USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 54
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In all religious dances the plaza or chamber is entered in file, led by a man or woman. The woman leader wears conventional dress, always her newest and best, and, if necessary, articles are borrowed from her family or members of her clan for the occasion. Special attention is given to the moccasins and leggings, which are of the whitest dressed deerskins, with glossy black soles, an entire skin being used for the purpose. The larger the skin the more desirable, for the ambition of the Zuni woman is to have her legs so wrapped from the ankle to the knee that the feet, naturally small and beautiful in form, shall appear as diminutive as possible. The white blanket, bordered in red and blue, is worn over the back. A fluffy eagle plume is tied to the forelock. While silver beads of native, manufac- ture are the only necklaces used as the daily adornment of the women, the necklaces of the men-the Ko-hakwa, turquoise and coral beads-are added to the silver ornaments when the women appear in ceremonials, until the breast is covered with the precious beads. The borrowing of finery is not confined to the women, the men being equally as anxious to adorn their persons; but the borrowing is always done in the most secret manner. The man is less conventional in his dress, so there is greater margin for variety in costume. He frequently wears velvet knee breeches lined on the outer sides with silver buttons, a native woven black wool shirt, elaborately trimmed with red and green ribbons, over one of white cotton, the sleeves of the other being open so as to expose the undersleeves of the white shirt. Sometimes a silver belt is worn; at other times a red silk scarf is tied around the waist. Ordinary moccasins, always the best ones, are worn with leather leggings ornamented with silver buttons and tied on with red garters. While this is the usual dress of the male leader, any apparel which suits his taste may be worn. A line of micaceous hema- tite crosses his face below the eyes, denoting office, and a fluffy eagle plume is tied to the forelock. In all ceremonials where men or women act in the capacity of leaders of dances or serve to secure dancers for the festivals, the dress is similar to that described in the foregoing. The leader is never included in the number of dancers.
The government of Zuni is hierarchical, four fundamental religious groups and the other esoteric fraternities being concerned. A governor with four assistants and a lieutenant governor with his four deputies con- stitutes the civic branch. These men are all nominated by the rain priests. Though the governor is elected for one year, he may be re-elected one or more times. The chief insignia of his office is a cane presented to the pueblo by President Lincoln. The governor and his staff attend to such
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secular affairs as do not require the judgment of the religious group. Capi- tal punishment comes within the jurisdiction of the latter body.
The Zuñis are an agricultural and pastoral people. A man may culti- vate any strip of land, provided it has not already been appropriated, and may transfer it to any other member of the tribe. Houses are disposed of in the same manner. After a man is married, the products of his fields are carried to the house of his wife's parents (his home after marriage) ; and, though it is understood that these products are for general household use, there is an unwritten law that the property of each man may be removed from its storing place only by his wife and himself.
The Zuñi tribe is divided into clans. The child is always referred to as belonging to the mother's clan, but as being the "child of the father's clan." The clan plays an important part in ceremonials. The existing clans are named as follows :
Dogwood, corn, sun, badger, bear, coyote, sandhill-crane, eagle, frog, tobacco, chaparral-cock, turkey, deer, yellow-wood, antelope, and one named after an unidentified plant.
The extinct clans are named: Wood, sky, cottontail-rabbit and black corn.
Though some Zuni houses have as many as eight rooms, the ordinary house has from four to six, and some have but two. Ledges built with the house extend around the rooms, forming seats and shelves. In the general living room, which is the largest, the family wardrobe hangs on a pole suspended from the rafters. As a rule, the mills for grinding meal are set up in the rooms. Most of the rooms are provided with fireplaces. Candles are never used nor are lamps used for ordinary lighting. A lamp made of baked clay and somewhat resembling an ancient Roman lamp, is employed on the occasion of certain ceremonials, but it gives very little light.
Several families are frequently found under the same roof. The Zuñis do not have large families, and the members are deeply attached to one another. Children are rarely disobedient, and play without quarreling. The youngest children never touch or disturb anything belonging to others. The boys and girls do not play much together. The older girls do not usually go about the village unattended. While parents are inclined to look to the marriage of their children, there are many love matches.
A Zuñi pueblo resembles a great beehive, with its houses built one upon another in a succession of terraces, the roof of one forming the floor or yard of the one next above, and so on until in some cases five tiers of dwellings are successively erected. But few houses, however, are more than two stories in height. The wealthy class live in the lower houses; those of more modest means, next above; while the poor families, as a rule, content themselves with the uppermost stories. The houses, which are built of stone and adobe, are clustered about three plazas, and a fourth plaza is on the west side of the village. There are three covered ways and several streets.
The annual journey to the Zuñi Salt lake, for the purpose of gathering salt. is an important event, as it is with the other pueblos, and is accom- panied by elaborate ceremonies. It has been said that the Zuñis claim the Salt lake exclusively, and demand tribute from the other tribes, but such is not the case. The records show that this lake has been, from time
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immemorial, the great source of salt supply for many different tribes and families. The place is neutral ground, and in times of war one was safe from the attacks of the enemy so long as he remained within the recognized limits of the lake. Many thrilling stories are told by the Zunis of their efforts in the past to anticipate the hated Navajos in reaching the lake, knowing that by so doing they would be preserved from harm.
The volcanic peaks which rise one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet above the waters of the lake are quite symmetrical. The outer and inner sides are so covered with volcanic cinders that it is extremely diffi- cult to ascend or descend. Only those of the Bow priesthood who had taken four scalps were permitted to enter the crater during the days of the intertribal wars, when only such men as brought back scalps were eligible to initiation into this order. A shrine especially set apart for the offerings for the elder and younger brother Bow priests is located on the east side of the lake.
The Zuñis depend upon their native blankets for bedding, and to a large extent for wraps. As the Navajos became greater experts in weav- ing, the art of the Zuñis deteriorated, and the latter ultimately came to depend upon the Navajos for the better grades of blankets. The Zuñis make, for ordinary use, a variety of coarse baskets of willows, dogwood and a plant (Chrysothamnus graveolens) which grows profusely over their country. All the finer bead baskets and ceremonial trays are purchased from the Apache, Hopi and other Indians. The manufacture of pottery, however, is one of their most interesting industries. Most of the women are potters, the art being learned at an early age. The only implements used in the work are the bottom of a discarded water vase and a sort of trowel made of a gourd or a suitable fragment of pottery. No wheel is used, nor is any kind of lathe or revolving support known to these people.
Native silver is not known to this tribe, and Zuñi sages claim that their people never worked in silver or copper before the advent of the Spaniards. The Mexican dollar, owing to its purity, is employed by the silversmith in preference to the silver dollar of the United States. The furnace, bellows, dies-everything pertaining to the workshop of the silver- smith-are of home manufacture, except the files and hammers, and these are carpenters' tools. The more precious beads of shell, black, red and white stone, are antique, and are no more manufactured. They still make beads of turquoise, white shells, preferably the olive shell, and spondylus princeps. The Indian wagon is of home manufacture, although of Spanish origin. The wheels are heavy blocks, carved in the rudest fashion. The bed is composed of beams or poles, and the sides of slender poles. The structure is sometimes lined with hide. It is drawn by oxen, and the whole is of the most primitive character.
James Stevenson, during his first visit to the Zuñis in 1879, inaug- urated many changes for the better. Window panes, candles, lamps and silversmiths' implements were introduced, and larger doors were made. Improvements progressed slowly from that time to 1902, but since that date great strides have been made in certain directions, though the Indians are still in a deplorable condition morally. The art of dyeing is virtually lost. Whenever the men can raise money for the purpose they have come to wear the dress of civilization, including hats and shoes.
Belief in witchcraft seems to be universal among the Indian tribes, and
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no great advance in civilization can be made among them until the beliefs and the accompanying practices are rooted out. The people are in constant terror of being conjured. Young mothers especially are solicitous for their infants, since these are the targets for the venom of diabolical beings. The child's head and face are always covered when a supposed witch ap- proaches. The philosophy of these people is such that, though the witch may be regarded as all-powerful, none but the poor and unfortunate are condemned.
The Zuñis have many esoteric fraternities, originating in the early days of the tribe. At least one of these secret societies was adopted from the Hopi Indians. The middle village on the first mesa of the Hopis was originally a Zuñi settlement. The ceremonials of these fraternities, the Ko-tikili excepted, are held in large chambers on the ground floor. When- ever possible these rooms must extend east and west, in order that the al- tar may face east and the first light of day enter through the eastern window. Each fraternity asserts that it has occupied its present cere- monial chamber since the founding of Zuñi, except the branch fraternities. The closing scenes of many of the initiatory ceremonies indulged in by these societies reach the acme of depravity and are disgusting beyond de- scription. In some cases the ceremonial partakes somewhat of that charac- teristic of free masonry, and the Indians state that these ritualistic per- formances long antedated the coming of the white men. While it remains to be learned definitely by what people or peoples the elaborate rituals of the Zuñi were instituted, it is assumed by some students of their tradi- tions and customs that they originated with the Zuñi themselves. But be- fore any exposition of the origin of the fundamental religious organiza- tions and of the rituals can be offered, a comparative study of the various pueblo Indians must be made. This work cannot be begun too soon, for not only are the villages losing their old-time landmarks, but the people themselves are changing, and adapting themselves to suddenly and pro- foundly altered environment. And the Zuñi, at least, whose religion teaches them to speak with one tongue, to be gentle to all, and to subdue the passions, thereby winning the favor of their gods, under the influence of modern conditions are losing the restraining power of this religion, and as a result are changing for the worse.
Where the Zuñis have entered the larger sphere of New Mexican his- tory, an account has been given in the general narrative. The following chronologic summary of their history, supplementing the facts already giv- en, was prepared by F. W. Hodge, of the Smithsonian Institution, and ap- pears in the annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology :
1539, May. Fray Marcos of Niza visited Cibola in this month and viewed Hawikuh, one of the Seven Cities, from a neighboring height. This pueblo was the scene of the death of his negro companion, Estevan, at the hands of the Zuñis about May 20. Niza here took possession of the province in the name of the king of Spain.
1540, July 7. Francisco Vasquez Coronado, after a conflict in which he was wounded, captured Hawikuh and applied to it the name Granada. It had 200 warriors. On July 11 the Indians retired to Toaiyalone (To'wa yal'länně). This is the first reference in history to the use of this mesa as a place of refuge, although it may have been used as such in prehistoric times.
1540, July 15. Coronado sent Pedro de Tovar from Cibola to the province of Tusa- yan (the Hopi country).
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1540, July 19. Coronado journeyed from Granada to Toaiyalone and returned the same day.
1540, August 3. Coronado wrote his celebrated letter to the Viceroy Mendoza, dated "from the province of Cevola, and this city of Granada."
1540, August 25 (?). Coronado sent Lopez de Cárdenas from Cibola on a journey which resulted in the discovery of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado river. 1540, August 29. Hernando de Alvarado was sent eastward from Cibola to the buffalo plains.
1540, September. The army of Coronado reached Cibola with sheep and cattle. This doubtless marked the beginning of the sheep and cattle industry and of the use of horses among the southwestern tribes. Twenty days later the army started for Tigncx, on the Rio Grande, where it established winter quarters. 1542, spring. Coronado and his army passed through Cibola on their way back to Mexico, leaving some natives of Mexico among the Zuñis.
1581, summer. Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado, with a small force, visited the prov- ince of Zuñi (misprinted Cami in the records), which comprised six pueblos, one village having been abandoned subsequent to Coronado's visit.
1583, -. Antonio de Espejo, with Fr. Bernardino Beltran and an escort of four- teen men, visited a group of six pueblos, one of them named Aquico (Hawi- kuh), "which they call Zuni, and by another name Cibola." Here crosses were found erected near the pueblos and three Christian Mexican Indians who had been left by Coronado forty-one years previous. Fr. Bernardino remained at Hawikuh for several weeks, while Espejo made a tour to the west.
1598, September 9. The province of Zuñi became a parochial district under the new governorship of Juan de Oñate, the colonizer of New Mexico, and Fr. Andrés Corchado was assigned to it, but he never was an active missionary there. In the records Fr. Juan Claros is also assigned to this parish, through mis- understanding.
1598, November. Juan de Oñate visited Zuñi, and on November 9 the natives made their vows of obedience and vassalage. Oñate mentions the six villages by name: Aguicobi, or Aguscobi (Hawikuh) ; Canabi (Kyanawe?) : Coaqueria (Kyakima) ; Halonagu (Halona) ; Macaqui (Matsaki) ; and Aquinsa (Apinawa?). Crosses were found and also children of the Mexican Indians left behind by Coronado. Here Oñate spent only a couple of days.
1598, December 10 (?). Oñate passed through Zuñi on his way back to the Rio Grande from the Hopi country.
1604, October. Oñate again visited Zuñi, or Cibola, on his way from the capital of New Mexico, San Gabriel, on the Rio Grande, to the Gulf of California. The province consisted of six villages containing about 300 houses. Hawikuh was the most important village at this time, its houses numbering 110. In Coronado's time it was said to have more than 200 houses or 500 families. From thence Oñate proceeded to the Hopi country, the province of Tusayan. 1605, April. Oñate probably passed through Zuñi on his way from the mouth of the Colorado to the Rio Grande, as he carved an inscription April 16 on El Morro, or Inscription Rock, thirty-five miles east of Zuñi.
1629, June 23. A band of missionaries under Fr. Estevan de Pera, accompanied by the governor, Don Francisco Manuel de Silva Nieto, started westward from Santa Fé for the purpose of planting missions among the Acomas, Zuñis, and Hopis. They evidently reached Zuñi late in July, as Nieto's first inscription on El Morro is dated July 29. Fr. Roque de Figueredo, Fr. Agustin de Cuellar and Fr. Francisco de la Madre de Dios, together with three soldiers, one of whom was Juan Gonzales, remained at Zuñi. A house was bought for religious purposes at Hawikuh, which became the first mission established in the Zuñi country. Possibly the Hawikuh church, the walls of which are still traceable, was built by these missionaries, and they may also have erected the church the ruins of which still stand at Ketchipauan, on a mesa southeast of Ojo Caliente, as well as the one which formerly existed at Halona. These three missionaries disappear from Zuñi history before 1632. They were succeeded by Fr. Francisco Letrado, who arrived in New Mexico in 1629 and was first assigned to the Jumanos east of the Rio Grande.
1632, February 22. The Zunis killed Fr. Francisco Letrado at Hawikuh and fled to Toaiyalone, where they remained about three years.
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1632, February 27. Some Zuñis, having followed Fr. Martin de Arvide, murdered him and his escort of two soldiers on their way from the Zuñi villages to a tribe called Cipias, or Zipias, who lived toward the west.
1632, March 23. The maestro de campo, Tomás de Albizu, was at El Morro on his way to Zuñi with some priests and a small detachment, to reduce the Zuñi stronghold. They were admitted to the summit of the mesa, and the Zuñis promised to be peaceful thenceforth.
I635. Some of the Zunis left the mesa and began the resettlement of their villages in the valley.
1636. No missionaries at Zuñi because the governor at Santa Fé refused an escort. There appears on El Morro the inscription : "We pass by here, the lieutenant- colonel and the captain Juan de Archuleta, and the lieutenant Diego Martin Barba, and the ensign Augustin de Ynojos, in the year of 1636."
1643. Missionaries were probably again established at Zuñi about this time.
1670, October 7. The Apaches (or Navajos) raided Hawikuh, killing the Zuñi mis- sionary, Fr. Pedro de Avila y Ayala. by beating out his brains with a bell while he was clinging to a cross. The priest at Halona, Fr. Juan Galdo, recovered Fr. Pedro's remains and interred them at Halona. The mission of La Concepcion de Hawikuh was henceforth abandoned, but the pueblo was occupied by the Indians for a few years.
1680, August 10. A general revolt of the pueblos against Spanish authority took place. The Zunis murdered their missionary. Fr. Juan de Bal, of the mis- sion pueblo of La Purificacion de la Virgen de Alona (Halona), burned the church, and fled to Toaiyalone, where they remained for more than twelve years. At the time of this rebellion the Zuñis, who numbered 2,500, occupied, in addition to Halona, the villages of Kiakima, Matsaki, and Hawikuh. Two villages (Canabi and Aquinsa) had therefore been aban- doned between Oñate's time (1598) and the pueblo revolt (1680).
1692, November II. The Zuñis were found on the mesa by Diego de Vargas Zapata Lujan Ponce de Leon, to whom they submitted, and about 300 children were baptized.
1693, April 15. Vargas consulted with a Zuñi chief at San Felipe with a view to transferring the pueblo of Zuñi to the Rio Grande, but no definite action was taken.
1696, June 29. An expedition was sent by the Spaniards against the Jemez and their allies from the Navaho, Zuni and Acoma tribes. The Indians were defeated, and the Zuñis returned home frightened.
1699, July 12. The pueblo of La Purisima de Zuñi (evidently the present Zuñi village, which meanwhile had been built on the ruins of Halona) was visited by the governor, Pedro Rodriguez Cubero, to whom the inhabitants renewed their allegiance.
1700, June. Padre Juan Garaicochea was priest at Zuñi.
1702. In the spring the Hopis tried to incite the Zuñis and others to revolt. Captain Juan de Uribarri was sent to investigate, and left Captain Medina at Zuñi with a force of nineteen men as a garrison. This force was later reduced, those who were left treating the natives harshly.
1703. Padre Garaicochea, who was still missionary at Zuñi, complained to the gov- ernor at Santa Fé, and the Indians, receiving no redress. on March 4 killed three Spaniards who were exiles from Santa Fe and who had been living publicly with native women. Some of the Zuñis thereupon fled to the Hopis, others took refuge on Toaiyalone. Captain Roque Madrid was sent to Zuñi to bring away the friar, leaving Zuñi without a missionary.
1703, November (?). Padre Garaicochea urged the re-establishment of the Zuñi mission. but no action was taken.
1705, March-April. Padre Garaicochea returned to Zuñi as missionary early in the year: he induced the Indians to come down from Toaiyalone, where they had been since 1703, and again settle on the plains. On April 6 they renewed their allegiance to Captain Roque Madrid.
1705, September. The Spaniards found a knotted cord, probably a quipu (calendar string), which reminded them of the days of 1680, when a similar device was employed to notify the revolutionists and to fix the day of the rebellion. 1706, April-May. The Hopis had been raiding the Zuñis, who were now baptized Christians; therefore Captain Gutierrez was sent with eight men for their protection. The Zuñis made an expedition against the Hopis in May, killing
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two and recovering seventy animals. Later the Zuñis aroused suspicion by asking that the garrison be removed from their pueblo. Fr. Antonio Miranda, now resident missionary at Acoma, occasionally ministered to the Zuñis.
1707. Governor Jose Chacon Medina Salazar y Villaseñor, Marquis de la Peñuela, sent an embassy of Zuñis to the Hopis to exhort them to peace and sub- mission, but refugee Tanos and Tewas, who lived among the Hopis, responded by making a raid on Zuñi. At this time Fr. Francisco de Irazábal was missionary at "Alona." indicating that the old name was still sometimes applied to the new pueblo.
1709, June 5. The following inscription occurs on El Morro: "On the 5th day of the month of June of this year of 1709 passed by here, bound for Zuñi, Ramon Paez Hurtado." He was lieutenant-general of the province and acting gov- ernor in 1704-5. The expedition here noted was probably sent against the Navahos, who were hostile this year.
1713, May. Padre Irazábal reported that a Zuñi Indian attempted to instigate the Acomas and Lagunas to kill their missionary, Fr. Carlos Delgado.
1713, December. Two Zuñis were granted permission to visit the Hopis, who ex- pressed eagerness for peace and alliance with the Zuñis, but not with the Spaniards.
1716, August 26. The governor, Don Feliz Martinez, carved his inscription on El Morro on his way to conquer the Hopis, by way of Zuñi. The custodian, Fr. Antonio Camargo, and the alcalde of Santa Fe accompanied him. Native commissioners were sent forward from Zuñi, which was still called Alona.
1726, February. The ensign, Don Jose de Payba Basconzelos, visited Zuñi, leaving his inscription on El Morro, dated February 18 of this year.
1736-1738. General Juan Paez Hurtado (son of Ramon), official inspector, visited the pueblo in 1736; Bishop Elizaecochea of Durango visited the pueblo in Sep- tember, 1737, and Governor Enrique de Olavide y Michelena in 1738.
1744-1748. Zuñi is reported by one authority as having a population of 150 families, and by another 2,000 souls. It had two priests, one of whom was Padre (Juan José?) Toledo,
1760. Bishop Tamaron reported the population of Zuñi to be 664, but this number is smaller by nearly 1,000 than that reported by Ilzarbe in 1788.
1774-1778. Fr. Silvestre Velez Escalante was missionary at Zuñi.
1779-1780. Fr. Andrés Garcia was missionary at Zuñi.
1788. Fr. Rafael Benavides was missionary at Zuñi, also Fr. Manuel Vega. Ilzarbe reports the population to be 1,617.
I792. Fr. Daniel Martinez was missionary at Zuñi before this date.
I793. Revilla Gigedo reports the population at 1,935.
1798-99. The population of Zuni is reported at 2,716. (In 1820-21 it had apparently dwindled to 1,597.)
LEGAL AND POLITICAL STATUS.
The legal and political status of the pueblo Indians has been ground for misapprehension throughout New Mexico as well as in other portions of the United States. Rather naturally all peoples who are known as Indians are assigned to one general class, so far as their relations with the government and the dominant race are concerned. Even this history, for obvious reasons, has devoted special chapters to the Indian races, and in many ways considered them apart from the Spanish and American people. But a very important distinction is to be drawn between the Indians of the pueblo and those of the plains and mountains, between the sedentary and the nomadic Indians, between those who founded the adobe cities and the restless hunters and warriors of the Apache and Navajo tribes.
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