1 bbipbetete ss §) Tet tise San Pont ok ob ot Stok rr ee oe Pet ©. * pO Oe, Oe ,*) oT FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY oy y ff te Yipy Wy Wy th Se legs \) SS Ahithe 4? oM j SS Ss A) toh yee Hopi Cuter. (Drawn by Howard McCormick.) 7 Lalas. 4s Sane Pn as ica : roe c Py see) be 5 | 14 ehh ee oer © Te NCSA MmUErUN 1 Axporee Ae {ea ATUL ETON) on i ae —_— ra . ey i: ‘DIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST paced Ry, HAS By PLINY EARLE GODDARD ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY » = —_ . f La APR AA A mes as i 2 A hoe oe ee oD) © oD 7 HANDBOOK SERIES, NO. 2 NEW YORK AMERICAN MvUsEuUM oF NaturRAL HIstTory 1913 i aero mh 4 rt eae sf pas Makes oy WORN 4 Se cues a a) @0 Qe we Wee fia we i » Bi ‘ i) Sh DOs wih bane g mars < é«a° a , ae aval * ‘ae hey A - ’ . * (25 a sis w ne 5 t . 9% i) . * Aa ee ay 26, , nee ' ne : ‘in : ; ‘ : + . ee i Nd Be ale fale a) fy sa ee UCU ~- SEDENTARY PEOPLES NOMADIC PEOPLES ie [_) ACOMA-ZUNI Ee) ia i } LJ } PREHISTORIC oO : Taf HOPI Fae A a [__] PUEBLOS eae PUEBLOS | j | —— j Ud NORTHERN MEXICO ey Se - ——— PRO POSED HOP] GROUP PAPAGO i | == Sa pees, . _ | NAVAJO HOGAN § [_} NAVAJO Si , rn | Teas | WESTERN i | prea PROPOSED | APACHE GROUP | ih PLAN OF THE SOUTHWEST INDIAN HALL. This hall contains both the archaeological and the ethnological collections from the Southwest. The former are on the left hand side of the hall in two alcoves marked Prehistoric Pueblos. The localities at present most fully represented are Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, explored by the Hyde Expedition, 4 Tularosa Canyon on the headwaters of the Gila River, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, in the first alcove. In the second alcove will be found collections rich in textiles from Grand Gulch, Utah, and inter- esting specimens from Rio Verde, Arizona. The ethnological collections are primarily divided into those from the sedentary peoples on the left side of the hall and those from the nomadic — peoples on the right side. The sequence of the alcoves as one passes down the hall is geographical. First are the Rio Grande Pueblos and > the Eastern Apache which show relationship to the tribes in the ad- joining Plains Indian Hall. Toward the center will be found collections chiefly of ceremonial objects from the Hopi and opposite them a large collection of blankets made by the Navajo. Next beyond the Navajo are represented the Pima and Papago, the basket makers of southern — Arizona. At the further end of the hall are the Acoma and Zuni and collections from Northern Mexico which for the present have been given space there. . A Navajo hogan stands in the large side room. It is hoped that life-sized groups may soon be provided for the two smaller rooms. The collections in this hall have been obtained chiefly by Museum expeditions and donations. The Hyde Expedition resulted in a great number of archaeological specimens, many of which are still in storage. Since 1909 there have been obtained by funds provided by the Com- mittee on the Primitive Peoples of the Southwest the ethnological collections from the Rio Grande and Hopi pueblos and from the Apache, Pima, and Papago tribes, and the archaeological specimens from the Galisteo historic and prehistoric ruins and from Old Cochiti. A large number of the baskets were donated by Dr. James Douglas; the Navajo blankets represent the generosity of Mrs. Russell Sage and J. Pierpont Morgan. »/s4 ms ¥ ~ iy a ‘As Ye C 4 Cte ages Pe . - oe o_-< ~*. it a 1 PREFACE. ALTHOUGH a great deal of time has been devoted to the study of the native peoples of the Southwest and the prehistoric ruins in that region by many ethnologists and archaeologists our knowledge of them is still far from complete. There are many ruins which have never been visited by a trained observer; the Rio Grande peoples persistently oppose the study of their ceremonial life; and notwithstanding the great number of treatises on the Hopi, there is none of them which gives a satisfactory account of their every day life and of their social customs and organization. The author has first hand knowledge of the Athapas- can speaking peoples only. The accounts given in the following pages of the prehistoric and sedentary peoples have been drawn from papers published by many authors. The most important works on the Southwest are listed at the end of this book and in them will be found the sources of the information here given. The author wishes to make grateful recognition here of the help given in the preparation and revision of the text by Bella Weitzner and his colleagues in the Museum. Mr. F. W. Hodge of Washington has kindly read the proofs. The various illustrations have been credited to the persons who have permitted their use. Their generosity has added materially to whatever interest and value this short account of Southwestern peoples may have. ~=s en? A oe vie <5 >. Bgl neal Eves aie oP J . . hy ms wes - Ay - ox. 4 ’ on 14 — » (+ P ¥ a a oe ’ ~ i are we ; Aas . > oy er) Ta ov cS oc, -: fy tt, oe j é De . ba > A ~ Nh . rar eae MAAC ae) Oe. Wry trae. aN aie Trae i Uke Ae ae bys een puke ith Sy bey wh! Sages ee lo, a a , a agbecd icles ( ‘ Pet 3 hie aq aaa pee MTSU sc juveneme tat SE te ae yf t . ah.) wath ne ne ER ne Fabia ' . eis ie Rae fee Pha © a. es i nea Cart LVR tet Bae a ee : ’ * eae oe Hine & pee oe ae c ‘ee. 7 t2y 3 Let ee , Py ™ a a ¢ : ’ — case, € ’ : . oan: ee ie * t 8 * i df © — ap : ¢ i ‘ ‘ 7. . * - - ¥ ~ . CONTENTS. PREFACE . INTRODUCTION ee ie oo Band Region Defined. ay Influence of Environment. Social Tendencies. CHAPTER I. THE ANCIENT PEOPLES . Distribution; San Juan, Rio Geanile: ee Saa. Little Cola. rado. Bihiings: Sites, Materials, Ceilings, Doors, Kivas. Types of Ruins; Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House, Balcony House, Dulce Ruin, Pueblo Bonito, Cavate Lodges, Natural Caves. Means of Sustenance; Irrigation, Hunting, Manu- — factured Objects; Pottery, Baskets, Sandals, Cordage, Bags and Cloth, Metates, Turquoise. Disposal of the Dead. Re- ligion. CHAPTER II. MopERN PUEBLOS s Exploration; Cabeza de Vissi Biepies ag Ni iza, ie Gtaatidhs’ The Conquest. The Rebellion. Distribution in 1540; Tus- ayan, Acoma, Tiguex, Salinas, Quirix, Tanos, Cicuya, Jemez, Tewa. Present Distribution; Rio Grande, Hopi, Zufii. Hab- itations; Arrangement of Buildings, Building Material, Shelters. Kivas. Food; Agriculture, Preparation of Food, Hunting. Dress. Industrial Arts; Pottery, Basketry, Weav- ing. Decorative Art. Social.Organization. Social Customs. Political Organization. Religious Practices; Festivals, Sia Rain Ceremony, Snake Dance. Religious Beliefs. CHAPTER IIT. Tue Nomapic PEOPLES . od a AD ee eae ae ee a ee Distribution; Athapascan, Piman, Yuman, Shoshonean. Shelter. Food Supply. Clothing. Industrial Arts; Pottery, Basketry, Weaving, Silverwork, Beadwork. Social Organiza- tion. SocialCustoms. Political Organization. Games. Re- ligion; Ceremonies. CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION . BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ~ PAGE. 20 58 127 8 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Hopi Chief .. . ea Plan of the Southwest indie Hall ye Hg ag a 3 Culture Areas in North America : 13 Villages and Tribes of the Southwest . 14 Topographical Map of the Southwest . 16 Distribution of Forests and Rainfall 17 Square Watch Tower. San Juan River 25 Diagram of Typical Small Ruin .. 26 Portion of Masonry Wall. Chaco Canyon ; 27 Ceiling, Spruce Tree Ruin . Fits 5 28 Kiva at Spruce Tree Ruin 29 Cliff Palace 32 Dulce Ruin 35 Pueblo Bonito Ruin : ee seer 37 Groundplan and Elevation, Conte bodes ‘Rb Verde Valley 38 Prehistoric Coiled Ware Se EN ass tee et 42 Tularosa Pottery 43 Pueblo Bonito Pottery 44 Prehistoric Pottery. Lower Gila ake 44 Types of Prehistoric Sandals . 46 Yucca Fiber Bag. Grand Gulch 47 Prehistoric Cotton Kilt. Grand Gulch, Utah 48 Prehistoric Implements used in Weaving . 50 Objects of Wood and Bone 51 Flaked Stones ; 52 Prehistoric Stone Metate ae Bosh, 53 Stone Axes and Hammers . 55 Polished Stone Chisels 55 Prehistoric Rattle and Flageolet . 56 Pueblo of Walpi a ge 69 Pueblo of Zufi . . 69 Floor Plan of Hopi livid Routt 70 Kiva and Oven. San Ildefonso . 75 Floor Plan of Hopi Kiva 77 Roof of Hopi Kiva 77 Hoes and Throwing Stick 80 Hopi Robe 86 Woman’s Dress. Acoma 88 CONTENTS. )) AGE MemnnOMIeL OMT. AOOMS 2. fw Sw te eS 89 Senta Clara-Woman firing Pottery. ........ +: 91 ee re 92 ee O+4 a 95 ESS 109 en trmermerne.. Tans.) . 5. wk hk ee 112 REE TUMEMIENE a cl wl eg 8 Bea we 114 UMMM ei dS ns) nye ee se Me et 115 ene -amcmiciane aiests 6 120 Snake Priests dancing with Snake . . . eee. ee 122 San Carlos Apache Women building a ae TAM oe ; 133 White Mountam Apache House. .......... 134 Navajo House .. . LIT tee ee 135 Jicarilla Woman ae Mescal talks ae Mass Meee | Sears 137 Mescal Knife. San Carlos Apache ton Behe aie Mae ee acl 138 Mescalero Girl in Native Costume... ........ 141 Navajo Man... .. oP ae oe Cee ye eee Ot 142 San Carlos Apache ioe) st ae ae ee, 144 Jicarilla Tray . . Oe UPR res re eee ge eee ee 144 Mescalero Unfinished Basket ae pees AY te be 146 Jicarilla and San Carlos or Tees RT Bees a een 147 Puna Trays ~: . ha a la ae ee ae ee 148 Pima Storage a Re SEN of Ee Meta cage, iF 3.4 a ee 150 Papago Plaited Basket OF an EAS I Oy 151 mi ON SOINMINE ek ke ee 152 mamma Wena Weaving . > 2 . . 2 he Se Ss 153 ener rere OtNE EE ren oe a Se Oe 155 mereer blames ee Ls i oe a ee et 155 UE ol Oe ee 158 Peeepvadd Pole Game Apache. . .°. . - 6 bf eos 164 Jicarilla Relay Race . . . aah, oe lee Sole! ee, age 169 Petroglyphs. San Juan Valley 4 ABER PE eee ae 179 pa ee a ae eee ee 5 . 7 5 Dee eo —_ A .™ = a “ - 4 ps be ee i . Ci ‘ om Oy ye BD are ee - . "% s " in * ; ' — s| 7 - - ‘ Ad » re j . ) . ® ’ 7 © edn bow art ad —] ‘ . Tht he ’ ‘ j ea ere ¢ i on a ‘ . ‘ at Z 4 +4 . — ‘ . . . . Be *. we ; diy hk ey oe rae) ea” { £6 ces Se muy. Bs Lia § niaya on a nearens Sy 4 = Sti oe i? ae, rae . 7] iA ea ny “ = ~ eatin Ds Te =. ¢ o ae 4 4 i INTRODUCTION. THE Southwest claims the attention of those inter- ested in ethnology in three important particulars. Such physical conditions as the rather scanty rainfall, the great evaporation, the high elevation of the table- lands, and the peculiar vegetation which exists under these conditions, set it off rather distinctly from the Eastern and Central United States. Under these not too favorable physical surroundings, there have been maintained for a long time two strikingly different cultures, both meeting in their own way these condi- tions with success. Finally, we have here an unusual perspective resulting from the splendidly preserved prehistoric ruins and from historical records and descriptive literature covering nearly four centuries of contact with Europeans. REGION DEFINED. This region is separated from the culture area of the Plains by the staked plains where there exists neither fuel nor drinkable water. They were crossed in both directions: by the people of the Southwest who went eastward to hunt the buffalo and by the Comanche and Kiowa who raided the Mexican and Indian settle- 12 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. ments of New Mexico. Between the Southwest and the great Aztec civilization in the Valley of Mexico were rough mountains and deserts inhabited by savage tribes. Articles passed northward in pre-Spanish times we know, but just how much influence these two advanced cultures had on each other is yet to be definitely determined. On the west a mighty river, the Colorado, backed by a real and pitiless desert furnished a barrier between the cultures of the South- west and that of the California coast which is best illustrated by the remains found on Santa Barbara Islands. To the north, are rugged and snow-covered mountains around and through which, however, the Ute came, bringing with them the prevailing language and the customs of the Great Basin. Only on the northeast was a physical barrier lacking. The people of the Southwest and those of the Plains frequented the same hunting grounds for buffalo and were con- stantly either avoiding each other or having unsought and hostile meetings. When once partial isolation of a people has resulted in peculiar dress, habits, customs, and language, these differences are apt to become added barriers preventing free social intercourse and inter- marriage. The existing barriers, both physical and social, were sufficient to allow the origin and mainte- nance in the Southwest of typical and distinct cultures with gradual transitions toward the Plains on the part of the nomadic peoples of the northeast and toward Mexico by the Pima speaking peoples in the southwest. INTRODUCTION. ENVIRONMENT. eS ye) ! Fe eee ee This region varies in altitude from the mountains east of the Rio Grande which have an elevation of. nearly 14,000 feet, to sea level at Yuma, where the da » oH ere o * is "@ 7s mS ca La Oi, i : , a | Culture Areas in North America. . 14 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Gila flows into the Colorado. The average elevation is high, due to the great plateau between the Rio Grande, the Mogollon Mountains north of the Gila, and the Colorado River. This vast tableland, from 4000 to 8000 feet high, has on it isolated mountains such as San Mateo (11,389 feet) and San Francisco peaks (12,794 feet), and innumerable flat-topped, sheer-walled mesas. South of the Mogollon Mountains — the country tilts down and merges with the low dry semi-desert of southwestern Arizona. The rainfall varies with the elevation from 24 inches at Flagstaff to 3 inches along the lower portion of the Gila and averages from 10 to 15 inches over the greater portion of the region. The evaporation is so great that the streams decrease in volume as they proceed from the mountains until many of them disappear entirely. Even the Rio Grande may at times be crossed dry shod at El Paso. The higher mountains and much of the high plateaus are covered with heavy growths of pine. Lower down are diminutive forests of pifion, cedar, and juniper. Below these flourish mesquite and sagebrush and on the lowest portions of the region are the giant cactus and the smaller ones adapted to arid conditions. The plants of greatest importance are the plums, cherries, agave (century plant), the yucca, the cacti, the pifon, and the mesquite. With the exception of the buffalo which are commonly believed not to have crossed the Pecos in any large numbers, all the larger animals of the southern United States were formerly common. From the standpoint INTRODUCTION. 15 of food, the most important were the elk, deer, antelope, rabbits, prairie-dogs, and wild turkeys. INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT. The topography, the climate, and the vegetable and animal life of a region largely determine for the men living in it the character of their dress and houses and their manner of securing food. Certain physical surroundings also in a large measure influence art, religion, and man’s conception of the universe as a whole. In the Southwest is an atmos- phere wonderfully clear through which one sees with great distinctness the sculptured mountain peaks and ridges and the variously colored, flat-topped, ter- raced mesas. The violent storms with terrifying thunder and frequent rainbows which mark the sea- sonal rains; the mirage, the shimmer, and the whirl- winds of the dry season have produced results which we find reflected in songs, formulated prayers, and pictorial art. Only in the Southwest do the gods travel with rainbows and lightning and wrap themselves in clouds tied with sunbeams. So pronounced are these features that one feels from whatever un- known source came the people themselves with their language and original customs that many features of their arts, their mythology, and their religion could only have arisen and could only continue to exist in the Southwest. 16 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Topographical Map of the Southwest, showing the Mountain Ranges and an Elevated Plateau in the Middle. ae INTRODUCTION. 17 Distribution of Forests and Rainfall. Shaded Portion indicates Timber and the Black Lines Rainfall Areas. ° SociaAL TENDENCIES. That physical environment has not been the only force which has molded the life and thought of the Indians of the Southwest is apparent from the fact that two rather distinct cultures exist there. One group of tribes, the Navajo, the Apache, and the Ute meet the physical conditions with certain habits of life and social tendencies. In former years they lived principally by hunting and were obliged to go to the 18 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. more favorable places to secure game. These places were not the same at all seasons of the year and in all years and they therefore needed portable houses such as the tipis of the Plains, or structures easily and quickly built lke the dome-shaped houses of the Apache. They had great fear of houses in which death had occurred and they deserted or burned them to- gether with most of their contents. When several deaths had occurred in a locality, the place was avoided. Such customs prevented the building of permanent houses or the long occupation of the same site. The people lived scattered over considerable areas in large family groups under a minor chief. Only at long intervals and on special occasions did they all come together for the celebration of tribal ceremonies. On the other hand the present day and prehistoric sedentary peoples of the Southwest practised agri- culture the fruits of which mature seasonally and must be made to last from season to season. A provident people makes provision against crop failure and feels the need of at least a year’s supply to ward off famine. Therefore, large places for storage must be built and these must furnish protection against moisture, animals, and less provident mankind. In many places these people made use of irrigation permitting them to live together in considerable numbers. Some _ peculiar necessity or social instinct resulted in considerable numbers of people living together in great community houses. It may have been the need of codperation in defensive warfare, or it may have been the great INTRODUCTION. 19 economy of codperative labor in building houses of such a sort that one roof and one set of outer walls served to shelter many families. Either as a cause or a result, we find a complicated religious system, with orders of priests, councils, and governors to control the people in their joint industries and in warfare, and a system of social grouping consisting of large divisions known as clans. Under such a physical environment, shaped by such social tendencies, there developed in the Southwest a civilization comparable to that of Mexico and Peru, into which in 1540 the Spaniards came, with a knowledge of metals and firearms, bringing with them horses, cattle, and sheep. Later came the Franciscan mission- aries who were intent on breaking down the religious beliefs and practices of native growth. entwined into the daily life and social organization of the people and substituting Christianity. The fortunes of war transferred this territory to the United States in 1847. Notwithstanding this long period of contact with European peoples, customs, and religion, we still have in the Southwest many thousands of pure blood natives living in the same localities, in the same sort of houses, by the same means, thinking the same thoughts, and following the same religion they did when found by the Spaniards, and perhaps for many centuries before that time. CHAPTER I. THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. BrcAUsE there are various kinds of ruins in the Southwest, it has been believed by some that they were the homes of two separate peoples: Those who built the houses under the cliffs and in caves have been called the Cliff-dwellers, while those who built in the valleys have sometimes been called Aztecs under the belief that the founders of ancient Mexico migrated from the Southwest at an early date. There is, however, little evidence for supposing that the inhabitants of the cliff ruins and the people who lived in the ruined pueblos of the valleys were of different races or that they lived at different periods of time. They seem merely to have adapted their dwellings to the character of the locality and the building materials at hand. It is at present impossible to say how long ago the Southwest was peopled. There is no undisputed evidence of man’s presence in America in very remote times. In Europe, men were capable of making serviceable tools half a million years ago. While no such age is claimed for man in America there is no reason for thinking he has recently arrived. » 20 THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 21 DISTRIBUTION. As might be expected in a semi-arid region the agri- cultural population in prehistoric times was concen- trated at the higher elevations where the rainfall was the greatest and in the river valleys where irrigation could be easily practised. San Juan. One of the most important regions anciently occupied was that watered by the northern tributaries of the San Juan River. These streams are fed by the snows of the mountains of southern Colorado and Utah. At some distance from their sources they are confined in sheer-walled canyons which unite with each other as they approach the San Juan which enters the Colorado above the Grand Canyon. Some of the ruins are on the tablelands between the streams, others are at the head of the canyons, and many are in the canyons themselves either on their floors or under their overhanging walls. The Cliff Palace and the Spruce Tree House, two of the largest and best known cliff- ruins, are in this region. In Chaco Canyon, a branch of Chaco Valley, there is a cluster of eleven large ruins which evidently repre- sent an important political group of prehistoric villages. One of these, Pueblo Bonito, is hardly surpassed in size and interest anywhere. Canyon de Chelly which joins Chinlee Valley has many ruins both on the floor of the valley and under the walls. Rio Grande. On the western side of the Rio Grande 22 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Valley are many large ruins. Some of them are in the valley of the Rio Chama; many of them are on the mesas of the Pajarito tableland south of it; and others are in the Canyon Rito de los Frijoles. In the Valley of the Rio Grande itself and along its eastern tribu- taries, are ruins older than the Spanish era, others which were deserted during the rebellion, 1680-1692, and a number of villages which have persisted until the present day. Pecos. ‘The Pueblo of Pecos on the river of that name was occupied until 1838. In prehistoric times there were many pueblos for 40 miles along the valley. Be- tween the Rio Pecos and the Rio Grande there are many ruins and evidences of former occupation by a sedentary, pottery-making people. Some of these ruins, notably those known as Abo, Quara, Tabira or Gran Quivira were still occupied under Spanish rule. Gila. Along the upper tributaries of the Gila and Salt Rivers there are evidences of a dense population - which occupied cliff-dwellings and community houses standing in the valleys. Further down these rivers, the houses were mostly built with mud walls; only mounds of earth and boulders marking the outlines of ‘ the wallsremain. Not far from Florence, Arizona, near the Gila River is a large and noted ruin called Casa Grande. A number of houses were surrounded by a wall. These are of peculiar construction and resemble ruins in Chihuahua, Mexico, known as Casas Grandes. The Rio Verde which flows into the Salt from the north has a great number and a great variety of ruins p THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 23 in its valley which seem to mark the western limit of this prehistoric culture. Little Colorado. There remains another large tribu- tary of the Colorado which flows through the heart of the Southwest, the Little Colorado. Onit are many prehistoric ruins, villages with old Spanish churches deserted in historic times, and the still inhabited villages of the Hopi and Zufii. _ While there is no valid reason for making a distinec- tion between the ancient villages that were deserted and those which remained occupied until the coming of the Spanish, it is convenient to treat them separately since in the one case all our information is derived from the ruins themselves and their contents, and in the other we have descriptions left by the Spanish and observations made in our own time. BUILDINGS. Sites. The building sites chosen by the prehistoric people seem to have depended in part upon the topog- raphy of the particular locality and in part upon the needs of defence in a given area. Few available caves seem to have been overlooked. The overhanging cliffs protected the building from rains and most such situa- tions were easily defended. The size of the buildings was of course limited by the extent of the cave. Many of the pueblos were built on the valley floors or in open plains, little thought being given to the ease with which 24 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. the enemy might approach. But because of their peculiar arrangement and construction such buildings were often easily defended. They were built either in the form of a rectangle or a semicircle around a court from which they were terraced back toward the outer wall which had no openings low enough to be reached by the enemy. Some of these like Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon had hundreds of rooms. A _ great number of villages were placed on the tops of mesas the walls of which were steep enough to furnish a consider- able degree of protection. Puyé, one of the largest ruins on the Pajarito Plateau, is so situated. In many cases a location was chosen at the head of a canyon, on each side and at the end of which the houses were built making it impossible for the enemy to completely surround the settlement. There are ruins in many places which both from their character and their location seem to have been built solely for defense. These are round or square towers of considerable height which have a few small cpenings adapted by their size and location for the observation of the enemy and for the discharge of arrows. They are usually placed so as to command a wide view of the surround- ing country, often being perched on the top of a boulder or block of stone. Widely scattered are small ruins consisting of a few rooms on three sides of a small plaza in which is a circular room known as a kiva, or estufa. Near by is usually a rubbish pile in which human remains are almost always found, showing that they were generally used as burial places also. cr THE ANCIENT’ PEOPLES. yt Materials. The material employed in building ap- parently depended upon the ease with which stone could be quarried. In the San Juan region, the sand- stone was not difficult to work and on the Pajarito Plateau the tufa was cut with ease. As a result, in Square Watch Tower, San Juan River. (Courtesy of Dr. Prudden.) both places the walls are mostly built of well-dressed blocks of stone. In other localities the stone is in thin strata and was broken off and dressed only enough to make the surface of the walls even. The spaces lee —— 26 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. between the larger undressed stones were filled with small fragments. Some of the walls show regular courses of large stones alternating with courses of smaller ones producing a banded effect evidently sought for as a decoration. KS LA « i ( Ke SSN YY Lh / A SEER = 7 A) a fa Oy ~ eS B ie bi Roce Burial Mound Diagram of Typical Small Ruin. (Courtesy of Dr. Prudden.) Along the lower Gila and Salt Rivers bed-rock as a source of building material was not available and round river boulders were used, the greater part of the THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 27 walls being composed of adobe, the peculiar clay so abundant in the Southwest. The walls of Casa Grande seem to have been made by pouring moist clay and Portion of Masonry Wall, Chaco Canyon. (Courtesy of Dr. Prudden.) 28 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. gravel into forms as concrete walls are now made. When a section of the wall bad hardened, the forms were moved and another section made. Many of the ‘walls of the prehistoric pueblos of the Galisteo Basin were built of large blocks of adobe laid in adobe mortar. , The inner walls were almost always plastered and Ceiling, Spruce Tree Ruin. (Photo. by Nussbaum.) sometimes ornamented by painting. The impressions of the hands of the plasterers found here and there indicate that the women did that part of the work at least. Ceilings. The ceilings and roofs of the rooms were made by placing round logs crosswise with their ends THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 29 resting on or built into the walls. Above these were placed small poles much closer together and running in the other direction and on them a layer of brush and small sticks. A thick coating of clay was then applied and well packed down probably by tramping it with the feet. This formed the roof or the floor of the story above, as the case might be. KKiva at Spruce Tree Ruin. (Photo. by Nussbaum.) Doors. The walls of the lower stories were usually without openings except small ones to admit light and air and through which one might look out. The larger openings in the upper portions of the walls were either rectangular or T-shaped, and were raised a foot or two above the room floor and served for both doors and windows. They were evidently reached by ladders mae. £ ep Sa SS S,,,rs:til —-— 30 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. and in some cases had balconies below them on which a landing from the ladders was made. These balconies were supported by the large ceiling timbers which were allowed to project beyond the walls for this purpose. The lower stories were reached by hatchways and ladders, either from the rooms above or from the roofs when the building was terraced. Kivas. The kivas, peculiar rooms found in all large | ruins, are for the most part circular and below ground and are ordinarily located in the courtyard. They vary greatly in size from ten or twelve feet to thirty or more feet in diameter. A firepit is usually found near the center and in most cases there is an airshaft of some size opening at the level of the floor and a masonry wall or stone slab in front of the opening to prevent a direct draft. It is not unusual to find masonry walls extend- ing into the circular kivas for some feet, but the pur- pose of such construction does not appear. They were evidently entered by hatchways through the roofs which were in all probability of construction similar to those of the ordinary rooms. Types or RUvINS. Cliff Palace. The largest and perhaps best known cliff-dwelling is situated in the Mesa Verde region a few miles southwest of Mancos, Colorado. It has been named Cliff Palace and has been described by many writers since it was first mentioned in public print about THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 31 1890. The cave which shelters it is 425 feet long, 80 feet wide in the middle, and reaches an extreme height of 80 feet. It occupies the eastern end of Cliff Palace Canyon which is here about 200 feet deep. The cave opening, therefore, faces the west, with its axis roughly north and south. It resulted from the wearing away by the elements of a stratum of soft sandstone which was protected above by a harder layer that has remained to form the roof. Parts of the rock have broken from this roof and have fallen to the floor below where they have either remained or rolled out to form a slop- ing talus along its base. The floor of the cave as a result is very uneven so that the structure stands upon four terraces of varying height with some of the rooms resting upon large blocks of rock. It appears that it was not planned and built as a whole but that the first buildings were added to from time to time, both on the sides and above. The walls of this structure which enclose 117 rooms, not counting those of the upper stories, were built of red sandstone well dressed and laid with adobe mortar in regular courses. The irregularities are chinked with stone fragments. ‘The corners of the walls are not bonded nor are the joints of the stones regularly broken in the courses. It seems that these devices and that of the arch and its keystone were unknown to the ancient peoples. These walls which are from one to two feet in thickness were generally plastered on the inside and sometimes on the outside with a yellow plaster laid on and smoothed with the hands, the prints of which 32 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. are often plainly visible. In a few cases, the walls are ornamented with paintings. Both rectangular and T-shaped doorways are found and several of them are provided with grooves in which slabs of stone were placed to close them. Many of the ninety-four rooms which were evidently used for household purposes have fireplaces either in one corner or in the center. The walls are blackened with smoke for which no other exit was provided than the doors and windows. In a few of the rooms there is a raised bank along one side which may have fur- nished sleeping places. Certain rooms, especially those with other rooms above them, show no signs of fire or smoke and since they were entirely dark were without THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 33 doubt used as storerooms for the food supply. A number of rooms devoted to the grinding of corn have boxes made of slabs of stone in which the grinding was done on metates as at present in the Southwest. One room has four such boxes side by side with the metates still in place. There are many fireplaces in an open i ee rie, Ping 2 he ei ‘ ae Palace. (Copyrighted by F. K. Vreeland.) plaza in the middle of the village where much of the cooking was probably done. There are twenty-three kivas, situated in a court, most of them having their roofs level with the floors of the ordinary rooms of the first story. To give some of them the required depth the solid rock was excavated for several feet. 34 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. A round tower rising from the summit of a block of rock reaches the roof of the cave. It has been supposed that this served as a watch-tower. It may have been that the whole structure was intended as a place in which the reserve food supply might be stored and defended, since in the neighborhood are ruins of other community structures in less easily defended situations. Spruce Tree House. About two miles northeast in an adjoining canyon is another cave with a dwelling nearly as large and much better preserved. It is named Spruce Tree House from a tree found growing in the ruins which when cut in 1891 showed an age of 169 years. In this dwelling are several ceilings in a good state of preservation. This building and Cliff Palace have been restored under the direction of Dr. J. W. Fewkes and it is expected that they will remain in this condition as permanent examples of such structures. Balcony House. Not far from Cliff Palace and in the same canyon is Balcony House, named so because one of the balconies below the doors of an upper story was found intact by Nordenskidld who describes it as follows: “The second story is furnished, along the wall just mentioned, with a balcony; the joists between the two stories project a couple of feet, long poles lie across them parallel to the walls, the poles are covered with a layer of cedar bast and, finally, with dried clay. This balcony was used as a means of communication between the rooms in the upper story.” Dulce Ruin. A good example of a small cliff-dwelling is situated in the extreme eastern border of the San Juan watershed about twelve miles southwest of Dulce, we Or THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. New Mexico. At the head of a small canyon draining into the San Juan through the Navajo River is a cliff about sixty feet high. Forty feet from the base is a small cave facing the southwest in which are two rows of rooms. The largest room is against the cliff at the northern end having the rock of the cliff for its back wall. This was the living room of the group as is shown by its blackened walls and a fireplace in the Dulce Ruin. (Photo. by Mrs. Wyckoff: ) northern wall of the room, a foot or two above the floor. The smoke from this fireplace escaped through a shaft in the wall itself. This room which is 12 feet long and 8 feet wide is the only one large enough for a person to lie extended. South of this room is a jug-shaped one twenty-three inches by twenty-seven inches at the top but opening out considerably toward the bottom. ——e ie an ; 36 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. This was probably used as a cistern since it is plastered inside and may originally have been water-tight. In front of these rooms are four smaller ones the outer walls of which rested upon small aspen poles and a cedar log so placed as to overcome the slope of the cave floor. These poles are still sound with their bark intact. The back wall of the front row of rooms shows where ceiling joists once rested providing a roof six feet high. There were two other rooms at the southern end not in line with the first four. These smaller rooms were evidently used for storage and they still contain many corn cobs. At the base of the cliff was formerly the ruin of a single room in which a burial had taken place. This structure furnished an excellent storage place difficult to find and easily defended. Pueblo Bonito. In Chaco Canyon stands a typical unprotected ruin of a large community house known as Pueblo Bonito. It is close to the wall of the canyon, roughly semicircular in shape, with five rows of rooms on the ground, and was originally four or five stories high. Across the front was a double row of rooms one story high which enclosed a large court, in which were twenty or more kivas. The entire length of the struc- ture was 667 feet and its width 315 feet and it contained more than 500 rooms. The masonry of the walls varies in character, that of the first story being composed of medium-sized hewn stones and the upper stories of small flat stones faced to form the outer surface. Many sticks of timber are included in the walls to strengthen them. This ruin was excavated by the Hyde Expedi- at. ta (puepoolA "YT “WZ Aq poyystusdoo) ‘UNY OFUog ofqeng 37 38 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. tion of the American Museum in 1895-1900 and many remarkable specimens were recovered. Cavate Lodges. Along the Rio Grande and Rio Verde are the simplest possible dwellings, those excavated in the soft rock walls of the canyons. It is along the Rio Groundplan and Elevation, Cavate Lodge, Rio Verde Valley. (After Cosmos Mindeleff.) THE ANCIENT PEOPLES, 39 Verde that the most elaborate of these excavations are found. A round opening was made in the face of the cliff for the door and sufficient rock excavated to make a good-sized living room twelve feet or more in its dimensions and high enough for one to stand. Behind this were storerooms usually of less size and height. There are hundreds of such rooms in the canyon walls. Natural Caves. A curious series of natural caves near the headwaters of White River in eastern Arizona has ‘some time been inhabited. These caves vary in size and open into each other by low and narrow passage- ways which are also often steep since there is consider- able change in level. In some places the rock may have been excavated and there are a few masonry walls subdividing the larger rooms. The walls are black with smoke and the floors are covered with dirt which rises in dust since it is almost completely without moisture. Several of these natural rooms have small openings in the face of the cliff which admit air and light. MEANS OF SUSTENANCE. That the ancient people were agriculturists we know from the corn and beans found in the ruins. In the Museum collections are specimens of corn in the ear, a basket of shelled corn, and a bag of corn meal. Beans are also found and squash and gourds are known to have been raised. We know little of their method of tilling the land. 40 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Their tools must have been rude, probably of wood, with which the ground was dug before and after the seed was planted. In much of the territory occupied near the sources of the streams, the valley lands were kept moist by the underflow and did not require irriga- tion. At the elevation at which these streams leave the mountains there is considerable rain in late sum- mer, enough to mature corn even on the upland mesas. Reservoirs are found near many of these mesa pueblos which received the water from the mountain gulches and retained it for household purposes. In some cases the water thus impounded was used to irrigate the land. Near Solomonville on the upper portion of the Gila River the gardens were arranged in terraces on the sides and at the bases of mesas, and were watered from reservoirs which retained the water falling above. Irrigation. It is along the middle and lower courses of the Salt and Gila Rivers that evidences are found of irrigation practised on a large scale. The Hemenway Archaeological Expedition, in 1887-1888, explored Les Muertos, a veritable city with thirty-six large com- munal structures, nine miles southeast of Tempe, Arizona. This city, nine miles from the Salt River, was supplied with water by a large canal 7 ft deep, 4 ft. wide at the bottom, and 30 ft. wide at the top. The walls and the bottom of the canal were very hard as if they had been plastered with adobe clay after the soil had been thoroughly packed by tramping. It was suggested by the investigators that fires had been built in the canals and the clay baked by this means. Many THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 41 side canals were provided for the distribution of the water over the fields. The posts of the gates for regu- lating the flow were found at the heads of these laterals. Mr. Hodge, who reported these excavations, estimates that similar canals provided for the irrigation of at least 200,000 acres, about half of the land in the valley available for such uses. Hunting. The large number of bones of game animals found in the houses and refuse heaps indicates that hunting was not neglected. ‘The weapons proba- bly employed were the bow and arrows, spears, and ‘possibly clubs. The numerous pieces of large rope clearly show they had the means at hand for snares as well. MANUFACTURED OBJECTS. Pottery. The prehistoric pottery of the Southwest is of excellent quality and unusually beautiful in its decoration. It bears evidence of being made by coiling. The succeeding rounds of clay are made to adhere to the. preceding ones by pressure with the fingers and then are either left rough, or smoothed down and pol- ished so as to completely obliterate the individual coils. The larger cooking pots are often undecorated. In some of them the unsmoothed coils and the marks of the fingers in pressing the coils together produced decorative effects but that the result was intentional is not clear. On many of them, however, indentations are applied in a symmetrical way or so as to produce simple patterns. 42 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. A red ware decorated with black painted designs is found in Galisteo Basin, along the Little Colorado River and southward to the Mexican line in consider- able abundance. On the Little Colorado, and so far no- where else, have been found pots with a white slip on which designs have been painted in both black and red. There are also specimens painted in dark green. The prevailing type of decorated pottery has a white or grayish slip on which decorations are painted in ; ‘ Prehistoric Coiled Ware. black. Ware of this character abounds along the north- ern tributaries of the San Juan, in Chaco Canyon, in the Rio Verde Valley, and reached perhaps the best development on the San Francisco River and its tributaries at the head of the Gila. From the latter region a very remarkable series of pots was taken by Henry Hales in 1892 and 1893. The American Mu- seum possesses a large number of these pieces secured by purchase or gift at various times. At Pueblo 0 EE ——v——_—vVo3o3OC. THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 43 Bonito 173 pots were found in a single room, nearly all of them being cylindrical in shape. The forms of the pots are of interest. Those of the black ware are usually bowl-shaped or cylindrical x4 XS Tularosa Pottery. form while the gray and black ware occurs in the shape of mugs with handles, in a variety of bowl shapes and molded in the forms of animals and birds. Some of these show a considerable knowledge of anatomy and a high degree of skill in modeling. 44 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. The designs on the ancient pottery of the Southwest are largely geometric and purely decorative. Straight lines and acute angles often combined into intricate patterns predominate, but graceful curves and spirals Pueblo Bonito Pottery. Prehistoric Pottery. Lower Gila River. (Courtesy of Peabody Museum.) are also common. Several of the cylindrical pots from Pueblo Bonito are evidently intended to represent ears of corn, the kernels being figured in rows of black THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 45 squares. A small bowl from Tularosa has the feet of a child represented on the bottom. The red and black pottery of the Little Colorado often has animal forms either slightly or highly conventionalized. Pottery vessels and fragments have been found in ruins undoubtedly prehistoric that show clear evidence of having been treated before burning in a way to pro- duce a vitreous glaze. This may have resulted from an application of the salt found along the streams where it had been deposited by evaporation. It is expected that by a minute and careful study of the designs upon the pots and potsherds in the South- west, definite cultural subdivisions of the area may some time be made and possibly earlier and later occupations of the same region may be determined. Baskets. Fragments of baskets have been found in many of the ruins and it would appear that they were made over the entire area. The common type is of diagonal plaiting with a heavy wooden rim for a border. The material used was chiefly wide strips of yucca leaves and there were no attempts at decoration. The northwest portion of the area, however, seems quite exceptional in the number, variety, and excellence of the specimens recovered. The collections in the Museum were taken from Grand Gulch and Cottonwood Creek, Utah. The majority of the specimens were found with burials either in caves devoted to that purpose or under the floors of dwellings built in caves. These baskets are coiled with a single rod founda- tion, a peeled twig probably willow or sumach. The 46 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. sewing material is apparently the outer portion of such. twigs obtained by splitting them and removing the inner portion. In shape, the baskets are broad and shallow, only a few deep bowls having been found. Types of Prehistoric Sandals. Large baskets with flaring sides, sometimes conical, were found inverted over bodies. They were decorated by the use of sewing material dyed black and red or brown. The former color is THE ANCIENT PEOPLES, 47 fast but the latter has faded somewhat. While the designs are usually geometric, a few of them are realistic. One openwork specimen is interesting; its foundation Yucca Fiber Bag. Grand Gulch. 48 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. is coiled but the woof is twined with two strands crossed between each coil of the foundation leaving considerable spaces between both the warp and the woof. Sandals. The sandals, of which there is a long series in the Museum collection, show great variety in the methods employed in making them and in their orna- mentation. The simpler ones are diagonally plaited with broad strips of yucca leaves. Others are twined with two strands and usually have the lower side thick- Prehistoric Cotton Kilt. Grand Gulch, Utah. ened and cushioned by imbrication or the attachment of additional material in the form of numerous loops or rows of twine. The warp is usually of coarse stiff fibers, probably derived from yucea leaves, but the woof appears to be of cotton. The designs in red and black are usually arranged in horizontal stripes and bands. THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 49 Cordage. There are many examples of rope and twine usually composed of two twisted strands. Aprons consist of bunches of such twine gathered at the waist where they were attached by a string or girdle and left loose and flowing at the lower end. Such twine was also made into openwork nets, into the twists of which the quills of feathers were caught making a feather blanket, probably of the kind which were still being worn in the Southwest in Coronado’s time. There are many specimens of twine made of human hair. Bags and Cloth. There are a number of bags in the collection, several of them being in nearly perfect condi- tion. They are made without seams by twining with two strands of yucca fiber thread. The warp is of the same material resulting in a pliable and originally a very durable bag. The decorations are in the form of horizontal bands; one of the bags has a red stripe be- tween two black ones, repeated four times with wide un- decorated spaces between. Another has alternating red and gray bands each of which is composed of alternate stitches of colored and uncolored material to which a border composed of small rectangles is added. Both the rectangles and the speckled appearance of the bands are produced by using one colored strand and one uncolored one so that they appear alternately on either side. One of the best preserved specimens was found full of corn meal. It has a long fringe around the top produced by allowing the ends of the warp strands to extend for a considerable distance. Such bags were probably made largely without the aid of mechanical INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 50 ‘soppuidg ‘ap {joo\ UMOp Zuissorq ur posn quiog ‘9 fyoug uozwE ‘Q ‘doywog UOZOH B Ajqeqoig ‘p “BurAvoA, Ul posn sjuomo[dmy oLo4styor THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 51 devices in the manner in which baskets are twined. A small bag has the ordinary looped and twisted crochet stitch. There are many fragments of woven cotton cloth which were without doubt made on some sort of a loom. The most interesting piece is a small robe or kilt found wrapped around a body. The weaving is diagonal, 0 _y <<" Objects of Wood and Bone. a, Arrow; 6b, Sinew-wrapped End of Bow; c, Flint-pointed Drill; d-e, Firedrill; f, Wooden Awl; g, Bone Awl. o producing raised patterns which are further accentuated by the use of black, red, and yellow dye. This is probably the finest piece of textile work known from the Southwest. | The implements used in the preparation of the cotton and in weaving it are well represented. There are 52 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. several diverging small round sticks, joined in a handle which may have been used in beating the cotton. Spindles with wooden cylinders and balls to give mo- mentum have been found. There are also wooden forks and long batten sticks, similar to those used at the pres- Flaked Stones. ent time in the Southwest to press the woof strands firmly into place. The many wooden and bone awls were probably used in the manufacture of baskets and sandals. While the specimens recovered from the northwestern portion of the area indicate a great variety and perfec- THE ANCIENT PEOPLES, 53 tion in textile art, there are many examples of cotton and yucea fiber textiles from all parts of the area. Metates. The grinding stones employed were metates of the same sort now used in the Southwest and found in the southern portion of California, in Mexico, and Central America, and generally in South America. The bottom stone is a slab roughened by pecking and often ground down in the middle so that it has a raised border on either side. For use, it has the front end raised making an angle of about 30 degrees from the Prehistoric Stone Metate and Bowl. floor. The upper stone is usually a rectangular prism which is grasped by both ends with the hands of a kneel- ing woman and rubbed up and down over the bottom stone. The axes and pestles, made by pecking and grinding selected stones, are gracefully shaped and excellently made. The usual method of attaching a handle to the ax was to wrap stout withes around it in the one or more grooves provided. 54 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. The flaked objects of jasper and flint show excellent workmanship and many of them are very pleasing in outline. There are many arrow-heads and drill points and a few large pieces which were evidently used on spears. Some of the arrows are of reeds with fore- shafts while others have simple shafts. The drills are also simple and arrow-like. The fire-making appa- Ne ssn = = 7 APY Suse Stone Axes and Hammers. ratus is represented by several large fragments of the hearth or bottom piece and drills some of which are compound like a fore-shafted arrow. Turquoise. The wonderful deposits of turquoise obtained at Pueblo Bonito by the Hyde Expedition il- lustrate both the ability and the esthetic taste of these early inhabitants of the Southwest. There are THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 55 thousands of disc-shaped perforated turquoise beads, rectangular pieces which seem to have been fastened to the clothing, splendidly carved birds and insects, and remarkable mosaics. As examples of the latter may be mentioned a cylinder the core of which had disinte- grated greatly but with the mosaic covering still in position, a bone scraper with an inlaid band, and a frog of jet with an inlaid turquoise necklace and eyes. | h} | HH} f AD ANA WH > ANTAL TL pe? Fo AM} 9 it —ivge \Y \ SY \\\ Polished Stone Chisels. At Pueblo Bonito were also found several flageo- lets, some of them decorated with painted designs, and one or two with carved figures of birds. From Grand Gulch there is a rattle of small hoofs of deer or antelope and dice together with a cup from which they may have been thrown. There is no reason to suppose that the prehistoric peoples of the Southwest knew how to secure and make A oii 6 56 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. use of the copper which is abundant in that region. A few pieces of copper in the form of bells and ornaments. were found at Pueblo Bonito but it is more than likely they were brought from Mexico in trade. Some remarkable pieces of pottery with a textile backing and examples of cloisonné work are believed to have reached Pueblo Bonito in the same manner. Disposau OF DREAD. The dead were variously disposed of. In the north- west along Grand Gulch and Cottonwood Creek they were buried in caves and under the floors of houses. Prehistoric Rattle and Flageolet. In the Mesa Verde region cremation seems to have been generally practised. In the Pajarito Plateau, the bodies of children were sometimes placed in a house THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. Gr ~J wall and enclosed with masonry but adults were buried in cemeteries. Burial under the floors was practised in Galisteo Basin and on the upper Gila but lower on that stream cremation and urn burial of the ashes as well as house burial was the custom followed. RELIGION. We know little of the religious practices in prehistoric times. There are many objects which may with reason be supposed to have been ceremonial in their use. In the Rio Grande region are found large stone images that have long been supposed to be idols. Mr. N. C. Nelson, while excavating Pueblo Largo ruin in Galisteo Valley, found a stone image before which on a raised adobe platform were several pottery vessels and queer-shaped stones. These objects and their arrange- ment certainly present an early type of the altar still in use among the Pueblo Indians. ee = «a ee CHAPTER II. MODERN PUEBLOS. EXPLORATION. In the first half of the sixteenth century the suc- cessors of Cortes were extending the rule of Spain beyond the Valley of Mexico. Antonio de Mendoza was the viceroy of Mexico, and Nufio de Guzman had explored the Gulf of California and organized its eastern shore into the province of New Galicia. Narvaez with a considerable company had sailed from Cuba with the purpose of taking possession of the region about the mouth of the Rio Grande. The party was landed much too far east but painfully made their way west- ward, finally building small vessels in which they attempted in vain to sail to their destination. Cabeza de Vaca. Eight years later, in 1536, Cabeza de Vaca, the treasurer of this ill-fated expedition, accompanied by two Spaniards and a WYegro named Estevan, arrived in New Galicia on foot having crossed Texas and Northern Mexico. They had heard of great ‘‘cows”’ on which the natives of the vast plains lived and also of seven wonderful cities of great wealth. 58 MODERN PUEBLOS. 59 Now, the ancient Mexicans had a myth which told of their origin in the north where there were seven caves or canyons from which they believed they had migrated. Furthermore, it was an adventurous age and men were looking for new lands where there was gold ready mined, and men to kill or to convert, as occasion demanded. Marcos de Niza. ‘To investigate this report of seven cities to the north, Marcos de Niza was sent with a small escort and the negro, Estevan, as a guide. As they went toward the north they continually heard of the great and rich cities; but great and rich and cities meant one thing to Europeans acquainted with Mexico and Peru and another thing to the ignorant natives. When they reached Vacapa, in central Sonora, Estevan was told to go in advance and discover the best route. He was ordered to send back word of what he might find and not to proceed more than fifty or sixty leagues. Estevan sent back messengers but hurried on himself and after some days of delay the friar fol- lowed. A month later when he had reached the mountainous country near the headwaters of the Salt River one of the men who had been with the khegro met him and told him that they had reached the sought seven cities but that the natives had killed Estevan. Friar Marcos went on until he could see buildings in the distance and was then forced to return by his unwilling followers. Coronado. The report which he brought back was sufficiently glowing to bring about an expedition the next year by Francisco Vazquez Coronado who had Le) INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. been the governor of New Galicia. Hernando de ~ Alvarado was his chief ieutenant. The advance guard arrived at Cibola, supposed with good reasons to be the former villages of the Zufii, on July 7, 1540. After some fighting during which Coronado was wounded the Indians took refuge on Thunder Mountain, leaving their villages to the Spaniards. Hearing a report of seven other cities to the northwest, Don Pedro de Tovar was sent to investigate. He visited the Hopi villages known to the Spaniards as Tusayan and returned, bringing an account of the villages and a report of a great river with an uncrossable canyon to the west. Alvarado, the second in command, was sent with a few men to explore toward the east. He passed the village of Acoma, perched on its high mesa, and arrived at the Rio Grande probably near Bernalillo where there were villages similar to those of Cibola. Coronado joined him here with the main army and passed the winter in one of the villages. The natives, at first friendly, were offended by the constant demands for food and clothing and by the ill-treatment of their women and drove off the horses and mules of the Span- iards. The village involved was attacked and some of the men surrendered. The officer in charge prepared two hundred stakes for these prisoners but when the Indians saw they were to be roasted alive they seized the stakes and renewed the fight with the result that they all died more agreeable deaths. During the winter, the Rio Grande was explored to the north and south and the various pueblos described. Yj) J]VVV]V]V]ZZ@}@3dl Floor Plan of Hopi Kiva. (After Victor Mindeleff.) Roof of Hopi Kiva. (After Victor Mindeleff.) 78 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST, placed and an opening in front holds certain masks when they are not in use. The walls which are of stone are kept nicely plastered by the women. ‘The roof is composed first of large logs placed crosswise resting on the top of the two side walls; next, by many smaller poles placed lengthwise which are in turn covered with brush and well packed clay. In the middle a space five feet by seven is left for the hatch- way. Masonry walls resting on the ceiling beams are carried up for a few feet on all four sides. Across the top of these walls are laid planks leaving an opening four and a half feet long and two feet wide. Through this hatchway a ladder projects ten or twelve feet. The ceremonial rooms at Zuni are all included within the large structure perhaps to conceal them from the Spanish priests of past centuries. Their floors, however, are always somewhat below the level of the earth out- side. Castaneda and other early Spanish writers seem to have been amused by these kivas, estufas (stoves) they called them. They are described as being situated in the yards of the buildings with their roofs level with the ground. There were in that day both square and round kivas. Those of Taos are mentioned in particu- lar, one of which was said to have twelve pine posts of large size supporting the roof. The floors were paved with large smooth stones with a boxed-in fireplace in which small brush was burned for heat enabling the occupants to remain in them as in a bath. The kivas to-day are used as clubrooms and loafing MODERN PUEBLOS. 79 places as well as workshops, the weaving usually being done in them. They are generally spoken of as cere- monial chambers and it is quite true that ceremonies are held in them. The Hopi kivas, at least, are con- structed with certain unmistakable adaptations to cere- monial uses. In this connection, certain remarks of Castaneda are of interest : — “The young men live in the estufas....The houses belong to the women, the estufas to the men. If a man repudiates his woman he has to go to the estufa. It is forbidden for women to sleep in the estufas or to enter these for any purpose except to give their husbands or sons something to eat.’’? (Winship, 520, 521.) These statements suggest a very likely explanation of the earlier uses of the kiva. It is very common in the Pacific Islands and elsewhere for the unmarried men to sleep in a large community dormitory. The Yurok and the Hupa men in northwestern California, whether married or single, slept in such a structure throughout the winter months. Foon. The method of securing food is always the central fact in a people’s existence around which social life, art, and religion are largely built. There are consider- able regions in North America where agriculture was not practised. In the great plains the chief dependence was upon the buffalo, while on the North Pacific Coast the people lived largely on fish. The inhabitants of = 80 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. the Plateau area lived upon wild vegetables, small game, and insects. The sedentary peoples of the Southwest placed their first reliance on the crops which their fields produced. These were in earlier times, corn, beans, and squash to which wheat and other small grains and vegetables have been added. Hunting was by no means neglected for flesh was needed to Hoes and Throwing Stick. produce a balanced diet. The wild vegetables in the neighborhood were gathered and preserved for future use. Agriculture. The fields of the Rio Grande peoples are situated in the river bottoms and along the smaller streams near their villages. Irrigation is now practised and was being practised at many of the pueblos at — MODERN PUEBLOS. S] least, when the Spanish first entered the area. There were however, no great difficulties involved and no large canals like the prehistoric ones of the lower Salt River were necessary. The fields of the Acoma are fourteen miles away at Acomita, apparently where they were when Espejo visited them in 1583. He mentions both the cornfields two leagues away, and the river from which he says they watered them. The Hopi fields are situated near the mesas wherever there is sufficient moisture from some gulch or spring. Corn is planted ten or twelve inches deep with a plant- ing stick which makes a suitable hole. The corn is not raised in rows, but in large clumps of eight or ten stalks, at considerable distances from each other. While the plants are young, they are protected from the wind and the drifting sand by windbreaks of brush or stone. Irrigation is not practised except that vegetables are sometimes watered by hand. Ditches, however, are provided to carry off the excessive waterfall during heavy showers. Because of the large population of Zuhi many of their fields are at a great distance; the people move in large numbers to the neighborhood of these fields where the farming villages of Nutria, Pescado, and Ojo Caliente are maintained. Mr. Frank H. Cushing has described the old Zuni method of agriculture. A man without land chose a piece of ground where a gulch opened into a valley or on to the margin of the plain. Across this he made an earthen dam which retained the water and mud brought down during heavy rains. 82 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Since the gulch was ordinarily a dry one, the water did not stand for any length of time but enough of it sank into the ground to supply what moisture was needed for a crop of corn. Quite contrary to the usual custom among the North American Indians, the men till the fields and do the greater part of the work connected with raising and harvesting the crops. This is probably because in the Southwest agriculture is the chief means of securing food while in other regions it is of less importance than hunting and fishing to which the men _ principally devote themselves. The only primitive implements used in tilling the soil appear to have been the planting stick and a knife-like wooden paddle which served as a hoe or shovel. Castaneda tells us the ground was not broken before planting the seed. He, of course, greatly exaggerated the productiveness of the soil when he said that one crop was sufficient for seven years. He mentions large quantities of corn in Galisteo Valley stored in underground chambers. The Hopi Pueblos still maintain at least a full year’s supply of corn to guard against crop failure. After the corn is gathered it is thoroughly dried either by hanging it in long braids or by spreading it in the sun on the roofs of the buildings. It is stored in the back rooms of the lower stories where the braids are hung up and the loose ears piled in tiers. The pump- kins and squashes are cut in long strips which are twisted together and hung about the houses together with many strings of red peppers. MODERN PUEBLOS. 83 The Hopi have many peach orchards but fruit was not cultivated when the Spanish first became ac- quainted with the Southwest. They did make use of pinon nuts which are frequently mentioned. That they used cherries, wild plums, the fruit of the yucca, and the pods and beans of the mesquite, is also probable although Castafieda says that pine nuts were the only fruits used by them. Preparation of Food. The method of grinding corn has changed but little since it was first described by Castaneda. “They keep the separate houses where they prepare the food for eating and where they grind the meal, very clean. This is a separate room or closet, where they have a trough with three stones fixed in stiff clay. Three women go in here, each one having a stone, with which one of them breaks the corn, the next grinds it, and the third grinds it again. They take off their shoes, do up their hair, shake their clothes, and cover their heads before they enter the door. A man sits at the door playing on a fife while they grind, moving the stones to the music and singing together. They grind a large quantity at one time, because they make all their bread of meal soaked in warm water, like wafers.” (Winship, 522.) The meal boxes are often in one corner of the living rooms of the modern pueblos and the women still sing at their work but without the accompanying flute. Before grinding, the corn is often parched or roasted. The wafers mentioned probably refer to piki, the paper-thin bread made of corn meal of various colors and rolled into bunches which keep indefinitely. This bread is cooked on thin slabs ef stone or more recently on pieces of sheet iron. Tortillas, having the shape and thickness of pancakes, are also popular. The M4 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Hopi place pots of mush in holes in the ground which have been heated by a fire and cover them with ashes and hot coals until they are thoroughly cooked. At Zuni and along the Rio Grande, the Mexican dome- shaped ovens are generally used. Hunting. The eastern pueblos, those of Taos, Pi- curis, and Pecos especially, used to make expeditions to the Plains, principally along the Canadian and Arkansas Rivers to hunt buffalo. Such trips could be made safely only by a large number of men and with the greatest precaution against surprise by the Plains tribes. They were under the control of the war chief as were all communal hunts. The communal hunting of antelope, deer, and elk, because of their scarcity has not been practised in recent years, but such hunts for rabbits are still maintained. The men and boys surround a large tract of suitable land, drive the rabbits toward the center and then kill them with bows and arrows and with throwing sticks. These clubs resemble in form the Australian boomerang but do not have the particular character which makes that imple- ment return to the thrower. Deer and antelope may have been hunted in a similar manner, but Capt. Bourke in 1881 saw corrals of brush near Hopi into which an- telope were driven. Still hunting by individuals was, of course, practised. Mr. Cushing tells in detail how fetishes were used in such hunts. Fish for food were taken in the Rio Grande region where there seems to be no taboo against their use. One of the mest interesting phases of South- MODERN PUEBLOS. 85 western life was the relation existing between the seden- tary and nomadic peoples. We are told by the Coro- nado writers and by Espejo that the nomadic peoples of the plains and of the mountains of the Southwest brought the meat and the hides of buffalo and deer to the pueblos and exchanged them for mantles of cotton and for corn. This exchange of products allowed one people to concentrate upon agriculture and the other upon hunting, yet each to have both corn and meat for food, and cotton cloth and dressed skins for clothing. DRESS. | The dress of the sedentary Indians of the Southwest changed but little from the time it was first described in the sixteenth century until the American occupation and railroads brought other styles and cheaper mate- rials. In the east, at Taos, Picuris, and Pecos, skins were almost, if not quite exclusively worn. The men were described as wearing small shirts with fringes, and robes of buffalo skin decorated with painted designs. The women’s clothing of these particular pueblos is not mentioned at an early date but at the present time the long buckskin dresses of the Plains type are occasion- ally seen at Taos. The dress of the men at that pueblo is hardly to be distinguished from that worn by the Indians of the Plains; long leggings of fringed buckskin, or of red or blue flannel are still generally worn. The 86 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. breech cloth of similar flannel is wide and long, hanging nearly to the ground. Buckskin shirts, which are less common, are of the usual Plains type. For all the other pueblos, the sixteenth century dress of the men was an apron or kilt. These were of cotton and are described as resembling napkins of that period Hopi Robe. but having tassels at each corner. Kilts which are probably similar to these are still worn as ceremonial garments. At the present time a short, narrow breech cloth of white cotton, falling only a few inches from the belt before and behind, is the only essential garment for men at hard work or engaged in ceremonies. MODERN PUEBLOS. S7 A robe of some sort is a necessary adjunct at all ordinary times regardless of the season. In Coronado’s time these robes were of cotton, woven rabbitskins, dressed skins, often buffalo, and turkey feathers fas- tened to anet. Large flocks of turkeys used to be kept to supply feathers for these garments and for cere- monies. Robes of feathers have not been in use for many years but the other materials have been dis- placed only recently, first by woolen blankets bought of the Navajo, and later by the gayly colored factory products introduced by the American traders. White cotton trousers coming some inches below the knee, but split on the outer side, and a cotton shirt falling over the trousers, girded with a cotton belt, were additions adopted from the Spanish and still worn by the older men. The woman’s dress as first described, consisted of a single garment, of yucca fiber at Zufi, but of cotton elsewhere, which reached from the shoulders to the knees. It was fastened over the right shoulder but open at the left where two tassels hung. (ie On-Oeo ere eens 4 660 444 ee Oth 6 t MODERN PUEBLOS, 125 or from clay was placed under a cloth and sung over until it was animated. Spider woman is the originator of the arts and the wise counsellor of those in perplexity. With her live twin grandsons, diminutive war gods, who in the beginning rid the world of man-eating monsters, and became the patrons of the warrior societies. The weapons and arts of warfare were given them by the thunder who is believed to be bird-like with tail and wing feathers of obsidian which makes the noise of thunder attributed to it. The clouds, usually personified, are addressed when rain is desired. The horned snake, frequently figured on pottery, is a water being feared as well as worshiped since it produces floods rather than helpful showers. The world quarters are frequently personified. The kachinas are a supernatural race superior to men but inferior to the great nature gods. They live as men do either in the neighborhood of the villages or inside the sacred mountains. These, together with the Koshare and the Cuirana of the Rio Grande peoples benefit mankind by influencing the natural forces in their favor, probably through the instrumentality of ceremonies similar to those of mankind. For each ceremony there are divine pairs, like the antelope man and maiden, who are looked upon as the originators of the rites. One must remember, however, that these beings are seldom definite and well formulated. On the contrary there is much contradiction and confusion concerning = A aw | nO er ee eee A ee « 126 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. them. They are, of course, reflections of nature and images projected by the human mind as it reacts toward the world and human society. Some of them are doubtless outgrowths of the ceremonies constructed to give old established religious practices a more definite meaning. CHAPTER III. THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. THE term nomadic has been used to distinguish those in the Southwest who do not live in pueblos from those who do liveinthem. The name is auseful one although it does not give a correct impression concerning the permanency of the homes of some of the tribes treated in this chapter. The nomadic tribes of the Southwest occupied and claimed the territory of that region with little regard to the presence of the Pueblo people. They were chiefly hunters, and game was not plentiful near the settled towns. They planted to a considerable extent but found ample room for their fields without encroaching on the farms of the village people. DISTRIBUTION. These nomadic people belong to four linguistic stocks, the Athapascan, the Piman, the Yuman, and the Sho- shonean. Athapascan. In the eastern portion of the territory, are the Athapascan tribes who speak languages related to the Déné of the north in the Mackenzie and Yukon 127 128 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. valleys and to the various scattered bands in western Oregon and northwestern California. They are known as the Apache, the Lipan, and the Navajo. The former name was widely applied by both the Spanish and the Americans who succeeded them and was used for several distinct tribes. In the northeast, are the Jicarilla Apache who are again divided into two bands, one of which, the Llanero, lived on the headwaters of the Canadian River and in the mountains between that stream and the Rio Grande. The Ollero lived west of the Rio Grande especially along the Chama River. In the mountains between the Rio Pecos and the Rio Grande south of White Mountain were the Mescalero Apache. They consisted of many bands, each of which claimed a rather definite locality as its home. The territory occupied by them extended southward to the mouth of the Pecos but the bands in the lower part of this region were less closely allied to the Mesca- lero proper in political feeling and there was a slight difference in dialect. West of the Rio Grande in the Valley of the Mimbres was an Apache tribe now nearly extinct. They formerly were called the Mimbrefos but are better known from their great war leader, Victorio. When he was defeated a part of his band joined the Mescalero and others united with the tribes west of them. The Apache living on the headwaters of the Gila River are known as the Chiricahua. This tribe really consisted of four almost independent bands, each with a chief. These are the Indians who have LO a THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 129 made the name of Apache so widely known. They had robbed the Mexican settlements for many years before the American occupation. When later they were deprived of their native lands and placed on a reserva- tion, they fled to Mexico where they lived by plundering on either side of the international boundary line. Their most noted chiefs were Magnas Coloradas, Whoa, Cochise, and Geronimo. The last named with a larger part of his band surrendered to General Miles in 1886. They were taken with their families as prisoners of war to Florida. After less than a year they were removed to Alabama and finally were given a place on a reserva- tion at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Arrangements are now being made for the return of their descendants to their western homes. The name San Carlos has been applied to the Apache bands gathered on a reservation of that name. They ~ formerly lived on the San Carlos River, on the Gila River near the mouth of the San Carlos, on Arivaipa Creek which flows into the San Pedro, a southern tributary of the Gila, and about certain springs west of the town of Globe, Arizona. On the White River, which is one of the main tribu- taries of the Salt River, were a number of bands of Apache quite similar in all respects to those last men- tioned. ‘These have often been called the Coyotero because they were looked upon as wild, but are now generally spoken of as the White Mountain Apache. The Salt River receives a considerable tributary from the north called Tonto Creek. Near the head of this 130 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. stream there is a large valley known as Tonto Basin. A tribe occupied this valley so well isolated from other Apache that a dialectic difference in language was developed. They were closely associated with the Yavapai who are Yuman in their speech. These two peoples were placed on the San Carlos Reservation where they remained until recently. The Navajo, called by the Spanish Apaches de Navajo, occupy nearly all the region between the San Juan and the Little Colorado Rivers and roam far beyond that territory in all directions. In language they are not very different from the Western Apache, but in culture they are fairly distinct. Just prior to the American occupation, they were almost constantly raiding the Mexican settlements of New Mexico. They killed their first Indian agent and resisted Ameri- ean control. A large number of the tribe were taken prisoners and removed to Fort Sumner on the Pecos River where they were confined for some years. Piman. Below the Apache on the Gila and Salt Rivers lived the Pima who speak a language, of the Piman stock, so named from them. They claimed the Gila River from the San Pedro westward to its junction with the Salt River near which place thei principal villages were located. They were the enemies of the Apache and considerable territory between the two peoples was not actually settled for that reason. South of the Gila, far into Old Mexico, live the Papago whese language is closely related to that of the Pima. Since they live rather on the wild products of the THE NOMADIC PEOPLES, 13] desert than upon agriculture they are less settled in their habits. Yuman. With the Pima live the Maricopa who came to them from the mouth of the Gila River in historic times. They are now nearly identical in culture with the Pima but their language is Yuman. There is another tribe speaking a Yuman language, the Yavapai, who seem to have lived for centuries along the Rio Verde. They have often been locally called Apache, or, to distinguish them from the Athapascan. tribes with whom they are friendly, Mohave Apache. Of the same linguistic stock are the Havasupai who have their villages in the canyon of Cataract Creek, a. few miles southwest of the Grand Canyon of the Colo-. rado. They are close friends of the Hopi and seem. to resemble them in some respects although they do: not build terraced houses. The Walapai, also of the same linguistic stock, live in the territory included in the great bend of the Colorado where it swings from the west toward the south. Along the Colorado itself are the Mohave who formerly lived from the Nevada line southward half- way to the mouth of that river. The Yuma live near the mouth of the Colorado where it receives the waters of the Gila. The last two tribes, while they are cut off from the California tribes by the Mohave desert, in some ways resemble them and are not particularly like the other peoples of the Southwest. They have adapted themselves to the peculiar conditions imposed by their river valley home. 132 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Shoshonean. North of the San Juan and at its head- waters are the Southern Ute whose language is Sho- shonean, connected with the Hopi. They are within the territory which has been included in this handbook because in it are some of the most important ruins and other evidences of its having once been a part of this culture area. Between Bill William Creek and the Needles a band of Shoshonean speaking people, the Chemehuevi, formerly lived, occupying both sides of the Colorado. They were friends of their Yuman speaking neighbors and probably settled among them a century or more ago as the Maricopa are known to have done among the Pima. SHELTER. ~ These nomadic tribes do not show a great degree of uniformity either in their material culture or in their religion. We shall find their houses, their methods of securing food, and their social habits changing as we pass from tribe to tribe. Both of the eastern bands of the Apache, the Jicarilla and the Mescalero, and also the Ute, lived in skin- covered tipis which differ in no important respect from those used by the Plains Indians. The Mescalero sometimes make brush shelters as well, and perhaps always made a practice of using them when they were in the mountains. When on the treeless plains nothing was so desirable as an easily portable dwelling of skins or canvas. @P EVA aa a. =o Wht EP Me *h® ee THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 133 All of the Apache west of the Rio Grande made houses which had frames of poles, covered with a thatch of weeds or grass. The prevailing type among the San Carlos Apache is dome-shaped. When the house is small, the frame is made by setting poles a few inches in the ground in a circle, bending their tops over, and lashing them together. These poles are held in the San Carlos Apache Women building a House. proper curves by horizontal ones lashed to them. When a larger house is needed, poles are first placed forming a series of arches which overlap each other and together complete a circle except for the doorway. These arches support the main ribs running from the ground to the apex. The thatch, which is usually 134 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. bear grass, is applied in regular, overlapping courses and is bound in place with strips of yucca leaves. The White Mountain Apache houses frequently have two long sloping sides meeting in a line above, like an ordinary gable roof. In recent years, corn stalks and the limbs of trees are frequently used for thatching with the additional protection of a strip of canvas. White Mountain Apache House. The houses of the Pima have a frame in the center consisting of four posts set in the ground at the corners of a square ten to twelve feet apart. The posts are forked at the top and support two logs on which many smaller poles rest. Around this framework a dome- shaped light frame is constructed similar to that employed by the Apache. The house is thatched with arrowbush brush and the roof is generally covered with THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 135 earth to a depth of eight or ten inches. ‘The sides are also sometimes banked with earth. No opening is left for the smoke to escape but because of the climate fires are seldom needed in the houses. The Papago houses are similar to those of the Pima. The Mohave houses have an inner frame similar to that employed in the Pima houses but the outer portion is rectangular with low vertical walls. The sides and Navajo House. roofs are thatched and the roof also has a layer of sand. The Navajo live in winter in earth-covered lodges. The house has for its chief support three large logs with forked tops. ‘These are locked together by placing the fork of one in the fork of a second, and thrusting the fork of the third between them. Other logs and small poles are laid on these until a conical house is enclosed. Brush is placed in the larger cracks and ? 136 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. earth’ is piled on to a depth of several inches. Such a house leaks only after a long hard rain. A doorway is made on the east side and between the doorway and the apex a large hole is left to admit light and air and through which the smoke may escape. Six-sided houses are also built of logs placed horizontally. By drawing them in gradually after the walls have been carried to a proper height, the roof is formed. A smoke hole is left at the apex. During the summer the Navajo generally camp with only a shelter of brush or a stone wall to protect them from the prevailing winds, Foop SupPLy. The nomadic tribes had a large territory at their dis- posal. There were fertile and fairly well watered river valleys where corn and beans could be raised and vast tracts of upland covered, if sparsely, with a varied — vegetation. Judging from the number of cattle and sheep which that region now supports, before their introduction there must have been sufficient food for many deer, antelope, and elk. A few days’ travel east from the Rio Grande were the buffalo plains with a supply of meat limited only by the means of trans- porting it. Corn was planted by all the tribes; but the Eastern Apache, the Jicarilla and Mescalero, depended but little upon agriculture. That the Navajo formerly had large fields was stated by Benavides who gave that THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 137 fact as the explanation of their name. The methods employed seem not to have differed particularly from those of the village Indians. The corn was planted in irregularly spaced bunches, rather than in rows. The Mohave and Yuma planted in soil freshly de- posited each year by the overflow of the Colorado, and Jicarilla Woman gathering Mescal. did not make use of irrigation, as did nearly if not all other tribes. The nomadic people made extensive use of the wild vegetable products. The pifon produces large crops of nuts which the woodrats gather. It is only necessary to rob their nests to secure an abundant supply. The mesquite grows in most localities and furnishes edible ——— * ee 138 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. pods when they are green and later bean-like seeds which are pounded into flour. The amole, Yucca baccata, has a banana-shaped fruit which is cooked in the ashes, and may then be dried for later use. The agave, a century plant, furnishes a large bulk of nutri- tious food. The plants are watched until signs of the flowering stalk appear when they are seven or eight years old. The entire plant is severed near the base by means of a chisel-shaped stick which is hammered with a stone. The plant is then turned top down and Mescal Knife. San Carlos Apache. trimmed with a broad knife of native manufacture. A leaf or two is left for a handle by which the stumps are carried to a long deep pit used year after year. This pit is thoroughly heated and filled with stumps, A covering of earth is thrown over them and a fire maintained on top for a day or more. The cooked material is dried in the sun and packed in bales for transportation to the camp. This food, while coarse, is not unpalatable. | There are many species of cacti, most of which have THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 139 edible fruit. The giant cactus, which grows on the lower elevations, because of its great size yields abun- dantly. The fruit is pressed in large balls which keep indefinitely. These contain many black seeds which are separated by soaking and ground for flour. There are many berries, seeds of grasses and sunflowers, nuts, and bulbs, which add considerably to the required food supply. The Eastern Apache made regular trips to the buffalo plains, at the times of the year when the buffalo were driven south by the cold. They killed a large number, dried the meat, and packed it in bags, or parfleches, made of the hides of the animals killed. ‘These were tied on the backs of horses for transporta- tion. Men went out singly to hunt deer and antelope wearing a headdress with the horns of the animals that they might approach them more readily. There were communal hunts for elk particularly. The leader of the hunt placed the men at the points that commanded the passageways and trails and the animals were -driven toward them. Corrals were also used into which the antelope were driven. The Athapascan tribes, except the Lipan, never eat fish or waterfowl. The taboo is explained by the Indians as due to a fear of water which is connected with the thunder. The Mohave appear to be the only tribe making much use of fish for food. For some years before and after the American -occupation of the region the Western Apache and the ee eee eee eee a ee Le ee » 140 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Navajo lived to a large extent on the, cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and burros they were, able to drive off in the settlements. The Navajo alone of the" nomadic tribes, raised sheep for food and wool. (CLOTHING. The Jicarilla Apache wore buckskin clothing similar to that of the Plains. The Mescalero and the Western Apache women had dresses in two parts, the upper garment had an opening for the head and two large square portions which fell in front and behind to the hips. 2 ~* “a nS Ra ’ a 5 AN, ha Kr NG sais thd bds a UY A he ‘Ss 4 : . , 4 » ie MARKS Mescalero Girl in Native Costume. These were variously colored by dyeing, usually gveen or red. When cloth became more easily procurable, white cotton trousers with the lower part of the legs _ ——————VESE Oe Oe 142 INDIANS (Photo. OF THE SOUTHWEST. Navajo Man. by Howard McCormick.) THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 143 slit on the outer side were adopted. ‘The upper gar- ment was preferably of velveteen and answered the purpose of both shirt and blouse. A handkerchief or colored strip of cloth is worn about the head to confine the hair. The moccasins which are colored brown come up around the ankle where they are fastened by a silver button. The robe, until recently, was the woolen blanket manufactured by the Navajo women of the type now generally called a “chief.” The women wore a dress consisting of two rectangular pieces of woolen goods sewed up the sides and part way across one end, openings being left for the neck and arms. The decorations of these dresses were of a peculiar sort, restricted to the two ends and symmetri- cally arranged. Leggings of black wool are worn and buckskin moccasins over these. Both men and women wear much silver jewelry of native manufacture. Necklaces and belts are the most elaborate but the bracelets and the finger rings set with turquoise are attractively made. INDUSTRIAL ARTS. Pottery. All the nomadic peoples appear originally to have made crude pottery. The Jicarilla Apache, the Navajo, and the Pima and Papago, still make what is required for household purposes. The Jicarilla in former days were rather noted for the excellent cooking pots which they made. Their ware was never painted 144 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. and was without decoration other than ridges or series of points modeled in low relief usually near the top. The vessels are made in a similar manner to that em- ployed by the Pueblo peo- ples but they are fired with pine bark which gives them a lustreless black surface. As the pots cool they are coated with pifon gum which is said to prevent their breaking. The Navajo make vessels similar in appearance. They are usually cylindrical in shape and with buck- skin stretched over them are used in ceremonies for drums. The Pima and Papago, having built up their vessels by the usual method mold them with a paddle applied to the outside while a curved stone is held inside to preserve the shape. They are polished with smooth stones and then given a slip pastes of shale which contains red = ochre.™% The burning is done in a “small pit, mesquite brush} or decayed willow sticks being used for fuel. The designs are painted on after the first burning with gum obtained from the mes- quite for paint. This is pale when applied but after a San Carlos Apache Tray. Jicarilla Tray. ee eee ee THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 145 few minutes of refiring becomes deep black. Vessels are sometimes given a coating of white clay on which designs in black are painted. The vessels most in de- mand are large pots which are supported on three- branched sticks and placed in the shade for the storage of drinking water. The ware is sufficiently porous to allow rapid evaporation which keeps the water delight- fully cool. The pottery of the nomadic peoples as compared with that of the village peoples is very inferior in appearance and variety but is well adapted to the limited household uses to which it is put. Basketry. It is in basketry that the mechanical and artistic skill of the nomadic peoples is best displayed. The baskets of both the Jicarilla and the Mescalero are quite different from those made by the Western Apache, the Yavapai, and the Pima. The Jicarilla baskets are of the coiled or sewed sort, the foundation is of a single twig of sumach or willow. The sewing material is made from similar twigs by splitting them into three parts and separating the sap wood from the heart. The sap portion, which is that used, is trimmed to the proper size and that required for designs is dyed. The old dyes were made from the root bark of the mountain mahogany which gives a red and the root of the barberry which gives yellow. At the present time aniline dyes are used and the colors are gaudy and varied. The patterns are geometrical: triangles, rectangles, and bands. The names of these designs indicate that they represent certain natural objects such as moun- 146 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. tains, houses, plets of ground, trails, and gates. It is seldom, however, that they are combined in such a way as to make a connected composition. The Jicarilla at the present time make almost no use of baskets except yf , a a" 9 Sah “inte ee RY Se ~ | oe ogee on . Mesealero Unfinished Basket. water jars. These are made of close coiling in the shape of a jug. The inside is coated with pion pitch which has had its consistency reduced by boiling. This renders the vessel water-tight and provides an oe THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 147 easily cleaned surface. The outside is kept white by frequent applications of white earth. Two loops of leather or hair are made on one side through which the carrying strap passes. The Mescalero also make coiled baskets but since they use two rods side by side in each coil of the founda- tion their baskets have quite a different appearance. The material used for sewing is obtained chiefly by Jicarilla and San Carlos Apache Baskets. splitting the leaves of the narrow-leaved yucca. These are used green, partly bleached to a yellow or entirely bleached to white. A red material is obtained from the root of the yucca. These decorated baskets are made principally for sale although they are used to some extent for storage. The water jars are similar in 148 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. shape to those made by the Jicarilla but they are frequently pitched on the outside as well as inside. Burden or carrying baskets are still in common use. They are made by varied processes of twining which produce decorative effects. The material most de- Pima Trays. sired is mulberry the twigs of which are exceedingly durable. In most cases the women do not assign such names to the designs as would lead one to think the patterns are intended to be symbolic. One old woman, however, pointed out on a very crude basket the milky THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 149 way, morningstar, and a rainbow. ‘These particular things are considered very sacred; and in spite of the denials of many of the women it is probable that Mesca- lero baskets do often have symbols on them which are expected to benefit the users of the basket. The basket makers of Arizona, the Apache, Yavapai, Pima and Papago, make baskets in black and white exclusively. The Apache and Yavapai baskets are made on a single rod, coiled foundation, either of aroma- tic sumach or willow. The warp or sewing material, is of sumach, willow, or cottonwood, and is prepared as has been described above. No dyes are employed, but for black, the outer portion of the dried pods of the martynia, sometimes called devil’s claw, is used. The patterns are continuous, radiating from the center in zigzags or in bands encircling the basket. They are usually geometrical and apparently are not symbolic. The Yavapai, who of those named, perhaps produce the most beautiful baskets, frequently depict men and animals, conventionalized to meet the requirements of basket work. Carrying baskets of the Western Apache are twined and are made of the same materials em- ployed by the Mescalero. In twining, two rods of the foundation are enclosed each time between the twists of the twining strands. Strips and fringes of buckskin are usually used on these baskets. They generally make their water jars by twining. They give them a coat of red ochre and finely pounded juniper leaves before the pifion pitch is applied. The baskets of the Pima and Papago which closely 150 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. resemble those of the Apache in appearance are made with a bundle of finely divided leaves of bear grass or cattail reeds for the coiled foundation. The sewing materials are similar to those used by the Apache r= te “= 4 oa Ti) arreryy Iw iv fae, Are tee AT Hey vy ey ‘4 o ‘ "9 Lal Thay We Pima Storage Basket. except that the Papago often use yucca leaves in baskets intended for sale. The designs resemble those found on Apache baskets except that the bands are usually narrower. — THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 151 The Pima and Papago also made large storage baskets, six feet or more in diameter. The foundation is a large bundle of wheat straw coiled spirally, the coils being bound together by frequent wrappings of tough bark strands. These two tribes also make plaited baskets Papago Plaited Basket. and mats, using for the purpose the leaves of the sotol, a yucca-like plant. In place of the carrying basket they used a net made of agave fiber twine. This is stretched on a frame of sticks which keeps it in proper form for carrying on the back. ‘Few basket-makers excel the Chemehuevi in the technical perfection and pleasing decoration which their baskets display. They resemble in a general way the baskets of their neighbors. 152 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. Weaving. It is not known that any of the nomadic peoples with the exception of the Pima and Papago raised cotton or manufactured cloth by weaving before the coming of the Spanish. The Pima have Navajo Woman Spinning. discontinued the manufacture of cotton cloth in recent years, but still weave belts. That sheep were introduced in the Southwest in the seventeenth century we know, for certain of the Rio Grande villages are credited with flocks of sheep at eee ee — eee ee ee eee ee ~~ —— - THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 153 the time of the rebellion in 1680. The Navajo were the only nomadic people to turn to a pastoral life. When blankets are to be made from the wool, it is sorted, spread out on a sloping stone, and then washed Navajo Woman beating down the Woof with a Batten Stick. by pouring hot water containing an extract of the yucca root over it. The carding is done with a pair of ordi- nary European hand cards and there is no evidence of 154 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. a more primitive means ever having been employed. The spindle, however, is the same as that found in cliff ruins. It consists of a small stick at the base of which is a wooden dise to give momentum and facilitate the winding of the yarn. The loom is a simple frame in which the warp is placed vertically. The weaving is done beginning at the bottom, the blanket being lowered as the work progresses. No shuttle is used; the yarn is inserted with the fingers or by the aid of a small stick. The woof is forced down by pressure with a fork or by the, blow of a batten stick. The weaving is peculiar in that the woof strands of a particular color are not carried . entirely across the blanket, but only as far as that color is required for the design. It is then dropped and another color taken up. In plain weaving the warp is divided into two divisions or sheds by attaching alternate threads by means of loops of yarn to two small sticks. The sheds or sets of warp strands are separated by pushing down a small rod and crossed by pulling up on the stick to which the loops are attached. Diagonal weaving is done by making three instead of two sheds, by this means every third strand of the warp can be lifted and a raised pattern is made with a slope to one side or the other. By reversing the direc- tion of this slope, diamonds are produced. This style of weaving is used particularly in the saddle blankets. Sashes are woven on a similar loom which since it is small is stretched on a forked stick or by fastening one THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. ’ rt Navajo Belt Loom. 156 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. end to a tree and the other to the waist of the weaver. The patterns are brought out by causing the warp instead of the woof to appear in the desired places. The colors employed are the natural white and brown of the well-washed wool, a gray which results from the mingling of these, and various native and commercial dyes. Black they produce by combining a concoction of sumach (hus aromatica), roasted ochre, and pifion gum. Dull red was obtained by placing the yarn in a liquid made by boiling the bark of alder and mountain mahogany in water. Lemon yellow was secured by the use of the yellow flowers of the shrubby Bigelovia graveolens and a native alum. Old gold resulted from rubbing into the wool a paste made of sorrel roots and crude alum ground together. In rather early days indigo blue was obtained from the Mexicans and dis- placed an earlier native blue. ae THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 167 The Mesecalero ceremony lasts four nights. A special lodge is built with many ceremonial observances. Behind the fire in this lodge the girl sits and near it the priest. Early in the evening he begins singing the songs of the ceremony keeping count of them by placing small sticks in a circle about the fire beginning at the east. The songs are mostly sung in groups of four, the priest stopping between each set to smoke, pray, and sing a special tobacco song. About twenty-five songs are sung during each of the first three nights ending about midnight. The girl stands and dances during some of the songs, the movements changing in accord- ance with the character of the songs. While this is taking place inside, another ceremony occurs by a fire in front of the lodge. Masked and painted men representing the Ganhi appear and dance about the fire. The Ganhi are believed to live in the interior of certain mountains and rocks where they have a world which is more beautiful and better provided with food than this. They apparently correspond to the kachinas of the Pueblo Indians. The Indians generally, both men and women, join in the dances, during the ceremony. The women choose their part- ners and receive a present from them at the end of the evening’s dancing. The entire community is feasted during the days of the ceremony. On the last night ‘the priest sings all night long repeating the songs of the previous nights. By in- cluding or excluding certain songs he makes the pre- scribed ones describing the dawn come just as dawn appears. The priest paints a red disc to represent the 168 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. sun on the palm of his hand with four beams streaming toward his fingers and four more toward his wrist. This painting he applies four times to the crown of the girl’s head. He then paints four lines outward from the corners of her mouth and puts yellow pollen on her forehead. The priest paints the women and children present with red on the right side of their faces, the soles of their feet, and their breasts, and dusts pollen on their left cheeks. With appropriate songs the priest then conducts the girl out of the lodge toward the east where a buffalo robe is spread. On this he paints four footprints in pollen and four in red ochre. The girl having stepped on these, runs first around a basket filled with feathers which are presented to her by attendant girls and then to an indicated bush or tree in the distance. While this ceremony is primarily for the benefit of the girl, securing for her a happy, useful, and honorable life, it is intended to bring good fortune to the entire community. The songs sung show how greatly the feeling for number and balance accentuated by refer- ences to certain colors and contrasted qualities has pervaded Southwestern ceremonials. The following song is sung when the poles forming the frame of the lodge are tied together. Nayenezganin’s male lodge-poles of blue are tied with a sunbeam. Isdjanatijn’s female lodge-poles of white are tied with a rainbow, The second time they are placed together. Nayenezganin’s male lodge-poles of yellow are tied with a sunbeam, The third time they are placed together. Isdjanatijn’s female lodge-poles of black are tied with a rainbow, The fourth time they are placed together. THE NOMADIC PEOPLES. 169 The Jicarilla have an annual festival which resembles very closely that held at Taos. The entire tribe camps near a large lake in the southwestern corner of their reservation. The two bands, the Llanero and the Ollero, pitch their tipis on opposite sides. On the day pre- ceding the public festival, the young men of each band accompanied by the older men go some distance from the camp and hold a preliminary race by which those Jicarilla Relay Race. who are to run in the final race are chosen. Two booths are constructed, one at each end of the race course. From these the two bands issue in irregular groups surrounding a drum. The dancers have cottonwood branches in their hands and are led by a man carrying a standard from which flies a cotton cloth and on the top of which are two ears of corn. The two bands of dancers approach each other and pass, 170 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. each going to the goal of the other. During the night and the early morning, ceremonies are held in the booths, a sand painting is made, the racers are painted, and prayers are said for them by priests. About noon the relay race takes place, practically under the same conditions and in the same manner as has already been described for Taos. 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