la ca^
Y dar 4 los raposos ciertos g^olpes,
Mas fu^ mandate ezpreso que ningnno,
Dezase de estar bien aperdbido,
Los pi4i en los estribos con cuidado,
Por no saber de oierto si bus pechos,
Fnessen tan buenos, nobles, y cenzillos,
Como ordinariamente se mostraron.
En esta alegre caza yimos muertas,
Largas ochenta liebres muy hermosas,
Treinta y quatro conejos, y no cnento,
Los raposos que alii tambien juntaron,
Y no 8^ yo que tenga todo el mundo,
Liebres de mas buen gusto, y mas sabrosas,
Mas crecidas, mas bellas, ni mas tiemas,
Que esta tierra produze, y sus contomos.
Con esto se bolnieron para el pueblo,
Y luego al Capitan Farf an mandaron.
Que fuesse 4 descubrir oiertas salinas.
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84 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUffI TRIBE.
On the ninth day of November, 1598, the " Act of obedience and
vassalage, by the Indians of the Province of Aguscobi " was executed
in the pueblo of Hauicu [Aguicobi]. There were present on the
Spanish side Onate himself, Fray Alonso Martinez, Commissary of the
Franciscan order in New Mexico and head of the missionaries who had
accompanied the expedition, Cristobal de Onate the governor's son, the
captains Villagran and Cessar, etc. On the side of the Zunis there
were in attendance a number of people, and conspicuous among them
were ^^ Negua Homi and Atishoa," said to be chiefs of the six villages
called ^' Aguicobi, Canabi, Coaqueria, Halonagu, Macaqui, Aquinsa." ^
In other respects the document does not differ from the preceding
ones. The speech that Onate made to the Indians was interpreted by
the Tano Indian called Don Thomas, and it is certified to by Juan
Velarde as secretary.^ Of the contents of this document, what is of
most value to us are the names of the pueblos enumerated. We find
here for the first time the villages of Cibola with their original names !
They are easy to recognize, — " Aguicobi " is Hauicu, " Coaqueria " is
Quiaquima, " Macaqui " is Matzaqui. Then we have " Halonagu," or
Halona-quin (on the site of which the present Zuni is built), and
^' Aquinsa," or A-pinaua (three miles southwest of Zuiii and in ruins).
^^ Canabi " has also been identified by Mr. Cushing ; but there are only
six, whereas Coronado found seven ! We must remember that Cha-
muscado mentions six also, and even Espejo gives the same number.
The document of Onate has greater weight than reports of transient
De qne gnmde ootieia se tenia, (Doc. de Indios, xvi., Ixvi. p. 133). ^' Ne
Y poniendo por obra aquel mandato, g^^ homi y Atishoa, capitanes que dixieron
Con prerta diligenda, y bnen cnidado, ^^ ^^ j^ ^^j^ y^^^ y^^^ ^^.
£nbrebedi61abaelta,ydixodelloB, ,. ^ , . ^^ i \r . * .
Quo eian tan candaloeaB, y tan grandee, ^^^^ Canabi, Halonagu, Macaqui, Aqurn-
Qne por eepacio de nna legna laiga, ^*
Mostzanatodaaqnellaflaldegraesso, ' Idem: '^Y ante mi Joan Velarde,
Una mny larga pica bien tendida.'' Secretario, y por medio y lengna del sobre
Discurso, p. 274 : << Desde alii, se des- dicho, Comisario, y Don Thomas, Indio in-
cubrid, nueve legnas hacia Oriente, la sa- terprete, did & entender Sn Sefloria el
Una de Grano, famossa." Sefior Gobemador, el intento de sn venida,
^ Obedieneiay Vasallaje&su Magestad d los sobre dichos capitanes y lo que les
por los Indios de la Frovineia de Aguscobi convenia hacer, diciendo."
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ITS HISTORY FROM 16S9 TO 1600. 85
explorers. It is an official list of all the villages inhabited by the peo-
ple of Zuni at the end of the sixteenth century. On the other hand^
we can scarcely doubt the evidence furnished by the chroniclers of Cor-
onadoy that in 1540 there were seven. I therefore consider it as proba-
ble that one village was abandoned within forty years after Coronado's
departure, not in consequence of the Spaniards, but owing to circum-
stances of which we have no means to ascertain as yet.
From Zuiii, Onate pushed on to the Moquis. His stay at Hauicu
was short, for on the fifteenth day of November we find him at Ahu-
atu, which he calls '^ Aguatuya." ^ Upon his return he passed through
the Zuiii villages again, in December, and probably about the 10th of
the month. Li the mean time, the Indians of Acoma had treacherously
murdered the Maestre de Campo, Don Juan de Zalvivar, and fourteen
men, who were following Onate's troop with orders to rejoin them at
Zuni.^ Had it not been for the information which Onate received ten
leagues west of Acoma,^ he would also have fallen into a trap disasr
trous to himself and his people. But he was warned in time, and re-
turned to San Gabriel by a circuitous route, avoiding the dangerous
rock and its hostile inhabitants.^ The storming of Acoma by Vicente
de Zaldivar in January, 1599,^ put an end to the insurrection which
otherwise might have spread to all the other pueblos, Zuiii included,
and the punishment inflicted upon the Acoma people, severe as it was,
was by no means in excess of their crime and of the military necessity
thereby created.®
^ Obediencia y VasdUajej etc., etc., de century. Zaldivar had hardly seventy
la Pravincia de Mohoqui (Idemy xvi. p. Spaniards, all told. The Indians foaght
137). desperately.
' Dtscurso, p. 268. On the 4th of De- * It was the intention of the Acomas to
eember. slaughter Qfiate and his whole corps, after
' Idemy p. 269. they had volantarily taken allegiance,
^ Idem, He arrived at San Juan on which ceremony was performed at the foot
the 2l8t of December. of the formidable rock. Ofiate was to
* Idemy pp. 370. The assault lasted have been enticed into a dark estufa and
three days, the pueblo being finally taken there secretly dispatched. The plan is ex-
on the 24th of January. It was one of posed in full by Yillagran, MUtaria, Canto
the boldest undertakings of the sixteenth XYII. f ol. 160, and Canto XXI. f ol. 186.
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86
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSi TRIBE,
The swift chastisement of the Indians of Acoma placed Spanish dom-
ination in New Mexico on a finn basis. That the apparently impreg-
nable rock was taken by assault made the whites invincible in the eyes
of all the pueblos. It did not render the vanquished tribe any more
accessible to European influence, however. Cowed, but not convinced,
the Acomas maintained an attitude which rendered any attempt to ap-
proach them very uncomfortable, until the heroic efforts of a Francis-
can priest opened, not only their village, but also their hearts, to Chris-
tianity.^ Their hostility until then made it also dif&cult to approach
Zuni. This and the limited number of missionaries in the distant and
unpromising North, together with the designs of Oiiate upon Quivira
and the quarrels arising from his attempts to reach it, to the detriment
of the colony near San Juan, caused the mission of Zufii to remain
without a minister in the sixteenth century.^ The Zunis had been
baptized in part, but that was all. They were nominally vassals of
Spain. It is in the seventeenth century that the Spaniards, and chiefly
the missionaries, obtained a permanent foothold at Cibola-Zuiii. With
the close of the sixteenth century I have also reached the limits of this
chapter; subsequent events may be foreshadowed in it, but not de-
scribed in detail.
It failed owing to the prudence displayed
by Oflate, bat Juan de Zaldivar, feeling
perfectly secure, was butchered while on
the rock and in the houses of the pueblo.
On the part of the Acomas, it was an act
of unpardonable treachery, for the Span-
iards had given them no cause for com-
plaint whatever, and they had allured
them by offering to take allegiance to the
crown of Spain.
^ Fray Juan Ramirez was the apostle to
the Acomas. He went there in 1629,
alone, without escort, ascended the rock
and remained there, in spite of the hos-
tility of its inhabitants. He caused the
first church to be built, and had it built
by the Indians themselves. Yetancart,
Menoloffio, p. 247, and Fray Alonso de
Benavides, Memorial, 1630, p. 32, fix the
date.
^ There is no trace of permanent resi-
dence of a prieist among the Zuflis until
the period when Fray Alonso de Benavi-
des became custodian of New Mexico, or
rather after 1628, when Fray Estevan de
Perea brought quite a number of mission-
aries with him into the country. MemUh
ffio, p. 52, and Benavides, Memorial, p.
33. I shall mention this at length in the
next chapter, as well as the troubles caused
by Ofiate*s headless enterprise and injudi-
cious conduct towards the clergy.
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CHAPTER m.
ZUOT IN THE SBVKNTBENTH OEISTTURY.
[Section L 1599-1680.]
The almost total destruction of the archives in New Mexico by the
Indians, in 1680/ and the neglect of what remained or was created
after the reconquest, which neglect is usually attributed to the repre-
sentatives of the American government/ renders it impossible to write
a complete history of any part of the territory without a thorough
study of Spanish archives. Until a work, similar to that which I have
undertaken at Mexico, is performed also at Sevilla and Madrid, whole
periods of the past of New Mexico must remain obscure. This is par^
ticularly the case with the seventeenth century, previous to the great
^ The loss was almost complete. I have
been able to secare one original document
from 1643, and there are three more at
the Archives. This loss is lamented in
1691 by the Provincial of the Franciscan
order in Mexico: Fray Diego Truxillo,
Relacwn Jurada . , . al exmo Sr, Virey
Conde de Oalve (Doc. para la Hist, de
MSxico, Segimda S^rie, vol. i. p. 99):
'' No tengo instromento alguno autorizado
que poder presentar porque todos los que
tenia dicha custodia se perdieron con la
perdida del Nuevo Mexico en la subleva^
cion de los Indios.^' The documents prior
to 1680, excepting the few I found at Mex-
ico, must be looked for in Spain and at
Rome, provided always that the vandalism
displayed by the Italian government in
scattering the convent libraries and ar-
chives has not destroyed also those of the
Franciscan order.
^ In 1870, under the administration of
Grovemor Pyle, afterwards United States
minister to Venezuela. How far Gov-
ernor Pyle is responsible exclusively for
the dispersion of the territorial archives, I
have not as yet been able to ascertain.
But the fact that, with his knowledge and
consent, wagon loads of papers were sold
for trifles, thrown away, and even burned,
is stated here by numerous parties who
were contemporaries, and even eye-wit-
nesses. Still, there is as yet too much in-
dividual passion controlling reports about
the event for implicit confidence to be
placed in details. The fact of criminal
waste, to say the least, on the part of
United States authorities is, however,
placed beyond a doubt.
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88 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUHtl TRIBE.
rebellion of the pueblo Indians. In regard to the sixteenth century,
the publication, by the royal government of Spain, of the early por-
tions of its archives relative to America has thrown light upon many
points, and there is not so much cause for regret. But the times after
Onate have not been reached as yet, the material accumulated in the
Archives of the Indies being so immense that there is no immediate
prospect of its publication ; unless the task is taken in hand indepen-
dent of the systematic plan pursued by the Spanish authorities. I can-
not, therefore, in this chapter, promise anything but a fragmentary his-
tory, patched, so to speak, together, with such material as I have been
able to obtain at Mexico and elsewhere. I have unearthed at the Na-
tional Archives of Mexico much that no history of the territory — an-
cient or modern — contains, but there is, unfortunately, very little in it
that relates directly to Zuni.^ Still, Spanish colonization of the north-
em Southwest is placed in a new light by documents in my possession,
and this light throws a faint gleam also on the past of the tribe whose
fate under the rule of Spain forms the subject of my investigations.
There is a blank in Spanish documents (that is, as far as my know-
ledge of them goes) in regard to Zuni, from the year 1599 to the year
1604. I would not be surprised if it were found subsequently that
this blank could not be filled. I am led to this inference by the nature
of the events following the ultimate pacification of the pueblos, and by
the action of Don Juan de Onate himself. The strange hallucination
of seeking imaginary wealth at Quivira had taken hold of that govern-
or's mind with such irresistible force, that he became reckless enough
to disregard the interests of his government and the safety of the
young colony by running after a phantom with the greater portion of
his forces, leaving the settlement of San Gabriel unprotected, taking
^ It is with the greatest regret that I umentary history of Zuili; even as far
have to state here, that I have been as yet back as the sixteenth century. But a sim-
unable to visit and study the lapidary evi- pie tourist's visit with pen and sketch-
dences furnished on what is called '^ In- book, or even with a camera, is nothing,
scription Rock " between Zufli and San It requires a number of days, nay, weeks,
Rafael. The large number of inscriptions spent in careful deciphering, on the spot
there contain valuable material for a doo-
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ZUMI IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 89
the missionaries away from their pueblos, and thus exposing all that he
had commenced to eventual wreck and ruin.^ It is not the place here
to prove the utter fallacy of his extravagant notions concerning Qui-
vira. All that I can do is to recall Coronado's own clear, positive, and
exceedingly discouraging descriptions of that roaming tribe of north-
em Indians, temporarily located, in his time, in eastern Kansas,^ and to
point out, as instructive for the study of the colonization of America
in general, how quickly and easily the sober truth was lost sight of at
a time when " great expectations " were the order of the day, when
everything appeared big, promising, and rich, as long as it was un-
known or but partially explored.^ Onate yielded completely to the
Quivira-illusion, probably the easier, since he had found out the truth
about New Mexico and was, therefore, anxious to find something better.
Onate was far from being a favorite of the viceroy of New Spain,
the Count of Monterey. That high dignitary failed to admire him
from the very beginning ; he even impeded his actions as much as pos-
sible. The reasons therefor seem to have been of a private, per-
haps even of an egotistic, nature ; ^ but in the end the viceroy's distrust
became justified. During Onate's adventurous search of Quivira in
1601, the settlement at Chamita was exposed to such neglect and im-
mediate danger, the missionaries were reduced to such a complete impos-
sibility of performing their duties, that with common consent a majority
^ See, in relation to it, Fray Juan de jects for study, on account of its impor-
Escalona, Carta de Eektcion, Ist of Octo- tance for the History of Colonization. It
ber, 160(1?) in (Torquemada, Monarchia shows how strong the tendencies were, at
Indiana^ vol. L p. 674) ; and Fray Fran- an i^e when mankind was almost overpow-
cisco de San Miguel, Carta, 29th of Feb- ered by new geographical discoveries, to
mary, 1602 (Ideniy p. 677). see eyer3rthing in the light of the marvel-
* Compare Coronado, Carta aX Empe- ous, and to discredit everything that ap-
rador, 1541 (Doe. de Indias, iii. p. 366) ; peared to be sober truth. This was the
also Jaramillo, Melacion HecJia, p. 314; case with the public ; the higher authorities
and Castafieda, Cibola, were better informed, and they yielded to
' It would be too tedious to quote proof the spirit of the times only when it was
in favor of this statement. The Quivira in the interest of the crown,
question is, like the South American *^ Do- * Real C^tUa^ 8th of May, 1696
rado," one of the most interesting sub- (MS.).
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90 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
of the settlers and priests returned to Santa Barbara, and when the
governor at last came back, with empty hands and his people worn out
and discouraged, he found but a few half-starved soldiers and two
priests, all of whom laid their destitution at his door.^ Under such
circumstances, no attention could be paid to missions as distant and as
difficult of access as Zuni ; therefore I hold it as highly probable that
no attempt was made to hold direct intercourse with these Indians in
any manner until 1604.
Onate abandoned the idea of reaching Quivira for a time, and turned
his eyes to the West. He had already proposed to the viceroy a tour
of exploration to the South Sea in 1599.^ The reasons alleged by him
in favor of the enterprise were : " The certainty of the proximity of
the South Sea, whose commerce with Piru, New Spain, and China is
not to be disdained. . • . And what I hold to be of esteem in it are
the pearls, the reports of which are as certain, as I have said, and of
which we have seen the shells here." ^
This shows again, that the pueblos had, at that time already, the iri-
descent bivalves from the Gulf of California,^ and consequently, that
the statements about limited intercourse, by way of trade, with the
coast are true. For this intercourse Zuiii was the natural gateway
through which the products of the West could reach ultimately the
heart of. New Mexico.
Although less than partial in favor of Oiiate, the Count of Monterey
had sufficient tact to yield to the interests of Spanish colonization, and
^ Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, continaados portazgos, por la macha cer-
Yol. i. p. 677. cania, en especial £ la China y £ esa tierra ;
* Copia de Carta Escripta al Virrey j lo que en este pongo destimas es la con-
Cande de Monterrey ; Dan Jtian de tratacion de las perlas, cuya noticia es tan
Oiiate ; de la Nueva Mexico, 2d of March, cierta, como he ref erido, y experiencia en
1599 {Doc. de Indians, xvi. pp. 302-315). bus conchos de que aca la tenemos hecho
• Idem, p. 311. " . . .la segunda, la por vista de ojos."
certidumbre de la cercana Mar del Sur, ^ These shells are mentioned plainly by
cuyo contrato de Piru, Nueva Espafla y Fray Geronimo de Zirate-Salmeron : Re-
China, no es de menospreciar, pues ha de lactones de todas las Cosas, etc., p. 56.
parir, andando el tiempo, proyechosos y
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ZUNI IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 91
not to refuse his aid from the moment the conquest of New Mexico
became a permanent fact. But he was, like nearly all the viceroys,
much more sober in his views and expectations than the subalterns.
He considered the distant North, first as a doubtful experiment, then
as a military necessity. His report to the king, dated May, 1602,
clearly shows that the wealth imputed to the new country appeared to
him more than problematic. But for the purpose of an outpost, as a
safeguard against invasions of northern barbarians, and against en-
croachments from the Atlantic side of North America by England and
France, he recommended that Onate's plans be encouraged, as far as
prudence would admit.*
It would appear that, previous to the year 1602, an expedition was
made to the westward by Vicente de Zaldivar, who had succeeded to
Juan de Saldivar (murdered at Acoma) as '^ Maestre de Campo." That
expedition consisted of twenty-five men, and is said to have passed
through Zuni as well as through Moqui. Still, the information is of a
character which makes me hesitate as yet to consider the journey as a
fact. It comes from Zaldivar himself ! I have no additional evidence
beyond a document coming from the notorious Diego de Peiialosa. It
is, therefore, very suspicious, to say the least ! ^
The expedition made by Juan de Onate, however, from San Gabriel
* Diseurso y Proposicion que se hace con yeinte 6 cinco hombres, fue £ desco-
d Vuestra Magestad de lo Tocante d loa brir el Poniente, y en mas de dncientas
Descubrimientos del Nuevo M4xico^ 1602 legaas, pasd por muchas naciones belico-
{Doc, de IndiaSy xvi.). I do not quote in sas, que hizo de paz, dindoles muchas
detail, as the subject is merely accessory cosas — por lo cual se guiaban y daban
to the history of Zufii. The whole letter razon de la tierra."
of the viceroy is of great value. It gives " Dicenlo cuatro testigos de los veinte 4
an insight into the real position occupied cinco, y oti*os muchos que le vieron salir y
by the crown and its chief officers towards volver, y lo oy^ron y fu^ ptiblico."
the extravaganzas of discoverers, etc. Diego Dionisio de Peiialosa places an
' The testimonies are found in Otra expedition of Vicente de Zaldivar to the
Infarmacion de Servicios del Mismo South Sea in the year 1618. It is super-
Maestre de Campo : Siendo Sargento fluous to say that the date alone is already
Mayor ; Fecha Ante el Adelantado {Doc, erroneous. Pefialosa was exceedingly
de IndiaSy xvi. p. 219) : " Pregunta — Que given to the " invention " of documents.
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92 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSl TRIBE.
on the Rio Grande del Norte, to the mouth of the Colorado River of
the West, in the years 1604-1605, is not subject to any doubt. The
journey took place ; it began on the seventh day of October, 1604, and
ended on the twenty-fifth day of April, 1605.*
Not more than thirty inexperienced soldiers and two priests (Fray
Francisco de Escobar, and Fray Juan de Buenaventura) accompanied
Onate : " They traveled westward sixty leagues, till they reached the
province of Cuni, which lies in a plain more thickly inhabited by hares
and rabbits than by Indians. There are six villages, in all of which
together there are over three hundred houses, with terraces and many
stories, like those of New Mexico. The principal pueblo and chief
place is the pueblo of Civola, called in their language ^ Hauico.' It
contains 110 houses ; their sustenance is the same as it is all over the
country: Maize, beans, calabash, game. They dress in mantles of
Yxtli made out of thistles ; they have no cotton. Leaving this vil-
lage, and after having gone twenty leagues, between northwest and
west, they arrived at the province of Moqui. There are seven pueblos
here, in all 450 houses, after the same style ; the people have mantles
of cotton." ^
^ Zirate-Salmeron, Relaeionea, art. 44.
* Id&nij art 44: ''Alio de 1604, ^ 7
dias del mes de Octabre, salid D. Juan de
Ofiate de la villa de Sn. Gabriel ^ desca-
brir la mar del Sur, Uevd en sn oompafiia
al Pe Ft. Francisco de Escobar comisario
qae entonces era de aqaellas proyincias, j
un religioso lego llamado Fr. Jaan de Ba-
enaventora, varones apostdlicos ; el comi-
sario era hombre may docto, y tabo don
de lengaas, pues todas las deprendid con
gran f acilidad : lievd en esta jomada 30
soldados los mas de ellos Yisoflos y no
Uevaron mas de catorze pares de armas de
cavallos. Gaminaron aquel Poniente 60
leguas, llegaron i, la Proyincia de Cufii
que estd en unos llanos mas poblados de
liebres y conejos, que de Yndios. Son 6
pueblos, en todos ellos no hay mas de 300
casas de terrados de muchos altos, como
las de Nuevo Mexico. £1 pueblo mayor,
y caveza de todos es el Pueblo de Ciyola
que en su lengua se llama Havico tiene
110 casas, el sustento como el General en
toda la tierra. Maiz, frijol, calabazas,
came de monterfa: Yistense de mantas
de Yztli texidas de cardoncillo, no tienen
estos Yndios algodon; partieron de este
pueblo, y £ 20 leguas andadas entre el
Nomeste, y Poniente llegaron £ la Proa
de Moqui, son siete pueblos, y en todos
450 casas el mismo modo de casas, y man-
tas de algodon."
This journey made by Juan de Ofiate is
mentioned also by Fray Agustin de Yetan-
curt in various places. Teatro MexicanOj
edition of 1871, vol. i. pp. 236, 262, 263;
Idem, vol. ii. p. 201.
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ZUiri IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 93
" There are in the province of Zuni mines of silver on [mineral-]
blue so fine that they use it for paintings and carry it to the settle-
ments of New Mexico for sale." *
The author of this report, Fray Gerdnimo de Z^rate-Salmeron, was
not in New Mexico at the time of this expedition, but soon after.^
There existed a narrative written by an eye-witness of it, which report
I have so far been unable to find.^ Onate went as far as the mouth
of the Colorado, and returned safely to San GtibrieL It is presumable
that he passed through Zuiii again. From what I have quoted we
gather : first, a confirmation of my former conclusion, that the Cibola
of Coronado was not the Cibola of Fray Marcos, though pertaining
likewise to the cluster of Zuni pueblos, but that it was Hauicu or
Aguas-calientes. Secondly, we learn again of the existence of only
six villages, one less than there were sixty years previous ; and lastly,
that cotton was not raised in the Zuni country. What Father Z^rate
says of mines is to be taken with some allowance. The men of that
time were as easily deceived by the blue and green colors of copper
carbonates as the modem enthusiast and the prospector. They also
had to learn, and at some expense, how misleading appearances are in
the Southwest. I might as well state here, that the tales of Spanish
mining in New Mexico, at an early date, are as many fables. Still the
Spaniards were better prepared to judge of the intrinsic value of New
Mexican ores than the prospector of our day, in the majority of cases,
since they had gone, at least many of them, through a course of prac-
tical training in northern Mexico, where the formations resemble more
closely those of New Mexico than anything in the East or in Europe.
^ Zitrate : ''En la provincia de Zofli pp. 13, 263, that both Fray Boqae Figae-
hay minas de plata sobre azul tan fino, qne redo and Fray Francisco de Escobar wrote
es con que ellos pintan, y llevan 4k vender narratiyes of the expedition. The former
AlosPoblado del nuevo Mexico ; Yo tengo took no part in it, however. Two writings
anas piedras para enseflar, y me dijeron los of him on New Mexico are mentioned by
pintores era el mejor aznl del mando." Beristain y Sonza, Bihlioteca Hispan(h
^ He was in New Mexico previous to Americana SeterUrianaly edition of 1883^
1626. voL i. p. 443.
* It appears from Yetancart, Teatro, i.
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94 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU^I TRIBE.
We cannot overlook the positive statement, of an official character,
made in 1725 by the Brigadier Don Pedro de Rivera, concerning the
mineral wealth of the territory : ^^ In the said kingdom a few ores have
been found, but the metallic product was so small that it did not cover
the cost of production, wherefore the mines have been abandoned." ^
In addition to this are the complaints made by Fray Z^rate as well
as by Fray Alonso de Benavides, already in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, that the Spaniards in New Mexico were very indif-
ferent about mining, paying no attention to it whatever.^
I regret to state that for over twenty years after Onate's return to
San Gabriel there is again a complete blank about Zuiii, in the Span-
ish documents at my command. So much seems to be certain, that no
missionary resided among its Indians, and that no colonists attempted
to settle in their neighborhood. The Cibola of old remained Untouched
by European culture and by Christian doctrine. When Fray Alonso
de Benavides became custodian of New Mexico, in 1622, Zuni was
looked upon as virgin soil for a missionary.^ It was even regarded as
dangerous, principally on account of the long journey through desert
regions, and on account of the tribe of Acoma, the ferocity of which
was dreaded.* Another and powerful reason for this abandonment of
distant missions in general was the lack of missionaries and colonists.
In 1617 there were in New Mexico but a dozen priests ; and to protect
these and hold the only post in the country, Santa F^, there were only
forty-eight men armed or able to bear arms.^ The province was so
very far away from the other colonies, without a single relay between it
and southern Chihuahua, that people went there only with reluctance ;
and the Franciscans themselves were hardly encouraged to come by
the conduct of governors like Don Pedro de Peralta and Bernardino de
Ceballos, who succeeded Onate.® New Mexico was to Spain a military
^ Diario y Derrotero, 1736, p. 32. « Real CSdula, 20th of May, 1630
* Rdaciones, art. 34, 35 ; Benavides, (MS.).
Memorial, 1630, pp. 17, 18. * The quarrels hetween the clergy and
* Vetancurt, Menologio, p. 52. the governors hegan already under Don
* Idem, p. 247. Pedro de Peralta. They were exceed-
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ZUltl IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 95
necessity^ and nothing else ; it was, and always remained, a heavy load
upon the government, which derived absolutely nothing from it, in re-
turn for large outlays, but Indian subjects of doubtful allegiance, and
an indifferent protection of the South from roving bands. It may be
said that the New Mexican colony was an imperfect lightning-rod for
the more remunerative Spanish possessions in Chihuahua and Coahuila.^
A reinforcement of the clergy took place in 1622, when Fray Bena-
vides went to New Mexico with twenty-six priests.^ Conversion began
with renewed zeal. The field waa enlarged through endeavors to
approach the Navajos and Apaches.^ They were successful only for a
short time, but saved the tribe of Jemez from utter destruction by
those hereditary foes of all civilization.^ The villages of the Jemez
had already been abandoned in consequence of the forays of the Nava-
jos ; the two churches at San Diego and San Joseph were crumbling,
when Fray Martin de Arvide asked permission from his superior to at-
tempt a reestablishment of the missions.^ I mention this missionary
here, because his tragic end took place not far from the villages of
Zuni, and even, perhaps, at the hands of some of its Indians. In 1627
only nineteen of the priests led into New Mexico by Benavides were
still alive. Seven had died in five years ! The king, therefore, gave
permission to obtain new recruits ; and in 1629 Fray Estevan de Perea
came with thirty new missionaries.® Among them were Fray Juan
ingly bitter under Admiral Bernardino de relacion. . . . y que auri como cinco
Ceyallos in 1617. But the priests evi- aiios, por el Gapitulo Provincial, q se cele-
dently were in the right, and the grounds brd della Frai Alonso de Benauides . . .
they took were legal and just. Compare y le distis despacho para lleuar veinte y
AutoB de Proceso contra Juan de Eaear- seis Ministros i aquellas conuersiones
ramad, 1617 (MS.). [como los lleu6J."
^ This was the chief importance of New • Benavides, Memarialf pp. 62-76.
Mexico to the Spanish crown, and it is so ^ Idenif p. 27 ; Yetancurt, Menologio,
frequently insisted upon in documents of p. 76.
all kinds, that I refrain from quotbg ' Menologio, p. 76.
any. • Yetancurt, Cr6nica de la Pravincia
• Seal C^tila, 15th of November, 1627 d^ Santo Evangelio de MdxieOj ed. of
(in Benavides, Menwrud, pp. 1, 2). "Frai 1871, p. 300 ; Benavides, Memorial, p. 2.
luan de Santander, etc., etc., me a hecho
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96
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUftI TRIBE.
Ramirez and Fray Francisco Letrado. The former became the aposde
of the Acomas/ the latter the apostle of the Zuiiis.
Bom at " Talavera de la Reina," in Spain, Fray Francisco Letrado
took orders in his native land, and then crossed the ocean to Mexico.^
He began work in New Mexico among the Jumanos, but very soon, in
all probability in the same year,^ he penetrated to the Zunis. He may
have been accompanied by a small escort, for at the time of his death
there were a few Spanish soldiers in the vicinity.^ It would seem that
the Zuiiis received him amicably, and they so far yielded to his teach-
ings and example, that, previous to the year 1630, there were built two
churches, in two of the Zuiii villages, each one with its " convent," as
the priests' residence was called, and a number of the Indians (greatly
overstated by Benavides) were baptized.'^ One of these churches was
at Hauicu, and was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception ; the other,
probably at Halona, and dedicated to the Purification.® Fray Letrado
himself lived at Hauicu ; but his eyes were turned further to the West,
towards a tribe of Indians called by Vetancurt (from whose chronicle I
gather these details) ^^ Zipias/' ^ The Zuiiis designate by the name of
* Yetancnrt, Menoiogioj p. 247.
* Idem, p. 52: "El venerable padre
fray Francisco Letrado, natural de Tala-
vera de la Beina, hijo de la Santa Provin-
cia de Gastilla, pasd con deseo de convert
tir almas para Dies ^ la Provincia del
Santo Evangelio, j viendo que estaban
convertidos, decia que su intento principal
era buscar que convertir, y asi pasd al Nu-
evo Mexico el aflo de 1628 con los treinta
religiosos que fueron d la conversion."
* Idem: "Entrd en la nueva conver-
sion de los humanas ; bautizd d muchos ;
edified iglesia y morada para religiose ; y
habiendo oido decir que en Zuiii [provin-
da populosa] habia que convertir, pidid el
pasar & ella, donde jnntd en cinco pueblos
muchos infieles que catequizd y bautizd."
Benavides does not give the name of the
missionary, but he speaks of the work as
done at his time and under his direction.
Memorial, p. 33.
^ It was the custom to give the mission-
aries a few armed men as escort Fr.
Juan Ramirez, however, went to Acoma
alone. The soldiers are mentioned by
Vetancurt, Menologio, p. 53.
• Idem: '^ donde juntd en cinco pueblos
muchos infieles que catequizd y bautizd ; "
Benavides, Memorial, p. 33 : '^ en que ay
mas de diez mil almas conuertidas que se
van catequizando, y bautizando con dos
Conuentos y Iglesias."
• Vetancurt, Cr6ni<;a, pp. 320, 321.
'' Idem: "La Concepcion de Aguico,
estd al Occidente de Alona, tres legnas.
. . • Estos se rebelaron el afio de 32 y
mataron al venerable padre fray Francisco
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ZUm IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 97
" Zippia-Kue/' some tribe formerly living to the southwest of their
range. What has become of it I could not ascertain. His application
was rejected. His superiors thought^ and reasonably too^ that it was
preferable for him to remain where he had so well begun. In his place.
Fray Martin de Arvide was sent to the Zipias, by way of Zuiii.^ He
spent a short time at Hauicu with Fray Letrado, who besought him to
intercede in his favor with the father custodian. But Arvide could
not recede ; obedience, that first duty and quality of a regular priest,
forbade yielding to the importunities of his brother and friend. It was
in the latter part of February that the two separated, and on parting
Martin de Avide uttered these words, which very soon became pro-
phetic : " Brother, if you have to be a martyr, it will be here where you
are tied by obedience ; and if I also am destined to martyrdom, I shall
meet that fate on my road."^ Thus they separated, never to meet
again. On the 22d of February [a Sunday] the Indians appeared to
delay in attending mass. Fray Francisco, impatient, and probably of
a fiery and zealous nature, went out to urge them. He met some idol-
aters, and began to chide them. He saw at once that they were bent
upon killing him, so he knelt down, holding in his hands a small cruci-
fix, and continued the remonstrance while in this attitude. The In-
dians shot him dead with arrows, carried off the corpse and scalped it,
parading the scalp afterwards at the usual dances.^ One part of Fray
Arvide's prophecy had been fulfilled.
Letrado ; " MenologiOi p. 63 : '^ Estando 76 : '^ De aqaf, dejl^ndolos en paz y con-
ya instniidos, no le permitia su fervor de- gregados, le envid la obediencia ^ los
jar de buscar nuevas conversiones : pidid Zipias : pasd por el convento de Zufli,
licencia para pasar i, los Zipias." donde moraba el venerable padre fray
^ Idem : " y pareciendole al castodio Francisco Letrado, que habia solicitado ir
qae seria de mas servicio i, Dies que aca- i, esta empresa y se la habia negado : in-
base la obra empezada donde estaba, no se stado d que se trocasen las suertes, no vino
le concedid la licencia. Envid al padre - en el concierto, y al despedirse le dijo al
fray Martin de Arvide, que pasando por venerable padre fray Francisco Hermano,
alii." si h^s de ser mirtir aqui lo serds donde te
' Idem : 'Me quedd el padre Letrado tiene la obediencia ; y si yo estoy esco-
muy envidioso, y le rogaba le dejase des- gido para serlo, en el camino lo sard."
pachar al prelado para la permuta;" p. ' Idem, p. 53: ^'Un domingo de cua-
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98
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUMi TRIBE.
Five days afterwards, on the way to the Zipias, occurred the fulfill-
ment of the rest. Father Arvide was accompanied by two soldiers as
escort, five Christian Indians, and a mestizo by the name of Lorenzo.
It would seem, from Vetancurt, that the natives of Hauicu, after they
had murdered Father Letrado, followed Arvide, and overtook him,
while in camp on the night of the 27th of February. They killed the
two soldiers, and then began to ill-treat the priest, without, however,
taking his life. The mestizo, anxious to ingratiate himself with the
fiends, cut off the right hand of his benefactor, while the latter was
still alive, and then tore off his scalp. This wretch was afterwards
secured by the Spanish authorities and hanged for his crime.^
The dates of these events are positive as far as the days and the
month are concerned. Strange to say, the same certainty does not
prevail in regard to the year. Vetancurt places the death of the two
priests in 1632. A document of undoubted authenticity, found by me
in the Archives of Mexico, fixes the date at 1630 ! ^ Which is to be
cano, por soldados de su guarda, con cinco
resma, viendo que tardaban alganos en
venir i, misa, salid i, bascarlos : encontrd
con nnos uldlatras, y encendido en fervor
les einpezd i, predicar ; yyiendo se conju-
raban i, quitarle la vida, con un Cristo
pintado en una cruz que traia al cnello
para su defensa, puesto de rodillas j enco-
mendandose al Seftor, murid predicando,
flechado. No fu^ hallado su cuerpo de
los soldados cristianos, porqne los barba-
ros se lo llevaron, quiUndole de la cabeza
la piel para sus bailes gentilicos/' This
murder took place at, or very near, Hau-
icu, according to the same author, p. 321 :
'* Estos se rebelaron el alio de 32 y mata-
ron al venerable padre fray Francisco Le-
trado • • • y quemaron la iglesia."
^ For these details I have so far only
Vetancurt to vouch for, Menoiogio, p. 76.
He says of Arvide : " y as! pasd, porque
yendo en su compafiiia Bartolom^ de Amih-
bia, paisano suyo, y Boque Garcia, mexi-
Indios cristianos y un mestizo que habia
criado desde nifio [Uamado Ix>renzo], fu^
ron los barbaros en su alcance y una
noche dieron sobre los Cristianos, quitando
la vida primero d los soldados y dejando
al venerable padre medio vivo, que no se
atrevi^ron d privarle de la vida : su criado
Lorenzo, por hacer i, los barbaros lisonja,
le cortd la mano derecha y le desoUd la
cabeza con el cerquillo. . . . No se quedd
sin castigo, que su delito lo entregd d la
jnsticia, y pagd con la vida ahorcado."
The fact of the assassination of Fray Le-
trado is also mentioned in the protest by
Fray Cristobal de Quiros, AtUo, Septem-
ber, 1636 (MS.) ; "y como los Yndios
de la prouy'-ca de ZuiSi qe se alzaron y
mataron & su ministro en tiempo de Dn.
fran'co de Silva."
' Autos y Traslados de Atitos Sobre
las ARsiones de Zufli, 1636 (MS. Ar-
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ZU^I IK THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 99
regarded as right? Benavides, who wrote in 1630^ leads to the infer-
ence that at his time the murders had not yet been committed.^ But
Benavides was in Spain when he wrote the " Memorial " to the king,^
and he had left New Mexico in 1628. He might have been in Mexico
even when the tragedy occurred and not have heard of it before his
sailing for Spain. I therefore incline in favor of the date 1630^ until
better informed.
After this double catastrophe the Zuiii Indians abandoned theb
homes and fled to the top of the ^' rock of Caquima " ! ' This is, under
the name of the pueblo at its foot, the famous Mesa of Toyoalana,
or Thunder-mountain. We find here a plain confirmation of what the
report on the first meeting of Coronado with the Zunis, the often-
quoted ^^ Traslado/' tells us about the true part played by this gigantic
rock in the history of the tribe.* " Thunder-mountain " was not an
'' ancient home " ; the ruins on its summit are not those of ^^ Old Zuni."
It was used as a place of refuge, as a resort in times of danger. The
Zuiiis, having committed the atrocities narrated, fled to Toyoalana for
safety ; they supposed that the Spaniards, now so much nearer than
before, would soon return to avenge the dead.
Still, there was not the slightest hurry, on the part of the authorities
chives of Mexico, Tierraa) : " por aaer ya de campo • • • y sabieron los rreligiosoe
Beis afios poco mas 6 menos que careeen q'e yvan con el d'ho mro de campo al
de ministro." peftol con algnnos soldados ; '' also : Petir
^ Memorial, p. 33. don de los Alcaldes y Begidores del Ca-
' Idemj p. 3. He went to Spain in hildo de la Villa de Santafi, 3d of Oo-
1628. Carta 6 los Beligiosos de la Con- tober, 1680 (MS. Archives of Meidco,
version de San Pablo, 1631 (in Vida de Historia) : <^ y aunque es verdad que en
Fray Junipero Serra, p. 331). diferentes ocasiones han intentado el alza^
' AtUos y Traslados^ etc. : '^ digo q'e miento y desobediencia los Indies alzados
por qaanto los yndios del pefiol de caquima del Nuevo Mexico, ha side en diferentes
de la prou'ia de ^ufii se abian alsado en pueblos, y naciones, como fu^ los Zuflis en
tiempo del gov'r don Fran'co desilu d los el peilol de Caquima."
qnales yndios don fran'co de la mora qe ^ Traslado, 1541, p. 532 : <* f u^ qnatro
susedi6 en el gouiemo los dej<5 de paz. la leguas de esta ciudad d ver un peftol
qual siempre an conservado desde q'e en- donde le dixeron que los Yndios desta pro-
bi6 el d'ho Fran'co de la mora al mro vincia se hacian fuertes."
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100 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSi TRIBE.
at Santa F^^ to act against the rebellious tribe. In the first place, the
forty or fifty soldiers then guarding the whole of New Mexico could
not well be spared, and again, relations between the temporal power
and the clergy were so unfriendly that the latter could not obtain the
sUghtest attention from the governors. It must be admitted that
these governors, after Onate, and previous to Alonso Pacheco de He-
redia in 1643, deserve little sympathy and still less credit. As for the
military proper, it was mainly rabble, and sometimes of the worst
kind ! ^ Of their free will and accord, very few decent people went to
New Mexico to stay. On the other hand, the missionaries were ex-
tremely jealous of their prerogatives and of their power over the
Indians, and tolerated none of the encroachments upon the rights of
the natives, which colonists, of whatever nationality or creed, have
always attempted to commit. Their jealousy for the rights of the
Indian and for his peaceable living under the protection of the church
went often to extremes, and the greatest bitterness prevailed in con-
sequence between the governors and a part of the Spaniards on thie
one hand, and the clergy and their adherents on the other.^ Zuni
remained, therefore, undisturbed for nearly two years, until Francisco
de la Mora sent the Maestre de Campo, Thomas de Albizu, with a
^ This is already foreshadowed by the Mandamiento del Apostdlico y Real Tri-
▼iceroy Conde de Monterey, in Discurso y hunal de la Santa Cruzada Sobre Asunr
Proposicum^ 1602, pp. 47-62. It is very tas del Ntievo MSxico, 1633 ; Afandamir
clearly expressed in the Carta al Virrey : ento del Virrey de Nueva Espafla, 1634 ;
del P : Custodio ydeloa Definidares del Autos — Sobre las Mtsiones de Zufii,
Nuevo Mexicoy 28th of November, 1636 1636 ; Autos y Quejas sobre Excomunir
(MS. Archives of Mexico) ; and in the ones, 1636 ; Fray Pedro Zambrano, Carta
letter to the king by Fray Andr^ Suarez, al Virrey, 1636 ; Fray Antonio de Ybar-
CaHa, 26th of October, 1647 (MS. Ar- garay, Carta al Virrey, 1636; Carta al
chives, etc.). Virrey del P: Custodio, etc., etc., 1636;
' I am in possession of collated copies Francisco Gomez, Carta al Virrey yl^S& ;
of a namber of instruments of writing, — Carta del Cabildo de la Villa de SarUor
official docmnents, relative to these quar- fe: al Virrey, 1639 ; Ynforme del Ylus-
rels. As the matter is not strictly ger- trissimo Seflor Don Juan de Palafox y
mane to this subject, I do not quote in de- Mendoza, 1642 ; Real CSdula, 14th of
tail, limiting myself to a general reference July, 1643.
to the following papers, all manuscripts :
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ZUftI IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 101
small detachment and a few priests to reduce the stronghold. This
must have been in 1632 or thereabouts. The enterprise proved a suc-
cess ; the missionaries were admitted to the summit of Thunder-moun-
tain^ and the Zunis promised ^^ to be good '' thereafter.^ But in 1636
they were still without a resident priest ! ^ simply because the governor,
Francisco Martinez de Baeza, refused to give an escort.' I am unable
to find when the missions of Zuiii commenced to be permanent, but
think it was after 1642. My reasons for holding this opinion at pres-
ent, subject to correction of course, are as follows : —
Between 1630 and 1636 it is certain that the Zuiiis were left with-
out priests. There is the official declaration of Fray Cristobal de Qui-
res, custodian of the province, to that effect. But they were peace-
able, and in 1635 had already begun to leave the mesa and settle in
their villages on the plain again.^ The peremptory refusal by Fran-
cisco Martinez de Baeza, governor of New Mexico, delayed all efforts
of the clergy. Thence on matters grew rapidly worse, the breach
widened, and in 1642 disorders culminated in the assassination of Gov-
ernor Don Luis de Rozas in the jail at Santa F^.*^ Six years of such
bitter controversy were not favorable to an extension of the missions.
Furthermore, Baeza's successor, the unfortunate Rozas, kept his eyes
fixed on the East. Quivira was his objective point.® In 1639 there
* Avtos Sobre las Misianes de Zufli : * Peticion.
'^ don fran'co de la mora q'e 8asedi6 en el ' Informe del Yll & Ex. 8r. Don Juan
gouiemo Iob dej6 de paz, la qual siempre de PaXafax; Real CSdida, 1643 ; Juan Diez
an conseryado desde q'e enbi6 el d'ho don de la Calle, Memorial y Noticias Sanas y
Fran'co de la mora al mro de campo tho- Beales del Imperio de las Indias Occir
mas de albisu y subieron los rreligiosos q'e dentales, p. 183. The latter says that it
yyan con 'el d'ho mro de campo al peflol happened in 1644, bnt the date 1642 is
con algonos soldados los qoales Yndios positive. I own the original Autos de
tengo noticia q'e se ban poblando en bus Proeeso, of 1643, in which the events of
pueblos de nn afto ^ esta parte." Yetan- the past year are alluded to. These *^ An-
curt, Crdnica, p. 321 : <^ Yolvieron perdo- tos " treat of events which were oonse-
nadoB d reducirse." qnences of those of 1642.
* AtUoSj etc., etc., Sobre las Misiones • Francisco Gomez, Carta al Virrey^
de Zufli. 26th of October, 1638.
* Idem, Francisco Martinez de Baeza,
Autot 27th of September, 1636.
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102 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF TEE ZUM TRIBE.
were at Santa Fe not over thirty Spanish families, and the supply of
arms and ammunition was almost purely nominal.^ All this contrib-
uted to cheek attempts in the direction of Zuni. Still, it is not im-
possible that one or the other of the fathers may have undertaken a
mission at his own personal risk, but I have discovered no documentary
evidence of it so far.
After the reestablishment of order in New Mexico among the Span-
ish colonists in 1643, the bad effects of prior dissensions began to show
themselves among the pueblo Indians. It can be proved that the real
beginnings of the great insurrection of 1680 date from the sad and
bloody times ending with the murder of Rozas. The seed of hatred
and revenge which the Spaniards then sowed among themselves, depre-
ciated both clergy and laymen in the eyes of the natives. True, if the
missionaries suffered at the hands of arbitrary governors, it was largely
because they defended their Indians from abuse on the part of the for-
mer ; but, nevertheless, the mere fact that these officers showed more
power in many cases than the priest caused the natives to lose respect.
Besides, the jnissionaries were in many ways obnoxious to the pueblo,
especially to the medicine-men. They prohibited idolatry, they pun-
ished sorcery, they introduced regular marriage. All such reforms
were against Indian customs and beliefs. It is often alleged that the
prosecution of Indian sorcerers by the missionaries was a practice as
bad and superstitious as sorcery itself. But we should not ignore the
fact that the Indian not only believes in sorcery as a means of evil-
doing, but that he practices it often with the deliberate intention and
purpose of conunitting a crime, and that he expects nothing else, in
case of discovery, than capital punishment, chiefly from his own peo-
ple ! The prosecution of Indian sorcerers in the seventeenth century
was not, by far, as much an act of tyranny and cruelty as it is some-
times judged to be. The medicine-men were nothing else but Indian
sorcerers ; they wielded the greatest influence among all tribes ; their
oracles were law, and their conjurations futile, yet determined, at-
tempts at crime ! They were also, quite as often, conspiracies against
* Carta del CahUdo de Santorfe, 2l8t of February, 1639, fol. 4.
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ZUNi IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 103
Spanish doinination. The same thing happens nowadays; there is
hardly an Indian outbreak without the medicine-men being at the
bottom of it. And we do not hesitate to punish them for such out-
breaks. Equity demands that we should not judge the Spaniards any
more harshly than we judge ourselves. If we are justified in chastis-
ing the Indian when he intends to kill us^ so was the Spaniard justified
two centuries ago. A third element, which was, perhaps, of greater
weight yet, in preparing the great rebeUion, were the relations of the
pueblos and Spaniards to the Apaches and Navajos !
From time immemorial these Indians had been the curse of the vil-
lagers. The distribution of the pueblos, their style of architecture,
their mode of living and traditions, all point to the fact that these rov-
ing neighbors were a ^^ thorn in the flesh " of the sedentary tribes, and
were, in fact, living upon them as wolves do upon a flock of sheep or
cattle. When the Spaniards came, the pueblos submitted voluntarily,
with the latent hope that the whites would rid them of this curse. In
this matter the Indian looked quite as much, if not more, to the church
than to the military power. To the Indian, religion is inseparable from
magic ; the rites of mass and the tolling of the bells were so many
weapons, in his eyes, wherewith to " beat " the much dreaded " war-
medicines " of their enemies. To give them different ideas requires
centuries of patient, and often exasperatingly slow, education.
In the beginning, the Apaches seemed rather disposed to make a
distinction in favor of the new-comers; they went so far as to show
a willingness to embrace Christianity. But this kindly feeling could
not be made to extend to the pueblos. These were excluded from
every truce or treaty with the whites, and the Spaniards could not
accede to such an exception. Since the pueblos were vassals of the
same king, they must enjoy the same rights and the same protec-
tion. This was the chief stumbling-block to a permanent peace with
the Apaches, and war was resumed in the same desultory, but gradu-
ally exterminating, manner as of old. The pueblos began to suffer
from it as much if not more than the whites, and they accused the
Spaniards of being inefficient soldiers, and the missionaries of not hav-
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104 DOCUMENTABY HISTORY OF THE ZVltl TRIBE.
ing " the right hind of medicine." When, therefore, the latter insisted
upon a change in customs, and, above all, in sentiments and be-
havior, the pueblo Indian naturally asked: " What 's the use ? what do
we gain by such a change? We do not live any quieter, we are not
any freer from danger, than heretofore. The new creed is not any
better ^ medicine ' than the old one, since our enemies do not respect
its rites ; the new rule is worse than the old one, since it gives us more
to do, and takes away the enjoyments we had previously."
Of the many useful importations the Indian scarcely thought, for
the Indian is only a big child with the appetites and passions of full-
grown manhood.
Everything thus conspired to lessen the value of Spanish rule in the
eyes of the native. Excesses, and individual abuse of the aborigines,
certainly occurred, but they were far from being as grave as it is the
habit to allege. The fact is that other nations point at the mote in
the Spaniard's eye in order to divert attention from the beam in their
own. Mankind has made great progress since the seventeenth cen-
tury, but man has remained about the same kind of a being. When
and where he is out of reach of salutary control, he is exceedingly
prone to abuse his neighbor as often as he can, or thinks he can do it.
New Mexico was far out of reach of Spain, and even of Mexico ; it was
a forlorn post, and the few hundreds of frontier people and adventurers
who gradually drifted into it and stayed, either because they were not
wanted elsewhere or too much wanted, did about as they pleased, the
missionaries being about the only ones who opposed lawlessness. The
governors purchased their of&ces from the viceroys,* who were glad to
obtain, in this way, some compensation for the crown's constant heavy
expenses, and to make up for this personal outlay the governors had
no other resource than Apache wars, with the captives thereby secured,
a few cotton mantles paid as tribute by the pueblos, and, *' Pinon " ! ^
This picture of New Mexico in the seventeenth century is not in
* Fray Andres Saarez, Carta al Rey, * Idem.
26th of October, 1647 ; Real CSdula, 22d
of September, 1660.
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ZUNi IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
105
accordance with what is generally told^ but it is neverthel^s authentic ;
and it is a fact, also, that in 1680 there were in the whole territory
not over fifteen hundred Spanish inhabitants, all told.^
The pueblo Indians noticed this weakness ; they noticed, also, that
in consequence of it the Apaches grew in power. Why, then, further
support foreign domination that was of no reUef to them ? So they
reasoned, and so they began to lay their plans soon after 1643.
There is positive evidence that as early as 1650 pueblo Indians
joined the Apaches against the whites.^ There is also a confession,
duly certified, made in 1681, by an Indian who was a medicine-man
and well versed in the secret clusters, which reads as follows : —
*' That since the time of the Lord General Hernando Ugarte y la
Concha, they have planned to rise several times, and on various occa-
sions by convocation of the Indian sorcerers, that although some vil-
lages agreed to it, in others they refused to entertain the propositions.
It is also true that, in the time of said governor, seven or eight Indians
' The number of people who escaped
with the governor, Antonio de Otermin, to
El Paso del Norte, in 1680, is given as
1,946. Licenciado Martin de Solis-Mi-
randa, Dictdmen Fiscal^ 7th January,
1681 (MS.) : During the massacre in
August, there perished 400. Among
those who escaped were several hundred
pueblo Indians, Piros of Socorro and Ala-
millo, etc., etc. ; there were also several
hundred Mexican Indians, who acted as
servants and hired hands. This estimate
reduces the actual number of Spaniards in
New Mexico to below fifteen hundred.
■ Ynterrogatorio de Preguntas Jiecho
por mi Don Antonio de Otermin ; Gober-
nador y Capitan Oenerat, 1681 (MS.
Archives of Mexico). There are a num-
ber of insurrections mentioned in this in-
terrogatory. Among them one while Don
Fernando de ArgUello was governor of
New Mexico. Argttello occupied that
post, according to Fray Silvestre Velez de
Escalante, Carta al Padre Morfi^ 2d of
April, 1778, art. 1, in 1645. The Yn^
terroga/torio says : " y en particular en el
tiempo de D. Fernando de Argttello, que
en el pueblo de Xemes ahorcd por trai-
dores conf ederados con los Apaches veinte
y nueve Xemes, depositando cantidad de
ellos por el mismo delito, y haber muerto
i, Diego Martinez Naranjo." Another
witness replies : ^^ que desde que tiene uso
de razon ha visto y oido que los naturales
de este reyno han sido castigados muchas
veces por echiceros, idolatras traidores,
confederados con los Apaches." Still
another witness : '^y el afio de cincuenta
gobemando el General Concha, descubrid
una conjuracion, y alzamiento que los
hechiceros y principales de los pueblos tuvi-
eron dispuesta con los enemigos Apaches."
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106 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZU:Sfl TRIBE.
were hanged for the same reason^ after which the troubles ceased for a
while. Some time afterwards they dispatched from the pueblo of
Taos two pieces of buckskin with paintings on them to all the villages
of the Custody, with tokens of conspiracy, after their custom, to call
the people to a new uprising, and that these pieces of buckskin trav-
eled as far as the province of Moqui, where they would not admit them,
whereupon the agreement then in force was dissolved." ^
Don Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha commanded in New Mexico
in 1650. The above call for a general revolt took place after that
time, and it seems, since it went as far as the Moqui pueblos, that the
Zuids were also addressed, and that they joined the conspiracy. There
is no evidence that, as a tribe, they took part in any other of the at-
tempts at partial insurrection that occurred from time to time previous
to August, 1680. On the other hand, the Zunis were exposed to con-
stant annoyance from the Navajos, and this led to a bloody catastrophe
in the year 1670.
In that year the priests of the two missions of Zuni, Halona and
Hauicu, were : at the former Fray Juan Galdo, at the latter Fray Pedro
de Avila y Ayala. Hauicu was regarded then as a dangerous post,
^ Interrogatorios y deelamcians heehas haata la provincia de Moqai, donde no
de orden de Dan Antonio de Oterminy quisieron admitirlos, y cesd el pacto que
1681 (MS.) : ^^ Qae ha desde el gobiemo ivan haciendo por entonces, teniendo dem-
del Senor General Hernando Ugarte y la pre en su corazon el deseo de egecatarlo,
Concha, que han tratado de alzarse en di- para vivir, como hoy yiven." The Indian
f erentes ocasiones, por convocacion de los who gave this information was '^ one who
IndioB echizeros, que annqne en algonoe knew." His name was Pedro Naranjo, he
pueblos admitian los mensages en otras was from San Felipe, and is qualified as fol-
partes no venian en ello, y que es yerdad lows in the Ynterrogatorio de Preguntas :
que en el gobiemo del dicho Senor Gober- '^ comolo declara. . . • Pedro Naranjo, preso
nador se ahorcaron siete, y ocho Indios en este Real, d6 80 afios de edad, echizero
por las misma causa, con que se sosegd la consumado, y por tal entre ellos insigne, y
inquietud, y despues de alii algun tiempo de primera estimacion, como se verifica de
despacharon del pueblo de Taos dos ga- haberlo hallado en la Yglesia ensefiando
muzas con algunas pinturas por los pueblos la diabdlica manera, y circunstancias con
de la Custodia, con senales de conjuracion que habian de baylar en sus torpes, y ob-
i, su modo, para conyocar la gente i, nuevo senisimas juntas, que Uaman cazinas."
alzamiento y que dichas gamuzas pasaron
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ZU^I IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
107
owing to the proximity of the Navajos. On the 7th of October of
that year. Fray Pedro may have been alone in the pueblo when the
enemies entered the village. Whether the inhabitants had fled or con-
cealed themselves in their houses, Yetancurt, from whose work I
gather these facts, does not say. The priest retired to the church,
clinging there to a cross, and holding in hand an image of the Virgin.
^^ They dragged him out by force, and at the foot of a cross they killed
him, having stripped him naked first. Then they broke all the orna-
ments, set fire to the church, and threw the image of the Virgin, to
which the father had clung for protection, into the flames." The fol-
lowing day Fray Juan Galdo came over from Halona to look for the
corpse. He found it, naked, and alongside of it a bell covered with
blood, with which the martyr's skull had been broken ; he found, also,
over two hundred arrows and rocks, and three dead lambs near by.
The body was buried in the old church of Halona, all trace of which
has now disappeared from the surface.^ Hauicu was never reoccupied
^ Uenologioy p. 346: <<£! venerable
padre Pedro de Avila y Ayala, pasd el
afio de 668 ^ la dadad de Mexico, de la
provincia de Yucatan, con la limosna de
loB Santos Lagares, en ocasion qae se
hacia el despacho de Nuevo Mexico; y
llevado del espirita de muchas conver-
siones, saplicd al reyerendisimo fray Her-
nando de la Rua le diese orden para ir en-
tre loB de la mision. Laego que llegd, le
cnpo el pueblo de Aguico, cercano i, los
barbaros y peligroso por las invasiones.
Trabajd en la vina del Senor y redujd al-
gunos y no sufriendo la barbaridad, min-
istro tan efic^z, entraron en el pueblo vi-
endo ausente ^ Bartolom^ de Cisneros y
solo al padre : f uese i, la iglesia y abra-
zdse con la cruz con una Imogen de nnestra
Senora. Sacaronle i, fuerza, y desnudo
al pi^ de ana cruz que estaba en el patio,
le qnitaron la vida, hicieron pedazos los
omamentos, quemaron el templo, y en me-
dio de las llamas ecbaron la inuCgen de la
Virgen, de que se ampard el venerable
padre. Al otro dia fn^ el padre fray Juan
Galdo, guardian cercano del pueblo de
Alona, y halld entre las cenizas la imigen
de la Virgen sin que le Uegase el fuego,
con solas unas ampoUas como las que salen
i, los que se les queman cames. Hallaron
el cuerpo desnudo y la cruz sobre las ve-
rendas, cnbri^ndolas por la bonestidad : una
campana llena de sangre con que le que-
braron la cabeza ; mas de doscientas pie-
dras y saetas ; tres corderos muertos i, su
lado . . . que f ue el afio de 670, en 7 de
Octubre. Llevaronle al pueblo de Alona,
donde esti sepultado.'' The tragic death
of this priest is also mentioned by the Fis-
cal, Don Martin de Solis-Miranda, in his
Farecer of September 6, 1676 (MS. Ar-
chives of Mexico), but the year is given
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108 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUHtl TRIBE.
any more as a mission^^ the pueblo dwindled down to a mere smnmer-
village. Halona remained henceforth the only mission, with church
and convent, among the Zunis. But besides Halona and Hauicu, there
existed, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, four other Zuni
villages. In 1680 only two of these are mentioned, and those only as
^^aldeas" or hamlets, each of them having a small chapel, where the
priest of Halona occasionally used to say mass. These hamlets were
Matzaqui and Quiaquima, the former once the most populous village in
Coronado's time. At this time they were reduced to ruins almost, with
an aggregate population, Yetancurt affirms, of a few hundred souls.^
The villages of Canabi and A-pinaua were therefore abandoned be-
tween 1604 and 1680. One of them, which one I cannot determine,
must even have been deserted about 1630, and probably at the instance
of Fray Francisco Letrado.^ Such changes were frequently brought
as 1672 : <* pasaron ^ dar maerte al P. Fr.
Pedro de Ayala, Ministro en el pueblo de
A juico en el dia 7 de Octobre del aflo paa-
sado de 672." I have followed the indi-
cations of Yetancnrt as to date, being ut-
terly powerless to determine which of the
two is right
^ Yetancurt, Crdnica^ p. 321, insinuates,
at least, that Hauicn was reoccupied after-
wards, and that there was a priest there
in 1680. But I cannot but disagree with
him on this point He says: "y en el
rebelion se escapd el religiose ; pero vol-
yieron ^ quemar el templo." I have a
list of all the priests who escaped in 1680,
with the names of the parishes, and there
is none among them who resided farther
west than Jemez. In my opinion. Fray
Silyestre Velez de Escalante is perfectly
right in saying in his Carta al P. Marfi,
that ^* Jahuicu " had to be abandoned pre-
vious to the great rebellion on account of
the Apaches [Navajos].
* I copy the description of Yetancurt,
Crdnicaj p. 320: <<49. Alona. — Yeinti-
cuatro leguas de Acoma esUi el pueblo de
Alona, con su iglesia dedicada i, la Purifi-
cacion de la Yirgen, con dos aldeas de yis-
ita, que cada qnal tenia su pequefia iglesia
llamadas Mazaquia y Caquima, dos leguas
de Alona. Tenia mil y quinientas perso-
nas." About Hauicu the same author as-
serts : ^^ Esti al Occidente de Alona, tres
leguas, con otros pueblos pequeSios donde
habia mas de mil personas." This would
place the population of Zufii, in 1680, at
3,000. In 1660, according to the same
author (Ideniy p. 314), the whole popular
lion of the Custody, that is, of all the mis-
sions of New Mexico and of Arizona,
amounted to 24,000 souls !
* I infer this from the passage in Ye-
tancurt, MendogiOf p. 62 : << donde junt6
en cinco pueblos muchos infieles que car
tequiziS y bautizd." It seems that he con-
centrated the Zufiis in five pueblos, per-
suading them to abandon one, which was
already on the decline. Such instances
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ZU^I IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 109
about by the missionaries. The original villages were, as a rule, smaller
than they are to-day, and consequently their inhabitants were more
exposed to insult and outrage from a roving enemy. For the sake of
protection, the missionaries induced the people to concentrate, and to
consolidate the numerous small pueblos into a few larger ones. Such
was the case on the Rio Grande, at Jemez,^ and, as we see it now, at
Zuni. Up to the year 1680, the fatal date we are now approaching,
the Zuni villages had dwindled down from six to four.
Catastrophes like those of Hauicu became more and more numerous
throughout the missions of New Mexico. The Apaches were closing
in upon the pueblos from every side. In 1675 the village of Senecu
on the Rio Grande below Socorro had to be abandoned.^ Soon after,
the missions around the Salines east of the river, the stately churches
of Cuaray, Abo, and Tabira (now erroneously called " Gran Quivira ")
were left at the mercy of the savages.' Dismal times were coming, the
pueblos grew more and more uneasy, the Apaches more insolent, and
to resist their constant encroachments, Santa F^ had, in 1675, a garri-
son consisting of ten armed men !* When at last that greatest monk
of the seventeenth century in America, Fray Francisco de Ayeta, sent
forth his cry of alarm about the desperate condition of affairs in New
Mexico,* the appeal was indeed listened to, and fifty soldiers went from
Durango to reinforce the post.^ It was too late ; the fifty men were
sent into the jaws of death ; they could not save the province.
The last attempt made by the pueblos to injure the Spaniards and
the priests through sorcery, prior to the great revolution, took place
among the Tehuas.^ It called forth summary punishment, but the
are quite common. So the Tanos-villages • Fray Francisco de Ayeta, Carta en
joined the Qaeres, and the seyeral pueblos nambre del Crobemador CahUdo ; justieia
around Cia consolidated into one, etc. y regidores de la villa de SantOrfd; Nw-
* Benavides, Memorial, pp. 16, 27; Ve- eva-MexloOy 1676 (MS. Archives of Mex-
tancurt, Cr&nica, p. 319. ico).
* Solis - Miranda, Farecer Fiscal • Identj Farecer Fiscal; Auto a.coT'
(MS.). dado, 9th September, 1676 (MS.) ; Real
* Escalante, Carta al Fadre M/rfij CSdula, 18th of June, 1678 (MS.).
art. 2. f In 1675. Ynterrogatorio de Fregun^
* Farecer Fiscal, 1676. tas (MS.). It was a very dangerous plot
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110 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSl TRIBE.
most dangerous of the criminals escaped. This was an Indian from
the pueblo of San Juan called Po-pe. He was evidently a medicine-
man of high order,^ a member of the secret societies, and his perform-
ances as a magician excited the utmost admiration and superstitious
dread of his brethren. I shall here state, that already Fray Alonso de
Benavides mentions the existence, among the Bio Grande Indians of
New Mexico, of at least two of the esoteric clusters, whose rediscovery ^
has been one of the most brilliant achievements of our friend Mr. Gush-
ing. It may not be amiss to quote the words of the Father Custodian,
subsequently Archbishop of Goa : —
^^ All these people and nations during the times of their heathendom
were divided into two parties : the warriors and the sorcerers. The
warriors endeavored to draw the people to their side and to reduce them
to obedience and subjection unto them, while the sorcerers, in opposi-
tion, tried to persuade the people that they were making rain and giv-
The governor was even compelled to yield
to the Indians to a certain extent, by re-
leasing some of the culprits. He was
too weak to ose force, to the full ex-
tent it would have been needed. Very
characteristic it is, that from that time
on the pueblos nourished a deep hatred
against three Spaniards chiefly, the secre-
taiy Francisco Xavier, and the sargentos
mayores Diego Lopez and Luis de Quin-
tana: '^al primero por Ju^z Confiscador
y egecutor de los mas castig^s, al segundo
por interprete acompafiado, y al tercero por
Secretario que era del dicho Gobemador,
^ quien tambien quisieron matar dentro de
su mismo Falacio por los castigos hechos,
y haberles derribado, y quemado sus estu-
fas, 6 templos idoUtricos."
^ Idenij '^yabrazado el dict&men del
primer mandon Capitan General Pope,
uno de los echiceros castigados en dicho
aSo de setenta y cinco."
* I use the term " rediscovery " on pur^
pose. The results of Mr. Cushing's inves-
tigations have been so frequently denied,
and even declared to be products of his
own imagination, by ill-disposed or igno-
rant and supercilious persons, that it affords
me always the greatest pleasure to produce
any evidence of the truth of his state-
ments. No better proof can be furnished
than by establishing beyond a doubt that
what he, with infinite labor, unearthed,
existed centuries ago, and was noticed then
by parties who had not even a clear con-
ception of what they saw at that time, and
with whose writings Mr. Gushing, in his
isolated position at Zu£li, was wholly un-
acquainted. Therefore the word ^' redis-
covery." It does not in the least diminish
the merit of Mr. Cushing's great work,
for it is always more difficult to unearth
what centuries have contributed to hide
than to merely describe what lies on the
surface open to everybody's inspection.
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ZUNI IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Ill
ing them good crops and other things, which the warriors were turning
into ridicule, and on this account there prevailed among them cruel
civil wars, so fierce, that they killed each other and destroyed the vil-
lages/' ^
We must remember that, at that time, the existence of the several
clusters was not at all kept secret, that the so-called ^^ Cachinas '' were
danced publicly, and that therefore the writers could not speak of
^^ esoteric societies " as we do now. One or the other of these clusters,
of necessity, escaped observation. The hunters, for instance, were,
confounded with the warriors, and the medicine-men were included
among '^ magicians " in general. Po-pe was a magician, one of the
" Pato-abu," equivalent, among the Tehuas, to the " Ka-ka " among
the Zunis. He learned from the Yutes, and probably from the north-
em Navajos, many of their tricks, and when he held it to be safe
enough, he returned to Taos, where he began to perform in secret some
of the new juggleries which he had been taught. His residence in
the Northeast and North gave him a pretext for claiming that he
carried a special mission, intrusted to him by powers residing in the
lagune of Ci-bo-be or Shi-pap-u,^ whence the northern pueblos claim
to have come, and whither the souls of their deceased are said to go
for eternal enjoyment. His fame spread, slowly and secretly. In-
dians of distant pueblos, even from Zuni, went to see him and to ob-
serve his prodigies.^ They did not fail to report them at home, and
thus to create a belief that Po-pe was indeed endowed with extraordi-
^ Memorial, p. 37 : << Toda esta gente grandes, que se mataoan, y asolauan los
y naciones en su gentilidad estaua dioidida pueblos enteroe."
en dos parcialidades, guerreros y hechize- ^ The words used are : Copala, Copiala,
ros, procorando los guerreros reduzir ^ su and Colela, evidenily a Spanish-Mexican
imperio j mando, en oposicion ^ los he- mistake for Cibobe. Cibobe is the same
chizeroe toda la gente ; y los hechizeros con as Shipapu, the lagune where the deceased
la misma oposicion persuadian ^ todos, ^ go to rest The place is situated in south*
que ellos hacian llover, y dar la tierra ern Colorado.
buenas sementeras, y otras cosas de que * This is confirmed by the various evi-
moianan los guerreros, por lo qual auia dences taken by order of Otermin.
entre ellos continuas guerras ciuiles, tan
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112 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUMi TRIBE.
nary powers from ^' those above/' and that the time had come for their
delivery from a useless foreign domination. This time the Moquis
yielded also, so did Zuid, and Po-pe could at last fix upon a date for
a general outbreak. It was set for the new moon of August, 1680.*
How the messages were sent to inform all the pueblos, even the most
distant ones, is told as follows by Indian witnesses interrogated by An-
tonio de Otermin in 1681 : —
'^It happened that in an estufa of the pueblo of Taos there ap-
peared to the said Indian Pope three figures of Indians who never came
forth from the estufa. They gave him to understand that they went
underground to the lagune of Copiala. These three forms he saw
emit fire from all the extremities of their bodies, one of them was called
Caudi, the other Tilim, and the third Heume. They spoke to the said
Pope • • • and told him to make a string of yucca, tying in it a num-
ber of knots in token of the days they had to wait until they should
break out, and to send the said string through all the villages of the
kingdom, and that the man who carried it should untie one knot for
each day in token of compliance, and that by the number of remaining
knots they should know the days yet lacking ; this was commanded
under penalty of death. As soon as the treason was accomplished,
they were to raise a smoke in each of the pueblos. The string was
carried from village to village by the swiftest runners.'
, "2
* Vetancort, Cr6nica, p. 325 ; Mendo- maya Caudi, y otro Tilim, y el otro Heiime,
gioj p. 276. que estos tales le hablaron al dicho Pope
* Interrogatario y Deelaradanes, 1681 : que andaba huyendo del secretario Fran-
'^ y que al cabo en los aSos pasados por cisco Xavier, porqne lo queria castigar por
orden de un Indio Uamado Pope, que dicen ecbicero, y le digeron que hiciese un mecate
tiene comunicacion con el Demonio, suce- de palmillo, y en ^ amarrarse unos un-
did que en una estufa del pueblo de Taos dos, que era la significacion de los dias que
se le aparecieron al dicho Indio Pope tres habian de tardar en alzarse, y que el dicho
figuras de Indios los quales nunca salian mecate corrid por todos los pueblos del
de la estufa, y le dieron ^ entender al re3mo para aquel que uniese en ello desv
dicho Pope que ivan por debajo de tierra tar un dia en senal de obedecimiento, y por
haata la laguna de Copiala, estas tres fign- los demas nudos conociesen los dias que
ras la veia echar fuego por todas las es- faltaban, y esto fud con pena de muerte ^
tremidades del cuerpo, y que el uno se liar los que no vinidran en ello, y en senal de
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ZU^I IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
113
Another Indian witness states : ^^ That he [Po-pe] took a string of
yucca, and tying in it some knots which signified the days that lacked
until the execution of the treason, sent it to all the villages as far as
Isleta without there being in the whole kingdom but the nation of the
Piros left out, and that the order given by the said Pope, when he dis-
patched the said string, was, on condition of all secrecy, that it shoiild
be carried from village to village by the war^^ptains." ^
It is well known that the explosion took place earlier than the day
set. The plot was discovered a few days previous. Indians from Pe-
cos gave warning to their priest. Fray Fernando Y elasco, and Governor
Otermin heard of it.^ So the pueblos broke loose on the morning of
the 10th of August, simultaneously in most of the villages, and mur-
dered 380 Spaniards and Mexican Indians, and twenty-one priests.^
Then began the siege of Santa F^, which ended in the dispersion of
the besiegers; but this could not prevent the ultimate evacuation of
the place and of the territory. In October of the same year not a sin-
gle Spaniard remained in New Mexico.^
aviso de haber cometido la traicion levan-
tasen hamos de lo dicho en cada uno de
por si, y que el dicho mecate lo Uevaban
de pueblo en pueblo los mozetones mas li-
geros, con la dicha pena de muerte para
que guardasen secreto."
* Interrogatorio y Declarcunones : " que
cogid un mecate de palmillo, y amarrando
en A unos nudos, que significaban los dias
que faltaban, para la egecucion de la trai-
cion, lo despach<$ por todos los pueblos
haata ^ de la Isleta sin que quedase en
todo el re3mo, m^s que ^ de la nacion de
los Piros, y que la orden qe did el dicho
Pope quando despachd el dicho mecate,
fnd debajo de todo secrete, mandando le
Uevasen de pueblo en pueblo los capitanes
de la guerra."
* About the warning given to Fray
Velasco, see Carta al Chvemador del
Nuevo MSxlco ; de los Religiosos de la
Custodia, Igth of November, 1693. The
fact that Otermin had been warned is
stated in Interrogatorio y Declaraciones :
'^y teniendo lo asi dispnesto dos dias antes
de la egecucion, por tener noticia su Seno-
rfa, y haber preso dos Indios cdmplices del
pueblo de Tezuque egecutaron de impro-
viso aquella noche, por parecerles eran ya
descubiertos, matando ^ Beligiosos, Espa-
noles, mugeres, y niiios."
' Solis - Miranda, Dictamen Fiscal,
1681.
^ It is superfluous to quote in detail the
mass of documents which prove this fact.
I have alone more than fifty of them.
Otermin retreated to El Paso del Norte
safely, but the undertaking was neverthe-
less a fearful task. His success must be
credited to his ability, and to the lack of
organization among the insurgent pueblo
Indians.
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114 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE ZUSl TRIBE.
Among the missionaries assassinated was Fray Juan del Bal/ priest
at Alona in Zuiii. The fact of his death at the hands of the tribe is
the only knowledge we have of the manner in which the Zunis partici-
pated in the great rebellion. Fray Juan was a native of a place called
^^ Bal " in Castile proper ; he had professed at home, and had come to
New Mexico in 1771.^ How the Indians killed him I am unable to
say. It was impossible almost for the Zunis to take part in the actions
at Santa Fe.^ Neither was it necessary or advisable. The segregation
peculiar to tribal organization was exemplified most strikingly. Every
tribe did its duty at home. The Tehuas, Tanos, and Pecos, all of
which lived around Santa F^, were those who assaulted the town, and
the Picuries and Taos assisted them to a limited extent at the instiga-
tion of Po-pe.' The Queres disposed of the Spanish residents about
Santo Domingo and Gerrillos.^ The Jemez cleaned out their own
neighborhood,^ and the Rio Grande as far as Isleta.^ At Zuiii, no
mention is made of other victims than the priest, — a proof that there
were no settlements in that neighborhood.
With the successful retreat of Otermin to El Paso del Norte, a mili-
tary achievement of no small merit. New Mexico relapsed into its pris-
* Vetancurt, Crdnica, p. 320: "En el
rebelion quitaron la vida al padre fray
Jaan del Bal, de la Provincia de Castilla
y misionero antigao, j quemaron el tem-
plo ; " Metiologio, p. 275 : " En ^ de la
Concepcion de Alona, el venerable padre
fray Juan de Yal, ambos de Castilla;"
Fray Francisco de Ayeta, Carta al Vir-
rey, 11th of September, 1680 (MS.
Archives of Mexico) : " Alona : En el
convento de la Purisima Concepcion de
Alona el P. Fr. Juan del Bal, hijo de
la santa Provincia de Castilla, incorpo-
radose la del Santo Evangelio. Entrd de
Misionero el afio pasado de 771, natural
de un lugar de Castilla llamado el BaL"
^ The distance was too great, and they
are never mentioned among the tribes who
attacked what was the only Spanish town
in the territory at the time.
* Diario del Sitio de Santa-FS, Aflo de
1680. A copy of the original MS. is in
my possession.
* Idem, 13th of August, 1680.
* Documentos Formados par don Afir
tonio de Otermin ; Sobre el Levantami'
ento del Aflo de 1680, 24th of August,
1680. A copy of the originals is in my
possession.
^ Idem, various dates in Augast, Sep-
tember, and October of the same year.
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ZUNi IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 115
tine state. The rebellion appeared to be a success^ and the pueblos
exulted over it. Their " good old times " had returned.*
^ I have pnrpoBely avoided mentioning,
in the foregoing pages, the official visits
which the governors of New Mexico should
have made to all the settlements of the
province once, bat not oftener than once,
daring theur term of office. I doubt
whether these visits were made except in
a few cases. I know of bat one authenti-
cated instance. The notorious Fefialosa
visited Zufii between the years 1662 and
1664. Had he said so himself, I should
scarcely have believed it, but the Maestro
de Campo, Juan Domingnez de Mendoza,
asserts it as a fact. Memorial del Maestre
de Campo Juan Domingnez de Men-
doza ; informando de las Na^ciones del
Oriente, etc. : ** en que no a f altado A la
verdad, por tener conocimiento de todo
el Nuevo Mexico, y haber andado hasta
las provincias de Suny y Moqui, demar-
cando todos los lugares del reino cuando
fu^ govemador de aquellas provincias."
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n.
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON INDIANS OP THE
SOUTHWEST
By dr. HERMAN f!c. TEN KATE
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SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON INDIANS
OF THE SOUTHWEST.
During my second season's work in the southwestern territories of
the United States, in 1887, 1888, as anthropologist of the Hemenway
Southwestern Archaeological Expedition, I agreed with the then
Director, Mr. Frank Hamilton Gushing, that it would be of great im-
portance to compare the numerous skeletons we exhumed in the Pre- ,
Columbian ruins of Southwestern Arizona, and in the ancient cities of
Cibola, with the physical characteristics of some of the present Indian
tribes in the vicinity.
I therefore tried, when my other duties allowed, to collect among the
living Indians as much material as possible for comparison, and to
complete, at the same time, my observations made in 1883.^
With this in view, I revisited the Pima and Papago Indians ; but
instead of confining myself, as before, to a few settlements near Saca-
ton and San Xavier del Bac, I visited nearly all the villages of the Zola
reservation, and went farther down in the Papagueria. I also made a
short stay among the Maricopa Indians on the Salado, and, when the
Expedition moved its headquarters to Zuiii, I completed my observa-
tions made there five years ago.
Through means of a special appropriation and a separate outfit,
for which thanks are due both to Mrs. Mary Hemenway and Mr. Gush-
ing, my work was greatly facilitated, and among most of the tribes my
observations could be made very complete. Circumstances obliged me
^ See, among other publications, my letters in Bulletins de la SocUtS cT Anthropoid
ogxe de Farisy 1883.
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120
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
to leave Zuiii very much sooner than I had expected, so that my inves-
tigations there were necessarily less elaborate than in the other places.
While on duty with the Hemenway Expedition, I made observations
on 445 living Indians of both sexes, adults and children, distributed
as follows : —
Pimas .
Papagos .
Maricopas
Y^Tunas
ZafiM . .
Total
213 Adulta.
282 Children.
Men.
Women.
Boys.
Girls.
77
17
29
2
18
61
5
18
1
121
28
1
5
63
18
6
188
76
150
82
TotaL
812
58
54
8
18
445
Except among the adult Zuiiis, where only nine or ten measurements
and observations on each individual were taken, not less than twelve
observations on descriptive characteristics were made, and from twenty-
five to twenty-seven direct measurements, besides the indices or ratios,
were taken on nearly every adult person of the other tribes. The
diameters of the head of the children in length and breadth were
measured.
All my observations and measurements have followed those recom-
mended by the anthropological school of Paris, more particularly by
Prof. Paul Topinard. The same can be said in regard to the instru-
ments used. Consequently all the numbers obtained by direct meas-
urements represent millimeters.
Moreover, I directed my attention to several questions concerning the
physiology and sanitary condition of these Indians. The data thus
collected are very rich, and properly worked out would fill a volume.
Unfortunately I feel obliged for the present to give only a summary
report, or little more than an exposi of my principal observations and
measurements. However, considering the very scanty positive know-
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 121
ledge we possess of the somatology, not only of the living Indians of
the Southwest, but also of the North American Indians generally, the
matter, strange to say, having been almost entirely neglected by the
American anthropologists, any results of systematic investigations can
be regarded as a contribution to physical anthropology.
For completion of, and comparison with, the material collected while
I stayed with the Hemenway Expedition, I add a certain number of
somatological observations made on 131 Indians (Pimas, Papagos,
TaquiB, Tumas, Mohaves, Zunis, and Mokis) during my travels in
1883. I exclude 89 other Indians of various tribes which I examined,
as they are of no interest for our special comparisons. Consequently
all my material consists of 576 living Indians, besides 104 skulls from
ancient ruins.
What I have been able to give about these skulls is partly based
upon my own field notes, but largely upon the measurements which
Dr. Washington Matthews, Major and Surgeon United States Army,
had the kindness to make at my request, and for which I take pleas-
ure in thanking him.
The forthcoming work of Dr. Matthews on these precious human
remains, which were mostly collected by Dr. Jacob L. Wortman and
myself, and are now in the United States Army Medical Museum, will
very likely throw more light upon the question : " To which of the now
existing tribes were the ancient City-Builders of Southwestern Arizona
nearest related?" than I have been able to do in this paper.
I think that in presenting my material in the shape of a series of
numbers and simple diagnoses which speak for themselves commenta-
ries are superfluous.
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122
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
The following table gives a summary description of the principal
somatological characteristics of the Pimas and Papagos, which are not
based on measurements (Series of 1888) : —
128 Pimas.
22Papag08.
77 Men.
51 Women.
17 Men.
5 Women.
fthin
10
4
3
A. Condition of body .
1 middling
62
41
14
4
B. Color of eyes ...
'corpulent ....
dark, of different
shades
5
T7
6
51
17
1
5
C. Color of hair . . .
D. Color of skin ...
black
brown and yellowish
of different shades 3
72
5
T7
45
6
51
15
2
17
5
5
£. Quality of hair . .
straight
wayed
70
7
48
3
16
1
5
none
38
51
5
5
F. PUosity of face . .
rare
middling
27
11
•"
2
10
~
abundant
1
-
-
-
straight
21
19
2
1
G. Profile of nose . . . ^
concave
convex
5
41
13
16
1
12
4
indifferent ' . . . .
10
3
2
-
Cnot
62
41
11
5
H. Camncnla coTered . <
1
one third
15
10
6
-
L Form of face . . . <
lone
middling .....
2
52
27
15
1
• broad
23
24
2
4
none
34
20
12
2
J. Buccal prognathism .
feeble
marked
37
6
26
5
4
1
3
1
considerable . . .
_
_
-
-
1
good and regular . .
58
35
12
5
K. Condition of teeth . . <
1
decayed or used . .
15
4
1
15
-
^ Old persons.
^ I have been unable as yet to find any
real red or copper-colored Indians. The
color of the skin among all the tribes I
visited mostly corresponds with No. 30 of
Broca's chromatic table.
* By << indifferent " I understand a nose
of an irregular, undecided form, quite
frequently more or less resembling the
nez sinueux figured in Topinard's EIS-
ments d^ Anthropologies p. 298.
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST.
123
The following table shows the seriation of the cephalic index and its
averages in the different tribes. It may be well to state once and for
all that my averages represent the '^ average of indices " (Topinard^
^^ Elements/' p. 233) unless the contrary is said. I have added the In-
dians measured in 1883^ and excluded the Yumas on account of their
small number. However, I will state here that the average cephalic
index of five men and one woman is 87.21.
262 Adults.
Cephalio Iia>IGE8.
ISlPiiiiaB.
32Papag08.
47Marioopa8.
SlZnfik.
68
1
69
.
-
-
-
70
.
~
..
..
71
6
.
~
-
72
6
1
1
-
78
6
-
-
-
74
8
-
1
i-
76
9
-
.
2
76
19
1
1
1
77
14
2
2
1
78
24
2
3
1
79
7
4
2
4
80
18
4
3
2
81
8
2
3
3
82
6
6
7
3
83
8
6
-
8
84
14
..
6
4
85
1
8
1
-
86
-
8
4
2
87
.
-
1
1
88
-
-
4
1
89
-
~
2
2
90
-
•
2
-.
91
.
-.
8
1
92
-
-
1
-
Ayerages. . . .
78.55
81.44
83.44
82.34
r..
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124
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
To this table I add the following, to show the cephalic index of the
children as compared with that of the adults. I shall speak of this
after having given the individual measurements of the Fimas and
Papagos.
232 ChildzeiL
CbPHAUO Iia>ICE8.
184Pinia8.
36Papagti8.
7Mtfioopii8.
hZjOOE.
70
6
71
2
-
-
•-
72
9
-
-
-
73
11
1
1
-
74
14
1
-
-
75
14
.
-
_
76
19
.
-
-
77
14
1
1
1
78
20
4
1
_
79
10
2
.
.
80
19
6
2
-
81
10
5
.
1
82
11
6
.
83'
10
2
2
1
84
3
4
.
85
3
2
.
.
86
8
1
.
1
87
1
-
-
-
88
1
1
-
-
89
—
~
-
.
90
—
-
-
.
91
—
-
-
-
92
—
-
-
.
93
-
-
-
-
94
-
-
-
1
AyerageB ....
78.86
81.54
79.60
84.66
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 125
The following lists serve to illustrate the possible correlations between
the principal measurements^ or the different types which are found in
one and the same tribe : —
PIMAS(BiEN).
Head.
Nose.i
CephaUo
Nasal
Form of
Heieht
Na
Index.
Index.3
Nose.
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
Stature.
1
195
154
78.97
51
45
88.23
Coneave.
1693
2
192
138
71.87
49
35
71.42
Gonyex.
1610
8
188
146
77.66
42
39
92.85
Straight
1658
4
196
147
75.00
45
41
91.10
Gonyez.
1752
6
188
148
78.72
54
35
94.81
Gonvez.
1749
6
193
152
78.75
51
35
68.63
Indifferent
1695
7
182
154
84.61
45
40
88.89
Gonvez.
1698
8
189
159
84.12
46
36
78.26
Straight
1559
184
156
84.78
45
38
84.44
Goncaye.
1754
10
182
152
83.51
47
42
89.36
Goncaye.
1690
11
186
138
2419
49
36
73.46
Gonyez.
1647
12
193
154
79.79
48
39
81.52
Straight
1698
13
202
152
75.25
49
38
77.55
Gonyez.
1768
14
185
143
77.29
51
36
97.22
Gonvez.
1652
15
188
144
76.69
49
38
77.55
Stoaight
1662
16
200
142
71.00
4A
42
87.50
Straight
1724
17
185
150
81.08
46
37
80.42
Straight
1684
18
190
162
88.00
51
39
76.47
Gonvez.
1740
19
196
148
75.51
52
38
73.07
Gonvez.
1670
20
194
156
80.41
54
41
71.92
Gonvez.
1730
21
196
152
77.52
55
38
69.08
Gonvez.
1788
22
190
150
78.94
51
40
78.43
Straight
Indifferent
1680
23
186
156
83.87
48
41
85.42
1698
24
200
152
76.00
54
44
81.48
Straight
1848
25
202
155
76.74
49
37
75.61
Straight
Indifferent
1740
26
178
150
84.27
42
41
97.62
1786
27
196
146
74.49
47
35
75.46
Straight
1650
28
202
150
74.26
54
38
70.87
Gonvez.
1814
29
194
150
77.32
48
38
79.17
Gonvez.
1716
30
190
155
81.68
50
38
76.00
Gonvez.
1689
31
186
150
80.64
47
42
89.36
Straight
Indifferent
1708
32
182
150
82.41
46
43
93.48
1700
33
182
154
84.61
47
40
85.10
Gonvez.
1670
34
200
160
80.00
52
36
88.46
Gonvez.
1624
35
196
150
76.63
49
88
77.65
Straight
1710
36
188
152
80.85
47
42
89.36
Gonvez.
1710
37
184
166
84.78
50
40
80.00
Straight
Indifferent
1666
38
190
156
83.15
50
44
88.00
1712
39
186
152
81.72
55
44
79.99
Straight
1623
40
178
150
84.27
60
41
82.00
Gonvez.
1670
41
194
150
77.32
55
48
87.26
Gonvez.
1720
42
192
146
76.04
46
42
91.30
Straight
1674
43
192
154
80.20
53
42
70.24
Gonvez.
1736
44
186
150
80.64
48
36
75.00
Gonvez.
1718
45
192
156
81.25
54
38
70.37
Gonvez.
1718
46
190
160
84.21
50
40
80.00
Gonvez.
1671
1 At the basis {icartement maximum
des aUea of Topinard).
^ For the ckssification, etc., of the na-
sal index of the living, see Topinard's
J^UmentSy p. 303, etc.
Digitized by
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126
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
PDIAS (Mkk). — Coii(tiwe<{.
Head.
Nose.
Cephalic
Index.
Nasal
Index.
Fonnof
Nose.
Statore.
No.
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
BreaddL
Length.
Breadth.
47
204
146
71.55
50
32
64.00
Gonyex.
1680
48
186
146
78.49
46
38
82.61
Conyex.
1678
49
^
152
74.49
49
44
89.79
Convex.
1744
50
150
80.64
50
39
78.00
Straight
Indifferent
1628
51
184
154
83.69
47
40
85.10
1665
52
183
156
85.24
46
41
89.13
Conrex.
1750
58
192
148
77.08
50
42
84.00
Convex.
1656
54
190
150
78.94
48
40
83.33
Steaight
1710
55
196
148
75.51
50
44
88.00
Convex.
1757
56
200
148
74.00
49
42
85.71
Indifferent
1648
57
194
142
73.19
49
42
85.71
Convex.
1739
58
196
140
71.43
53
37
69.81
Indifferent
1723
59
186
148
79.57
45
40
88.89
Convex.
1698
60
192
158
78.12
37
35
94.59
Convex.
1630
61
186
148
79.,57
43
38
88.37
Straight
1690
62
198
146
73.73
47
38
81.86
Indifferent
1640
63
192
150
78.12
48
42
87.50
Convex.
1712
64
200
148
74.00
56
40
71.43
Indifferent
1734
65
184
154
72.82
53
40
75.47
Convex.
1746
66
197
150
76.14
49
35
71.42
Convex.
1680
67
190
154
77.38
49
37
75.51
Convex.
1668
68
186
150
80.64
46
37
80.42
Straight
1644
69
180
141
78.33
47
37
79.72
Straight
1754
70
178
144
80.40
43
36
83.72
Concave.
1676
71
192
148
77.08
53
43
81.12
Convex.
1712
72
198
143
72.22
48
42
87.50
Convex.
1791
73
190
151
79.47
51
40
78.43
Convex!
1728
74
180
144
80.00
49
43
87.75
Convex.
1666
76
193
152
78.75
48
42
87.50
Concave.
1662
76
180
152
84.49
46
37
80.42
Convex.
1573
77
188
148
78.72
45
38
84.44
Straight
1653
Average.
190
150
79.00
48.8
39
81.77
1696
Digitized by
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST.
PIMAS (WOKKM).
127
Head.
Nose.
CephaUo
Nasal
Form of
Height
Stature.
Na
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Index.
Length.
Breadth.
Index.
Nose.
1
188
136
72.34
43
36
83.72
Concaye.
1608
2
184
138
75.00
47
35
75.46
Straight
1642
3
178
160
84.27
52
32
61.54
Concave.
1595
4
188
148
78.72
49
41
83.67
Convex.
1458
5
183
140
76.50
47
40
85.10
Convex.
1556
6
182
138
75.82
43
34
85.00
Concave.
1606
7
178
139
78.09
46
37
80.42
Concave.
1548
8
180
142
78.88
43
30
69.76
Straight
1658
9
186
146
78.49
48
36
75.00
Convex.
1509
10
173
146
84.39
44
85
79.54
Straight
1600
11
190
146
76.84
42
40
95.24
Convex.
1600
12
188
138
73.40
38
35
92.10
Convex.
1508
13
184
146
79.34
42
33
7a57
Straight
1569
14
188
144
76.59
61
42
82.35
Convex.
1558
16
180
146
81.11
40
34
85.00
Concave.
1559
16
190
142
24.73
44
38
86.36
Straight
1666
17
185
145
78.37
46
33
71.73
Straight
1658
18
176
148
84.09
45
37
82.22
Straight
1657
19
188
146
77.06
44
37
84.09
Straight
1661
20
183
142
77.59
48
40
83.33
Convex.
1536
21
184
150
81.52
36
34
97.14
Concave.
1512
22
194
156
80.41
48
36
75.00
Straight.
Indifferent.
1561
23
190
146
76.84
50
38
76.00
1560
24
193
148
76.68
49
35
71.42
Straight
1557
25
184
140
76.08
45
35
77.77
Straight
1672
26
185
138
24.59
46
37
80.42
Straight
1490
27
176
138
78.41
42
33
78.57
Concave.
1544
28
174
144
82.76
45
36
80.00
Concave.
1562
29
174
140
80.46
37
35
94.59
Concave.
1606
30
190
140
73.68
43
36
83.72
Strai^^t
1608
31
178
146
82.02
38
33
86.84
Convex.
1484
32
190
138
72.63
38
36
94.73
Straight
1564
33
182
148
81.31
50
37
74.00
Concave.
1560
34
182
144
79.12
46
36
78.26
Convex.
1547
36
182
146
80.22
41
35
85.36
Convex.
1538
36
176
140
79.54
44
36
81.82
Straight
1556
87
188
148
78.72
47
36
77.59
Convex.
1562
88
189
142
75.13
49
36
73.46
Indifferent
1610
39
170
142
83.53
43
82
74.42
Convex.
1672
40
180
150
83.57
41
31
75.61
Straight
1650
41
182
143
78.57
40
33
82.60
Convex.
1662
42
188
148
78.72
45
41
91.10
Concave.
1698
43
186
144
77.42
47
33
70.20
Convex.
1626
44
180
148
82.22
47
33
70.20
Convex.
1570
45
190
146
76.84
43
39
90.69
Concave.
1528
46
191
148
77.48
45
39
86.66
Straight
1575
47
184
139
75.54
45
34
75.55
Straight
1526
48
185
154
83.24
44
32
72.72
Concave.
1660
49
185
148
80.00
38
37
97.37
Convex.
1620
50
183
144
78.69
48
40
83.33
Straight
Indifferent
1653
51
182
144
79.12
42
30
71.43
1660
Ayerage.
183.7
144.2
78.53
44.3
35.6
80.95
1563
General )
Ayerage. )
187.7
147.7
78.67
47.00
37.9
81.40
1643
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128 SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
Before giving any commentaries on the foregoing, I will give similar
lists of the Papagos, being like the 77 X 51 Pimas of my series of
1888: —
PAPAGOS (Men).
Head.
Nose.
Cephalic
Index.
Nasal
Index.
Form of
Nose.
Statnie.
No.
Greatest
LengOi.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
1
195
158
81.02
58
44
83.01
Convex.
1744
2
197
152
77.15
48
88
79.17
Convex.
1722
8
188
146
77.66
48
48
100.00
Convex.
1718
4
196
154
78.57
42
86
85.71
Convex.
1686
5
188
152
80.85
50
38
76.00
Concave.
1786
6
180
150
83.37
50
36
72.00
Convex.
1658
7
202
146
72.28
49
40
81.63
Convex.
1794
8
182
150
82.41
55
41
74.54
Convex.
1652
9
186
156
83.87
53
41
77.35
Convex.
1746
10
187
160
85.56
52
47
90.38
Straight
Indifferent
1655
11
184
160
86.95
58
40
75.47
1662
12
186
159
85.78
52
87
71.15
Convex.
1647
18
183
159
86.88
47
42
89.36
Convex.
1712
14
192
150
78.12
61
87
72.55
Convex.
1659
15
200
152
76.00
44
48
97.71
Indifferent
1750
16
185
154
83.24
48
86
75.00
Convex.
1637
17
184
161
86.95
47
48
91.48
Straight
1650
Average.
189.1
152.8
81.57
50.1
40.4
81.91
1695
PAPAGOS (Women).
Head.
Cephalic
Index.
Nose.
Nasal
Index.
Form of
Nose.
Stature.
No.
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
1
2
8
4
5
182
189
186
180
180
144
158
154
150
144
79.12
a3.60
82.79
8:i.37
80.00
43
42
48
50
44
34
89
37
36
86
79.07
92.85
77.08
72.00
81.82
Convex.
Straight
Convex.
Convex.
Convex.
1594
1590
1610
1530
1560
Average.
181.1
150.0
81.65
45.5
86.4
80.56
1576
General
Average. '
187.8
152.3
81.59
48.5
39.5
81.60
1668
A series of twenty^three Pimas, all men, measured in 1883, have the
subdolichocephalic average cephalic index of 77.70, with a variation
Digitized by
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 129
from 68.68 to 84.27 ; the mesorhine index of 77.84:, and an average
height of stature of 1724 millimeters.
From the measurements of eighty-seven Pima warriors, which were
taken many years ago by Mr. John D. Walker, and kindly placed at
my disposal by this gentleman, I calculated an average of 1753 mm.
I must remark that very likely several Pimas Mr. Walker measured
were measured by me. Among my twenty-three Pimas, four have a
straight, two a concave, and seventeen a convex nose.
On a previous occasion I measured the heads of eight Papagos,
among which two were of women. The average cephalic index of this
small series is 81.26 or subbrachycephalic, with a variation from 79.00
to 83.60. The form of the nose of one was straight, and of the rest
convex. (One Pima and three Papago skulls, all men, which I col-
lected and described, have the following indices: 77.84, 76.21,
78.41, 76.96. See my paper "Sur quelques cranes de F Arizona
et du Nouveau Mexique " in " Revue d' Anthropologic," 1884, p. 489.)
Although the Pimas and Papagos are intimately related, — in fact,
members of one family, the Ootam, — my tables show some differences,
only the principal of which I will point out.
The color of skin of the Pimas is a little lighter than that of the
Papagos. The convex form of the nose is more frequent among the
Papagos than among the Pimas. While the latter have 44.5 per cent.,
the former present 72.7 per cent, of convex noses. The Papagos are a
trifle taller than the Pimas, which difference lies especially in the fact
that Pima women are smaller than their Papago sisters. The Papagos
are stronger built, more muscular and stalwart than the Pimas. The
Pimas are in average mesaticephalic ; the Papagos subbrachycephalic ;
hot only the adults, but, as we shall see, also the children. There is
less variation in the cephalic index of the Papagos than in that of the
Pimas ; in other words, it shows less extremes, especially downward.
Although at least three primary or principal types are found among
both tribes, besides the intermediary types, the Papagos present a
greater uniformity of type than their brothers ; that is to say, one type,
namely, the brachycephalic with convex nose, prevails among them.
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130
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
while the other types found among the Pimas are less frequently
seen.
It may be of interest to mention here the Taqui Indians of Sonora^
who, linguistically and ethnologically, are related to the Ootam, and
keep up a more or less lively intercourse with them. The average
cephalic index of nineteen Yaqui men I measured at Guaymas and La
Paz (Lower California) is 79.80 or mesaticephalic, which compares very
well with that of the Pima men. The Index varies from 75 to 91.23.
Of sixteen of these Yaquis I find the following notes about the form
of the nose : four have straight, twelve convex. Although I did not
measure their stature I estimated their height, which is probably be-
tween that of my small Pima series (1723 mm.) and that of the male
Papagos (1695 mm.), or a little over 1700 mm. In physiognomy and
general habits I think the Taquis resemble more the Papagos than the
Gila Pimas.
It has been asserted that, in the same race, women are more brachy-
cephalic than men, and children more brachycephalic than adults (Top-
inard, " Elements," pp. 374, 376). My observations on the Pimas and
Papagos show that the differences are very slight, and that the chil-
dren, varying from five to fifteen years, have the same form of skull
as the adults. The greatest differences we find between the Papago
boys and girls. The following numbers, which I take partly from the
preceding tables, may show this more clearly : —
MEN AND WOMEN.
Pimas .
Papagos
Number.
77
17
Men. Number. Women. Difference.
79.00
81.63
61
6
78.67
81.69
— 1.88
+ .1
ADULTS AND CHILDREN.
Number.
Adults.
Number.
Children.
Difference.
pjl«w?
128
22
78.65
81.44
184
36
78.85
81.54
+ .80
+ .10
Papagos
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST.
BOYS AND GIRLS.
131
FimM .
Papagos
Number.
121
23
Boys.
79.12
80.97
Number.
13
Girls.
78.02
82.54
Difference.
— 1.10
+ 1.57
Taking the average of the averages of the cephalic index of the
Pimas, Papagos, Maricopas, and Zunis, of both adults and children,
we find : —
261 Adults.
81.44
232 Children.
81.16
Difference.
.28
The following tables represent the descriptive characteristics and the
principal measurements of the Maricopas, after which we can compare
them with the Ootam : —
DESCBiprrTB Chabaoteribtics.
Sthin.
middling
B. Color of eyes
C. Color of hair
E. Quality of hair .
( corpulent <
danc, of <
; different shades
(black
Igray
D. Color of skin brown and yellowish, of different shades
\ straight
waved
none
F. Pilosity of face .
G. Prafileof
H. Ganmonla covered
L Form of face . . .
J. Bnocal prognathism
K. Condition of teeth .
none
I feeble
marked ....
, considerable . . .
' g^ood and regular .
good but irregular
; or decayed or used
Maricopas.
^Men.
4
28
2
29
27
28
1
11
5
12
1
8
3
12
6
18
11
6
19
6
11
11
6
1
21
6
3
18 Women.
14
4
18
17
1
18
18
18
8
1
8
6
3
13
2
11
7
2
12
3
1
12
1
5
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132
SOMA TOLOGICAL OBSER VATIONS
HABICOPAS (Men).
Head.
Noee.
CephaUo
Index.
Nasal
Index.
Form of
Noee.
Height
Stature.
No.
Qreatest
Length.
Qreatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
1
208
142
68.9.S
49
44
89.79
Straight.
Indifferent.
1694
2
183
142
77.59
43
38
88.37
1596
8
184
150
81.52
45
42
93.32
Convex.
1746
4
198
152
76.76
47
40
85.10
Straight
Indifferent.
1671
6
190
150
78.94
48
41
85.42
1706
6
184
152
82.60
42
40
95.24
Straight
1760
7
188
156
82.98
47
45
95.74
Convex.
1570
8
190
150
78.94
52
42
80.77
Indifferent
1711
9
186
164
88.09
48
36
75.00
Concave.
1749
10
194
144
74.22
50
41
82.00
Convex.
1672
11
190
156
82.10
48
41
85.42
Convex.
1670
12
188
160
85.10
47
46
97.87
Convex.
1734
18
190
164
86.31
51
48
96.08
Indifferent
1754
14
184
160
86.95
61
40
78.43
Convex.
1761
16
182
165
90.65
47
38
81.85
Convex.
1709
16
184
152
82.60
49
42
85.71
Concave.
1786
17
188
156
82.54
54
40
74.07
Convex.
1776
18
170
156
91.76
51
47
92.16
Indifferent
1781
19
177
164
92.65
54
38
70.37
Convex.
1740
20
200
165
82.50
51
47
92.16
Indifferent
1750
21
190
160
84.21
54
42
77.78
Straight
1654
22
176
152
86.85
50
40
80.00
Convex.
1522
23
192
170
88.54
51
49
96.08
Convex.
1820
24
188
164
91.11
51
40
78.43
Straight.
1710
26
188
158
84.04
48
37
77.08
Straight
1800
26
206
150
72.79
52
43
82.70
Concave.
1776
27
192
163
84.89
42
39
92.85
Convex.
1814
28
190
160
84.21
49
39
79.59
Straight
1752
29
198
156
78.78
48
40
83.33
Straight
1770
Average.
188.8
156.3
82.91
49
41.46
85.27
1722
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTBWEST.
133
MARICOPAS (Women).
Head.
CephaUo
Index.
Nose.
Nasal
Index.
Form of
Nose.
Height
Stature.
No.
Greatest
Lei^.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breaddi.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
184
176
185
176
174
188
176
178
190
176
187
180
184
174
184
186
185
178
152
160
144
152
152
150
144
144
160
158
146
164
148
155
146
150
164
158
82.60
90.90
77.83
86.36
87.J^
79.78
81.82
80.90
84.21
89.77
78.07
91.11
80.43
89.08
19.34
80.64
88.64
88.76
46
44
47
46
40
50
37
45
50
44
42
48
40
42
47
44
42
48
37
38
32
38
36
37
36
37
42
34
37
38
34
30
34
40
37
39
80.42
86.36
68.08
82.61
90.00
74.00
97.30
82.22
84.00
77.27
88.09
79.17
85.00
71.43
72.34
90.90
88.09
81.21
Stnught
Straight
Convex.
Straight.
Concave.
Straight.
Indifferent.
Convex.
Indifferent.
Convex.
Indifferent.
Indifferent.
Indifferent.
Straight.
Straight.
Straight.
Straight.
Indifferent.
1689
1600
1600
1580
1614
1640
1480
1604
1670
1546
1634
1630
1594
1610
1600
1620
1532
1628
Average.
181.1
185.8
152.6
84.29
44.5
36.4
82.14
1601
General )
Average. J
154
83.44
47.3
39.5
83.00
1676
I shall call attention to a few differences^ etc.^ between the Marico-
pas and their neighbors^ and the two sexes.
The pilosity of the face of the Maricopa men is more frequent than
among the Papagos. Nevertheless, I think that the epithet "abun-
dant " can be more frequently applied to the heads of the men in the
Yuma tribes generally than among those of the Ootam. Besides the
one case reported among the Maricopas, I have noticed several men
with heavy beards among the Yumas, Mohaves, and Yavapais, besides
a well-developed pilosity of the body, especially at the legs.
The Maricopas are more brachycephalic, platyrhine, and taller than
the Ootam. The variations of the cephalic index are very great and
exceedingly low, as the recorded index is 68. The Maricopa skull
shows, nevertheless, a greater tendency to brachycephalism. There are
not less than thirteen cases above the index 86, which is the highest
Digitized by
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134 SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
among the Ootam, among whom six are hyperbrachycephalic, — L e.y
having an index of 90 or above.
There is a greater difference in the cephalic and nasal indices be-
tween the male and female Maricopas than there is among the men and
women of the Ootam tribes. The Maricopa children also show less
similarity in the form of the skull than the adults. The difference in
stature between Maricopa men and women is between that of the Papa*
gos and Pimas.
Compared with two other tribes of the Tuma family which I studied,
— namely, the Tumas proper, or Kutchan, and the Mohaves, — the
Maricopas prove to be less homogeneous than the former. Six Yu-
maso have each a brachycephalic index, as we have seen, with an aver^
age of 87.21, which is very similar to that of forty Mohaves (thirty-
seven men, three women), where it reaches 87.07* Among these forty
Mohaves only three subdolichocephalic heads were found. The highest
index among the Mohaves is 98.82. The nasal index of thirty-eight
Mohave men is 82.24 or mesorhine. The stature of thirty-five male
Mohaves is 17.40 mm. ; with the women measured it reaches 17.33.
Although there is certainly more than one primary type among the
Yumas and Mohaves, they present less variety in type than the Mari-
copas, whose homogeneity may possibly have been altered by their
intermarrying with the Pimas.
To this table of thirteen Zuiiis, I join two other small tables repre-
senting similar measurements on a series of the same tribe measured
previously.
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST.
ZUNIS (Men). Series of 1888.
135
Head.
Noee.
CephaUc
Index.
Xaaa]
Index.
Height
Stature.
No.
Ghwatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
1
108
150
76.75
52
34
65.38
1734
2
]88
158
84.04
46
34
73.91
1580
3
191
144
75.39
43
38
88.37
1658
4
108
158
77.77
44
37
84.09
1692
5
186
156
83.87
44
36
81.82
1652
6
184
144
78.26
40
37
92.50
1590
7
179
148
82.68
40
36
90.00
1698
8
184
154
83.69
45
36
80.00
1661
9
193
154
79.79
37
35
94.69
1657
10
176
154
87.50
46
35
76.08
1608
11
186
148
-79.57
39
37
94.87
1586
12
196
160
81.63
44
48
86.36
1562
13
190
152
80.00
41
39
95.12
84.85
1698
Average
188.3
152
80.76
43.1
36.3
1644
ZUNIS (Men). Ssbies of 1883.
Head.
Nose.
Cephalic
Nasal
f orm of
H.^t
Na
Index.
Index.
Nose.
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
Stature.
1
175
144
82.28
42
32
76.19
Straight.
1540
2
188
156
82.98
50
37
74.00
Concave.
1600
3
170
150
88.23
48
37
77.08
Straight.
1650
4
192
154
80.20
61
37
72.55
Straight.
1650
5
186
152
81.72
47
41
87.23
Convex.
1630
6
169
142
84.02
45
31
68.89
Concave.
1480
7
184
160
86.05
47
36
77.59
Straight.
1640
8
198
158
79.79
45
38
84.44
Straight
1580
9
176
158
80.77
42
36
85.71
—
1610
10
182
148
81.31
-
-
—
Convex.
1710
Average.
182
152.2
83.72
41.9
32.5
78.18
1609
(General av-
)
verage of
> 185.6
152.1
82.00
42.4
35.9
82.12
1624
25 men.
)
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136
80MAT0L0QICAL OBSERVATIONS
ZUS^IS (WoxEx). Sbbibs of 1888.
Head.
Cephalic
Index.
Nose.
Nasal
Lidex.
Form of
Nose.
Height
No.
Greatest
Length.
Greatest
Breadth.
Length.
Breadth.
of
Statuie.
1
2
3
4
6
6
7
8
161
158
176
176
178
176
184
178
148
141
140
148
186
148
160
148
91.92
89.24
79.54
84.09
76.40
84.09
86.95
8:3.14
46
39
45
40
45
44
50
40
35
34
37
35
40
35
32
39
76.08
87.18
82.22
87.50
88.89
79.64
64.00
97.50
81.61
Concaye.
Straight.
Straight.
Concaye.
Concaye.
Conyex.
Straight.
Straight.
1450
1350
1450
1545
1390
1500
1470
1475
Ayerage.
173.3
146.1
84.42
43.6
35.8
1453
Ayerage )
men and , '
women. )
182.4
150.5
82.34
43.0
35.8
81.93
1583
The differences between men and women are shown clearly enough
to dispense with further explanations. By comparing the cephalic
index of the thirty-one adult Zunis with that of the five boys, we find
that here at least the difference is much greater than it was, as we
have seen, among the Pimas and Papagos, but less considerable than it
was among the Maricopas. The small number of children measured
among the Maricopas and ZuiSis may, however, account for this differ^
ence.
Comparing the adult Zunis with those of the two Ootam tribes, we
find that the greatest difference is in the higher index of the Zunis,
being especially caused by the shorter diameter of length. Although
the average difference of the cephalic index of the Zuiiis and Ootam is
not very great, varying from .90 to 3.29, the seriation shows that the
variations are much more considerable, the most brachycephalic adult
06tS.m reaching only 86, the most brachycephalic adult Zuni 91.
Among the children it is 88 and 84.
The averages of the nasal index of the three tribes are about the
same, and only differ in the fractions. A more important difference is
found in the stature, the Zunis being smaller than the Ootlun, which
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST.
137
difference lies especially in the women, the Pimas and Papagos being
from 110-123 millimetres taller than their sisters of the Zuiii tribe.
For comparison with the Zuiiis, and as a link between these and the
ancient City-Builders of the southwest, I take the Moki Indians, of
which I measured a few at the pueblo of W^l-pi in 1883.
The average maxima and minima of the principal measurements of
twenty people (fifteen men, five women) are the following : —
Greatest leog^ of head .
Greatest breadth of head
Greatest length of nose .
Greatest breadth of nose
Height of stature . . .
Cephalic index^ . . .
Nasal index
Men.
Women.
General
Ayeiage.
Max.
176
166.6
172.9
184
163.3
149.8
152.4
164
46
—
—
51
86
—
—
41
1610
148.4
157.8
1740
87.69
90.04
88.27
95.81
78.58
—
—
95.00
Min.
164
141
40
34
1440
80.43
68.00
From the above numbers I am led to believe that the Molds are
more brachycephalic, more leptorhine, and a little smaller than the
Zuiiis^ and that there is less variation in their numbers, resulting from
direct measurements and calculations, than there is among the Zunis.
Nevertheless, I think both tribes are, somatologically speaking, closely
related, and we find the same types among both of them. In neither
tribe, however, do we find uniformity of type, but both present the
same (at least two) primary types, besides the numerous intermediary
forms. One of these primary types is what one might call the Pueblo
Indian type par excellence^ the most prominent characteristics of which
are : true brachycephalism, or oftentimes hyperbrachycephalism ; a flat,
almost vertical occiput ; a deep-lying root of nose ; a broad face ; a
small nose, mostly straight and short among the women, and slightly
convex among the men; middling prognathism, often particularly
shown by protection of the lower jaw.
^ I have described and figared a male Moki skull which has an index of 83.33, in
Archives Nierlandaisesy vol. xx.
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138
SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
The reason why I call this type the Pueblo type is, first, that it is
much more frequently found among the Pueblo Indians I have seen^
than among any other tribes ; secondly, because it is very frequently
found among the skulls from ancient ruins in the southwest, the Cliff
houses included. It is interesting to here remind the reader of the
well-known fact that this type is often found among the Mound-Build-
ers, and also in Central Mexico.^
So, naturally, we arrive at the question proposed at the beginning
of this paper, " Which of the tribes here examined is, somatologically,
closest related to the ancient City-Builders, whose osseous remains were
exhumed in such great numbers by the Hemenway Expedition ? "
Among these remains, mostly found in the group of ruins in the
Salado Valley, southwestern Arizona, which Mr. Cushing has called
Los Muertos, Las Acequias, Las Pueblitas, Los Guanacos, etc.,^ and in
the Zuni country, mostly in the ruins of H^lonawan and Heshota-
^ Besides the Zafiis and Mokis, I saw
the inhabitants of Laguna, Tesaque, and
Isleta del Paso (Texas), and furthermore
representatives from the pueblos of San
Domingo, San Juan, and Picuris.
' Compare mj previous papers relative
to these questions in Revue d^ Anthropolo-
gies 1886, and Archives NSerlandaises,
vol. XX.
' See among the publications on the
Hemenwaj Expedition, mostly found in
numerous American and European scien-
tific and other journals, Sylvester Baxter,
The Old New World, Salem, Mass., 1888,
and the admirable paper of Mr. Cushing
in the Compte Rendu of the Congress of
Americanistes in Berlin,
In it are the series from these ruins,
more particularly from Los Acequias, which
presented the interesting characteristic of
the hyoid bone described by Dr. J. L.
Wortman and myself. It is noteworthy
that a number of hyoid bones belonging to
both series from the Zuiii country (H^lo-
nawan and Heshotatlthla) present the
same characteristics as those from the Sa-
lado Valley. This results not only from
my own observations, but also from those
by a member of the Hemenway Expedi-
tion, who noticed this occurrence after my
departure from Zufli.
Another interesting characteristic pre-
sented by the Salado Valley series, to
which I refer, is the enormous frequency
of the inca bone. (See Dr. Matthews's
paper on this subject in American Anthro-
pologist, 1889.) It would be interesting
to compare in other respects ancient Pe-
ruvian skulls with those of our ancient
Arizonians, especially for the reason that
Mr. Cushing has found several parallels
between the indigenous cultures of the
southwest and of Peru.
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 139
lithla/ 104 skulls are fit for measurement. The other numerous bones
from all these ruins^ frequently forming almost complete skeletons, have
been, as stated in the beginning of this paper, the subject of thorough
investigations of Dr. Washington Matthews. For this reason I can
only compare here the measurements of the skulls furnished me, either
by Dr. Matthews, or made by myself in the field. These skulls are
distributed into three different series, as follows : —
Salado Yallej,
Heshotadthla,
HiUonawan,
Total,
48
35
21
104
I Measured bj Dr. Matthews.
Measured by myself.
In the series measured for me by Dr. Matthews, unfortunately no
distinction was made between the sexes. For better comparison I am
therefore obliged to give the numbers of my H£onawan series regard-
less of sex, although I made an examination with a view to the deter-
mination of the sex.
It will be sufBcient for our purpose of comparison to give the aver-
ages, maxima and minima, of the two principal diameters of the skull,
and of the cephalic index, together with the seriation of the latter in
our three different series, to which I add the seriation of the cephalic
index of the Zunis and Mokis.^
^ H^lonawan, or Alona, the original an-
cient Zuili, in the immediate neighborhood
of the present town of Zuili. It was still
in existence at the time the first Spaniards
made their appearance in the Zuili coan-
try. Heshotadthla, about nine miles east
of Zuili, was a city of the Zuilis already
in ruins before the arrival of the Span-
iards.
' Although as yet the exact difference
between the cephalic index of the bony
skull and that of the head of the living
(** cephalo-metrix *' index) is not known
with absolute certainty, I have reasons to
believe that the difference is not very
great, and I therefore venture to compare
here both indices. (See Topinard, El^
merUs, pp. 372-374.)
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140
SOMA TOLOGICAL OBSER VA TIONS
Salado VaUey.
Heshotaiithla.
mionawan.
SKUIiU
Average.
Max.
Min.
Average.
Max.
Min.
Average.
Max.
M^n
Greatest length . . .
160.0
188
145
159.4
185
143
160.5
177
147
Gieatest breadth . . .
141.3
151
132
141.1
155
123
144.1
156
180
SknllB.
Heads.
Gephalio Indices.
48Salado
VaUey.
35 Heshota-
iithla.
21 H^ona-
wan.
•
36iZafii8.
20Moki8.
74
1
75
_
2
_
2
.
76
_
1
_
1
-
77
-
1
.
2
.
78
3
_
-
1
-
79
-
-
.
4
-
80
-
1
1
2
1
81
-
1
1
4
2
82
2
-
3
3
-
83
1
1
4
-
84
4
_
_
4
1
85
5
2
1
_
2
86
8
4
1
3
3
87
5
1
1
1
88
8
3
2
1
2
89
2
1
3
2
1
90
6
-
-
-
3
91
4
2
-
1
1
92
2
3
-
-
-
93
2
_
-
-
1
94
2
4
2
1
2
95
1
2
1
-
1
96
2
2
1
-
-
97
1
1
2
-
-
98
-
1
1
-
-
99
-
-
1
-
-
100
-
1
-
-
-
Averages . . .
88.53
88.69
90.00
84.93
88.27
The great similarity, or conformity, between these different series of
bony skulls is remarkable, and fully confirms the similarity in general
morphology of the skull which struck me while simply examining the
skulls without instruments at the time we were excavating. We see
that brachycephalism unquestionably prevails in these three series, and
* Children incladed.
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 141
that there exists even a great frequency of hyperbraehycephalism.^
The percentage of hyperbrachycephalism is 41.6 in the Sakdo Valley
series^ and 42.8 in the combined ancient Zunis series. Among the
present Zunis only 5.5 per cent, are hyperbrachycephalic, the children
included ; among the Molds, 40 per cent. The Pimas and Papagos, as
we have seen, present no hyperbrachycephalism. Among the Marico-
pas, however, it reaches 10 per cent. ; but among them this similarity
is counterbalanced by so many other different characteristics that, in
this case, its occurrence has no signification.
From the numerous skeletons which I have examined though not
measured, I would say that, roughly estimated, the height of stature of
the ancient people of the Salado and Gila Valleys and that of the an-
cient Zunis cannot have been very different. Perhaps the Arizonians
were a little smaller than the ancient Zunis, but I judge that the gen-
eral average of both sexes did not exceed 1600 mm.
If, as we have seen, these Precolumbian City-Builders of Arizona
show in their craniology, and other osteology, the greatest resemblance
to the direct ancestors of the present Zunis, then we have a right to
say that the present Zunis are more closely related to these ancient
Arizonians than any other of the tribes examined, except the Mokis.
But although, as above stated, the Mokis present the same phys^pal
types as the living Zunis, — that is, are somatologically related to them,
— the affinity of the Zunis with the ancient Arizonians is not on that
account any the less.
The greatest difference between them is this: the Precolumbian
Arizonians and the ancient Zunis present more homogeneity in their
physical characteristics than do the present Zunis. To what causes
this is to be attributed, I can only venture a suggestion. Has the Zuni
type changed during the last three centuries, through natural evolu-
tion, or has it been altered by foreign elements ? Or, perhaps, would
a larger number of living Zunis than the series I have examined show
a greater similarity with the ancient Arizonians ? A more complete
^ A male skull from Heshotadthla, has an index of 98.02. (See Sur qtielqties
which I described on a previous occasion, crdneSy etc., loc, clt.)
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142 SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
solution of the question relative to the somatological affinity of the
ancient Arizonians and the present Zunis must he left to future invesr
tigations.
However^ I must remind the reader that the comparative Archaeolo-
gical and Ethnological studies of Mr. Gushing on the ruins of south-
western Arizona^ in the Zuni country and among the Zuni Indians
themselves, have led him to the conclusion that the Precolumbian Ari-
zonians were closely related to the Zuiiis of to-day, who he thinks rep-
resent the purest survival of this ancient desert culture, to which he
has given the name of Shiwian, or Aridian culture. Thus both kinds of
researches have led to very much the same conclusions, which certainly
is not a mere coincidence.
The question whether the present Pimas and Papagos had anything
to do with the ancient cities of the Salado and Gila Valleys has often
been discussed among the officers of the Hemenway Expedition, and
previously by other ethnologists.
Pima tradition in regard to this has different versions, which agree
in the conclusion that not one but several peoples built these cities
and lived in them. Besides their own ancestors, they mention the
Onavas, or Tchoofkwatam (Hare-eaters), now living in Sonora, and
the Mokis. It is indeed very difficult to bring these versions, to which,
as Mr. Gushing asserts, the Zuifiis can add another one, in harmony with
each other.
The present Ootam show, it is true, in their social organization, reli-
gious customs, ornamentation, architecture, etc., some similarities with
the Pueblo Indians generally, but they indicate more an incomplete
development than a degeneration from a higher culture, which fact has
led Mr. Gushing to call them " Arrested Pueblo Indians." Moreover,
as we have seen, the anthropological data do not confirm the belief
that the Ootam are the direct descendants of the ancient Gity-Builders
of southern Arizona. If ever they are to be considered as belonging
to the Shiwian culture, in which, possibly, somatologically different ele-
ments may be found, they occupy and have occupied in it a very low
standpoint.
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ON INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST, 143
The same can be said of different Yuma tribes, some of which, at
least in architecture, might equally be called arrested Pueblo Indians.
It has been alleged that the Yuma tribes have traditions that their
ancestors were once Pueblo Indians. Should this ever prove to be
true, they can nevertheless never be considered as the descendants of
the Precolumbian City - Builders of southern Arizona, because their
physical characteristics differ too much from those of the ancient and
present Pueblo Indians. I speak, of course, only of the Yuma tribes
whom I have seen and more or less studied. About the Havesupais,
for example, I have no opinion of my own, and must leave to Mr.
Gushing, who has been among them, to solve the question of their
afiBnities.
Besides these conclusions there are others, more general ones, which
we can draw from what has been said in the foregoing dissertation.
They are the same conclusions, but only corroborated by later observa-
tions, to which I arrived after my first researches among the North
American Indians.^
They are chiefly the following : Among the Indian tribes inhabiting
the southwest of the United States and northwestern Mexico, several
different primary somatological types are found, which types, as well as
their intermediary forms, are spread in different proportions among the
different tribes. The " penetration " (Hollmann) of these types is so
complete that there is no tribe in which only one of these primary
types is found. In every tribe two or more primary types are found,
besides, of course, the numerous transitions, although one special
type may occasionally predominate, as, for example, the brachycepha-
lic, short statured type among the Pueblo Indians, ancient and present.
The women present more uniformity in type than the men, and, like
the children, have at the same time more Mongoloid characteristics than
the men.
The somatological characteristics have no correlation with language
^ Compare Revue d^Anthropohgie of Datch, are given, and also Bulletin Soc.
Topinard, 1885, in which a rSsumS of the d'Anthropologie, 1883.
restdts of my researches, as published in
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144 SOMATOLOQICAL OBSERVATIONS.
or social organization ; in other words, a number of individuals, repre-
senting different types, can very well speak the same language, and
form an unity in an ethnological sense.
The study of physical anthropology among the North American In-
dians does not tend to demonstrate that their types are exclusively
American, but, on the contrary, that they present only the characteris-
tics of the Mongolian, or so-called yellow races. This conclusion is
not only based upon my observations among the tribes mentioned in
this paper, but also upon numerous personal observations on other
American tribes from the St. Lawrence River to Central Mexico, and
upon the study of a great number of osseous remains, not to speak
of my researches in South America. I do not wish to be misunder^
stood, as to my regret sometimes has been the case. I do not mean to
say that the American aborigines are Mongolians in the strict sense of
the word, or that America has been populated from Asia. Where the
Indians came from I do not know, but my position is as follows: the
American race is, somatologically speaking, not a type, but has char-
acteristics which can only be called Mongoloid.
June, 1890.
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A JOURNAL
OF
AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY AND
ARCHEOLOGY
EDITOR
J. WALTER FEWKES
VOL. IV
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
1894
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(E^tBt Pases
ARE GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
MRS. MARY HEMENWAY
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CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Group of Snake Dancers Frontispiece
Introduction 3
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
First Day (Yun'-la, Assembly) 13
Making of the Charm Liquid (NX-ku-yi) 15
The Dry Paintino or Sand Mosaic of the Antelopes 17
Sand Mosaic of the Antelope Priests 18
Cylinder 20
Heads of the Male and Female Lightning 21
Sand Mosaic or Altar of the Antelopes 22
Stone Implements of the Antelope Altar 23
Stick from Antelope Altar 24
Second Day (Cuc-ta-la, First Ceremonial Day) 26
Hand representing Length of Carkwi-pa-ho(8) 25
Prayer-Stick (P^ho) 27
The Sixteen Songs Ceremony 28
Great O'-mow-fih Pipe 32
K^kap-ti leaving the Kiva 35
Jar in which the Snakes are kept 37
Third Day (Ltic-TX-LA, Second Ceremonial Day) 37
Snake-Whip 38
Position of the Priests when the Pi-ho(s) were given to the Snake Chief . . .39
Fourth Day (Paic-ta-la, Third Ceremonial Day) 41
Ho-kd-narma-na, or Butterfly Virgin Slab 43
Pat'-ne 43
Snake Hunters descending the South Trail 45
Fifth Day (Na-luc'-ta-la, Fourth Ceremonial Day) 45
A-wa-ta^-n^tci of the Antelope Kiva 47
A-warta-ni-tci of the Snake Kiva 48
Sixth Day (Cttc-T^-LA, First Ceremonial Day) 49
K6-pe-li, the Snake Chief 50
Cross-Shaped Pi-ho Stick 61
Seventh Day (Ko-m6k-to-to-kya) 52
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vi CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Making the Sand Mosaic of the Snake Priests 53
Sand Mosaic of the Snake Priests 64
Snake Bandoleer 57
The Snake Chief's Pipe 58
The Snake Charm Altar 59
Basket in which the Snake Charm Liquid is made . . . . 60
Pellet of Clay from Snake Bandoleer 61
Dramatization in the Snake Kiva 61
£iGHTH Day (To-t6-kya, Sleeps) 65
Kilt of the Antelope Priests 66
Dramatization and Sixteen Songs Ceremony 67
The Antelope Dance 71
Snake P^ho 71
Ninth Day (Ti-kIg-vb-ni, Dance Day) 74
The Snake Race 74
Dramatization in the Sixteen Songs Ceremony 76
Position of the Celebrants of the Dramatization Ceremony 76
Decorations of the Body, Arm, and Leg of the Snake Boy 77
Snake KUt . . ' . 79
Washing the Snakes 81
Bowl nsed in Washing the Snakes 83
PuBUC Ceremony of the Snake Dance 87
JCfsi 88
Chief of the Antelope Priests 88
Embroidered Cloth attached to the Belt of the Antelopes 90
Wristlet of the Antelopes 90
The Snake Chief taking down the A-wa-ta-n^-tci .91
Circuits made by Antelope and Snake Priests on leaving the Plaza ... 94
Snake Priests after drinking the Emetic 94
Dismantling of the Sand Mosaic in the Mo{I'-kiva 95
Days subsequent to the Dance 96
Tenth Day (Ov-ek'-ni-wa) Purification of the Snake Priests ... 97
Nu-f-Ti-WA 97
Melodies of the Snake Dance 98
Snakes used in the Ceremony 101
Legend of Tf-YO, the Snake Hero 106
Interpretation of the Myth 119
Bibliography 124
Outline Map showing the Position of Tusayan • 126
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l^emotlimp ^outiitDe^tmi ^rrliaologttal <(Erj^itton
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI
By J. WALTER FEWKES
ASSISTED BY
A. M. STEPHEN AND J. G. OWENS
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t I
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INTRODUCTION.
The ceremonials of the Hopi Indians in the summer of 1891 have
ahready been described in the second volume of this journal^ in -which
the author promised to lay before the scientific world his studies^ and
those of his assistants^ of the celebrated Snake Dance. In the present
volume it has seemed proper to publish what we know of this observ-
ance as a contribution to a knowledge of the most weird, if not the
most interesting, events in the ceremonial proceedings of this strange
people.^
It is a great pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mrs. Mary
Hemenway, of Boston, whose generosity in advancing the cause of
original research in American ethnology and archaeology is well
^ The present article is one of a series
of which the following have been pub-
lished : —
A Few Summer Ceremonials at the
Tusayan Pueblos, by J. Walter Fewkes.
Journal of American Ethnology and
Archceology, vol. ii. No. 1.
The Ldrla-kofirti ; A Tusayan Cere-
mony, by J. Walter Fewkes and J. G.
Owens. American Anthropologist, April,
1892. (September observance — a wo-
man's ceremonial.)
The Mamrzrdu4i, by J. Walter Fewkes
and A. M. Stephen. American Anthro-
pologist^ October, 1892. (October obser-
vance — a woman's ceremonial.)
The Na-dc-nai-yay by J. Walter Fewkes
and A. M. Stephen. The Journal of
American Folk -Lore, July-September,
1892. (November quadrennial ceremony.)
The FdrliUU-koffrti, by J. Walter
Fewkes and A. M. Stephen. The Jofir-
nal of American Folk -Lore, October-
December, 1893. (February observance
— a Snake ceremony.)
The Wal'-pi Flute (LS-len-til), the Fo-
wd-mil (February), and the So-yal'uffra
(December) ceremonials have been studied,
and will be described later. The Fd-lil-
liirkofi'ti is of special interest in the study
of the Snake Dance. The Wal'-pi Flute,
from its relation to the ceremonials de-
scribed in this memoir, will be made the
subject of an extensive article.
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4 INTRODUCTION.
known wherever these sciences are cultivated^ and whose unwearied
interest in the Hopi Indians has been the inspiration of this work.
The author must reiterate his obligations to his friend Mr. T. V.
Keam. Without his aid much which is here recorded could not have
been observed, and the debt which American ethnologists owe to his
enlightened interest in this people, with whom he has lived for many
years in close commercial relations, is very great. During these studies
the author was accompanied by his lamented assistant, the late J. G.
Owens, references to whose help are found on many of the following
pages. To this fearless investigator, who lost his life in the cause of
American archaeology at the ruins of Copan, the author owes much
more than this brief reference would indicate.
The difficulties besetting the path of the student of the Hopi cere-
monials are very great, although working under exceptional advan-
tages with the full confidence of the priests. It is impossible for one
observer to be in two sacred chambers or kiva(s) at the same time, and
the complete description of episodes of the ceremonials, such as the
deposit of the offerings in distant shrines and the foot-races going on
in the plain simultaneously with kiva observances, would necessitate
several assistants to study them exhaustively in detail.
While the agreeable work of writing this memoir has fallen upon
the editor of this journal, the help rendered by Mr. A. M. Stephen
has been so great that his name is placed at the head of this article
with that of the author. The legend of the Snake Hero is by his
pen, and the secret observances were noted and discussed by both in
order to verify each other's work and secure all possible accuracy.
It has not seemed well to rely too much on the testimony of partici-
pants for a knowledge of these observances, or an explanation of their
meaning. Most difficult of all is the deciphering of the significance of
the whole or parts of the observances, and the varied interpretations
given by the priests show that in some instances at least we should not
give too much weight to individual testimonies. The most trustworthy
explanations must, it is believed, result from comparative studies, which
ought to be extended far beyond the limits of Tusayan. The object
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INTRODUCTION. 5
of this article is to record observations which were made under the
auspices of the Hemenway expedition.
The ceremony in 1893 began on August 6, and was studied
throughout by Mr. A. M. Stephen and J. Walter Fewkes. Messrs.
Julian Scott/ F. H. Lungren^ and W. K. Fales were admitted to the
secret ceremonials of the Mon^-kiva, and were at our request initiated
into the Antelope Fraternity. The attendance at the open dance, on
the culminating day of the ceremony, was about the same as in 1891,
and the other American spectators made no effort to enter the kiva(s)
during the secret performances. This was in marked contrast to the
actions of some of the white visitors in 1891. While the present article
is in the main a description of the Snake Dance of 1891, several refer-
ences to the presentation in 1893 are likewise introduced. The two
observances were marvelously alike, even in details, but the studies in
1893 were necessary to substantiate that fact. The certainty of the
Hopi ritual, as ceremonially carried out in two successive performances,
gives a good idea of its conservatism, and points to a belief that inno-
vations have made slow progress in their introduction. The time, how-
ever, when the ceremonial system of the Hopi will suffer disintegration
and ultimate destruction is not far away. The death of the old Ante-
lope priests will have a most important influence in this modification,
although several of the younger men are still as conservative as their
" elder brothers." The present records were made none too soon for
a scientific knowledge of this most primitive aboriginal observance.
^ Mr. Scott has painted one of the colored plates which accompanies this memoir.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
<
The Hopituh or Village Indians of Tusayan celebrate every two
years a weird ceremonial called the Snake Dance. This is performed
in the villages Wal'-pi, Mi-con'-in-o-vi, Ciin<i-pa-vi, and 0-rai-bi, alter-
nating with the Le'len-tHy or Flute Observance. It does not occur on
the same year in all of the four villages mentioned, but every year
there is a presentation of this weird rite in one or the other. Mi-con^-
in-o-vi and Wal'-pi observe their Snake-Antelope ceremony the same
year, and Cun<S-pa-vi on the alternate year. The Snake and Flute
societies, however, never perform their respective dramas the same
year in the same village?
The present article deals wholly with the presentation of the Snake
observance in Wal^-pi, and is intended as a basis for further compara-
tive studies of the same rite in the other villages. That this ceremony
in other pueblos of the Tusayan province differs in details from that
at Wal^-pi is probably true, so that statements made in the description
of the presentation on the East Mesa cannot be regarded as necessa-
^ There is a considerable literature of ful field for scientific research in many
the Hopi Snake Dance« as will be seen by ways.
the list of references in the bibliogpraphy. The letters used in spelling Hopi words
Most of these publications refer to the have the following sounds : a, like a in
Snake Dance at Wal'-pi. We have a short f ar ; ^, as in what ; e, as a in fate ; i, as
description of the ceremony at Mi-con'-in- in pique ; o, as in note ; u, as in rule ; H,
o-vi by Mindeleff, and much MS. mate- as in but ; il, tA in French tu ; p and b
rial on the Cdfld-pa-Yi presentation. sounds indifferentiated ; t and d indistin-
The 0-raf-bi celebration, which we may guishable, but like compound of d in dare,
expect to find the most primitiye of all, ^ in ten ; tc^ like ch in chink ; c, like sh
has thus far escaped the attention of scien- in shall ; ^, like ng in syncope ; t;, like
tific men. This village offers a most fruit- English v, with faint b and p sounds.
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8 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
rily true of the others. Not until the details of all are completely
worked out and published can we hope to have an adequate idea of
this subject^ and be able to enlarge our comparisons with kindred
ceremonials in other parts of the New World, especially Mexico and
Central America.
Extensive work, with many new observations, has been done upon
the Cuii<S-pa-vi Snake Dance, but as the 0-rai-bi presentation is yet to
be witnessed, it has seemed best to postpone publication of the former
for another article. There are several gaps in our knowledge of the
Cun<S-pa-vi rite which necessitate new investigations. Of these the
character, significance, and object of the prayers, and the wording of
the same, are not the least important. So large is the material dealing
with variants of this ceremonial which has been collected among peo-
ple of other linguistic stocks, that a consideration of their resemblance
must likewise be passed by for the present.
While it must be confessed that it is yet too early to decipher the
meaning of this weird rite, even with the information which we now
have, there are certain conclusions which are wellnigh demonstrated.
The observance is undoubtedly a rain ceremony, in which Snake wor-
ship takes a subordinate part. It dramatizes more or less imperfectly
portions of a legend of Ti-yo, the Snake youth, and the first Hopi
people who came to Tusayan. Perhaps we are attempting too much
in trying to give any simple cause for its biennial repetition. Its true
meaning is probably lost, and can only be resurrected by comparative
ceremoniology. While each and every episode may have, as it undoubt-
edly does, a special meaning, the reason for the whole ceremony lies
far back in the past, and has become more or less obscured by the
progress of time. The priests perform the Snake Dance because their
forefathers did, and these in turn derived a knowledge of it from
others. Who the originators were and why they performed it are
questions which the present Snake and Antelope priests cannot answer.
When asked its meaning they repeat their stories of the adventures
of Ti-yo, who, like Quetzalcoatl, wandered into the house of the
Snakes. Out of a maze of speculation, distorted legends, and modi-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 9
fications, it is next to impossible to arrive at true explanations ; but
by comparisons, however, we may be able to get some clue to the
meaning of the Snake Dance.
The songs are the traditional melodies which bring the rain, and
the ceremonials are consecrated by antiquity, and venerated as most
efficacious for that purpose. These people hold them as essential
because their ancestors have done so, in their belief, from the birth of
time. The question of origin further than this has not occupied their
a^ntion, and I believe they have no adequate solution of the problem.
It would be strange if they had ; and in that they are not exceptional,
for the origin and reason of ceremonials among white men are lost in
antiquity.
The primary object of this memoir is to record the details of the
presentation ere this curious survival passea away forever, as it un-
doubtedly will in a few years.
The celebration of the Snake Dance in 1891 lasted nine days, begin-
ning on Thursday, August 13th, and continuing until Friday of the
following week. The first days were taken up by secret ceremonials,
to which the uninitiated were not admitted, and the public presentation
occurred on the last days, Thursday and Friday, August 20 and 21.
The secret ceremonials took place m the two subterranean rooms
called the Mon'-kiva and the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. The former room
was occupied throughout by the Antelope priests ; the latter by the
Snake Fraternity. The snakes were hunted in the plain and among
the foothills in the four quarters corresponding to their cardinal points.^
The public ceremonials on the two last days occurred in the plaza in
which is situated the so-called " Dance Rock.*'*
In order that the reader may follow the account more readily, the
names of the participants are appended. The following list contains
the majority of the members of the Tcu'-a'^ymp'ki'a or Snake Frater-
nity from Wal'-pi in 1891 : K<5-pe-li, chief, Sii-pe-la, Les^-ma, Nii-v^-o-yi,
1 Kwi^ir^m^ N. W. ; Te^vyufl'-a, S. W. ; ceptions are referred to in the use of
Torti^ka, S. E. ; and Hd-pok-yil-ka, N. north, west, south, and east
£. Throughout this article the Hopi con- ' TM-kwi, Pillar-mound.
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10 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
Ta-U-ho-ya, Si-ky^-ta-la, Lo-mo-nan'-kwii-cii, Si-kyau-wis'-ti-wa, C^-na,
M^-i, Ci-wu, Pi-ba, Ho-mo-bi, Poc'-to, McJ-mi, Tc6-no, Piir-y^-to, Mi-
ki-wa, N^-ka-vii, Tiih'-kwi, Sis'-kyau-ma, Ne-vat'-i, Na-si-mo-ki, A'-mi,
Yo-yo-wai-ya, Ha-ni, Nu-v^-wii-nii, Ma-ran'-ta-ka, Kw^-tca-kwa, Si-tai-ma,
Si-yii'-kii-li, Si-ky^-tun-an-ma, Lo-ma-yam'-ti-wa, Gyi-cu-srii, and Si-
kya-bo-ti-ma.
The following members live in H^-no: Kiite'-ve, Pi-tun-tiih-pi,
Ki-no, Wi-wi-la, and Tcd-yo. To the above must be added Si-ky^-pi-ki,
and Kiitc^-ha-yi from the Middle Mesa.
The names of the Antelope priests are : Wi-ki/ H^-ha-we, Na-syun'-
we-ve, Hon'-yi, Kw^-a, Wi-ky-at'-i-wa, T^-wa, Mas-i-um'-ti-wa, Ka-sro,
Sa-mi-mo-ki, Chu-bey, Wey-wey, Tcae-hiim-i-wi, Tcos-hon'-i-wa, In -ti-
wa,* and several children whose names I do not know.
In order that the reader may have a general oversight of the course
of events in this complicated observance^ a tabular summary or calen-
dar of the nine days' proceedings is introduced below. This short
synopsis may be an aid to an understanding of the special descrip-
tion given farther on.
Thursday, August 13 :
1. Making of the nd-kil-yi by the Antelopes. 2. Preparation of
the sand mosaic of the Moii'-kiva by Wi-ki, the Antelope chief.
Friday, August 14 :
1. Preparation of j9a-Ao(s), in the Mon'-kiva during the morning.
2. Consecration of the same by the singing of sixteen traditional songs
by the Antelopes in the same kiva.
Saturday, August 15 :
1. Ceremony in the Mon'-kiva attending the delivery of the Snake
and other j9(i-Ao(s) to K(5-pe-li by Wi-ki. 2. Tcu'-d-morkv^a orinake
hunt to the north. 3. The singing of the sixteen traditional songs
by the Antelopes in the Moii'-kiva.
Simday, August 16 :
1. Ceremonies at the delivery of pd'ho{8) to K<S-pe-li. % Snake
^ His whole name is Si-mi-wi-ki. * Was a novice in 1891.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 11
hunt to the west, %. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva.
4, Ho'Jrd'na-nid'na tile and pat'-ne first seen in Mon'-kiva.
Monday, August 17 :
1. Delivery of pd'ho{8) to K<5-pe-li. ^. Snake hunt to the south.
3. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Moii'-kiva. 4. Nd'td-a-wa-ta
affixed to the ladder for first time. Sand on the hatch.
Tuesday, August 18 :
1. Delivery of pd''ho{8) to K6-pe-li. 2. Snake hunt to the east,
with feast. 3. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva.
Wednesday, August 19 :
1. Making of the sand mosaic of the Snake altar in the Wi-kwal'-i-
o-bi kiva. 2. Making charm liquid and medicine pellets. 3. Sixteen
traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva. 4. Initiation in the Wi-kwal'-
i-o-bi kiva* 5. Singing at Ta-wa-pa, sun spring.
Thursday, August 20 :
1. Antelope race. 2. Dramatization and sixteen traditional songs
sung in Moii'-ki-va. 3. Renewal of nd-ku-yi in the Mon'-kiva. 4.
Public ceremony by Antelope and Snake priests on the plaza with corn-
stalks and gourd vines.
Friday, August 21 :
^ 1. Dramatization and sixteen traditional songs. 2. Ceremonial of
novices in the Mon'-kiva. 3. Snake Race. 4. Snake Washing«.p.4iie
Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. 5. Public Snake Danoe. 6. Drinking emetic.
7. Feast.
Saturday, August 22 :
1. Purification of the Snake priests.
The game for four days after the Snake Dance is called Nui-ti-wa}
The official announcement of the time decided upon for the Snake
Dance and the events of the different days of the celebration were
made on August 5, eight days before the Snake Dance began. On
that day Hon'-yi, the public crier for this ceremony, shouted the
^ A description of this game has been authority of several priests. It took place
introduced as an appendage to the Snake in both years in which the ceremony has
Dance, but with some misgivings, on the been studied in a scientific manner.
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12 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
announcement from the top of the village^ by direction of Wi-ki^ the
Antelope chief. The same morning a, pU^r-ta-bi^ formed by a stringed
na-kwd-kwo'd on a line of meal, was placed at sunrise on the trail at
the narrow part of the mesa between Si-tcom'-o-vi and Wal'-pi. Two
days before, Wi-ki and an assistant had made prayer offerings at the
house of the former in the plain and deposited them in a shrine to the
south, but the details of their manufacture are unknown to me. Pos*
sibly this had nothing to do with the ceremony, but further observation
may reveal some connection. It is not apparent by what signs the
date was determined, but a ceremonial smoke was held by Wi-ki, KcJ-
pe-li, Na-syun'-we-ve, H^-ha-we, Kwi-a, and K^-kap-ti the night before
the announcement, and the date in 1891 was said to have been agreed
upon at that time.
Wi-ki also spent some time for many days before the beginning of the
nine days' ceremony in spinning native cotton string to use in the prep-
aration of the pd'ho{s). This he did in his house in the plain, moving
to his mesa home the night before the beginning of the ceremony.
Prior to the celebration of the Snake Dance in 1893 there assem-
bled at C^-li-ko*s (Sii-pe-la's) house, on the evening of July 28, the
following men, who had a ceremonial smoke, and then determined the
time proper for the observance : Wi-ki, Kw^-a, H^-ha-we, Ki-tci (for
his brother Na-syun'-we-ve, who was absent), Hon'-yi, and Sii-pe-la (rep-
resenting his son, Kd-pe-li). The meeting-place was well chosen, since
it was the home of KcJ-pe-li, the Snake chief, and his father, Sii-pe-la,
whose wife C^-li-ko is the eldest female member of the Snake Family.
On this day Wi-ki made the j9wV-to-6«, and the other chiefs a na-
kwd-kwo-cij for Hoii'-yi, the speaker chief of this observance, to plant
on the 29th. He announced on the 29th, eight days before the
event, the date on which the observance would take place. The nine
days' ceremony in 1893, therefore, began on August 6.
There were very few, and those unimportant, differences between
the presentations in 1891 and 1893.* It is an interesting fact that the
^ On the last days of the 1891 celehra- room in Wal'-pi in order to he nearer the
tion Mr. Owens and the anthor took a ki-ya(8). Mr. Stephen lived in Si-tcom'-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 13
details of the ritual are so closely followed in successive presentations
of the same ceremonial. However^ it must be said that dance para-
phernalia of white men's manufacture^ which are slowly being intro-
duced, have led to modifications in the appearance of the participants
in the public presentation. The secret portions of the celebration oc-
curred in the Mon'-kiva,* which was occupied throughout by the Ante-
lope priesthood, and in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, where the mysteries of
the Tm''a-^ymjhkia{8) or Snake priests were performed.
The ceremonial events began in the Mofi^-kiva, and predominance
was given from the very outset to the Tcub-wymp-ki-yay or Antelope
Fraternity. Except by the Snake chief, the other kiva was deserted ^on
the first as well as the following day, and at least two days elapsed
before the Snake priests as a body took a prominent part in the pro-
ceedings. This fact is significant, and emphasizes what appeared
throughout, that the Snake ceremonial is controlled by the Antelope
rather than by the Snake society.
FIRST DAY (yU»-LA, ASSEMBLY).^
At early sunrise Wi-ki was seen at the entrance of the Mon'-kiva.
He was just coming up the ladder, and' bore in his hands the nortdj
o-Yi, at An-i-wi-ta's house during the whole perplexing suhject, and is not yet satisfac-
ceremony. It is strongly to be recom- torily made out in its details. The priests
mended that observers, in studying this consulted on this subject had several names
and other ceremonials, take up a resi- for the ceremonial days, which all recog-
dence in the villages. During the presen- nized as correct They represented the
tatiou in 1893 Messrs. Scott and Lungren days by four groups of kernels of corn,
lodged in Wal'-pi ; Mr. Stephen and the each group aiTanged in four rows. The
author in Ha-nd-ki or Tewa. kernel at the left end of the row was
^ For descriptions of these chambers called Ti-yufira-va^ and was pushed away
see Journal of American Ethnology and with the remark that they did not count
ArchoBology^ vol. ii. No. 1. The differ- it. They then counted seven kernels for
ent fraternities of priests are mentioned nights, and the eighth kernel they said
in the same article. was called YU'flrya, but it abo they did
^ The day of the gathering of the not count. The next kernel was CiU^td-
priests (Thursday, August 13, 1891 ; Sun- Za, the first day. Their nomenclature of
day, August 6, 1893). The nomenclature days would then be, —
of the ceremonial days or nights is a very 1. YUlfi-ya.
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14
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
which was made of two eagle wing-feathers tied to a short stick. He
placed it upright in the straw matting at the hatchway, first sprinkling
meal on the ladder. This nd-td was put up on the morning of each
day at sunrise, and a similar object was also placed at the entrance to
the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, as a sign that ceremonials were being per-
formed, and when it was put in position a pinch of meal was sprinkled
upon it and thrown in the direction of the rising sun. The floor of
the chamber had been carefully swept by Wi-ki, and the si-porpu^
closed with a plug. A large quantity of meal was noticed in a basket
tray on the floor at the west end of the room.
Wi-ki, in 1893, went out, but soon returned with several bags of
different colored sand, which, it was said, were obtained from K^-kap-
ti's ^ house, and laid them on the floor at the northwest corner of the
kiva.
Kd-pe-li, who up to this time had been seated alone in the Wi-kwal'-
i-o-bi kiva, came into the Mon'-kiva about sunrise, and shortly after Na-
2. Cue4dAa, first day.
3. Lil&4d-la, second day.
4. Paic4d4a, third day ; also called
porho-larlau-tvH, and t6b-tai-yilfffrya, i. e.,
open-eyed or sleepless assembly, as on this
night all the priests gather and sing.
5. Norliic-ta-la, fourth day, but more
prominently named h^kd-kih-klVyi'Va {kS-
les, novices emerge). This is likewise
called NUc^-wirca, food (flesh) eating. The
taboo of food ends this day.
6. CUc-4d4a, first day, also Soc-korhi-
mil'iy all do nothing.
7. Ko-mdk-tO'tok-ya, wood-gathering
day.
8. To-to-kya, sleeps (reduplicated, plu-
ral of t6-kya). The last night the priests
pass in the kiva. This was also called
tdk-tai-yilfiryil.
9. Ti-htl-niy we will personate ; ti-ki-ve-
ni, we will dance.
10. 0-^uek-ni-^a, holiday. Purifica-
tions performed on this day, but all serious
ceremonials have ended.
* See description of the kiva(8) in Jour-
rud of Ethnology and Archceoloyy, vol. ii.
No. 1.
^ K^-kap-ti is said to be the collector of
the sand. He is a chief of the Sand or Earth
people, and took the part of courier, de-
positing the C(i'kwd'parho{s) in the " world-
quarter " shrines, as will be described later.
In the celebration of 1893 this part was
performed by his brother on account of
Ki-kap-ti's lameness. Neither of these
sat in the line of Antelope priests (see
diagrams), nor made any of the^(£-Ao(«),
which were made from day to day. E^-
kap-ti's brother was tlie courier who depos-
ited the offerings of the Flute priests in
their ceremony, which in this respect, as in
many others, is tho same as the Snake.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 15
syun'-we-ve followed. These three persons sat together smoking for
a brief time, Wi-ki in the middle facing east, with K<5-pe-li on his
left. Wi-ki passed the pipe to Kd-pe-li, exchanging terms of relation-
ship. While this was going on, H^-hau-we entered, bearing a copper
pail filled with water, which he set down near the future position of
the altar, or just south of the fireplace.
MAKING OF THE CHARM LIQUID (jJl-KlJ-Yl).
Wi-ki first carried his nd-kwi-pi (medicine bowl) and a tray of meal
to a place on the floor near the fireplace, and took a taste of honey.
He then emptied valley sand in a little pile on the floor southeast of the
fireplace, and made on it six radiating lines in meal, following the sin-
istral ceremonial circuit, beginning with the north (northwest). At
their junction on the sand he placed his empty nd-kwi-pi with its han-
dle over the southeast line. He next poured into the bowl the liquid
from the copper kettle, moving it in sinistral circuit, first towards the
northwest, when he poured a little liquid into the bowl ; then to the
southeast ; and so on until the circuit was completed, after which the
remaining liquid was added.
The next process was to bruise some twigs with a stone and put
them in the liquid, following the circuit as described above, making a
pass to one of the world quarters each time he added a pinch. Wi-ki
then added a little honey to the bowl with a movement of his hand to
each of the six directions in turn as he dropped it.
The celebrants then took their positions around the bowl. The
Antelopes were without clothing, but Kd-pe-li wore his ordinary dress.
The making of the charm liquid was completed by Na-syun'-we-ve,
who added corn pollen ^ in the sinistral order observed by Wi-ki with
the other ingredients. He then sat and received the pipe, exchanging
terms of relationship. Wi-ki then put into the bowl a small offering ^
brought by the Ko-ho-ni-no visitors two years before.
^ It will be noticed that the 0ame man ^ This was efficacious since it had been
later furnished the com pollen with which brought from a place where water was
to sprinkle the altar. abundant.
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16 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
K6-pe-li, who up to this time had been sitting apart, joined the
group around the bowl, received the pipe and smoked. He puffed the
pipe for some time, and at the close of his smoke the assemblage was
joined by Kw^-a, who smoked in turn. With his arrival all the ne-
cessary celebrants were present, and took a squatting posture. Wi-ki
prayed, and the others responded with a short word equivalent to
" amen." This habit is common in Hopi prayers, and is believed to be
aboriginal.
Na-syun'-we-ve prayed after Wi-ki, and was followed in turn by H^-
hau-we, Kw^a, and K<S-pe-li ; to whom the others responded.
Wi-ki then shook his rattle, and H^-ha-we the aspergill, and all
sang a low song over the nd-kwi-pi. The celebrants prayed in the
following sequence: Wi-ki, Na-syuii'-we-ve, Hd-ha-we, Kwi-a, and
Kd-pe-li.
H^-ha-we next placed the tip of the aspergill in the norkwi-pij and,
drawing it out, asperged to the six directions in sinistral circuit. He
again dipped the aspergill in the liquid, went up on the roof of the
kiva, and asperged to four directions in ceremonial circuit, beginning
at the northwest. When he returned Wi-ki engaged in conversation
with him, and all smoked, after which Wi-ki placed a bundle of flag
leaves in the nd-kwi-pi, which he set on the floor near the si-pS'pu.
The only difference between the observance of this rite* in 1891 and
in 1893 was the addition of the Ko-ho-ni-no offering, but it was
noticed that Wi-ki was more careful in 1891 than in 1893 to puff
smoke to each of the cardinal points.
After the making of the charm liquid, which was later used by H^-
ha-we in asperging, in mixing the pigments for the pd'ho{8\ and for
other purposes, several of the priests left the kiva, but soon returned,
and remained during the second important event of the first day, the
construction of the sand altar.
* This observance is properly speaking nd-nci^irvo pofl^-t/a. See this Journal,
an invocation to the gods of the six cardi- vol. ii. No. 1, p. 75.
nal points, and the altar is called the
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 17
THE DRY PAINTING OR SAND MOSAIC OF THE ANTELOPES.
About half past ten ^ in the morning preparations were begun for
making a sand mosaic or dry painting on the floor of the Mon^-kiva.
At that time there were only four persons present, all but one, Les^-ma,
who is a Snake priest, being Antelopes {Tcub'Wymp''ki'ya{s)). Les'-ma
was finishing a blanket which disappeared from the kiva that evening,
and was not again brought in during the ceremonial.
The stone floor of the kiva around the si-pct-pu was thoroughly
swept by Wi-ki, who then stuffed corn husks into all the crevices
about the plank in which the si-pdrpu was, and carefully closed the
openings in the floor through which the sand might filter between the
stones or flags upon which the dry painting was to be made. The
svpSrpu had previously been stopped up with a plug.
In 1891 Na-syunWe-ve ground different colored sands from the
fragments of rocks which K^-kap-ti had brought. H^-hau-we was
engaged in embroidering a dance kilt, and Kw^-a, Hon^*yi, and K^-
kap-ti were also present. The ti-po-ni^ of the Antelopes, not yet
untied, lay on the floor back of the altar.
The sand-picture was made by Wi-ki, who began this part of the
ceremony by filling an open-meshed basket with fine brown sa id which
K^-kap-ti had brought in a canvas bag from the plain. This sand he
sifted on the floor around the sv-pa-pUy renewing it when necessary
from the bag, until a layer of sand about four feet square was formed.
Upon this groundwork Wi-ki next proceeded to elaborate a border of
the different colors that are symbolic of the Hopi world quarters. He
first took a handful of yellow sand and allowed it to trickle between
his thumb and forefinger in the direction he wished to follow, going
over and over the line until it was half an inch wide. In this careful
way he drew a yellow band on each of the four sides of his bed of
sand, several inches from the edge, which described a rectangle about
thirty inches square. It was interesting to observe that Wi-ki was
^ In 1893 Wi-ki began the picture at ' Society palladium,
nine A. m.
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18 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
particular to draw this color across the north side first, because yellow
is the symbol of the north ; also, that he began it at the northeast
comer, moving his hand towards the west until the yellow band on
the north side was finished, when he continued the sinistral circuit
down the west side, across the south, and finally along the east to his
starting-place.
The green sand (malachite) came next in order outside the yellow
band, and Wi-ki added it in the same manner ; only he let the green
sand trickle from his hand first on the west side, as green or blue sym-
bolizes this world quarter. Beginning this time at the northwest cor-
ner, Wi-ki again followed the sinistral circuit in his dry painting until
the yellow border on four sides was inclosed by a green one.
A little digression next occurred, for Wi-ki left the colored border
half completed, to sift white sand from a basket tray over the eastern
half of the brown sand that formed the rectangle within the yellow
stripe, leaving the other portion uncovered.
He then returned to the border ; this time taking up a handful of
red sand, with which he added another band outside the green one,
and the same width as the previous colors. As red is the color of the
south, of course Wi-ki made that side first ; going from the southwest
comer in his usual sinistral course until the four sides had a red mar-
gin. Again Wi-ki left the border unfinished, this time to ornament
the half of the groundwork that he had not covered with white sand.
With a handful of yellow sand, as it trickled between his thumb and
forefinger, he drew on the brown sand the outlines of four semicircles
in a row, just large enough to fill the space at the west side of the rec-
tangle, the curves towards the inner part of the field. Wi-ki relied
upon his judgment in determining the size of these semicircles, and
did not trace a pattern beforehand either for this figure or for any
that followed. He next filled each of these semicircles with a thin
layer of yellow sand, beginning with that nearest the north. He then
added to these semicircles a row of green ones, this time making three
semicircles and a half one at each end to complete the remaining quad-
rants. This he followed by a row of four semicircles, using red sand
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■ . • u
2"*-'
*i^,..^^' »
• Sfc««r.o.- • s«^;"*'
.,..■■.. -H- '-■. • .-,
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I ■•'..': • : • '■ « ■^ > ,
. , • . . . ■- V -. l._\ a •: ■ ■ ■■ ■•••
• ■. u- ■'■■'■■• -i •^'■•■ '• - ■'•■ '■ ■'■' *•■■'
;.- .■ []U- ■'■■■■, '■■■ ■•) ■■■■■■ <-■■■■•"
, • t..r '. ■ o. ... . • - • -' L''- ;;v •' '' '■ ''■■"
; . :. . . .. •: u-, h-A r:t ••' ■^ • ^i!^ ^^' ^ • •••■
, i! V . . ,,- 1. r, i: " . • 1. .' i '^^ ^ ^« i''^ • = •• •■ '' ••
■ , . . . I I ' • I
. . .. .V ( L i;i v.. ') .'•'• ■"'•*> ^••••* ^^i''»' ;! •'
;■.,... i ^ . li ,ii'l 1'. 0"'i}i*'t-\ tin- '-t \t i'^"':>fA j-^
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Sand Mosaic of the Antelope Priests.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 19
for these. Next in order came a row of white semicircles^ which Wi-ki
began by sprinkling white sand over the space between the white half
of the rectangle and the red semicircles^ carefully continuing the white
into the angles left by them. He then traced with black sand the
outline of another series of semicircles, thus adding white clouds to
this symbolic figure of the rain-clouds of the four world quarters.
The colored border of the rectangle was next continued by Wi-ki,
who now drew a stripe with white sand the same width as the others,
except on the side towards the west, which he made about twice as
broad. He followed the sinistral circuit as with the other colors,
beginning at the southeast corner and painting the eastern side first,
as white typifies this quarter of the heavens. The four colors of the
border having been put on in their order, Wi-ki took a handful of
black sand and with utmost care traced a hne between each of them.
He also drew a black line between the border and the rectangle and
finished the outer edge of the white band with the same color.
The different colored semicircles were next separated by similar
black lines of sand, that which divided the yellow from the green
clouds being drawn first. Wi-ki continued his picture by representing
the four lightning symbols on the white field. Each was so drawn as
to rise from one of the four angles between the white semicircles of
the eloud picture, having four zigzags in the body and a triangular
head which pointed east. He colored them in^ order^ jfellow, green,
red, and white ; the white figure being outlined later, when black mar-
gins were added to the others. These four symbols had the same gen-
eral form, but important variations appeared in the head appendages.
After the yellow, green, and red lightning symbols had been made,
Wi-ki outlined the yellow lightning with a black line. He made four
parallel black lines on the neck in place of a necklace, and at the right
of the head drew a curved horn pointing outward and forward. He
dropped pinches of black sand on the head to represent eyes and
mouth. He next made the border of the green lightning symbol in
the same way in which he drew that of the yellow, except that on
the head of this he represented a square with diagonals instead of a
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20
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL
horn. After having also formed a black margin on the red figure,
Wi-ki added a horn to the head^ and spots of black sand for eyes.
Now came the making of the white lightning symbol, which only
needed to be outlined with black sand, since the white groundwork
gave the required color. Upon the head of this figure Wi-ki drew
the square with diagonals.
He next sifted white sand on the west side of his picture, enough to
broaden the white band by several inches. Upon this he drew about
forty parallel black lines, nearly three inches long, to represent rain
falling from the symbolic clouds. He then finished the mosaic by add-
ing pinches of sand here and there in imperfect places.
The drawing of this sand altar occupied about two hours, so that it
was completed at high noon. It was very beautiful as it lay on the
floor, reminding one of a rug or blanket. The maker had not touched
a finger to it, nor used any rule, cord, or other measuring instrument
throughout his work.
When Wi ki had finished the sand mosaic he spun four short and
one long stringed na-kworkwo-ci^ and made
two little cylinders of wood which were about
the size of the first joint of the little finger.
These cylinders were painted black. The
feathers of the na-kwd-kwo-ci were stained
red, and were at least two in number. One
of the other priests made two annulets of
the leaf of a flag brought from near Zuni by
some of the participants in the Aii^-ka-tci-na,
which was celebrated a few weeks before.
The annulets were formed by winding the
flags over and over a central core, and a
small handle was attached to each annulet.
The two cylinders were then laid, one on the
horn of the yellow and the other on that of the red lightning symbols.
Cylinder.
^ A norkwdrkwihci is a several-stranded
cotton string of prescribed length, to one
end of which one or more feathers are
tied.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 21
while the annulets were carefully placed on the rectangles of the heads
of the green and white zigzag figures. The former are the male^ the
latter the female, lightning sym-
bols, and the appendages are ^ &
symbolic of the sex. They were
similar to the objects carried by
the boy and girls in the Flute
ceremony.^ The four short-
stringed na-kworkwo-d were
placed on the heads of the
lightning symbols, the feathers
pointing forward.
Wi-ki then uncovered the
Antelope ti-po-niy which up to
this time had been lying on
its side, wrapped in buckskin,
forming an elongated pointed
bundle. He next sprinkled com
pollen around the border of the
mosaic, across the clouds and
down the length of the light-
ning symbols. A depression
back of the western border of HmcIs of th« Male and F«male Lightning.
the mosaic was now filled with
brown sand, by which a bed was made for the ti-pcHii. Six radiating
lines representing the cardinal points were drawn with meal upon this
mound, and a handful of the same was thrown upon them. Over the
junction of these lines Wi-ki waved his ti-pcMii in a horizontal plane,
moving it in the different directions indicated by them, and then
planted its butt end at their intersection. He then deposited at the
side of his ti-po-ni a lion fetish, which was so placed that its head
faced the figures of the clouds.
K6-pe-li, the Snake Chief, standing at the west side of the altar,
* See Journal of American Ethnology and Archceologt/y voL ii. No. 1.
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22 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
then handed Wi-ki the ti-po-ni of the Snake Fraternity. Wi-ki took a
handful of meal and made six passes to the cardinal points, after each
pass drawing a line of meal in one of these directions on the floor just
north of the fetish. He then waved the Snake ti-po-ni horizontally in
the air above their junction, where he placed it as he had his own.
He added three small fetishes by the side of the Snake ti-po-ni and the
same by his own, after which he threw meal from above his ti-pcMii
diagonally across the mosaic over the head of the white lightning, and
continued it along the kiva floor, casting a pinch out the hatchway.
The longer na-kworkwo-ciy which measured from the middle of the
breast to the tip of his fingers, having been drawn through meal held
in his hand, was stretched from the base of his ti-pcMii as far as it
would reach across the picture in the same direction. When this
object had been put in position meal was cast upon it
Sand MomIc or Altar of the Antelopes.
Na-syun'-we-ve, K(5-pe-li, and Wi-ki then placed ancient stone imple-
ments in a single row with ends overlapping on the brown sand sur-
rounding the white border of the sand mosaic, but spaces or gates were
left on the middle of the north, east, and south sides. The stone imple-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
23
ments were eighteen in number and had a variety of sizes and shapes,
some being spatulate, others rectangular, triangular, or irregular.
The position of a gateway on the west side was occupied by the two
ti-pcMiiis)^ and the stone implements on this and the other sides were
so arranged that their edges pointed towards the gateway. These
Ston« lmplem«ntt of the Afnt«iop« Altar.
implements are said to have been brought up by the ancients when
they came out of the middle of the earth, and, like many other objects
connected with this dramatization, are undoubtedly very old. Mean-
while • Na-syun'-we-ve arranged outside the ancient stone implements a
row of sticks of three kinds, all of which are very ancient, and some,
if not all, represent dead members of the Antelope Fraternity. Of
these the crooked kind, gne-luk-piy were the most numerous.
These crooks, fifteen in number, were so arranged that four stood
on the north, two on the west, four on the south, and five on the east
sides of the sand mosaic. These were set in little clay pedestals, like-
wise reputed to be ancient. One or two had no pedestal, but were
laid on one side at the northwestern corner of the picture. Each
gateway was guarded by a gnerlu'hpi on either side, with the crook
hanging over the opening. There was also a crook at each side of the
three small fetishes which stood on the right and left of the two
t%'p(Hfii{8). These gne-lu'krpi were wooden sticks with one end crooked,
about the size of a lead pencil, eighteen inches long and painted black.
A string with a feather stained red attached was tied to the end of the
crook.
The upright sticks of the second kind which were placed in position
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24
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
about the sand mosaic were also painted black, and were
of about the same dimensions as the gnerlu'krpi.
They differed from those in being straight at
the end, and about a foot long. A package
of meal wrapped in com husk and red feath-
ers were tied to each. They were eleven in
number, and as a rule each was set in a small
clay pedestal, which, however, was not without
exception, alternating with the crooks in their
arrangement around the sand picture. At each comer
of the pon'-ya stood a stick called a hd-hu or arrow-shaft,
which closely resembled the snake p6rho{8) in form and
size.
After the crooks and similar objects had been set in
place Wi-ki took a double handful of brown sand and
heaped it up in a small mound a few feet in advance of
the east gate of the pon'-yay and drew across it radiating
lines of meal corresponding to the cardinal directions, and
at their point of intersection set a nd-kwi-pi or bowl with
the charm liquid of which I have spoken. He then placed
an aspergill of eagle feathers to the south of the bowl,
and at the side of the east gate, a short distance in front
of the line of crooks, he deposited a flat tray of sacred
meal. Between it and the altar he laid two slats which
may be called whizzers. K6-pe-li quietly put his rattle on
the banquette back of the sand mosaic (ponf-ya), but
Wi-ki immediately took it up and laid it with his own
rattle on the floor back of the tvp(Hii{8). Each then
smoked ceremonially, Wi-ki, H^-ha-we, and K<5-pe-li ex-
pectorating ^ constantly into the fireplace.
^ This is, I believe, ceremonial, and has been witnessed and de-
scribed in many other observances of a religious nature. The exact
Anteiop« Altar, significance, however, has not been satisfactorily deciphered.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
25
SEOOND DAY (cUOt1-LA, FIBST CEBEMONIAL DAY).
The ceremonies of this day consisted of the consecration of prayer-
sticks or p&ho{8)y the manufacture of which occupied all the fore-
noon^ and they were repeated with
some changes and additions on the
six following days.
TlYl^ p6rho{8) are the prayer bear-
ers, and vary in kind according to
the divinity addressed, and in length
relatively to the distance of the
shrines in which they are deposit-
ed. The majority of the pd'ko{s)
manufactured by the Antelope
priests are called ca'kwd'pa'ho{8)
or blue p6rho{8\ and are carried
by a special courier to the fanes of
the rain-gods, who thus become
aware of the wishes of the makers.
The virtue of the praycMiticks is
therefore in the prayers said to
them or committed to their care.
These p6rho{8) are consecrated by
traditional songs or ceremonial
smoking, but their manufacture has
more or less of a sacred character.
The attention of the reader
is first called to the making
of these objects and the
prescribed rules which must
be rigidly followed. As
there are four primary •
world quarters, each with its rain-cloud god, so four of these p6rho{8)
were made, one to be deposited in each of the four shrines. Since
Hand r«pr«Mnting L«ngth of Ca-kwa-pt-ho(t).
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26 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
the distance of these places of offering diminishes day by day for
seven days, parho{s) of seven different lengths were made, measuring
them by the distance from creases on the hand to the tip of the
finger, as shown in the cut, the longest being used on the first day.
In a ceremony in which reptiles played such an important part, it
may seem strange that there was no fetish of Parlu'lu-kofiy the great
plumed snake, on the altar, although there were several effigies * of this
powerful deity of Hopi mythology in Wal'-pi. The reason is clear, for
this observance is in reality a ceremonial for rain, and although inci-
dentally offerings were made to both Pd-lu-lU-kon and Md-sau-wUhy
the death-god, the principal deity addressed was (y-mow-ithy the rain-
cloud god of the cardinal points. It is also suggestive, in support of
the belief that snake worship is only a subordinate factor in the Snake
Dance, that the plumed serpent is not mentioned in the legend of
Tv-yOy which is always recited by the Hopi priests in their explanation
of the celebration.
Before beginning the making of a pd-ho each priest smoked for
some time. He then made two sticks of a prescribed length, each of
which he sharpened at one end, afterwards polishing it on a rough
stone. These sticks were then painted green, with black points, and
placed on a basket tray to dry. Meanwhile the priest wound a native
cotton string four times around his four fingers, to get the required
length, and then tied the two sticks together with it just above their
black points. The two thus united are male and female. A small
corn husk was next folded funnel-shape, and into it were dropped
prayer-meal and a little honey. It was rolled into a packet, and
was attached to the sticks at their union. Above this a short four-
stranded string stained red, with two small terminal feathers, was tied
to the pocket. A turkey wing-feather and a sprig of each of the
^ For a description of the ceremony in connected in some way with the Snake
which these were used, the reader is re- Dance, and later observations may bring
ferred to The PdrlU4il-kaflrti {Journal of to light relationships between the two
American Folk-Lore^ December, 1893). which have thus far eluded the author.
This ceremony was once thought to be
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 27
herbs kurn-yu and pamf-na-vi^ on the opposite side, completed this
strange prayer object. Each priest placed his sticks on a flat basket
tray, and later held them to his mouth and smoked upon them. The
Antelope priests who took part in
this were Wi-ki, N ^'
Kw^-a, H^-ha-we, and
One important j)d
from those above d
made by Na-syun'-we-^
a single long, black
of the length of the
had many strings ^
feathers tied to it. I
ho of the deity Md-.
the several stringed
individual offerings oi
ers to the god of deat!
In the course of
each man made one
kwd'kwo-ciy or per-
sonal offerings, to
be carried to the
shrines by the one
to whom the pd-
ho{s) were intrust-
ed. When all had
finished their work
Wi-ki gathered up
the whittlings and
other fragments,
clearing the floor in m
ceremonials about to take place, and depos-
ited them with a pinch of prayer-meal in an appropriate place over
the side of the mesa.
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28 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
THE SIXTEEN BONGS CEREMONY.
On the second and each succeeding day a ceremonial consecration of
thej9a-Ao(8) took place, during which sixteen songs were sung by the
Antelopes seated around the altar. This occurred at noon excepting
on the eighth and ninth days, when half of the songs were sung
before sunrise and half immediately after. On the last two days
an interesting dramatization was introduced, in which representatives
of the Snake boy, Ti-yo^ and the Snake girl, Tcu-a-mornay of legen-
dary history, appeared. On the last two mornings there were also
several persons present who did not appear on the previous days, nota-
bly the Snake chief, K6-pe-li, who occupied a position of honor back of
the sand mosaic. Several of his fraternity accompanied him, and on
the morning of the ninth day women and children also attended.
There seemed, however, to be no important difference between the
songs of the mornings of the eighth and ninth days and those of
the preceding days, although the attendant dramatization rendered the
ceremony more complicated.
It would simply be a repetition to give a detailed description of the
sixteen songs ceremony on each of the seven days, as the element of
dramatization introduced on the mornings of the eighth and ninth
days necessitates an account of them in an appropriate place. The
following description may be taken as typical of this celebration on the
first seven days.
The Antelope participants in 1893 on the first pA-ho consecration
were Wi-ki, Na-syuii'-we-ve, H^-ha-we, K^-kap-ti, Hon'-yi, Kw^-a, and
Si-kya-bd-ti-ma. The last mentioned was absent in 1891, but in 1893
he acted for his brother K^-kap-ti as courier in depositing the prayer-
sticks.^ In this ceremonial and in others in which he took part,
H^-ha-we filled the place of a boy whose father had died, the boy
not yet being old enough to perform his part. The sole Snake priest
present was their chief K6-pe-li.
^ A very natural substitute, since he is which identically similar encircling courses
courier of the Flutes in their ceremony, in are taken in visiting the shrines.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 29
From time to time the priests glanced at the line of sunlight on
the floor of the kiva, and when it fell in such a position as to indicate
noontime, Wi-ki deposited a flat basket near the south gate of the
altar^ and placed upon it two ^^ whizzers/' which he first anointed with
honey. All present said ''T&ai^^ and drew up about the sand mosaic,
assuming a squatting posture. Ka-kap-ti remained^ seated on the
spectator's part of the kiva floor until Wi-ki assigned him a position
directly in front of the south gate of the sand mosaic. The disposition
of the others was as follows : Wi-ki sat at the northwest comer of the
mosaic, a position of honor which he always occupied. At his left sat
Na-syun'-we-ve, beside whom was Kw^-a, who occupied a position a
little to the east of the north gate. K^-tci sat at the northeast corner.
In front of these two priests, between Wi-ki and K^-tci, the pd'ho{8)
were arranged dn a tray of meal. After all had squatted in position,
H^-ha-we, who had moved to the south of a line east from the gate,
lit a small pipe filled with native tobacco, and smoked six puffs on the
sand mosaic, three into the medicine of the nd-kwi-pi before him, and
three more on the sand picture. He then passed the lighted pipe,
holding it low down near the floor, with bowl forward, to Wi-ki. As
the latter received it, H^-ha-we said, " I-^wd-va/^ my elder brother, to
which Wi-ki responded, " Ltup-ko/' my younger brother.
Wi-ki then smoked on the two <i-;po-m(s), which are the palladia of
the Antelope and the Snake fraternities, and then puffed great mouth-
fuls of tobacco smoke on the pd'ho{8) in the basket in front of him.
As he did this in silence, H^-ha-we lit another ^ pipe, smoked it for a
time, and passed it to K^-kap-ti, exchanging terms of relationship with
him.
H^-ha-we then turned over the gnerWhpi on the floor, at the south
side of the east gate, simply placing it so that the crooked end pointed
to the south. Wi-ki, meanwhile, had handed the pipe to Na-syun'-
we-ve, who replied as he received it, "/-w(J-a."' He smoked many
times on the pd'ho{8)y but seldom on the sand mosaic. After a few
^ Note this fact of invitation. It is be- ' Note this fact
lieved to signify something. ' Lndray my father.
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30 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
moments, Na-syunWe-ve passed the pipe ceremonially to his left-hand
neighbor, Kw^-a.
K^-kap-ti then returned the pipe which he had smoked to Ha-ha-we,
exchanging terms of relationship as he did so. He next took his
feather box and passed two black feathers to Wi-ki, who gave him a
corn husk. Wi-ki made a na-kwd-kwo-ci and talked (offhand^) to
K^-kap-ti. Meanwhile he also handed a pinch of corn pollen to the
others, and took up the cylinders on the horns of the male lightning
on the sand mosaic and tied na-kwd-kwo-ci to each. He then replaced
the cylinders on the heads of the lightning symbols.
At about this time Kw^-a handed the pipe to K^-tci, who re-
turned the same to H^-ha-we, from whom, as he received it, came a
response, " f-ti-iJ' ^ A prayer was then offered in a very low tone by
Wi-ki, all bending their heads in a reverential manner. H^-ha-we
prayed, and smoked the pipe which had been returned to him, vigor-
ously puf&ng smoke on the sand picture. Wi-ki then said : " Where
is K6-pe-li?" and sent Kw^-a to get him. In a short time both
came in, and K6-pe-li took a seat west of the sand mosaic at Wi-ki's
right hand. Wi-ki and K6-pe-li raised their rattles in their right hands
as a sign for silence, and H^-ha-we took up his aspergill. After a
brief solemn interval Wi-ki fervently prayed, followed by Ko-pe-li,
Na-syun'-we-ve, H^-ha-we, and Kw^-a. As each said his prayer the
others responded, ^'An-tcaiy^ right. When these devotions had ceased,
Wi-ki and K6-pe-li tremulously shook their rattles in unison, keeping
time with Ha-ha-we. Kd-kap-ti took one of the crooks from the
altar, and Na-syuii'-we-ve, Kw^-a, and K^-tci a pd-ho with which to
beat time.
All then began the first song of the series, and as they sang H^-
ha-we took a pinch of meal, and, throwing a little towards the north,
placed the remainder on different parts of the sand mosaic. He next
dipped the tip of his aspergill into the liquid in the nd-kwi-piy beating
time to the song. He sprinkled the altar four times, throwing the
^ Not sure what he said. ' I'4iri, my son.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL 31
liquid to different parts of the sand mosaic. To do this he dipped the
tip of the aspergill four ^ times in the liquid, each time asperging the
altar. Having sprinkled the sand mosaic, he asperged to the cardinal
points, beginning with the north and following the sinistral ceremonial
circuit. As he did this he kept time with the rattles, and after throw-
ing the liquid from the aspergill in the direction corresponding to the
above, he brought his hand down to a level with his breast and kept
on beating time with the singers. After a short interval he cast a
pinch of meal to the west, and then on the altar, after which, dipping
his aspergill in the liquid four times as before, he sprinkled the sand
picture four times and then asperged to the cardinal points. He
repeated this around the whole circuit several times until the song
changed. At the close of the first eight songs E^-kap-ti sprinkled the \
altar with meal, after which all except K6-pe-li threw meal upon it. '
Wi-ki, however, always carefully cast meal on the /t-^o-ni(s) as well as
upon the sand mosaic. H^-ha-we continued asperging while the meal
was being thrown on the sand picture. The songs then ceased, and
Wi-ki sent K^-tci to bring him a light. K^-tci went out, and soon
returned with a burning corncob, while all sat silently awaiting Wi-ki's
preparation for the great (y-mow-ith smoke, which was one of the
most sacred acts performed by the Antelope priests in these cere-
monials.
The vm-kd'tco^o is a huge, stemless pipe, which has a large open-
ing in the blunt end, and a smaller one in the pointed. It is five
inches long, one inch in diameter at the large aperture,/and its greatest
circumference is seven and a half inches. The pipe is made of some
black material, possibly stone, and as far as could be seen was not
ornamented. The bowl had previously been filled with leaves carefully
gathered from such places as are required by tradition. In the sub-
sequent smokes the ashes, " dottle," were saved, being placed in a
small depression in the floor, but were not again put in the pipe.
Wi-ki took the live ember from K^-tci and placed it in the large
^ The number of times varied somewhat, but I think four was intended.
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32 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
opening of the pipe, on the leaves which filled its cavity. He then
knelt down and placed the pipe between the two ti'pO'ni{8\ so that
— the pointed end rested on the head of the large
fetish, between the ears. Every one remained
silent, and Wi-ki blew several dense clouds of
smoke upon the sand altar, one after another^
so that the picture was concealed. The smoke
was made by blowing through the pipe, the fire
being placed in the bowl next the mouth, and
the whole larger end of the pipe was taken into
the mouth at each exhalation.
At the San Juan pueblo, near Santa F^, where
I stopped on my way to Tusayan, I purchased a
ceremonial headdress upon which several spruce
Gr..t o-mow-uh Pipe. ^.^j^g ^^^^ ^^^ ^/.j^- reccivcd some frag-
ments of these with gratitude, and they formed one of the ingredients
which were smoked in the great (y-mow-ith pipe. The scent of the
mixture was very fragrant, and filled the room, like incense. The
production of this great smoke-cloud, which is supposed to rise to the
sky, and later biing the rain, ended the first series of eight songs.
Immediately after this event, Ha-ha-we filled one of the small-
stemmed pipes lying near the fireplace with native tobacco, and after
lighting it puffed smoke on the altar. He passed the pipe to Wi-ki,
holding it near the floor, bowl foremost, as he did so, and exchanging
the customary terms of relationship. Wi-ki then blew dense clouds of
smoke over the two ti-p0'ni{8) and on the sand picture. H^-ha-we,
meanwhile, lit a second pipe, and passed it to K<5-pe-li, the Snake chief,
who enjoyed it in silence, indiscriminately puffing smoke on the altar,
to the cardinal points, and in other directions. K<5-pe-li later gave
his pipe to K^-kap-ti, who sat at his right, and Wi-ki passed his to
Na-syun'-we-ve, who, after smoking, handed the pipe to Kw^-a, who in
turn passed it to K^-tci, by whom it was given to H^-ha-we. K^-tci,
the last priest to receive it before it was returned to the pipe-lighter,
smoked for a long time, and repeatedly puffed clouds of smoke upon
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 33
the sand picture. Meanwhile K^-kap-ti had handed his pipe to H^-
ha-we, both exchanging terms of relationship and carefully observing
the accompanying ceremonial etiquette. H^-ha-we^ as was his unva-
rying custom, carefuUy cleaned the two pipes, and laid them on the
floor by the side of the fireplace.
Wi-ki and K6-pe-li then took up their rattles again and gave the
signal to begin a new series of songs. As the first song proceeded,
H^-ha-we took a pinch of meal, cast a portion to the north and the
remainder on different parts of the sand mosaic. He then dipped his
aspergill in the liquid before him four times, each time sprinkling the
picture. He followed this immediately by a motion of the hand,
asperging to the north, west, south, east, and the above, bringing his
aspergill down at the end of the circuit to again accompany the rattles.
This he repeated several times, beginning with the successive cardinal
points in the order which has been mentioned above.
The song then changed, Wi-ki and K6-pe-li both taking a crook
from the picture, and the three priests, Na-syun'-we-ve, Kw^-a, and
Ka-tci, taking wU'pd-^a'ho{s). As the song went on, they raised these
above their heads, and, waving them to the cardinal points ceremoni-
ally, brought them down several times until the attached na-kiod-kwO'
ci{8) touched the altar, the accompanying song assuming a peculiarly
weird character at these times. Wi-ki then told Ha-ha-we to use
the thunder pd-ho, and this priest took the whizzer from the basket
at his right, which was at the left of the east gate, and, dipping its
end in the charm liquid of the nd-kwi-pi, stood and rapidly twirled
it so that it emitted a peculiar sound four successive times. He then
mounted the ladder and stood on the roof on the south side, and there
whirled the whizzer,^ making the same number of sounds as in the
chamber below.
^ The whizzer was a thin wooden slah, to a hole at one end of the whizzer. The
slightly rounded on each face and termi- form of different whizzers varies, bat is
nated in three terraces. The faces are generally that which has been described,
decorated with longitudinal zigzag bands They are called til'Vwo1c!'pi{8) (whirligig
or lines. The attached string is composed criers),
of many braided strands, and is fastened
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34 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
He descended to his fonner position by the east gate of the sand
picture, and, joining the singing which had continued during his ab-
sence, began anew his former ceremonial duties of casting meal to
different points of the room, upon the sand mosaic, and in proper
sequence asperging to the cardinal points and the picture.
When the song next changed,^ K^-kap-ti took up one of the ancient
stone hoes from about the sand picture and beat upon the floor with it
in time with the song and rattles.^ The last two songs were particu-
larly melodious, and were, without exception, the finest of the series.
At the conclusion of the sixteen songs, eight before and eight after
the smoking of the great pipe, Wi-ki said a prayer, and at its close
sprinkled prayer-meal upon the ti'p(Hii{8) and the sand picture. K(5-
pe-li followed with a prayer, and likewise cast an offering of meal
upon the t%'po-ni{8) and sand altar. Na-syun -we-ve prayed, making his
offering, and H4-ha-we, followed by K^-tci, did the same. K^-kap-ti,
with signs of deep emotion, offered a very fervent prayer, to which all
earnestly responded. It will be seen later that K^-kap-ti carried the
consecrated prayer-sticks to the distant shrines, and possibly this fact
accounts for his fervor at this time. H^-ha-we then lit the pipes and
passed them to Wi-ki and K<5-pe-li, as above described, after which
each in turn smoked ceremonially, exchanging terms of brotherhood
and relationship, and the consecration of the 2>d'ho{8) was finished.
At the close of the smoke H^-ha-we arranged the joa-Ao(8) in four
bundles, and K^-kap-ti laid a na-kworkwo-ci upon them. Wi-ki filled
^ New song (second of second series). on the eighth day is the Ma-kwdn^Oy who
^ Wi-ki explained this by the statement called out this and other archaic terms at
that K^kap-ti was telegraphing to the old the cottonwood bower at the public exhi-
Tca^md-hira at the distant pueblo Acoma, bitions on the eighth and ninth days,
as a signal that the Hopi were now wor- All the Antelope priests insisted that
shiping, asking them to come, which call, there was a Snake Antelope assembly at
said Wi-ki, was answered. They came to Acoma, and this is historicaUy supported
the MofL'-kiva on the night of the eighth by Espejo, who has mentioned the Snake
day. dance performed at that pueblo (see Ban-
It has been suggested that the Tca-md- delier.)
hira who responded and came to Wal'-pi
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 35
a small bag idth sacred meal from the tray near him, and K^-kap-ti
rose and stood near the fireplace on the north side, facing the west.
Wi-ki handed him a white kilt with green, black, and red border, which
he tied about his waist. While he was doing this, Wi-ki rolled up the
p6rho{8) in a square piece of cloth. This bundle he placed in a white
ceremonial blanket with white and red border, tying two opposite cor-
ners tightly about the bundle, and the others in such a way that it
Kt-kap-ti leaving the Kiva.
could be put over the shoulder. Wi-ki then affixed a white na-kwortd
to K^-kap-ti's scalp-lock, and put a little honey on the sole of each of
his feet, the inside of each hand, the top of his head, over his heart,
on his tongue, and in the middle of his back.
He next handed him the small bag of sacred meal and the blanket in
which were the pd'ho{8\ which K^-kap-ti slung over his left shoulder.
Na-syun'-we-ve placed in his hand a pd-ho for Md-sau-wtlh and a
morsel of food, and Wi-ki then told him to hasten away to the shrines.
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36 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
K^-kap-ti without a word leaped up the ladder^ rushed through the
village, past the sacred rock, by the three kivas on the east side of the
main plaza, and across the narrow neck of land by which one enters
Wal'-pi. He went down to the plain by the trail on the north side of
Si-tcom'-o-vi, running directly to the shrine of Morsau-wuhy where he
knelt and deposited the offering to the death-god. He then rose and
took the trail across the plain directly north, running as fast as he could,
and ultimately passing out of sight. He was said to have gone to a
shrine [pa-hd-ki) far outside of all cultivated Wal'-pi fields, or as far as
the main spring of Mi-c6n-in-o-vi. After he had placed the offering or
green pd-ho in that shrine, he turned to the west and ran to the shrine
near the great spring of Mi-c(5n-in-o-vi. He then hastened to a south
shrine about the same distance from Wal'-pi, and finally to the place of
offering at the east. It will thus be seen that he made a circuit with a
radius of about six miles in a sinistral direction around Wal'-pi as a
centre. At the four shrines {pa-h6'ki{8)) of the cardinal points he
deposited, it "was said, a na-kw&kwo-ci and a j9(i-Ao. We shall later see
that day by day the length of his run diminished, and that on the last
day he did not leave the mesa top, but placed the pd-ho{s) on different
sides of the village corresponding to the same cardinal points. It is
obligatory upcoi K^-kap-ti, when he is making these deposits, to run
the whole distance, and he did so as far as we could see him on the first
day, while on later days we observed him running the whole circuit.
The ceremony of giving K^-kap-ti the pSrho{s) ended at about half
past one, and at half past five K^-kap-ti returned, still running even
when he went up the trail of the mesa. As he entered the Moii'-kiva he
approached the sand picture and sprinkled what meal remained in his
hand upon it, and Wi-ki said, " Kwa-kwaV^ Ka-kap-ti took off his kilt,
which he handed to Wi-ki, who folded it and laid it on the banquette
at the end of the kiva. He also passed Wi-ki the empty blanket in '
which the pd'ho{s) had been carried. Wi-ki untied the white feather
from K^-kap-ti's hair, and the latter, panting heavily from his violent
exercise, took his seat near the fireplace and spoke for the first time
since his return. When K^-kap-ti left the kiva to carry the pd'ho{8)y
K4-tci went out also taking pd'ho{s) and a small bundle with morsels
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL 37
of food. He went down the south trail, but his subsequent course was
not watched, nor was any information elicited as to the significance of
his departure.
No ceremonies took place in the Wi-kwaF-i-o-bi kiva on this day,
although the nortci was observed in the matting of the hatchway.
K6-pe-K, however, ate and slept in the Snake chamber, occupying his
time with carding and spinning cotton for pd-ho strings. He repeat-
edly went out, and always brought his own food from his house,
returning the empty food basins to the members of his household.
This was a custom with the members of the Snake Fraternity on sub-
sequent days, when all ate in the kiva.
Except on the last day, when the feast
took place, the women never brought
food to the Snake priests, but the men
themselves procured it from their houses
and always personally returned the food
vessels.
During this day the Snake ti-pcHiiy
inclosed in its wrappings, was sus-
pended on the waU of the kiva, and ''' '" "*^'^*^ *'^ '"*'" "• '''''
K6-pe-li had a single snake which he freely showed to visitors. At
dusk he took down the nd-tci from the matting at the hatchway.
THIRD DAY (LtTC-TA-LA, SECOND CEREMONIAL DAY).
This day was the first of the four in which the snake hunts occurred,
and on it and each successive day they took place in the plain in the
following quarters : on Saturday the hunt was to the north, on Sun-
day to the west, on Monday to the south, and on Tuesday to the east.
During the hunt in any one of these quarters, the Indians, not mem-
bers of these priesthoods, whose fields happened to be in that section,
did not work^ in them, and it was regarded injurious to follow the
* On one occasion Kd-pe-li carefully to meet us, he anxiously asked which way
avoided meeting Kd-kap-ti, the courier, Kd-kap-ti had taken in passing through
when on his way to deposit the offerings the village, in order to avoid him.
at the four cardinal shrines. Happening
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38 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
hunters and bad luck to meet them. Al-
though I was very anxious to accompany
I the snake hunters^ and tried in every way
to get permission either for Mr. Owens or
myself to do so, it was not possible to
persuade the priests to allow us to go
with them.^ They said that their chief
objection was that the four novices or
A:e-Ze(s) might be bitten in the hunt, and
that the snakes would be angry with
them if we were allowed to take part in
the ceremony of their capture. These
events have, however, been witnessed by
other observers in previous years, as will
appear in a description to be quoted later.
On Saturday morning, for the first
^ Similar objections were made to our accom-
panying the snake hunters in the presentation of
1893.
^ The snake-whip (tdlrvum-vwd-jpi) consists of a
shaft about six inches long, to the back of which
is tied three, sometimes two, eagle tail-feathers.
The shaft is of cottonwood, cylindrical, slightly
pointed at one end, and is stained red. It is or-
namented on one side with the incised figure of a
rattlesnake painted blue (green), the head (ko4ii'
ad-4a) of which is triangular, with two anterior
projections representing a tongue. The feathers
are bound to one side of the shaft, opposite the
symbol of the rattlesnake, by a buckskin thong
{cu-mS-ad-ta). To the tip of each feather is tied
a small bluebird feather. Among the snake-whips
which I have examined, there was one which
had a double handle, and a similar double-handled
snake-whip is figured by Mindeleff, but the major-
ity of the snake-whips used at Wal'-pi had a single
Snake-Wh.p.a shaft
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL
39
time, a majority of the Tcu''a'wymp'ki'ya{8) assembled in the Wi-kwal'-
i-o-bi kiva and prepared for the hunt. They brought with them
planting^ticks and hoes, which were laid on the raised hatchway of
the kiva while their owners descended to the chamber to prepare for
the hunt.
£ach hunter rubbed his body all over with red iron oxide {c6rta)
and fastened a na-kwortay stained with the same color, to his scalp-
lock. His back hair was tied in the ordinary manner, while that
of the sides fell to his shoulders. A simple undecorated cloth was
tied as a kilt about his loins, and he wore moccasins, but with these
exceptions he was without clothing. Besides his hoe or planting-
stick each priest carried in his hand a little red buckskin bag with
fringe at each lower corner and a handle of the same material. It
was said to contain sacred meal with which to sprinkle the snakes
-^^.
Position of tho Priests whon th« Pa-ho(s) woro givon to tho Sn«k« Chiof.
when ihey were captured. Each priest also had his snake-whip in
his hand, and a canvas bag in which to carry the reptiles he might
capture.
When the snake hunters returned to the kiva, they deposited the
bags in which the snakes were confined by the fireplace, and all the
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40 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
chiefs solemnly smoked upon them. Wi-ki came in and sprinkled
each bag with corn pollen. Then the snakes were taken out one by
one, and put in jars which were placed at the west end of the kiva.
There were four of these jars, and when not in use they were kept
in a cave on the northwest side of the mesa.
The exercises, during which the Antelope chief gave the p6rho{8)
to the Snake chief on each day of the snake hunt, were important.
Before departing for the snake hunts K6-pe-li received from Wi-ki
p6rho{8) and a na-kworkwo-ci to deposit in the Snake house of the
quarter in which he was to hunt. Wi-ki, Na-syuii'-we-ve, H^-ha-we,
K^-tci, and the Snake chief gathered about a tray in which were two
p6rho{8)y near the fireplace in the Mon'-kiva, in the positions indicated
in the cut.
The parho{8) were then smoked upon by the priests in turn. The
pipe-lighter first lit the ceremonial pipe, and, holding up the tray,
puffed directly on the^d-Ao(s). The Antelope chief followed, and the
other priests in turn, the chief of the Snakes being the last to smoke.
H^-ha-we was observed to be most devout in this duty. The pipe
was handed back to Wi-ki in the reverse order, who, having again
smoked, laid it on the floor. Wi-ki now took the parho{8) from the
tray, and, holding them in his right hand, prayed four or five minutes,
and then passed the prayer-sticks to K6-pe-li, who received them in his
left hand. Na-syun'-we-ve next prayed, and was followed by H^-ha-we,
whose prayer was most fervent. As he prayed he held the ceremonial
pipe in one hand, and resumed his smoke after this act of devotion.
K<$-p6-li said a short, earnest prayer to which the others emphatically
responded, and then he withdrew. Upon entering the other kiva,
where the Snake priests awaited him standing, he held the two pd-
ho{8) ^ and the na-kwd-kwo-ci in his hand, and said a prayer to which
the others responded. They then followed him to the snake hunt.
On the first snake hunt the Snake priests formed in line near their
kiva and filed under the arcade into the dance rock plaza, and contin-
^ These parho(8) did not vary in length but were always the length of the middle
on the four Buccesaive days of the hunt, finger.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
41
ued past the narrow place in the mesa to the east of Wal'-pi, and then
down the trail north of Si-tcom'-o-vi. Kd-pe-li left a red na-kwd-kwo-ci
at the shrine of Morsau-wilhy^ and each one of the line halted and made
a prayer offering at the same place.
After the departure of K6-pe-K, Wi-ki renovated all wooden sticks
or " crooks " about the altar, and the others began the manufacture of
the p&ho{8)y to be carried to the world quarter shrines after their cere-
monial consecration by the sixteen traditional songs. These did not
differ from the songs described above ; and the pd'ho{8) were also the
same as on the preceding day except in length.
FOURTH DAY (pAIOTA-LA, THIRD CEREMONIAL DAY).
Exercises similar to those of the third day were conducted in the
Mon'-kiva, but the Snake kiva was deserted, as the Snake priests were
absent from the village, and no one entered it. Su-pe-la's wife, who is
the senior female member of the Snake people, filled two large bowls
which stood outside this kiva with water for the Snake priests to drink
and bathe with on their return from the hunt. During this ceremony
the priests ^ habitually slept on the ground near the kiva.
^ The shrine of Mcirsaurvrdh is one of
many places of offering to this deity which
are found near the trails approaching the
villages. Ordinarily Mdrsavrwdh shrines
are simply heaps of sticks or piles of stones,
and it is customary for an Indian, toiling
up the trail with a heavy bundle of wood
on the back, to throw a small fragment
from the load upon these shrines, or to
cast a stone upon them as he goes to his
farm. These are offerings to MdrsattrtoHh,
the fire-god or deity of the surface of the
earth.
The shrine referred to is, however, much
more elaborate than most of these. One
side of it is formed by a large rock, and
the others of cedar and other sticks piled
waist high, leaving a small recess open to
the east.
In this recess, which practically opens
upon the trail, there are many small clay
dishes of the rudest pattern. Some of
these are ornamented, but as a general
thing they are coarsely made and too small
to have been used for household purposes.
I have repeatedly observed women who
were bearing fuel on their backs throw the
offering to Md-saurwHk without lialting.
Their lips moved as if in prayer, but I was
unable to obtain from them the words
which they uttered.
^ The faces of the priests were very
solemn, and men who at other times had
been very kindly disposed to me during
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42 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
Early in the morning the Snake chief went into the Antelope kiva,
and a ceremony in which Wi-ki gave him his feather offerings^ exactly
like that of the day hefore, took place. When the Snake chief re-
turned to his kiva, all the Snake priests came out dressed in the appro-
priate way for the hunt^ and gathered up the hoes^ sticks, and other
implements used in the capture of the snakes, which had been laid
over night upon the roof of the kiva. In solemn procession they then
filed away to the snake hunt in the plain at the west. Before the
Snake men left the room, a little girl brought a tray of meal and
tapped with her foot upon the roof of the chamber. At her signal,
the Snake chief came up and took the tray. This meal was possibly
sprinkled upon the captured snakes, but corn pollen is said to be used
for this purpose.
While the Snake men were absent on the hunt, a repetition of the
sixteen song ceremony of consecrating the feather offerings * by the
Antelopes took place. This ceremony was performed, as on former
days, at about noon, and did not differ substantially from that which
has been described.^ Yellow, green, red, white, black, and variegated
herbs, with a little honey, were to-day added to the charm liquid used
by H^-ha-we in asperging. I am not sure whether tins mixture
the Snake Dance had a stern and forbid- 1. Twelve carkw6y^parho{fi).
ding manner both in the kiva and oatside. 2. Eight black ^(£-^(5).
Whenever they spoke to me it was in a 3. Eight white na-kwdrkw(hci(s).
whisper and in monosyllables. With the 4. Numerous red nou-kw6rkwo-ci{s),
exception of the initiation ceremonies, Of the first Wi-ki, Narsyuil'-we-ve and
which will later be described, no woman K^tci made four each. Wi-ki, H^ha-
entered the kiva of the Snakes at any we, Na-syun'-we-ve, and Kwi-a each made
time. If a woman approached the Snake two black pd-ho{8)y and Na-syun'-we-ve
chamber she never stepped upon the roof, and Kd-tci a white norkwd-kwtHd, Later
nor spoke to the person who came up to all the others did the same. These were
get what she had brought. Strange be- laid on an offering of shells which I had
liefs prevail as to the evil influences which brought.
would come to a woman addressed by the ^ The participants in 1893 were the
Snake priests at this time. same as yesterday, with the addition of
^ The following p6rho{s) were made on Ei-tci.
the fourth day : —
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 43
Ho-ko-na-ma-na, or Butterfly-Virgin Slab.
varied from day to day, but on Thursday a pinch of corn pollen was
dropped into it.
On this morning (Sunday) there appeared in the Moii'-kiva for the
first time the slab called the Ho-k6-na'md'7iay " butterfly-virgin," nicely
repainted by H^-ha-we. It was placed back of the altar on the south
side, where it remained during the ceremonies of the following days,
not being touched by any of the priests. Ho-M-na-ma-na is a smooth
stone slab with rounded
corners, fourteen inches
long, ten inches broad,
and an inch and a half
thick. This slab was dec-
orated with a symbolic
figure of the rain-clouds,
two butterflies, and sev-
eral tadpoles, as shown p^^^^
in the cut.
Another object on the altar which was noticed this morning for the
first time was a jar called the patf-ne. It was made of clay, stained
a dark red, with indistinct ornamentations in black. In shape it was
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44 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
almost spherical, and around the neck was tied a string, from which
hung at equal intervals four other strings with feathers attached. The
two terraced objects on the surface of the bowl, as shown in the cut,
are duplicated on the other side. They are free from the jar except at
its equator, from which they rise, and represent rain-clouds.
The skins of a skunk, weasel, and coon were observed on the floor
back of the altar.
The departure of the snake hunters on Sunday was watched, and
their course followed until they separated in the plain at the west end
of the mesa. They followed the Mi-con'-in-o-vi trail half way down
the mesa, to the petrified wood shrine, where each one deposited a
na-kworkwo-ci^ which he sprinkled with sacred meal. The priests then
made their way to the neighborhood of the pictographs of the giant
eagle, in a cleft in a rock back of which the Snake house of the west
is situated. Here they left the ^ja-Ao(s) which Wi-ki had given to
K<5-pe-li, and when we visited the cleft after their departure we noticed
also a large black jjd-ho. From this place the Snake priests separated
into squads, who scoured the plain for the snakes. They strongly ob-
jected to our witnessing the ceremonials which took place at that time.
The following account of the capture of the snakes by Messrs.
Stephen and Messenger appeared in the " New York World : " —
" Presently they (Snake priests) broke into groups of two and three,
and then began cautiously to peer and poke among rocks and bushes
for the snake mother's children. In a short time a low call came from
a man who was thrusting his stick into a dense clump of greasewood,
and as the hunters gathered there it was found to be a large rattle-
snake lying in the heart of the thicket. Without hesitation they at
once proceeded to cut away the bushes with their hoes, and strangely
enough, although the snake lay in coil and watched them, it made no
rattling or other display of anger. One of the twigs fell upon it, and
the man nearest stooped down and deliberately lifted the branch away.
* These n(i-kiv6rkw(Hii(s) are painted and that their festival is being celebrated,
red throughout the ceremony to inform the For that reason, also, the Snake priests
Snakes that the warriors are in the field, and others wear tlie red feather.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 45
^^ Each one then sprinkled a pinch of meal upon the snake^ and the
man who had found it bent over and tapped it Kghtly with the feath-
ers of his snake-whip, and then it straightened out to make off, but
just as it relaxed from coil, the hunter, using his right hand, in which
he held his snake-whip, instantly seized it a few inches back of the
Snake Hunters descending the South Trail.
head. Holding it out, he gave it a quick shake, and then proceeded
to fold it up, and put it in one of the small bags carried for this
purpose, showing no more concern in its handUng than if it had been
a ribbon."
FIFTH DAY (nA-LUC'-TA-LA, FOURTH CEREMONIAL DAY).
The ladders of Iboth Snake and Antelope kivas were gayly decorated
this morning, for the first time, with a new object, a bow and arrows
with red horsehair hanging from the bow-string. Within the Ante-
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46 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
lope room cornstalks^ bean, melon, and squash vines, brought in by
K^-kap-ti, were placed back of the altar, and four small gourd water-
bottles, each covered with a netting, appeared for the first time. On
the hatchway, also, there was a significant addition. Fresh brown
sand had been sprinkled over this portion of the two kivas, probably
to recall the traditions of olden times, for this was the fourth ceremo-
nial day. There are four chambers in the under world, and possibly
the placing of fresh sand around the kiva entrance may typify or
commemorate the fact that each ceremonial day represents one of these,
and that on the fifth the ancestors of the Hopi came to their present
abode, the earth's surface.
The Antelope sand picture was fresh and bright, having been re-
touched this morning by Na-syuii'-we-ve. At about nine o'clock, as
on former days of the Snake hunt, the offerings were given to K<$-pe-li
by Wi-ki. The snake hunters went down the south trail and deposited
their pa-ho in a shrine near Wi-ki's house in the plain.
In the singing of the sixteen songs about the sand picture on this
day there was one variation. Just before Wi-ki asked for the light
to use in the O-m^ow-uh pipe ceremony, a girl came in and silently
squatted back of the line of Antelopes on the north side of the sand
mosaic.^ During the songs she beat time with a ca-kwdrpa-hOj and at
the close of the prayers which followed the last of the sixteen songs,
she left the kiva after having scattered meal as an offering upon the
altar.
K^-kap-ti was dressed and anointed with honey by Wi-ki in the
same manner as on former days. His smaller circuit to-day brought
him back into the kiva in about an hour, and the last offering was
made at a shrine near the sun spring, Ta-w^-pa, before he came up
the south trail to Wal'-pi. It was noticed that K^-kap-ti wore a red
na-kwd'ta in his hair, in place of the white one of previous days.
Up to Monday the nd-tciy or symbol by which the people know that
the ceremonials were going on in the two kivas, was a black pd-ho
^ This was also the first appearance of the girl in the 1893 celebration.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL 47
iTidth eagle feathers tied to it^ placed in the straw matting. The shafts
of this standard were not ornamented, and were identical in the two
A-wa-ta-na-tci of the Antelope Kiva.
kiva(8). They were set in place at sunrise each day, and taken into
the kiva at sunset. Every morning, when they were placed in position
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48 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
at sunrise by their respective chiefs, a pinch of meal was thrown to-
wards the sun. The more conspicuous d'Wa'ta-nartci{8) were not hung
upon the ladders until the morning of the fifth day.
The d-wa-ta-nd'tci of the Antelopes hung across the ladder of the
Mon'-kiva about ten feet above the hatchway. It consisted of a bow,
slightly bent, tied to the ladder by
yucca threads. Two blunt arrows
were fastened to it, and from the
string hung long red-stained horse-
hairs thickly crowded together. An
eagle tail-feather was attached to
each end of the bow, and two wea-
sel skins depended from the middle
of the string. In addition to the
three skunk skins at each end of
the bow there was also a weasel
skin which had been on the altar
the previous day.
The d-wa-ta-nd'tci of the Snake
Fraternity was hung across the lad-
der of their kiva about the same
distance above the hatchway, but
nearer the end of the ladder than
the Antelope standard.
A-wa-t«.na-tci of the Snake Kiva. It WaS similar tO that of the Au-
telopes, but was stouter. The arrows
were armed with sharpened stone points, and three eagle feathers were
attached to the bowstring. At one extremity of the bow there were
three skunk and two weasel skins, and at the other end hung three
skunk skins, and a single weasel skin. The red horsehair fringe was
neither so long nor so thick as that of the Antelope d-wa-ta-nd-tci.
The following pd-ho{8) were made on the fifth day : —
1. Sixteen ca-kwd-pa-ho{8).
2. One hchtvm-ni'pa'ho, and one additional ca-kwd-jm-ho.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 49
3. Numerous na'kwarkwo-ci{8).
Wi-ki, Na-syuii'-we-ve, Kwa-a, and K^-tci each made four ca-kwor
pa'ho{8) for the rain-gods of the world quarters^ and Na-syuii'-we-ve
an additional porho for Morsau-wUh. The na-kw6rkwO'Ci{8) or per-
sonal offerings were manufactured by all the priests. Wi-ki likewise
made two additional blue parho{s) for K($-pe-li to take on the snake
hunt the morning of the next day.
The sixteen songs by which the prayer-sticks were consecrated were
the same as on former days, but the cheeks of the Antelope priests
were painted for the first time with sesqui-oxide of iron, and each wore
a red-stained feather in his hair.
SIXTH DAY (0UC-t1-LA, FIRST CEBEMONIAL DAY).
Early on Tuesday morning H^-ha-we refilled his bowl with charm
liquid, pouring into the vessel first from the north side, then from the
west, south, east, above, and once more corresponding to the below. At
this time Na-syuii'-we-ve was retouching the sand mosaic, the figures of
which had become more or less obscure on account of the liquid and
meal which had been scattered upon it in the song ceremonials of the
afternoon before.
The first event on this morning, as on all the four days on which
the snake hunts took place, was the delivery by Wi-ki of the parho{8)
to the Snake chief. There was a slight variation in the ceremony
performed this morning from those on preceding days ; but, although
by no means important, stiU it may be worth while to describe it.
Wi-ki, K(5-pe-li, H^-ha-we, Hoii'-yi, and Na-syun'-we-ve gathered
near the fireplace of the Moii'-kiva in the early morning. K(5-pe-li was
seated near Wi-ki, who first lit a pipe and smoked for some time upon
the sand mosaic. After an interval the Antelope chief handed the
pipe to the Snake chief, who said, " /-wt«?a-i?a," Wi-ki responding,
" I'tup'-kor K(5-pe-li then smoked in silence, puffing whiffs towards
the sand mosaic. Meanwhile H^-ha-we had seated himself in the
position indicated in the diagram, and to him K($-pe-li passed the
lighted pipe which he had received from the Antelope chief. He
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50 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
smoked ceremonially for a short time^ and then gave the pipe to the
Snake chief, who, after smoking, returned it to Wi-ki. During this
interval Hon'-yi was smoking without formally receiving the ceremo-
nial pipe.
Wi-ki then took the ^d-Ao(s) from a tray which stood between him-
self and K(J-pe-li, and, holding them in his left hand, bending his head,
said a prayer, to which the other priests responded. He then brought
his right hand to the p6rho{8), still grasped in his left hand, and gave
them to K6-pe-li, who received them in both hands, although he later
held them in his left. Ha-ha-we then said a prayer in a low tone, and
K(J-pe-li followed, uttering inaudible words, after which he left the
kiva to join his fellow Snake priests. •
Ko-pe-li, The Snako Chief.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 51
This ceremony occurred at sunrise, and immediately after it the
Snake priests formed in line outside their kiva and followed the trail
through Si-tcom'-o-vi and H^-no, descending from the mesa on the
north side of the last mentioned village. The backs of the older
Snake priests were loaded with bundles of food, for on this day, after
the hunt, the Snake priests had a great feast at 6a-n^-lo-ba, the sheep
spring. On entering their kiva after their departure, it was noted
that the snakes which had been captured in the previous hunts had
been placed in the four jars at the west end of the room. There was
one exception, a small snake in a little bag, which for some reason
unknown to me was kept separate from the rest.
While the manufacture of the p&ho{8) was going on in the Mon'-
kiva and we were listening to the priest's explanation of the various
parts of which they were formed, there was a rap on the roof, and
word was passed down that a Ko-ho-ni-no Indian had ar-
rived with offerings. Wi-ki hurried up the ladder to re-
ceive them, but in his haste forgot his bag of sacred meal. '
Immediately one of the priests spoke of this omission, and
another hurried after Wi-ki with the requisite meal. Wi-ld
greeted the Ko-ho-ni-no, and received the presents which
he brought from his home, the " moist bank of the river,"
and threw a handful of meal along the path of the vis-
itor. The presents which the Ko-ho-ni-no brought were as
follows : 1. A water-worn root of a cotton wood tree several
feet long, which grew in the Grand Canon, on the banks of
the Colorado River. 2. Pi-ha^ tobacco, and grass from the
Ko-ho-ni-no gardens, " the place where the clouds always
hang." 3. Willow sticks from the river bank. 4. Damp
earth, as a " token of the copious rains " which had lately
fallen near their homes. These objects were offerings of cro«...haped
Pa-ho Stick.
good-will, and their donor was regarded as the bearer of
blessings. The objects were laid on the floor east of the sand picture,
and sprinkled with meal and smoked upon ceremonially. Later they
were used in the manufacture of special p&ho{8) and other prayer
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52 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
emblems. The fate of the cottonwood root interested me considerably^
for it was made into a cross-shaped prayer offering and called a wu-
pd-pa-ho. The root was whittled and polished into a round stick,
pointed at one end, and marks called frog children, tadpoles {pa-
vat^'i-ya), were scratched on the shaft. A crosspiece was let into a
slot near the other extremity, and upon this six black dots representing
rain (ySk-i) were painted, and above them as many semicircular rain-
clouds {(/-moio-Uh) were depicted. To this wu-pd-pa-ho were tied
many feathers, sprigs of the herbs J9am^-na-t?i and kurn'-yuj and a com
husk package of meal {nu'CUra'ta). K^-tci was delegated by Wi-ki to
deposit it at the side of the Zuni trail a few miles south of Wal'-pi.
The sixteen ceremonial songs were sung at noon, and the rain-cloud
pd'ho{8) sent out for distribution as on former occasions.
SEVENTH DAY (kO-MOK-TO-TOKYA).
This day was a very important one in the Snake ceremonial, for on
it was made, in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, the sand mosaic or poW-ya
of the Snake priests. On the same day, also, the snake charm liquid
was made, a ceremony which had never been witnessed by white men
except Mr. Owens and myself. This mystic rite has thus far been one
of the most securely guarded of all the ceremonies, and it was only by
the kind help of Mr. Keam and the unusual confidence of the chiefs
that we were able to be present in the secret room.
As the snake hunts have now been held in the four world quarters,
there was no departure of the Snake priests in a body to the fields,
and no ceremonial delivery of the offerings to K(5-pe-li. Several
snakes were added to the collection on this and the following day, but
apparently there was no recognition of the remaining cardinal points,
the above and the below, in formal snake hunting.
The sixteen traditional songs were sung around the pon'-ya of the
Antelopes on this date, with a few ceremonial variations which will be
noted in my account.
At the close of the day a ceremony of initiation was performed in
the Wi-kwaF-i-o-bi kiva. This drama is one of the most interesting
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 53
and suggestive of all thoqp connected with the Snake Dance, and has
never been described.
MAKING THE SAND MOSAIC OF THE SNAKE PBIESTS.
The pon'-ya of the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva was made by Les^-ma, who
was repeatedly prompted in his work by others, and K(J-pe-li, the
Snake chief, had no hand in its production. Les^-ma, as we shall
afterwards see, personified the bear in the public ceremonies and in the
initiations, ^and was one of the most important priests throughout the
ceremonial.
At about ten o'clock, Les'-ma swept the west floor of the kiva, and
began the Snake povf-ya} A large number of Snake priests were
present at the time, and as was always the rule since the snakes had
been brought into the kiva, silence prevailed, no one speaking above a
whisper. The snakes were at the east end of the kiva, some within,
some outside the four jars, which were uncovered.
Les'-ma first sifted from an open basket tray a layer of fine brown
sand upon the floor of the kiva, forming a rectangular field. He
then sprinkled upon this, several inches from the edge, another rec-
tangle, of green sand, twenty-two inches in length and breadth. This
formed the inner field, upon which, later, an animal was depicted.
After the green field had been made over the brown, he sprinkled
pinches of meal on it.
Les'-ma then drew on the green field a yellow rectangular band
about three fourths of an inch broad. He did not follow a sinis-
tral ceremonial circuit in drawing these lines in all instances, but, as a
rule, made the north, west, south, and east sides in order. Taking a
handful of black sand, he bordered the yellow band on each side with
a narrow black line, first on the north side of the rectangle, then on
the west, and in the same way on the south, finishing on the east.
* I reproduced in sand copies of this A reproduction of the former I have like-
and the 0'-mowM?A mosaic of the Ante- wise made for the National Museum at
lopes in a case of the Hemenway exhibit Washington,
in the Columbian Exposition at Madrid.
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54 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
He afterwards made a black line about three fourths of an inch from
that which lined the outer edge of the yellow band, cutting off a
green border from the green field which extended outside the yellow.
He followed no ceremonial order in his work, but repeatedly repaired
now one line and then another, passing from north to south or from
east to west, as the case might be, or as convenience dictated. Outside
of the black line with which he bordered the green, he drew a red
stripe of about the same width as the yellow and green, forming another
band parallel to those already made.
Les'*ma then took a handful of white sand, and, disregarding the
sinistral ceremonial circuit, drew a band of white outside the red. He
then made a black line outside the white stripe, and another between
it and the red. This border of four colors having been completed, he
made outside of it a broad black zone as wide as all the others com-
bined.
Upon the northern part of this black border he delineated a yellow
snake with head facing west, and body with six zigzags. His method
of drawing was as follows : He first made the outline of the head, then
that of the body, and filled in these outlines with yellow sand. Les'-ma
followed by drawing a red line around the head and body of the snake,
continuing it into two tongue-like projections. He then made a neck-
lace of red lines, and five rattles of the same colored sand on the tail,
and for the eyes he dropped on the head small pinches of black sand.
The green snake was next made, on the western part of the black zone,
with the head directed south. The mode of making this snake was
identical with that adopted with the yellow, except that the edge of
the body and head, the necklace and the rattles, were made with
white sand.
The red snake was drawn in the same way as the two preceding,
on the south border, with head facing the east. The border of both
its head and body, as well as the tongue and necklace, were made of
yellow sand.
Lastly, the white snake was drawn on the east border with white
sand, and the head was represented facing north. The body and head
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! \
f
r
ft
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54.
H ; : .
n>
ei ■ " ^ ;
o: . ' '
si ■ • .
b ; 1.:
i1
r
1 .', '
1
it ••
I
i
g. .'
' '^* :. '
oi <
I". .
4
it*'-
• ' . * ' •
'• i ' 1
1 .
.; >•,
•:.«. . >l:. I
i'^ ••• .
. .jit"
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Sand Mosaic ofthe Snake Priests.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL 55
of this snake were edged with green, and the tongue, necklace, and
rattles were the same color.
A nondescript animal,^ with head facing south and legs extending
to the east, was next depicted in the middle of the green field. This
was made with yellow sand, and around it was later placed a black
margin. Along the rim of the tail at intervals spots were made by a
more liberal deposit of black sand. Four radiating lines, black, white,
red, and yellow, extended from the mouth. Yellow sand and a black
border were then placed at the feet, and a little red color was added
to the claws. Last of all, an oval red figure, representing a heart, was
made in the middle of the body, and from it a line of the same color
was traced to the snout.
After this animal had been made on the green field, a broad white
border was added outside the black, carefully following a sinistral cir-
cuit. When the sand mosaic had been finished, K(5-pe-li laid upon the
heart of each snake in the black border a na-kwd-kwo-ciy with the
feather pointing towards the head, and the string extending along the
body. He also placed over the heart of the quadruped in the centre
of the field another na-kwd-kwo-ciy the feather of which extended
towards the neck, the string towards the tail.
Les'-ma was thanked by K(J-pe-li and one or two others after he had
finished the sand mosaic. He silently smoked upon his work, and
as he did so Kd-pe-li placed a bank of brown sand along the western
border, in which Sii-pe-la planted upright a row of nine large eagle
feathers.
While the sand mosaic was being made, K(5-pe-li, Sii-pe-la, and
Se-kyau-wis'-ti-wa were busily engaged making jpa-Ao(s). The Snake
chief left the kiva with a small feather at the beginning of the ceremo-
nial, and returned in a few minutes. Other Snake men sat around in
silence, some smoking, but none speaking above a whisper, and several
priests came in, and one or two went out, as the work was going on.^
The whittlings from the sticks used in making the parho{s) were gath-
* Called by Bourke a " mountain lion." of construction the reptiles were all free
^ While the sand mosaic was in process in the east end of the kiva.
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56 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL
ered by K(J-pe-li in a bundle, and before leaving the kiva he sprinkled
a little sacred meal and tobacco upon them. He then went outside the
kiva and cast them over the cliff without ceremony.
During a part of the time when the altar was being made, K<$-pe-li
and the other priests smoked upon it. K^-no fashioned pedestals,
to hold the gne-lvfk-pi and other objects, from two lumps of clay which
had been brought in near the close of Les'-ma's work.
The three kinds of gne-lu'k-pij crooks, straight sticks with attached
corn husks, and the four arrows, were then placed in position around the
outer border of the mosaic. These were similar to the objects around
the Antelope picture, but were differently placed. They were arranged
in position by the Snake chief, assisted by one or two others, and it was
noted that K(J-pe-li put the arrows at the four corners in the order,
north, west, south, and east. The Snake chief then took a crook to
which was fastened a long string na-kwd-kwo-d stained red, and placed
it by the side of the tail of the green snake on the west border of the
picture, between it and the row of feathers. He drew this string*
diagonally across the picture towards the head of the red snake, allow-
ing the feather to fall upon the quadruped. K($-pe-li placed a second
crook, with a similar but longer string, by the side of the head of the
green snake, outside the border of the figure, and stretched it diag^
onally across the mosaic, likewise allowing the feathers to fall into the
rectangular field. He then placed two crooks side by side in the same
relative position at the east side of the picture, after which the other
objects were set in place apparently with order, but not following any
rule which could be discovered. Sii-pe-la fastened to each arrow,
beginning with the northwest and following a ceremonial circuit, a
large bundle of red-stained feathers. To the tips of these red feathers
were tied little blue feathers. The altar was destitute of ancient stone
hoes, which were so prominent in the Mon'-kiva, and there were no
well-defined north and south gates, although an interval was left
between the two crooks on the east side.
^ The length of this string was four times the distance from hb heart to the tip of
his outstretched middle finger.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 57
After these things had been placed about the altar, Su-pe-la brought
in a buckskin bag containing a most heterogeneous collection of ob-
jects. In this were several trochus shells and a half dozen unidentified
bivalves, the skulls and lower jaws of some carnivorous animals, bears'
claws with skin adhering, several water-worn stones, a stone hoe, and
other objects. There were, also, two stone fetishes, one of which
was brown, the other white in color.*
Les^-ma now emptied a bag of brown sand on the kiva floor north
of the fireplace, half way between it and the wall, making a small
conical mound. Across this mound he drew in meal three lines cross-
ing at common centre, and forming six radiating lines corresponding to
the cardinal points. He then laid upon the point of intersection one
of the bandoleers to be worn by the Snake men in
the public dance which will be described later. As
he did this, another man tied a second medicine cord
about breast high on the north upright of the ladder.
Les'-ma placed a Ko-ho-ni-no basket, a flat, brown, tray-
like dish capable of holding liquid, on the bandoleer.
After the basket had been thus deposited, the bear's
claws, skulls, lower jaws, stones, and other objects,
were distributed into groups and placed at the ex-
tremities of each of the meal lines. The trochus
shell, bivalves, and some other charms, were dropped ^"*''' Bandoleer.
into the basket, and Sii-pe-la added a few bruised nut-like objects and
sticks.
At this time, K<5-pe-li entered the kiva with his ti-^o-ni^ which he
planted midway in the west border of the pon'-yaj and arranged two
fetishes by its side. The ceremony with which these were taken from
the Moii'-kiva altar was very simple, and there was no special observance
^ Wl-ki later gave the following as the other shells, stone and crystals typifying
objects used : The feet and claws of the the six directions.
bear, wolf, and puma ; the jaw of a puma ' Up to this time this tirp<hni had been
and stone effigy of the same, trochus and with that of the Antelopes, as described
above.
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58 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi-kiva when they were set in position. A string
was stretched diagonally across the sand picture from the Snake ti-pcMiiy
a little to one side of the middle line. Sil-pe-la brought into the kiva a
small spherical gourd of liquid, which was taken by Les'-ma, who poured
the contents into the basket from the four cardinal points, up, and
down, following the sinistral ceremonial circuit. By this time all the
Snake fraternity had collected in the kiva, and had arranged themselves
in position at the south side without any special regularity. The four
boys who were A6-?6(8), or novices, were seated in a row on the spec-
tator's dais, south of the ladder. The older Snake priests then took
positions about the basket, Sii-pe-la, K<5-pe-li, Les'-ma, and M<5-mi in
line facing the south. Sii-pe-la handed some unknown object to each
of the priests near him, and, after they had followed his example by
chewing it, they placed the cud in the liquid of the basket. A quan-
tity of fresh water from the jars on the roof of the kiva was then
brought and poured without ceremony into the basket. After this
had been done, the whole fraternity of Snake men assembled in the
room took their snake-whips in their hands, and, holding them up-
right, squatted on the floor facing the basket.
The pipe-lighter then Kt the ancient Snake pipe and passed it to
K<5-pe-li, as he did so exchanging terms of brotherhood or relationship.
The Snake chief smoked in silence, pufBng smoke at
times into the liquid contained in the basket. He
then handed the pipe to his right-hand neighljor,
Les'-ma, who smoked into the liquid and at the distant
The snak« Chief • Pi ^^^^' ^hc pipc was thcu passcd to another priest,
who returned it to the pipe-lighter. After this a pipe
was again lighted and passed to K6-pe-li, who smoked and handed it
to his father, who was seated at his left. Su-pe-la smoked and gave it
to a priest at his side, and although other Snake priests received it,
the ceremonial significance seemed to be lost after it had been in the
hands of the first two or three persons. Many other Snake priests
now crowded into the ring, which had become a long ellipse surround-
ing the basket. All, one by one, smoked in silence for a considerable
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
59
time, generally puffing whiffs of smoke into the liquid of the basket,
or towards the altar. The pipe was at last laid by the fireplace, and
^t>^—.^^m^
N
The Snake Charm Altar. >
Kd-pe-li, still sitting, took his rattle in his right hand and prayed
fervently.
At the close of the prayer he shook it vigorously a few times, and
all the priests in the kiva began a rapid, weird song. Md-mi, who
who sat opposite Les'-ma, held uprif ht in the middle of the basket a
* In the celebration of 1893 there were
seventeen objects in the bag brought by
Sti-pe-la, as follows : —
1. Two large trochus-like shells (kd-
2. To-hd-ilh (puma), skull.
3. To-h6-Uh, forepaw.
4. H6-navrilh (bear), skull.
6. Hd-navrHhy forepaw.
6. KwS-we (wolf), skull.
7. KwS-we, forepaw.
8. To-k6^he^ forepaw.
9. Fetish of To-kd-Uh.
10. White stone fetish.
11. Large stone spear point
12. Bivalve shell {kH-kiUce).
13. Paw of unknown carnivore.
14. Six water-worn pebbles.
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60 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
stick painted blacky to the end of which was at-
tached a na-kwd-kwo-ci. Four songs were then
sung by all the Snake priests, accompanied by
the rattles and by motions with the snake-whips.
As these melodies followed one after another,
Les'-ma laid his rattle on the floor and took up
one by one the objects at the ends of the six
lines of sacred meal, and following the ceremo-
nial circuit placed them in the basket around
the stick held upright by M(J-mi. At the close
of the fourth song all present broke out in the
wild war-cry, and as their piercing yells filled
the room, M(J-mi stirred the mixture in the bas-
ket with the stick, which he held perpendicular
Basket in which .^he^smike Charm j^ring thc stirriug. A vcry rapid song followed
the war-cry, during which Les'-ma laid the stick
down by the side of the basket and kneaded the contents of the same
with his hands. While this went on the song sank to a low and
weird melody, but as it continued the voices of the chorus rose again
to a rapid measure with loud and piercing tones. Les'-ma frequently
raised his rattle aloft in the air, and, as he did so, cast meal into the
basket of liquid. The songs continued for a long time, until at last
they died down to a low hum, and the whole assemblage ceased to
sing, but the rattles and the tremor of the snake-whips continued for
a few moments after the voices were hushed.
In the breathless silence which followed, K(5-pe-li prayed, and at the
end of his prayer he cast sacred meal into the liquid. Su-pe-la did the
same, and others followed, but Md-mi slowly rose to his feet, and
dipping the stirring-stick into the mixture, shook drops from it to the
cardinal points, sprinkling all present with the liquid. He then touched
a beards paw to the liquid, and threw the charm mixture from it to the
cardinal points, following the sinistral ceremonial circuit. M(J-mi
climbed up the ladder to the roof, asperged with the bear's paw in a
sinistral ceremonial circuit to the cardinal points outside, and immedi-
ately after descended into the chamber.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 61
M(J-mi then moistened fragments of white earth with some of the
medicine which he had taken into his mouth from a univalve shell, and
made a white paint in the palms of his hands ; approaching K6-pe-li,
he rubbed some of this from the palm of one hand first upon K6-pe-li's
breast, then upon his back, cheeks, and the fore-arms and legs. K^-no
later assisted him, and every one present was rubbed or daubed with
the white paint on the same parts of the body as the Snake chief.
While this was' transpiring, many of the priests stepped up to the altar
and moistened their hands in the liquid of the basket, rubbing it
over their breasts and other parts of the body. Many also took the
objects from the medicine and sucked the liquid from them, some even
drinking the same from the univalve shells. I then detected, for the
first time, fragments of clay which the priests were rolling in their
hands into balls about the size of marbles. K^-no was
passing pieces of clay about for this purpose, but, while
I did not see where he obtained it, there was no doubt
that it was dipped in the charm liquid. After each
priest had made his clay ball, he marked a zigzag Kght- p«ii«t of ciay from
. •ii*ii*i !•! Snake Bandoleer.
nmg snake on its equator with his thumb-nail, and tied
it in a little piece of buckskin. This was the pellet which, with oth-
ers, was later worn on the medicine cord or bandoleer throughout the
public ceremonies when the snakes were carried in the mouths of the
participants.
At the close of the ceremony K(J-pe-li transferred the liquid from
the basket of fetishes into another basket, leaving, for a time at least,
in the former a trochus shell, a bivalve, a white fetish, a quartz crystal,
and a brown stone. As he did this he put each to his mouth, sucking
up what liquid remained upon it, and later drinking that in the basket,
which was afterwards deposited near the altar.
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SNAKE KIVA.
One more ceremonial occurred to form a fitting close to this event-
ful day.
There was evidence that something significant was to take place
/
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62 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
when Wi-ki and other Antelopes assembled in the Mon'-kiva, cobt
turned themselves, and prepared to leave it, the evening after the
ceremony above described had taken place. Wi-ki took his ti-po^i
and tray of meal, and led a procession with the novices in the rear, each
bearing an ear of corn with appended feathers and a handful of meal.
Under the lead of Wi-ki all filed up the ladder of the Mon'-kiva and
ma)*ched to the adjacent Snake kiva, into which all descended. Wi-ki
deposited his ti-po-ni behind the altar, in the same relative position to
the Snake ti-po-ni which it had occupied in the Mon'-kiva. Still hold-
ing the tray of meal, he returned with the other Antelopes to the spec-
tators' platform, where they sat down. Immediately the room, in
which already many Snake priests had gathered, began to fill with other
men and women : Among these Su-pe-la's wife, four married women,
five maidens, and a mother with an infant were noticed. The novices
had taken their positions under the north wall, and the Snake priests
squatted along the opposite or south side of the kiva. The women
who had last entered sat near the spectators' part of the room, just
south of the fireplace, and Snake and Antelope priests crowded the
chamber, occupying every available spot, especially about the fireplace.
East of the ladder, cutting off a section of the spectators' region and
concealing the four snake jars, was stretched from wall to wall a
wagon cover, forming a dressing-room for the performers to retire to.
K(^pe-li sat at one side of the room, muffted up in a Navajo blanket,
over which was thrown a white buckskin. For some time all present
preserved the most profound silence, the Snake priests holding their
whips in a vertical position. K&-pe-li said a short prayer, after which
the rattles were taken up, and for a few moments nothing was heard
but the noise of these instruments. As this continued all began to
sing ; at first a low mumble, then the voices increased in volume until
they broke out into a wild song.
Wi-ki, who sat near the entrance to the dressing-room, threw a pinch
of meal across the floor to indicate a pathway for the strange actor
who immediately emerged from behind the screen.
A little meal was cast from behind the curtain as an actor hob-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 63
bled into the room, assuming a squatting posture, and swaying back
and forth like a bear on its hind legs, though his movements were
rapid. He wore a great bunch of red feathers on his head, with
smaller tufts on the shoulders, and his face was covered with paint.
Making his way to the fireplace, he seized a cane cigarette, put it in
his mouth, and twirled his hands, one about the other in front of his
breast, dancing to the song. He returned behind the screen and again
came out, moving about in the wild manner which characterized his
first appearance. The actor went up to K<5-pe-li, preserving as he did
so a squatting posture, and drew a vine-stalk from under the Snake
chief's blanket. He then went from one to another of the novices,
thrusting the stalk into their faces. The wild song continued until
he again retired behind the wagon-cover, when it sank to the same
low murmur with which it began before his entrance. After a few
such strains the song burst forth into a wild chorus as a new per-
former, the ^^ Puma-man,'' appeared upon the scene. His next act was
to thrust his head under the blanket of Kd-pe-li. As he drew it back
he had an unlighted cane cigarette in his mouth, which he pretended to
smoke as he hobbled about, and while he did so the Antelopes threw
meal towards the sand mosaic picture in the eastern part of the kiva.
The performer, still keeping the squatting posture, repeated the whirli-
gig movement of his hands. He returned to K<5-pe-U, pushed his head
beneath the latter's blanket, and as he drew back was seen to have a
live arrow-snake in his mouth. Approaching the novices, he took the
snake from his mouth and thrust it in turn into their faces, moving it
up and down as near as possible four times. The reptile was returned
to the chief, and as the actor retired behind the screen the song sank
to a murmur. When the first actor reappeared, with a lighted ciga-
rette in his mouth, the music rose again as usual. During all this
performance K6-pe-li sat like a statue, silent and motionless. The
performer went up to him once more, and this time when he drew back
his head he had a cornstalk in his mouth, which he thrust into the
faces of the novices. He then withdrew.^
^ The Bear-man does not toach the snake, nor the Puma-man the vines. The first
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64 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
The second man now came from behind the curtain, assuming the
posture and gait of the former. He likewise poked his head under
the blanket of K<5-pe-li and drew back with a snake in his mouth, which
he thrust into the faces of the novices. The song sank to a low hum-
ming sound as he also retired behind the curtain, but as the music rose
again no dancer appeared in response. This song was followed by
two others ; the whips of the Snake men, which had been moved in
time with the music, gradually quivered, and the song wholly ceased,
although the rattling continued for some time. Finally even this died
out and all was quiet. Kd-pe-li, still preserving his position, then
uttered a short prayer, was divested of his wrappings and went back
of the sand picture, followed by Wi-ki, and each took the ti-pcHii of
his assemblage.
K<i-pe-li squatted in front of each novice and moved the ti-pcMii up
and down before his face, muttering something in a low, inaudible
voice, to which each novice responded. The example of the Snake
chief was closely followed by Wi-ki with his ti-po-ni, and the novices
likewise answered him.
An elder Snake priest then took the Snake ti-pcMii and went about
among the novices as his chief had done, and handed it to a Snake
boy, who likewise imitated Ko-pe-li's course in front of each novice.
H^-ha-we took the Antelope ti-po-ni from Wi-ki and did the same
as his chief had done before him. One by one many of the Snake
priests held the Snake ti-po-ni and carried it before the novices, each
standing upright as he waited to receive the badge from his pred-
ecessor. The last priest to receive the ti-po-niy after he had followed
the example of those before, handed it back to K6-pe-li, and then made
an offering of meal on the altar.
Wi-ki and K6-pe-li stood up back of the altar side by side, each
holding the ti-pcMii of the society of which he is chief in his left
hand with his right below it. Wi-ki prayed, and as he ceased moved
man who appeared was called hd-navMlhy the clouds, but there is some doabt of
bear; the second, td-ho-ilhy pama. The this explanation. When the personator
twirling motion of the hands is called went to the novices he was known as
nunrak''in-i, and is said to be a call to tU-hU^-anrti, imitator.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 65
his tv^CMii in a horizontal circle in front of him, and Ko-pe-li followed
in prayer, after which he waved his ti-po-ni in the same manner. Then
a person chosen as his sponsor or " father " tied a feather in the scalp-
lock of each novice. Wi-ki again prayed while this was transpiring,
and then drank brown liquid from the bowl, until his mouth was filled
with the liquid. He then spat it out on his hands, with which he
rubbed his breast, and all the Antelopes followed his example. Wi-ki
and the others in turn took meal from the tray, made an offering on
the sand picture, and as they left the room sprinkled pinches of meal
upon the roof, after which they returned to the Mon'-kiva.
The initiation is an entirely voluntary proceeding upon the part of
the neophytes, and they may choose either of the two societies they
prefer. A person initiated into the Snake order does not as a con-
sequence join the Antelope, nor vice versa ; the membership^ as de-
termined by tradition and in current ceremonies, is quite distinct,
although the leader of the Snake-Antelope assemblages is chief, or
father, of both. Mothers came with their children and infants to the
Snake kiva on the seventh evening, and to the Snake- Antelope on the
ninth morning, not to become members, but only to partake of the vir-
tues of the charm ; that fear of the ophidian may be dispelled from
themselves and their children, and that these reptiles may recognize
that they have been baptized and refrain from biting them. The terms
condensed in the word baptized do not express consecration, although
that is certainly implied ; but they are merely descriptive of the acts
of drinking, rubbing, waving the feather with ashes, and similar sacred
performances.
EIGHTH DAY (tO-t6-KYA, SLEEPS).
Shortly after dark on the night of the seventh day, the Antelope
priests, Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Kw^-a, and H^-ha-we, accompanied
by M6-mi visited the sun-spring, Ta-w^-pa, and remained there over-
night. The Antelopes wore their ceremonial kilts, and M(J-mi, who
assumed the role of warrior, had a whizzer, bow and arrows, and wore
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66 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
a buckskin over his shoulders. They first went to the edge of the
water on the eastern banl^^ where they deposited a pd-hoy smoked, and
prayed. After remaining there some time, they sought a convenient
place to sleep near the bank of the spring, and rested until three
o'clock in the morning, when they returned to the edge of the water.
After they had gathered netted gourds and other objects which they
had left there the night before, they formed in line to return to the
village. Wi-ki made a line of prayer-meal along the trail, and traced
at equal distances across it four figures of rain-cloudi^, each with three
r?™?:^
■ f-i^ .. ,../,r!..|l'..ll'.*:itf^^'-'-'^M
^
Kilt of the Antelopo Priests.
semicircles similar to those already described in my account * of the
ceremonies at the spring at Ci-pau-lo-vi. At the conclusion of this act
M6-me whirled his whizzer four times, and the Une advanced to a
second station distant a few hundred yards from the first, where the
ceremony was repeated. The squad again took up its line of march,
and halted at four other stations before it arrived at the Antelope kiva.
The ceremony at Ta-w^-pa is probably an abbreviated form of the
Flute celebration, which takes place on alternate years. The reader
may note the similarities by consulting my account of the Ci-paii-lo-vi
Flute,^ to which I have already referred.
^ Journal of American Ethnology and Hh celebration in the Flute festival. Jour-
Arch(Bology, vol. ii. No. 1. nal of American Ethnology and ArcTuB-
* The reader is referred to the O-mow- ology, vol. ii. No. 1.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 67
The other event, which occurred outside the kiva on the morning of
the eighth day before dawn, was the Antelope foot-race. This took
place in the plain at the south of the mesa, and was practically the
same as the foot-race of the ninth morning, which will be described
in the appropriate place. Seven runners took part, all of whom wore
cotton shirts and had rattles tied to their waists. The race was an-
nounced long before dawn by the town herald, who called out four
times at short intervals. The victor passed through the village just
as the Antelopes were finishing their sixteen songs ceremony and
dramatization.
BBAMATIZATION ANB SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONT.
The singing of the sixteen songs ^ on the mornings of the eighth and
ninth days was different from that on the preceding, on account of
the introduction of two personifications, Ti-yo (the Snake Hero) and
Tcu-^tr^morna (the Snake virgin), and the dramatization of a legend
connected with them. The dramatic element was very imperfect, and
did not follow the details of the legend, which is given later, but
several episodes of it are introduced. Ti-yo^ so the story runs, by his
marriage with the Snake virgin in the under-world joined her people,
and as on the morning of the eighth day the one personifying him had
not yet become a Snake man, he did not wear the characteristic kilt;
The ceremonial was also marked by the presence of the Snake chief
and several of his fraternity, as well as a few women and children.
When I reached the kiva, coming from Ta-w^-pa, where I had been
observing the events described, it was still dark, not a trace of light
having yet appeared in the east, and nothing was transpiring, but in a
few moments a maiden came in. Wi-ki immediately began her deco-
ration, and rubbed the upper part of her feet and the backs of her
hands with black shale. He then took a white blanket and placed it
over her shoulders, and tied a sash with long white knotted cords, such
as is worn by the Ka-tci-na dancers, about her waist. She took down
^ The first eight songs of this ceremony on the eighth and ninth days are sung before
snnrise.
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68 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
her hair, which Wi-ki carefully brushed, and tied with a string behind
her back, so that her ears were partly concealed, and the large whorls
of hair characteristic of a Hopi maid's coiffure were wanting. Over
her shoulders Wi-ki placed a second white undecorated blanket, to
which he tied feathers, one on each shoulder, and two on the back
near her shoulder-blades. He tied a na-kwai-ta in her hair, and
painted her chin and lower jaw black. The maiden wore earrings.
Her name was Ko-kyan-m^-na and she personified Tcu-a-'mdrna of
the Snake legend. Wi-ki led her to the northwest (true west) corner
of the kiva, where she remained during the ceremonial.
A small boy about sixteen then came in, and Wi-ki painted his
insteps and the backs of his^hands black, in the same way he had
painted the girl. He daubed on >the outer side of each leg a zigzag
line of the same color, and made sunilar decorations on the outer side
of each arm. The black zigzag lines ^ were also placed on either side
of the breast. As he entered the kiva, the boy wore a large shell neck-
lace, and a red feather on his head, and these were not removed, but
Wi-ki tied a kilt about the loins of the boy, and above it fastened a
sash. He combed the hair, tying it, as he had that of the girl, behind
his back. He lastly placed him in the southwest (true south) corner
of the room. Hon'-yi, In'-ti-wa, and H^-ha-we were smoking about the
fireplace while the decoration of the Snake girl and the Snake boy was
going on. When it was finished, Wi-ki himself took a seat in silence
at the sand altar.
K^-tci, In'-ti-wa, several other novices, and a Snake priest, all but
the last bearing an ear of corn and feathers attached to a stick, visited
the pa-hd'kif which is situated half way between Wal'pi and Si-tcom'-
o-vi, where they deposited two red-stained na-kwd-kwo-ciy after which
they hurried back and laid the ears of com by the side of the altar.
On this morning for the first time M(J-mi tied to the ladder a bando-
leer or medicine cord in the same way which we have already men-
tioned in the ceremonial preparation of the charm liquid by the Snake
priests.
^ He omitted the white line across the cheek, and the black zigzag lines on the arms
and legs.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 69
When the novices had returned, H^-ha-we lit the pipe and passed
it ceremonially to Wi-ki, who smoked and extended it to his neighbor
as in former ceremonies. T^-wa came in, followed by Ma-si-um'-ti-wa,
Wi-ky-^t-i-wa, and one or two other men, who seated themselves at the
north of the sand mosaic. While the ceremonial smoke was progress-
ing, Wi-ki talked a long time, constantly referring to the things about
the altar. He seemed to be speaking to those about him in regard
either to the history of the ceremonials which were being performed or
the legends connected with them. When he had finished this lecture,
to which all the others listened in silence, he handed the patf-ne with
•cornstalks and bean vines to the girl, who stood in the corner of the
kiva. Wi-ki next raised the Snake ti-pcHii and gave it to the boy, who
at first held it upright in both hands and then allowed it to lie over
his arm. Prayers followed by Wi-ki, Ha-ha-we, and others.
Wi-ki then shook his rattle for a few moments without singing, and
the assembled priests began the series of songs, sixteen in number,
which have been elsewhere described. During the first song K<5-pe-li
came in, and handing the boy a large snake {pityophis)^ sat down at
his customary place near the southwest corner of the sand mosaic, took
up his rattle, and joined in the song with the others. The boy held
the live snake by the neck in his right hand, beating time with it to
the song. When K<5-pe-li came in not a word was spoken to him by
any one present, and he himself was silent. Several Snake priests,
each with his whip, now entered and seated themselves at the south
side of the room, back of K^-kap-ti and the Snake priest, who had
returned with the novices. The Tcu'-a-wim-'kya celebrants were as
follows : Wi-ki, Hon'-yi, Wi-ky-^t-i-wa, Kw^-a, T^-wa, In'-ti-wa, and
Mas-i-um'-ti-wa. Behind and between the last two was a small boy.
K^-tci sat at the south of the altar by the side of Ka-kap-ti, and behind
In'-ti-wa was a woman who came in during the second part of the cere-
mony, bringing an ear of corn.
After the first eight songs had been sung, and H^-ha-we had as-
perged the altar and the cardinal points as in previous ceremonies,
Wi-ki took the ti-po-ni from the boy and the pat'-ne from the girl ;
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70 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
placed the former in position, and the latter back of the sand mosaic.
K<5-pe-li relieved the boy of the snake, and Wl-ki sent out for a coal
of fire and lit the great (ymoio-ilh pipe, the smoke from which he
blew four times in big whiffs over the large fetish on the sand mosaic.^
After this we heard the approaching runners of the Antelope race and
stepped out to see them, returning immediately to the kiva. It was
now just sunrise, and Na-syuS'-we-ve set up the nd-tci on the hatch.
Before the second series of songs began, a woman and the boy who
later sat behind Ma-si-um'-ti-wa came in, and a little after several
Snake priests followed, all with their snake-whips, and took their seats
at the east corner of the chamber, south of the fireplace.
Wl-ki handed the paf-ne to the maiden, and the ti-po-ni to the
boy, who received the snake again from Kd-pe-li.
The second series of eight songs was then sung with no variation
from that of previous ceremonies, except that the Snake priests beat
time with their snake whips, and the boy kept time with the snake
which he held in his hand. H^-ha-we asperged as before, and K^-
kap-ti rapped on the floor with the stone hoe as in former celebrations.
At the close of the songs Wi-ki prayed, followed by K<5-pe-li, Na-
syun'-we-ve, H^-ha-we, and T^-wa, to whom the others responded,
while Wi-ki* and Kd-pe-li engaged in conversation. During the cere-
monial smoke which followed, the Snake priests sprinkled prayer-meal
on the sand mosaic and left the room, and the woman who sat behind
In'-ti-wa did the same.
The forenoon of the eighth day was passed by all the Snake priests
in their kiva, and they were occupied with the manufacture of the
long prayer-sticks which were to be carried in the public dances.
These parho{8) were as long as the forearm, painted black, and
pointed at one extremity. Each was a single stick, at one end of which
was tied, with cotton string, a com husk, which projected far beyond
it, a sprig of a yellow flower (pamf-na-vi), and a twig of kurn'-yu.
To these were also added a feather and a small quantity of meal envel-
^ This is not described, because it is an exact repetition of what has been already
given.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 71
oped in a corn husk. Four encircling parallel black lines were drawn
on the cotton, and an equal number of na-kwd-kwo-ci stained red with
iron oxide were tied to the same at equal intervals. When each priest
had finished his prayer-stick, he held it in his left hand and puffed
upon it great whiffs of tobacco smoke, holding the
pipe meanwhUe in his right hand, and without fur-
ther ceremony placed the pdrho upon the tray with
the others. The basket was deposited on the floor
of the kiva between the ponf-ya and the fireplace,
the sharpened ends of the sticks turned to the
north. When all had placed their pd'ho{8) on the
basket, the older priests smoked upon them cere-
monially.
THE ANTELOPE DANCE.
The first public observance in the long series of
ceremonials which we are describing occurred at
5.30 p. M. of the eighth day. It is called the Tcuh'-
tirki-^e or Antelope dance, and was performed
in the main plaza near a small conical structure
called the ki-si, which was temporarily erected for
that purpose. The material used in the construc-
tion of the ki-si was cottonwood boughs covered,
with leaves, which had been brought to the alcove
between the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva and the sacred
rock during the morning. The poles which sup-
ported it were about fifteen feet long, driven into
the ground at one end, and tied together with
straps above in a conical form. The boughs were
so arranged as to leave an opening facing the
south, which was closed by a wagon cover. In
front of this entrance a thick plank, in which was a hole representing
the si-pa-pUy was set in the ground. The ki-si was erected at three
p. M., but the plank was put in place without ceremonies some time
earlier in the day.
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72 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
At a little after 5 p. m. the Antelopes came out of the Mon'-kiva in
the following order, and stood in line facing the Snake kiva : Na-hai-
pii-ma, Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, H4-ha-we, Kw^-a, Se-kwa-wec'-te-wa,
Ma-si-um'-ti-wa, Hon'yi, T^-wa, Ki-tci, In'-ti-wa, and five boys.
These sixteen Antelopes stood in a line facing south, and as each
took his place he stepped upon the roof of the Snake kiva and cast a
little meal into the hatch of the room where the Snake priests were
assembled preparing for the dance. After this ceremony they silently,
with solemn faces and slow step, marched through the alcove and fol-
lowing the sinistral ceremonial circuit described a long ellipse with its
diameter extending east and west from the rock to the east end of the
plaza. They encircled the plaza four times, and as they passed in
front of the ki-si each priest stamped with all the force of his right
foot upon the plank in front of it. After the fourth circuit they
formed a platoon on each side of the ki-si^ the head of the line going
to the west, and the novices with the whizzer bearer to the east of the
bower, all facing the south. They then began a slow movement of
their rattles, accompanied with a weird and characteristic song.
The line of Snake priests headed by Kc^pe-li, responding to their in-
vitation, now rushed in, and, passing to the south of the sacred rock,
made the sinistral circuit of the plaza four times in a long ellipse ex-
tending from the Snake rock to the Al-kiva. As each of the thirty-
eight Snake priests passed in front of the ki-si he also stamped violently
on the plank, at the same time dropping a pinch of prayer-meal upon
it. They formed a platoon facing the Antelopes, with K<J-pe-li on the
extreme west end, nearly opposite Wi-ki.
When the Snake priests had taken their positions opposite the Ante-
lopes, the latter, accompanying the music with the rattles, sang a low
melody, slightly swaying their bodies from side to side. The song
then rose louder and louder, and both priesthoods moved their bodies
in unison without breaking their lines. The song continued to increase
in volume, and became more stirring as both platoons moved a step
forward and back.
This movement continued for a few mmutes, and at the same time
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 73
Na-hai-pii-ma walked down between the two lines in a stately man-
ner and halted before the ki-sij holding an ear of corn, a n&kwi-pij
and an aspergill in his hands. Upon his head he wore a garland of
Cottonwood leaves, and his body was painted lavender. His loins
were girt with a white blanket kilt, similar to that of the Antelopes,
with whose paraphernalia the rest of his dress corresponded.
Na-hai-pii-ma ^ called out his invocation to the four directions in a
low voice, at the same time asperging upon the ki-ai and to the differ-
ent world quarters. The words which he uttered will be given in the
account of a similar ceremony on the following day, and as he said
them no sound was heard save that of the Antelope rattles. The
asperger returned to the head of the platoon and the song began again,
accompanied by the swaying movement of the dancers. As the melody
increased in volume from a low hum the asperger again marched be-
tween the two lines to the front of the M-^i, and as he stood there he
again called or chanted in a low voice. The Antelopes continued the
low humming song, and both Antelope and Snake priests swayed back
and forth in a monotonous but rhythmic way. Four times Na-hai-
pii-ma visited the ki-siy and as many times he called to the world quar-
ter deities. H^-ha-we crossed from his position in the line of the
Antelopes near Na-syun'-we-ve to a corresponding position in the line
of Snake priests, and Kw^-a and a Snake priest, putting arms about
each other's necks, slowly marched between the platoons to the ki-si
entrance. The Antelope leaned over and took from the ki-ai corn-
stalks and vines, which he placed in his mouth, and the pair together
moved up and down between the platoons of singing, swaying Ante-
lope and Snake priests. They returned with their burden to the M-si
entrance and Kwa-wa replaced the corn and vines.
The Snake priest, handing his snake-whip to Kw^-a, placed the corn
and vines in his mouth, and the pair, with arms about each other's neck,
slowly ambled between the two platoons of Snake and Antelope priests.
* For some reason Tcf-no, who had taken by a man who had to be repeatedly
performed this ceremony in former years, prompted,
did not officiate, and the part was poorly
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74 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
As they did this the Antelope and Snake priests stepped forward and
backward one step^ keeping time to a slow, almost inaudible humming
song. Four pairs of Snake and Antelope priests in turn carried the
cornstalks and vines in this way, and the Snake priest always passed
his whip to the Antelope before he took the corn in his mouth. A
Snake priest with whip erect and left arm about Kw^-a's neck now
marched twice, with a slow, halting step, up and down between the
swaying platoons of Antelope and Snake men, the former singing and
using their rattles, the latter beating time with their snake-whips.
When they had returned to their position, the line of Snake priests
led by K6-pe-li filed around the sacred rock with a quick step, once
more made the long oval circuit of the plaza in a sinistral direction,
and as they passed the ki-si entrance stamped violently upon the plank
in front of it. When they passed the asperger, he sprinkled the charm
liquid on each of them.
The Antelopes more deliberately filed around a small circle which
did not include the sacred rock, and as they passed the ki-si each one
stamped upon the plank. They, too, were sprinkled by Na-hai-pii-ma
as they left the plaza.
Both societies returned to their respective kivas, and shortly after,
having divested themselves of their paraphernalia, one by one went to
their houses to procure food, which they carried into the kiva, where
singly or in squads they ate their suppers.
NINTH DAY (tI-K^-VE-NI, DANCE DAY).
The public ceremonials of this day have been fairly well described
by other observers, but several secret rites took place in the kivas
which are here published for the first time.
THE SNAKE RACE.
All that is known of the beginning of this race is that K^-kap-ti
went to Wi-po before daybreak, possibly to start the runners. Mr.
Owens witnessed the finish at the foothills to the north of Wal'-pi, and
his observations were practically as follows : At early dawn Hon'-yi
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 75
repaired to the terminal goal to meet the racers. In preparation for
their arrival he outlined in meal four (y-nfrtow-uh cloud figures across
the trail and the same distance apart. Each of these symbols had
three semicircular clouds connected by a straight line about four feet
long; which was placed at right angles to the trail. Parallel lines rep-
resenting falling rain were added^ pointing in the direction from which
the racers were to approach. These symbols were given the names of
the four cardinal points, and their corresponding colors, yellow, blue,
red, and white, were mentioned in connection with them. Two no-
kwarkwO'ci{8)y with feathers extended in the line of advance of the
runners and with strings parallel and reaching to the middle of the
east cloud, were likewise laid on the trail. In the neighboring shrine,
Hon'-yi deposited three green pd'ho{8) that had been made in the
Moii'-kiva the day before. Hon'-yi, with the gne-Wk-pi (crook) in his
right hand and a tray in his left, stood by the figures of the (y-mow-Hh
which he had drawn in meal, facing the direction of the approaching
runners. His cheeks, body, arms, and legs were whitened with kaolin,
and he wore a white kilt with a knotted sash. When the racers ap-
peared in sight he shouted to them, and as they drew near he remained
stationary, holding the crook in his right hand.
As the contestants, of whom there were about forty, passed Hon'-yi,
each one touched the crook with the palm of his hand, and sped on his
way up the mesa. Hoii^-ye anxiously waited until he was sure all had
passed, and then he too ran up the precipitous mesa trail, following
the racers. Between Hoii'-yi's position and the foot of the mesa stood
a number of girls and boys with cornstalks in their hands, who also
turned and hurried up the mesa sides. The bodies of many of the
contestants in the race were painted, and some of them wore flowers in
their hair, but none as far as could be seen carried parho{8).
Hon'-yi made his way to the Mon'-kiva, and entering gave the crook
to Wi-ki, but the racers passed over the roof of the kiva just at sun-
rise, about the close of the dramatization and sixteen songs ceremony.
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76
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY.
This morning at 3.30 the same girl who had taken the part of the
Tcu-a-md-^a on the preceding day entered the Moii'-kiva. At that time
several of the priests were asleep in the room, but a rap on the roof
roused H^-ha-we and some of the others. As soon as the girl entered,
Position of the Celebrants of the Dramatization Ceremony.^
' 1. Wl-ki.
2. Kd-pe-li.
3. TcU-a-mi-na.
4. Snake Boy.
5. Wi-kyatM-wa.
6. Na-syun'-we-ve.
7. Ewi-a.
8. Antelope.
9. Ei-kap-ti's brother.
10. Antelope.
11. Ma-si-um'-ti-wa.
12. Woman.
13. GirL
14. Antelope.
15. Ki-tci.
16. Snake priest.
17. Td-wa.
18. Snake priest
19. H^harwe.
20. Snake priest
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 77
Wi-ki began to paint her feet and the back of her hands with com smut
mixed with honey and liquid from the nd-kwi-pi. He placed on her
a white blanket with feathers at the back, and tied a white feather
from the altar to her hair, which he combed and fastened behind. He
then painted her chin black, and arranged a sec-
ond blanket over her shoulders, above the first,
and sent her to the west comer of the kiva.
While this went on, H^-ha-we, in response to a
call on the roof, took two of the clay balls ^ cov-
ered with meal which had been prepared by the
girl, and a number of little sticks of which I
have spoken, rolled them up in a blanket or cloth,
added a pd-hoy and carried them to a man who
waited^outside. Before passing the bundle into
the hands of the latter, he sprinkled meal upon
it. As soon as the man outside received his
charge he hurried away.
Then the lad who was to personify the Snake
Hero entered the room. He was somewhat dif-
ferently dressed from the day before by Wi-ki,
and this difference was appropriate, since he now
represented the husband of the Tcu-a-mdrnay
or Snake virgin. To-day he wore the Snake kilt
with the figure of the feathered serpent, while yesterday he was clothed
Decorations of the Body, Arm,
and Leg of the Snake Boy.
^ These clay balls, to which reference
is likewise made in my account of the
Flute celebration, are patted into shape
by the hands, and then sprinkled with
sacred meal. The little sticks are cov-
ered with some sticky substance, possibly
honey, and likewise have meal sifted over
them. In the presentation of the Snake
Dance in 1893 these balls were twenty-
one in number, and were made by the
same girl who personified the TcU-Or^md'
na. They were about the size of an or-
dinary baseball, and when made were
carefully laid on a flat basket. Ed-kap-
ti's brother cut up the little sticks, and
gathered them in a blanket. They were
then placed in a food basin with what re-
sembled mud. The md-na received her
instructions from Ed-kap-ti, whom, it may
be noted, is the courier who deposited the
prayer-sticks in the shrines.
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78 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
in the ordinary ceremonial blanket. His facial and bodily decorations
were the white zigzag lines described in my account of the Snake
priests.
Several Snake priests went to their fields this morning and brought
in any snakes which they happened to find, and some of the others
went to the Mon -kiva to celebrate the sixteen songs ceremony. As
K^-kap-ti had not returned, K^-tci took his place at the south gate of
the altar during the dramatization.
The priests then grouped themselves about the pon'-ya, the Ante-
lopes, except K^-tci, on the north side, the Snakes on the south. By
K^-tci's right there sat a man (novice) with an ear of corn in his hand,
and K^-tci himself had an ear of corn tied to a stick. H^-ha-we first
lit the pipe, and handing it to Wi-ki, the ceremonial smoke followed,
similar in details to that which has already been described. Wi-ki
gave the pat'-ne to the Tcu-a-ma^ia^ and said a few words as if in
prayer. Kc^pe-li then passed his ti-po-ni to the Snake youth, who
held it across his left arm, and likewise gave him a live snake, which
the boy held by the neck. The Snake chief then prayed, and Hon'-yi
went out with a tray of meal and a crook, and all the novices followed,
each with his ear of com. The latter hastened to the shrine between
Wal'-pi and Si-tcom'-o-vi, where they deposited breath feathers, and
returned to the room shortly after. In visiting this shrine they went
and returned on the run.
Hon'-yi hurried to the foot of the mesa to take his stand at the ter-
minus of the race-course as described.
All the Snake men to-day wore their Snake kilts, and had other
characteristic decorations. They kept time with their snake-whips,
which were held vertically, but did not themselves join in the chorus.
The boy personifying the Snake Hero and the girl representing the
Snake Woman stood, but all others squatted on the floor.
The songs and ceremonies about the altar were much the same as
those we have described for the day before, but differed in one or two
particulars.^ On this day there were more people in the kiva than on
^ The encircling runs were not made by Kd-kap-ti.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
79
any since the ceremony began. At the close, after the pipe had been
passed ceremonially among the chiefs, both Wi-ki and K6-pe-li stood,
each holding his ti-po-ni in his hand.
The Antelope chief first prayed, followed by the Snake chief, bowing
their heads as they did so. Both then together waved their <i-^o-ni(s)
four times, and Ko-pe-li sprinkled meal upon the altar. Wi-ki placed
Snake Kilt.i
^ The dance kilt of the Snake priests
was made of coarse cloth, sixteen inches
broad and forty inches in length. It
was stained a brownish red with cu^a^
and along the lower rim there hang by
buckskin thongs pendents of two sizes
made of small triangular metal plates bent
together in a conical shape. The name
ce^6rmao-e has been given me as the
name of one of them. The smaller kind
were said to have been obtained from the
Ute Indians, and are called sS4a-la. Sim-
ilar pendents are found among the no-
madic tribes.
The middle of the kilt was occupied by
a zigzag band representing Pd4il4Urkofl' ,
the great plumed snake, which has four
zigzags on its body. The middle of this
band was black, with a white border on
each side. Upon the black interior there
were depicted arrow-shaped decorations al-
ternating with four sets of double parallel
markings. The former are called pa^i-
kUrkil, footprints of the duck ; the latter
frog (pak'-wa) footprints. Between the
zigzag zone and the upper and lower bor-
der of the kilt were two sets of parallel
bands representing the rainbows. The
lower set had three black bands, the mid-
dle of which was broken at intervals by
five white marks. On either side the mid-
dle black line was separated from that
above by a yellow band, and from that
below by a blue (green) band, both of
about the same breadth as the black. The
upper rainbow was similar to the lower.
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80 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
his ti-po^i horizontally on the altar, which signified that the ceremony
was over. K<J-pe-li wrapped up his badge of office in a blanket. Two
mothers came in with their babies on their backs, carrying cornstalks.
The pipe-lighter then passed the pipe, and several other persons, among
them a small boy decorated with brilliant plumes, entered. Hon'-yi
brought a crook to which was tied a string with an attached feather,
and handed it to the Antelope priest, who passed it to a Snake priest.
Many Snake men now came in and seated themselves on the south
side of the chamber. Wi-ki then put some ashes on a feather, which
he moved up and down in a solemn way, saying a prayer in a low tone.
He waved this over the heads of the people, and threw the ashes out
of the entrance to the room. He did this four times, after which he
touched the head of each novice with the feather, saying a prayer at
the same time. He waved the feather once more over the heads of all,
repeating a prayer as before, and gave each boy and his mother a
piece of dried root, which they put in their mouths. Having done
this he passed a bundle of dried roots to a neighboring priest, who
nibbled a piece and passed the root to his neighbor, until every one had
helped himself to a bite. Each woman and child rose in turn, sprinkled
the altar with meal, and, passing south of the fireplace, mounted the
ladder. The Snake chief then left the room with the boy who per-
sonified the Snake Hero.
The Antelope priest meanwhile took off the garments of the Snake
girl and folded them in a blanket. The Snake chief proceeded to his
kiva with the boy, and there took off his apparel. Those who remained
in the Snake room during the dramatization, after the return of their
fellow-priests who had followed K<5-pe-li from the Antelope kiva, took
positions about the fireplace, and a pipe was passed and smoked in
silence as Sii-pe-la washed the black smut from the feet, arms, and legs
of the Snake boy. The Snake priests one by one smoked long, full
puffs from their pipe, which had been brought from the Antelope
kiva.
From the close of this smoke until the ceremony of washing the
snakes began, the occupants of the kiva were employed in painting
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 81
their kilts^ making new moccasins^ and in doing various other things in
preparation for the dance, going to other kivas for these purposes,
but all the members of the fraternity returned to their kiva when the
mystic ceremony of snake baptism was performed.
Directly after the close of the dramatization the Antelope novices
were sent to different houses in the village to have their heads washed.
Each novice was given an ear of corn, called his mother, to which was
tied a stick with four feathers at equal intervals. An account of Mr.
Owens's initiation gives a good idea of that of the other novices this
morning.
When a person wishes to join the Antelope Society, it is customary
to choose a father from among the members, and to designate him in
the presence of the others by placing some prayer-meal in his hand.
A few days before, Mr. Owens had performed this preliminary act by
handing H^-ha-we such an offering, who sprinkled it upon the altar.
Every morning at sunrise he deposited a na-kworkwo-d in the shrine
between WaF-pi and Si-tcom'-o-vi, and on his visit to it he carried his
ear of corn, or mother, which was placed by the side of the altar on
his return.
On this morning his head was washed by a woman of H^-ha-we's
family in her house, with water and amole or soap-weed, and his face
covered with prayer-meal. A name was given to him by one of the
members of the household, and a red-stained na-kwd-kwo-ci was tied
to his scalp-lock. This he wore until the close of the Snake-Antelope
ceremonials.
During Friday none of the Snake priests ate anything until the
close of the day, a fact which they frequently reiterated to us. The
reptiles were free at that time, and but little attention was paid to
them.
WASHING THE SNAKES.
The ceremony of washing the snakes, which took place at noon
on the day of the public dance, have, as far as I know, never been
witnessed by white men, and certainly have never been described. En-
trance to the kiva in 1891 was refused to all except myself, but up
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82 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
to the last moment^ before the ceremony began^ there was considerable
doubt whether I could remain^ and although a previous agreement had
been made with the chiefs that I alone should be permitted to witness
the ceremony, several of the more conservative were inclined to refuse
me permission at the very moment when the cryptic celebration was
about to begin.* A happy circumstance made it possible for me to
witness the ceremony, and gave Mr. Owens also an opportunity to do
the same. It was agreed that Mr. Owens should stand on the ladder
at the entrance to the kiva and keep all others away, and that I should
remain in the room. From his elevated position Mr. Owens had a fair
view of this interesting event, and his observations are embodied with
my own.
At one o'clock in the afternoon a large earthen vessel similar to a
food basin was brought to the kiva by Su-pe-la. This bowl was of
yellow ware without ornament on the outside, but decorated within,
especially near the rim, with festoon-like markings and star-like figures
alternating with each other. A groove on the outside, slightly sepa-
rated from the rim, surrounded the bowl. The name a-as'-kap-ta was
given for this vessel, but the name is not confined to it, as any bowl
used for bathing the head has a similar designation.
Sii-pe-la first spread common brown sand on the floor in the space
between the fireplace and the north wall, forming a slight mound situ-
ated about midway between the two, but nearer the fireplace. K<i-pe-li
then brought his rattles and a tray of meal from the altar, and laid them
down on the north side of the sand. Meanwhile, the leading Snake
priests gathered about the bowl, and seated themselves in an irregular
crescent, reaching from between the sand and the fireplace around the
east side of the sand, and along the north wall of the room. The
space between the Snake pon'-ya and the altar was unoccupied, but
the whole of the south floor of the kiva was also crowded with Snake
men, who squatted facing the chiefs. Three men stood at the east
^ This ceremony was observed a second and myself were allowed to witness the
time in 1893. These difficulties were not washing of the snakes,
encountered in 1893, when Mr. Stephen
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 83
end of the room^ near the four jars in which the snakes were confined.
Every Snake man was naked and had rubbed himself with spittle and
iron oxide {c6rta\ and wore a red feather in his hair. No word above
a whisper was spoken in that solemn conclave, and it was evident that
the most awful ceremony in the whole series was about to begin. At
the very last moment I was again warned to leave, and told that I
would swell up and burst, or that other direful troubles would come
to me, as a consequence of beholding rites which no one not a priest
had ever witnessed.
At one o'clock Sii-pe-la solemnly poured a liquid into the bowl from
a water jar, holding it as he did so to the four cardinal points on the
four corresponding sides of the bowl. In doing this he followed the
ceremonial circuit, beginning with the north side of the bowl and end-
ing with two passes representing the above and the below. He ^ then
drew with meal upon the mound of brown sand a rectangle with a
series of three clouds on each side, the semicircles curving inward and
parallel rain lines around the outside. This was done very hastily,
and so poorly that one could not have told whether cloud lines were in-
tended or not, if he had not been assured that such was the case. One
of the snake bandoleers was then made into a rude coil and placed on
the sand within the rectangle
of cloud sjrmbols, and upon
it was deposited the bowl al-
ready mentioned, which was
about half full of liquid. An-
other bandoleer was tied to
the ladder by another priest
while this was being done.
The following chiefs were
seated at the north and east bowi used in washing the snakei.
of the bowl, in the order
named: Si-kya-wis'-ti-wa, Su-pe-la, K(^pe-li, Les'-ma, Mc^me, and
Kiitc'-ve. K<J-pe-li sat exactly north of the bowl, and a pipe-lighter
squatted on the opposite side facing him.
* In 1893 this was done by K6-pe-li.
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84 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
The pipe-lighter lit an old Snake pipe ornamented with the cloud
symbols and passed it to K6-pe-li; who pufPed smoke into the liquid.
After a short smoke the chief handed the pipe ceremonially to Les'-ma,
who sat at his right, and he followed, performing the same acts in
smoking as the Snake chief. As this was done, all the other Snake
men sat in silence, the majority, except the chiefs, holding their whips
upright. The pipe-lighter lit a second pipe and passed it directly to
Su-pe-la, and the ceremonial smoke lasted several minutes, being par-
ticipated in by all those about the bowl. I was unable to keep track
of the course of the pipes in their ceremonial rounds; but Su-pe-la
passed his pipe to Ko-pe-li, who returned it to the pipe-lighter. At
the close of the ceremonial smoke, Ko-pe-li held a handful of meal to
his mouth, prayed upon it, and scattered it in the liquid, an act which
was immediately followed by Sii-pe-la. The latter at the same time
dipped his fingers in the mixture in the bowl, and I have the impres-
sion that others did the same ; but just then the Snake priests, who
stood by the snake jars which were in the east corner of the room,
began to take out the reptiles, and stood holding several of them in
their hands behind Sii-pe-la, so that my attention was distracted by
them. Su-pe-la then prayed, and after a short interval two rattlesnakes
were handed him, after which other venomous snakes were passed to
the others, and each of the six priests who sat around the bowl held
two rattlesnakes by the necks with their heads elevated above the bowl.
A low noise from the rattles * of the priests, which shortly after was
accompanied by a melodious hum by all present, then began. The
priests who held the snakes beat time up and down above the liquid
with the reptiles, which, although not vicious, wound their bodies around
the arms of the holders. The song went on and frequently changed,
growing louder and wilder, until it burst forth into a fierce, blood-
curdling yell, or war-cry. At this moment the heads of the snakes
were thrust several times into the liquid, so that even parts of their
bodies were submerged, and were then drawn out, not having left
the hands of the priests, and forcibly thrown across the room upon
^ Two rattles were used.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 85
the sand mosaic^ knocking down the crooks and other objects placed
about it. As they fell on the sand picture three Snake priests stood
in readiness, and while the reptiles squirmed about or coiled for de-
fense, these men with their snake-whips brushed them back and forth
in the sand of the altar. The excitement which accompanied this cer-
emony cannot be adequately described. The low song, breaking into
piercing shrieks, the red-stained singers, the snakes thrown by the
chiefs, and the fierce attitudes of the reptiles as they landed on the
sand mosaic, made it next to impossible to sit calmly down and quietly
note the events which followed one after another in quick succession.
The sight haunted me for weeks afterwards, and I can never forget
this wildest of all the aboriginal rites of this strange people, which
showed no element of our present civilization. It was a performance
which might have been expected in the heart of Africa rather than in
the American Union, and certainly one could not realize that he was
in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. The low
weird song continued while other rattlesnakes were taken in the hands
of the priests, and as the song rose again to the wild war-cry, these
snakes were also plunged into the liquid and thrown upon the writhing
mass which now occupied the place of the altar. Again and again
this was repeated until all the snakes had been treated in the same
way, and reptiles, fetishes, crooks, and sand were mixed together in one
confused mass. As the excitement subsided and the snakes crawled
to the corners of the kiva, seeking vainly for protection, they were
again pushed back in the mass, and brushed together in the sand in
order that their bodies might be thoroughly dried. Every snake in the
collection was thus washed, the harmless varieties being bathed after
the venomous. In the destruction of the altar by the reptiles the snake
tvj)0-ni stood upright until all had been washed, and then one of the
priests turned it on its side, as a sign that the observance had ended.
The low, weird song of the Snake men continued, and gradually died
away until there was no sound but the warning rattle of the snakes
mingled with that of the rattles in the hands of the chiefs, and finally
the motion of the snake-whips ceased, and all was silent.
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86 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
But the ceremony was not wholly finished^ although the snakes had
been thrown into "their home," the sand picture, and thoroughly
dried by the sand. Sii-pe-la sprinkled sacred meal in the liquid in
which the snakes had been bathed and threw a pinch of the same to
each of the six cardinal points. He then prayed, and as he did so
all the assembled priests responded, while those who had handled the
snakes washed their hands in the liquid, and rubbed it on their breasts
and other parts of their bodies. K(5-pe-li also prayed fervently, and
sprinkled meal in the liquid, followed by some of the remaining
Snake priests.
The pipe-lighter then lit the ceremonial pipe, and passed it to Ko-
pe-li, who smoked in silence, puffing first into the liquid and then to the
cardinal points. All the other chiefs did the same, as their turn came,
and conversation of a secular nature, but in a whisper, indicated that
the ceremonial had ended. The pipe-lighter repeatedly lighted the pipe,
and passed it to the chiefs, while many of the other priests smoked cigar-
ettes or turned to their work of repairing dance paraphernalia. Su-pe-la
took the bowl of liquid from its position, raised the bandoleer, and
tied it to the right-hand upright of the ladder. He carefully gathered
all the sand upon which the bowl had rested, and that from the path-
way over which the snakes had been thrown, placed it in the liquid,
and carried the bowl with its contents across the plaza through the
western arcade. Following the path to the end of the mesa beyond
the point where the trail descends, he halted a moment, and threw a
pinch of meal to the north. He then threw some of the liquid to each
cardinal point in the sinistral ceremonial circuit, and having done this,
he poured the sand over the west side of the cliff, washing out the bowl
in which it was contained. He descended the first terrace and carried
it to a recess' in the north side of the mesa where the snake jars are
kept. Meanwhile the four snake jars had been brought from the kiva
to the same place, and side by side three (one falling and breaking)
were deposited with the bowl in the cave. The ceremony of washing
the snakes lasted a half hour, and K(5-pe-li went out after its termi-
nation, carrying the rattles with him, but returned later with empty
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 87
hands. The decoration of the dance paraphernalia continued until the
time for the dance.^
PUBLIC CEREMONY OF THE SNAKE DANCE.
A description of the public part of the Snake Dance^ during which
the snakes were carried by the dancers in the presence of spectators^
has been repeatedly described,^ and naturally was the most striking
part of this weird nine days' ceremonial. This exhibition may be re-
garded as the culmination of the long series of observances, which have
thus far been performed in secret. To it the Hopi gladly welcomed
all visitors, and many persons, Indians and white men, from motives of
sentiment or curiosity, attended. The roofs of the houses around the
plaza, where it took place, were crowded with Navajos, natives of the
adjoining villages, Americans from the towns along the railroad, and
most of the people of Wal'-pi. There were, therefore, many witnesses
who could testify that the account here given is not overdrawn.
There is an unwritten law, governed by tradition, that the Snake
Dance must occur as the sun goes down, and it was therefore performed
late ill the afternoon. As the plaza is situated on the south side of the
village, over which the shadows of the buildings fall at that time, it
was impossible to get a good photograph of the observance, and on
account of the excitement which prevailed it was difficult to observe
all the episodes of this weird celebration.
The greater part of the afternoon before the dance was passed by
both Snake and Antelope priests in their respective kivas painting their
paraphernalia and dressing for the coming event. The stifling heat and
impure air in these chambers rendered it next to impossible for white
observers to remain in them longer than a few moments at a time.
^ It is castomary f or the Snake priests soles of their moccasins, that it may moisten
to mannfactore new moccasins and to re- before their retom. All or nearly all the
paint their kilts on each biennial occar- dance paraphernalia are repainted or reno-
rence of the Snake Dance, and it is no yated before the dance,
uncommon sight to see the Snake priests, ^ See bibliography at the close of this
when they go oat on the honts, bory a article,
piece of leather, of which they make the
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88
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Ki-si.i
Naturally the stench was not as bad in the kiva of the Antelopes as in
that of the Snake priests, but there is no good evidence that the foul-
ness of the latter was due to exhalations from the reptiles.
The Antelopes, led by Wi-ki,^ emerged from their kiva in full ap-
^ This cat represents the ki-si used in
the Flute Ceremony at Ci-pad-lo-vi, which
has two cubical stones at the base. These
are absent in the kisi of the Wal'-pi
Snake Dance, but as the ki-si(s) are simi-
lar, I have not made a new cut for my de-
scription of the Wal'-pi observance.
* Wl-ki's body was stained with corn
smut, upon which were imprinted with a
corn-cob white zigzag lines on the same
parts of the body and limbs as has been
described in our account of the Snake boy.
On each shoulder, reaching to the nipple,
a long O'-mouydh symbol was depicted,
and two parallel lines were drawn on
each breast reaching down to the girdle,
which was adorned with white paint the
width of three fingers. There were zigzag
white lines down the legs, and two garters
of new yarn upon the legs. Before he
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Chief of the Antelope Priests.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
89
parel at about six o'clock^ and formed a line in front of the Snake kiva,
facing it. As each Antelope took his place he first stepped to the
entrance of the Snake kiva and cast a pinch of meal into the hatch-
way and then took his place in line, after -which they marched slowly
through the arcade to the dance place, around which they filed with
a slow, measured step.
The older priests, with Wi-ki at one end of the line, formed a pla-
toon on the west side of the ki-si, and the novices, accompanied by
T^-wa, who carried the whizzer and the d-wa'ta-na-tciy on the east.
Wi-ki bore his ti-po-ni on one arm, and every Antelope carried his
rattle and a crook from the altar.
The order of seniority among the older men of this society was the
same as on the previous day, but the asperger accompanied the Snake
priests. They made the sinistral circuit of the plaza four times, pass-
ing the ki'si on their right hand, and as they did so dropped a pinch
of meal upon the si-^porpu and stamped with all their might on the
board. After having finished these circuits, they arranged themselves
put on his necklaces he placed them before
the altar for good influence, and most of
the other Antelopes did the same, while
some sprinkled them with sacred meal.
Na-syuii'-we-ve was decorated like the
other Antelopes, and, unlike Wf-ki, had
armlets of cottonwood hark, with the inner
surface turned outside. Between these and
the arm were placed cottonwood twigs.
The armlets were about an inch broad, and
were tied by a deerskin thong. He car-
ried a gne-lU'k-pi in his left hand, a rattle
in his right.
H^ha-we was appareled like the other
Antelopes, but had bright colored paroquet
plumes in his hair. Above his knees his
legs were decorated with two parallel
bars of white, and his forearms and hands
were white. There were also parallel
stripes on his upper arm and an oval white
patch on each shoulder, with a splash of
white on each thigh. His feet were bare,
and he wore a white kilt, with a girdle of
the same color.
Kw^a was clothed like Hd-ha-we, and
had similar paroquet plumes, and was
barefoot, but Ed-kap-ti wore black mocca-
sins. No red (cd4a) breath feathers were
worn by the Antelopes in the final Snake
Dance. Ed-tci took a most important part
throughout, and in 1891 personified a war-
rior and carried a whizzer, a bow and
quiver over his shoulder, and a buckskin.
He also carried the standard with the red
horsehair, or the d^wa-tarn{i-tci» Each
breast, and likewise the thighs and calves
of his legs, were smeared with white
clay. Td-wa took this part in 1893. All
the Antelopes wore white kilts {kwatd"
kyorhO) like that figured on p. 66.
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90 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
in a platoon, broken midway by the cottonwood bower, as the day
before. The entrance of the Snake priests was in marked contrast to
Wristlet of Antelopes.
the stately appearance of the Ante-
lopes. A low hum of admiration from
the assembled spectators, who crowded
Bvery available foot of standing room
on the house-tops, greeted the appear-
ance of K(i-pe-li and his line of fol-
lowers, who then rushed through the
arcade. It was a sight never to be for-
gotten when these warriors, with faces
and bodies smeared with pigments and
heads covered with bright red feathers,
emerged from behind the rock, and four
times strode around the plaza. What-
ever wealth of ornament they possessed,
— shell necklaces, colored ribbons, rare
Embroidered Cloth attached to the Belt of fcathcrS, Or shclls, thcy had huUg
the Antelope*. .1 •T_i» p ii • 1 • j*
upon theu' bodies tor this culmmating
exhibition. Red oxide of iron tinged all their paraphernalia, and their
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 91
faces were given a hideous expression by the glistening specular iron
on the cheeks, and the kaolin on the chin. The Snake chief led, carry-
ing on his left arm the badge of his office, the sacred ti-^ycMii of semi-
mythic origin, and in his left hand the brilliant d-wa-ta-na'tci. In his
right hand he held a meal bag and a snake-whip. The newly painted
kilt with the zigzag figure of the great plume-headed serpent across
The Snake Chief taking down the A-wa-ta-na-tci.
it, and the dependent foxskin in the rear, decorated his loins, and he
wore his medicine cord and leg rattles. His feet were shod in red
moccasins, and the ankles girt by a fringed band of buckskin of the
same color. Arm bands and most barbaric necklaces made of mussel
and other shells completed his paraphernalia, which was duplicated for
the most part in that of all the other Snake priests.^ Les'-ma, how-
^ The Snake priests wore their characteristic kilts, and had white pigment on each
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92 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
ever, was conspicuous among his associates because he wore the neck-
lace of bear and porcupine claws.
Without delay the warriors formed a platoon facing the Antelope
chorus, which then began a low humming song, and while they sang the
two platoons swayed their bodies laterally as already described. Each
Snake man interlocked fingers with his neighbor and advanced one step
forward, resting the weight of the body on the ball of the foot. He
then swung the other leg backward, and, poising himself on the toes
of the right foot, lifted the other from the ground, after which he
brought it back to its former position. At one time every Snake man
inclined his body, now to one side, then to the other, and, as he did
so, pointed his snake-whip toward the earth, and moved it tremulously
back and forth in unison with the song and rattles. Unlike the Ka-
tci-na dances, there was no thumping motion of one foot upon the
ground in the public exercises of the Snake- Antelope observance.
The strange, weird melody, accompanied by the sound of the rattles,
continued for some time. At the proper moment the asperger * with
stately tread walked between the lines to the ki-si entrance, and called in
a loud voice the archaic words, Tca-ma-hi-yej a-wa-hi-ye, yo-ma-hi-yey
tci-ma-hai-ye, sprinkling the charm liquid as he did so to the four
cardinal points. Six (?) successive times he repeated this episode,
each time returning to his place near Wi-ki. The songs of this cere-
monial closed with a low hum, prolonged by the sound of the rattles
cheek, two parallel marks on the breast, side. His hair fell down on his back, and
two on the back, and a daub on each arm a white feather was tied to his scalp-lock,
and leg. The taU-f eathers of Cooper's A wreath of cottonwood leaves surrounded
hawk hung on the head of each Snake his head, and many strings of shell beads
man, besides the red stained breath fea- and turquoises hung about his neck. In-
ther on the crown of his head. stead of leather armlets his arms and
Na-haf-pU-ma*s chin was painted black wrists were girt with bark annulets by
with black shale, and his body was rubbed which cottonwood twigs were confined,
with moistened clay of a bluish color. Anklets of the same material were worn,
He wore a white embroidered dance kilt, and his feet were bare. He carried the
held in place by a white girdle with long bowl, filled with liquid to the brim, in his
pendent knotted cords, which hung on one left hand, and in his right an aspergilL
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 93
preparatory to the culmination of the sensational part of the observ-
ance.
In the performance of so many uncanny rites, it is hard to say
which was the most remarkable, but that which followed was certainly
the most sensational. The Snake priests in their kiva had handled the
venomous reptiles with abandon, but now began a scene unparalleled
in any of the rites of these primitive people. The snakes, which up to
this time had been left in the ki-si, were now to be publicly brought out
and carried about the plaza. The Snake priests divided into groups of
three each, called respectively the carrier, hugger, and gatherer, accord-
ing to their different functions. These trios gathered in line near the
entrance to the H-si, and the carrier knelt down in front of it, extend-
ing his hand inside while the hugger lifted the carrier's foxskin and
stroked its back with his whip. As the carrier rose he held a venom-
ous snake. Without hesitation he dropped his p&ho and placed the
writhing animal in his mouth, grasping its neck with his teeth or lips.
He closed his eyes, and the hugger placed his left arm about the car*
rier's neck. The reptile was so held that its head pointed towards the
right, and the hugger brushed his whip before the serpent's mouth to
shield the carrier's face. Both men then started to make the circuit of
the plaza in a sinistral direction, closely followed by the gatherer, who
picked up the snake if it were dropped. A second trio followed the
example of the first, and soon the plaza was filled with priests engaged
in this way. It was the intention of the participants to carry the
snakes around the whole circuit, but several fell by the way, and thus
arose a series of exciting episodes. Here a rattlesnake, dropped on the
rocky plaza, coiled to strike its carrier, but was quickly picked up by
a more experienced priest ; there a swift-moving house snake made its
way from its captors among a number of spectators standing on the
edge of the mesa.
As the trio passed the rock in their circuit with the snake, the car-
rier was sprinkled with sacred meal by a row of women who stood in
line at that place.^
^ Whatever meal remained in their about the plaza, was thrown on the writh-
trays, after the snakes had all been carried ing mass to be soon mentioned.
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94 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Each Antelope was g^ven a snake to hold as the number of the rep-
tiles taken out of the ki-si increased, and during the entire time they
kept up a song with the accompanying rattle.
r
•
\ /...-^ >
^ ~~^-->
Circuits made by Antelope and Snake Priests on leaving the Plaza.
After all the snakes had been carried, and while they were being held
by the priests, H^-ha-we, followed by Wi-ki, traced a ring of prayer-
meal about twenty feet in diameter on the ground near the sacred rock,
and across it made the six radial lines corresponding to the cardinal
points. A signal was given, and each one threw the snakes he held
Snake Priests after Drinking the Emetic-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 95
into this circle. To the struggling mass Wi-ki said a prayer and the
women cast whatever meal was left in their trays upon it. At a second
signal all the Snake priests rushed to the reptiles^ squirming in a heap
in the circle of meal^ and grasped as many as they could carry in hoth
hands. They rushed through the arcade down the trails to the four
cardinal points, from which the snakes were gathered. There they
dropped their burdens and immediately returned, running up the mesa.
When the snakes had been carried down the mesa to the four car-
dinal points, the priests returned to their kiva, divested themselves of
their dance paraphernalia, and retired to the south side of Wal^-pi,
where women stood waiting for them with great bowls of an emetic.^ _
After drinking this the Snake priests knelt down, some with heads
over the sid^ of the cliff, while the emetic took effect. They rubbed
their bodies with the liquid, and then retired to the kiva, where the
women brought a great abundance of food for the priests who had
fasted during the day, and the hungry men gorged themselves with
food until far into the evening. The Antelopes did not feast in their
kiva at the close of the public Snake Dance, but, after divesting them-
selves of their dance paraphernalia, they dismantled and destroyed
their sand mosaic, and returned to their homes.
DISMANTLING OF THE SAND MOSAIC IN THE MOS'-KIVA.
The destruction of the sand altar of the Antelopes began at eight
p. M., after the public performance of the Snake Dance. Wi-ki and
all the Antelopes took pinches of sand from each of the different col-
ored clouds and from the fouy lightning symbols and carried them to
their fields, after which the remainder of the sand was heaped up in a
pile on the floor. The chief then took the cylinders from the heads
of the two male lightning figures, sprinkled them with pinches of
yellow and red sand, taken from the bodies of the snakes of the two
^ The plant ho-hd^OrfUij which is an which has the carious custom of elevating
important ingredient in the emetic, is its hody as if standing on its head when
Physaria Newbern/u Ho-Tid-ya-iih is the touched, which has given it the suggestive
praying (Jid-mo^a) beetle, Asida rimata^ name of tumblebug or praying beetle.
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96 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
colors^ and placed them by the side of his p6rho in a basket by the
altar. He then sprinkled them with meal. The fate of the annulets
on the heads of the female lightning was not observed.
Wi-ki placed the bark and cottonwood brought by the Ko-ho-ni-no
Indians in the basket, to which he added breath feathers, and later
carried out the basket with its contents.
On the morning of the ninth day four black parho{8)y closely resem-
bling those which had been observed near the sand picture of the An-
telopes on the evening of the eighth day, were observed on the trail
from Wal'-pi to Ta-w^-pa.
The Antelopes, on leaving the plaza, were asperged by Na-hai-
pii-ma as they filed slowly back to their kiva, where they disrobed.
In the weird and exciting events which transpired during the public
celebration of the Snake ceremonial it was next to impossible to care-
fully observe all the minor incidents which occurred, but it is believed
that the preceding account includes the more important.^
DAYS SUBSEQUENT TO THE DANCE.
Although the main celebration of the Snake Dance closed on the
ninth day, there were one or two events intimately connected with
this observance which occurred on subsequent days. The most impor-
tant of these were undoubtedly the purification of the Snake priests
and the nu4-ti'Way and there were other less significant acts of which
I heard, but which I did not witness. The former occurred on the
following morning ; the latter for several days after.
^ The various articles which hiennially ments to make their articles as sensational
appear in newspapers are often sensational, as possihle. Moreover, too often a f er-
and in some instances most fallacious, ac- tile imagination has helped out their im-
counts of this part of the ceremony. If perfect ohservations, and nothing hut a
those who are responsible for such reports garbled, untrustworthy, and positively un-
would confine themselves to facts, they just account could be the result. In some
would find enough that is weird to interest respects the ceremony was disgusting, but
their readers, but as a general thing they there is no reason why it should be made
have spent only a few hours at the mesa, more so by untrue statements such as have
and have relied upon irresponsible state- been too often disseminated.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 97
I was led to believe that there were certain prescribed usages regard-
ing sleeping or eating in the Mon'-kiva for a few days after the cere-
mony, but I could not determine from personal observation what took
place, although repeated visits were made to the kiva to obtain infor-
mation on this point. No purification ceremonials were observed in
this kiva.
TENTH DAY (oV-EK'-NI-WA). PURIFICATION OF THE SNAKE PRIESTS.
The following purification ceremonies took place in the Wi-kwalM-
o-bi kiva on the morning of the day after the Snake Dance. On the
night of the dance all the Snake priests slept in this kiva, and early in
the morning Sii-pe-la brought a food basin containing the same liquid
as had been drank on the previous evening.
K(J-pe-li filled his mouth with the mixture, went to the priests as
they squatted on the floor, and forcibly squirted the liquid from his
mouth upon their breasts, arms, and legs, where the decorations once
were. When each pei-son had been treated in this way, he rubbed his
arms and breast with his hands and then put on his ordinary clothing.
Every one nibbled a root, which was passed around the kiva, and at
a signal seated himself. for the final purification. Each priest took a
pinch of ashes in his hand, and Kd-pe-li laid a little of the same upon
thq midrib of a buzzard wing-feather. The Snake chief then passed
around the room in sinistral circuit, waving the feather over the head
of every occupant, and threw the ashes out of the kiva through the
hatch. As soon as this had transpired, each priest moved his hand
with a circular motion above his head and cast what he held in the
same direction. This final act was regarded as most efficacious in puri-
fication; but it is not peculiar to the Snake observance. When it
had been performed the priests went out to their ordinary occupations.
NU-I-TI-WA.
At intervals during the four days following the Snake Dance small
groups of persons were observed in the three villages on the East Mesa
playing a game which was no doubt connected with the ceremonies
described above.
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98 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
Young men appeared from time to time during these days in the
plaza^ or on the housetops of these towns, holding aloft a jar, a piece
of calico, or any other object of value, as a chaUenge. They were
immediately set upon by women, who chased them from place to place,
endeavoring to seize the jar which they held. The holders of the
objects ran hither and thither through the villages pursued by girls and
women, but never by men, and when at last they were overtaken, they
were forced to give up the prize. Many of the Snake priests partici-
pated in this game, but it was not confined to them.^
MELODIES OF THE SNAKE DANCE.
An attempt was made to get phonographic cylinders of the songs
which were simg by both Antelopes and Snakes during the ceremoni-
als which have been described. An exhaustive report upon this part
of the subject has been prepared by Mr. B. I. Gilman, whose careful
work on Zuni music may justly be characterized as epoch-making. I
do not find it necessary for me here to defend the phonograph as a
method of collecting primitive music, and note with satisfaction that
several well-known ethnologists have adopted it for this purpose since
my experiments were made. While this instrument, in the hands of a
painstaking specialist like Mr. Gilman, is of greatest value in the study
of the character of music and the preservation of the same, it is not
claimed that the method is perfect. A discussion of ways of musical
notation and the introduction of notes unknown to the Indians, in order
to harmonize their music, naturally falls in another place, where Mr.
Gilman has presented arguments in reply to his critics which are well
worth careful consideration. It is well, however, to say something of
the material collected and of the methods followed in collecting it.
The most important of all the cylinders upon which this music is
recorded are those containing the sixteen songs sung by the Antelopes
^ Possibly this game was simply a con- women. The custom of straggling for
ventional diversion, and is in marked con- the food bowls and otlier objects is a
trast with the several days when the counterpart of what occurs in the January
Snake priests could not even speak to the moon.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 99
in the consecration of the prayer offerings. It is probably not far
from the truth to say that these songs give an interesting insight into
the character of Hopi melodies. The last eight of these, which are
called the " come-down-quick songs," vary somewhat from the others
and are more melodious. A single song is recorded on each of these
sixteen cylinders. They were sung to me by Ha-ha-we, who has, I
think, the best voice of any of the singers amoug the Antelopes.
When he gave me the songs, several days after the dance, in the
quiet of my own room, he took off his garments, let down his hair, and
rubbed his body, so that he was in the same condition as far as cloth-
ing went as when the ceremony was going on. He then sang the
songs one by one, and after each song had been recorded, he desired
to hear it. When he had listened to it he was overcome with surprise.
H^-ha-we smoked after each song, and puffed whiffs of smoke upon
the cylinder. When all had been taken and wrapped in paper he spit
upon them, and said, " It is well." As nearly as I could judge, he
sang the songs exactly the same as during the ceremonial. In one or
two of the songs the cylinder was not long enough to record the whole
melody. He would not allow me to stop the machine, and fearing that
I might lose following songs, I threw up the latch and allowed him
to sing a few strains, which were lost. I have no reason to believe,
however, that what I missed introduced any new element in the song,
for it seemed to be simply a repetition.
The song sung in the plaza at the time the snakes were carried in
the mouths of the Snake priests were sung into the instrument by the
Antelope chief, Wi-ki, who is not so good a singer as H^-ha-we, and
these records are therefore very poor.
The machine which was used was rented from the Pacific Phono-
graph Company, and every care was taken to preserve a uniform rate
of rotation of the cylinder.
It is to be noticed in passing, that the Hopi Indians sometimes sing
a strain in their songs which is undoubtedly European. The boys
who have attended school may have brought back a knowledge of
songs learned there, but as a general thing their music betrays no such
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100 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
influence. One is immediately struck with the many resemblances be-
tween Hopi and Zuni^music. - This is what we had expected from the
close relationship of the religious ceremonials of the two peoples. As
far as I am aware^ nothing has yet been published on characteristic
Hopi songs.
The sixteen songs naturally fell into two divisions of eight each,
separated by the smoking of the great (y-mow^h pipe. Many of the
words were not Hopi, and were repeated over and over again, appar-
ently meaningless even to the singer. Both song and words, which
were reputed to be very ancient, were probably archaic or borrowed
from some other tribe.
As a general thing the second series of eight songs had a quicker
time than the first, which gave them the designation, " Come-down-
quick songs." The first series opened with one in which the predomi-
nating words were " ha-ho-haiy* repeated many times. The syllables
aye-ya-wa were sufficiently prominent in the second song to give it a
name. The fifth song, readily recognized by the prominent monosyl-
lables a-o-Aai-e-?, and the rapid falling tones on the last, was somewhat
different from the seventh, in which occurred the words, o-ho-ye-ye^
a-a-ha-hoy a-a-a-hay hai-e-e-e. The seventh song was much quicker
than the last one, and contained an almost endless repetition of the
refrain, a-ye-hcy a-ye-he, a-ye-he, etc. In this as in many others we
found constantly recurring the syllables, si-pa-pu-ne-e-e.
In the eighth song, which may be called the pollen song, the altar
was sprinkled with pollen by all the priests.
The first song of the second series was that in which the whizzer was
sounded by Ha-ha-we, and may be designated the whizzer song. It
was during this song that the tips of the crooks in the hands of the
singers were brought down until the attached corn husks touched the
altar. The predominating syllables were a-ha-ye-ye-he.
In the rapping song which followed there were two parts, in one of
which the taps by K^-kap-ti on the floor were separated by short inter-
vals, and another where the rhythmic strokes were not as rapid. The
accompanying syllables were ha-ha-tca-na.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 101
The O-wey-ho song which followed was full of animation^ and con-
tained the recognizable syllables wa-wa-ha-ne-e, repeated again and
again.
Of the remaining songs the two last were very lively, and highly
melodious, especially that which may be designated the ma-si'le-we-e.
The series closed with the refrain a-ha-ye-e^ in which there was a
marked explosive sound in the rendering of the antepenult syllable ha.
The end of the series was indicated by retardation in time, and at the
close Wi-ki waved his rattle above his head before he placed it on the
floor.
SNAKES USED IN THE CEREMONY.
Four different kinds of snakes, called, by the Hopi, tcUf-a (rattle-
snake), tu-wa'tcii-^i (ground snake), lu-liik^'kon-ay and td-ho (arrow),
were used in the ceremonials. The Hopi say that they do not care for
water snakes, but any other variety may be used. The estimated num-
ber of all kinds employed in the 1891 dance is sixty, of which fully
forty were rattlesnakes. Although the majority of these were collected
on the four hunts, several were taken from time to time before and
after the same. When a snake was seen in the field by a farmer,
notice was given to one of the Snake priests, who brought it in if he
found it. The first snake was captured by the Snake chief K(J-pe-li,
two days before the organized snake hunt, and there were at least four
in the kiva before the day when the hunt to the north began. One of
these, for some unknown reason, was generally kept apart from the
rest. When the procession of Snake men came into the plaza in the
public dance, one of the priests carried in his mouth, with its head
projecting between his teeth like a cigar, a small snake which had not
been placed in the ki-si. As far as I observed, the reptiles were not
fed while they were kept in confinement, nor were their fangs ex-
tracted. They were treated with the utmost care and kindness, quick
movements were avoided, and no one spoke above a whisper while they
were in the kiva.
Mr. Owens contributed one snake, the capture of which was so pecul-
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102 THE SNAKE CEBEMONIALS AT WALPI.
iar that it might easily have a£Fected a superstitious mind. We were
watching Ka-kap-ti as he returned from his run, and just before he
entered the village coming by the south trail, he stopped near where
it passes between the two pinnacles of rock and the mesa sides, and
beckoned me to come down. I did so, and saw a large snake, which
he would not touch, crawling across the path in front of him. As I
had not had g^reat experience in handling snakes, Mr. Owens came to
the rescue, and he carried the reptile to the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. We
called Wi-ki from the Mon'-kiva, who simply sprinkled the snake with
pollen, and placed it with some difficulty in a bag to await the return
of the snake hunters, who were grateful for it. Possibly this timely
contribution to their collection increased the confidence of the priests
in our good wishes for the success of their celebration. It was cer-
tainly a remarkable coincidence that this snake should have crossed
K^-kap-ti's trail on his return to the village, for although we had
climbed this trail many times, we never saw a snake of any kind
upon it.
The snakes were very docile when let loose in the kiva, and were care-
f idly watched or herded most of the time at the west end of the room,
near the jars in which they were generally kept during the absence
of the priests on the hunts. The reptiles, as a rule, crowded closely
together in masses in the corners, rarely venturing along the floor, or
endeavoring to climb the sides of the room. Possibly it may have been
a result of my natural history studies, but I confess the sight was not
a loathsome one to me, nor was I affected as others have been by its
horrible nature. Moreover, although I was in the room with the rep-
tiles for hours at a time, I met with no hairbreadth escapes from their
fangs, nor passed through the sensational experiences which others on
more limited acquaintance have described.
There is no doubt that the rattlesnakes were venomous at the time
they were carried, but it seems probable, also, that the fact they were
well treated in the repeated handling and association with the priests
may have familiarized them with their captors. The discharge of
venom by a noxious reptile is a more or less exhaustive process, and
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 103
is a last resource, so to speak, for protection. Could not the law of
kindness enter their dull brains, or must they be supposed to be always
ready to strike those by whom they are never harmed ? Without pos-
ing as champions of the good character of the snake, can we not at
least do him justice ? , I once heard a prominent specialist, who had
kept rattlesnakes in confinement, say that they became accustomed to
captivity and captors, and, in a measure, tamed so that they were not
as prone as in the wild state to strike at every living thing that came
near them.
It is a well-known fact that a rattlesnake must coil before it can
strike. In the few cases of a snake's coiling that came under my
observation, the most experienced priests were called upon to manage
them, which they did with the greatest gentleness and care, almost
amounting to reverence.
We have never seen the repeated washing and stroking of the rep-
tiles, unless the single ceremony of baptism at noon on the ninth day
may be so regarded.
The statements of Mr. Mindeleff in regard to the food and drink
of the Hopi snakes are strictly in accord with our observations. Mr.
Trumbull's remarks about the gorging of the snakes, in his account
of the Central American snake charmers does not apply to the Hopi
priests. No food was given by them to the snakes after they had
been brought in from the fields, as far as observed. The reason that
the performers were not bitten seemed to me well summed up by
Mindeleff in the following quotation from his article : —
" I am of the opinion that the Mokis rely on the previous treatment
of the snakes, on their charms and incantations, rather than on any
after-treatment of themselves. As Dr. Yarrow remarked, a snake which
had been repeatedly handled, and had discovered that no injury was
intended, would become comparatively tame, and this would account
for the behavior of the snakes during the dance. In the hands of the
dancers they seemed numbed and lifeless. It was only when dropped
rudely on the ground from the mouths of the dancers that they showed
any disposition to fight."
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104 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
The question of the venomous character of the reptiles employed has
been more carefully considered by Dr. Yarrow than any other observer.
^' He has identified four species of snakes used in the ceremony, only
one of which, the spotted rattlesnake {Crotalus conjluentus)^ was poi-
sonous. He descended into the snake kiva on the eve of the dance,
and there examined the snakes which were to be used on the morrow.
At his request a large rattlesnake, selected by himself, was held up for
his examination by one of the Indians, and upon prying its mouth open,
he found the fangs intact and of large size." Mindeleff continues : " I
may add that, at the conclusion of the 1883 Snake Dance, two rattle-
snakes were captured and sent to the National Museum. They were
examined soon after their arrival by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of Phila-
delphia, who found them in perfect order, their fangs had not been
disturbed, and the poison-sacks were intact and full of venom."
Speaking of the " course of treatment " which the snakes underwent
while in confinement prior to their appearance in public, my observa-
tions differ somewhat from those of Mindeleff, although there is no
doubt that many of them were capable of inflicting dangerous if not
fatal wounds. He says : —
" The snakes used in the dance undergo a very complicated course
of treatment in the kiva where they are confined prior to their appear-
ance in public. They are washed repeatedly in various kinds of * med-
icine water,' and are frequently handled or stroked with a downward
squeezing movement of the hand. Whether such treatment prolonged
over a period of five or six days is sufficient to render innocuous a
robust rattlesnake is an open question. Both Captain Bourke in his
book, and Dr. Yarrow in his remarks, mention seeing a large rattle-
snake brought in from the fields on the day of the dance. These, at
least, must have been capable of inflicting fatal wounds."
The various liquids used by the Snake priests both before and after
the dance are not regarded in themselves as antidotes. The incanta-
tions said over them, and the rites by which they are prepared, are to
their minds much more efficacious than the herbs of which they are
made. It is therefore very doubtful whether they have any antidote
for the snake bite which has any medicinal value.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 105
In the early part of the summer of 1892 In'-ti-wa was bitten by a
rattlesnake^ and his arm swelled in an angry way from fingers to shoul-
der. Four days afterwards he came up to his home from the plain
and was visited by the resident physician from the school. He was
also given the na-Aw, or antidote^ to which his recovery was ascribed.
I can hardly believe that at this advanced stage of inflammation any
medicine would physiologically have had much effect.
In a discussion of the questions why the Snake priests are not bitten^
or, if they are, why the wounds are not fatal, there are many facts
to be established before we can formulate satisfactory answers.
In the first place, the observers who have seen priests bitten by the
snakes must give authoritative statements that the wounds were in-
flicted by venomous rattlesnakes, and not by the harmless varieties.
I have never seen a priest bitten by the former. Secondly, it must
be remembered that the bite of the rattlesnake is due to a spring of
the reptile by muscular uncoiling, and careful observations ought to be
made to determine whether a rattlesnake can inject its venom unaided
by this movement. Can it, for instance, bite when carried by the
neck or other parts of the body where such muscular action is well-
nigh impossible ? The position of the fangs would seem to point to
the conclusion that it cannot. It is a significant fact that when the
reptile falls to the ground and coils for defense the greatest care is
used in its capture.
The treatment of the reptiles prior to the dance shows little to lead
to the belief that they are rendered harmless, and the medicine in
which they are bathed can hardly be said to have the nature of an
anaesthetic. If the latter means were relied upon, it would not be
administered on the last day only, and if the nd-hii were an antidote,
why is it not carried with them into the fields during the snake hunts,
or used throughout the washing of the snakes, when there is the
greatest danger ?
It is along the line of a study of the method of treating the snakes,
rather than that of the character of the herbs used in their so-called
medicines, that I think we may arrive at an explanation of the fearless
way in which these Indians handle venomous reptiles.
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106 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
LEGEND OF TI-YO, THE SNAKE HERO.
When the priests were asked the meaning of the Snake Ceremo-
nial and the accompanying dramatization^ they always referred to a
strange legend of the adventures of a youth in the under-world.
There are several variants of this story, the details of which differ
widely, but throughout them, notwithstanding many inconsistencies,
there is a remarkable similarity. It is not repeated at any set time in
the course of the ceremonies, and there is no one version which may
be perfectly exact. In view of these facts, we must also remember
that we are considering a legend which has no doubt been more or
less modified from one generation to another, and may have suffered
somewhat in translation, but however mutilated, it explains many things
in the dramatization ceremony.
The different fraternities have their own traditional lore in the keep-
ing of their respective chiefs, and some portions of this story of Ti-yo }
are found more or less modified in nearly all of them.
This lore is the sole history which they have, and in many cases is
supported by ceremonial dramatizations; but it would be unscientific to
build any theories of their religious beliefs on such a doubtful founda-
tion.^
Far down in the lowest depth of Pi-sh-hai-ya (the Colorado
Grande), at the place where we used to gather salt, is the svq^a^pu^
the orifice where we emerged from the under-world. The Zunis^ the
Ko-ho-ni-nos, the Pah-Utes, the white meh, all people came up from
^ There is good reason to suspect that Stephen, who received it from the Ante-
Tl-yo, the youth, is in reality a hero god, lope chief Wl-ki. On account of difficulty
FU-U-kafirho-yay the little twin war-god, in communicating with him, owing to ex-
who figures prominently in many Hopi treme deafness, Wf-ki was assisted by Wi-
legends. ky-it-ti-wa and Ma-si-um'-ti-wa.
^ Several variants of this legend, which * The place designated is a saline de-
differ in many respects from the one here posit in the Grand Cailon, a short dis-
presented, have already been published, tance west from where the Colorado Chi-
This version was collected by Mr. A. M. quito debouches into its greater namesake.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 107
the below at that place. Some of our people traveled to the north,
but the cold drove them back, and after many days they returned.
The mothers, carrying their children on their backs, went out to
gather seeds for food, and they plucked the prickly pear and gave
it to the children to still their cries, and these have ever since been
called tr^ce-nyu-mithf or the Prickly Pear People.
Morning dove flew overhead, spying out the springs and calling us
to come, and those w4io followed him, and built their houses at the
waters he found, are still called after him the Hu-wi-nya^muh^ or Morn-
ing Dove People. All that region belonged to the Puma, Antelope,
Deer, and other horn people, and To-hd-a (puma) led my people, the
To-hd-nyu-^muhj to To-ko-n^-bi,* and the Sand people and the Horn
people also dwelt in the same region.
We built many houses at To-ko-n^-bi, and lived there many days, but
the springs were small, the clouds were thin, rain came seldom, and
our corn was weak. The Ki-mon'^wi (village chief) of the To-hd-nyu-
muh had two sons and two daughters, and his eldest son was known
by the name Ti-yo (the youth). He seemed to be always melancholy
and thoughtful, and was wont to haunt the edge of the cliffs. All
day he would sit there, gazing down in the deep gorge, and wondering
where the ever-flowing water went, and where it finally found rest.
He often discussed this question with his father, saying, " It must flow
down some great pit, into the under-world, for after all these years the
gorge below never fills up, and none of the water ever flows back
again." His father would say, " May be it goes so far away that many
old men's lives would be too /short to mark its retm-n." Ti-yo said,
" I am constrained to go and solve ihis mystery, and I can rest no more
till I make the venture." His family besought him with tears to
forego his project, but nothing could shake his determination, and he
won them to give their sorrowful consent.
The father said : " It is impossible for you to follow the river on
foot, hence you must look for a hollow cottonwood-tree, and I will
^ A syncopation of TU'-ktoi-ktmim-bU tain, situated at the junction of the San
black mountain, now called Navajo Moun- Juan and Colorado rivei-s.
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108 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL
help you make a wi-na-ci-buh (timber box), in which you may float
upon the water." Ti-yo found a dry cottonwood tree, which they
felled, and cut off as long as his body, and it was as large around as
they both could encompass with their outstretched arms. They gouged
and burned out all of the inside, leaving only a thin shell of dry wood
like a large drum ; small branches and twigs were fitted in the ends to
close them, and the interstices were pitched with piiion gum. All this
work was done with the stone axe and the live ember.
The father then announced that in four days Ti-yo should set forth,
and during that time the mother and her two daughters prepared
kwip^'do-si ^ for food, and the father made prayer emblems or tokens
called 2^d'ho{s). On the morning of the fifth day the father brought
the tokens to Ti-yo, and laid them on a white cotton mantle, but be-
fore he wrapped them up, he explained their significance. One was
called the wd^o (great) jja-ho, and was a slender willow wand, as long
as his left arm from elbow to outer joint of thumb. This he told
Ti-yo he must give to Ko-kyan-wilh-ti (Spider-woman).^ Four others
were called cd-kioa (blue) pd'ho{s)y each made of two pieces of willow,
as thick as the finger, and measuring from the first line at the base of
the left palm to the tip of the middle finger. Of these blue 2jarho{8)
Ti-yo should give one to Hi-ca-na^ai-ya (the Ancient of the Six ; the
six cardinal points;) one to Ilu-zru'ifi'wuq'ti (Woman of the Hard Sub-
stance) ; the genius of all hard ornaments or wealth, as turquoise, coral,
and shell) ; one to Td-wa (the Sun) ; and one to Mii-i-yin-wuh (divin-
ity of the under-world who makes all the germs of life).* He also laid
^ A quantity of white maize soaked in ^ In this instance they rather suggest
warm water for half a day, and when the nature of credentials. Formerly the
partly dry winnowed over so that all the use of such tokens with this significance
husks fall off. Wh^n dry, the kernels are was common with the Ho-pi-tHh when
ground, and the meal, which is called kai- sending an embassy to a friendly tribe at
ninrfluTTirni, is used in the Snake Dance a distance.
and other ceremonials. When husked corn ' Minute particulars of these pdrho(s)y
has been boiled and dried and then ground, their feathers and other materials, were
the meal is called kwip'-dosi, which is then given by the narrator. They were
mixed with cold water and drank in the the same in detail as the preparation of
form of a thin gruel.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 109
beside these p6rho{8) a small quantity of kwa-^vf-ha (down from an
eagle's thigh), which he said the Spider-woman would show Ti-yo how
to use, and all these things he wrapped in the mantle and gave to
Ti-yOy who crept into his box. His father then gave him a wand of
hon'-wi^ to be used in guiding the box, and his mother a tcd-kap-ta
(food basin), and she and each of his sisters added a p6'0-ta^ heaped
up with kwip'-dosL His father then closed the end of the box,
and gave it a push with his foot, and it floated away, bobbing up and
down.
In one of its ends there was a small circular aperture, through which
he thrust his wand, and pushed away from the rocks which were en-
countered. The spray splashed through the opening, and this he
caught in his basin when he wished to drink or mix his kwij/'dosi,
and he was also provided with a plug to close the hole when he neared
the roaring waters. He floated over smooth waters and swift-rushing
torrents, plunged down cataracts, and for many days spun through
wild whirlpools, where black rocks protruded their heads like angry
bears.
When the box finally stopped, Ti-yo drew the plug, and looking out
saw on one side a muddy bank, and on the other nothing but water ;
so he pushed out the end, and taking his ^d-Ao mantle in his hand
passed to the dry land. He had gone but a little way when he heard
the sound of " hist, hist," coming from the ground, and when this had
been repeated four times, he descried a small round hole near his feet,
and this was the house of Spider-woman. " Um-2n'tuh/' said the voice
(You have arrived, the ordinary Hopi greeting), " my heart is glad ; I
have long been expecting you ; come down into my house.*' " How
can I," said Ti-yOy " when it will scarce admit the point of my toe?"
She said, " Try," and when he laid his foot upon the hole, it widened
out larger than his body, and he passed down into a roomy kiva.
pd'ho(8) in the Snake and Antelope kivas ' It is prescribed that the handle of the
daring the ceremony, for which see the snake-whip must be made of this wood,
figures and descriptions. * A shallow circular tray of coiled
grass, wrapped with yucca shreds.
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110 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
Ti-yo unrolled his mantle and gave her the wu-pa-pa-ho and the
eagle down. She thanked him, and said, "I can be seen, or I can be-
come invisible ; I go everywhere and know all things ; I know where
you come from and where you will go ; your heart is good, that is, you
are an upright man ; I have prepared food for you," and she set before
him two com meal dumplings (jm-^hpi-ki), which he ate, and was filled
up to the chin. Here he remained four days, and Spider-woman told
him he should next go to the Snake House, and she would go with him.
Meanwhile she made the nd-hUy^ which pacifies all angry animals as
well as the snake.
On the fifth morning Spider-woman gave some of the hd-hU to 2^-yo,
telling him to be of brave heart, and when he came to the angry ones
who guarded the entrances of rooms, he should put a little of the
nd'hu on the tip of his tongue and spurt it upon them, and they would
be pacified. She then told him that she would now become invisible,
and immediately perched herself on the top of his right ear ; she said
she would be inaudible to all others, but would constantly whisper her
promptings, and would remain with him throughout his journeys.
She told him to take the cluster of eagle down in his hand and step
upon the sv-pU^-pu^ which he did, and at once they descended to the
under-world.
There the eagle down fluttered out toward the northwest, and
thither he traveled till he came to a kiva near which was the great
snake called Ga-td-ya^ on which, as prompted, he spurted the charm,
* This term is derived from nwd-4l4a, secret close to my heart ; if I should reveal
a root, and is applied to any of their it I would die. No other person in the
remedial specifics, and to the medicine of village knows it hut Cd-li-ko. When the
the whites, hut charm is perhaps a hetter time comes that I think I am ahout to die,
rendering of the term than medicine. An- I will impart it to Hofl'-yi, my eldest sis-
swering a query, the narrator said : ^* This ter's son, who will succeed me as Snake-
is the same charm which I make during Antelope chief."
the Snake ceremony. I make use of six ^ This mythic snake is also said to exist
plants, of the colors of the cardinal points, at the present time in far^ff mountains,
hut I cannot tell you their names, nor and is described as being not quite so
describe the charm nor any of the fluids long as a man's arm, but nearly as thick
drank at the ceremony. I must keep this as a man's body. It has large eyes and
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 111
and the snake turned its head and allowed him to pass to the hatch-
way, where two angry bears stood, one on each side of the ladder. On
these he also spurted, and they bowed their heads, and he descended
into the Tcil-a-kiva (Snake chamber), where many men were squatted
on the floor around a sand pon-ya^ all clothed in snake skins, and the
walls, the roof, and the floor, were all decorated with snake skins.
None of these people spoke a word, nor was any sound heard in that
gloomy kiva, and when Ti-yo displayed a 2^^'ho, the chief merely
bowed his head in recognition and motioned him to the open si-pct-pu.
Stepping upon this he descended at once into the Tctt'tcub-kiva
(Snake-Antelope chamber), where everything was white and cheerful,
and many men were squatted around a beautiful sand pon'-ya ; their
garments and feather plumes were bright and gayly colored, and all
gave him a glad welcome. The first of his blue pd'ho{8) he delivered
to the chief of this kiva, Bi-ca-na-vai-yay who looked at it closely,
and then laid it on the pon'-ya. He told Ti-yo he had been expecting
him, and thanked him for coming ; he also said, ^\ I cause the rain-
clouds to come and go, and the ripening winds to blow, and I direct
the going and coming of all the mountain animals ; before you
return you will desire many things, ask freely of me and you will re-
ceive."
Spider-woman now advised him to resume the journey, and Tt-yo
passed upward to the hatchway, and the eagle down floated to the west,
and looking in that direction he saw a great water, and far away out
in its midst the long tips of a ladder projecting from the roof of a
kiva. Spider-woman said : " That is the house of Hu-zrii-in-wiiq-tiy
and it is on dry land which floats on the surface of the great water ;
let us go." And when they came to the edge of the great water,
Ti-yo spurted upon a part of the eagle down and cast it upon the
water, which parted on either hand, and he traveled to the distant
great teeth, which can pierce the thickest the angry guardian of all snakes. The
backskin ; its body is gray and its head Navajos have a very similar myth ; with
of all colors, and it can breathe death to them it is also called the Great Snake,
a man at a distance. It is spoken of as without any other distinctive name.
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112 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
house with dry feet. When he approached the ladder two angry pu-
mas started up^ but he spurted charm liquid on them, and they turned
fheir heads towards him and said, **We have never permitted any
stranger to live who came here, but now we know your breath is pure
and your heart is brave ; " and they lay down on each side of the lad-
der, and he stepped between them and descended it.
The ladder was covered with small glittering white shells, and the
inside of the kiva was resplendent with turquoise and coral, and in the
middle of the floor a very old woman was squatted quite alone. Her
eyes were dim, her hair was gray, her skin deeply wrinkled, and her
mantle looked old and dingy, but Spider-woman told Ti-yo^ " This is
the kind mother ; her heart is tender and generous ; and every night
when she lays aside her mantle she becomes an enchanting maiden, and
she is arrayed with splendor at dawn." Then Ti-yo gave her the sec-
ond pd'hoy which she looked at very carefully, and said, " This was
made by one who knows ; I thank you. Sit down and eat, and ask for
any of my possessions you desire." She prepared a food of corn pollen
in a large turquoise bowl, saying, " This will be ready for you and the
father, when he comes, that you may both eat and start again without
delay." While this was being said. Spider-woman whispered him to get
ready his porho for Td-wa (the Sun) ; and like the noise of a mighty
lightning bolt, the Sun came rushing down through the air and alighted
on the kiva roof with a great crash.
• He entered, and hung up his beautiful shining shield, and it cried
" ching-a-ling " as it dangled against the wall. He wore a white buck-
skin garment, and the arms and legs of it were decorated with fringes
of jingling white shells ; it was thick and heavy, because it is very
cold in the sky region, and it had many pockets in which the Sun put
all the 2)drho{8) he found set out for him during his day's travel. He
took out great numbers of these and laid them before the old woman,
who scrutinized and sorted them ; she put aside a part of them with
her right hand : " These are from the people of good hearts," she said,
" and I will send them what they ask." " But these," she said, as she
cast away a great many with her left hand, " are from liars and deceit-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 113
ful people ; they hurt my eyes to look at them." Then the Sun took
from his right wrist the scalps of all who had been slain in battle
through the day on the right 3ide of his path, and from his left wrist
those of the slain who had fallen o.. the left side of his path. And
the old woman wept and mourned : " I grieve when you come here ; it
pains me as I touch you ; my heart is sad, and I tremble as I look at
you ; I long for all my people to live in peace ; will they never cease
from quarreling ? " and she hung up the scalps along the walls of her
house.
Ti-yo then placed his third p&ho in the Sun's hand, and as the oth-
ers had done, he scanned it narrowly, and said : ^^ It is weU, my friend,
my relative, my son ; let us smoke." He filled a huge turquoise pipe
with pi-ha (native tobacco), and after they had smoked, they ate the
food prepared for them, and the Sun told Ti-yo to come with him on
his journey through the under-world, and across to his place of rising.
He told li-yo to grasp his girdle, and they went down through the
si-pa-jM like a flash of lightning, to the lowest under-world, the house
of Mu-i-yinf-wuh.
In this place a host of eager men passed back and forth, up and
down, all working with anxious haste, and the Sun led Ti-yo to the
middle of this industrious throng, where Ti-yo gave his remaining
p&ho to 3Iu-i-yinf-wuh. After inspecting the pd-ho, he said he would
always Usten to the wishes of Ti-yo" s people, and then he explained
that at his command the germs of all living things were made ; the
seeds of all vegetation that grows upon the surface of the upper-world,
and of all animals and men who walk upon it ; and the multitude he
saw were ceaselessly occupied at this task. He noticed that the largest
and handsomest of these men were those who were most earnest and
industrious, and the stunted, scraggy creatures were the careless, lazy
ones. After further assurance that the maker of the germs would
always hear his petitions, Ti-yo again grasped the Sun's girdle, and Was
carried by him upward and eastward to Ta-wa-yum-tya-ki (where the
sun rises).
When they stopped they were in Ta-wd-ki (Sun-house), which is a
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114 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
beautiful kiva like that in the west, but red in color, and they ate food
from a pink stone bowL There is no woman here ; the Sun and his
brother Tmrcy-wa alternately occupy it. Four days T6rwa carries the
shield across the heavens, returning each night through the under-
world, reaching the east just a short time before he resumes his jour-
ney through the sky ; then he rests in this Sun*house, while TaviMJoa
performs his allotted four days' labor carrying the shield. T6rwa im-
pressed on Ti-yo the importance of remembering all the things he had
seen, and all that he would yet be shown, and he taught him to make
the sun pd-ho. Then his eyes would be opened, and thenceforth he would
know all people, would look in their hearts and know their thoughts ;
and as a token he then heard his family mourning for him and- calling
upon him to return. And the Sun said, ^^ I counsel you that all of the
gifts you shall receive, the blessing you shall most prize is the rain-
cloud you will get from the chief of the Snake- Antelope kiva." T6rwa
then taught him to make the great sun p6rho, which was as long as
from his heart to his finger tips, and he gave him the skin of le-tai-yo
(gray fox), which Tt-yo hung upon it and placed it upon the hatch-
way. After a little he gave him the skin of si-ky'tai-d-yo (yellow fox),
which Ti-yo hung over the gray. Then the Sun was ready to leave
his house, and he took Ti-yo on his shoulder and carried him across
the sky, and showed him all the world, and at sunset they came again
to the house in the west.
The old woman said, " Now you will leave me ; take these gifts," and
she gave him of all her house contained, and he thanked her and placed
them in his mantle, and went up the ladder. At the prompting of
Spider-woman he spurted nd-hti upon the remainder of the eagle down
and cast it upon the water, and as before it parted to the right and left,
and he passed over to dry land.
There was still the yellow light of evening as he approached the
Snake kiva, and he saw the red-fringed bow hanging across the ladder,
and Spider-woman told him this was the fifth day since their previous
visit. Unchallenged he went down and into the Snake- Antelope kiva,
and sat beside the ponf-y a four days, listening to the teachings of the
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 115
chief, who said, '^ Here we have abundance of rain and com ; in your
kind there is but little; so thus shall you use the nd-M; fasten these
prayers in your breast ; and these are the songs you shall sing and
these the p&ho{8) you shall make ; ^ and when you display the white
and the black on your bodies the clouds will come." He then gave
Ti-yo a part of everything from both kivas, and from the Snake-Ante-
lope j90/i'-ya he gave him portions of the different colored sands, and
these, he said, were the colors of the corn Tvyo^s prayers would bring.
He also said, '^ Here are two maidens who know the charm which pre-
vents death from the bite of the rattlesnake ; take them with you ; and
one you shall give to your younger brother ; " and they were enveloped
with white, fleecy clouds, like a mantle. Then from the pon'-ya he gave
Ti-yo a tvpo-ni, and charged him always to preserve it with jealous
care, saying, " Truly this is your mother ; " and from the Snake pon'-ya
he gave him a ti-pcMii for his younger brother. When Ti-yo had
wrapped up all these things in his mantle, the chief said, ^^ Remember
all you have heard, and all that I have done, do you the same, and
take back with you my heart, my bowels, all my thoughts, and you
shall be called by my name, ffi'ca'nO'Vai'ya" Then 7%'yo ascended
to the hatchway, and the two maidens followed him.
Spider-woman then led them back to her house, where they remained
four days, and Ti-yo hunted rabbits for her. She then told him to
keep secret all he had heard and seen, and to reveal it only to those
whose hearts he should try. While T%-yo was hunting, Spider-woman
made a beautiful ho^-pHh^ around which she fastened a cotton cord,
and on the fifth morning she placed Tv-yo in it, with a maiden on each
side. She then ascended through the hatch and disappeared, but soon
a filament descended and attached itself to the cord, and the basket was
drawn up to the white clouds, which sailed away to To-ko-ni-bi, and
there Spider-woman again spun out her filament and lowered the basket
^ Here again was narrated the rites of ^ A deep narrow pannier, with rounded
the kiva as still practiced, hut nothing ends, of coarse interlaced wicker, carried
further concerning the ndrhU could he on the hack,
elicited.
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116 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALFL
to the ground. Tt-yo took the maidens to his mother's house, and no
stranger saw them for four days, and the two brothers prepared the
bridal presents/
On the fifth morning the maidens' heads were washed by Ti-yo's
mother, and from the house-top he proclaimed that, as a strange people
had now come among them, in sixteen days their feast would be cele-
brated ; and to this day, the narrator said, we announce this Snake
feast sixteen days ahead. Tt-yo and one maiden went into a kiva,
which he called the Snake- Antelope kiva, and the younger brother and
the other maiden went into another, which was called the Snake kiva.
[Here the narrator gave a recital of initiations made by Ti-yOy and
instruction concerning the ceremony, the making of p6rho{8\ and the
other countless details, all of which were but a rehearsal of those still
practiced, excepting that, on this occasion, they did not go out to gather
snakes on four successive days as they do now.]
On the fifth evening of the ceremony, and for three succeeding even*
ings, low clouds trailed over To-ko-n^-bi, and Snake people from the
under-world came from them, and went into the kiva(s), and ate only
com pollen for food, and on leaving were not seen again. Each of
four evenings brought a new group of Snake people, and on the fol-
lowing morning they were found in the valleys, metamorphosed into
reptiles of all kinds.
On the ninth morning the Tcu-a-morna (Snake maidens) said:
" We understand this ; let the younger brothers (the Snake society) go
out and bring them all in and wash their heads, and let them dance
with you." And this was done, and at sunset a Snake house of meal
was made by ?^-yo, and the snakes were laid within it, and all the
people cast their prayer-meal upon them, and then the younger bro-
thers carried them out to the valleys, and they returned to the Snake
kiva of the under-world, bearing the petitions of all the people.
* A Hopi bride remains within doors ders, a long girdle, and makes a pair of
four days after marriage. The bridegroom woman's boots, which constitute the bridal
weaves a blue cotton tunic gown, a white present,
cotton mantle, with scarlet and black bor-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 117
After this both of the Snake maidens gave birth to numerous small
snakes ; their heads were washed^ and they were dried in sand heaps
on the floor, and their mothers sat beside them. Children coming into
play with the httle snakes were bitten, and they swelled up and died,
and their mothers clamored against the Tm-^MiiOrna and their brood,
and compelled the men to consent to migrate; and we abandoned our
villages, and both of the Tm-a'-marna were left at To-ko-n^-bi. The
Puma, the Sand, and the Horn people started together to travel south-
ward, but after a time the Horn people separated, and we did not meet
again till after we came to these valleys where we now dwell. Ti-yo^s
younger brother went with the Horn people, and taught these mysteries
to the chief of the Blue Flute family of the Horn people. This is the
reason why I go in front one year, and the chief of the Flute sits back,
and the next year he goes before and I sit behind ; but our songs and
prayers have both the same intent.
While we were living at Wu-kd-kiy^ one of the Tca-md-hia ^ dwelt
with us, and then he left us and traveled far to the southeast, looking for
other people that he knew were coming from the under-world. When
he reached So-tcap'-tu-kwi (a place near Santa F^), he met Pu-H-kon-
h(M/ay^ to whom he told his object. PyJ-^-kon-ho-ya said he could
find those people, and fitting in his bow and arrow, fletched with the
wings of the bluebird, he shot it in the sky, and it came down far in
the northeast, at a av^drpUj up which people were still climbing. They
looked at the arrow, and said, ^' There must be other people here
already ; " and the arrow spoke to them and told its message ; then
they said, " We will travel to the southwest, and may Tca-^n&hia come
and meet us." On this the arrow flew back to its sender, and told of
* Great -hoase, a ruin appropriately the under-world, where they occupied a
named, on a small stream about fifty miles similar position in the Snake-Antelope kiva
west from Wal'-pi. A considerable por- there. They seem to be regarded as the
tion of the walls is still intact. relics of a people still earlier than those of
* This mystic name is also applied to the under-world visited by Tiryo,
the fine old celts displayed on the present * One of the mythic twins, grandsons
Snake-Antelope pM-ya. They are said to of Spider-woman. They carry a magical
be the very objects brought by Ti^o from bow and arrow.
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118 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
these people, and Tcorma-hia traveled westward to meet them. When
he got to the great rock where Aeoma now is, he climbed up and
found the great ladle-shaped cavities on its summit filled with rain-
water, and he named it the place of the ladle, A'-ko-ky-dbL Here he
rested, and the people he was looking for joined him there, and at that
place they have ever since remained.
After my people left Wu-kd-kiy they halted near a little spring on
the middle mesa, and looking across to where we now live, they could
see there were no people in the land. But at night they saw a fire
moving back and forth along the base of this mesa, from the gap to
the point, and they marveled greatly for a while, and then they sent
Dove forth to discover, and he found that it was Morsau-with} Dove
saw the tracks of his large, bare feet, and he followed them around a
great circle, encompassing Nvrvat'-ikyau-ohi (place of snow peaks, San
Francisco Mountains) on the west ; Pa-lorhai-ya (Red River, Colorado
Chiquito) on the south ; Wu-kS-hai-ya (Great river, Rio Grande) on
the east, and Hop-ko-yi-la-hai-ya (from hd-po-kOy the northeast, the
San Juan River) on the north.
For a long time they saw nothing but his tracks, and they crossed
over here and built their village on the foothills at the point of this
mesa where you can yet see where the houses stood, and they called it
Wal^-pi, the place near the gap, and after a time the younger men with
their families built another village out in the valley, and you can yet
see traces of it also. One day the Wal'-pi chief called all his bravest
men to go with him and try to find Morsau-wUhy and they met him
about half way to the middle mesa. He was hideous and terrible, with
shreds of flesh and clots of blood upon his head, but our chief was
brave, and went and embraced him tightly in his arms. Then said the
deity, " I see you are strong of heart ; I designed to kill you all if
your hearts had been weak ; now I am satisfied." They all sat down,
and Md'Sau-wdh took off his mask and sat upon it, and as he produced
his large pipe, they all saw that he had become a handsome youth, and
the pipe was passed around till all had smoked. Then he said : ^^ I
also am large of heart ; all this land is mine, and all that lies within the
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 119
limits of my footprints is yours, for you have won it because you
met me and were not afraid. My house is there (pointing to a rocky
spot close to the west side of the mesa), and there you must place the
porho^ . . • " The uncle of my uncles spoke with one tongue," con-
tinued the narrator, ^' and this is the story he told."
INTERPRETATION OF THE MYTH.
One naturally looks to the legend of the Antelope priest for an in-
terpretation of the different events which are performed in the ceremo-
nies ; for among Indians, as among all primitive peoples, there is an
intimate connection between the two. Our studies of the legend of
Ti-yo which we have given do not afford us the greatest satisfaction
in the interpretation, although they shed light on the dramatization
and certain other episodes. We see, as it were, only the crudest out-
lines, and only partial explanations of the ritual, and it is probably im-
possible for us to arrive at the true explanation from a study of the
story alone. There are many evidences of later invention, of incorpo-
ration, and of individual explanations. I am not sanguine that the
true explanation of the Snake Dance can be obtained from the Indians
themselves, and if my want of faith is well grounded, this fact is with-
out doubt of greatest importance. It seems probable that the Snake
Dance is a ceremony for rain, and since its beginning to its close,
wherever we turn, there appear elements which point to this conclusion.
When we come to a broader comparison with other rain-making cere-
monials, we cannot remain in doubt that the Snake Dance is primarily
of the same nature.
There are many important considerations which we must bear in
mind in the consideration of this subject. Throughout all the Hopi
ceremonies there appears evidence of a unity in certain characters. If,
for instance, we compare the Snake Dance with the Mute ceremony,
we find the number of days of the celebration to be the same, we find
the Snake boy and Snake girl intj-oduced, and the ceremonies about
the spring in the two are almost identical. The encircling runs made
by the courier are the same, and the porhois) are similar.
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120 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
It was once thought that we had in these ceremonials a modified form
of some primitive earlier celebration simpler than either^ and that the
same idea had been developed on different lines of evolution, due to
migrations or other causes. We cannot regard one as the modification
of the other, but both as a development of some aboriginal primitive
ceremony, which has left its mark on the common features which show
survivals of that simpler observance. It is but natural to suppose that
in the separation of clans or peoples, and isolation for a considerable
time, modifications should grow in such a way as to obscure origi-
nal meanings, and change ceremonials once identical. When a legend
was preserved, the modifications of the story would suffer the same
change.
Let us consider what might take place in two peoples living apart,
but preserving the germ of a rain ceremony. In a most interesting
book, called " The Golden Bow," Mr. Frazer has shown how widely
different are the modifications of the midsummer rites throughout Eu-
rope. Portions of these observances are preserved among one people,
and portions among others. The modifications which the original has
gone through are almost radical in their nature.
In one place, for instance, we have the May tree introduced as a
symbol of the wood-god ; in another, an image of the god ; and in
still a third we have a man personifying the wood-god. Here the
tree is burned at the close of the festival ; there we have images of
the tree-god thrown into the flames, and so we might go on mention-
ing a large number of modifications, but in all cases they appear to
be variants of one primitive idea. The germ of the whole is tree wor-
ship, or the embodiment of the return of life in the springtime.
Two theories have arisen as to the origin of those similarities. Either
that there was a connection in some remote time between the people
who practiced them, or that they arose independently among differ^
ent peoples. Whichever theory we accept we are not prevented from
finding in this midsummer ceremonial a parallel with others celebrated
at the same time.
Passing, then, to these village tribes and using the same methods as
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 121
those adopted by Frazer, we can reconstruct the primitive ceremony
which has become modified. It is not necessary to show the details of
ceremonials identical in order to show that they are the same. If the
main facts correspond^ we are justified in using them for what they
are worth. In the olden times, when the different peoples who now
speak the Tusayan language lived together, they probably celebrated
a midsummer ceremony of much simpler form than what is now prac-
ticed. A people leaving the ancestral home would take with them
their version of the myth connected with the ceremony. If it were
the Flute assemblage, necessarily the Flute would figure most promi-
nently. Accretions from generation to generation would creep in, and
there is reason to believe that these modifications would be regarded
as most important. Another people in its separation from the primi-
tive home might be the Snake or Antelope assembly. With them the
snake would be all-important, and the line of evolution which their
story followed would be very different from that of the Flute.
As a consequence, one would hardly expect that the ceremonies per-
formed would be identical, but the germ would remain the same, or
that we should have as a result the same ceremony under different mod-
ifications. Precisely this is what has happened. Then, too, it must
be borne in mind that the present Tusayan villages are formed by the
aggregation of several groups or clans of people. It is historically
known that such is the fact. In this bringing together of different
peoples, each with its modifications of the original story and ceremonial
rite, complication would be very much increased, and the difficulties of
comparisons with those of other villages, formed by a like consolidation,
magnified manifold.
In order to determine how far the ceremonial rites connected with
the same observance may vary in different places, I have studied one
of them in three of the Tusayan villages, separated by only seven
miles. In the Farewell Kortci-nct^ we find that the altars, although
presenting a uniformity in the main idea, are in the details very dif-
ferent. The public dances of the same vary very considerably, yet
^ See vol. ii., No. 1, of this Journal.
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122 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
the priests strongly insist that the celebration is identical. If such
changes as these result in villages where there is more or less intermar^
riage and a close religious sympathy, what would be the result in iso-
lated pueblos, more or less hostile to each other, through a long series
of years ? It is a mistaken idea to suppose that conservatism is the
only fundamental principle of Indian ceremonials.
We may reasonably conclude that from time to time new events in
the performance of rites are introduced, and this increase from year
to year would at last make a great variation in the character of the
ceremonials. Comparing, therefore, the Snake Dance with the Flute
ceremonial, we may suppose that originally the priests of both had the
same primitive celebration, and those traces of identity which are ap-
parent can really be best interpreted by referring them to the original
from which they started. Probably the best addition which could be
made to our knowledge of the identity of two such dissimilar ceremo-
nies as the Snake and Flute, could be obtained by a study of the tradi-
tions of the chiefs of each fraternity.
The story of the Snake hero is comparatively well known, and Mrs.
Stevenson has lately published the legend of the Flute fraternity. As
this fraternity exists in several of the pueblos, there is a possibility of
obtaining variants of the Flute myth. An interesting point of like-
ness in the two celebrations is the existence in both of the Snake girl.
The Snake girl is clothed exactly alike in both ceremonials, so that in
fact this person in the Snake ceremony could be substituted for one of
the two girls in the Flute observance without making any change in
her decoration, the style of her blankets, or other paraphernalia.
The Snake boy is also painted the same in both ceremonies.
In the course of the ceremony of the Flute, as will be seen by con-
sulting my article on the Flute observance, these two girls and boy
cast ofEerings upon symbolic figures of the clouds. These offerings
were identical with those which were placed by the Antelope chief upon
the head of the male and female lightning figures of the sand picture
during the Snake Dance.
In the race which took place on the morning of the Flute celebra-
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 123
tion^ the person who stood at the goal was not only painted and
adorned as a Snake priest, but wore the Snake kilt, upon which is de-
picted the figure of the great plumed serpent. Possibly this was a
coincidence, but certainly a most interesting one when taken into con-
sideration with other resemblances. The ceremonies at the spring
T^-wa-pa in the Snake Dance are not as elaborate as those performed
on the final day of the Mute observance at the same place, although
a vein of similarity runs through them both.
In the celebration of the Flute at Ci-paii-lo-vi, two houses take part,
the Blue Flute and the Variegated Flute. At Wal'-pi, however, one of
these houses is extinct, so that at present the Flute celebration is con-
fined to the remaining house. The Snake Dance is also celebrated by
two fraternities, the Antelopes and the Snakes. One of the Flute
houses at Ci-paii-lo-vi is subordinate to the other, just as in the Snake
Dance the Snake priests are inferior to the Antelopes. The n&tci{8)
used by the Flute fraternity have many likenesses with those belonging
to the Snake- Antelopes.
Without following the story of Wi-ki too closely, it may be conjec-
tured that the younger brother, who married one of the Tcu-a-^md-na^
was the chief of the Flute assembly of the Horn people when they
separated from the Snake fraternity at To-ko-n^-bi. The reunion of
these two peoples at Wal'-pi is dramatized in the Flute ceremony, a fact
which lends new interest to the comparison we have drawn between the
Snake and the Flute observances.
The descriptions of the many and complicated rites which fill this
volume would be incomplete if some attempt were not made to inter-
pret the meaning of the Snake Dance.
No component element has done more to obscure the original mean-
ing than the weird ceremonies connected with the handling of the rep-
tiles, which naturally have a strong fascination for the primitive as
well as the civilized mind. The dramatization of a half-mythic, half-
historic legend regarding the origin and migration of the fraternities
that celebrate it also tends to turn the mind to other explanations.
The prominence given to the reptiles during this presentation has
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124 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
led some other observers to regard it as an example of snake worship,
but from what could be learned from the priests as weU as comparative
studies, a somewhat different conclusion seems probable.
The Snake Dance is an elaborate prayer for rain, in which the rep-
tiles are gathered from the fields, intrusted with the prayers of the
people, and then given their liberty to bear these petitions to the
divinities who can bring the blessing of copious rains to the parched
and arid farms of the Hopi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.*
Allen, W. F. The Dial. Chicago, vol. v., No. 57, January, 1885. Captain Bourke's
Narrative of the Moqui Indians. (Book review.)
Banbelier, a. F. Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the South-
western United States. Amer. Ser. of Archaeological Institute, Part I., p. 149.
Part II., p. 277 (Pictograph at Abo, possibly record of the Snake Dance in former
times. (Reference to Espejo's mention of Acoma Snake Dance.)
BouBKE, John 6. The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona. New York, Charles
Scribner's Sons. London, S. Low. 1884. (Account of last two days of ceremony
with plates (colored) and cuts ; valuable.)
Donaldson, Thomas. Extra Census Bulletin. Moqui Indians of Arizona and Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico. Washington, 1893. (Untrustworthy in regard to the
Hopi Snake Dance, and full of inaccuracies about the Pueblos.)
Edwardy, W. M. Snake Dance of the Moki Indians. Harper's Weekly, Novem-
ber 2, 1889. (Full page illustration of the dance.)
EsPEJO, Antonio* de. Relacion y Expediente, p. 180. (Dance at Acoma in 1582,
" con vivoras vivas")
Fewkes, J. Waltee. Report of a Lecture on the Snake Dance. Salem News. 1892.
A Suggestion as to the Meaning of the Moki Snake Dance. Journal of American
Folk-Lore, vol. iv., No. 13. See also Journal of American Ethnology and Archie-
ology, vol. ii. (Relation of Snake Dance to Flute Ceremony.)
A Central American ceremony which suggests the Snake Dance of the Tusayan vil-
lagers. (Comparison with Sahagun's Atamalqualiztli.) Amer. Anthro. vol. vi., No. 3.
Keam, T. V. An Indian Snake Dance. Chambers's Journal, pp. 14-16. 1883.
LuMMis, Charles F. St Nicholas, April, 1892. Some Strange Comers of our Coun-
try. Century Co., 1892. (With figures of dance.)
* I am indebted to Mr. F. W. Hodge, directed to obtain the bibliography of the
of the Bureau of Ethnology, for several Snake Ceremonials in 1891 and 1893, the
.references. Especial attention has been two presentations considered in this article.
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THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 125
Matthews, W., for Stephen, A. M. Legend of the Snake Order of the Moquis as
told by Outsiders. Journal of American Folk-Lore, voL i. pp. 109-114. 1888.
MiNDELEFF, C08MO8. An Indian Dance. Science, voL vii.. No. 174. (Important
account of the Snake Dance at Mi-cofi'-in-o-vi.)
An Indian Snake Dance. Science, voL viii., No. 178. (Important discussion of
antidote used.)
MoRAX. See Donaldson and Bourke.
Powell, J. W. Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. (Con-
tains on pp. xxY.-xxix. account of the field studies of Messrs. Mindeleffs and Dr. H.
C. Yarrow.)
Scon, JuLiAN^. Report on the Snake Dance of August 21, 1891. Moqni Pueblo
Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. £xtra Census Bulletin,
pp. 71-74. 1893.
Danced with Living Snakes. The New York Mail and Express, September 2, 1893.
Praying for a Rain Storm. New York Mail and Express, August 19, 1893.
Shufeldt, R. W. Snake Dance of the Mokis. The Great Divide. October, 1891.
(Whittick's valuable photographs reproduced.)
Stephen, A. M., and Messengeb, H. J. The Snake Dance. The New York World,
September 8, 1889. (This and tlie following account valuable.)
The Mokis* Snake Dance. New York World, August 27, 1889.
Stevenson, M. C. (Legend of Snake and Flute.) Proc. Amer. Association, 1892.
Ttlor, E. B. Snake Dances, Moqui and Greek. '< Athens, like a Moqui village, was
accustomed to the spectacle of dancers waving snakes in the midday streets." Sat-
urday Review. October 18, 1884. (Review of Bourke's Snake Dance.)
anonymous.
Snake Charmers of Central America. Harper*s Weekly, March 15,' 1882. (Written
from a full-page figure by Ferenzy ; refers to Moki Snake Dance in comparative
way.)
The Snake Dance. San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1891.
Chicago Sunday Herald, September 13, 1891.
Chicago Evening News, September 22, 1891.
The Literary World, Boston, Mass., vol. xvi., April 18, 1885. The Snake Dance of
the Mokis of Arizona. (A review of Bourke's Snake Dance of the Moquis of Ari-
zona.)
The Five Moki Chiefs. Washington Post, June 28, 1890.
To appease the Indian Grod. Peculiar practices seen at the Moki Snake Dance. San
Francisco Examiner, August 28, 1891. (Three cuts, one of the dance.)
The Moqui Snake Dance. Chicago News, September 22, 1891. (Three cuts, one of
the dance.)
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126 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
Is a Prayer for Rain. Snake Dance of the Moquis. Chicago Herald, August 23,
1891.
Moquis' Snake Dance. Chicago Herald, August 23, 1891.
Moki Snake Dance. Cincinnati Inquirer, August 15, 1891.
The Snake Dance. Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1891.
Moqui Snake Dance, San Francisco Examiner, August 6, 1891.
Snake Dance of the Moquis. Washington Post, August 7, 1891. (Clippings of a
dozen lines.)
The Moqui Snake Dance. Evening Star, Washington. (Date not known.)
Last Snake Dance. St. Louis Repuhlic, August 13, 1891. (Small clipping.)
The Moqui Dancers. Cincinnati Inquirer, August 8, 1891. (Clipping of a dozen
lines.)
The Snake Dance. St Louis Despatch, August 6, 1891.
The Moqui Snake Dance. Pueblo Chieftain, August 7, 1891. (Clipping of four
lines. )
The Snake Dance of the Moqui Indians. Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1891.
The Indian Snake Dance. Indianapolis News, August 6, 1891. (Clipping of a
dozen or more lines.)
Snakes in his Mouth. So does the Moqui Indian dance. Religious ceremony of the
savage tribe in the farthest wilds of Arizona. Chicago Herald, September 13,
1891. (Cut of dance, ki-si^ rock, and spectators, also three other cuts.)
Alia, aha, Ehi, Ihe. The Moqais celebrate the Great Snake Dance. Los Angeles
Times, August 26, 1891. (Gives a " Song chanted by the Women ".at the close,
with translation.)
More of the Moquis. Chicago Herald, August 29, 1891.
Full of Snakes. The Homble Dance that the Moquis had. Saturday Blade, Chicago.
September 5, 1891. (One cut of a Snake priest.)
The Oldest People on the Continent. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, November 6,
1893. (Interview with Mr. F. H. Lungren ; with cuts of dancers from his studies.)
St. Joseph, Mo., News, August 6, 1891. (Clipping.)
Colorado Springs Gazette, August 7, 1891. (Clipping which states that there have
been Snake Dances not farther away than Manitou, but the author says nothing of
their character.)
Chicago Times, August 29, 1893.
Philadelphia Telegraph, September 2, 1893.
New York Press, September 3, 1893.
Note. — The map showing the position H. Jackson's " Report on the Ruins ex
of the three inhabited mesas of Tusayan, amined in 1875 and 1877." Report of
which accompanies this article, is a reduced the United States Greological Survey, PL
and somewhat modified copy of one in W. Ixxiii.
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