USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VII > Part 14
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"The whole dance did not occupy more than one-half or three-quarters of an hour. The number of snakes used was more than one hun- dred; the dancers ran backwards and forwards so confusedly that it was not possible to deter- mine certainly how many times the whole divi- sion had changed snakes, but it must have been not less than four, and more, probably as many as five times.
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"The opinions of the American bystanders varied as to whether or not any of the dancers were bitten. None was so reported by the In- dians, and the proper view to take of this matter must be that while all, or nearly all, the snakes used were venomous, the knowledge and pru- dence of those handling them averted all danger.
"Williams and Webber said that while the dancers were gathering up the snakes to convey them from the sanctuary or buffalo lodge to the circle of cornmeal in the last act, one man held ten and another seven.
"After freeing the reptiles at the foot of the mesa the men of the second division ran back, breathless and agitated, to their homes.
"This was the Snake-Dance of the Moquis, a tribe of people living within our own boundaries, less than seventy miles from the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (now the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway), in the year of our Lord 1881."
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CHAPTER XII. THE HOPI (OR MOQUI) (Continued).
CHARACTERISTICS AND CUSTOMS-MENTAL TRAITS -CLOTHING - GOVERNING BODY-MYTHOL- OGY AND FOLKLORE-SUPPORTED BY AGRICUL- TURE-OWN LARGE FLOCKS AND HERDS- WEAVING-LANGUAGE-RELIGION-DANCES.
Characteristics and Customs .- The Hopi are rather small of stature, but muscular and agile. Both sexes have reddish-brown skin, high cheek- bones, straight broad nose, slanting eyes, and large mouths, with gentle expression. As a rule the occiput exhibits cradleboard flattening. The proportion of albinos is large. The hair is usu- ally straight and black, but in some individuals it is brownish and in others it is wavy. The hair of the men is commonly "banged" in front or cut in "terraces"; the long hair behind is gathered in a sort of short queue and tied at the neck. The matrons wear their hair in two coils which hang in front. On reaching puberty the girls dress their hair in whorls at the sides of the head, in imitation of the squash blossom, the symbol of fertility. The women tend to corpu- lency and age rapidly ; they are prolific, but the infant mortality is very great. Boys and girls usually have fine features, and the latter ma- ture early, often being married at the age of fif- teen or sixteen years. Bachelors and spinsters are rare. A few men dress as women and per- form women's work.
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THE HOPI (OR MOQUI).
In mental traits the Hopi are the equal of any Indian tribe. They possess a highly artistic sense, exhibited by their pottery, basketry, and weaving. They are industrious, imitative, keen in bargaining, have some inventive genius, and are quick of perception. Among themselves they are often merry, greatly appreciating jests and practical jokes. They rarely forget a kind- ness or an injury, and often act from impulse and in a childlike way. They are tractable, docile, hospitable, and frugal, and have always sought to be peaceable, as their tribal name in- dicates. They believe in witchcraft, and recog- nize many omens of good and bad.
The Hopis are monogamists, and as a rule are faithful in their marital relations. Murder is unknown, theft is rare, and lying is universally condemned. Children are respectful and obe- dient to their elders and are never flogged except when ceremonially initiated as kachinas. From their earliest years they are taught industry and the necessity of leading upright lives.
The clothing of the Hopi men consists of a calico shirt and short pantaloons, and breech- cloth, moccasins, and hair bands. Bracelets, necklaces of shell, turquoise, or silver, and ear- rings, are commonly worn. The women wear a dark blue woolen blanket of native weave, tied with an embroidered belt, and a calico manta or shawl over one shoulder; their moccasins, which are worn only occasionally, are made of ox-hide and buckskin, like those of the men, to which are attached leggings of the same material, but now often replaced by sheepskin. The ear pendants of the women and girls consist of small
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wooden disks, ornamented with turquoise mosaic on one side. Small children generally run about naked, and old men while working in the fields or taking part in ceremonies divest themselves of all clothing except the breechcloth.
The governing body of the Hopi is a council of hereditary clan elders and chiefs of religious fra- ternities. Among these officials there are recog- nized a speaker chief and a war chief, but there has never been a supreme chief of all the Hopi. Following ancient customs, various activities inhere in certain clans; for instance, one clan controls the warrior society, while another ob- serves the sun and determines the calendar. Each pueblo has a hereditary village chief, who directs certain necessary communal work, such as the cleaning of springs, etc. There seems to be no punishment for crime except sorcery, to which, under Hopi law, all transactions may be reduced. No punishment for a witch or wiz- ard is known to have been inflicted at Walpi in recent years, but there are traditions of im- prisonment and of the significant and mysterious disappearance of those accused of witchcraft in former times.
The Hopi possess a rich mythology and folk- lore, inherited from a remote past, some of which I have given. They recognize a large number of supernatural beings, the identifica- tion of which is sometimes most difficult. Their mythology is poetic and highly imaginative, and their philosophy replete with inconsistency. Their songs and prayers, some of which are in foreign languages, as the Keresan and Tewa, are sometimes very beautiful. They have pe-
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culiar marriage customs, and elaborate rites in which children are dedicated to the sun. The bodies of the dead are sewed in blankets and deposited with food offerings among the rocks of the mesas. The Hopi believe in a future life in an under-world, but have no idea of future punishment. They smoke straight pipes in ceremonies, but on secular occasions prefer cigarettes of tobacco wrapped in corn husks. They never invented an intoxicating drink, and until within recent years none of them had any desire for such. Although they have seasons of ceremonial gaming, they do not gamble: and they have no oaths, but many, especially among the elders, are garrulous and fond of gossip.
Maize being the basis of their subsistence, agriculture is the principal industry of the Hopi. On the average 2,500 acres are yearly planted in this cereal, the yield in 1904 being estimated at 25,000 bushels. Perhaps one-third of the an- nual crop is preserved in event of future failure through drought or other causes. There are also about 1,000 acres in peach orchards and 1,500 acres in beans, melons, squashes, pumpkins, onions, chile, sunflowers, etc. Cotton, wheat and tobacco are also raised in small quantities. but in early times native cotton was extensively grown. In years of stress desert plants, which have always to some extent been utilized for food, form an important part of the diet.
The Hopi have of late become more or less pastoral. Flocks (officially estimated in 1904 at 56,000 sheep and 15,000 goats), acquired origi- nally from the Spaniards, supply wool and skins.
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They own also about 1,500 head of cattle, and 4,350 horses, burros and mules. Dogs, chickens, hogs and turkeys are their only other domesti- cated animals. All small desert animals are eaten ; formerly antelope, elk and deer were cap- tured by being driven into pitfalls or corrals. Communal rabbit hunts are common, the ani- mals being killed with wooden clubs shaped like boomerangs. Prairie dogs are drowned out of their burrows, coyotes are caught in pitfalls made of stones, and small birds are captured in snares.
The Hopi are skilled in weaving, dyeing and embroidering blankets, belts, and kilts. Their textile work is durable, and shows a great variety of weaves. The dark blue blanket of the Hopi women is an important article of commerce among the Pueblos, and their embroidered cere- monial blankets, sashes, and kilts made of cot- ton, have a ready sale among neighboring tribes. Although the Hopi ceramic art has somewhat deteriorated in modern times, fair pottery is still made among the people of Hano, where one family has revived the superior art of the earlier villages. They weave basketry in a great variety of ways at the Middle Mesa pueblos and in Oraibi; but, with the exception of the familiar sacred-meal plaques, which are well made and brightly colored, the workmanship is crude. The Hopi are clever in making masks and other religious paraphernalia from hides, and excel in carving and painting dolls, representing ka- chinas, which are adorned with bright feathers and cloth. They likewise manufacture mechan-
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ical toys, which are exhibited in some of their dramatic entertainments. Nowhere among the aborigines of North America are the Hopi ex- celled in dramaturgie exhibitions, in some of which their imitations of birds and other ani- mals are marvelously realistic.
The Hopi language is classified as Shosho- nean; but, according to Gatschet, it "seems to contain many archaic words and forms not encountered in the other dialects, and many vocables of its own." The published vocabula- ries are very limited, and comparatively little is known of the grammatical structure of the language; but it is very evident that it contains many words of Keresan, Tewa, Pima, Zuni, Ute. Navaho, and Apache derivation. As among other southwestern tribes a number of words are modified Spanish, as those for horse, sheep, melon and the names for other intrusive arti- cles and objects. Slight dialectic differences are noticeable in the speech of Oraibi and Walpi, but the language of the other pueblos is prac- tically uniform. The Hopi language is melodi- ous and the enunciation clear. The speech of the people of Awatobi is said to have a nasal intonation, while the Oraibi speak drawlingly. Although they accompany their speech with ges- tures, few of the Hopi understand the sign lan- guage. The Keresan people have furnished many songs with their words, and Zuni and Pima songs have also been introduced. Some of the prayers also have archaic Tanoan or Keresan words.
The Hopi are pre-eminently a religious peo- ple, much of their time, especially in winter, be-
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ing devoted to ceremonies for rain and the growth of crops. Their mythology is a polythe- ism largely tinged with ancestor worship and permeated with fetishism. They originally had no conception of a great spirit corresponding to God, nor were they ever monotheists; and, al- though they have at times accepted the teachings of Christian missionaries, these have not had the effect of altering their primitive beliefs. Their greatest Gods are deified nature powers, as the Mother Earth and the Sky god-the former mother, and the latter father, of the races of men and of marvellous animals, which are con- ceived of as closely allied.
The earth is spoken of as having always ex- isted. In Hopi mythology the human race was not created, but generated from the earth, from which man emerged through an opening called the sipapu now typified by the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The dead are supposed to return to the under-world. The Sky Father and the Earth Mother have many names and are per- sonated in many ways; the latter is represented by a spider; the former by a bird-a hawk or an eagle. Such names as Fire God, Germ God, and others are attributal designations of the great male powers of nature, or its male germi- native principle. All supernatural beings are supposed to influence the rain and consequently the growth of crops. Every clan religion ex- hibits strong ancestral worship, in which a male and a female ancestral tutelary of the clan, called by a distinctive clan name, is pre-eminent. The Great Horned or Plumed Serpent, a form of sky god, derived from the South, and intro-
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duced by the Patki and other southern clans, is prominent in sun ceremonies. The number of subordinate supernatural personages is almost unlimited. These are known as "kachinas," a term referring to the magic power inherent in every natural object for good or for bad. Many of these kachinas are personations of clan an- cestors, others are simply beings of unknown re- lationship but endowed with magic powers. Each kachina possesses individual characteris- tics, and is represented in at least six different symbolic colors. The world quarters, or four cardinal points, play an important role in Hopi mythology and ritual. Fetishes, amulets, charms and mascots are commonly used to in- sure luck in daily occupations, and for health and success in hunting, racing, gaming, and secu- lar performances. The Hopi ceremonial calen- dar consists of a number of monthly festivals, ordinarily of nine days' duration, of which the first eight are devoted to secret rites in kivas, or in rooms set apart for that purpose, the final day being generally devoted to a spectacular public ceremony or "dance." Every great fes- tival is held under the auspices of a special re- ligious fraternity or fraternities, and is accom- panied with minor events indicating a former duration of twenty days. Among the most im- portant religious fraternities are the Snake. An- telope, Flute, Sun, Lalakontu, Owakultu, Mamz- rautu, Kachina, Tataukyamu, Wewuchimtu, Asltu, Kwakwautu, and Kalektaka. There are also other organized priesthoods, as the Yaya and the Poshwympkia, whose functions are mainly those of doctors or healers. Several
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
ancient priesthoods, known by the names Koy- imsi, Paiakyamu, and Chukuwympkia, function as clowns or fun makers during the sacred dances of the Kachinas. The ceremonial year is divided into two parts, every great ceremony having a major and a minor performance occur- ring about six months apart; and every four years, when initiations occur, most ceremonies are celebrated in extenso. The so-called Snake and Flute dances are performed biennially at all the pueblos except Sichimovi and Hano, and alternate with each other. Ceremonies are also divided into those with masked and those with unmasked participants, the former, designated kachinas, extending from January to July, the latter occurring in the remaining months of the year. The chief of each fraternity has a badge of his office and conducts both the secret and the open features of the ceremony. The fetishes and idols used in the sacred rites are owned by the priesthood and are arranged by its chief in temporary altars in front of which dry paint- ings are made. The Hopi ritual is extraordi- narily complex and time-consuming, and the paraphernalia required is extensive. Although the Hopi cultus has become highly modified by a semi-arid environment, it consisted originally of ancestor worship, embracing worship of the great powers of nature-sky, sun, moon, fire, rain, and earth. A confusion of effect and cause and an elaboration of the doctrines of signatures pervade all their rites, which in the main may be regarded as sympathetic magic.
MARICOPA INDIANS
MARICOPA INDIANS.
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MARICOPA, MOHAVE, APACHE-MOHAVE, ETC.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MARICOPA, MOHAVE, APACHE-MOHAVE, YUMA, AND APACHE-YUMA.
LOCATION OF MARICOPAS - JOIN THE PIMAS FIGHT WITH YUMAS - RESERVATION - LO- CATION OF MOHAVES - CHARACTERISTICS- DWELLINGS-AGRICULTURE-RESERVATION- LOCATION OF APACHE-MOHAVES - CHARAC- TERISTICS-WAR AND RAID ON WHITES-SUB- JUGATION OF-LOCATION OF YUMAS-CHAR- ACTERISTICS-LOCATION OF APACHE-YUMAS- LANGUAGE - GAVE TROUBLE TO WHITES SUBJUGATION OF.
MARICOPA. An important Yuman tribe which since early in the 19th century has lived with and below the Pima and from about lati- tude 35° to the mouth of the Rio Gila, southern Arizona. In 1775, according to Garces, their rancherias extended about forty miles along the Gila from about the mouth of the Hassayampa to the Aguas Calientes, although Garces adds that "some of them are found farther down
river." They call themselves Pipatsje, "peo- ple," Maricopa being their Pima name. Emory states that they have moved gradually from the Gulf of California to their present location in juxtaposition with the Pima, Carson having found them, as late as 1826, at the mouth of the Gila. They joined the Pima, whose language they do not understand, for mutual protection against their kindred, but enemies, the Yuma, VII-15
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
and the two have ever since lived peaceably to- gether. In 1775 the Maricopas and the Yumas were at war, and as late as 1857 the latter, with some Mohave and Yavapai, attacked the Mari- copas near Maricopa Wells, southern Arizona, but with the aid of the Pima the Maricopa routed the Yuma and their allies, ninety of the ninety-three Yuma warriors being killed. After this disaster the Yuma never ventured so far up the Gila. Heintzelman states, probably cor- rectly, that the Maricopas are a branch of the Cuchan (Yuma proper), from whom they sep- arated on the occasion of an election of chiefs. Like the Pima, the Maricopa are agriculturists, and in habits and customs are generally simi- lar to them. Venegas (History of California), states that about 6,000 Pima and Coco-Maricopa lived on the Gila river in 1742, and that they extended also to the Salado and the Verde; they are also said to have had some rancherias on the west side of the Colorado river in a valley thirty-six leagues long. Evidently the Indians referred to by Venegas as domiciled on the west side of the Colorado river, were the Yumas, from whom the Maricopas were separated. Garces estimated the population at three thousand in 1775.
By act of February 28th, 1859, a reservation was set apart for the Maricopa and Pima on the Gila river, Arizona ; this was enlarged by execu- tive order of August 31st, 1876; revoked and other lands set apart by executive order of June 14th, 1879; enlarged by executive orders of May 5th, 1882, and November 15th, 1883. No treaty was ever made with them.
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The Maricopas, after making their treaty with the Pimas, which has been given in a previous volume, were self-supporting, cultivating their land, and always raising a surplus over what they consumed. It does not appear that they had any particular religious creed. There is no record anywhere of any legends concerning them. Their belief, probably, was the same as the Yumas and the Mohaves, confined to that of one great spirit, and never speculating as to how man was created, or when he appeared on the earth.
The Maricopas were friendly at all times to the whites. King Woolsey exercised great in- fluence over them. When he organized his ex- pedition, which resulted in the Pinole Treaty, an account of which has heretofore been given, the chief of the Maricopas joined him with 50 warriors, as did also the Pima chief. They fol- lowed the trail of the hostiles into the mountains and into the canyon known as Bloody Basin. The chief of the Pimas became alarmed and re- fused to go any farther. The Maricopa Chief, Juan Chiavria, followed Woolsey and in the en- suing fight it is said that Woolsey saved Juan Chiavria's life, by killing a hostile Indian who was about to stab the chief to the heart. After that the entire tribe held him in great reverence, and when his farm at Agua Caliente was raided by the Mohaves, Juan Chiavria sent word to them that if they did not cease their depredations upon his white friends in the Gila Valley, he would raise an army of Maricopas, Pimas and Papagos, and destroy the entire tribe. Needless
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
to say, the Mohaves were good thereafter as far as the Gila river settlements were concerned.
MOHAVE (from hamok "three," avi "moun- tain"). The most populous and warlike of the Yuman tribes. Since known to history they ap- pear to have lived on both sides of the Rio Colo- rado, though chiefly on the east side, between the Needles (whence their name is derived) and the entrance to the Black Canyon. Ives, in 1857, found only a few scattered families in Cotton- wood valley, the bulk of their number being be- low Hardyville. In recent times a body of Chemehuevi have held the river between them and their kinsmen the Yuma. The Mohave were strong, athletic, and well developed, their women attractive; in fact, Ives characterized them as fine a people physically as any he had ever seen. They were famed for the artistic painting of their bodies. Tattooing was universal but con- fined to small areas on the skin. Their art in recent times consists chiefly of crude painted decorations on their pottery. Though a river tribe, the Mohave had no canoes, but when neces- sary had recourse to rafts, or balsas, made of bundles of reeds. They had no large settle- ments, their dwellings being scattered. These were four-sided and low, with four supporting posts at the corners. The walls, which were only two or three feet high, and the almost flat roof were formed of brush covered with sand. Their granaries were upright cylindrical structures with flat roofs. The Mohave hunted but little, their chief reliance for food being on the culti- vated products of the soil, as corn, pumpkins,
MOHAVE MAN.
MOHAVE WOMAN.
MARICOPA, MOHAVE, APACHE-MOHAVE, ETC. 229
melons, beans, mescrew, piñon nuts, and fish to a limited extent. They did not practice irriga- tion, but relied on the inundation of the bottom lands to supply the needed moisture, hence when there was no overflow their crops failed. Arti- cles of skin and bone were very little used. mate- rials such as the inner bark of the willow, vege- table fiber, etc., taking their place. Pottery was manufactured. Baskets were in common use, but were obtained from other tribes.
The tribal organization was loose, though, as a whole, the Mohave remained quite distinct from other tribes. The chieftainship was her- editary in the male line. Their dead were cre- mated. The population of the tribe in 1775-76 was conservatively estimated by Garces at 3,000, and by Leroux about 1834, to be 4,000; but the latter is probably an overestimate. Their num- ber in 1905 was officially given as 1,589, of whom 508 were under the Colorado river school super- intendent, 856 under the Fort Mohave school su- perintendent, 50 under the San Carlos agency, and about 175 at Camp McDowell, on the Rio Verde. Those at the latter two points, however, are apparently Yavapai, commonly known as Apache-Mohave.
No treaty was made with the Mohave respect- ing their original territory, the United States assuming title thereto. By act of March 3rd, 1865, supplemented by Executive orders of No- vember 22d, 1873, November 16th, 1874, and May 15th, 1876, the present Colorado river reser- vation, Arizona, occupied by Mohave, Cheme- huevi and Kawia, was established.
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Wherever the whites came into close contact with the Indians, the demoralization of the tribe surely followed. This was the case with the Yumas and also with the Mohaves. The Mo- haves, when first discovered by the Catholic priests, were a cheerful, friendly, splendid race of men. To the early explorers, Lieutenant Ives in particular, they were of great benefit. Their great chief at that time, Iretaba, who, from all accounts, was a splendid specimen of the untu- tored savage, was especially friendly to Ives. He was sent to Washington and was so im- pressed with the greatness of our nation that his constant endeavor during the rest of his life was to keep the Mohaves from warring against the whites.
The first reservation set aside for the Indians, after the organization of the Territory, was, as we have seen, for the Mohaves, and the first fort built in northern Arizona was Fort Mohave in the heart of the Mohave nation. The Indian agents robbed them, and the tribe became com- pletely demoralized. For a long time, up to the time of which we are now writing, 1869 and 1870, they pretended friendship to the whites, but oftentimes in their forays, committed all kinds of crimes. According to Mike Burns, it was the Mohaves who committed the Oatman massacre, charging it to the Tontos. They raided King Woolsey's ranch and drove off several thousand dollars worth of stock.
They seem, in common with the other Yuman tribes, to have had no legends of any particular kind. They all, however, believed in a Great
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Spirit, a controller of the Universe, and, it is said, were Sun worshippers. The Medicine men, it seems, did not exercise so great power among these tribes as they did among the Apaches.
The Mohaves now, with the exception of a few around Ehrenberg, are doing remarkably well. In some succeeding volume it will be interesting to note their progress at the Indian schools, in common with other Indian tribes.
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