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Title: Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 - Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American - Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, - 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, - pages 519-744
Author: Fewkes, Jesse Walker
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 - Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American - Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, - 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, - pages 519-744" ***
Traverso, Diane Monico, and the Online Distributed
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ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO ARIZONA IN 1895
BY
JESSE WALTER FEWKES
CONTENTS
Page
Introductory note 527
Plan of the expedition 529
Ruins in Verde valley 536
Classification of the ruins 536
Cavate dwellings 537
Montezuma Well 546
Cliff houses of the Red-rocks 548
Ruins near Schürmann's ranch 550
Palatki 553
Honanki 558
Objects found at Palatki and Honanki 569
Conclusions regarding the Verde valley ruins 573
Ruins in Tusayan 577
General features 577
The Middle Mesa ruins 582
Shuñopovi 582
Mishoñinovi 582
Chukubi 583
Payüpki 583
The East Mesa ruins 585
Küchaptüvela and Kisakobi 585
Küküchomo 586
Kachinba 589
Tukinobi 589
Jeditoh valley ruins 589
Awatobi 592
Characteristics of the ruin 592
Nomenclature of Awatobi 594
Historical knowledge of Awatobi 595
Legend of the destruction of Awatobi 603
Evidences of fire in the destruction 606
The ruins of the mission 606
The kivas of Awatobi 611
Old Awatobi 614
Rooms of the western mound 614
Smaller Awatobi 617
Mortuary remains 617
Shrines 619
Pottery 621
Stone implements 625
Bone objects 627
Miscellaneous objects 628
Clay bell 628
Textile fabrics 629
Prayer-sticks--Pigments 630
Objects showing Spanish influence 631
The ruins of Sikyatki 631
Traditional knowledge of the pueblo 631
Nomenclature 636
Former inhabitants of Sikyatki 636
General features 637
The acropolis 643
Modern gardens 646
The cemeteries 646
Pottery 650
Characteristics--Mortuary pottery 650
Coiled and indented ware 651
Smooth undecorated ware 652
Polished decorated ware 652
Paleography of the pottery 657
General features 657
Human figures 660
The human hand 666
Quadrupeds 668
Reptiles 671
Tadpoles 677
Butterflies or moths 678
Dragon-flies 680
Birds 682
Vegetal designs 698
The sun 699
Geometric figures 701
Interpretation of the figures 701
Crosses 702
Terraced figures 703
The crook 703
The germinative symbol 704
Broken lines 704
Decorations on the exterior of food bowls 705
Pigments 728
Stone objects 729
Obsidian 732
Necklaces, gorgets, and other ornaments 733
Tobacco pipes 733
Prayer-sticks 736
Marine shells and other objects 739
Perishable contents of mortuary food bowls 741
FOOTNOTES
APPENDIX 743
INDEX 745
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE Page
XCI_a_. Cavate dwellings--Rio Verde 537
XCI_b_. Cavate dwellings--Oak creek 539
XCII. Entrances to cavate ruins 541
XCIII. Bowlder with pictographs near Wood's ranch 545
XCIV. Montezuma Well 547
XCV. Cliff house, Montezuma Well 549
XCVI. Ruin on the brink of Montezuma Well 551
XCVII. Pictographs near Cliff ranch, Verde valley 553
XCVIII. The Red-rocks; Temple canyon 555
XCIX. Palatki (Ruin I) 557
C. Palatki (Ruin I) 559
CI. Front wall of Palatki (Ruin II) 561
CII Honanki (Ruin II) 563
CIII. Walls of Honanki 565
CIV. Approach to main part of Honanki 567
CV. Map of the ruins of Tusayan 583
CVI. The ruins of Küküchomo 587
CVII. Ground plan of Awatobi 603
CVIII. Ruins of San Bernardino de Awatobi 607
CIX. Excavations in the western mound of Awatobi 615
CX. Excavated room in the western mound of Awatobi 617
CXI. Vase and mugs from the western mounds of Awatobi 618
CXII. Paint pots, vase, and dipper from Awatobi 620
CXIII. Pottery from intramural burial at Awatobi 622
CXIV. Bone implements from Awatobi and Sikyatki 626
CXV. Sikyatki mounds from the Kanelba trail 637
CXVI. Ground plan of Sikyatki 639
CXVII. Excavated rooms on the acropolis of Sikyatki 643
CXVIII. Plan of excavated rooms on the acropolis of Sikyatki 644
CXIX. Coiled and indented pottery from Sikyatki 650
CXX. Saucers and slipper bowls from Sikyatki 652
CXXI. Decorated pottery from Sikyatki 654
CXXII. Decorated pottery from Sikyatki 654
CXXIII. Decorated pottery from Sikyatki 657
CXXIV. Decorated pottery from Sikyatki 660
CXXV. Flat dippers and medicine box from Sikyatki 662
CXXVI. Double-lobe vases from Sikyatki 664
CXXVII. Unusual forms of vases from Sikyatki 666
CXXVIII. Medicine box and pigment pots from Sikyatki 668
CXXIX. Designs on food bowls from Sikyatki 670
CXXX. Food bowls with figures of quadrupeds from Sikyatki 672
CXXXI. Ornamented ladles from Sikyatki 674
CXXXII. Food bowls with figures of reptiles from Sikyatki 676
CXXXIII. Bowls and dippers with figures of tadpoles, birds,
etc., from Sikyatki 676
CXXXIV. Food bowls with figures of sun, butterfly, and flower,
from Sikyatki 676
CXXXV. Vases with figures of butterflies from Sikyatki 678
CXXXVI. Vases with figures of birds and feathers from Sikyatki 678
CXXXVII. Vessels with figures of human hand, birds, turtle,
etc., from Sikyatki 680
CXXXVIII. Food bowls with figures of birds from Sikyatki 682
CXXXIX. Food bowls with figures of birds from Sikyatki 684
CXL. Figures of birds from Sikyatki 686
CXLI. Food bowls with figures of birds and feathers from
Sikyatki 688
CXLII. Vases, bowls, and ladle with figures of feathers from
Sikyatki 688
CXLIII. Vase with figures of birds from Sikyatki 690
CXLIV. Vase with figures of birds from Sikyatki 690
CXLV. Vases with figures of birds from Sikyatki 690
CXLVI. Bowls and potsherd with figures of birds from Sikyatki 692
CXLVII. Food bowls with figures of birds from Sikyatki 692
CXLVIII. Food bowls with symbols of feathers from Sikyatki 694
CXLIX. Food bowls with symbols of feathers from Sikyatki 694
CL. Figures of birds and feathers from Sikyatki 696
CLI. Figures of birds and feathers from Sikyatki 696
CLII. Food bowls with bird, feather, and flower symbols from
Sikyatki 698
CLIII. Food bowls with figures of birds and feathers from
Sikyatki 698
CLIV. Food bowls with figures of birds and feathers from
Sikyatki 700
CLV. Food bowls with figures of birds and feathers from
Sikyatki 700
CLVI. Food bowls with figures of birds and feathers from
Sikyatki 700
CLVII. Figures of birds and feathers from Sikyatki 702
CLVIII. Food bowls with figures of sun and related symbols
from Sikyatki 702
CLIX. Cross and related designs from Sikyatki 704
CLX. Cross and other symbols from Sikyatki 704
CLXI. Star, sun, and related symbols from Sikyatki 704
CLXII. Geometric ornamentation from Sikyatki 706
CLXIII. Food bowls with geometric ornamentation from Sikyatki 708
CLXIV. Food bowls with geometric ornamentation from Sikyatki 710
CLXV. Food bowls with geometric ornamentation from Sikyatki 714
CLXVI. Linear figures on food bowls from Sikyatki 718
CLXVII. Geometric ornamentation from Awatobi 722
CLXVIII. Geometric ornamentation from Awatobi 726
CLXIX. Arrowshaft smoothers, selenite, and symbolic corn from
Sikyatki 728
CLXX. Corn grinder from Sikyatki 730
CLXXI. Stone implements from Palatki, Awatobi, and Sikyatki 732
CLXXII. Paint grinder, fetish, lignite, and kaolin disks from
Sikyatki 734
CLXXIII. Pipes, bell, clay birds, and shells from Awatobi and
Sikyatki 736
CLXXIV. Pahos or prayer-sticks from Sikyatki 738
CLXXV. Pahos or prayer-sticks from Sikyatki 738
FIGURE
245. Plan of cavate dwelling on Rio Verde 540
246. Casa Montezuma on Beaver creek 552
247. Ground plan of Palatki (Ruins I and II) 554
248. Ground plan of Honanki 559
249. The main ruin of Honanki 562
250. Structure of wall of Honanki 564
251. Stone implement from Honanki 571
252. Tinder tube from Honanki 572
253. Küküchomo 587
254. Defensive wall on the East Mesa 588
255. Ground plan of San Bernardino de Awatobi 608
256. Structure of house wall of Awatobi 615
257. Alosaka shrine at Awatobi 620
258. Shrine at Awatobi 621
259. Shrine at Awatobi 621
260. Shrine at Awatobi 621
261. Clay bell from Awatobi 629
262. The acropolis of Sikyatki 644
263. War god shooting an animal (fragment of food bowl) 665
264. Mountain sheep 669
265. Mountain lion 670
266. Plumed serpent 672
267. Unknown reptile 674
268. Unknown reptile 675
269. Unknown reptile 676
270. Outline of plate CXXXV, _b_ 678
271. Butterfly design on upper surface of plate CXXXV, _b_ 679
272. Man-eagle 683
273. Pendent feather ornaments on a vase 690
274. Upper surface of vase with bird decoration 691
275. Kwataka eating an animal 692
276. Decoration on the bottom of plate CXLVI, _f_ 694
277. Oblique parallel line decoration 706
278. Parallel lines fused at one point 706
279. Parallel lines with zigzag arrangement 706
280. Parallel lines connected by middle bar 707
281. Parallel lines of different width; serrate margin 707
282. Parallel lines of different width; median serrate 707
283. Parallel lines of different width; marginal serrate 707
284. Parallel lines and triangles 708
285. Line with alternate triangles 708
286. Single line with alternate spurs 708
287. Single line with hourglass figures 708
288. Single line with triangles 709
289. Single line with alternate triangles and ovals 709
290. Triangles and quadrilaterals 709
291. Triangle with spurs 709
292. Rectangle with single line 709
293. Double triangle; multiple lines 710
294. Double triangle; terraced edges 710
295. Single line; closed fret 710
296. Single line; open fret 711
297. Single line; broken fret 711
298. Single line; parts displaced 711
299. Open fret; attachment displaced 711
300. Simple rectangular design 711
301. Rectangular S-form 712
302. Rectangular S-form with crooks 712
303. Rectangular S-form with triangles 712
304. Rectangular S-form with terraced triangles 712
305. S-form with interdigitating spurs 713
306. Square with rectangles and parallel lines 713
307. Rectangles, triangles, stars, and feathers 713
308. Crook, feathers, and parallel lines 713
309. Crooks and feathers 714
310. Rectangle, triangles, and feathers 714
311. Terraced crook, triangle, and feathers 714
312. Double key 715
313. Triangular terrace 715
314. Crook, serrate end 715
315. Key pattern; rectangle and triangles 716
316. Rectangle and crook 716
317. Crook and tail-feathers 716
318. Rectangle, triangle, and serrate spurs 717
319. W-pattern; terminal crooks 717
320. W-pattern; terminal rectangles 717
321. W-pattern; terminal terraces and crooks 718
322. W-pattern; terminal spurs 718
323. W-pattern; bird form 719
324. W-pattern; median triangle 719
325. Double triangle; two breath feathers 720
326. Double triangle; median trapezoid 720
327. Double triangle; median rectangle 720
328. Double compound triangle; median rectangle 720
329. Double triangle; median triangle 721
330. Double compound triangle 721
331. Double rectangle; median rectangle 721
332. Double rectangle; median triangle 721
333. Double triangle with crooks 722
334. W-shape figure; single line with feathers 722
335. Compound rectangles, triangles, and feathers 722
336. Double triangle 722
337. Double triangle and feathers 723
338. Twin triangles 723
339. Triangle with terraced appendages 723
340. Mosaic pattern 723
341. Rectangles, stars, crooks, and parallel lines 724
342. Continuous crooks 724
343. Rectangular terrace pattern 724
344. Terrace pattern with parallel lines 725
345. Terrace pattern 725
346. Triangular pattern with feathers 725
347. S-pattern 726
348. Triangular and terrace figures 726
349. Crook, terrace, and parallel lines 726
350. Triangles, squares, and terraces 726
351. Bifurcated rectangular design 727
352. Lines of life and triangles 727
353. Infolded triangles 727
354. Human hand 728
355. Animal paw, limb, and triangle 728
356. Kaolin disk 729
357. Mortuary prayer-stick 736
ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO ARIZONA IN 1895
By JESSE WALTER FEWKES
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
About the close of May, 1895, I was invited to make a collection of
objects for the National Museum, illustrating the archeology of the
Southwest, especially that phase of pueblo life pertaining to the
so-called cliff houses. I was specially urged to make as large a
collection as possible, and the choice of locality was generously left
to my discretion.
Leaving Washington on the 25th of May, I obtained a collection and
returned with it to that city on the 15th of September, having spent
three months in the field. The material brought back by the expedition
was catalogued under 966 entries, numbering somewhat over a thousand
specimens. The majority of these objects are fine examples of mortuary
pottery of excellent character, fully 500 of which are decorated.
I was particularly fortunate in my scientific collaborators. Mr F. W.
Hodge, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, joined me at Sikyatki, and
remained with the expedition until it disbanded, at the close of
August. Much of my success in the work at that ruin was due to his
advice and aid. He was constantly at the excavations, and the majority
of the beautiful specimens were taken out of the graves by him. It is
with the greatest pleasure that I am permitted to express my
appreciation of his assistance in my archeological investigations at
Sikyatki. Mr G. P. Winship, now librarian of the John Carter Brown
Library at Providence, visited our camp at the ruin mentioned, and
remained with us a few weeks, rendering important aid and adding an
enthusiastic student to our number. Mr James S. Judd was a volunteer
assistant while we were at Sikyatki, aiding me in many ways,
especially in the management of our camp. I need only to refer to the
beautiful drawings which accompany this memoir to show how much I am
indebted to Mrs Hodge for faithful colored figures of the remarkable
pottery uncovered from the Tusayan sands. My party included Mr S.
Goddard, of Prescott, Arizona, who served as cook and driver, and Mr
Erwin Baer, of the same city, as photographer. The manual work at the
ruins was done by a number of young Indians from the East Mesa, who
very properly were employed on the Moki reservation. An all too
prevalent and often unjust criticism that Indians will not work if
paid for their labor, was not voiced by any of our party. They gave
many a weary hour's labor in the hot sun, in their enthusiasm to make
the collection as large as possible.
On my return to Washington I was invited to prepare a preliminary
account of my work in the field, which the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution did me the honor to publish in his report for
1895. This report was of a very general character, and from necessity
limited in pages; consequently it presented only the more salient
features of my explorations.
The following account was prepared as a more exhaustive discussion of
the results of my summer's work. The memoir is much more extended than
I had expected to make it when I accepted the invitation to collect
archeological objects for the Museum, and betrays, I fear,
imperfections due to the limited time spent in the field. The main
object of the expedition was a collection of specimens, the majority
of which, now on exhibition in the National Museum, tell their own
story regarding its success.
I am under deep obligations to the officers of the Smithsonian
Institution, the National Museum, and the Bureau of American Ethnology
for many kindnesses, and wish especially to express my thanks to Mr S.
P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, for the
opportunity to study the ancient ruins of Tusayan. Nothing had a
greater influence on my final decision to abandon other congenial work
and undertake this, than my profound respect for the late Dr G. Brown
Goode, who suggested the expedition to me and urged me to plan and
undertake it.
JESSE WALTER FEWKES.
_Washington, May, 1897._
PLAN OF THE EXPEDITION
It seemed to me in making a plan for archeological field work in 1895,
that the prehistoric cliff houses, cave dwellings, and ruined pueblos
of Arizona afforded valuable opportunities for research, and past
experience induced me to turn my steps more especially to the northern
and northeastern parts of the territory.[1] The ruins of ancient
habitations in these regions had been partially, and, I believe,
unsatisfactorily explored, especially those in a limited area called
Tusayan, now inhabited by the Moki or Hopi Indians. These agricultural
people claim to be descendants of those who once lived in the now
deserted villages of that province.
I had some knowledge of the ethnology of the Hopi, derived from
several summers' field work among them, and I believed this
information could be successfully utilized in an attempt to solve
certain archeological questions which presented themselves.[2] I
desired, among other things, to obtain new information on the former
extension, in one direction, of the ancestral abodes of certain clans
of the sedentary people of Tusayan which are now limited to six
pueblos in the northeastern part of the territory. In carrying out
this general plan I made an examination of cliff dwellings and other
ruins in Verde valley, and undertook an exploration of two old pueblos
near the Hopi villages. The reason which determined my choice of the
former as a field for investigation was a wish to obtain archeological
data bearing on certain Tusayan traditions. It is claimed by the
traditionists of Walpi, especially those of the Patki[3] or
Water-house phratry, that their ancestors came from a land far to the
south of Tusayan, to which they give the name Palatkwabi. The
situation of this mythic place is a matter of considerable conjecture,
but it was thought that an archeological examination of the country at
or near the headwaters of the Rio Verde and its tributaries might shed
light on this tradition.
It is not claimed, however, that all the ancestors of the Tusayan
people migrated from the south, nor do I believe that those who came
from that direction necessarily passed through Verde valley. Some, no
doubt, came from Tonto Basin, but I believe it can be shown that a
continuous line of ruins, similar in details of architecture, extend
along this river from its junction with Salt river to well-established
prehistoric dwelling places of the Hopi people. Similar lines may
likewise be traced along other northern tributaries of the Salt or the
Gila, which may be found to indicate early migration stages.
The ruins of Verde valley were discovered in 1854 by Antoine Leroux, a
celebrated guide and trapper of his time, and were thus described by
Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner in the following year:
The river banks were covered with ruins of stone houses and
regular fortifications; which, he [Leroux] says, appeared to
have been the work of civilized men, but had not been
occupied for centuries. They were built upon the most
fertile tracts of the valley, where were signs of acequias
and of cultivation. The walls were of solid masonry, of
rectangular form, some twenty or thirty paces in length, and
yet remaining ten or fifteen feet in height. The buildings
were of two stories, with small apertures or loopholes for
defence when besieged.... In other respects, however, Leroux
says that they reminded him of the great pueblos of the
Moquinos.[4]
A fragment of folklore, which is widely distributed among both the
aboriginal peoples of Gila valley and the modern Tusayan Indians,
recounts how the latter were at one time in communication with the
people of the south, and traditions of both distinctly connect the
sedentary people of Tusayan with those who formerly inhabited the
great pueblos, now in ruins, dotting the plain in the delta between
Gila and Salt rivers. That archeology might give valuable information
on this question had long been my conviction, and was the main
influence which led me to the studies recorded in the following pages.
An examination of a map of Arizona will show that one of the pathways
or feasible routes of travel possible to have been used in any
connection between the pueblos of the Gila and those of northern
Arizona would naturally be along Rio Verde valley. Its tributaries
rise at the foot of San Francisco mountains, and the main river
empties into the Salt, traversing from north to south a comparatively
fertile valley, in the main advantageous for the subsistence of
semisedentary bands in their migrations. Here was a natural highway
leading from the Gila pueblos, now in ruins, to the former villages in
the north.
The study of the archeology of Verde valley had gone far enough to
show that the banks of the river were formerly the sites of many and
populous pueblos, while the neighboring mesas from one end to another
are riddled with cavate dwellings or crowned with stone buildings.
Northward from that famous crater-like depression in the Verde region,
the so-called Montezuma Well on Beaver creek, one of the affluents of
the Rio Verde, little archeological exploration had been attempted.
There was, in other words, a break in the almost continuous series of
ruins from Tusayan as far south as the Gila. Ruined towns had been
reported as existing not far southward from San Francisco
mountains,[5] and from there by easy stages the abodes of a former
race had been detected at intervals all the way to the Tusayan
pueblos. At either end the chain of ruins between the Tusayan towns
and the Gila ruins was unbroken, but middle links were wanting. All
conditions imply former habitations in this untrodden hiatus, the
region between the Verde and the Tusayan series, ending near the
present town of Flagstaff, Arizona; but southward from that town the
country was broken and impassable, a land where the foot of the
archeologist had not trodden. Remains of human habitations had,
however, been reported by ranchmen, but these reports were vague and
unsatisfactory. So far as they went they confirmed my suspicions, and
there were other significant facts looking the same way. The color of
the red cliffs fulfilled the Tusayan tradition of Palatkwabi, or their
former home in the far south. Led by all these considerations, before
I took to the field I had long been convinced that this must have been
one of the homes of certain Hopi clans, and when the occasion
presented itself I determined to follow the northward extension of the
ancient people of the Verde into these rugged rocks. By my discoveries
in this region of ruins indicative of dwellings of great size in
ancient times I have supplied the missing links in the chain of
ancient dwellings extending from the great towns of the Gila to the
ruins west of the modern Tusayan towns. If this line of ruins,
continuous from Gila valley to Tusayan and beyond, be taken in
connection with legends ascribing Casa Grande to the Hopi and those of
certain Tusayan clans which tell of the homes of their ancestors in
the south, a plausible explanation is offered for the many
similarities between two apparently widely different peoples, and the
theory of a kinship between southern and northern sedentary tribes of
Arizona does not seem as unlikely as it might otherwise appear.
The reader will notice that I accept without question the belief that
the so-called cliff dwellers were not a distinct people, but a
specially adaptive condition of life of a race whose place of
habitation was determined by its environment. We are considering a
people who sometimes built dwellings in caverns and sometimes in the
plains, but often in both places at the same epoch. Moreover, as long
ago pointed out by other students, the existing Pueblo Indians are
descendants of a people who at times lived in cliffs, and some of the
Tusayan clans have inhabited true cliff houses in the historic period.
By intermarriage with nomadic races and from other causes the
character of Pueblo consanguinity is no doubt somewhat different from
that of their ancient kin, but the character of the culture, as shown
by a comparison of cliff-house and modern objects, has not greatly
changed.
While recognizing the kinship of the Pueblos and the Cliff villagers,
this resemblance is not restricted to any one pueblo or group of
modern pueblos to the exclusion of others. Of all modern
differentiations of this ancient substratum of culture of which cliff
villages are one adaptive expression, the Tusayan Indians are the
nearest of all existing people of the Southwest[6] to the ancient
people of Arizona.
The more southerly ruins of Tusayan, which I have been able
satisfactorily to identify and to designate by a Hopi name, are those
called Homolobi, situated not far from Winslow, Arizona, near where
the railroad crosses the Little Colorado. These ruins are claimed by
the Hopi as the former residences of their ancestors, and were halting
places in the migration of certain clans from the south. They were
examined by Mr Cosmos Mindeleff, of the Bureau of American Ethnology,
in 1893,[7] but no report on them has yet been published.
While, however, the Homolobi group of ruins is the most southerly to
which I have been able to affix a Hopi name, others still more to the
southward are claimed by certain of their traditions.[8] The Hopi
likewise regard as homes of their ancestors certain habitations, now
in ruins, near San Francisco mountains. In a report on his exploration
of Zuñi and Little Colorado rivers in 1852, Captain L. Sitgreaves
called attention to several interesting ruins, one of which was not
far from the "cascades" of the latter river. After ascending the
plateau, which he found covered with volcanic detritus, he discovered
that "all the prominent points" were "occupied by the ruins of stone
houses, which were in some instances three stories in height. They are
evidently," he says, "the remains of a large town, as they occurred at
intervals for an extent of eight or nine miles, and the ground was
thickly strewn with fragments of pottery in all directions."
In 1884 a portion of Colonel James Stevenson's expedition, under F. D.
Bickford, examined the cliff houses in Walnut canyon, and in 1886
Major J. W. Powell and Colonel Stevenson found scattered ruins north
of San Francisco mountains having one, two, or three rooms, each
"built of basaltic cinders and blocks of lava." These explorers
likewise reported ruins of extensive dwellings in the same region
made of sandstone and limestone. At about 25 miles north of the
mountains mentioned they discovered a small volcanic cone of cinders
and basalt, which was formerly the site of a village or pueblo built
around a crater, and estimated that this little pueblo contained 60 or
70 rooms, with a plaza occupying one-third of an acre of surface.[9]
Twelve miles eastward from San Francisco mountains they found another
cinder cone resembling a dome, and on its southern slope, in a
coherent cinder mass, were many chambers, of which one hundred and
fifty are said to have been excavated. They mention the existence on
the summit of this cone of a plaza inclosed by a rude wall of volcanic
cinders, with a carefully leveled floor. The former inhabitants of
these rooms apparently lived in underground chambers hewn from the
volcanic formation. Eighteen miles farther eastward was another ruined
village built about the crater of a volcanic cone. Several villages
were discovered in this locality and many natural caves which had been
utilized as dwellings by inclosing them in front with walls of
volcanic rocks and cinders. These cavate rooms were arranged tier
above tier in a very irregular way.
At this place three distinct kinds of ruins were found--cliff
villages, cave dwellings, and pueblos. Eight miles southeastward from
Flagstaff, in Oak creek canyon, a cliff house of several hundred rooms
was discovered. It was concluded that all these ruins were abandoned
at a comparatively recent date, or not more than three or four
centuries ago, and the Havasupai Indians of Cataract canyon were
regarded as descendants of the former inhabitants of these villages.
The situation of some of these ruins and the published descriptions
would indicate that some of them were similar to those described and
figured by Sitgreaves,[10] to which reference has already been made.
In 1896 two amateur explorers, George Campbell and Everett Howell, of
Flagstaff, reported that they had found, about eighteen miles from
that place, several well-preserved cliff towns and a remarkable tunnel
excavation. The whole region in the immediate neighborhood of San
Francisco mountains appears, therefore, to have been populated in
ancient times by an agricultural people, and legends ascribe some of
these ruins to ancestors of the Hopi Indians.
There are several ruins due south of Tusayan which have not been
investigated, but which would furnish important contributions to a
study of Hopi migrations. Near Saint Johns, Arizona, likewise, there
are ruins of considerable size, possibly referable to the Cibolan
series; and south of Holbrook, which lies about due south of Walpi,
there are ruins, the pottery from which I have examined and found to
be of the black-and-white ware typical of the Cliff people. Perhaps,
however, no ruined pueblo presents more interesting problems than the
magnificent Pueblo Grande or Kintiel, about 20 miles north of Navaho
Springs. This large ruin, lying between the Cibolan and Tusayan
groups, has been referred to both of these provinces, and would, if
properly excavated, shed much light on the archeology of the two
provinces.[11] Kinnazinde lies not far from Kintiel.
The ruins reported from Tonto Basin, of which little is known, may
later be found to be connected with early migrations of those Hopi
clans which claim southern origin. From what I can judge by the
present appearance of ruins just north of the Mogollon mountains, in a
direct line between Tonto Basin and the present Tusayan towns, there
is nothing to show the age of these ruined villages, and it is quite
likely that they may have been inhabited in the middle of the
sixteenth century. While it is commonly agreed that the province of
"Totonteac," which figures extensively in certain early Spanish
narratives, was the same as Tusayan, the linguistic similarity of the
word to "tonto" has been suggested by others. In the troublesome years
between 1860 and 1870 the Hopi, decimated by disease and harried by
nomads, sent delegates to Prescott asking to be removed to Tonto
Basin, and it is not improbable that in making this reasonable request
they simply wished to return to a place which they associated with
their ancestors, who had been driven out by the Apache. Totonteac[12]
is ordinarily thought to be the same as Tusayan, but it may have
included some of the southern pueblos now in ruins west of Zuñi.
Having determined that the line of Verde ruins was continued into the
Red-rock country, it was desirable to see how the latter compared with
those nearer Tusayan. This necessitated reexamination of many ruins in
Verde valley, which was my aim during the most of June. I followed
this valley from the cavate dwellings near Squaw mountain past the
great ruin in the neighborhood of Old Camp Verde, the unique Montezuma
Well, to the base of the Red-rocks. Throughout this region I saw, as
had been expected, no change in the character of the ruins great
enough to indicate that they originally were inhabited by peoples
racially different. Stopped from further advance by a barrier of
rugged cliffs, I turned westward along their base until I found
similar ruins, which were named Palatki and Honanki. Having satisfied
myself that there was good evidence that the numbers of ancient
people were as great here as at any point in the Verde valley and that
their culture was similar, I continued the work with an examination of
the ruins north of the Red-rocks, where there is substantial evidence
that these were likewise of the same general character.
The last two months of the summer, July and August, 1895, were devoted
to explorations of two Tusayan ruins, called Awatobi and Sikyatki. In
this work, apparently unconnected with that already outlined, I still
had in mind the light to be shed on the problem of Tusayan origin. The
question which presented itself was: How are these ruins related to
the modern pueblos? Awatobi was a historic ruin, destroyed in 1700,
and therefore somewhat influenced by the Spaniards. Many of the
survivors became amalgamated with pueblos still inhabited. Its kinship
with the surviving villagers was clear. Sikyatki, however, was
overthrown in prehistoric times, and at its destruction part of its
people went to Awatobi. Its culture was prehistoric. The discovery of
what these two ruins teach, by bringing prehistoric Tusayan culture
down to the present time and comparing them with the ruins of Verde
valley and southern Arizona, is of great archeological interest.
While engaged in preparing this report, having in fact written most of
it, I received Mr Cosmos Mindeleff's valuable article on the Verde
ruins,[13] in which special attention is given to the cavate lodges
and villages of this interesting valley. This contribution anticipates
many of my observations on these two groups of aboriginal habitations,
and renders it unnecessary to describe them in the detailed manner I
had planned. I shall therefore touch but briefly on these ruins,
paying special attention to the cliff houses of Verde valley, situated
in the Red-rock country. This variety of dwelling was overlooked in
both Mearns' and Mindeleff's classifications, from the fact that it
seems to be confined to the region of the valley characterized by the
red-rock formation, which appears not to have been explored by them.
The close resemblance of these cliff houses to those of the region
north of Tusayan is instructive, in view of the ground, well taken, I
believe, by Mr Mindeleff, that there is a close likeness between the
Verde ruins and those farther north, especially in Tusayan.
RUINS IN VERDE VALLEY
CLASSIFICATION OF THE RUINS
The ruined habitations in the valley of the Rio Verde may be
considered under three divisions or types, differing in form, but
essentially the same in character. In adopting this classification,
which is by no means restricted to this single valley, I do not claim
originality, but follow that used by the best writers on this subject.
My limitation of the types and general definitions may, however, be
found to differ somewhat from those of my predecessors.
The three groups of ruins in our Southwest are the following:
I--Pueblos, or Independent habitations.
II--Cliff Houses }
III--Cavate Dwellings } Dependent habitations.
In the first group are placed those ancient or modern habitations
which are isolated, on all sides, from cliffs. They may be situated in
valleys or on elevations or mesas; they may be constructed of clay,
adobe, or stone of various kinds, but are always isolated from cliffs.
They are single or multiple chambered, circular or rectangular in
shape, and may have been built either as permanent habitations or as
temporary outlooks. Their main feature is freedom, on all sides except
the foundation, from cliffs or walls of rock in place.
The second group includes those not isolated from natural cliffs, but
with some part of their lateral walls formed by natural rock in situ,
and are built ordinarily in caverns with overhanging roofs, which the
highest courses of their walls do not join. Generally erected in
caves, their front walls never close the entrances to those caverns.
This kind of aboriginal buildings may, like the former, vary in
structural material; but, so far as I know, they are not, for obvious
reasons, made of adobe alone.
The third kind of pueblo dwellings are called cavate dwellings or
lodges, a group which includes that peculiar kind of aboriginal
dwelling where the rooms are excavated from the cliff wall, forming
caves, where natural rock is a support or more often serves as the
wall itself of the dwelling. The entrance may be partially closed by
masonry, the floor laid with flat stones, and the sides plastered with
clay; but never in this group is there a roof distinct from the top of
the cave.
Naturally cavate dwellings grade into cliff houses, but neither of
these types can be confounded with the first group, which affords us
no difficulty in identification. All these kinds of dwellings were
made by people of the same culture, the character of the habitation
depending on geological environment.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCI^_a_
CAVATE DWELLINGS--RIO VERDE]
In Verde valley, villages, cliff houses, and cavate dwellings exist
together, and were, I believe, contemporaneously inhabited by a people
of the same culture.
These types of ancient habitations are not believed to stand in the
relationship of sequence in development; nor is one simpler or less
difficult of construction than the others. Cliff houses display no
less skill and daring than do the villages in the plain, called
pueblos. The cavate dwellings are likewise a form of habitation which
shows considerable workmanship, and are far from caves like those
inhabited by "cave men." These dwellings were laboriously excavated
with rude implements; had floors, banquettes, windows, walled
recesses, and the like. It is hardly proper to regard them, as less
difficult to construct than pueblos or cliff houses.
Cavate dwellings, like villages or cliff houses, may be single or
multiple, single or many chambered, and a cluster of these troglodytic
dwellings was, in fact, as truly a village as a pueblo or cliff house.
The same principle of seeking safety by crowding together held in all
three instances; and this very naturally, for the culture of the
inhabitants was identical. I shall consider only two of the three
types of dwellings in Verde valley, namely, the second and third
groups.
It has, I think, been conclusively shown by Mr Cosmos Mindeleff, so
far as types of the first group of ruins on the Verde are concerned,
that they practically do not differ from the modern Tusayan pueblos.
The remaining types, when rightly interpreted, furnish evidence of no
less important character. Notwithstanding Mindeleff's excellent
descriptions of the cavate dwellings of this region, already cited, I
have thought it well to bring into prominence certain features which
seem to me to indicate that this form of aboriginal dwelling was high
in its development, showing considerable skill in its construction,
and was fashioned on the same general plan as the others. For this
demonstration I have chosen one of the most striking clusters in Verde
valley.
CAVATE DWELLINGS
The most accessible cavate dwellings in Verde valley (plate XCI _a_)
are situated on the left bank of the river, about eight miles
southward from Camp Verde and three miles from the mouth of Clear
creek. The general characteristics of this group have been well
described by Mr Mindeleff in the Thirteenth Annual Report of the
Bureau, so that I need but refer to a few additional observations made
on these interesting habitations.[14]
These cavate lodges afford a fair idea of the best known of these
prehistoric dwellings in this part of Arizona. Although Verde valley
has many fine ranches, the land in immediate proximity to these ruins
is uncultivated. The nearest habitation, however, is not far away, and
it is not difficult to find guides to these caves, so well known are
they to the inhabitants of this part of the valley. It did not take
long to learn that any investigations which I might attempt there had
been anticipated by other archeologists and laymen, for many of the
rooms had been rifled of their contents and their walls thrown down,
while it was also evident that some careful excavations had been made.
There is, however, abundant opportunity for more detailed scientific
work than has yet been attempted on these ruins, and what has thus far
been accomplished has been more in the nature of reconnoissance. The
cemeteries and burial places of the prehistoric people of the cavate
dwellings are yet to be discovered, and it is probable, judging from
experience gained at other ruins, that when they are found and
carefully investigated much light will be thrown on the character of
ancient cave life.
The entrances to the cavate dwellings opposite Squaw mountain are
visible from the road for quite a distance, appearing as rows of holes
in the steep walls of the cliff on the opposite or left bank of the
Rio Verde. Owing to their proximity to the river, from which the
precipice in which they are situated rises almost vertically, we were
unable to camp under them, but remained on the right bank of the
river, where a level plain extends for some distance, bordering the
river and stretching back to the distant cliffs. We pitched our camp
on a bluff, about 30 feet above the river, in full sight of the cave
entrances, near a small stone inclosure which bears quite a close
resemblance to a Tusayan shrine.
Aboriginal people had evidently cultivated the plain where we camped,
for there are many evidences of irrigating ditches and even walls of
former houses. At present, however, this once highly cultivated field
lies unused, and is destitute of any valuable plants save the scanty
grass which served to eke out the fodder of our horses.
At the time of my visit the water of Rio Verde at this point was
confined to a very narrow channel under the bluff near its right bank,
but the appearance of its bed showed that in heavy freshets during the
rainy season the water filled the interval between the base of the
cliffs in which the cavate dwellings are situated and the bluffs which
form the right bank.
In visits to the caves it was necessary, on account of the site of the
camp, to ford the stream each time and to climb to their level over
fallen stones, a task of no slight difficulty. The water in places was
shallow and the current only moderately rapid. Considering the fact
that it furnished potable liquid for ourselves and horses, and that
the line of trees which skirted the bluff was available for firewood,
our camp compared well with many which we subsequently made in our
summer's explorations.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCI^_b_
CAVATE DWELLINGS--OAK CREEK]
The section of the cliff which was examined embraced the northern
series of these caves, extending from a promontory forming one side of
a blind or box canyon to nearly opposite our camp. Adjacent to this
series of rooms, but farther down the river, on the same side, there
are two narrow side canyons, in both of which are also numerous caves,
in all respects similar to the series we chose for examination. At
several points on the summit of the cliffs, above the caves, large
rectangular ruins, with fallen walls, were discovered; these ruins
are, however, in no respect peculiar, but closely resemble those
ordinarily found in a similar position throughout this region and
elsewhere in Arizona and New Mexico. From their proximity to the caves
it would seem that the cavate dwellings, and the pueblos on the
summits of the mesas in which they are found, had been inhabited by
one people; but better evidence that such is true is drawn from the
character of the architecture and the nature of the art remains common
to both.
Let us first consider the series of caves from a point opposite our
camp to the promontory which forms a pinnacle at the mouth of the
first of the two side caverns--a row of caves the entrances to which
are shown in the accompanying illustration (plate XCII). I have
lettered these rooms, as indicated by their entrances, _a_ to _l_,
beginning with the opening on the left.
The rock in which these caves have been hewn is very soft, and almost
white in color, save for a slightly reddish brown stratum just below
the line of entrances to the cavate chambers. Although, as a general
thing, the wall of the cliff is almost perpendicular, and the caves at
points inaccessible, entrance to the majority of them can be effected
by mounting the heaps of small stones forming the débris, which has
fallen even to the bed of the river at various places, and by
following a ledge which connects the line of entrances. The easiest
approach mounts a steep decline, not far from the promontory at the
lower level of the line, which conducts to a ledge running along in
front of the caves about 150 feet above the bed of the stream. Roughly
speaking, this ledge is about 100 feet below the summit of the cliff.
It was impossible to reach several of the rooms, and it is probable
that when the caves were inhabited access to any one of them was even
more difficult than at present.
Judging from the number of rooms, the cliffs on the left bank of the
Verde must have had a considerable population when inhabited. These
caverns, no doubt, swarmed with human beings, and their inaccessible
position furnished the inhabitants with a safe refuge from enemies, or
an advantageous outlook or observation shelter for their fields on the
opposite side of the stream. The soft rock of which the mesa is formed
is easily worked, and there are abundant evidences, from the marks of
tools employed, that the greater part of each cave was pecked out by
hand. Fragments of wood were very rarely seen in these cliff dugouts;
and although there is much adobe plastering, only in a few instances
were the mouths of the caves walled or a doorway of usual shape
present. The last room at the southern end, near the promontory at the
right of the entrance to a side canyon, has walls in front resembling
those of true cliff houses and pueblos in the Red-rock country farther
northward, as will be shown in subsequent pages.
This group of cavate dwellings, while a good example of the cavern
type of ruins, is so closely associated, both in geographical position
and in archeological remains, with other types in Verde valley, that
we are justified in referring them to one and the same people. The
number of these troglodytic dwelling places on the Verde is very
large; indeed the mesas may be said to be fairly honeycombed with
subterranean habitations. Confined as a general thing to the softer
strata of rock, which from its character was readily excavated, they
lie side by side at the same general level, and are entered from a
projecting ledge, formed by the top of the talus which follows the
level of their entrances.
[Illustration: FIG. 245--Plan of cavate dwelling on Rio Verde]
This ledge is easily accessible in certain places from the river bed,
where stones have fallen to the base of the cliff; but at most points
no approach is possible, and in their impregnable position the
inhabitants could easily defend themselves from hostile peoples.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCII
ENTRANCES TO CAVATE RUINS]
Whether the rock had recesses in it before the caves were enlarged
would seem to be answered in the affirmative, for similar caves
without evidences of habitations were observed. These, however, are as
a rule small, and wherever available the larger caverns have been
appropriated and enlarged by stone implements, as shown by the pecking
on the walls. The enlargement of these caverns, however, would not be
a difficult task, for the rock is very soft and easily worked.
Entering one of these cavate rooms the visitor finds himself in a dark
chamber, as a rule with side openings or passageways into adjoining
rooms. Broad lateral banquettes are prominent features in the most
complicated caves, and there are many recesses and small closets or
cists.
The ramifications formed by lateral rooms are often extensive, and the
chambers communicate with others so dark that we can hardly regard
them as once inhabited. In these dimly lighted rooms the walls were
blackened with smoke, as if from former fires, and in many of the
largest the position of fireplaces could plainly be discovered. As a
type of one of the more complicated I have chosen that figured to
illustrate the arrangement of these cavate dwellings (figure 245).
Many are smaller, others have more lateral chambers, but one type is
characteristic of all.
A main room (_A_, figure 245), or that first entered from outside, is
roughly rectangular in shape, 12 feet long by 6 feet wide, and about 6
feet high. The floor, however, was covered with very dry débris which
had blown in from the exterior or, in some instances, fallen from the
roof. That part of the floor which was exposed shows that it was
roughly plastered, sometimes paved or formed of solid rock.
On three sides of this room there is a step 2 feet high, to platforms,
three in number, one in the rear and one on each side. These platforms
are 5, 6, and 6 feet 6 inches wide, respectively, and of the same
length as the corresponding sides of the central room. It would appear
that these platforms are characteristic architectural features of
these habitations, and we find them reproduced in some of the rooms of
the cliff houses of the Red-rocks, while Nordenskiöld has described a
kindred feature in the kivas of the Mesa Verde ruins. A somewhat
similar elevation of the floor in modern Tusayan kivas forms what may
be called the spectator's part, in front of the ladder as one
descends, and the same feature is common to many older Hopi
dwellings.[15]
Beginning with the lateral platforms (_B_, figure 245) we first note,
as we step upon it at _c_, about midway of its length, a small
circular depression in the floor of the central room extending
slightly beneath the platform, as indicated by the dotted line. It is
possible that this niche was a receptacle for important household
objects, although it may have been a fireplace.
In a corner of the right platform a round cist, partially hewn out of
the rock, was found, but its walls (_a_, figure 245) were badly broken
down by some former explorer. The floor of this recess lies below that
of the platform, while the cist itself (_D_) reminds one of the closed
or walled structures, so commonly found in the Verde, attached to the
side of the cliff. On the lateral wall of this chamber, at about the
height of the head, a row of small holes had been drilled into the
solid wall. These holes (_d_, _d_, _d_) are almost too small for the
insertion of roof beams, and were probably made for pegs on which to
rest a beam for hanging blankets and other textile fabrics when not in
use. The roof of the cave was the natural rock, and showed over its
whole surface marks of a pecking implement.
The left chamber is 6 feet 6 inches broad, and from one corner,
opposite the doorway, a low passageway leads into a circular chamber,
6 feet in diameter, with its floor below the platform of the lateral
room. Between the chamber, on the left of the entrance, and the open
air, the wall of solid rock is broken by a slit-like crevice, which
allows the light to enter, and no doubt served as a window. A recess,
the floor of which is elevated, on a platform opposite the doorway, is
5 feet broad, and has a small circular depression in one corner. The
floor and upraise of this recess is plastered with adobe, which in
several places is smooth and well made.
In comparing the remaining cavate dwellings of this series with that
described, we find every degree of complication in the arrangement of
rooms, from a simple cave, or irregular hole in the side of the cliff,
to squared chambers with lateral rooms. The room _I_,[16] for
instance, is rectangular, 6 feet long by 3 feet wide, with an entrance
the same width as that of the room itself.
In room _III_, however, the external opening is very small, and there
is a low, narrow ledge, or platform, opposite the doorway. There is
likewise in this room a small shelf in the left-hand wall. In _IV_
there is a raised platform on two adjacent sides of the square room,
and the doorway is an irregular orifice broken through the wall to the
open air.
Room _IV_ is a subterranean chamber, most of the floor of which is
littered with large fragments of rock which have fallen from the roof.
It has numerous small recesses in the wall resembling cubby-holes
where household utensils of various kinds were undoubtedly formerly
kept. This room is instructive, in that the entrance is partially
closed by two walls of masonry, which do not join. The stones are
laid in adobe in which fragments of pottery were detected. These
unjoined walls leave a doorway which is thus flanked on each side by
stone masonry, recalling in every particular the well-known walls of
cliff houses. Here, in fact, we have so close a resemblance to the
masonry of true cliff houses that we can hardly doubt that the
excavators of the cavate dwellings were, in reality, people similar to
those who built the cliff houses of Verde valley.
Room _VIII_ is a simple cave hewn out of the rock, with a chamber
behind it, entered by a passageway made of masonry, which partially
fills a larger opening. The doorway through this masonry is small
below, but broadens above in much the same manner as some of the
doorways in Tusayan of today.
Continuing along the left bank of the river, from the row of cavate
rooms, just described, on the first mesa, we round a promontory and
enter a small canyon,[17] which is perforated on each side with
numerous other cavate dwellings, large and small, all of the same
general character as the type described. Here, likewise, are small
external openings which evidently communicated with subterranean
chambers, but many of them are so elevated that access to them from
the floor of the canyon or from the cliff above is not possible. A
marked feature of the whole series is the existence here and there of
small, often inaccessible, stone cists of masonry plastered to the
side of the rocky cliff like swallows' nests.
All of these cists which are accessible had been opened and plundered
before my visit, but there yet remain a few which are still intact and
would repay examination and study. Similar walled-up cists are
likewise found, as we shall see later, in the cliff-houses of the
Red-rock country, hence are not confined to the Verde system of ruins.
Cavate dwellings similar to those here described are reported to exist
in the canyons of upper Salado, Gala, and Zuñi rivers, and we may with
reason suspect that the distribution[18] of cavate dwellings is as
wide as that of the pueblos themselves, the sole requisite being a
soft tufaceous rock, capable of being easily worked by people with
stone implements. In none of the different regions in which they exist
is there any probability that these caves were made by people
different in culture from pueblo or cliff dwellers. They are much more
likely to have been permanent than temporary habitations of the same
culture stock of Indians who availed themselves of rock shelters
wherever the nature of the cliff permitted excavation in its walls.
That the cavate lodges are simple "horticultural outlooks" is an
important suggestion, but one might question whether they were
conveniently placed for that purpose. So far as overlooking the
opposite plain (which had undoubtedly been cultivated in ancient
times) is concerned, the position of some of them may be regarded good
for that purpose, but certainly not so commanding as that of the hill
or mesa above, where well-marked ruins still exist.
The position of the cavate dwellings is a disadvantageous one to reach
any cultivated fields if defenders were necessary. When the Tusayan
Indian today moves to his _kisi_ or summer brush house shelter he
practically camps in his corn or near it, in easy reach to drive away
crows, or build wind-breaks to shelter the tender sprouts; but to go
to their cornfields the inhabitants of the cavate dwellings I have
described were forced to cross a river before the farm was reached.
That these cavate dwellings were lookouts none can deny, but I incline
to a belief that this does not tell the whole story if we limit them
to such use. It is not wholly clear to me that they were not likewise
an asylum for refuge, possibly not inhabited continuously, but a very
welcome retreat when the agriculturist was sorely pressed by enemies.
Following the analogy of a Hopi custom of building temporary booths
near their fields, may we not suppose that the former inhabitants of
Verde valley may have erected similar shelters in their cornfields
during summer months, retiring to the cavate dwellings and the mesa
tops in winter? All available evidence would indicate that the cavate
dwellings were permanent habitations.[19]
There are several square ruins on top of the mesa above the cavate
dwellings. The walls of these were massive, but they are now very much
broken down, and the adobe plastering is so eroded from the masonry
that I regard them of considerable antiquity. They do not differ from
other similar ruins, so common elsewhere in New Mexico and Arizona,
and are identical with others in the Verde region. I visited several
of these ruins, but made no excavations in them, nor added any new
data to our knowledge of this type of aboriginal buildings. The
pottery picked up on the surface resembles that of the ruins of the
Little Colorado and Gila.
The dwellings which I have mentioned above are said[20] to be
duplicated at many other points in the watershed of the Verde, and
many undescribed ruins of this nature were reported to me by ranchmen.
I do not regard them as older than the adjacent ruins on the mesa
above or the plains below them, much less as productions of people of
different stages of culture, for everything about them suggests
contemporaneous occupancy.
From what little I saw of the village sites on the Verde I believe
that Mindeleff is correct in considering that these ruins represent
a comparatively late period of pueblo architecture. The character
of the cliff houses of the Red-rocks shows no very great antiquity of
occupancy. While it is not possible to give any approximate date when
they were inhabited, their general appearance indicates that they are
not more than two centuries old. There is, however, no reference to
them in the early Spanish history of the Southwest.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCIII
BOWLDER WITH PICTOGRAPHS NEAR WOOD'S RANCH]
Few pictographs were found in the immediate neighborhood of the cavate
dwellings; indeed the rock in their vicinity is too soft to preserve
for any considerable time any great number of these rock etchings.
Examples of ancient paleography were, however, discovered a short
distance higher up the river on malpais rock, which is harder and less
rapidly eroded. A half-buried bowlder (plate XCIII) near Wood's ranch
was found to be covered with the well-known spirals with zigzag
attachments, horned animals resembling antelopes, growing corn, rain
clouds, and similar figures. These pictographs occur on a black,
superficial layer of lava rock, or upon lighter stone with a malpais
layer, which had been pecked through, showing a lighter color beneath.
There is little doubt that many examples of aboriginal pictography
exist in this neighborhood, which would reward exploration with
interesting data. The Verde pictographs can not be distinguished, so
far as designs are concerned, from many found elsewhere in Colorado,
Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
An instructive pictograph, different from any which I have elsewhere
seen, was discovered on the upturned side of a bowlder not far from
Hance's ranch, near the road from Camp Verde to the cavate dwellings.
The bowlder upon which they occur lies on top of a low hill, to the
left of the road, near the river. It consists of a rectangular network
of lines, with attached key extensions, crooks, and triangles, all
pecked in the surface. This dædalus of lines arises from grooves,
which originate in two small, rounded depressions in the rock, near
which is depicted the figure of a mountain lion. The whole pictograph
is 3-1/2 feet square, and legible in all its parts.
The intent of the ancient scribe is not wholly clear, but it has been
suggested that he sought to represent the nexus of irrigating ditches
in the plain below. It might have been intended as a chart of the
neighboring fields of corn, and it is highly suggestive, if we adopt
either of these explanations or interpretations, that a figure of the
mountain lion is found near the depressions, which may provisionally
be regarded as representing ancient reservoirs. Among the Tusayan
Indians the mountain lion is looked on as a guardian of cultivated
fields, which he is said to protect, and his stone image is sometimes
placed there for the same purpose.
In the vicinity of the pictograph last described other bowlders, of
which there are many, were found to be covered with smaller rock
etchings in no respect characteristic, and there is a remnant of an
ancient shrine a few yards away from the bowlder upon which they
occur.
MONTEZUMA WELL
One of the most interesting sites of ancient habitation in Verde
valley is known as Montezuma Well, and it is remarkable how little
attention has been paid to it by archeologists.[21] Dr Mearns, in his
article on the ancient dwellings of Verde valley, does not mention the
well, and Mindeleff simply refers to the brief description by Dr
Hoffman in 1877. These ruins are worthy of more study than I was able
to give them, for like many other travelers I remained but a short
time in the neighborhood. It is possible, however, that some of my
hurried observations at this point may be worthy of record.
Montezuma Well (plate XCIV) is an irregular, circular depression,
closely resembling a volcanic crater, but evidently, as Dr Hoffman
well points out, due to erosion rather than to volcanic agencies. As
one approaches it from a neighboring ranch the road ascends a low
elevation, and when on top the visitor finds that the crater occupies
the whole interior of the hill. The exact dimensions I did not
accurately determine, but the longest diameter of the excavation is
estimated at about 400 feet; its depth possibly 70 feet. On the
eastern side this depression is separated from Beaver creek by a
precipitous wall which can not be scaled from that side. At the time
of my visit there was considerable water in the "well," which was
reported to be very deep, but did not cover the whole bottom. It is
possible to descend to the water at one point on the eastern side,
where a trail leads to the water's edge.
There appears to be a subterranean waterway under the eastern rim of
the well, and the water from the spring rushes through this passage
into Beaver creek. At the time of my visit this outflow was very
considerable, and in the rainy season it must be much greater. The
well is never dry, and is supplied by perennial subterranean springs
rather than by surface drainage.
The geological agency which has been potent in giving the remarkable
crater-like form to Montezuma Well was correctly recognized by Dr
Hoffman[22] and others as the solvent or erosive power of the spring.
There is no evidence of volcanic formation in the neighborhood, and
the surrounding rocks are limestones and sandstones. Not far from
Navaho springs there is a similar circular depression, called Jacob's
Well, but which was dry when visited by me. This may later be found to
have been formed in a similar way. At several places in Arizona there
are formations of like geological character.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCIV
MONTEZUMA WELL]
The walls of Montezuma Well are so nearly perpendicular that descent
to the edge of the water is difficult save by a single trail which
follows the detritus to a cave on one side. In this cave, the roof of
which is not much higher than the water level, there are fragments
of masonry, as if structures of some kind had formerly been erected in
it. I have regarded this cave rather as a place of religious rites
than of former habitation, possibly a place of retreat for ancient
priests when praying for rain or moisture, or a shrine for the deposit
of prayer offerings to rain or water gods.
Several isolated cliff dwellings are built at different levels in the
sides of the cliffs. One of the best of these is diametrically
opposite the cave mentioned above, a few feet below the rim of the
depression. While this house was entered with little difficulty, there
were others which I did not venture to visit.
The accompanying illustration (plate XCV) gives an idea of the general
appearance of one of these cliff houses of Montezuma Well. It is built
under an overhanging archway of rock in a deep recess, with masonry on
three sides. The openings are shown, one of which overlooks the
spring; the other is an entrance at one side. The face of masonry on
the front is not plastered, and if it was formerly rough cast the mud
has been worn away, leaving the stones exposed. The side wall, which
has been less exposed to the elements, still retains the plastering,
which is likewise found on the inner walls where it is quite smooth in
places.
The number of cliff rooms in the walls of the well is small and their
capacity, if used as dwellings, very limited. There are, however,
ruins of pueblos of some size on the edge of the well.
One of the largest of these, shown in the accompanying illustration
(plate XCVI), is situated on the neck of land separating the well from
the valley of Beaver creek. This pueblo was rectangular in form, of
considerable size, built of stones, and although at present almost
demolished, shows perfectly the walls of former rooms. Fragments of
ancient pottery would seem to indicate that the people who once
inhabited this pueblo were in no respect different from other
sedentary occupants of Verde valley. From their housetops they had a
wide view over the creek on one side and the spring on the other,
defending, by the site of their village, the one trail by which
descent to the well was possible.
The remarkable geological character of Montezuma Well, and the spring
within it, would have profoundly impressed itself on the folklore of
any people of agricultural bent who lived in its neighborhood after
emigrating to more arid lands. About a month after my visit to this
remarkable spring I described the place to some of the old priests at
Walpi and showed them sketches of the ruins. These priests seemed to
have legendary knowledge of a place somewhat like it where they said
the Great Plumed Snake had one of his numerous houses. They reminded
me of a legend they had formerly related to me of how the Snake arose
from a great cavity or depression in the ground, and how, they had
heard, water boiled out of that hole into a neighboring river. The
Hopi have personal knowledge of Montezuma Well, for many of their
number have visited Verde valley, and they claim the ruins there as
the homes of their ancestors. It would not be strange, therefore, if
this marvelous crater was regarded by them as a house of Palülükoñ,
their mythic Plumed Serpent.
Practically little is known of the pictography of this part of the
Verde valley people, although it has an important bearing on the
distribution of the cliff dwellers of the Southwest. There is evidence
of at least two kinds of petroglyphs, indicative of two distinct
peoples. One of these was of the Apache Mohave; the other, the
agriculturists who built the cliff homes and villages of the plain.
Those of the latter are almost identical with the work of the Pueblo
peoples in the cliff dweller stage, from southern Utah and Colorado to
the Mexican boundary. It is not a difficult task to distinguish the
pictography of these two peoples, wherever found. The pictographs of
the latter are generally pecked into the rock with a sharpened
implement, probably of stone, while those of the former are usually
scratched or painted on the surface of the rocks. Their main
differences, however, are found in the character of the designs and
the objects represented. This difference can be described only by
considering individual rock drawings, but the practiced eye may
readily distinguish the two kinds at a glance. The pictographs which
are pecked in the cliff are, as a rule, older than those which are
drawn or scratched, and resemble more closely those widely spread in
the Pueblo area, for if the cliff-house people ever made painted
pictographs, as there is every reason to believe they did, time has
long ago obliterated them.
The pictured rocks (plate XCVII) near Cliff's ranch, on Beaver creek,
four miles from Montezuma Well, have a great variety of objects
depicted upon them. These rocks, which rise from the left bank of the
creek opposite Cliff's ranch, bear over a hundred different rock
pictures, figures of which are seen in the accompanying illustration.
The rock surface is a layer of black malpais, through which the totem
signatures have been pecked, showing the light stone beneath, and thus
rendering them very conspicuous. Among these pictographs many familiar
forms are recognizable, among them being the crane or blue heron,
bears' and badgers' paws, turtles, snakes, antelopes, earth symbols,
spirals, and meanders.
Among these many totems there was an unusual pictograph in the form of
the figure 8, above which was a bear's paw accompanied by a human
figure so common in southwestern rock etchings. A square figure with
interior parallel squares extending to the center is also found, as
elsewhere, in cliff-dweller pictography.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCV
CLIFF HOUSE, MONTEZUMA WELL]
CLIFF HOUSES OF THE RED-ROCKS
After the road from old Camp Verde to Flagstaff passes a deserted
cabin at Beaver Head, it winds up a steep hill of lava or malpais to
the top of the Mogollones. If, instead of ascending this hill, one
turns to the left, taking an obscure road across the river bed,
which is full of rough lava blocks, and in June, when I traveled its
course, was without water, he soon finds himself penetrating a rugged
country with bright-red cliffs on his right (plate XCVIII). Continuing
through great parks and plains he finally descends to the well-wooded
valley of Oak creek, an affluent of Rio Verde. Here he finds evidences
of aboriginal occupancy on all sides--ruins of buildings, fortified
hilltops, pictographs, and irrigating ditches--testifying that there
was at one time a considerable population in this valley. The fields
of the ancient inhabitants have now given place to many excellent
ranches, one of the most flourishing of which is not far from a lofty
butte of red rock called the Court-house, which from its great size is
a conspicuous object for miles around. In many of these canyons there
are evidences of a former population, but the country is as yet almost
unexplored; there are many difficult places to pass, yet once near the
base of the rocks a way can be picked from the mouth of one canyon to
another. It does not take long to discover that this now uninhabited
region contains, like that along the Verde and its tributaries, many
ancient dwellings, for there is scarcely a single canyon leading into
these red cliffs in which evidences of former human habitations are
not found in the form of ruins. There is little doubt that these
unfrequented canyons have many and extensive cliff houses, the
existence of which has thus far escaped the explorer. The sandstone of
which they are composed is much eroded into caves with overhanging
roofs, forming admirable sites for cliff houses as distinguished from
cavate dwellings like those we have described. They are the only
described ruins of a type hitherto thought to be unrepresented in the
valley of the Verde.[23]
In our excursion into the Red-rock country we were obliged to make our
own wagon road, as no vehicle had ever penetrated the rugged canyons
visited by us. It was necessary to carry our drinking water with us
from Oak creek, which fact impeded our progress and limited the time
available in our reconnoissance. There was, however, in the pool near
the ruins of Honanki enough water for our horses, and at the time we
were there a limited amount of grass for fodder was found. I was told
that later in the season both forage and water are abundant, so that
these prime necessities being met, there is no reason why successful
archeological investigations may not be successfully conducted in this
part of the Verde region.
The limited population of this portion of the country rendered it
difficult to get laborers at the time I made my reconnoissance, so
that it would be advisable for one who expects to excavate the ruins
in this region to take with him workmen from the settled portions of
the valley.
RUINS NEAR SCHÜRMANN'S RANCH
The valley of Oak creek, near Court-house butte, especially in the
vicinity of Schürmann's ranch, is dotted with fortifications, mounds
indicative of ruins, and like evidences of aboriginal occupancy. There
is undoubted proof that the former occupants of this plain constructed
elaborate irrigating ditches, and that the waters of Oak creek were
diverted from the stream and conducted over the adjoining valleys.
There are several fortified hills in this locality. One of the best of
these defensive works crowned a symmetrical mountain near Schürmann's
house. The top of this mesa is practically inaccessible from any but
the southern side, and was found to have a flat surface covered with
scattered cacti and scrub cedar, among which were walls of houses
nowhere rising more than two feet. The summit is perhaps 200 feet
above the valley, and the ground plan of the former habitations
extends over an area 100 feet in length, practically occupying the
whole of the summit. Although fragments of pottery are scarce, and
other evidences of long habitation difficult to find, the house walls
give every evidence of being extremely ancient, and most of the rooms
are filled with red soil out of which grow trees of considerable age.
Descending from this ruin-capped mesa, I noticed on the first terrace
the remains of a roundhouse, or lookout, in the middle of which a
cedar tree had taken root and was growing vigorously. Although the
walls of this structure do not rise above the level of the ground,
there is no doubt that they are the remains of either a lookout or
circular tower formerly situated at this point.
Many similar ruins are found throughout this vicinity, yet but little
more is known of them than that they antedate the advent of white men.
The majority of them were defensive works, built by the house
dwellers, and their frequency would indicate either considerable
population or long occupancy. Although many of those on the hilltops
differ somewhat from the habitations in the valleys, I think there is
little doubt that both were built by the same people.[24] There are
likewise many caves in this region, which seem to have been camping
places, for their walls are covered with soot and their floors strewn
with charred mescal, evidences, probably, of Apache occupancy. This
whole section of country was a stronghold of this ferocious tribe
within the last few decades, which may account for the modern
appearance of many of the evidences of aboriginal habitation.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVI
RUIN ON THE BRINK OF MONTEZUMA WELL]
There are some good pictographs on the foundation rocks of that great
pinnacle of red rock, called the Court-house, not far from Schürmann's
ranch.[25] Some of these are Apache productions, and the neighboring
caves evidently formed shelters for these nomads, as ash pit and
half-burnt logs would seem to show. This whole land was a stronghold
of the Apache up to a recent date, and from it they were dislodged,
many of the Indians being killed or removed by authority of the
Government.
From the geological character of the Red-rocks I was led to suspect
that cavate dwellings were not to be expected. The stone is hard and
not readily excavated by the rude implements with which the aborigines
of the region were supplied. But the remarkable erosion shown in this
rock elsewhere had formed many deep caverns or caves, with
overreaching roofs, very favorable for the sites of cliff houses. My
hurried examination confirmed my surmises, for we here found dwellings
of this kind, so similar to the type best illustrated in Mancos canyon
of southern Colorado. There were several smoke-blackened caves without
walls of masonry, but with floors strewn with charred wood, showing
Apache occupancy. No cavate dwellings were found in the section of the
Red-rocks visited by our party.
The two largest of the Red-rock cliff houses to which I shall refer
were named Honanki or Bear-house and Palatki or Red-house. The former
of these, as I learned from the names scribbled on its walls, had
previously been visited by white men, but so far as I know it has
never been mentioned in archeological literature. My attention was
called to it by Mr Schürmann, at whose hospitable ranch I outfitted
for my reconnoissance into the Red-rock country. The smaller ruin,
Palatki, we discovered by chance during our visit, and while it is
possible that some vaquero in search of a wild steer may have visited
the neighborhood before us, there is every reason to believe that the
ruin had escaped even the notice of these persons, and, like Honanki,
was unknown to the archeologist.
The two ruins, Honanki and Palatki, are not the only ones in the lone
canyon where we encamped. Following the canyon a short distance from
its entrance, there was found to open into it from the left a
tributary, or so-called box canyon, the walls of which are very
precipitous. Perched on ledges of the cliffs there are several rows of
fortifications or walls of masonry extending for many yards. It was
impossible for us to enter these works, even after we had clambered up
the side of the precipice to their level, so inaccessible were they to
our approach. These "forts" were probably for refuge, but they are ill
adapted as points of observation on account of the configuration of
the canyon. Their masonry, as examined at a distance with a field
glass, resembles that of Palatki and Honanki.
I was impressed by the close resemblance between the large cliff
houses of the Red-rocks, with their overhanging roof of rock, and
those of the San Juan and its tributaries in northern New Mexico.
While it is recognized that cliff houses have been reported from Verde
valley, I find them nowhere described, and our lack of information
about them, so far as they are concerned, may have justified
Nordenskiöld's belief that "the basin of the Colorado actually
contains almost all the cliff dwellings of the United States." As the
Gila flows into the Colorado near its mouth, the Red-rock ruins may in
a sense be included in the Colorado basin, but there are many and
beautiful cliff houses higher up near the sources of the Gila and its
tributary, the Salt. In calling attention to the characteristic cliff
dwellings of the Red-rocks I am making known a new region of ruins
closely related to those of Canyon de Tségi, or Chelly, the San Juan
and its tributaries.
Although the cliff houses of Verde valley had been known for many
years, and the ruins here described are of the same general character,
anyone who examines Casa Montezuma, on Beaver creek, and compares it
with Honanki, will note differences of an adaptive nature. The one
feature common to Honanki and the "Cliff Palace" of Mancos canyon is
the great overhanging roof of the cavern, which, in that form, we miss
in Casa Montezuma (figure 246).[26]
[Illustration: FIG. 246--Casa Montezuma on Beaver creek]
We made two camps in the Red-rock country, one at the mouth of a wild
canyon near an older camp where a well had been dug and the cellar of
an American house was visible. This camp was fully six miles from
Schürmann's ranch and was surrounded by some of the wildest scenery
that I had ever witnessed. The accompanying view (plate XCVIII) was
taken from a small elevation near by, and gives a faint idea of the
magnificent mountains by which we were surrounded. The colors of the
rocks are variegated, so that the gorgeous cliffs appear to be banded,
rising from 800 to 1,000 feet sheer on all sides. These rocks had
weathered into fantastic shapes suggestive of cathedrals, Greek
temples, and sharp steeples of churches extending like giant needles
into the sky. The scenery compares very favorably with that of the
Garden of the Gods, and is much more extended. This place, I have no
doubt, will sooner or later become popular with the sightseer, and I
regard the discovery of these cliffs one of the most interesting of my
summer's field work.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVII
PICTOGRAPHS NEAR CLIFF RANCH, VERDE VALLEY]
On the sides of these inaccessible cliffs we noticed several cliff
houses, but so high were they perched above us that they were almost
invisible. To reach them at their dizzy altitude was impossible, but
we were able to enter some caves a few hundred feet above our camp,
finding in them nothing but charred mescal and other evidences of
Apache camps. Their walls and entrances are blackened with smoke, but
no sign of masonry was detected.
We moved our camp westward from this canyon (which, from a great cliff
resembling the Parthenon, I called Temple canyon), following the base
of the precipitous mountains to a second canyon, equally beautiful but
not so grand, and built our fire in a small grove of scrub oak and
cottonwood. In this lonely place Lloyd had lived over a winter,
watching his stock, and had dug a well and erected a corral. We
adopted his name for this camp and called it Lloyd canyon. There was
no water in the well, but a few rods beyond it there was a pool, from
which we watered our horses. On the first evening at this camp we
sighted a bear, which gave the name Honanki, "Bear-house," to the
adjacent ruined dwellings.
The enormous precipice of red rock west of our camp at Lloyd's corral
hid Honanki from view at first, but we soon found a trail leading
directly to it, and during our short stay in this neighborhood we
remained camped near the cottonwoods at the entrance to the canyon,
not far from the abandoned corral. Our studies of Honanki led to the
discovery of Palatki (figure 247), which we investigated on our return
to Temple canyon. I will, therefore, begin my description of the
Red-rock cliff houses with those last discovered, which, up to the
visit which I made, had never been studied by archeologists.
PALATKI
There are two neighboring ruins which I shall include in my
consideration of Palatki, and these for convenience may be known as
Ruin I and Ruin II, the former situated a little eastward from the
latter. They are but a short distance apart, and are in the same box
canyon. Ruin I (plate XCIX) is the better preserved, and is a fine
type of the compact form of cliff dwellings in the Red-rock country.
This ruin is perched on the top of a talus which has fallen from the
cliff above, and is visible for some distance above the trees, as one
penetrates the canyon. It is built to the side of a perpendicular
wall of rock which, high above its tallest walls, arches over it,
sheltering the walls from rain or eroding influences. From the dry
character of the earth on the floors I suspect that for years not a
drop of water has penetrated the inclosures, although they are now
roofless.
A highly characteristic feature of Ruin I is the repetition of rounded
or bow-shape front walls, occurring several times in their length, and
arranged in such a way as to correspond roughly to the inclosures
behind them. By this arrangement the size of the rooms was increased
and possibly additional solidity given to the wall itself. This
departure from a straight wall implies a degree of architectural
skill, which, while not peculiar to the cliff dwellings of the
Red-rocks, is rarely found in southern cliff houses. The total length
of the front wall of the ruin, including the part which has fallen, is
approximately 120 feet, and the altitude of the highest wall is not
far from 30 feet.
[Illustration: FIG. 247--Ground plan of Palatki (Ruins I and II)]
From the arrangement of openings in the front wall at the highest part
there is good evidence of the former existence of two stories. At
several points the foundation of the wall is laid on massive bowlders,
which contribute to the height of the wall itself. The masonry is made
up of irregular or roughly squared blocks of red stone laid in red
clay, both evidently gathered in the immediate neighborhood of the
ruin. The building stones vary in size, but are as a rule flat, and
show well directed fractures as if dressed by hammering. In several
places there still remains a superficial plastering, which almost
conceals the masonry. The blocks of stone in the lower courses are
generally more massive than those higher up; this feature, however,
whether considered as occurring here or in the cliff houses of Mesa
Verde, as pointed out by Nordenskiöld, seems to me not to indicate
different builders, but is due simply to convenience. There appears to
be no regularity in the courses of component blocks of stone, and when
necessity compelled, as in the courses laid on bowlders, which serve
as a foundation, thin wedges of stone, or spalls, were inserted in the
crevices. The walls are vertical, but the corners are sometimes far
from perpendicular.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVIII
THE RED ROCKS; TEMPLE CANYON]
The interior of the ruin is divided into a number of inclosures by
partitions at right angles to the front wall, fastening it to the face
of the cliff. This I have lettered, beginning at the extreme right
inclosure with _A_. The inclosure has bounding walls, built on a
bowlder somewhat more than six feet high. It has no external
passageway, and probably the entrance was from the roof. This
inclosure communicates by a doorway directly with the adjoining
chamber, _B_. The corner of this room, or the angle made by the
lateral with the front walls, is rounded, a constant feature in
well-built cliff houses. No windows exist, and the upper edge of both
front and lateral walls is but slightly broken.
The front wall of inclosure _B_ bulges into bow-shape form, and was
evidently at least two stories high. This wall is a finely laid
section of masonry, composed of large, rough stones in the lower
courses, upon which smaller, roughly hewn stones are built. It is
probable, from the large amount of débris in the neighborhood, that
formerly there were rows of single-story rooms in front of what are
now the standing walls, but the character of their architecture is
difficult to determine with certainty. Their foundations, although
partially covered, are not wholly concealed.
The front wall of inclosure _B_ is pierced by three openings, the
largest of which is a square passageway into the adjoining room, and
is situated in the middle of the curved wall. A wooden lintel, which
had been well hewn with stone implements, still remains in place above
this passageway, and under it the visitor passes through a low opening
which has the appearance of having been once a doorway. Above this
entrance, on each side, in the wall, is a square hole, which
originally may have been the points of support of floor beams.
Formerly, likewise, there was a large square opening above the middle
passageway, but this has been closed with masonry, leaving in place
the wooden beam which once supported the wall above. The upper edge of
the front wall of inclosure _B_ is level, and is but little broken
except in two places, where there are notches, one above each of the
square holes already mentioned. It is probable that these depressions
were intended for the ends of the beams which once supported a
combined roof and floor.
On the perpendicular wall which forms the rear of inclosure _B_, many
feet above the top of the standing front walls, there are several
pictographs of Apache origin. The height of these above the level of
the former roof would appear to indicate the existence of a third
story, for the hands which drew them must have been at least 15 feet
above the present top of the standing wall.
The front of _C_ is curved like that of inclosure _B_, and is much
broken near the foundations, where there is a passageway. There is a
small hole on each side of a middle line, as in _B_, situated at about
the same level as the floor, indicating the former position of a beam.
Within the ruin there is a well-made partition separating inclosures
_B_ and _C_.
The size of room _D_ is much less than that of _B_ or _C_, but, with
the exception of a section at the left, the front wall has fallen. The
part which remains upright, however, stands like a pinnacle,
unconnected with the face of the cliff or with the second-story wall
of inclosure _C_. It is about 20 feet in height, and possibly its
altitude appears greater than it really is from the fact that its
foundations rest upon a bowlder nearly six feet high (plate CX).
The foundations of rooms _E_ and _F_ (plate C) are built on a lower
level than those of _B_ and _C_ or _D_, and their front walls, which
are really low, are helped out by similar bowlders, which serve as
foundations. The indications are that both these inclosures were
originally one story in height, forming a wing to the central section
of the ruin, which had an additional tier of rooms. There is an
entrance to _F_ at the extreme left, and the whole room was lower than
the floor of the lower stories of _B_, _C_, and _D_.
The most conspicuous pictograph on the cliff above Ruin I of Palatki,
is a circular white figure, seen in the accompanying illustration.
This pictograph is situated directly above the first room on the
right, _A_, and was apparently made with chalk, so elevated that at
present it is far above the reach of a person standing on any of the
walls. From its general character I am led to believe that it was made
by the Apache and not by the builders of the pueblo.
There were no names of white visitors anywhere on the walls of
Palatki, which, so far as it goes, affords substantial support of my
belief that we were the first white men to visit this ruin. While it
can not be positively asserted that we were the original discoverers
of this interesting building, there is no doubt that I was the first
to describe it and to call attention to its highly characteristic
architectural plan.
The walls of Palatki are not so massive as those of the neighboring
Honanki, and the number of rooms in both ruins which form Palatki is
much smaller. Each of these components probably housed not more than a
few families, while several phratries could readily be accommodated in
Honanki.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCIX
PALATKI (RUIN I)]
The second Palatki ruin is well preserved, and as a rule the rooms,
especially those in front, have suffered more from vandalism and from
the elements than have those of Ruin I. The arrangement of the rooms
is somewhat different from that of the more exposed eastern ruin, to
which it undoubtedly formerly belonged.
Ruin II lies in a deep recess or cave, the roof of which forms a
perfect arch above the walls. It is situated a few hundred feet to the
west, and is easily approached by following the fallen débris at the
foot of a perpendicular cliff. The front walls have all fallen,
exposing the rear wall of what was formerly a row of rooms, as shown
in the accompanying illustration (plate CI). There are evidences that
this row of rooms was but a single story in height, while those behind
it have indications of three stories. Ruin II is more hidden by the
trees and by its obscure position in a cavern than the former, but the
masonry in both is of the same general character.
On approaching Ruin II from Ruin I there is first observed a well-made
though rough wall, as a rule intact, along which the line of roof and
flooring can readily be traced (plate CI). In front of this upright
wall are fragments of other walls, some standing in unconnected
sections, others fallen, their fragments extending down the sides of
the talus among the bushes. It was observed that this wall is broken
by an entrance which passes into a chamber, which may be called _A_,
and two square holes are visible, one on each side, above it. These
holes were formerly filled by two logs, which once supported the floor
of a second chamber, the line of which still remains on the upright
wall. The small square orifice directly above the entrance is a
peephole.
In examining the character of the wall it will be noticed that its
masonry is in places rough cast, and that there was little attempt at
regularity in the courses of the component stones, which are neither
dressed nor aligned, although the wall is practically vertical.
At one point, in full view of the observer, a log is apparently
inserted in the wall, and if the surrounding masonry be examined it
will be found that an opening below it had been filled in after the
wall was erected. It is evident, from its position relatively to the
line indicating the roof, that this opening was originally a
passageway from one room to another. Passing back of the standing wall
an inclosure (room _A_) is entered, one side of which is the rock of
the cliff, while the other three bounding walls are built of masonry,
20 feet high. This inclosure was formerly divided into an upper and a
lower room by a partition, which served as the roof of the lower and
the floor of the upper chambers. Two beams stretched across this
inclosure about six feet above the débris of the present floor, and
the openings in the walls, where these beams formerly rested, are
readily observed. In the same way the beam-holes of the upper story
may also be easily seen on the top of the wall. Between the rear wall
of this inclosure and the perpendicular cliff there was a recess which
appears to have been a dark chamber, probably designed for use as a
storage room or granary. The configuration of the cliff, which forms
the major part of the inclosing wall of this chamber, imparts to it an
irregular or roughly triangular form.
The entire central portion of the ruin is very much broken down, and
the floor is strewn to a considerable depth with the débris of fallen
walls. On both sides there are nicely aligned, smoothly finished
walls, with traces of beams on the level of former floors. Some of
these bounding walls are curved; others are straight, and in places
they rise 20 feet. Marks of fire are visible everywhere; most of the
beams have been wrenched from their places, as a result of which the
walls have been much mutilated, badly cracked, or thrown down.
There are no pictographs near this ruin, and no signs of former visits
by white men.
Midway between Honanki and the second Palatki ruin a small ancient
house of the same character as the latter was discovered. This ruin is
very much exposed, and therefore the walls are considerably worn, but
six well-marked inclosures, indicative of former rooms, were readily
made out. No overarching rock shielded this ruin from the elements,
and rubble from fallen walls covers the talus upon which it stands.
The adobe mortar between the stones is much worn, and no fragment of
plastering is traceable within or without. This evidence of the great
weathering of the walls of the ruin is not considered indicative of
greater age than the better preserved ruins in the neighborhood, but
rather of exposure to the action of the elements. Not only are the
walls in a very poor condition, but also the floors show, from the
absence of dry soil upon them, that the whole ruin has suffered
greatly from the same denudation. There are no fragments of pottery
about it, and small objects indicating former habitation are also
wanting. A cedar had taken root where the floor once was, and its
present great size shows considerable age. If any pictographs formerly
existed in the adjacent cliff they have disappeared. There is likewise
no evidence that the Apache had ever sought it for shelter, or if they
had, their occupancy occurred so long ago that time has effaced all
evidence of their presence.
HONANKI
The largest ruin visited in the Red-rock country was called, following
Hopi etymology, Honanki; but the nomenclature was adopted not because
it was so called by the Hopi, but following the rule elsewhere
suggested.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. C
PALATKI (RUIN I)]
This ruin lies under a lofty buttress of rock westward from Lloyd's
canyon, which presented the only available camping place in its
neighborhood. At the time of my visit there was but scanty water in
the canyon and that not potable except for stock. We carried with us
all the water we used, and when this was exhausted were obliged to
retrace our steps to Oak creek. There are groves of trees in the
canyon and evidences that at some seasons there is an abundant water
supply. A corral had been made and a well dug near its mouth, but with
these exceptions there were no evidences of previous occupancy by
white men. We had hardly pitched our camp before tracks of large game
were noticed, and before we left we sighted a bear which had come down
to the water to drink, but which beat a hasty retreat at our approach.
As previously stated, the knowledge of this ruin was communicated to
me by Mr Schürmann.
[Illustration: FIG. 248--Ground plan of Honanki]
The Honanki ruin (figure 248) extends along the base of the cliff for
a considerable distance, and may for convenience of description be
divided into two sections, which, although generally similar, differ
somewhat in structural features. The former is lineal in its
arrangement, and consists of a fringe of houses extending along the
base of the cliff at a somewhat lower level than the other. The walls
of this section were for the greater part broken, and at no place
could anything more than the foundation of the front wall be detected,
although fragments of masonry strewed the sides of the declivity near
its base. The house walls which remain are well-built parallel spurs
constructed at right angles to the cliff, which served as the rear of
all the chambers. At the extreme right end of this row of rooms,
situated deep in a large cavern with overhanging roof, portions of a
rear wall of masonry are well preserved, and the lateral walls of one
or two chambers in this portion of the ruin are still intact.
Straggling along from that point, following the contour of the base of
the cliff under which it lies, there extends a long row of rooms, all
destitute of a front wall.
The first division (plate CII), beginning with the most easterly of
the series, is quite hidden at one end in a deep cavern. At this point
the builders, in order to obtain a good rear wall to their rooms,
constructed a line of masonry parallel with the face of the cliff. At
right angles to this construction, at the eastern extremity, there are
remnants of a lateral wall, but the remainder had tumbled to the
ground. The standing wall of _z_ is not continuous with that of the
next room, _y_, and apparently was simply the rear of a large room
with the remains of a lateral wall at right angles to it. The other
walls of this chamber had tumbled into a deep gorge, overgrown with
bushes which conceal the fragments. This building is set back deeply
in the cave, and is isolated from the remaining parts of the ruin,
although at the level which may have been its roof there runs a kind
of gallery formed by a ledge of rock, plastered with adobe, which
formerly connected the roof with the rest of the pueblo. This ledge
was a means of intercommunication, and a continuation of the same
ledge, in rooms _s_, _t_, and _u_, supported the rafters of these
chambers. At _u_ there are evidences of two stories or two tiers of
rooms, but those in front have fallen to the ground.
The standing wall at _u_ is about five feet high, connected with the
face of the cliff by masonry. The space between it and the cliff was
not large enough for a habitable chamber, and was used probably as a
storage place. In front of the standing wall of room _u_ there was
another chamber, the walls of which now strew the talus of the cliff.
The highest and best preserved room of the second series of chambers
at Honanki is that designated _p_, at a point where the ruin reached
an elevation of 20 feet. Here we have good evidence of rooms of two
stories, as indicated by the points of insertion of the beams of a
floor, at the usual levels above the ground. In fact, it is probable
that the whole section of the ruin was two stories high throughout,
the front walls having fallen along the entire length. From the last
room on the left to the eastern extremity of the line of houses which
leads to the main ruin of Honanki, no ground plans were detected at
the base of the cliffs, but fallen rocks and scattered débris are
strewn over the whole interval.
The eastern part of the main ruin of Honanki, however, lies but a
short distance west of that described, and consists of many similar
chambers, arranged side by side. These are lettered in the diagram _h_
to _u_, beginning with _h_, which is irregularly circular in form, and
ends with a high wall, the first to be seen as one approaches the ruin
from Lloyd canyon. This range of houses is situated on a lower
foundation and at a lower level than that of the main quarter of
Honanki, and a trail runs along so close to the rooms that the whole
series is easily visited without much climbing. No woodwork remains in
any of these rooms, and the masonry is badly broken in places either
by natural agencies or through vandalism.
Beginning with _h_, the round room, which adjoins the main quarter of
Honanki, we find much in its shape to remind us of a kiva. The walls
are in part built on foundations of large bowlders, one of which
formed the greater part of the front wall. This circular room was
found to be full of fallen débris, and could not be examined without
considerable excavation. If it were a kiva, which I very much doubt,
it is an exception among the Verde valley ruins, where no true kiva
has yet been detected.[27]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CI
FRONT WALL OF PALATKI (RUIN II)]
Following _h_ there is an inclosure which originally may have been a
habitable room, as indicated by the well-constructed front wall, but
it is so filled with large stones that it is difficult to examine its
interior. On one side the wall, which is at right angles to the face
of the cliff, is 10 feet high, and the front wall follows the surface
of a huge bowlder which serves as its foundation.
Room _i_ is clearly defined, and is in part inclosed by a large rock,
on top of which there still remains a fragment of a portion of the
front wall. A spur of masonry connects this bowlder with the face of
the cliff, indicating all that remains of the former division between
rooms _i_ and _j_. An offshoot from this bowlder, in the form of a
wall 10 feet high, formerly inclosed one side of a room. In the rear
of chamber _j_ there are found two receptacles or spaces left between
the rear wall and the face of the cliff, while the remaining wall,
which is 10 feet high, is a good specimen of pueblo masonry.
The two side walls of room _k_ are well preserved, but the chamber
resembles the others of the series in the absence of a front wall. In
this room, however, there remains what may have been the fragment of a
rear wall parallel with the face of the cliff. This room has also a
small cist of masonry in one corner, which calls to mind certain
sealed cavities in the cavate dwellings.
The two side walls of _m_ and _n_ are respectively eight and ten feet
high. There is nothing exceptional in the standing walls of room _o_,
one of which, five feet in altitude, still remains erect. Room _p_ has
a remnant of a rear wall plastered to the face of the cliff.
Room _r_ (plate CIII) is a finely preserved chamber, with lateral
walls 20 feet high, of well-constructed masonry, that in the rear,
through which there is an opening leading into a dark chamber,
occupying the space between it and the cliff. It is braced by
connecting walls at right angles to the face of the solid rock.
At _s_, the face of the cliff forms a rear wall of the room, and one
of the side walls is fully 20 feet high. The points of insertion of
the flooring are well shown, about 10 feet from the ground, proving
that the ruin at this point was at least two stories high.
Two walled inclosures, one within the other, characterize room _u_. On
the cliff above it there is a series of simple pictographs, consisting
of short parallel lines pecked into the rock, and are probably of
Apache origin. This room closes the second series, along the whole
length of which, in front of the lateral walls which mark different
chambers, there are, at intervals, piles of débris, which enabled an
approximate determination of the situation of the former front wall,
fragments of the foundations of which are traceable in situ in several
places.
The hand of man and the erosion of the elements have dealt harshly
with this portion of Honanki, for not a fragment of timber now remains
in its walls. This destruction, so far as human agency is concerned,
could not have been due to white men, but probably to the Apache, or
possibly to the cliff villagers themselves at the time of or shortly
after the abandonment of the settlement.
From the second section of Honanki we pass to the third and
best-preserved portion of the ruins (figure 249), indicated in the
diagram from _a_ to _g_. To this section I have referred as the "main
ruin," for it was evidently the most populous quarter of the ancient
cliff dwelling. It is better preserved than the remainder of Honanki,
and is the only part in which all four walls of the chambers still
remain erect. Built at a higher level than the series of rooms already
considered, it must have towered above them, and possibly served as a
place of retreat when danger beset the more exposed quarters of the
village.
[Illustration: FIG. 249--The main ruin of Honanki]
Approaching the main ruin of Honanki (plate CIV) from the east, or
the parts already described, one passes between the buttress on which
the front wall of the rounded room _h_ is built and a fragment of
masonry on the left, by a natural gateway through which the trail is
very steep. On the right there towers above the visitor a
well-preserved wall of masonry, the front of room _a_, and he soon
passes abreast of the main portion of the ruin of Honanki. This
section is built in a huge cavern, the overhanging roof of which, is
formed by natural rock, arching far above the tops of the highest
walls of the pueblo and suggesting the surroundings of the "Cliff
Palace" of Mesa Verde, so well described by the late Baron G.
Nordenskiöld in his valuable monograph on the ruins of that section of
southern Colorado. The main ruin of Honanki is one of the largest and
best preserved architectural monuments of the former people of Verde
valley that has yet been described. Although somewhat resembling its
rival, the well-known "Casa Montezuma" of Beaver creek, its
architecture is dissimilar on account of the difference in the form of
the cavern in which it is built and the geological character of the
surrounding cliffs. Other Verde ruins may have accommodated more
people, when inhabited, but none of its type south of Canyon de Chelly
have yet been described which excel it in size and condition of
preservation. I soon found that our party were not the first whites
who had seen this lonely village, as the names scribbled on its walls
attested; but so far as I know it had not previously been visited by
archeologists.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CII
HONANKI (RUIN II)]
In the main portion of Honanki we found that the two ends of the
crescentic row of united rooms which compose it are built on rocky
elevations, with foundations considerably higher than those of the
rooms in the middle portion of the ruins. The line of the front wall
is, therefore, not exactly crescentic, but irregularly curved (figure
249), conforming to the rear of the cavern in which the houses are
situated. About midway in the curve of the front walls two walls
indicative of former rooms extend at an angle of about 25° to the main
front wall. All the component rooms of the main part of Honanki can be
entered, some by external passageways, others by doorways
communicating with adjacent chambers. None of the inclosures have
roofs or upper floors, although indications of the former existence of
both these structural features may readily be seen in several places.
Although wooden beams are invariably wanting, fragments of these still
project from the walls, almost always showing on their free ends,
inside the rooms, the effect of fire. I succeeded in adding to the
collection a portion of one of these beams, the extremity of which had
been battered off, evidently with a stone implement. In the alkaline
dust which covered the floor several similar specimens were seen.
The stones which form the masonry of the wall (figure 250) were not,
as a rule, dressed or squared before they were laid with adobe mortar,
but were generally set in place in the rough condition in which they
may still be obtained anywhere under the cliff.
All the mortar used was of adobe or the tenacious clay which serves so
many purposes among the Pueblos. The walls of the rooms were plastered
with a thick layer of the same material. The rear wall of each room is
the natural rock of the cliff, which rises vertically and has a very
smooth surface. The great natural archway which covers the whole
pueblo protects it from wind and rain, and as a consequence, save on
the front face, there are few signs of natural erosion. The hand of
man, however, has dealt rudely with this venerable building, and many
of the walls, especially of rooms which formerly stood before the
central portion, lie prone upon the earth; but so securely were the
component stones held together by the adobe that even after their fall
sections of masonry still remain intact.
[Illustration: FIG. 250--Structure of wall of Honanki]
There are seven walled inclosures in the main part of Honanki, and as
each of these was formerly at least two stories high there is
substantial evidence of the former existence of fourteen rooms in this
part of the ruin. There can be little doubt that there were other
rooms along the front of the central portion, and the fallen walls
show them to have been of large size. It would likewise appear that
the middle part was higher than the two wings, which would increase
the number of chambers, so that with these additions it may safely be
said that this part of Honanki alone contained not far from twenty
rooms.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CIII
WALLS OF HONANKI]
The recess in the cliff in which the ruin is situated is lower in the
middle than at either side, where there are projecting ledges of rock
which were utilized by the builders in the construction of the
foundations, the line of the front wall following the inequalities of
the ground. It thus results that rooms _g_, _a_, _b_, and a part of
_c_, rise from a foundation about breast high, or a little higher than
the base of rooms _d_, _e_, and _f_.
The front wall of _a_ has for its foundation a spur or ledge of rock,
which is continued under _b_ and a part of _c_. The corner or angle of
this wall, facing the round chamber, is curved in the form of a tower,
a considerable section of its masonry being intact. Near the
foundation and following the inequalities of the rock surface the
beginning of a wall at right angles to the face of the ruin at this
point is seen. A small embrasure, high above the base of the front
wall, on the side by which one approaches the ruin from the east, and
two smaller openings on the same level, looking out over the valley,
suggest a floor and lookouts. The large square orifice in the middle
of the face of the wall has a wooden lintel, still in place; the
opening is large enough for use as a door or passageway. The upper
edge of the front wall is somewhat irregular, but a notch in it above
the square opening is conspicuous.
The rear wall of room _a_ was the face of the cliff, formed of solid
rock without masonry and very much blackened by smoke from former
fires. As, however, there is evidence that since its destruction or
abandonment by its builders this ruin has been occupied as a camping
place by the Apache, it is doubtful to which race we should ascribe
this discoloration of the walls by soot.
On the ground floor there is a passageway into chamber _b_, which is
considerably enlarged, although the position of the lintel is clearly
indicated by notches in the wall. The beam which was formed there had
been torn from its place and undoubtedly long ago used for firewood by
nomadic visitors. The open passageway, measured externally, is about
15 feet above the foundation of the wall, through which it is broken,
and about 8 feet below the upper edge of the wall.
Room _b_ is an irregular, square chamber, two stories high,
communicating with _a_ and _c_ by passages which are enlarged by
breakage in the walls. A small hole in the front wall, about 6 feet
from the floor, opens externally to the air. The walls are, in
general, about 2 feet thick, and are composed of flat red stones laid
in clay of the same color. The cliff forms the rear wall of the
chamber. The clay at certain places in the walls, especially near the
insertions of the beams and about the window openings, appears to have
been mixed with a black pitch, which serves to harden the mixture.
Room _c_ is the first of a series of chambers, with external
passageways, but its walls are very much broken down, and the openings
thereby enlarged. The front wall is almost straight and in one place
stands 30 feet, the maximum height of the standing wall of the ruins.
In one corner a considerable quantity of ashes and many evidences of
fire, some of which may be ascribed to Apache occupants, was detected.
A wooden beam, marking the line of the floor of a second story, was
seen projecting from the front wall, and there are other evidences of
a floor at this level. Large beams apparently extended from the front
wall to the rear of the chamber, where they rested on a ledge in the
cliff, and over these smaller sticks were laid side by side and at
right angles to the beams. These in turn supported either flat stones
or a layer of mud or clay. The method of construction of one of these
roofs is typical of a Tusayan kiva, where ancient architectural forms
are adhered to and best preserved.
The entrance to room _d_ is very much enlarged by the disintegration
of the wall, and apparently there was at this point a difference in
level of the front wall, for there is evidence of rooms in advance of
those connected with the chambers described, as shown by a line of
masonry, still standing, parallel to the front face of inclosures _c_
and _d_.
Room _e_ communicates by a doorway with the chamber marked _f_, and
there is a small window in the same partition. This room had a raised
banquette on the side toward the cliff, recalling an arrangement of
the floor similar to that in the cavate dwellings opposite Squaw
mountain which I have described. This platform is raised about three
feet above the remainder of the floor of _f_, and, like it, is strewn
with large slabs of stone, which have fallen from the overhanging
roof. In the main floor, at one corner, near the platform, there is a
rectangular box-like structure made of thin slabs of stone set on
edge, suggesting the grinding bins of the Pueblos. Room _f_
communicates with _g_ by a passageway which has a stone lintel. The
holes in the walls, in which beams were once inserted, are seen in
several places at different levels above the floor. The ends of
several beams, one extremity of which is invariably charred, were
found set in the masonry, and others were dug from the débris in the
floor.
As a result of the curve in the front wall of the ruin at that point,
the shape of room _f_ is roughly quadrate, with banquettes on two
sides. There are six large beam holes in the walls, and the position
of the first floor is well shown on the face of the partition,
separating _f_ from _g_. The passageway from one of these rooms to the
other is slightly arched.
Room _g_ is elongated, without an external entrance, and communicates
with _f_ by a small opening, through which it is very difficult to
crawl. Its longest dimension is almost at right angles to the front
face of the remaining rooms, and it is raised above them by its
foundation on an elevated rock like that of _a_, _b_, and _c_. There
is a small, square, external opening which may have served as the
position of a former beam or log. The upper level of the front wall is
more or less broken down in places, and formerly may have been much
higher. Beyond _g_ a spur of masonry is built at right angles to the
cliff, inclosing a rectangular chamber at the end of the ruin which
could not be entered. Possibly in former times it was accessible by
means of a ladder from the roof, whence communication with other
portions of the structure was also had.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CIV
APPROACH TO MAIN PART OF HONANKI]
A short distance beyond the westernmost rooms of Honanki, almost
covered with bushes and adjoining the base of the cliff, there is a
large ash heap in which are many fragments of pottery and the bones of
various animals. It is probable that excavation in this quarter would
reveal many interesting objects. In the cliffs above this ash heap,
far beyond reach, there is a walled niche which has never been
disturbed. This structure is similar to those near the cavate
dwellings, and when opened will probably be found to contain buried
mortuary objects of interesting character. I did not disturb this
inclosure, inasmuch as I had no ladders or ropes with which to
approach it.
It is very difficult to properly estimate, from the number of rooms in
a cliff house, the former population, and as a general thing the
tendency is rather to overstate than to fall short of the true total.
In a pueblo like Hano, on the first or east mesa of Tusayan, for
instance, there are many uninhabited rooms, and others serve as
storage chambers, while in places the pueblo has so far fallen into
ruin as to be uninhabitable. If a pueblo is very much concentrated the
population varies at different seasons of the year. In summer it is
sparsely inhabited; in winter it is rather densely populated. While
Palatki and Honanki together had rooms sufficient to house 500 people,
I doubt whether their aggregate population, ever exceeded 200. This
estimate, of course, is based on the supposition that these villages
were contemporaneously inhabited.
The evidences all point to a belief, however, that they were both
permanent dwelling places and not temporary resorts at certain seasons
of the year.
The pictographs on the face of the cliff above Honanki are for the
greater part due to the former Apache occupants of the rooms, and are
situated high above the tops of the walls of the ruin. They are, as a
rule, drawn with white chalk, which shows very clearly on the red
rock, and are particularly numerous above room _g_. The figure of a
circle, with lines crossing one another diametrically and continued as
rays beyond the periphery, possibly represent the sun. Many spiral
figures, almost constant pictographs in cliff ruins, are found in
several places. Another strange design, resembling some kind of
insect, is very conspicuous.
A circle painted green and inclosed in a border of yellow is
undoubtedly of Apache origin. There is at one point a row of small
pits, arranged in line, suggesting a score or enumeration of some
kind, and a series of short parallel lines of similar import was found
not far away. This latter method of recording accounts is commonly
used at the present time in Tusayan, both in houses and on cliffs; and
one of the best of these, said to enumerate the number of Apache
killed by the Hopi in a raid many years ago, may be seen above the
trail by which the visitor enters the pueblo of Hano on the East Mesa.
The names of several persons scratched on the face of the cliff
indicate that Americans had visited Honanki before me.
The majority of the paleoglyphs at both Palatki and Honanki are of
Apache origin, and are of comparatively modern date, as would
naturally be expected. In some instances their colors are as fresh as
if made a few years ago, and there is no doubt that they were drawn
after the building was deserted by its original occupants. The
positions of the pictographs on the cliffs imply that they were drawn
before the roofs and flooring had been destroyed, thus showing how
lately the ruin preserved its ancient form. In their sheltered
position there seems to be no reason why the ancient pictographs
should not have been preserved, and the fact that so few of the
figures pecked in the cliff now remain is therefore instructive.
One of the first tendencies of man in visiting a ruin is to inscribe
his name on its walls or on neighboring cliffs. This is shared by both
Indians and whites, and the former generally makes his totem on the
rock surface, or adds that of his gods, the sun, rain-cloud, or
katcinas. Inscriptions recording events are less common, as they are
more difficult to indicate with exactitude in this system of
pictography. The majority of ancient pictographs in the Red-rock
country, like those I have considered in other parts of Verde valley,
are identical with picture writings now made in Tusayan, and are
recognized and interpreted without hesitation by the Hopi Indians. In
their legends, in which the migrations of their ancestors are
recounted, the traditionists often mention the fact that their
ancestors left their totem signatures at certain points in their
wanderings. The Patki people say that you will find on the rocks of
Palatkwabi, the "Red Land of the South" from which they came, totems
of the rain-cloud, sun, crane, parrot, etc. If we find these markings
in the direction which they are thus definitely declared to exist, and
the Hopi say similar pictures were made by their ancestors, there
seems no reason to question such circumstantial evidence that some of
the Hopi clans once came from this region.[28]
One of the most interesting of the pictographs pecked in the rock is a
figure which, variously modified, is a common decoration on
cliff-dweller pottery from the Verde valley region to the ruins of the
San Juan and its tributaries. This figure has the form of two
concentric spirals, the ends of which do not join. As this design
assumes many modifications, it may be well to consider a few forms
which it assumes on the pottery of the cliff people and on that of
their descendants, the Pueblos.
The so-called black-and-white ware, or white pottery decorated with
black lines, which is so characteristic of the ceramics of the
cliff-dwellers, is sometimes, as we shall see, found in ruins like
Awatobi and Sikyatki; but it is so rare, as compared with other
varieties, that it may be regarded as intrusive.
One of the simplest forms of the broken-line motive is a Greek fret,
in which there is a break in the component square figures or where the
line is noncontinuous. In the simplest form, which appears prominently
on modern pottery, but which is rare or wanting on true
black-and-white ware, we have two crescentic figures, the concavities
of which face in different directions, but the horns overlap. This is
a symbol which the participants in the dance called the Húmiskatcina
still paint with pigments on their breasts, and which is used on
shields and various religious paraphernalia.
A study of any large collection of decorated Pueblo ware, ancient or
modern, will show many modifications of this broken line, a number of
which I shall discuss more in detail when pottery ornamentation is
considered. A design so distinctive and so widespread as this must
certainly have a symbolic interpretation. The concentric spirals with
a broken line, the Hopi say, are symbols of the whirlpool, and it is
interesting to find in the beautiful plates of Chavero's _Antigüedades
Mexicanas_ that the water in the lagoon surrounding the ancient Aztec
capital was indicated by the Nahuatl Indians with similar symbols.
OBJECTS FOUND AT PALATKI AND HONANKI
The isolation of these ruins and the impossibility of obtaining
workmen, combined with the brief visit which I was able to make to
them, rendered it impossible to collect very many specimens of ancient
handiwork. The few excavations which were made were limited almost
wholly to Honanki, and from their success I can readily predict a rich
harvest for anyone who may attempt systematic work in this virgin
field. We naturally chose the interior of the rooms for excavation,
and I will say limited our work to these places. Every chamber was
more or less filled with débris--fragments of overturned walls,
detached rock from the cliff above, dry alkaline soil, drifted sand,
dust, and animal excreta. In those places where digging was possible
we found the dust and guano so dry and alkaline that it was next to
impossible to work for any length of time in the rooms, for the air
became so impure that the workmen could hardly breathe, especially
where the inclosing walls prevented ventilation. Notwithstanding this
obstacle, however, we removed the accumulated débris down to the floor
in one or two chambers, and examined with care the various objects of
aboriginal origin which were revealed.
In studying the specimens found in cliff-houses due attention has not
always been given to the fact that occupants have oftentimes camped in
them subsequently to their abandonment by the original builders. As a
consequence of this temporary habitation objects owned by unrelated
Indians have frequently been confused with those of the cliff-dwellers
proper. We found evidences that both Honanki and Palatki had been
occupied by Apache Mohave people for longer or shorter periods of
time, and some of the specimens were probably left there by these
inhabitants.
The ancient pottery found in the rooms, although fragmentary, is
sufficiently complete to render a comparison with known ceramics from
the Verde ruins. Had we discovered the cemeteries, for which we
zealously searched in vain, no doubt entire vessels, deposited as
mortuary offerings, would have been found; but the kind of ware of
which they were made would undoubtedly have been the same as that of
the fragments.
No pottery distinctively different from that which has already been
reported from the Verde valley ruins was found, and the majority
resembled so closely in texture and symbolism that of the cliff houses
of the San Juan, in northern New Mexico and southern Utah, that they
may be regarded as practically identical.
The following varieties of pottery were found at Honanki:
I. Coiled ware.
II. Indented ware.
III. Smooth ware.
IV. Smooth ware painted white, with black geometric figures.
V. Smooth red ware, with black decoration.
By far the largest number of fragments belong to the first division,
and these, as a rule, are blackened by soot, as if used in cooking.
The majority are parts of large open-mouth jars with flaring rims,
corrugated or often indented with the thumb-nail or some hard
substance, the coil becoming obscure on the lower surface. The inside
of these jars is smooth, but never polished, and in one instance the
potter used the corrugations of the coil as an ornamental motive. The
paste of which this coiled ware was composed is coarse, with
argillaceous grains scattered through it; but it was well fired and is
still hard and durable. When taken in connection with its tenuity,
these features show a highly developed potter's technique. A single
fragment is ornamented with an S-shape coil of clay fastened to the
corrugations in much the same way as in similar ware from the ruins
near the Colorado Chiquito.
The fragments of smooth ware show that they, too, had been made
originally in the same way as coiled ware, and that their outer as
well as their inner surface had been rubbed smooth before firing. As a
rule, however, they are coarse in texture and have little symmetry of
form. Fragments identified as parts of bowls, vases, jars, and dippers
are classed under this variety. As a rule they are badly or unevenly
fired, although evidently submitted to great heat. There was seldom an
effort made to smooth the outer surface to a polish, and no attempt at
pictorial ornamentation was made.
The fragments represented in classes IV and V were made of a much
finer clay, and the surface bears a gloss, almost a glaze. The
ornamentation on the few fragments which were found is composed of
geometric patterns, and is identical with the sherds from other ruins
of Verde valley. A fragment each of a dipper and a ladle, portions of
a red bowl, and a rim of a large vase of the same color were picked up
near the ruin. Most of the fragments, however, belong to the first
classes--the coiled and indented wares.
There was no evidence that the former inhabitants of these buildings
were acquainted with metals. The ends of the beams had been hacked off
evidently with blunt stone axes, aided by fire, and the lintels of the
houses were of split logs which showed no evidence that any metal
implement was used in fashioning them. We found, however, several
stone tools, which exhibit considerable skill in the art of stone
working. These include a single ax, blunt at one end, sharpened at the
other, and girt by a single groove. The variety of stone from which
the ax was made does not occur in the immediate vicinity of the ruin.
There were one or two stone hammers, grooved for hafting, like the ax.
A third stone maul, being grooveless, was evidently a hand tool for
breaking other stones or for grinding pigments.
[Illustration: FIG. 251--Stone implement from Honanki]
Perhaps the most interesting stone implement which was found was
uncovered in the excavation of one of the middle rooms of the western
part of the ruin, about three feet below the surface. It consists of a
wooden handle rounded at each end and slightly curved, with a
sharpened stone inserted midway of its length and cemented to the wood
with pitch or asphaltum. The stone of this implement would hardly bear
rough usage, or sustain, without fracture, a heavy blow. The edge is
tolerably sharp, and it therefore may have been used in skinning
animals. Judging from the form of the handle, the implement is better
suited for use as a scraper than for any other purpose which has
occurred to me (figure 251).
The inhabitants of the two ruins of the Red-rocks used obsidian
arrowpoints with shafts of reeds, and evidently highly regarded
fragments of the former material for knives, spearheads, and one or
two other purposes.
The stone metates from these ruins are in no respect characteristic,
and several fine specimens were found in place on the floors of the
rooms. One of these was a well-worn specimen of lava, which must have
been brought from a considerable distance, since none of that
material occurs in the neighborhood. The existence of these grinding
stones implies the use of maize as food, and this evidence was much
strengthened by the finding of corncobs, kernels of corn, and charred
fragments at several points below the surface of the débris in the
chambers of Honanki. One of these grinding stones was found set in the
floor of one of the rooms in the same way that similar metates may be
seen in Walpi today.
Of bone implements, our limited excavations revealed only a few
fragments. Leg bones of the turkey were used for awls, bodkins,
needles, and similar objects. In general character the implements of
this kind which were found are almost identical in form with the bone
implements from Awatobi and Sikyatki, which are later figured and
described. Although the bone implements unearthed were not numerous,
we were well repaid for our excavations by finding an ancient
fireboard, identical with those now used at Tusayan in the ceremony of
kindling "new fire," and probably universally used for that purpose in
former times. The only shell was a fragment of a bracelet made from a
_Pectunculus_, a Pacific coast mollusk highly esteemed in ancient
times among prehistoric Pueblos. The majority of the wooden objects
found showed marks of fire, which were especially evident on the ends
of the roof and floor beams projecting from the walls.
[Illustration: FIG. 252--Tinder tube from Honanki]
A considerable collection of objects made of wickerwork and woven
vegetal fiber was found in the alkaline dust and ashes of the Red-rock
cliff houses, and while there is some difficulty here as elsewhere, in
deciding whether certain specimens belonged to the original builders
or to later temporary occupants, there is little doubt that most of
them were the property of the latter.
There were many specimens of basketry found on the surface of the
rubbish of the floors which, from the position of their occurrence and
from their resemblance to the wickerwork still used by the Apache,
seem without doubt to have been left there by temporary occupants of
the rooms. There were likewise many wisps of yucca fiber tied in knots
which must probably be regarded as of identical origin. The _Yucca
baccata_ affords the favorite fiber used by the natives at the present
time, and it appears to have been popular for that purpose among the
ancients.
Several specimens of sandals, some of which are very much worn on the
soles, were found buried at the floor level. These are all of the same
kind, and are made of yucca leaves plaited in narrow strips. The mode
of attachment to the foot was evidently by a loop passing over the
toes. Hide and cloth sandals have as yet not been reported from the
Red-rock ruins of Verde valley. These sandals belonged to the original
occupants of the cliff houses.
Fabrics made of cotton are common in the ruins of the Red-rocks, and
at times this fiber was combined with yucca. Some of the specimens of
cotton cloth were finely woven and are still quite strong, although
stained dark or almost black. Specimens of netting are also common,
and an open-mesh legging, similar to the kind manufactured in ancient
times by the Hopi and still worn by certain personators in their
sacred dances, were taken from the western room of Honanki. There were
also many fragments of rope, string, cord, and loosely twisted bands,
resembling head bands for carrying burdens.
A reed (figure 252) in which was inserted a fragment of cotton fiber
was unlike anything yet reported from cliff houses, and as the end of
the cotton which projected beyond the cavity of the reed was charred,
it possibly was used as a slow-match or tinder-box.
Several shell and turquois beads were found, but my limited studies of
the cliff-houses revealed only a few other ornaments, among them being
beads of turkey-bone and a single wristlet fashioned from a
_Pectunculus_. One or two fragments of prayer-sticks were discovered
in a rock inclosure in a cleft to the west of the ruin.
CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE VERDE VALLEY RUINS
The ruins of the Verde region closely resemble those of Tusayan, and
seem to support the claim of the Hopi that some of their ancestors
formerly lived in that region. This is true more especially of the
villages of the plains and mesa tops, for neither cave-houses nor
cavate dwellings are found in the immediate vicinity of the inhabited
Tusayan pueblos. The objects taken from the ruins are similar to those
found universally over the pueblo area, and from them alone we can not
say more than that they probably indicate the same substratum of
culture as that from which modern pueblo life with its many
modifications has sprung.
The symbolism of the decorations on the fragments of pottery found in
the Verde ruins is the same as that of the ancient pueblos of the
Colorado Chiquito, and it remains to be shown whether the ancestors of
these were Hopi or Zuñi. I believe it will be found that they were
both, or that when the villages along the Colorado Chiquito[29] were
abandoned part of the inhabitants went to the mesas of Tusayan and
others migrated farther up the river to the Zuñi villages.
Two centers of distribution of cliff houses occur in our Southwest:
those of the upper tributaries of the Colorado in the north and the
cliff houses of the affluents of the Salt and the Gila in the south.
The watershed of the Rio Grande is, so far as is known, destitute of
this kind of aboriginal dwellings. Between the two centers of
distribution lie the pueblos of the Little Colorado and its
tributaries, the home of the ancestors of the Hopi and the Zuñi. The
many resemblances between the cliff houses of the north and those of
the south indicate that the stage of culture of both was uniform, and
probably the same conditions of environment led both peoples to build
similar dwellings. All those likenesses which can be found between the
modern Zuñi and the Hopi to the former cliff peoples of the San Juan
region in the north, apply equally to those of the upper Salado and
the Gila and their tributaries to the south; and so far as arguments
of a northern origin of either, built on architectural or
technological resemblances, are concerned, they are not conclusive,
since they are also applicable to the cliff peoples of the south. The
one important difference between the northern and the southern tier of
cliff houses is the occurrence of the circular kiva, which has never
been reported south of the divide between the Little Colorado and the
Gila-Salado drainage. If a kiva was a feature in southern cliff
houses, which I doubt, it appears to have been a rectangular chamber
similar to a dwelling room. The circular kiva exists in neither the
modern Hopi nor the Zuñi pueblos, and it has not been found in
adjacent Tusayan ruins; therefore, if these habitations were
profoundly influenced by settlers from the north, it is strange that
such a radical change in the form of this room resulted. The arguments
advanced that one of the two component stocks of the Zuñi, and that
the aboriginal, came from the cliff peoples of the San Juan, are not
conclusive, although I have no doubt that the Zuñi may have received
increment from that direction.
Cushing has, I believe, furnished good evidence that some of the
ancestors of the Zuñi population came from the south and southwest;
and that some of these came from pueblos now in ruins on the Little
Colorado is indicated by the great similarity in the antiquities of
ancient Zuñi and the Colorado Chiquito ruins. Part of the Patki people
of the Hopi went to Zuñi and part to Tusayan, from the same abandoned
pueblo, and the descendants of this family in Walpi still recognize
this ancient kinship; but I do not know, and so far as can be seen
there is no way of determining, the relative antiquity of the pueblos
in Zuñi valley and those on the lower Colorado.
The approximate date of the immigration of the Patki people to Tusayan
is as yet a matter of conjecture. It may have been in prehistoric
times, or more likely at a comparatively late period in the history of
the people. It seems well substantiated, however, that when this
Water-house people joined the other Hopi, the latter inhabited pueblos
and were to all intents a pueblo people. If this hypothesis be a
correct one, the Snake, Horn, and Bear peoples, whom the southern
colonists found in Tusayan, had a culture of their own similar to that
of the people from the south. Whence that culture came must be
determined by studies of the component clans of the Hopi before the
arrival of the Patki people.[30]
The origin of the round shape of the estufa, according to Nordenskiöld
(p. 168), is most easily explained on the hypothesis that it is a
reminiscence of the cliff-dwellers' nomadic period. "There must be
some very cogent reason for the employment of this shape," he says,
"for the construction of a cylindrical chamber within a block of
rectangular rooms involves no small amount of labor. We know how
obstinately primitive nations cling to everything connected with their
religious ideas. Then what is more natural than the retention, for the
room where religious ceremonies were performed, of the round shape
characteristic of the original dwelling place, the nomadic hut? This
assumption is further corroborated by the situation of the hearth and
the structure of the roof of the estufa, when we find points of
analogy to the method employed by certain nomadic Indians in the
erection of their huts." This theory of the origin of the round form
of dwelling and its retention in the architecture of the kiva,
advanced by Nordenskiöld in 1893, has much in its favor, but the
rectangular form, which, so far as known, is the only shape of these
sacred rooms in the Tusayan region, is still unexplained. From
Castañeda's narrative of the Coronado expedition it appears that in
the middle of the sixteenth century the eastern pueblos had both
square and round estufas or kivas, and that these kivas belonged to
the men while the rooms of the pueblo were in the possession of the
women. The apparent reason why we find no round rooms or kivas in the
southern cliff houses and in Tusayan may be due to several causes.
Local conditions, including the character of the building sites on the
Hopi mesa, made square rooms more practical, or the nomadic stage was
so far removed that the form of the inclosure in which the ancients
held their rites had not been preserved. Moreover, some of the most
ancient and secret observances at Walpi, as the Flute ceremony, are
not performed in special kivas, but take place in ordinary living
rooms.
As in all the other ruins of Verde valley, circular kivas are absent
in the Red-rock country, and this fact, which has attracted the
attention of several observers, is, I believe, very significant.
Although as yet our knowledge of the cliff houses of the upper Gila
and Salado and their numerous tributaries is very fragmentary, and
generalization on that account unsafe, it may be stated provisionally
that no circular kivas have yet been found in any ruins of the
Gila-Salado watershed. This form of kiva, however, is an essential
feature of the cliff dwellings of Rio Colorado, especially of those
along its affluents in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
Roughly speaking, then, the circular kiva is characteristic of the
ruins of this region and of certain others in the valley of the Rio
Grande, where they still survive in inhabited pueblos.
Circular ruins likewise are limited in their distribution in the
Southwest, and it is an interesting fact that the geographic
distribution of ancient pueblos of this form is in a general way the
same as that of circular kivas. There are, of course, many exceptions,
but so far as I know these can readily be explained. No ruins of
circular dwellings occur in the Gila-Salado drainage area, where
likewise no circular kivas have been observed. Moreover, the circular
form of dwelling and kiva is distinctively characteristic of
prehistoric peoples east of Tusayan, and the few instances of their
occurrence on its eastern border can readily be explained as
extra-Hopi.
The explanation of these circular kivas advanced by Nordenskiöld and
the Mindeleffs, that they are survivals of round habitations of
nomads, has much to commend it; but whether sufficient or not, the
geographic limitation of these structures tells in favor of the
absence of any considerable migration of the prehistoric peoples of
the upper Colorado and Rio Grande watersheds southward into the
drainage area of the Gila-Salado. Had the migration been in that
direction it may readily be believed that the round kiva and the
circular form of dwelling would have been brought with it.
The round kiva has been regarded as a survival of the form of the
original homes of the nomad, when he became a sedentary agriculturist
by conquest and marriage.
The presence of rectangular kivas in the same areas in which round
kivas occur does not necessarily militate against this theory, nor
does it oblige us to offer an explanation of a necessarily radical
change in architecture if we would derive it from a circular form. It
would indeed be very unusual to find such a change in a structure
devoted to religious purposes where conservatism is so strong. The
rectangular kiva is the ancient form, or rather the original form; the
round kiva is not a development from it, but an introduction from an
alien people. It never penetrated southward of the Colorado and upper
Rio Grande drainage areas because the element which introduced it in
the north was never strong enough to influence the house builders of
the Gila-Salado and tributary valleys.
RUINS IN TUSAYAN
GENERAL FEATURES
No region of our Southwest presents more instructive antiquities than
the ancient province of Tusayan, more widely known as the Moki
reservation. In the more limited use of the term, Tusayan is applied
to the immediate surroundings of the Hopi pueblos, to which "province"
it was given in the middle of the sixteenth century. In a broader
sense the name would include an as yet unbounded country claimed by
the component clans of this people as the homes of their ancestors.
The general character and distribution of Tusayan ruins (plate XVI)
has been ably presented by Mr Victor Mindeleff in a previous
report.[31] While this memoir is not regarded as exhaustive, it
considers most of the large ruins in immediate proximity to the three
mesas on which the pueblos inhabited by the Hopi are situated. It is
not my purpose here to consider all Tusayan ruins, even if I were able
to do so, but to supplement with additional data the observations
already published on two of the most noteworthy pueblo settlements.
Broadly speaking, I have attempted archeological excavations in order
to obtain more light on the nature of prehistoric life in Tusayan. It
may be advantageous, however, to refer briefly to some of the ruins
thus far discovered in the Tusayan region as preliminary to more
systematic descriptions of the two which I have chosen for special
description.
The legends of the surviving Hopi contain constant references to
former habitations of different clans in the country round about their
present villages. These clans, which by consolidation make up the
present population of the Hopi pueblos, are said to have originally
entered Tusayan from regions as far eastward as the Rio Grande, and
from the southern country included within the drainage of the Gila,
the Salt, and their affluents. Other increments are reputed to have
come from the northward and the westward, so that the people we now
find in Tusayan are descendants from an aggregation of stocks from
several directions, some of them having migrated from considerable
distances. Natives of other regions have settled among the ancient
Hopi, built pueblos, and later returned to their former homes; and the
Hopi in turn have sent colonists into the eastern pueblo country.
These legends of former movements of the tribal clans of Tusayan are
supplemented and supported by historical documents, and we know from
this evidence that there has been a continual interchange between the
people of Tusayan and almost every large pueblo of New Mexico and
Arizona. Some of the ruins of this region were abandoned in historic
times; others are prehistoric; many were simply temporary halting
places in Hopi migrations, and were abandoned as the clans drifted
together in friendship or destroyed as a result of internecine
conflicts.
There is documentary evidence that in the years following the great
rebellion of the Pueblo tribes in 1680, which were characterized by
catastrophes of all kinds among the Rio Grande villagers, many Tanoan
people fled to Tusayan to escape from their troubles. According to
Niel, 4,000 Tanoan refugees, under Frasquillo, loaded with booty which
they had looted from the churches, went to Oraibi by way of Zuñi, and
there established a "kingdom," with their chief as ruler. How much
reliance may be placed on this account is not clear to me, but there
is no doubt that many Tanoan people joined the Hopi about this time,
and among them were the Asa people, the ancestors of the present
inhabitants of Hano pueblo, and probably the accolents of Payüpki. The
ease with which two Franciscan fathers, in 1742, persuaded 441 of
these to return to the Rio Grande, implies that they were not very
hostile to Christianity, and it is possible that one reason they
sought Tusayan in the years after the Spaniards were expelled may have
been their friendship for the church party.
With the exception of Oraibi, not one of the present inhabited pueblos
of Tusayan occupies the site on which it stood in the sixteenth
century, and the majority of them do not antedate the beginning of the
eighteenth century. The villages have shifted their positions but
retained their names.
At the time of the advent of Tobar, in 1540, there was but one of the
present three villages of East Mesa. This was Walpi, and at the period
referred to it was situated on the terrace below the site of the
present town, near the northwestern base of the mesa proper. Two
well-defined ruins, called Kisakobi and Küchaptüvela, are now pointed
out as the sites of Old Walpi. Of these Küchaptüvela is regarded as
the older.
Judging by their ruins these towns were of considerable size. From
their exposed situation they were open to the inroads of predatory
tribes, and from these hostile raids their abandonment became
necessary. From Küchaptüvela the ancient Walpians moved to a point
higher on the mesa, nearer its western limit, and built Kisakobi,
where the pueblo stood in the seventeenth century. There is evidence
that a Spanish mission was erected at this point, and the place is
sometimes called Nüshaki, a corruption of "Missa-ki," Mass-house. From
this place the original nucleus of Walpians moved to the present site
about the close of the seventeenth century. Later the original
population was joined by other phratries, some of which, as the Asa,
had lived in the cliff-houses of Tségi, or Canyon de Chelly, as late
as the beginning of the eighteenth century. This, however, is not the
place to trace the composition of the different modern villages.
Sichomovi was a colony from Walpi, founded about 1750, and Hano was
built not earlier than 1700. The former was settled by the Badger
people, later joined by a group of Tanoan clans called the Asa, from
the Rio Grande, who were invited to Tusayan to aid the Hopi in
resisting the invasions of northern nomads.
By the middle of the eighteenth century the population of the province
of Tusayan was for the first time distributed in the seven pueblos now
inhabited. No village has been deserted since that time, nor has any
new site been occupied.
In order that the reader may have an idea of the Tusayan pueblos at
the time mentioned, an account of them from a little-known description
by Morfi in 1782 is introduced:[32]
_Morfi's account of the Tusayan pueblos_
Quarenta y seis leguas al Poniente de Zuñi, con alguna
inclinacion al N. O. están los tres primeros pueblos de la
provincia de Moqui, que en el dia en el corto distrito de
4-1/2 leguas (112 recto) tiene siete pueblos en tres mesas ó
peñoles que corren linea recta de Oriente á Poniente.
_Tanos_[33]
En la punta occidental de la primera, y en la mas estrecho
de su eminencia están situados tres de los quales el primero
es el de Tanos (alli dicen Tegüas), cuyas moradores tienen
idioma particular y distinto del Moquino. Es pueblo regular
con un plaza en el centro, y un formacion de calles. Tendrá
110 familias.
El segundo[34] pueblo dista del precedente como un tiro de
piedra, es de fundacion moderna, y se compondrá de mas 15
familias que se retiraron aqui de:
_Gualpi_
Gualpi que dista del anterior un tiro de fusil, es mas
grande y populoso que los dos anteriores, puede tener hasta
200 familias. Estas tres pueblos tienen poco caballada, y
algunas vacas; pero mucho ganado lanar.
_Mosasnabi_[35]
Al poniente de esta mesa, y á legua y media de distancia
está la segunda, cuyo intermedio es un (112 v.) arenal, que
ertrando un poco en ella la divide en dos brazas. En el
septentrional, que es el mas inmediata á Gualpi hay dos
anillos distantes entre si un tiro de piedra. En la cima del
primero está situado el pueblo de Mosasnabi compuesto de 50
familias poco mas ó menos.
_Xipaolabi_[36]
En la cumbre del secundo cerrito se fundó el quinto pueblo
llamado Xipaolabi, que tendrá solo 14 familias: está casi
arruinado, porque sus vecinos se han trasladado al brazo
austral de la mesa y formaron el sexto pueblo llamado:
_Xongopabi_[37]
Xongopabi goza mejor situacion que todos los demas, tienen
tres quarteles mui bien dispuestos y en ellas unas 60
familias. Estos tres pueblos tienen mas caballada que los
primeros y mucho ganado menor.
_Oraybe_
Dos y media leguas al Poniente de esta mesa, está la
tercera, y en sucima el septimo pueblo que llaman Oraybe. Es
como la capital de la provincia, el mayor y mas bien formado
de toda ella, y acaso de todas las provincias internas.
Tiene once quarteles ó manzanas bien largas y dispuestos con
calles á cordel yá (113 r.) todos vientos, y puede llegar su
poblacion á 800 familias. Tienen buena caballada, mucho
ganado menor y algun vacuno. Aunque no gozan sino una
pequeña fuente de buena agua, distante del pueblo mas de una
milla al Norte, han construido para suplir esta escasez, en
la misma mesa, y mui inmediato à las casas seis cisternas
grandes donde recoger la agua de las lluvias y nieves.
The distribution of the population of Tusayan in the seven pueblos
mentioned above remained practically the same during the century
between 1782 and 1882. Summer settlements for farming purposes were
inhabited by the Oraibi for brief periods. Between the years 1880 and
1890 a beginning of a new distribution of Hopi families began, when
one or two of the less timid erected houses near Coyote spring, at the
East Mesa. The Tewa, represented by Polaka and Jakwaina, took the lead
in this movement. From 1890 to the present time a large number of
Walpi, Sichomovi, and Hano families have built houses in the foothills
of the East Mesa and in the plain beyond the "wash." A large
schoolhouse has been erected at Sun spring and a considerable number
of East Mesa villagers have abandoned their mesa dwellings. In this
shifting of the population the isolated house is always adopted and
the aboriginal method of roof building is abandoned. The indications
are that in a few years the population of the East Mesa will be
settled in unconnected farmhouses with little resemblance to the
ancient communal pueblo.
This movement is shared to a less extent by the Middle Mesa and Oraibi
people. On my first visit to the pueblos of these mesas, in 1890,
there was not a single permanent dwelling save in the ancient pueblos;
but now numerous small farmhouses have been erected at or near the
springs in the foothills. I mention these facts as a matter of record
of progress in the life of these people in adapting themselves to the
new conditions or influences by which they are surrounded. I believe
that if this exodus of Hopi families from the old pueblo to the plain
continues during the next two decades as it has in the last ten years,
there are children now living in Walpi who will some day see it
uninhabited.
This disintegration of the Hopi phratries, by which families are
separated from one another, is, I believe, a return to the prehistoric
distribution of the clans, and as Walpi grew into a pueblo by a union
of kindred people, so now it is again being divided and distributed,
still preserving family ties in new clusters or groupings. It is thus
not impossible that the sites of certain old ruins, as Sikyatki,
deserted for many years, will again be built upon if better suited for
new modes of life. The settlement near Coyote spring, for instance, is
not far from the old site of a former home of the Tanoan families, who
went to Tusayan in the beginning of the eighteenth century, and the
people who inhabit these new houses are all Tanoan descendants of the
original contingent.
In order to become familiar with the general character of Tusayan
ruins, I made a brief reconnoissance of those mentioned in the
following list, from which I selected Awatobi and Sikyatki as places
for a more exhaustive exploration. This list is followed by a brief
mention of those which I believe would offer fair opportunities for a
continuation of the work inaugurated. The ruins near Oraibi were not
examined and are therefore omitted, not that they are regarded as less
important, but because I was unable to undertake a study of them in
the limited time at my disposal. There are also many ruins in Tusayan,
north of the inhabited pueblos, which have never been described, and
would well repay extended investigation. Some of these, as the ruins
at the sacred spring called Kishuba, are of the utmost traditional
importance.
I. _Middle Mesa ruins_--(1) Old Shuñopovi; (2) Old
Mishoñinovi; (3) Shitaumû; (4) Chukubi; (5) Payüpki.
II. _East Mesa ruins_--(1) Kisakobi; (2) Küchaptüvela; (3)
Küküchomo; (4) Tukinobi; (5) Kachinba; (6) Sikyatki.
III. _Ruins in Keam's canyon_.
IV. _Jeditoh valley ruins_--(1) Bat-house; (2) Jeditoh,
Kawaika; (3) Horn-house; (4) Awatobi; Smaller Awatobi.
This method of classification is purely geographical, and is adopted
simply for convenience; but there are one or two facts worthy of
mention in regard to the distribution of ruins in these four sections.
The inhabited pueblos, like the ruins, are, as a rule, situated on the
eastern side of their respective mesas, or on the cliffs or hills
which border the adjacent plains on the west. This uniformity is
thought to have resulted from a desire to occupy a sunny site for
warmth and for other reasons.
The pueblos at or nearest the southern ends of the mesas were found to
be best suited for habitation, consequently the present towns occupy
those sites, or, as in the case of the Jeditoh series, the pueblo at
that point was the last abandoned. The reason for this is thought to
be an attempt to concentrate on the most inaccessible sites available,
which implies inroads of hostile peoples. For the same reason,
likewise, the tendency was to move from the foothills to the mesa tops
when these invasions began.
Early settlers near East Mesa appeared to have chosen exposed sites
for their pueblos. This would imply that they feared no invasion, and
legendary history indicates that the first pueblos were erected before
the hostile Ute, Apache, and Navaho appeared. The early settlements on
Middle Mesa were also apparently not made with an absorbing idea of
inaccessibility. All the Jeditoh villages, however, were on the mesa
tops, these sites having been selected evidently with a view to
protection, since they were not convenient to the farms.
For many reasons it would seem that the people who occupied the now
ruined Jeditoh villages were later arrivals in Tusayan than those of
East and Middle Mesas, and that, as a rule, they came from the
eastward, while those of Middle Mesa arrived from the south. The first
colonists of all, however, appear to have been the East Mesa clans,
the Bear and Snake families. If this conjecture be true, we may
believe that the oldest pueblos in Tusayan were probably the house
groups of the Snake clan of East Mesa, for whom their traditionists
claim a northern origin.
THE MIDDLE MESA RUINS
SHUÑOPOVI
The site of Old Shuñopovi (plate CV) at the advent of the first
Spaniards, and for a century or more afterward, was at the foot of the
mesa on which the present village stands. The site of the old pueblo
is easily detected by the foundations of the ancient houses and their
overturned walls, surrounded by mounds of soil filled with fragments
of the finest pottery.
The old village was situated on a ridge of foothills east of the
present town and near the spring, which is still used. On the highest
point of the ridge there rise to a considerable height the massive
walls of the old Spanish mission church, forming an inclosure, now
used as a sheep corral. The cemeteries are near by, close to the outer
walls, and among a clump of peach trees about half a mile east of the
old houses. The pottery,[38] as shown by the fragments, is of the
finest old Tusayan ware, cream and red being the predominating colors,
while fragments of coiled and black-and-white ware are likewise
common.
MISHOÑINOVI
The ruins of Old Mishoñinovi lie west of the present pueblo in the
foothills, not far from the two rocky pinnacles at that point and
adjacent to a spring. In strolling over the site of the old town I
have noted its ground plan, and have picked up many sherds which
indicate that the pottery made at that place was the fine cream-color
ware for which Tusayan has always been famous. The site offers unusual
opportunities for archeological studies, but excavation there is not
practicable on account of the opposition of the chiefs.
Old Mishoñinovi was a pueblo of considerable size, and was probably
inhabited up to the close of the seventeenth century. It was probably
on this site that the early Spanish explorers found the largest pueblo
of the Middle Mesa. The ruin of Shitaimovi, in the foothills near
Mishoñinovi, mentioned by Mindeleff, was not visited by our party.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CV.
SKETCH MAP OF THE MESA COUNTRY
OCCUPIED BY THE
HOPI INDIANS]
CHUKUBI
The ruin of Chukubi bears every evidence of antiquity. It is situated
on one of the eastward projecting spurs of Middle Mesa, midway between
Payüpki and Shipaulovi, near an excellent spring at the base of the
mesa.
Chukubi was built in rectangular form, with a central plaza surrounded
by rooms, two deep. There are many indications of outlying chambers,
some of which are arranged in rows. The house walls are almost wholly
demolished, and in far poorer state of preservation than those of the
neighboring ruin of Payüpki. The evidence now obtainable indicates
that it was an ancient habitation of a limited period of occupancy. It
is said to have been settled by the Patuñ or Squash people, whose
original home was far to the south, on Little Colorado river. A fair
ground plan is given by Mindeleff in his memoir on Pueblo
Architecture; but so far as known no studies of the pottery of this
pueblo have ever been made.
PAYÜPKI
One of the best-preserved ruins on Middle Mesa is called Payüpki by
the Hopi, and is interesting in connection with the traditions of the
migration of peoples from the Rio Grande, which followed the
troublesome years at the close of the seventeenth century. In the
reconquest of New Mexico by the Spaniards we can hardly say that
Tusayan was conquered; the province was visited and nominally
subjugated after the great rebellion, but with the exception of
repeated expeditions, which were often repulsed, the Hopi were
practically independent and were so regarded. No adequate punishment
was inflicted on the inhabitants of Walpi for the destruction of the
town of Awatobi, and although there were a few military expeditious to
Tusayan no effort at subjugation was seriously made.
Tusayan was regarded as an asylum for the discontented or apostate,
and about the close of the seventeenth century many people from the
Rio Grande fled there for refuge. Some of these refugees appear to
have founded pueblos of their own; others were amalgamated with
existing villages. Payüpki seems to have been founded about this
period, for we find no account of it before this time, and it is not
mentioned in connection with ancient migrations. In 1706 Holguin is
said to have attacked the "Tanos" village between Walpi and Oraibi and
forced the inhabitants to give hostages, but he was later set upon by
the Tano and driven back to Zuñi. It would hardly seem possible that
the pueblo mentioned could have been Hano, for this village does not
lie between Oraibi and Walpi and could not have been surrounded in the
way indicated in the account. Payüpki, however, not only lay on the
trail between Walpi and Oraibi--about midway, as the chronicler
states--but was so situated on a projecting promontory that it could
easily have been surrounded and isolated from the other pueblos.
The Hopi legends definitely assert that the Payüpki people came from
the "great river," the Rio Grande, and spoke a language allied to that
of the people of Hano. They were probably apostates, who came from the
east about 1680, but did not seem to agree well with the people of the
Middle Mesa, and about 1750 returned to the river and were domiciled
in Sandia, where their descendants still live. The name Payüpki is
applied by the Hopi to the pueblo of Sandia as well as to the ruin on
the Middle Mesa. The general appearance of the ruin of Payüpki
indicates that it was not long inhabited, and that it was abandoned at
a comparatively recent date. The general plan is not that common to
ancient Tusayan ruins, but more like that of Hano and Sichomovi, which
were erected about the time Payüpki was built. Many fragments of a
kind of pottery which in general appearance is foreign to Tusayan, but
which resembles the Rio Grande ware, were found on the mounds, and the
walls are better preserved than those of the ancient Tusayan ruins.
A notable absence of fragments of obsidian, the presence of which in
abundance is characteristic of ancient ruins, was observed on the site
of Payüpki. All these evidences substantiate the Hopi legend that the
Tanoan inhabitants of the village of Middle Mesa, above the trail from
Walpi to Oraibi, made but a short stay in Tusayan.[39]
There is good documentary evidence that Sandia was settled by Tanoan
people from Tusayan. Morfi in 1782 so states,[40] and in a copy of the
acts of possession of the pueblo grants of 1748 we find still further
proof of the settlement of "Moquinos" in Sandia.[41]
When Otermin returned to New Mexico in his attempted reconquest, in
1681, he reached Isleta on December 6, and on the 8th Dominguez
encamped in sight of Sandia, but found the inhabitants had fled. The
discord following this event drove the few surviving families of the
Tiwa on their old range to Tusayan, for they were set upon by Keres
and Jemez warriors on the plea that they received back the Spaniards.
Possibly these families formed the nucleus of Payüpki. It was about
this time, also, if we can believe Niel's story, that 4,000 Tanos went
to Tusayan. It would thus appear that the Hopi Payüpki was settled in
the decade 1680-1690.
THE EAST MESA RUINS
KÜCHAPTÜVELA AND KISAKOBI
The two ruins of Küchaptüvela and Kisakobi mark the sites of Walpi
during the period of Spanish exploration and occupancy between 1540
and 1700. The former was the older. In all probability the latter had
a mission church and was inhabited at the time of the great rebellion
in 1680, having been founded about fifty years previously.
The former or more ancient[42] pueblo was situated on the first or
lowest terrace of East Mesa, below the present pueblo, on the northern
and western sides. The name Küchaptüvela signifies "Ash-hill terrace,"
and probably the old settlement, like the modern, was known as Walpi,
"Place-of-the-gap," referring to the gap or notch (_wala_) in the mesa
east of Hano.
Old Walpi is said to have been abandoned because it was in the shade
of the mesa, but doubtless the true cause of its removal was that the
site was too much exposed, commanded as it was by the towering mesa
above it, and easily approached on three sides. The Walpi which was
contemporary with Sikyatki was built in an exposed location, for at
that time the Hopi were comparatively secure from invaders. Later,
however, Apache, Ute, and Navaho began to raid their fields, and the
Spaniards came in their midst again and again, forcing them to work
like slaves. A more protected site was necessary, and late in the
seventeenth century the Walpians began to erect houses on the mesa,
which formed the nucleus of the present town. The standing walls of
Old Walpi are buried in the débris, but the plans of the rooms may
readily be traced. Comparatively speaking, it was a large, compact,
well-built pueblo, and, from the great piles of débris in the
neighborhood, would seem to have been occupied during several
generations.
The pottery found in the neighborhood is the fine, ancient Tusayan
ware, like that of Sikyatki and Shuñopovi. Extended excavations would
reveal, I am sure, many beautiful objects and shed considerable light
on the obscure history of Walpi and its early population.
After moving from Old Walpi it seems that the people first built
houses on the terrace above, or on the platform extending westward
from the western limits of the summit of East Mesa. The whole top of
that part of the mesa is covered with house walls, showing the former
existence of a large pueblo. Here, no doubt, if we can trust
tradition, the mission of Walpi was built, and I have found in the
débris fragments of pottery similar to that used in Mexico, and very
different from ancient or modern Pueblo ware. But even Kisakobi[43]
was not a safe site for the Walpians to choose for their village, so
after they destroyed the mission and killed the priest they moved up
to their present site and abandoned both of their former villages.
It is said that with this removal of the villagers there were found to
be no easy means of climbing the precipitous walls, and that the
stairway trails were made as late as the beginning of the present
century. In those early days there was a ladder near where the
stairway trail is now situated, and some of the older men of Walpi
have pointed out to me where this ladder formerly stood.
The present plan of Walpi shows marked differences from that made
twenty years ago, and several houses between the stairway trail and
the Wikwaliobi kiva, on the edge of the mesa, which have now fallen
into ruin, were inhabited when I first visited Walpi in 1890. The
buildings between the Snake kiva and the Nacab kiva are rapidly
becoming unsafe for habitation, and most of these rooms will soon be
deserted. As many Walpi families are building new houses on the plain,
it needs no prophet to predict that the desertion of the present site
of Walpi will progress rapidly in the next few years, and possibly by
the end of our generation the pueblo may be wholly deserted--one more
ruin added to the multitudes in the Southwest.
The site of Old Walpi, at Küchaptüvela, is the scene of an interesting
rite in the New-fire ceremony at Walpi, for not far from it is a
shrine dedicated to a supernatural being called Tüwapoñtumsi,
"Earth-altar-woman." This shrine, or house, as it is called, is about
230 feet from the ruin, among the neighboring bowlders, and consists
of four flat slabs set upright, forming an inclosure in which stands a
log of fossil wood.
The ceremonials at Old Walpi in the New-fire rites are described in my
account[44] of this observance, and from their nature I suspect that
the essential part of this episode is the deposit of offerings at this
shrine. The circuits about the old ruin are regarded as survivals of
the rites which took place in former times at Old Walpi. The ruin was
spoken of in the ceremony as the _Sipapüni_, the abode of the dead who
had become _katcinas_, to whom the prayers said in the circuits were
addressed.
KÜKÜCHOMO
The two conical mounds on the mesa above Sikyatki are often referred
to that ancient pueblo, but from their style of architecture and from
other considerations I am led to connect them with other phratries of
Tusayan. From limited excavations made in these mounds in 1891, I was
led to believe that they were round pueblos, similar to those east of
Tusayan, and that they were temporary habitations, possibly vantage
points, occupied for defense. Plate CVI illustrates their general
appearance, while the rooms of which they are composed are shown in
figure 253. At the place where the mesa narrows between these mounds
and the pueblos to the west, a wall was built from one edge of the
mesa to the other to defend the trail on this side. This wall appears
to have had watch towers or houses at intervals, which are now in
ruins, as shown in figure 254.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CVI
THE RUINS OF KÜKÜCHOMO]
[Illustration: FIG. 253--Küküchomo]
The legends concerning the ancient inhabitants of Küküchomo are
conflicting. The late A. M. Stephen stated that tradition ascribes
them to the Coyote and Pikya (Corn) peoples, with whom the denizens of
Sikyatki made friendship, and whom the latter induced to settle there
to protect them from the Walpians. He regarded them as the last
arrivals of the Water-house phratry, while the Coyote people came from
the north at nearly the same time. From his account it would appear
that the twin mounds, Küküchomo, were abandoned before the destruction
of Sikyatki. The Coyote people were, I believe, akin to the Kokop or
Firewood phratry, and as the pueblo of Sikyatki was settled by the
latter, it is highly probable that the inhabitants of the two villages
were friendly and naturally combined against the Snake pueblo of
Walpi. I believe, however, there is some doubt that any branch of the
Patki people settled in Küküchomo, and the size of the town as
indicated by the ruin was hardly large enough to accommodate more than
one clan. Still, as there are two Küküchomo ruins, there may have been
a different family in each of the two house clusters.
[Illustration: FIG. 254--Defensive wall on the East Mesa]
It has been said that in ancient times, before the twin mounds of
Küküchomo were erected, the people of Sikyatki were greatly harassed
by the young slingers and archers of Walpi, who would come across to
the edge of the high cliff and assail them with impunity. Anyone,
however, who contemplates the great distance from Sikyatki to the edge
of the mesa may well doubt whether it was possible for the Walpi
bowmen to inflict much harm in that way.
Moreover, if the word "slingers" is advisedly chosen, it introduces a
kind of warfare which is not mentioned in other Tusayan legends,
although apparently throwing stones at their enemies was practiced
among Pueblos of other stocks in early historic times.[45]
We may suppose, however, that the survivors of both Küküchomo and
Sikyatki sought refuge in Awatobi after the prehistoric destruction of
their pueblos, for both were peopled by clans which came from the
east, and naturally went to that village, the founders of which
migrated from the same direction.
KACHINBA
The small ruin at Kachinba, the halting place of the Kachina people,
seems to have escaped the attention of students of Tusayan archeology.
It lies about six miles from Sikyatki, about east of Walpi, and is
approached by following the trail at the foot of the same mesa upon
which Küküchomo is situated. The ruin is located on a small foothill
and has a few standing walls. It was evidently diminutive in size and
only temporarily inhabited. The best wall found at this ruin lies at
the base of the hill, where the spring formerly was. This spring is
now filled in, but a circular wall of masonry indicates its great size
in former times.
TUKINOBI
There are evidences that the large hill on top of East Mesa, not far
from the twin mounds, was once the site of a pueblo of considerable
size, but I have not been able to gather any definite legend about it.
Near this ruin is the "Eagle shrine" in which round wooden imitations
of eagle eggs are ceremonially deposited, and in the immediate
vicinity of which is another shrine near which tracks are cut in the
rock, and which were evidently considered by the Indian who pointed
them out to me as having been made by some bird.[46] It is probably
from these footprints, which are elsewhere numerous, that the two
ruins called Küküchomo ("footprints mound") takes its name.
JEDITOH VALLEY RUINS
As one enters Antelope valley, following the Holbrook road, he finds
himself in what was formerly a densely populated region of Tusayan.
This valley in former times was regarded as a garden spot, and the
plain was covered with patches of corn, beans, squashes, and chile.
The former inhabitants lived in pueblos on the northern side, high up
on the mesa which separates Jeditoh valley from Keam's canyon. All of
these pueblos are now in ruins, and only a few Navaho and Hopi
families cultivate small tracts in the once productive fields.
The majority of the series of ruins along the northern rim of Antelope
valley resemble Awatobi, which is later described in detail. It is
interesting to note that in the abandonment of villages the same law
appears to have prevailed here as in the other Tusayan mesas, for in
the shrinkage of the Hopi people they concentrated more and more to
the points of the mesas. Thus, at East Mesa, Sikyatki, Kachinba, and
Küküchomo were destroyed, while Walpi remained. At Middle Mesa,
Chukubi and Payüpki became ruins, and in Antelope valley Awatobi was
the last of the Jeditoh series to fall. There has thus been a gradual
tendency to drift from readily accessible locations to the most
impregnable sites, which indicates how severely the Hopi must have
been harassed by their foes. It is significant that some of the oldest
pueblos were originally built in the most exposed positions, and it
may rightly be conjectured that the pressure on the villagers came
long after these sites were chosen. The ancient or original Hopi had a
sense of security when they built their first houses, and they,
therefore, did not find it necessary to seek the protection of cliffs.
Many of them lived in the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, others at
Kishuba. As time went on, however, they were forced, as were their
kindred in other pueblos, to move to inaccessible mesas guarded by
vertical cliffs.
Of the several ruins of Antelope valley, that on the mesa above
Jeditoh or Antelope spring is one of the largest and most interesting.
Stephen calls this ruin Mishiptonga, and a plan of the old house is
given by Mindeleff.
The spring called Kawaika, situated near the former village of the
same name, was evidently much used by the ancient accolents of
Antelope valley. From this neighborhood there was excavated a few
years ago a beautiful collection of ancient mortuary pottery objects,
which was purchased by Mrs Mary Hemenway, of Boston, and is now in the
Peabody Museum at Cambridge. These objects have never been adequately
described, although a good illustration of some of the specimens, with
a brief reference thereto, was published by James Mooney[47] a few
years ago.
Among the most striking objects in this collection are clay models of
houses, dishes, and small vases with rims pierced with holes, and
rectangular vessels ornamented with pictures of birds. There are
specimens of cream, yellow, red, and white pottery in the collection
which, judging by the small size of most of the specimens, was
apparently votive in character.
The ruins called by Stephen "Horn-house" and "Bat-house," as well as
the smaller ruin between them, have been described by Mindeleff, who
has likewise published plans of the first two. From their general
appearance I should judge they were not occupied for so long a time as
Awatobi, and by a population considerably smaller. If all these
Jeditoh pueblos were built by peoples from the Rio Grande, it is
possible that those around Jeditoh spring were the first founded and
that Awatobi was of later construction; but from the data at hand the
relative age of the ruins of this part of Tusayan can not be
determined.
There are many ruins situated on the periphery of Tusayan which are
connected traditionally with the Hopi, but are not here mentioned. Of
these, the so-called "Fire-house" is said to have been the home of
the ancestors of Sikyatki, and Kintiel of certain Zuñi people akin to
the Hopi. Both of the ruins mentioned differ in their architectural
features from characteristic prehistoric Tusayan ruins, for they are
circular in form, as are many of the ruins in the middle zone of the
pueblo area. With these exceptions there are no circular ruins within
the area over which the Hopi lay claim, and it is probable that the
accolents of Kintiel were more Zuñi than Hopi in kinship.
Many ruins north of Oraibi and in the neighborhood of the farming
village of Moenkopi are attributed to the Hopi by their traditionists.
The ruins about Kishyuba, connected with the Kachina people, also
belong to Tusayan. These and many others doubtless offer most
important contributions to an exact knowledge of the prehistoric
migrations of this most interesting people.
Among the many Tusayan ruins which offer good facilities for
archeological work, the two which I chose for that purpose are Awatobi
and Sikyatki. My reasons for this choice may briefly be stated.
Awatobi is a historic pueblo of the Hopi, which was more or less under
Spanish influence between the years 1540 and 1700. When properly
investigated, in the light of archeology, it ought to present a good
picture of Tusayan life before the beginning of the modifications
which appear in the modern villages of that isolated province. While I
expected to find evidences of Spanish occupancy, I also sought facts
bearing on the character of Tusayan life in the seventeenth century.
Sikyatki, however, showed us the character of Tusayan life in the
fifteenth century, or the unmodified aboriginal pueblo culture of this
section of the Southwest. Here we expected to find Hopi culture
unmodified by Spanish influence.
The three pueblos of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and Walpi, when properly
studied, will show the condition of pueblo culture in three
centuries--in Sikyatki, pure, unmodified pueblo culture; in Awatobi,
pueblo life as slightly modified by the Spaniards, and in Walpi, those
changes resulting from the advent of Americans superadded. While
special attention has thus far been given by ethnologists mainly to
the last-mentioned pueblo, a study of the ruins of the other two
villages is of great value in showing how the modern life developed
and what part of it is due to foreign influence.
A knowledge of the inner life of the inhabitants of Tusayan as it
exists today is a necessary prerequisite to the interpretation of the
ancient culture of that province; but we must always bear in mind the
evolution of society and the influences of foreign origin which have
been exerted on it. Many, possibly the majority, of modern customs at
Walpi are inherited, but others are incorporated and still others, of
ancient date, have become extinct.
As much stress is laid in this memoir on the claim that objects from
Sikyatki indicate a culture uninfluenced by the Spaniards, it is well
to present the evidence on which this assertion is based.
(1) Hopi legends all declare that Sikyatki was destroyed before the
Spaniards, called the "long-gowned" and "iron-shirted" men, came to
Tusayan. (2) Sikyatki is not mentioned by name in any documentary
account of Tusayan, although the other villages are named and are
readily identifiable with existing pueblos. (3) No fragment of glass,
metal, or other object indicative of the contact of European
civilization was found anywhere in the ruin. If we add to the above
the general appearance of age in the mounds and the depth of the
débris which has accumulated in the rooms and over the graves, we have
the main facts on which I have relied to support my belief that
Sikyatki is a prehistoric ruin.
AWATOBI
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUIN
No Tusayan ruin offers to the archeologist a better picture of the
character of Hopi village life in the seventeenth century than that
known as Awatobi (plate CVII).[48] It is peculiarly interesting as
connecting the prehistoric culture of Sikyatki and modern Tusayan
life, with which we have become well acquainted through recent
research. Awatobi was one of the largest Tusayan pueblos in the middle
of the sixteenth century, and continued to exist to the close of the
seventeenth. It was therefore a historic pueblo. It had a mission,
notices of which occur in historical documents of the period. From its
preponderance in size, no less than from its position, we may suspect
that it held relatively the same leadership among the other Antelope
valley ruins that Walpi does today to Sichomovi and Hano.
The present condition of the ruins of Awatobi is in no respect
peculiar or different from that of the remains of prehistoric
structures, except that its mounds occupy a position on a mesa top
commanding a wide outlook over a valley. On its east it is hemmed in
by extensive sand dunes, which also stretch to the north and west,
receding from the village all the way from a few hundred yards to a
quarter of a mile. On the south the ruins overlook the plain, and the
sands on the west separate it from a canyon in which there are several
springs, some cornfields, and one or two modern Hopi houses. There is
no water in the valley which stretches away from the mesa on which
Awatobi is situated, and the foothills are only sparingly clothed with
desert vegetation. The mounds of the ruin have numerous clumps of
_sibibi_ (_Rhus trilobata_), and are a favorite resort of Hopi women
for the berries of this highly prized shrub. There is a solitary tree
midway between the sand dunes west of the village and the western
mounds, near which we found it convenient to camp. The only
inhabitants of the Awatobi mesa are a Navaho family, who have
appropriated, for the shade it affords, a dwarf cedar east of the old
mission walls. No land is cultivated, save that in the canyons above
mentioned, west of the sand hills; some fair harvests are, however,
still gathered from Antelope valley by the Navaho, especially in the
section higher up, near Jeditoh spring.
The ruin may be approached from the road between Holbrook and Keam's
Canyon, turning to the left after climbing the mesa. This road,
however, is not usually traveled, since it trends through the
difficult sand hills. As Keam's Canyon is the only place in this
region at which to provision an expedition, it is usual to approach
Awatobi from that side, the road turning to the right shortly after
one ascends the steep hill out of the canyon near Keam's trading post.
My archeological work at Awatobi began on July 6, 1895, and was
continued for two weeks, being abandoned on account of the defection
of my Hopi workmen, who left their work to attend the celebration of
the _Niman_ or "Farewell" _katcina_,[49] a July festival in which many
of them participated. The ruin is conveniently situated for the best
archeological results; it has a good spring near by, and is not far
from Keam's Canyon, the base of supplies. The soil covering the rooms,
however, is almost as hard as cement, and fragile objects, such as
pottery, were often broken before their removal from the matrix. A
considerable quantity of débris had to be removed before the floors
were reached, and as this was firmly impacted great difficulty was
encountered in successful excavations.
With a corps of trained workmen much better results than those we
obtained might have been expected, and the experience which the
Indians subsequently had at Sikyatki would have made my excavations at
Awatobi, had they been carried on later in the season, more
remunerative. While my archeological work at certain points in these
interesting mounds of Awatobi was more or less superficial, it was in
other places thorough, and revealed many new facts in regard to the
culture of the inhabitants of this most important pueblo.
I found it inexpedient to dig in the burial places among the sand
dunes, on account of the religious prejudices of my workmen. This fear
they afterward overcame to a certain extent, but never completely
outgrew, although the cemeteries at Sikyatki were quite thoroughly
excavated, yielding some of the most striking results of the summer's
exploration. The sand hills west of Sikyatki are often swept by
violent gales, by which the surface is continually changing, and
mortuary pottery is frequently exposed. This has always been a
favorite place for the collector, and many a beautiful food bowl has
been carried by the Indians from this cemetery to the trading store,
for the natives do not seem to object to selling a vase or other
object which they find on the surface, but rarely dig in the ground
for the purpose of obtaining specimens.
NOMENCLATURE OF AWATOBI
The name Awatobi is evidently derived from _awata_, a bow (referring
to the Bow clan, one of the strongest in the ancient pueblo), and
_obi_, "high place of." A derivation from _owa_, rock, has also been
suggested, but it seems hardly distinctive enough to be applicable,
and is not accepted by the Hopi themselves.
While the different pueblos of Tusayan were not specially mentioned
until forty years after they were first visited, the name Awatobi is
readily recognized in the account of Espejo in 1583, where it is
called Aguato,[50] which appears as Zaguato and Ahuato in Hakluyt.[51]
In the time of Oñate (1598) the same name is written Aguatuybá.[52]
Vetancurt,[53] about 1680, mentions the pueblo under the names
Aguatobi and Ahuatobi, and in 1692, or twelve years after the great
rebellion, Vargas visited "San Bernardo de Aguatuvi," ten leagues from
Zuñi. The name appears on maps up to the middle of the eighteenth
century, several years after its destruction. In more modern times
various older spellings have been adopted or new ones introduced.
Among these may be mentioned:
AGUATUVÍ. Buschmann, Neu-Mexico, 231, 1858.
AGUATUYA. Bandelier in Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology, III, 85, 1892 (misquoting Oñate).
AGUITOBI. Bandelier in Archæological Institute Papers, Am. series, III, pt. 1, 115, 1890.
AHUATU. Bandelier, ibid., 115, 135.
AHUATUYBA. Bandelier, ibid., 109.
AH-WAT-TENNA. Bourke, Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona, 195, 1884 (so called by a Tusayan Indian).
AQUATASI. Walch, Charte America, 1805.
AQUATUBI. Davis, Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 368, 1869.
ATABI-HOGANDI. Bourke, op. cit., 84, 1884 (Navaho name).
AUA-TU-UI. Bandelier in Archæological Institute Papers, op. cit., IV, pt. 2, 368, 1892.
A-WA-TE-U. Cushing in Atlantic Monthly, 367, September, 1882.
AWATÚBI. Bourke, op. cit., 91, 1884.
Á WAT U I. Cushing in Fourth Report Bureau of Ethnology, 493, 1886 (or Aguatóbi).
ZAGNATO. Brackenridge, Early Spanish Discoveries, 19, 1857 (misprint of Hakluyt's Zaguato).
ZAGUATE. Prince, New Mexico, 34, 1883 (misquoting Hakluyt).
ZUGUATO. Hinton, Handbook to Arizona, 388, 1878 (misquoting Hakluyt).
The Navaho name of the ruin, as is well known, is Talla-hogan,
ordinarily translated "Singing-house," and generally interpreted to
refer to the mass said by the padres in the ancient church. It is
probable, however, that kivas were used as chambers where songs were
sung in ceremonials prior to the introduction of Christianity.
Therefore why Awatobi should preeminently be designated as the
"Singing-house" is not quite apparent.
The name of the mission, San Bernardino,[54] or San Bernardo, refers
to its patron saint, and was first applied by Porras in honor of the
natal day of this saint, on which day, in 1629, he and his companions
arrived in Tusayan.
HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE OF AWATOBI
The identification of Tusayan with the present country of the Hopi
depends in great measure on the correct determination of the situation
of Cibola. I have regarded as conclusive Bandelier's argument that
Cibola comprised the group of pueblos inhabited by the Zuñi in the
sixteenth century.[55] Regarding this as proven, Tusayan corresponds
with the Hopi villages, of which Awatobi was one of the largest. It
lies in the same direction and about the same distance from Zuñi as
stated in Castañeda's narrative. The fact that Cardenas passed through
Tusayan when he went from Cibola to the Grand Canyon in 1540 is in
perfect harmony with the identification of the Hopi villages with
Tusayan, and Zuñi with Cibola. Tobar, in Tusayan, heard of the great
river to the west, and when he returned to the headquarters of
Coronado at Cibola the general dispatched Cardenas to investigate the
truth of the report. Cardenas naturally went to Tusayan where Tobar
had heard the news, and from there took guides who conducted him to
the Grand Canyon. Had the general been in any Hopi town at the time he
sent Tobar, and later Cardenas, it is quite impossible to find any
cluster of ruins which we can identify as Tusayan in the direction
indicated. There can be no doubt that Tusayan was the modern Hopi
country, and with this in mind the question as to which Hopi pueblo
was the one first visited by Tobar is worthy of investigation.
In order to shed what light is possible on this question, I have
examined the account by Castañeda, the letter of Coronado to Mendoza,
and the description in the "Relacion del Suceso," but find it
difficult to determine that point definitely.
In Hakluyt's translation of Coronado's letter, it is stated that the
houses of the "cities" which Tobar was sent to examine were "of
earth," and the "chiefe" of these towns is called "Tucano." As this
letter was written before Coronado had received word from Tobar
concerning his discoveries, naturally we should not expect definite
information concerning the new province. Capt. Juan Jaramillo's
account speaks of "Tucayan" as a province composed of seven towns, and
states that the houses are terraced.
In the "Relacion del Suceso" we likewise find the province called
"Tuzan" (Tusayan), and the author notes the resemblance of the
villages to Cibola, but he distinctly states that the inhabitants
cultivated cotton.
Castañeda's account, which is the most detailed, is that on which I
have relied in my identification of Awatobi as the first Hopi pueblo
seen by the Spaniards.
It seems that Don Pedro de Tobar was dispatched by Coronado to explore
a province called Tusayan which was reported to be twenty-five leagues
from Cibola. He had in his command seventeen horsemen and one or two
foot-soldiers, and was accompanied by Friar Juan de Padilla. They
arrived in the new province after dark and concealed themselves under
the edge of the mesa, so near that they heard the voices of the
Indians in their houses. The natives, however, discovered them at
daylight drawn up in order, and came out to meet them armed with
wooden clubs, bow and arrows, and carrying shields. The chief drew a
line of sacred meal across the trail, and in that way symbolized that
the entrance to their pueblo was closed to the intruders. During a
parley, however, one of the men made a move to cross the line of meal,
and an Indian struck his horse on the bridle. This opened hostilities,
in which the Hopi were worsted, but apparently without loss of life.
The vanquished brought presents of various kinds--cotton cloth,
cornmeal, birds, skins, piñon nuts, and a few turquoises--and finding
a good camping place near their pueblo, Tobar established headquarters
and received homage from all the province. They allowed the Spaniards
to enter their villages and traded with them.[56]
Espejo's reference to Awatobi in 1583 leaves no doubt that the pueblo
was in existence in that year, and while, of course, we can not
definitely say that it was not built between 1540 and 1583, the
indications are that it was not. Hopi traditions assert that it was in
existence when the Spaniards came, and the statement of the legendists
whom I have consulted are definite that the survivors of Sikyatki went
to Awatobi after the overthrow of the former pueblo. It would not
appear, however, that Awatobi was founded prior to Sikyatki, nor is it
stated that the refugees from Sikyatki built Awatobi, which is within
the bounds of possibility, but it seems to be quite generally conceded
that the Sikyatki tragedy antedated the arrival of the first
Spaniards.
There can, I think, be no doubt that the Hopi pueblo first entered by
Pedro de Tobar, in 1540, was Awatobi, and that the first conflict of
Spanish soldiers and Hopi warriors, which occurred at that time, took
place on the well-known Zuñi trail in Antelope valley, not far from
Jeditoh or Antelope spring. This pueblo is the nearest village to
Cibola (Zuñi), from which Tobar came, and as he took the Zuñi trail he
would naturally first approach this village, even if the other pueblos
on the rim of this valley were inhabited. It is interesting to
consider a few lines from Castañeda, describing the event of that
episode, to see how closely the site of Awatobi conforms to the
narrative. In Castañeda's account of Tobar's visit we find that the
latter with his command entered Tusayan so secretly that their
presence was unknown to the inhabitants, and they traversed a
cultivated plain without being seen, so that, we are told, they
approached the village near enough to hear the voices of the Indians
without being discovered. Moreover, the Indians, the narrative says,
had a habit of descending to their cultivated fields, which implies
that they lived on a mesa top. Awatobi was situated on a mesa, and the
cultivated fields were in exactly the position indicated. The habit of
retiring to their pueblo at night is still observed, or was to within
a few years. Tobar arrived at the edge of Antelope valley after dark
(otherwise he would have been discovered), crossed the cultivated
fields under cover of night, and camped under the town at the base of
the mesa. The soldiers from that point could readily hear the voices
of the villagers above them. Even at the base of the lofty East Mesa I
have often heard the Walpi people talking, while the words of the town
crier are intelligible far out on the plain. From the configuration of
the valley it would not, however, have been easier for Awatobians to
have seen the approaching Spaniards than for the Walpians; still it
was possible for the invaders to conceal their approach to Walpi in
the same way. If, however, the first pueblo approached was Walpi, and
Tobar followed the Zuñi trail, I think he would have been discovered
by the Awatobi people before nightfall if he entered the cultivated
fields early in the evening. It would be incredible to believe that he
wandered from the trail; much more likely he went directly to Awatobi,
the first village en route, and then encamped until the approach of
day before entering the pueblo. At sunrise the inhabitants, early
stirring, detected the presence of the intruders, and the warriors
went down the mesa to meet them. They had already heard from Cibola of
the strange beings, men mounted on animals which were said to devour
enemies.
It may seem strange that the departure of an expedition against
Tusayan was unknown to the Hopi, but the narrative leads us to believe
that such was the fact. The warriors descended to the plain, and their
chief drew a line of sacred meal across the trail to symbolize that
the way to their pueblo was closed; whoever crossed it was an enemy,
and punishment should be meted out to him. This custom is still
preserved in several ceremonials at the present day, as, for instance,
in the New-fire rites[57] in November and in the Flute observance in
July.[58] The priests say that in former times whoever crossed a line
of meal drawn on the trail at that festival was killed, and even now
they insist that no one is allowed to pass a closed trail. The Awatobi
warriors probably warned Tobar and his comrades not to advance, but
the symbolic barrier was not understood by them. The Spaniards were
not there to parley long, and it is probable that their purpose was to
engage in a quarrel with the Indians. Urged on by the priest, Juan de
Padilla, "who had been a soldier in his youth," they charged the
Indians and overthrew a number, driving the others before them. The
immediate provocation for this, according to the historian, was that
an Indian struck one of the horses on the bridle, at which the holy
father, losing patience, exclaimed to his captain, "Why are we here?"
which was interpreted as a sign for the assault.
It must, however, be confessed that if the pueblo of Walpi was the
first discovered an approach by stealth without being seen would have
been easier for Tobar if the village referred to was Walpi then
situated on the Ash-hill terrace, with the East Mesa between it and
the Zuñi trail. To offset this probability, however, is the fact that
the Zuñi trail now runs through Awatobi, or in full view of it and
there is hardly a possibility that Tobar left that trail to avoid
Awatobi. He would naturally visit the first village, and not go out of
his way seven miles beyond it, seeking a more distant pueblo.
The effect of this onslaught on men armed with spears, clubs, and
leather shields can be imagined, and the encounter seems to have
discouraged the Awatobi warriors from renewed resistance. They fled,
but shortly afterward brought presents as a sign of submission, when
Tobar called off his men. Thus was the entry of the Spaniards into
Tusayan marked with bloodshed for a trifling offense. Shortly
afterward Tobar entered the village and received the complete
submission of the people.
The names of the Tusayan pueblos visited by Tobar in this first
entrance are nowhere mentioned in the several accounts which have come
down to us. Forty years later, however, the Spaniards returned and
found the friendly feeling of Awatobi to the visitors had not lapsed.
When Espejo approached the town in 1583, over the same Zuñi trail, the
multitudes with their caciques met him with great joy and poured maize
(sacred meal?) on the ground for the horses to walk upon. This was
symbolic of welcome; they "made" the trail, a ceremony which is still
kept up when entrance to the pueblo is formally offered.[59]
The people, considering their poverty, were generous, and gave Espejo
"hand towels with tassels" at the corners. These were probably dance
kilts and ceremonial blankets, which then, as now, the Hopi made of
cotton.
The pueblo, called "Aguato" in the account of that visit, was without
doubt Awatobi. The name Aguatuybá, mentioned by Oñate, is also
doubtless the same, although, as pointed out to me by Mr Hodge,
"through an error probably of the copyist or printer, the name
Aguatuybá is inadvertently given by Oñate among his list of Hopi
chiefs, while Esperiez is mentioned among the pueblos." In Oñate's
list we recognize Oraibi in "Naybi," and Shuñopovi in "Xumupamí" and
"Comupaví," the most westerly town of the Middle Mesa. "Cuanrabi" and
"Esperiez" are not recognizable as pueblos.
Espejo, therefore, appears to have been the first to mention Awatobi
as "Aguato," which is metamorphosed in Hakluyt into "Zaguato or
"Ahuzto,"[60] although evidently Oñate's "Aguatuybá" was intended as a
name of a pueblo.
I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the date of the
erection of the mission building of San Bernardino at Awatobi, but the
name is mentioned as early as 1629. In that year three friars went to
Tusayan and began active efforts to convert the Hopi.[61]
It is recorded[62] that Padre Porras, with Andres Gutierrez, Cristoval
de la Concepcion, and ten soldiers, arrived in Tusayan, "dia del
glorioso San Bernardo (que és el apellido que aora tiene aquel
pueblo)," which leaves no doubt why the mission at Awatobi was so
named. Although an apostate Indian had spread the report, previously
to the advent of these priests in Tusayan, that the Spaniards were
coming among them to burn their pueblos, rob their homes, and
devour[63] their children, the zealous missionaries in 1629 converted
many of the chiefs and baptized their children. The cacique, Don
Augustin, who appears to have been baptized at Awatobi, apparently
lived in Walpi or at the Middle Mesa, and returning to his pueblo,
prepared the way for a continuation of the apostolic work in the
villages of the other mesas.
But the missionary labors of Porras came to an untimely end. It is
written that by 1633 he had made great progress in converting the
Hopi, but in that year, probably at Awatobi, he was poisoned. Of the
fate of his two companions and the success of their work little is
known, but it is recorded that the succession of padres was not
broken up to the great rebellion in 1680. Figueroa, who was massacred
at Awatobi in that year, went to Tusayan in 1674 with Aug. Sta. Marie.
Between the death of Porras and the arrival of Figueroa there was an
interval of eleven years, during which time the two comrades of Porras
or Espeleta, who went to Tusayan in 1650, took charge of the spiritual
welfare of the Hopi. Espeleta and Aug. Sta. Marie were killed in 1680
at San Francisco de Oraibi and Walpi, respectively, and José Trujillo
probably lost his life at Old Shuñopovi at the same time. As there is
no good reason to suppose that Awatobi, one of the most populous
Tusayan pueblos, was neglected by the Spanish missionaries after the
death of Porras in 1633, and as it was the first pueblo encountered on
the trail from Zuñi, doubtless San Bernardino was one of the earliest
missions erected in Tusayan. From 1680 until 1692, the period of
independence resulting from the great Pueblo revolt, there was no
priest in Tusayan, nor, indeed, in all New Mexico. Possibly the
mission was repaired between 1692 and 1700, but it is probable that it
was built as early as the time Porras lived in Awatobi. It is
explicitly stated that in the destruction of Awatobi in 1700 no
missionaries were killed, although it is recorded that early in that
year Padre Garaycoechea made it a visit.
The disputes between the Jesuits and Franciscans to obtain the Hopi
field for missionary work during the eighteenth century naturally
falls in another chapter of Spanish-Tusayan history. Aside from
sporadic visits to the pueblos, nothing tangible appears to have
resulted from the attempts at conversion in this epoch. True, many
apostates were induced to return to their old homes on the Rio Grande
and some of the Hopi frequently asked for resident priests, making
plausible offers to protect them; but the people as a whole were
hostile, and the mission churches were never rebuilt, nor did the
fathers again live in this isolated province.
In 1692 Awatobi was visited by Don Diego de Vargas, the reconquerer of
New Mexico, who appears to have had no difficulty bringing to terms
the pueblos of Awatobi, Walpi, Mishoñinovi, and Shuñopovi.[64] He
found, however, that Awatobi was "fortified," and the entrance so
narrow that but one man could enter at a time. The description leads
us to conclude that the fortification was the wall at the eastern end,
and the entrance the gateway, the sides of which are still to be seen.
The plaza in which the cross was erected was probably just north of
the walls of the mission.
There would seem to be no doubt that a mission building was standing
at Awatobi before 1680, for Vetancurt, writing about the year named,
states that in the uprising it was burned.[65] At the time of the
visit of Garaycoechea, in the spring of 1700, he found that the
mission had been rebuilt. In this connection it is instructive, as
bearing on the probable cause of the destruction of Awatobi, to find
that while the inhabitants of this pueblo desired to have the mission
rehabilitated, the other Tusayan pueblos were so hostile that the
friends of the priest in Awatobi persuaded him not to attempt to visit
the other villages. This warning was no doubt well advised, and the
tragic fate which befell Awatobi before the close of the year shows
that the trouble was brewing when the padre was there, and possibly
Garaycoechea's visit hastened the catastrophe or intensified the
hatred of the other pueblos.
At the time of Garaycoechea's visit he baptized, it is said, 73
persons. This rite was particularly obnoxious[66] to the Hopi, as
indeed to the other Pueblo Indians, notwithstanding they performed
practically the same ceremony in initiations into their own secret
societies. The Awatobians, however, or at least some of them, allowed
this rite of the Christians, thus intensifying the hatred of the more
conservative of their own village and of the neighboring pueblos.
These and other facts seem to indicate that the real cause of the
destruction of Awatobi was the reception of Christianity by its
inhabitants, which the other villagers regarded as sorcery. The
conservative party, led by Tapolo, opened the gate of the town to the
warriors of Walpi and Mishoñinovi, who slaughtered the liberals, thus
effectually rooting out the new faith from Tusayan, for after that
time it never again obtained a foothold.
The visit of Padre Juan Garaycoechea to Tusayan was at the invitation
of Espeleta, chief of Oraibi, but he went no farther than Awatobi,
where he baptized the 73 Hopi. He then returned to the "governor," and
arrived at Zuñi in June. According to Bancroft (p. 222), "In the
'Moqui Noticias' MS., 669, it is stated that the other Moquis, angry
that Aguatuvi had received the padres, came and attacked the pueblo,
killed all the men, and carried off all the women and children,
leaving the place for many years deserted." Although I have not been
able to consult the document quoted, this conclusion corresponds so
closely with Hopi tradition that I believe it is practically true,
although Bancroft unfortunately closes the quotation I have made from
his account with the words, "I think this must be an error." Espeleta,
the Oraibi chief, and 20 companions were in Santa Fé in October, 1700,
and proposed a peace in which the Hopi asked for religious toleration,
which Governor Cubero refused. As a final appeal he desired that the
fathers should not permanently reside with them, but should visit one
pueblo each year for six years; but this request was also rejected.
Espeleta returned to Oraibi, and immediately on his appearance an
unsuccessful attempt was made to destroy Awatobi, followed, as
recounted in the legend, by a union with Walpi and Mishoñinovi, by
which the liberal-minded villagers of the Antelope mesa were
overthrown. Documentary and legendary accounts are thus in strict
accord regarding the cause of the destruction.
The meager fragmentary historical evidence that can be adduced shows
that the destruction of Awatobi occurred in the autumn or early winter
of 1700. In May of that year we have the account of the visiting
padre, and in the summer when Espeleta was at Santa Fé, the pueblo was
flourishing. The month of November would have been a favorable one for
the destruction of the town for the reason that during this time the
warriors would all be engaged in secret kiva rites. The legend relates
that the overthrow of the pueblo was at the _Naacnaiya_,[67] which now
takes place in November.
For many years after its destruction the name of Awatobi was still
retained on maps including the Tusayan province, and there exist
several published references to the place as if still inhabited; but
these appear to be compilations, as no traveler visited the site
subsequently to 1700. It is never referred to in writings of the
eighteenth or first half of the nineteenth centuries, and its site
attracted no attention. The ruins remained unidentified until about
1884, when the late Captain J. G. Bourke published his book on the
"Snake Dance of the Moquis," in which he showed that the ruin called
by the Navaho Tally-hogan was the old Awatobi which played such a
prominent part in early Tusayan history.
The ruin was described and figured a few years later by Mr Victor
Mindeleff in his valuable memoir on Cibola and Tusayan architecture.
Bourke's reference is very brief and Mindeleff's plan deficient, as it
includes only a portion of the ruin, namely, the conspicuous mission
walls and adjacent buildings, overlooking entirely the older or
western mounds, which are the most characteristic. In 1892 I published
the first complete ground-plan of the ruins of Awatobi, including both
eastern and western sections. As Mindeleff's plan is defective, his
characterization of the architectural features of the pueblo is
consequently faulty. He says: "The plan suggests that the original
pueblo was built about three sides of a rectangular court, the fourth
or southeast side, later occupied by the mission buildings, being left
open or protected by a low wall." While the eastern portion
undoubtedly supports this conclusion, had he examined the western or
main section he would doubtless have qualified his conclusion (plate
CVII). This portion was compact, without a rectangular court, and was
of pyramidal form. The eastern section was probably of later
construction, and the mission was originally built outside the main
pueblo, although probably a row of rooms of very ancient date extended
along the northern side opposite the church. As it was customary in
Tusayan to isolate the kivas, these rooms in Awatobi were probably
extramural and may have been situated in this eastern court, but the
majority of the people lived in the western section. The architecture
of the mission and adjacent rooms shows well-marked Spanish influence,
which is wholly absent in the buildings forming the western mounds.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CVII
GROUND PLAN OF AWATOBI]
LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF AWATOBI
The legend of the overthrow of Awatobi is preserved in detail among
the living villagers of Tusayan, and like all stories which have been
transmitted for several generations exist in several variants,
differing in episodes, but coinciding in general outlines. In the
absence of contemporary documentary history, which some time may
possibly be brought to light, the legends are the only available data
regarding an event of great importance in the modern history of
Tusayan.
I have obtained the legends from Supela, Shimo,[68] Masiumptiwa, and
Saliko, and the most complete appears to be that of the last
mentioned. The others dilated more on the atrocities which were
committed on the bodies of the unfortunate captives, and the tortures
endured before they were killed. All show traces of modification,
incorporation, and modern invention.
_Destruction of Awatobi as related by Saliko_[69]
"The chiefs Wiki and Shimo, and others, have told you their
stories, and surely their ancestors were living here at Walpi
when Awatobi was occupied. It was a large village, and many
people lived there, and the village chief was called Tapolo,
but he was not at peace with his people, and there were
quarreling and trouble. Owing to this conflict only a little
rain fell, but the land was fertile and fair harvests were
still gathered. The Awatobi men were bad (_powako_,
sorcerers). Sometimes they went in small bands among the
fields of the other villagers and cudgeled any solitary
worker they found. If they overtook any woman they ravished
her, and they waylaid hunting parties, taking the game, after
beating and sometimes killing the hunters. There was
considerable trouble in Awatobi, and Tapolo sent to the
Oraibi chief asking him to bring his people and kill the evil
Awatobians. The Oraibi came and fought with them, and many
were killed on both sides, but the Oraibi were not strong
enough to enter the village, and were compelled to withdraw.
On his way back the Oraibi chief stopped at Walpi and talked
with the chiefs there. Said he, 'I can not tell why Tapolo
wants the Oraibi to kill his folks, but we have tried and
have not succeeded very well. Even if we did succeed, what
benefit would come to us who live too far away to occupy the
land? You Walpi people live close to them and have suffered
most at their hands; it is for you to try.' While they were
talking Tapolo had also come, and it was then decided that
other chiefs of all the villages should convene at Walpi to
consult. Couriers were sent out, and when all the chiefs had
arrived Tapolo declared that his people had become sorcerers
(Christians), and hence should all be destroyed.
"It was then arranged that in four days large bands from all
the other villages should prepare themselves, and assemble at
a spring not far from Awatobi. A long while before this, when
the Spaniards lived there, they had built a wall on the side
of the village that needed protection, and in this wall was a
great, strong door. Tapolo proposed that the assailants
should come before dawn, and he would be at this door ready
to admit them, and under this compact he returned to his
village. During the fourth night after this, as agreed upon,
the various bands assembled at the deep gulch spring, and
every man carried, besides his weapons, a cedar-bark torch
and a bundle of greasewood. Just before dawn they moved
silently up to the mesa summit, and, going directly to the
east side of the village, they entered the gate, which opened
as they approached. In one of the courts was a large kiva,
and in it were a number of men engaged in sorcerer's rites.
The assailants at once made for the kiva, and plucking up the
ladder, they stood around the hatchway, shooting arrows down
among the entrapped occupants. In the numerous cooking pits
fire had been maintained through the night for the
preparation of food for a feast on the appointed morning, and
from these they lighted their torches. Great numbers of these
and the bundles of greasewood being set on fire, they were
cast down the hatchway, and firewood from stacks upon the
house terraces were also thrown into the kiva. The red
peppers for which Awatobi was famous were hanging in thick
clusters along the fronts of the houses, and these they
crushed in their hands and flung upon the blazing fire in the
kiva to further torment their burning occupants. After this,
all who were capable of moving were compelled to travel or
drag themselves until they came to the sand-hills of
Mishoñinovi, and there the final disposition of the prisoners
was made.
"My maternal ancestor had recognized a woman chief (_Mamzrau
moñwi_), and saved her at the place of massacre called Maski,
and now he asked her whether she would be willing to initiate
the woman of Walpi in the rites of the _Mamzrau_. She
complied, and thus the observance of the ceremonial called
the Mamzráuti came to Walpi. I can not tell how it came to
the other villages. This Mamzrau-moñwi had no children, and
hence my maternal ancestor's sister became chief, and her
_tiponi_ (badge of office) came to me. Some of the other
Awatobi women knew how to bring rain, and such of them as
were willing to teach their songs were spared and went to
different villages. The Oraibi chief saved a man who knew how
to cause peaches to grow, and that is why Oraibi has such an
abundance of peaches now. The Mishoñinovi chief saved a
prisoner who knew how to make the sweet, small-ear corn grow,
and that is why it is more abundant there than elsewhere. All
the women who knew song prayers and were willing to teach
them were spared, and no children were designedly killed, but
were divided among the villages, most of them going to
Mishoñinovi. The remainder of the prisoners, men and women,
were again tortured and dismembered and left to die on the
sand hills, and there their bones are, and that is the reason
the place is called _Maschomo_ (Death-mound). This is the
story of Awatobi told by my old people."
All variants of the legend are in harmony in this particular, that
Awatobi was destroyed by the other Tusayan pueblos, and that
Mishoñinovi, Walpi, and probably Oraibi and Shuñopovi participated in
the deed. A grievance that would unite the other villagers against
Awatobi must have been a great one, indeed, and not a mere dispute
about water or lands. The more I study the real cause, hidden in the
term _powako_, "wizard" or "sorcerer," the more I am convinced that
the progress Christianity was making in Awatobi, after the reconquest
of the Pueblos in 1692, explains the hostility of the other villagers.
The party favoring the Catholic fathers in Awatobi was increasing, and
the other Tusayan pueblos watched its growth with alarm. They foresaw
that it heralded the return of the hated domination of the priests,
associated in their minds with practical slavery, and they decided on
the tragedy, which was carried out with all the savagery of which
their natures were capable.
They greatly feared the return of the Spanish soldiers, as the epoch
of Spanish rule, mild though it may have been, was held in universal
detestation. Moreover, after the reconquest of the Rio Grande pueblos,
many apostates fled to Tusayan and fanned the fires of hatred against
the priests. Walpi received these malcontents, who came in numbers a
few years later. Among these arrivals were Tanoan warriors and their
families, part of whom were ancestors of the present inhabitants of
Hano.
It was no doubt hoped that the destruction of Awatobi would
effectually root out the growing Christian influence, which it in fact
did; and for fifty years afterward Tusayan successfully resisted all
efforts to convert it. Franciscans from the east and Jesuits from the
Gila in the south strove to get a new hold, but they never succeeded
in rebuilding the missions in this isolated province, which was
generally regarded as independent.
From the scanty data I have been able to collect from historical and
legendary sources, it seems probable that Awatobi was always more
affected by the padres than were the other Tusayan pueblos. This was
the village which was said to have been "converted" by Padre Porras,
whose work, after his death by poison in 1633, was no doubt continued
by his associates and successors. About 1680, as we learn from
documentary accounts, the population of Awatobi was 800,[70] and it
was probably not much smaller in 1700, the time of its destruction.
EVIDENCES OF FIRE IN THE DESTRUCTION
Wherever excavations were conducted in the eastern section of Awatobi,
we could not penetrate far below the surface without encountering
unmistakable evidences of a great conflagration. The effect of the
fire was particularly disastrous in the rooms of the eastern section,
or that part of the pueblo contiguous to the mission. Hardly a single
object was removed from this part of Awatobi that had not been
charred. Many of the beams were completely burned; others were charred
only on their surfaces. The rooms were filled with ashes and scoriæ,
while the walls had been cracked as if by intense heat.
Perhaps the most significant fact in regard to the burning of Awatobi
was seen in some of the houses where the fire seems to have been less
intense. In many chambers of the eastern section, which evidently were
used as granaries, the corn was stacked in piles just as it is today
under many of the living rooms at Walpi, a fact which tends to show
that there was no attempt to pillage the pueblo before its
destruction. The ears of corn in these store-rooms were simply
charred, but so well preserved that entire ears of maize were
collected in great numbers. It may here be mentioned that upon one of
the stacks of corn I found during my excavations for the Hemenway
Expedition in 1892, a rusty iron knife-blade, showing that the owner
of the room was acquainted with objects of Spanish manufacture. This
blade is now deposited with the Hemenway collection in the Peabody
Museum at Cambridge.
THE RUINS OF THE MISSION
The mission church of San Bernardino de Awatobi was erected very early
in the history of the Spanish occupancy, and its ruined walls are the
only ones now standing above the surface. This building was
constructed by the padres on a mesa top, while the churches at Walpi
and Shuñopovi were built in the foothills near those pueblos. The
mission at Oraibi likewise stood on a mesa top, so that we must
qualify Mindeleff's statement[71] that "at Tusayan there is no
evidence that a church or mission house ever formed part of the
villages on the mesa summits.... These summits have been extensively
occupied only in comparatively recent time, although one or more
churches may have been built here at an early date as outlooks over
the fields in the valley below."
At the time of the Spanish invasion three of the Hopi villages stood
on the foothills or lower terraces of the mesas on which they now
stand, and the other two, Awatobi and Oraibi, occupied the same sites
as today, on the summits of the mesas.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CVIII
RUINS OF SAN BERNARDINO DE AWATOBI]
I believe that at the time of the Spanish discovery of Tusayan by
Pedro de Tobar in 1540, there were only five Tusayan towns--Walpi,
Awatobi, Shuñopovi, Mishoñinovi, and Oraibi. Later, Awatobi was
destroyed, and shortly after 1680 Walpi, the only East Mesa town,
together with Mishoñinovi and Shuñopovi, on the Middle Mesa, were
moved to the elevated sites they now occupy. Oraibi, therefore, is
probably the only Tusayan pueblo, at present inhabited, which occupies
practically the same site that it did in 1540.
In their excavations for the foundations of new houses the present
inhabitants of Oraibi often find, as I am informed by Mr H. R. Voth,
the missionary at that place, vessels or potsherds of ancient Tusayan
ware closely resembling that which is found in the ruins of Sikyatki
and Awatobi.
The mission building at Awatobi, known in the church history of New
Mexico and Arizona as San Bernardo or San Bernardino, was reputed to
be the largest in Tusayan, and its walls are still the best preserved
of any mission structure in that province. This, however, does not
imply that the church structures of Tusayan are well preserved, for
the mission buildings at Walpi have wholly disappeared, while at
Oraibi little more than a pile of stones remains. Of the Shuñopovi
mission of San Bernabe there are no standing walls save at one end,
which are now used as a sheep corral.
The mission of San Bernardino de Awatobi was built on the southern
side of the eastern part of the pueblo on the edge of the cliff, and
its walls are the only ones of Awatobi now standing above ground. From
the situation of these walls, as compared with the oldest part of
Awatobi--the western mounds--I believe that San Bernardino mission
was, when erected, beyond the limits of the pueblo proper--a custom
almost universally followed in erecting pueblo mission
churches--necessary in this instance, since from the compactness of
the village there was no other available site. The same was true of
the missions of Oraibi and Shuñopovi, and probably of Old Walpi. As
time passed additional buildings were erected near it, this eastward
extension altering the original plan of the town, but in no way
affecting the configuration of the older portion.
From its commanding position on the edge of the mesa the mission walls
must have presented an imposing appearance from the plain below,
rising as they did almost continuously with the side of the cliff,
making a conspicuous structure for miles across Antelope valley, from
which its crumbling walls are still visible (plate CVIII).
When compared with the masonry of unmodified pueblo ruins the walls of
the mission may be designated massive, and excavation at their
foundations was very difficult on account of the great amount of
débris which had fallen about them. With the limited force of laborers
at my command the excavations could not be conducted with a great
degree of thoroughness.
In the middle of what I supposed to have been the main church there
was much sand, evidently drift, and in it I sank a trench 10 feet
below the surface without reaching anything which I considered a
floor. We found in excavations at the foundation of the church walls
fragments of glass, several copper nails, a much-corroded iron hook, a
copper bell pivot, and fragments of Spanish pottery. From the
character of these objects alone there is no doubt in my mind of the
former existence of Spanish influence, and the method of construction
of the mission walls and the addition constructed of adobe containing
chopped straw, substantiate this conclusion. Supposing, from the
architecture and orientation of other New Mexican missions, that the
altar was at the western end, opposite the entrance to the church, I
sank a trench along the foundation of the wall on that side, but
encountered such a mass of fallen stone at that point that I found it
impossible to make much progress, and the fact that the floor was more
than 10 feet below the surface of the central depression led me to
abandon, as impossible with my little band of native excavators, the
laying bare of the floor of the church.
[Illustration: FIG. 255--Ground plan of San Bernardino de Awatobi]
The ground plan (figure 255) of the mission resembles that of the Zuñi
church, and is not unlike the plans of the churches in the Rio Grande
pueblos. The tall buttresses, which rise 15 or 20 feet above the trail
up the mesa on the southern corner, are, I believe, remnants of
towers which formerly supported a balcony. During a previous visit to
Tusayan I obtained fragments[72] of the ancient bell, which are now on
exhibition in the Hemenway section of the Peabody Museum at Cambridge.
The stone walls of the mission were rarely dressed or carefully
fitted, the interstices being filled in with loose rubble laid in
adobe. There was apparently a gallery over the entrance to the
building overlooking many smaller buildings, which evidently were the
quarters of the resident priest. The construction of the walls was
apparently a laborious task, as many of the stones are large and must
have been brought a considerable distance. These stones were laid in
adobe, and apparently were plastered without and within, although
little evidence of the former plastering may now be seen. At the
northwestern corner, however, there still remain well-made adobe
walls, the clay having been intermixed with straw. From the general
appearance of these walls I regard them as of late construction,
probably long after the destruction of the mission.
An examination of the plan of the mission building shows that it was
oriented about north and south, with the entrance toward the latter
direction. Compared with many other pueblo missions, this would seem
to be an exceptional position. In my excavations I naturally sought
the probable position of the entrance and, opposite it, the recess for
the altar. It is evident, from the form of the standing walls, that an
entrance from the east would be blocked by standing walls, and the
axis of the building is north and south. The theory that the door was
at the south has much in its favor, but there are several almost fatal
objections to this conclusion.
If, however, we suppose that the entrance was in the south wall, the
high walls still standing above the trail up the mesa would then
recall the façades of other missions. The rooms east of the largest
inclosure, by this interpretation, would be outbuildings--residence
rooms for the padres--one side of which forms the eastern walls of the
church edifice. The form of the Awatobi church, as indicated by the
walls still standing, is very similar to that of Zuñi, notwithstanding
the orientation appears to be somewhat different.
Excavations failed to reveal any sign of the altar recess at either
the northern or the western end, which is not surprising, since the
walls are so poorly preserved in both these directions. It was,
moreover, very difficult to make a satisfactory examination of the
foundations of the walls at any point on account of the fallen
stories, which encumbered the floor at their bases.
From the appearance of antiquity it seems probable that long before
the mission buildings were erected a ridge of many-storied houses
extended eastward from the pueblo on the northern side of a level
space or court, in which there were, either then or later, ceremonial
chambers or kivas. The southern side of this open space was the site
of the mission, but was then unoccupied. This open space recalls the
large court at Walpi, where the Snake dance occurs, but it was
considerably broader, one side being formed by the structures which
rose from the edge of the mesa. In course of time, however, the
mission buildings were erected on this site, and a wall connecting the
ridge of houses on the north and the outhouses of the mission was
made, thus inclosing the court on all four sides. It was into this
inclosure, through a gateway, the buttresses of which still remain,
that the assailants passed on that eventful night when Awatobi was
destroyed.
There is good evidence that a massacre of Awatobians occurred in the
southeastern angle of the eastern part of the pueblo, just east of the
mission. If so, it is probable that many of the unfortunates sought
refuge in the outbuildings of the church. Suspecting that such was the
case, I excavated a considerable space of ground at these places and
found many human skulls and other bones thrown together in confusion.
The earth was literally filled with bones, evidently hastily placed
there or left where the dead fell. These bodies were not buried with
pious care, for there were no fragments of mortuary pottery or other
indication of burial objects. Many of the skulls were broken, some
pierced with sharp implements. While it is true that possibly this may
have been a potter's field, or, from its position east of the mission,
a Christian burial place, as at Zuñi, the evidence from the appearance
of the bodies points to a different conclusion. According to the
legends, the hostiles entered the pueblo through the adjacent gateway;
their anger led them especially against those of the inhabitants who
were regarded as _powako_ or sorcerers, and their first acts of
violence would naturally have been toward those who sought refuge in
the buildings adjacent the church. Near this hated "Singing-house" the
slaughter began, soon extending to the kivas and the whole of the
eastern section of the village. There was no evidence of murderous
deeds in the rooms of the western section of the old pueblo, and the
legends agree in relating that most of the men were in kivas, not far
from the mission, when the village was overthrown. There is no
legendary evidence that there were any Spanish priests in the mission
at the time of its destruction, and there is no record extant of any
Spaniards losing their lives at Awatobi at the time of its
destruction, although the fact of the occurrence, according to
Bandelier,[73] was recorded.
The traditional clans which inhabited Awatobi were the Awata (Bow),
Honani (Badger), Piba (Tobacco), and Buli (Butterfly). The Bow people
appear to have been the most important of these, since their name was
applied to the village. Their totemic signatures, in pictographic
form, may still be seen on the sides of the cliff under Awatobi, and
in the ruins was found a fine arrowshaft polisher on which was an
incised drawing of a bow and an arrow, suggesting that the owner was a
member of the Bow phratry. Saliko, the chief of the woman's society
known as the Mamzrautû, insists that this priesthood was strong in the
fated pueblo, and that a knowledge of its mysteries was brought to
Walpi by one of the women who was saved.
It is claimed by the folklorists of the Tataukyamû, a priesthood
which, controls the New-fire ceremonies at Walpi, and is prominent in
the Soyaluña, or the rites of the winter solstice, that the Piba or
Tobacco phratry brought the fetishes of that society to Walpi, and
there are many obscurely known resemblances between the Mamzrauti and
the Wüwütcimti celebrations in Walpi which appear to support that
claim. The Piba phratry is likewise said to have come to Walpi
comparatively late in the history of the village, which fact points
the same way.
Undoubtedly Awatobi received additions to its population from the
south when the pueblos on the Little Colorado were abandoned, and
there are obscure legends which support that belief; but the largest
numbers were recruited from the pueblos in the eastern section of the
country.[74]
THE KIVAS OF AWATOBI
A pueblo of the size of Awatobi, with so many evidences of long
occupancy, would no doubt have several ceremonial chambers or kivas,
but as yet no one has definitely indicated their positions. I have
already called attention to evidences that if they existed they were
probably to be looked for in the open court east of the western mounds
and in the space north of the mission. In all the inhabited Tusayan
pueblos the kivas are separated from the house clusters and are
surrounded by courts or dance plazas. No open spaces existed in the
main or western mounds of Awatobi, and there was no place there for
kivas unless the pueblo was exceptional in having such structures
built among the dwellings, as at Zuñi. A tradition has survived that
Awatobi had regular kivas, partially subterranean, of rectangular
shape, and that they were situated in open courts. This would indicate
that the space east of the oldest part of the ruin may have been the
sites of these chambers. The old priests whom I have consulted in
regard to the probable positions of Awatobi kivas have invariably
pointed out the mounds north of the mission walls in the eastern
section of the ruin as the location of the kivas, and in 1892 I proved
to my satisfaction that these directions were correct.
There is no reason to suppose that the kiva was a necessity in the
ancient performance of the Tusayan ritual, and there are still
performed many ceremonials as secret and as sacred as any others which
occur in rooms used as dwellings or for the storage of corn. Thus, the
Flute ceremony, one of the most complicated in Tusayan, is not, and
according to legends never was, performed in a kiva. On the contrary,
the secret rites of the Flute society are performed in the ancestral
Flute chamber or home of the oldest woman of the Flute clan.
Originally, I believe, the same was true in the case of other
ceremonials, and that the kiva was of comparatively recent
introduction into Tusayan.[75]
Speaking of the sacred rooms of Awatobi, Mindeleff says: "No traces of
kivas were visible at the time the ruin was surveyed," but Stephen is
quoted in a legend that "the people of Walpi had partly cleaned out
one of these chambers and used it as a depository for ceremonial
plume-sticks, but the Navaho carried off their sacred deposits,
tempted probably by their market value as ethnologic specimens." It is
true that while from a superficial examination of the Awatobi mounds
the position of the kivas is difficult to locate, a little excavation
brings their walls to light. It is likewise quite probable that the
legend reported by Stephen has a basis in fact, and that the people at
Walpi may have used old shrines in Awatobi, after its destruction, as
the priests of Mishoñinovi do at the present time; but I very much
doubt if the Navaho sold any of the sacred prayer emblems from these
fanes. It is hardly characteristic of these people to barter such
objects among one another, and no specimens from the shrines appear to
have made their way into the numerous collections of traders known to
me. There is, however, archeological evidence revealed by excavations
that the room centrally placed in the court north of the mission
contained a shrine in its floor on the night Awatobi fell.
In 1892, while removing the soil from a depression about the middle of
the eastern court of Awatobi, about 100 feet north of the northern
wall of the mission, I laid bare a room 28 by 14 feet, in which were
found a skull and many other human bones which, from their
disposition, had not been buried with care. The discovery of these
skeletons accorded with the Hopi traditions that this was one of the
rooms in which the men of Awatobi were gathered on the fatal night,
and the inclosure where many died. I was deterred from further
excavation at that place by the horror of my workmen at the
desecration of the chamber. In 1895, however, I determined to continue
my earlier excavations and to trace the course of the walls of
adjacent rooms. The results obtained in this work led to a new phase
of the question, which sheds more light on the character of the rooms
in the middle of the eastern court of Awatobi. Instead of a single
room at this point, there are three rectangular chambers side by side,
all of about the same size (plate CVIII). In the center of the floor
of the middle room, 6 feet below the surface, I came upon a cist or
stone shrine. As the workmen approached the floor they encountered a
stone slab, horizontally placed in the pavement of the room. This slab
was removed, and below it was another flat stone which was perforated
by a rectangular hole just large enough to admit the hand and forearm.
This second slab was found to cover a stone box, the sides of which
were formed of stone slabs about 2-1/2 feet square. On the inner faces
of the upright slabs rain-cloud symbols were painted. These symbols
were of terrace form, in different colors outlined with black lines.
One of the stones bore a yellow figure, another a red, and a third
white. The color of the fourth was not determinable, but evidently,
from its position relatively to the others, was once green. This
arrangement corresponds with the present ceremonial assignment of
colors to the cardinal points, or at least the north and south, as at
the present time, were yellow and red, respectively, and presumably
the white and green were on the east and west sides of the cist. The
colors are still fairly bright and may be seen in the restoration of
this shrine now in the National Museum.
There was no stone floor to this shrine, but within it were found
fragments of prayer-plumes or pahos painted green, but so decayed
that, when exposed to sunlight, some of them fell into dust. There
were likewise fragments of green carbonate of copper and kaolin, a
yellow ocher, and considerable vegetal matter mixed with the sand. All
these facts tend to the belief that this crypt was an ancient shrine
in the floor of a chamber which may have been a kiva.
The position of this room with a shrine in the middle of the court is
interesting in comparison with that of similar shrines in some of the
modern Hopi pueblos. Shrines occupy the same relative position in
Sichomovi, Hano, Shipaulovi, and elsewhere, and within them sacred
prayer-offerings are still deposited on ceremonial occasions. At
Walpi, in the middle of the plaza, there is a subterranean crypt in
which offerings are often placed, as I have elsewhere described in
treating of certain ceremonies. This shrine is not visible, for a slab
of stone which is placed over it lies on a level with the plaza, and
is securely luted in place with adobe. There are similar subterranean
prayer crypts in other Tusayan villages. They represent the
traditional opening, or _sipapu_, through which, in Pueblo cosmogony,
races crawled to the surface of the earth from an underworld. In
Awatobi also there is a similar shrine, for the deposit of
prayer-offerings, almost in the middle of a plaza bounded on three
sides by the mission, the spur of many-storied houses, and the wall
with a gateway, while the remaining side was formed by the great
communal houses of the western part of the pueblo.
While we were taking from their ancient resting places the slabs of
stone which formed this Awatobi shrine, the workmen reminded me how
closely it resembled the _pahoki_ used by the _katcinas_, and when, a
month later, I witnessed the _Nimán-katcina_ ceremony at Walpi, and
accompanied the chief, Intiwa, when he deposited the prayer-sticks in
that shrine,[76] I was again impressed by the similarity of the two,
one in a ruin deserted two centuries ago, the other still used in the
performance of ancient rites, no doubt much older than the overthrow
of the great pueblo of Antelope mesa.
OLD AWATOBI
The western mounds of Awatobi afford satisfactory evidence that they
cover the older rooms of the pueblo, and show by their compact form
that the ancient village in architectural plan was similar to modern
Walpi. They indicate that Awatobi was of pyramidal form, was
symmetrical, three or four stories high,[77] without a central plaza,
but probably penetrated by narrow courts or passages. No great
ceremonial dance could have taken place in the heart of the pueblo,
since there was not sufficient space for its celebration, but it must
have occurred outside the village, probably in the open space to the
east, near where the ruined walls of the mission now stand.
From the nature of the western mounds I found it advantageous to begin
the work of excavation in the steep decline on the southern side, and
to penetrate the mound on the level of its base or the rock formation
which forms its foundation. In this way all the débris could
advantageously be moved and thrown over the side of the mesa. We began
to open the mounds, therefore, on the southern side, making converging
trenches at intervals, working toward their center. We found that
these trenches followed continuous walls connected by cross
partitions, forming rooms, and that these were continued as far as we
penetrated. The evidence is good that these rooms are followed by
others which extend into the deepest part of the mound. We likewise
excavated at intervals over the whole surface of the western area of
Awatobi, and wherever we dug, walls of former rooms, which diminished
in altitude on the northern side, were found. From these excavations I
concluded that if any part of the western mound was higher than the
remainder, it was on the southern side just above the edge of the
mesa, and from that highest point the pueblo diminished in altitude to
the north, in which direction it was continued for some distance in
low, single-story rooms.
ROOMS OF THE WESTERN MOUND
The older or western portion of Awatobi is thus believed to be made up
of a number of high mounds which rise steeply, and for a considerable
height from the southern edge of the cliff, from which it slopes more
gradually to the north and west. On account of this steep declivity we
were able to examine, in vertical section, the arrangement of the
rooms, one above the other (figure 256). By beginning excavations on
the rocky foundation and working into the mound, parallel walls were
encountered at intervals as far as we penetrated. From the edge of the
cliff there seemed to extend a series of these parallel walls,
which were united by cross partitions, forming a series of rooms,
one back of another. The deeper we penetrated the mound the higher the
walls were found to be, and this was true of the excavations along the
whole southern side of the elevation (plate CIX). If, as I suspect,
these parallel walls extend to the heart of the mounds, the greatest
elevation of the former buildings must have been four stories. It
would likewise seem probable that the town was more or less pyramidal,
with the highest point somewhat back from the one- or two-story walls
at the edge of the cliff, a style of architecture still preserved in
Walpi. The loftiest wall, which was followed down to the floor, was 15
feet high, but as that was measured over 20 feet below the apex of the
mound, it would seem that, from a distance, there would be a wall 30
feet high in the center of the mound. Even counting 7 feet as the
height of each story we would have four stories above the foundation,
and this, I believe, was the height of the old pueblo. But probably
the wall did not rise to this height at the edge of the mesa, where it
could not have been more than one or two stories high. There is no
evidence of the former existence of an inclosed court of any
considerable size between the buildings and the cliff, although a
passage probably skirted the brink of the precipice, and house ladders
may have been placed on that side for ready access to upper rooms. By
a series of platforms or terraces, which were in fact the roofs of the
houses, one mounted to the upper stories which formed the apex of the
pueblo.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CIX
EXCAVATIONS IN THE WESTERN MOUND OF AWATOBI]
[Illustration: FIG. 256--Structure of house wall of Awatobi]
On the western, northern, and eastern sides the slope is more gradual,
and while there are many obscurely marked house plans visible over the
surface, even quite near the top of the elevation, they are doubtless
the remains of single-story structures. This leads me to suspect that
when Awatobi was built it was reared on a mound of soil or sand, and
not on the solid rock surface of the mesa. The configuration, then,
shows that the pueblo sloped by easy decline to the plain to the
north, but rose more abruptly from the south and west. There are low
extramural mounds to the north, showing that on this side the
dwellings were composed of straggling chambers. The general character
of the rooms on the level slope at the western side of old Awatobi is
shown in the accompanying illustration (plate CX). The peculiarity of
these rooms appears by a comparison with the many-story chambers of
the southern declivity of the ruin. Extending the excavations four
feet below the surface we encountered a floor which rested on solid
earth, and there were no signs of walls beneath it. This was without
doubt a single-story house, the roof of which had disappeared. The
surrounding surface of the ground is level, but the tops of adjoining
walls of rooms may readily be traced near by.
The room was rectangular, twice as long as wide, and without
passageways into adjoining chambers. The northern, eastern, and
western walls were unbroken, and there was nothing peculiar in the
floor of these sections; but we found a well-preserved, elevated
settle at the southern side, extending two-thirds of the length of the
main wall to a small side wall, inclosing a square recess, the object
of which is unknown to me.
All walls were smoothly plastered, and the floor was paved with flat
stones set in adobe. The singular inclosure at the southern corner
could not be regarded as a fireplace, for there was no trace of soot
upon its walls. I incline to the belief that it may have served as a
closet, or possibly as a granary. Its arrangement is not unlike that
in certain modern rooms at Walpi.
An examination of the masonry of the rooms of the western mounds of
Awatobi shows that the component stones were in a measure dressed into
shape, which was, as a rule, cubical. In this respect they differ from
the larger stones of which the mission walls were built, for in this
masonry the natural cleavage is utilized for the face of the wall.
The differences between the masonry of the mission and that of the
room in which we found a chief buried were very marked. In the former,
elongated slabs of stone, without pecking or dressing, were universal,
while in the latter the squared stones were laid in courses and neatly
fitted together. The partitions likewise are narrower, being not more
than 6 inches thick.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CX
EXCAVATED ROOM IN THE WESTERN MOUND OF AWATOBI]
SMALLER AWATOBI
About an eighth of a mile west of the great mounds of Awatobi there is
a small rectangular ruin, the ground plan of which is well marked, and
in which individual houses are easy to trace. Like its larger
neighbor, it stands on the very edge of the mesa. None of its walls
rise above the surface of the mounds, which, however, are considerably
elevated and readily distinguished for some distance. The pueblo was
built in the form of a rectangle of single-story houses surrounding a
plaza. There was an opening or entrance on the southern side, near
which is a mound, possibly the remains of a kiva. A trail now passes
directly through the ruin and down the mesa side to Jeditoh valley,
probably the pathway by which the ancient inhabitants ascended the
cliff. The Hopi Indians employed by me in excavating Awatobi had no
name for this ruin and were not familiar with its existence before I
pointed it out to them. For want of a better interpretation I have
regarded it as a colony of old Awatobi, possibly of later
construction.
Excavations in its mounds revealed no objects of interest, although
fragments of beautiful pottery, related to that found at Awatobi and
Sikyatki, show that it must have been made by people of the older or
best epoch[78] of Tusayan ceramics.
MORTUARY REMAINS
Although it is well known that the ancient inhabitants of the great
houses of the Gila-Salado drainage buried some of their dead within
their dwellings, or in other rooms, and that the same mortuary
practice was observed in ancient Zuñi-Cibola, up to the time of my
excavations this form of burial had never been found in Tusayan. I am
now able to record that the same custom was practiced at Awatobi.
Excavation made in the southeastern declivity of the western mounds
led to a burial chamber in which we found the well-preserved skeleton
of an old man, apparently a priest. The body was laid on the floor, at
full length, and at his head, which pointed southward, had been
placed, not mortuary offerings of food in bowls, but insignia of his
priestly office. Eight small objects of pottery were found on his left
side (plate CXII, _a_, _b_, _d_, _e_). Among these was a symmetrical
vase of beautiful red ware (plate CXI, _a_) richly decorated with
geometric patterns, and four globular paint pots, each full of pigment
of characteristic color. These paint pots were of black-and-white
ware, and contained, respectively, yellow ocher, sesquioxide of iron,
green copper carbonate, and micaceous hematite (plate CXIII, _a_,
_d_, _e_) such as is now called _yayala_ and used by the Snake priests
in the decoration of their faces. There were also many arrowpoints in
an earthen colander, and a ladle was luted over the mouth of the red
vase. My native excavators pronounced this the grave of a warrior
priest. The passageways into this chamber of death had all been
closed, and there were no other mortuary objects in the room. This was
the only instance of intramural interment which I discovered in the
excavations at Awatobi, but a human bone was found on the floor of
another chamber. So far as known the Awatobi people buried most of
their dead outside the town, either in the foothills at the base of
the mesa, or in the adjacent sand-dunes.
The work of excavating the graves at the foot of the mesa was
desultory, as I found no single place where many interments had been
made. Several food vessels were dug up at a grave opened by Kópeli,
the Snake chief. I was not with him when he found the grave, but he
called me to see it soon after its discovery. We took from this
excavation a sandstone fetish of a mountain-lion, a fragment of the
bottom of a basin perforated with holes as if used as a colander.
Deposited in this fragment were many stone arrowheads, several
fragments of green paint, a flat green paho ornamented with figures of
dragon-flies in black. In addition to a single complete prayer-stick
there were fragments of many others too much broken to be identified.
One of these was declared by Kópeli to be a chief's paho. The grave in
which these objects were found was situated about halfway down the
side of the mesa to the southward of the highest mounds of the western
division of the pueblo.
Here and there along the base of all the foothills south of Awatobi
are evidences of former burials, and complete bowls, dippers, and
vases were unearthed (plate CXIII, _b_, _c_). The soil is covered with
fragments of pottery, and in places, where the water has washed
through them, exposing a vertical section of the ground, it was found
that the fragments of pottery extended through the soil sometimes to a
depth of fifty feet below the surface. There was evidence, however,
that this soil had been transported more or less by rain water, which
often courses down the sides of the mesa in impetuous torrents.
Human bones and mortuary vessels were found south of the mission near
the trail, at the foot of the mesa. In a single grave, a foot below
the surface, there were two piles of food bowls, each pile containing
six vessels, all broken.
The cemetery northwest of Awatobi, where the soil is sandy and easy to
excavate, had been searched by others, and many beautiful objects of
pottery taken from it. This burial place yielded many bowls (plates
CLXVII, CLXVIII) and jars, as well as several interesting pahos
similar to those from Sikyatki, which I shall later describe but which
have never before been reported from Awatobi. It was found that one of
these prayer-sticks was laid over the heart of the deceased, and as
the skeleton was in a sitting posture, with the hand on the breast,
the prayer-stick may thus have been held at the time of burial. Our
success in finding places of interment on all sides of Sikyatki,
irrespective of direction, leads me to suspect that further
investigation of the sand-dunes north of Awatobi will reveal graves at
that point.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXI
VASE AND MUGS FROM THE WESTERN MOUNDS OF AWATOBI]
I have already called attention to the great abundance of charred corn
found in the rooms north of the mission. Renewed work in this quarter
revealed still greater quantities of this corn stacked in piles,
sometimes filling the entire side of a room. Evidently, as I have
elsewhere shown, the row of rooms at this part of the ruin were burned
with all their contents. The corn was not removed from the granaries,
as it would have been if the place had been gradually abandoned. When
an Indian burns stored corn in such quantities as were found at
Awatobi we can not believe he was bent on pillage, and it is an
instructive fact that thus far no stacked corn has been found in the
western or most ancient section of Awatobi.
SHRINES
Although Awatobi was destroyed almost two centuries ago, the shrines
of the old pueblo were used for many years afterward, and are even now
frequented by some of the Mishoñinovi priests. In one of these ancient
depositories two wooden figurines sat in state up to within a few
years ago.
This shrine lies below the ruins of the mission, among the bowlders on
the side of the cliff, about fifty feet from the edge of the mesa, and
is formed in an eroded cavity in the side of a bowlder of unusual
size. A rude wall had been built before this recess, which opened to
the east, and apparently the orifice was closed with logs, which have
now fallen in. The present appearance of this shrine is shown in the
accompanying illustration (figure 257).
In former times two wooden idols, called the _Alosaka_, were kept in
this crypt, in much the same manner as the Dawn Maid is now sealed up
by the Walpians, when not used in the New-fire ceremony, as I have
described in my account of _Naacnaiya_.[79] Mr Thomas V. Keam, not
knowing that the Awatobi idols were still used in the Mishoñinovi
ritual, had removed them to his residence, but when this was known a
large number of priests begged him to return them, saying that they
were still used in religious exercises. With that consideration which
he has always shown to the Indians, Mr Keam allowed the priests to
take the images of _Alosaka_. The figurines were this time carried to
Mishoñinovi, the priests sprinkling a line of meal along the trail
over which they carried them. The two idols[80] have not been seen by
white people since that time, and are now, no doubt, in some hidden
crypt near the Mishoñinovi village.
There is a shrine of simple character, near the ruins of smaller
Awatobi, which bears evidence of antiquity (figure 258). It consisted,
in 1892, of a circle of small stones in which were two large
water-worn stones and a fragment of petrified wood. There was no
evidence that it had lately been used.
[Illustration: FIG. 257--Alosaka shrine at Awatobi]
On the extreme western point of the mesa, at the very edge of the
cliff, there was also a simple shrine (figure 259). Judging from its
general appearance, this, likewise, had not been used in modern times,
but there were several old prayer-sticks not far away.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXII
PAINT POTS, BOWL, AND DIPPER FROM AWATOBI]
At the foot of the mesa, below the point last mentioned, however,
there is a shrine (figure 260), the earth of which contained hundreds
of prayer-sticks, in all stages of decay, while some of them had been
placed there only a few days before my visit. This shrine, I was
told, is still used by the Mishoñinovi priests in their sacred
observances. Among other forms of prayer offerings there were many
small wooden cylinders with radiating sticks connected with yarn, the
symbolic prayer offering for squashes.[81] In former times Antelope
valley was the garden spot of Tusayan, and from what we know of the
antiquity of the cultivation of squashes in the Southwest, there is
little doubt that they were cultivated by the Awatobians, and that
similar offerings were made by the ancient farmers for a good crop of
these vegetables.
[Illustration: FIG. 258--Shrine at Awatobi]
[Illustration: FIG. 259--Shrine at Awatobi]
POTTERY
The mounds of Awatobi are entirely covered with fragments of pottery
of all the various kinds and colors known to ancient Tusayan. There
were found coiled and indented ware, coarse undecorated vessels, fine
yellow and smooth ware with black-and-white and red decorations. There
is no special kind of pottery peculiar to Awatobi, but it shares with
the other Tusayan ruins all types, save a few fragments of black
glazed ware, which occur elsewhere.
[Illustration: FIG. 260--Shrine at Awatobi]
It is highly probable that the few specimens of black-and-white ware
found in this ruin were not manufactured in the village, and the red
ware probably came from settlements to the south, on the Little
Colorado. These colors are in part due to the character of the paste
which was used, and the clay most often selected by Awatobi potters
made a fine yellow vessel. The material from which most of the vessels
were manufactured came, no doubt, from a bank near the ruin, where
there is good evidence that it was formerly quarried.
Three coarse clay objects, such as might have been used for roof
drains, were found. The use of these objects, possibly indicated by
their resemblance, is not, however, perfectly clear. Their capacity
would not be equal to the torrents of rain which, no doubt, often fell
on the housetops of Awatobi, and they can hardly be identified as
spouts of large bowls, since they are attached to a circular disk with
smooth edges. In want of a satisfactory explanation I have
provisionally regarded them as water spouts, but whether they are from
ancient vessels or from the roofs of houses I am in much doubt.[82]
One of the most instructive fragments of pottery taken from the ruins
is that of a coarse clay vessel, evidently a part of a flat basin or
saucer. The rim of this vessel is punctured with numerous holes, the
intervals between which are not greater than the diameter of the
perforations.
Several platter-like vessels with similar holes about their rims have
been taken from other ruins of Jeditoh valley and mesa, the holes
being regarded as having been made as a means of suspension. Near a
sacred spring called Kawaika,[83] not far from Jeditoh, near Awatobi,
a large number of beautiful vessels with similar holes in their rims
were excavated by Mr T. V. Keam, and later passed into the collections
of the Hemenway Expedition, now installed at Cambridge. They are of
all kinds of ware, widely different in shape, the number of marginal
perforations varying greatly. As they were found in large numbers near
a spring they are regarded as sacrificial vessels, in which food or
sacred meal was deposited as an offering to some water deity. The
handle of a mug (plate CXI, _f_) from Awatobi, so closely resembles
the handles of certain drinking cups taken from the cliff-houses of
San Juan valley that it should be specially mentioned. There is in the
handle of this mug a T-shape opening quite similar in form to the
peculiar doorways of certain cliff-dwellings. The mug is made of the
finest white ware, decorated with black lines arranged in geometric
patterns. So close is its likeness in form and texture to cliff-house
pottery that the two may be regarded as identical. Moreover, it is not
impossible that the object may have been brought to Tusayan from Tségi
canyon, in the cliff-houses of which Hopi clans[84] lived while
Awatobi was in its prime, and, indeed, possibly after the tragedy of
1700. The few fragments of Tségi canyon pottery known to me have
strong resemblances to ancient Hopi ware, although the black-and-white
variety predominates.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIII
POTTERY FROM INTRAMURAL BURIAL AT AWATOBI]
The collection of pottery from Awatobi is, comparatively speaking,
small, but it shows many interesting forms. Awatobi pottery may be
classed under the same groups as other old Tusayan ceramics, but most
of the specimens collected belong to the yellow, black-and-white, and
red varieties. It resembles that of Sikyatki, but bears little
likeness to modern ware in texture or symbolism. One is impressed by
the close resemblance between the Awatobi pottery and that from the
ruins of the Little Colorado and Zuñi,[85] which no doubt is
explained, in part, by the identity in the constituents of the
potter's clay near Awatobi with that in more southerly regions.
Evidences of Spanish influence may be traced on certain objects of
pottery from Awatobi, especially on those obtained from the eastern
mounds of the ruin. In most essentials, however, the Awatobi ware
resembles that of the neighboring ruins, and is characteristically
Tusayan.
The differentiation in modern Cibolan and Tusayan symbolism is much
greater than that of the ancient pottery from the same provinces, a
fact which is believed to point to a similarity, possibly identity, of
culture in ancient times. With this thought in mind, it would be
highly instructive to study the ancient ruins of the Rio Grande
region, as unfortunately no large collections of archeological objects
from that part of the Southwest have been made.[86]
The majority of the bowls from Awatobi are decorated in geometric
patterns and a few have animal or human figures. The symbols, as well
as the pottery itself, can not be distinguished from those of
Sikyatki. Fragments of glazed ware are not unknown at Awatobi, but so
far as recorded, entire specimens have never been obtained from the
latter ruin.
In order that the character of the geometric designs on Awatobi
pottery may be better understood, two plates are introduced to
illustrate their modifications in connection with my discussion of the
geometric forms figured on Sikyatki ware. The figures on these bowls
(plates CLXVI, CLXVII), with one or two exceptions, need no special
description in addition to what is said of Sikyatki geometric designs,
which they closely resemble.
The cross-shape figure (plate CLXVI, _b_) may profitably be studied in
connection with the account of the modification of Sikyatki sun
symbols. Evidences of the use of a white pigment as a slip were found
on one or two fragments of fine pottery from Awatobi, but no
decoration of this kind was observed on the Sikyatki vessels. The red
ware is the same as that found in ancient Cibola, while one or two
fragments of glossy black recall the type common to modern Santa
Clara.
Two bird-shape vessels, one made of black-and-white ware, the other
red with black-and-white decoration, were found at Awatobi. Large
masses of clay suited to the potter's art were not uncommonly found in
the corners of the rooms or in the niches in their walls. Some of
these masses are of fine paste, the others coarse with grains of sand.
The former variety was used in making the finest Tusayan ceramics; the
latter was employed in modeling cooking pots and other vessels of
ruder finish.
Several flute-shape objects of clay, with flaring extremities, were
found on the surface of the mounds of Awatobi, and one was taken from
a Sikyatki grave. The use of these objects is unknown to me.
Among the fragments of dippers from Awatobi are several with
perforations in the bottom, irregularly arranged or in geometric form,
as that of a cross. These colanders were rare at Sikyatki, but I find
nothing in them to betray Spanish influence.[87] Handled dippers or
mugs have been found so often by me in the prehistoric ruins of our
Southwest that I can not accept the dictum that the mug form was not
prehistoric, and the conclusion is legitimate that the Tusayan Indians
were familiar with mugs when the Spaniards came among them. The
handles of the dippers or ladles are single or double, solid or
hollow, simply turned up at one end or terminating with the head of an
animal. The upper side of the ladle handle may be grooved or convex.
No ladle handle decorated with an image of a "mud-head" or clown
priest, so common on modern ladles, was found either at Awatobi or
Sikyatki.
Rudely made imitations in miniature of all kinds of pottery,
especially of ladles, were common. These are regarded as votive
offerings, from the fact that they were found usually in the graves of
children, and were apparently used as playthings before they were
buried.
A common decoration on the handles of ladles is a series of short
parallel lines arranged in alternating longitudinal and transverse
zones. This form of decoration of ladle handles I have observed on
similar vessels from the Casas Grandes of Chihuahua, and it reappears
on pottery in all the ruins I have studied between Mexico and Tusayan.
In the exhibit of the Mexican Government at Madrid in 1892-93 a fine
collection of ancient pottery from Oaxaca was shown, and I have
drawings of one of these ladles with the same parallel marks on the
handle that are found on Pueblo ware from the Gila-Salado, the Cibola,
and the Tusayan regions.
The only fragment of pottery from Awatobi or Sikyatki with designs
which could be identified with any modern picture of a _katcina_ was
found, as might be expected, in the former ruin. This small fragment
is instructive, in that it indicates the existence of the _katcina_
cult in Tusayan before 1700; but the rarity of the figures of these
supernatural beings is very suggestive. The fragment in question is of
ancient ware, resembling the so-called orange type of pottery, and is
apparently a part of the neck of a vase. The figure represents Wupamo,
the Great-cloud _katcina_, and is marked like the doll of the same as
it appears in the _Powamû_ or February celebration at Walpi.[88]
The associates of the _katcinas_ are the so-called "mud-heads" or
clowns, an order of priests as widely distributed as the Pueblo area.
In Tusayan villages they are called the Tcukuwympkia, and are
variously personated. As they belong especially to the _katcina_ cult,
which is naturally supposed to have been in vogue at Awatobi, I was
greatly interested in the finding of a fragment representing a
grotesque head which reminded me of a glutton of the division of the
Tcukuwympkia called Tcuckutû. While there may be some doubt of the
validity of my identification, yet, taken in connection with the
fragment of a vase with the face of Wupamo, I think there is no doubt
that the _katcina_ cult was practiced at Awatobi.
STONE IMPLEMENTS
Comparatively few stone implements, such as mauls, hammers, axes, and
spearpoints, were found; but some of those unearthed from the mounds
are finely finished, being regular in form and highly polished. There
were many spherical stones, resembling those still sometimes used in
Tusayan on important occasions as badges of authority. These stones
were tied in a buckskin bag, which was attached to a stick and used as
a warclub. Many of the axes were grooved for hafting; one of the
specimens was doubly grooved and had two cutting edges. By far the
largest number were blunt at one pole and sharpened at the opposite
end. A single highly polished specimen (plate CLXXI, _f_) resembles a
type very common in the Gila Salado ruins.
Arrowheads, some of finely chipped obsidian, were common, being
frequently found in numbers in certain mortuary bowls. Three or four
specimens of other kinds of implements fashioned from this volcanic
glass were picked up on the surface of the mounds.
Metates, or flat stones for grinding corn, were dug up in several
houses; they were in some instances much worn, and were eagerly sought
by the Indian women who visited our camp. These specimens differ in no
respect from similar mealing stones still used at Walpi and other
modern Tusayan pueblos. Many were made of very coarse stone[89] for
use in hulling corn preparatory to grinding; others were of finer
texture, and both kinds were accompanied by the corresponding mano or
muller held in the hand in grinding meal.
The modern Hopi often use as seats in their kivas cubical blocks of
stone with depressions in two opposite sides which serve as handholds
by which they are carried from place to place. Two of these stones,
about a cubic foot in size, were taken out of the chamber which I have
supposed to be the Awatobi kiva. In modern Tusayan these seats are
commonly made of soft sandstone, and are so few in number that we can
hardly regard them as common. They are often used to support the
uprights of altars when they are erected, and I have seen priests
grind pigments in the depressions. Incidentally, it may be said that I
have never seen priests use chairs in any kiva celebration; nor do
they have boxes to sit upon. During the droning of the tedious songs
they have nothing under them except a folded blanket or sheepskin.
Excavations in the Awatobi rooms revealed several interesting shallow
mortars used for grinding pigments, but no one of these is comparable
in finish with that shown in the accompanying illustration (plate
CLXXII, _a_). This object is made of a hard stone in the form of a
perfect parallelopipedon with slightly rounded faces. The depression
is shallow, and when found there was a discoloration of pigment upon
its surface.
In almost every house that bore evidence of former occupancy,
beautifully made mullers and metates were exhumed. These were
ordinarily in place in the corner of the chamber, and were much worn,
as if by constant use. In one grave there was found a metate reversed
over a skeleton, probably that of a woman--although the bones were so
disintegrated that the determination of the sex of the individual was
impossible. Several of these metates were taken by Indian women, who
prized them so highly that they loaded the stones on burros and
carried them ten miles to Walpi, where they are now applied to the
same purpose for which they were used over two centuries ago.
On the surface of the mesa, beyond the extension of the ground plan of
the ruin, there are many depressions worn in the rocks where the
Awatobi women formerly whetted their grinding stones, doubtless in the
manner practiced by the modern villagers of Tusayan. These depressions
are especially numerous near the edge of the cliff, between the
eastern and western sections of the ruin.[90]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIV
BONE IMPLEMENTS FROM AWATOBI AND SIKYATKI]
BONE OBJECTS
A large and varied collection of bone implements was gathered at
Awatobi, and a few additional specimens were exhumed from Sikyatki. It
is worthy of note that, as a rule, bone implements are more common in
houses than in graves; and since the Awatobi excavations were
conducted mostly in living rooms, while those at Sikyatki were largely
in the cemeteries, the bone implements from the former pueblo far
outnumber those from the latter.
The collection consists of awls, bodkins, needles, whistles, and tubes
made of the bones of birds and quadrupeds. The two animals which
contributed more than others to these objects were the turkey and the
rabbit, although there were fragments of the horns and shin-bones of
the antelope or deer. Several of these specimens were blackened by
fire, and one was stained with green pigment. There was also evidence
of an attempt at ornamenting the implements by incised lines, while
one was bound with string. Bones of animals which had served for food
were very common in all the excavations at Awatobi, especially near
the floors of the houses. With the exception of a number of large
bones of a bear, found in one of the houses in the northern range of
the eastern section, these bones were not carefully collected.
Plate CXIV gives a general idea of some of the forms of worked bone
which were obtained. Figure _a_ shows an awl, for the handle of which
one of the trochanters was used, the point at the opposite end being
very sharp; _b_ and _c_ are similar objects, but slighter, and more
carefully worked; _d_ is a flattened bone implement perforated with
two holes, and may have been used as a needle. There are similar
implements in the collection, but with a single terminal perforation.
Other forms of bone awls are shown in _e_, _f_, _g_, and _j_.
There are a number of bone objects the use of which is problematical.
One of the best of these is a section of the tibia of a bird, cut
longitudinally, convex on the side represented in plate CXIV, _h_, and
concave on the opposite side. When found this bone fragment was tied
to a second similar section by a string (remnants of which can be seen
in the figure), thus forming a short tube. The use of this object is
not known to me, nor were any satisfactory suggestions made by the
Indians whom I consulted in relation to it. This does not apply,
however, to the object illustrated in plate CXIV, _i_, which was
declared by several Hopi to be a bird whistle, similar to that used in
ceremonials connected with medicine making.
The manner in which a bone whistle is used in imitation of a bird's
call has been noticed by me in the accounts of several ceremonials,
and I will therefore quote the description of its use in the
_Nimankatcina_ at Walpi.[91]
Then followed an interval of song and accompanying rattle, at
the termination of which Intiwa's associate took the bird
whistle (_tatükpi_) and blew three times into the liquid,
making a noise not unlike that produced by a toy bird
whistle. This was repeated four times, accompanied by song
and rattle. He first inserted the bone whistle on the north
side, then on the other cardinal points in turn. The
monotonous song and rattle then ceased, and Intiwa sprinkled
corn pollen on the ears of corn in the water, and upon the
line of pahos.
The object of the whistle is to call the summer birds which are
associated with planting and harvesting. The whistle figures in many
rites, especially in those connected with the making of medicine or
charm liquid.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS
ORNAMENTS IN THE FORM OF BIRDS AND SHELLS
In the excavations, as well as on the surface of the mounds at
Awatobi, were found many imitations of marine shells made of clay,
often painted red and ranging from the size of half a dollar to that
of the thumb nail (plate CLXXIII, _j-m_). On the convex surface of
these objects parallel lines are etched, and they are pierced at the
valves for suspension. I have never found them suspended from the neck
of a skeleton, although their general appearance indicates that they
were used as ornaments. Similarly made clay images of birds (plate
CLXXIII, _g_, _h_, _i_) with extended wings were also found, and of
these there are several different forms in the collection. A small
perforated knob at the breast served for attachment. In the absence of
any better explanation of these objects, I have regarded them as
gorgets, or pendants, for personal decoration.
In the Awatobi collections there are several small disks made
apparently of pipe clay, which also were probably used as ornaments.
These are very smooth and wonderfully regular in shape--in one case
with a perforation near the rim. Turquois and shell beads were found
in considerable numbers in the excavations at Awatobi, but, as they
are similar to those from Sikyatki, I have reserved a discussion of
them for following pages. A few fragments of shell armlets and
wristlets were also exhumed. These were made generally of the Pacific
coast _Pectunculus_, so common in the ruins of the Little
Colorado.[92]
CLAY BELL
Copper bells are said to be used in the secret ceremonials of the
modern Tusayan villages, and in certain of the ceremonial foot races
metal bells of great age and antique pattern are sometimes tied about
the waists of the runners. Small copper hawk bells,[93] found in
southern Arizonian ruins, are identical in form and make with those
used by the ancient Nahuatl people. So far as the study of the
antiquities of the ruins of Tusayan immediately about the inhabited
towns has gone, we have no record of the finding of copper bells of
any great age. It was, therefore, with considerable interest that I
exhumed from one of the rooms of the westernmost or oldest section of
Awatobi a clay bell (figure 261) made in exact imitation of one of the
copper bells that have been reported from several southern ruins
(plate CLXXIII, _a_). While it may be said that it would be more
decisive evidence of the prehistoric character of this object if
Awatobi had not been under Spanish influence for over a century,
still, from the position where it was dug up and its resemblance to
metal bells which are undoubtedly prehistoric, there seems to be
little reason to question its age. As with the imitation of marine
shells in clay, it is probable that in this bell we have a facsimile
of a metal bell with which the ancient Tusayan people were undoubtedly
familiar.[94]
[Illustration: FIG. 261--Clay Bell from Awatobi (natural size)]
TEXTILE FABRICS
In the very earliest accounts which we have of Tusayan the Hopi are
said to raise cotton and to weave it into mantles. These mantles, or
"towels" as they were styled by Espejo, were, according to Castañeda,
ornamented with embroidery, and had tassels at the corners. In early
times garments were made of the fiber of the maguey, and of feathers
and rabbit skins. Fabrics made of animal fiber are mentioned by Friar
Marcos de Niza, and he was told that the inhabitants of Totonteac
obtained the material from which they were made from animals as large
as the greyhounds which the father had with him. The historical
references which can be mentioned to prove that the Tusayan people,
when they were first visited, knew how to spin and weave are numerous,
and need not be quoted here. That the people of Awatobi made cotton
fabrics there is no doubt, for it is distinctly stated by early
visitors that they were acquainted with the art of weaving, and some
of the presents made to the first Spanish explorers were of native
cotton.
The archeological evidence supports the historical in this particular,
and several fragments of cloth were found in our excavations in the
western mounds of the village. These fragments were of cotton and
agave fiber, of cotton alone, and in one instance of the hair of some
unknown animal. No signs of the famous rabbit-skin blankets were seen,
and from the perishable nature of the material of which they were made
it would be strange if any traces had been discovered. At Sikyatki a
small textile fragment made of feathers was found in one of the
burial vases, but no feather garments or even fragments of the same
were unearthed at Awatobi.
A woven rope of agave fiber and many charred strings of the same
material were found in a niche in the wall of a house in the eastern
section, and from the same room there was taken a string, over a yard
long, made of human hair. It was suggested to me by one of the Hopi
that this string was part of the coiffure of an Awatobi maid, and that
it was probably used to tie up her hair in whorls above the ears, as
is still the Hopi custom.
The whole number of specimens of textile fabrics found at Awatobi was
small, and their character disappointing for study, for the conditions
of burial in the soil are not so good for their preservation as in the
dry caves or cliff houses, from which beautifully preserved cloth,
made at a contemporary period, has been taken.
PRAYER-STICKS--PIGMENTS
Among the most significant mortuary objects used by the ancient
Tusayan people may be mentioned the so-called prayer-sticks or pahos.
These were found in several graves, placed on the breast, in the hand,
or at the side of the person interred, and have a variety of form, as
shown in the accompanying illustrations (plates CLXXIV, CLXXV). As I
shall discuss the forms and meaning of prayer-sticks in my account of
Sikyatki, where a much larger number were found, I will simply mention
a few of the more striking varieties from Awatobi.
One of the most instructive of these objects is flat in shape, painted
green, and decorated with figures of a dragon-fly. As this insect is a
symbol of rain, its occurrence on mortuary objects is in harmony with
the Hopi conception of the dead which will later be explained.
Pahos, in the form of flat slats with a notched extension at one end
were common, but generally were poorly preserved. The prayer-sticks
from the shrine in the middle of the rooms in the plaza of the eastern
section crumbled into fragments when exposed to the air, but they were
apparently small, painted green, and decorated with black spots. On
several of the prayer-sticks the impressions of the string and
feathers that were formerly attached are still readily seen. It is
probable that the solution of a carbonate of copper, with which the
green pahos were so colored, contributed to the preservation of the
wood of which they had been manufactured.
The only pigments detected on the prayer-sticks are black, red, and
green, and traces of red are found also on the inner surface of a
stone implement from a grave at the base of the mesa. All the pigments
used by the modern Tusayan Indians were found in the intramural burial
already described. My Hopi workmen urged me to give them small
fragments of these paints, regarding them efficacious in their
ceremonials.
OBJECTS SHOWING SPANISH INFLUENCE
We would naturally expect to find many objects of Caucasian origin in
the ruins of a pueblo which had been under Spanish influence for a
century. I have already spoken of certain architectural features in
the eastern part of Awatobi which may be traced to the influence of
the Spanish missionaries, and of small objects there were several
different kinds which show the same thing. The old iron knife-blade
already mentioned as having been found among the corn in a storage
chamber in the northern row of houses was not the only metallic object
found. Not far from the mission there were unearthed many corroded
iron nails, a small hook of the same metal, a piece of cast copper,
and a fragment of what appeared to be a portion of a bell. There were
several pieces of glass, the surfaces of which had become ground by
the sand which had beaten upon them during the years in which they had
been exposed. There was found also a fragment of a green glazed cup,
which was undoubtedly of Spanish or Mexican make, and sherds of white
china similar to that sold today by the traders. These latter
specimens were, as a rule, found on the surface of the ground.
It will therefore appear that the archeology of Awatobi supports the
documentary evidence that the pueblo was under Spanish influence for
some time, and the fact that all the above-mentioned objects were
taken on or in the eastern mounds emphasizes the conclusion that this
section of the town was the part directly under Spanish influences.
Nothing of Spanish manufacture was found in the rooms of the western
mounds, but from this negative evidence there is no reason to suspect
that this section of Awatobi was not inhabited contemporaneously with
that in the vicinity of the mission.
THE RUINS OF SIKYATKI
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE PUEBLO
Very vague ideas are current regarding the character of Hopi culture
prior to Tobar's visit to Tusayan in 1540, and with the exception of
the most meager information nothing concerning it has come down to us
from early historical references in the sixteenth century. It is
therefore interesting to record all possible information in regard to
these people prior to the period mentioned, and this must be done
mainly through archeology.
Although there are many Tusayan ruins which we have every reason to
believe are older than the time of Coronado, no archeologist has
gathered from them the evidences bearing on prehistoric Tusayan
culture which they will undoubtedly yield. Large and beautiful
collections of pottery ascribed to Tusayan ruins have shown the
excellent artistic taste of the ancient potters of this region,
indicating that in the ceramic art they were far in advance of their
descendants. But these collections have failed to teach, the lesson
they might have taught, from the fact that data concerning the objects
composing them are so indefinite. Very little care had been taken to
label these collections accurately or to collect any specimens but
those which were strikingly beautiful or commercially valuable. It was
therefore with the hope of giving a more precise and comprehensive
character to our knowledge of Tusayan antiquities that I wished to
excavate one of the ruins of this province which was undoubtedly
prehistoric. Conditions were favorable for success at the mounds
called by the Indians Sikyatki.[95] These ruins are situated near the
modern Tusayan pueblos of East Mesa, from which I could hire workmen,
and not far from Keam's Canyon, which could be made a base of
supplies. The existing legends bearing on these ruins, although
obscure, are sufficiently definite for all practical purposes.
I find no mention of Sikyatki in early historical documents, nor can
the name be even remotely identified with any which has been given to
a Tusayan pueblo. My knowledge of the mounds which mark the site of
this ancient village dates back to 1892, when I visited them with one
of the old men of Walpi, who then and there narrated the legend of its
destruction by the Walpians previously to the advent of the Spaniards.
I was at that time impressed by the extent of the mounds, and prepared
a rough sketch of the ground plan of the former houses, but from lack
of means was unable to conduct any systematic excavation of the ruin.
Comparatively nothing concerning the ruin of Sikyatki has been
published, although its existence had been known for several years
previously to my visit. In his brief account Mr Victor Mindeleff[96]
speaks of it as two prominent knolls, "about 400 yards apart," the
summits of which are covered with house walls. He also found portions
of walls on intervening hummocks, but gives no plan of the ruin. The
name, Sikyatki, is referred to the color of the sandstone of which the
walls were built. He found some of the rooms were constructed of small
stones, dressed by rubbing, and laid in mud. The largest chamber was
stated to be 9-1/2 by 4-1/2 feet, and it was considered that many of
the houses were "built in excavated places around the rocky summits of
the knolls."[97] Mr Mindeleff identified the former inhabitants with
the ancestors of the Kokop people, and mentioned the more important
details of their legend concerning the destruction of the village.
We can rely on the statement that Sikyatki was inhabited by the Kokop
or Firewood people of Tusayan, who were so named because they obtained
fire from wood by the use of drills. These people are represented
today at Walpi by Katci, whose totem is a picture of Masauwû, the God
of Fire. It is said that the home of the Firewood people before they
built Sikyatki was at Tebuñki, or Fire-house, a round ruin
northeastward from Keam's canyon. They were late arrivals in Tusayan,
coming at least after the Flute people, and probably before the Honani
or Badger people, who brought, I believe, the _katcina_ cult. Although
we can not definitely assert that this cultus was unknown at Sikyatki,
it is significant that in the ruins no ornamental vessel was found
with a figure of a _katcina_ mask, although these figures occur on
modern bowls. The original home of the Kokop people is not known, but
indefinite legends ascribe their origin to Rio Grande valley. They are
reputed to have had kindred in Antelope valley and at the Fire-house,
above alluded to, near Eighteen-mile spring.
The ruin of Fire-house, one of the pueblos where the Kokop people are
reputed to have lived before they built Sikyatki, is situated on the
periphery of Tusayan. It is built of massive stones and differs from
all other ruins in that province in that it is circular in form. The
round type of ruin is, however, to be seen in the two conical mounds
on the mesa above Sikyatki, which was connected in some way with the
inhabitants who formerly lived at its base.
The reason the Kokop people left Fire-house is not certain, but it is
said that they came in conflict with Bear clans who were entering the
province from the east. Certain it is that if the Kokop people once
inhabited Fire-house they must have been joined by other clans when
they lived at Sikyatki, for the mounds of this pueblo indicate a
village much larger than the round ruin on the brink of the mesa
northeast of Keam's canyon. The general ground plan of the ruin
indicates an inclosed court with surrounding tiers of houses,
suggesting the eastern type of pueblo architecture.
The traditional knowledge of the destruction of Sikyatki is very
limited among the present Hopi, but the best folklorists all claim
that it was destroyed by warriors from Walpi and possibly from Middle
Mesa. Awatobi seems not to have taken part in the tragedy, while Hano
and Sichomovi did not exist when the catastrophe took place.
The cause of the destruction of Sikyatki is not clearly known, and
probably was hardly commensurate with the result. Its proximity to
Walpi may have led to disputes over the boundaries of fields or the
ownership of the scanty water supply. The people who lived there were
intruders and belonged to clans not represented in Walpi, which in all
probability kept hostility alive. The early Tusayan peoples did not
readily assimilate, but quarreled with one another even when sorely
oppressed by common enemies.
There is current in Walpi a romantic story connected with the
overthrow of Sikyatki. It is said that a son of a prominent chief,
disguised as a _katcina_, offered a prayer-stick to a maiden, and as
she received it he cut her throat with a stone knife. He is said to
have escaped to the mesa top and to have made his way along its edge
to his own town, taunting his pursuers. It is also related that the
Walpians fell upon the village of Sikyatki to avenge this bloody deed,
but it is much more likely that there was ill feeling between the two
villages for other reasons, probably disputes about farm limits or the
control of the water supply, inflamed by other difficulties. The
inhabitants of the two pueblos came into Tusayan from different
directions, and as they may have spoken different languages and thus
have failed to understand each other, they may have been mutually
regarded as interlopers. Petty quarrels no doubt ripened into
altercations, which probably led to bloodshed. The forays of the
Apache from the south and the Ute from the north, which began at a
later period, should naturally have led to a defensive alliance; but
in those early days confederation was not dreamed of and the feeling
between the two pueblos culminated in the destruction of Sikyatki.
This was apparently the result of a quarrel between two pueblos of
East Mesa, or at least there is no intimation that the other pueblos
took prominent part in it. It is said that after the destruction some
of those who escaped fled to Oraibi, which would imply that the Walpi
and Oraibi peoples, even at that early date, were not on very friendly
terms. If, however, the statement that Oraibi was then a distinct
pueblo be true, it in a way affords a suggestion of the approximate
age[98] of this village.
There was apparently a more or less intimate connection between the
inhabitants of old Sikyatki and those of Awatobi, but whether or not
it indicates that the latter was founded by the refugees from the
former I have not been able definitely to make out. All my informants
agree that on the destruction of Sikyatki some of its people fled to
Awatobi, but no one has yet stated that the Kokop people were
represented in the latter pueblo. The distinctive clans of the pueblo
of Antelope mesa are not mentioned as living in Sikyatki, and yet the
two pueblos are said to have been kindred. The indications are that
the inhabitants of both came from the east--possibly were intruders,
which may have been the cause of the hostility entertained by both
toward the Walpians. The problem is too complex to be solved with our
present limited knowledge in this direction, and archeology seems not
to afford very satisfactory evidence one way or the other. We may
never know whether the Sikyatki refugees founded Awatobi or simply
fled to that pueblo for protection.
There appears to be no good evidence that Sikyatki was destroyed by
fire, nor would it seem that it was gradually abandoned. The larger
beams of the houses have disappeared from many rooms, evidently having
been appropriated in building or enlarging other pueblos.
There is nothing to show that any considerable massacre of the people
took place when the village was destroyed, in which respect it differs
considerably from Awatobi. There is little doubt that many Sikyatki
women were appropriated by the Walpians, and in support of this it is
stated that the Kokop people of the present Walpi are the descendants
of the people of that clan who dwelt at Sikyatki. This conclusion is
further substantiated by the statements of one of the oldest members
of the Kokop phratry who frequently visited me while the excavations
were in progress.
The destruction of Sikyatki and its consequent abandonment doubtless
occurred before the Spaniards obtained a foothold in the country. The
aged Hopi folklorists insist that such is the case, and the
excavations did not reveal any evidence to the contrary. If we add to
the negative testimony that Sikyatki is not mentioned in any of the
early writings, and that no fragment of metal, glass, or Spanish
glazed pottery has been taken from it, we appear to have substantial
proof of its prehistoric character.
In the early times when Sikyatki was a flourishing pueblo, Walpi was
still a small settlement on the terrace of the mesa just below the
present town that bears its name. Two ruins are pointed out as the
sites of Old Walpi, one to the northward of the modern town, and a
second more to the westward. The former is called at present the
Ash-heap house or pueblo, the latter Kisakobi. It is said that the
people whose ancestors formed the nucleus of the more northerly town
moved from there to Kisakobi on account of the cold weather, for it
was too much in the shadow of the mesa. Its general appearance would
indicate it to be older than the more westerly ruin, higher up on the
mesa. It was a pueblo of some size, and was situated on the edge of
the terrace. The refuse from the settlement was thrown over the edge
of the decline, where it accumulated in great quantities. This débris
contains many fragments of characteristic pottery, similar to that
from Sikyatki, and would well repay systematic investigation. No walls
of the old town rise more than a few feet above the surface, for most
of the stones have long ago been used in rebuilding the pueblo on
other sites. Kisakobi was situated higher up on the mesa, and bears
every appearance of being more modern than the ruin below. Its site
may readily be seen from the road to Keam's canyon, on the
terrace-like prolongation of the mesa. Some of the walls are still
erect, and the house visible for a great distance is part of the old
pueblo. This, I believe, was the site of Walpi at the time the
Spaniards visited Tusayan, and I have found here a fragment of pottery
which I believe is of Spanish origin. The ancient pueblo crowned the
ridge of the terrace which narrows here to 30 or 40 feet, so that
ancient Walpi was an elongated pueblo, with narrow passageways and no
rectangular court. I should judge, however, that the pueblo was not
inhabited for a great period, but was moved to its present site after
a few generations of occupancy. The Ash-hill village was inhabited
contemporaneously with Sikyatki, but Kisakobi was of later
construction. Neither Sichomovi nor Hano was in existence when
Sikyatki was in its prime, nor, indeed, at the time of its
abandonment. In 1782 Morfi spoke of Sichomovi as a pueblo recently
founded, with but fifteen families. Hano, although older, was
certainly not established before 1700.[99]
The assertions of all Hopi traditionists that Sikyatki is a
prehistoric ruin, as well as the scientific evidence looking the same
way, are most important facts in considering the weight of deductions
in regard to the character of prehistoric Tusayan culture.
Although we have no means of knowing how long a period has elapsed
since the occupancy and abandonment of Sikyatki, we are reasonably
sure that objects taken from it are purely aboriginal in character and
antedate the inception of European influence. It is certain, however,
that the Sikyatki people lived long enough in that pueblo to develop a
ceramic art essentially peculiar to Tusayan.
NOMENCLATURE
The commonly accepted definition of Sikyatki is "yellow house"
(_sikya_, yellow; _ki_, house). One of the most reliable chiefs of
Walpi, however, called my attention to the fact that the hills in the
locality were more or less parallel, and that there might be a
relationship between the parallel valleys and the name. The
application of the term "yellow" would not seem to be very appropriate
so far as it is distinctive of the general color of the pueblo. The
neighboring spring, however, contains water which after standing some
time has a yellowish tinge, and it was not unusual to name pueblos
from the color of the adjacent water or from some peculiarity of the
spring, which was one of the most potent factors in the determination
of the site of a village. Although the name may also refer to a
cardinal point, a method of nomenclature followed in some regions of
the Southwest, if such were the case in regard to Sikyatki it would be
exceptional in Tusayan.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXV
SIKYATKI MOUNDS FROM THE KANELBA TRAIL]
FORMER INHABITANTS OF SIKYATKI
The origin of the pueblo settlement at Sikyatki is doubtful, but as I
have shown in my enumeration of the clans of Walpi, the Kokop
(Firewood) and the Isauûh (Coyote) phratries which lived there are
supposed to have come into Tusayan from the far east or the valley
of the Rio Grande. The former phratry is not regarded as one of the
earliest arrivals in Tusayan, for when its members arrived at Walpi
they found living there the Flute, Snake, and Water-house phratries.
It is highly probable that the Firewood, or as they are sometimes
called the Fire, people, once lived in the round pueblo known as
Fire-house, and as the form of this ruin is exceptional in Tusayan,
and highly characteristic of the region east of this province, there
is archeological evidence of the eastern origin of the Fire people.
Perhaps the most intelligent folklorist of the Kokop people was
Nasyuñweve, who died a few years ago--unfortunately before I had been
able to record all the traditions which he knew concerning his
ancestors. At the present day Katci, his successor[100] in these
sacerdotal duties in the Antelope-Snake mysteries, claims that his
people formerly occupied Sikyatki, and indeed the contiguous fields
are still cultivated by members of that phratry.
It is hardly possible to do more than estimate the population of
Sikyatki when in its prime, but I do not believe that it was more than
500;[101] probably 300 inhabitants would be a closer estimate if we
judge from the relative population to the size of the pueblo of Walpi
at the present time. On the basis of population given, the evidences
from the size of the Sikyatki cemeteries would not point to an
occupancy of the village for several centuries, although, of course,
the strict confines of these burial places may not have been
determined by our excavations. The comparatively great depth at which
some of the human remains were found does not necessarily mean great
antiquity, for the drifting sands of the region may cover or uncover
the soil or rocks in a very short time, and the depth at which an
object is found below the surface is a very uncertain medium for
estimating the antiquity of buried remains.
GENERAL FEATURES
The ruin of Sikyatki (plates CXV, CXVI) lies about three miles east of
the recent settlement of Tanoan families at Isba or Coyote spring,
near the beginning of the trail to Hano. Its site is in full view from
the road extending from the last-mentioned settlement to Keam's
canyon, and lies among the hills just below the two pyramidal
elevations called Küküchomo, which are visible for a much greater
distance. When seen from this road the mounds of Sikyatki are observed
to be elevated at least 300 feet above the adjacent cultivated plain,
but at the ruin itself this elevation is scarcely appreciable, so
gradual is the southerly decline to the arroyo which drains the plain.
The ruin is situated among foothills a few hundred yards from the base
of the mesa, and in the depression between it and the mesa there is a
stretch of sand in which grow peach trees and a few stunted cedars. At
this point, likewise, there is a spring, now feeble in its flow from
the gradually drifting sand, yet sufficient to afford a trickling
stream by means of which an enterprising native, named Tcino,
irrigates a small garden of melons and onions. On all sides of the
ruin there are barren stretches of sand relieved in some places by
stunted trees and scanty vegetation similar to that of the adjacent
plains. The soil in the plaza of the ruin is cultivated, yielding a
fair crop of squashes, but is useless for corn or beans.
Here and there about the ruins stand great jagged bowlders, relieving
what would otherwise be a monotonous waste of sand. One of these stony
outcrops forms what I have called the "acropolis" of Sikyatki, which
will presently be described. On the eastern side the drifting sand has
so filled in around the elevation on which the ruin stands that the
ascent is gradual, and the same drift extends to the rim of the mesa,
affording access to the summit that otherwise would necessitate
difficult climbing. Along the ridge of this great drift there runs a
trail which passes over the mesa top to a beautiful spring, on the
other side, called Kanelba.[102]
The highest point of the ruin as seen from the plain is the rocky
eminence rising at the western edge, familiarly known among the
members of my party as the "acropolis." As one approaches the ruin
from a deep gulch on the west, the acropolis appears quite lofty, and
a visitor would hardly suspect that it marks the culminating point of
a ruin, so similar does it appear to surrounding hills of like
geologic character where no vestiges of former house-walls appear.
The spring from which the inhabitants of the old pueblo obtained their
water supply lies between the ruin and the foot of the mesa, nearer
the latter. The water is yellow in color, especially after it has
remained undisturbed for some time, and the quantity is very limited.
It trickles out of a bed of clay in several places and forms a pool
from which it is drawn to irrigate a small garden and a grove of peach
trees. It is said that when Sikyatki was in its prime this spring was
larger than at present, and I am sure that a little labor spent in
digging out the accumulation of sand would make the water more
wholesome and probably sufficiently abundant for the needs of a
considerable population.
The nearest spring of potable water available for our excavation camp
at Sikyatki was Kanelba, or Sheep spring, one of the best sources of
water supply in Tusayan. The word Kanelba, containing a Spanish
element, must have replaced a Hopi name, for it is hardly to be
supposed that this spring was not known before sheep were brought into
the country. There is a legend that formerly the site of this spring
was dry, when an ancient priest, who had deposited his _tiponi_, or
chieftain's badge, at the place, caused the water to flow from the
ground; at present however the water rushes from a hole as large as
the arm in the face of the rock, as well as from several minor
openings. It is situated on the opposite side of the mesa from
Sikyatki, a couple of miles northeastward from the ruin.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVI
GROUND PLAN OF SIKYATKI]
Half-way up the side of the mesa, about opposite Sikyatki, there is a
large reservoir, used as a watering place for sheep. The splash of the
water, as it falls into this reservoir, is an unusual sound in this
arid region, and is worth a tramp of many miles. There are many
evidences that this spring was a popular one in former times. As it is
approached from the top of the mesa, a brief inspection of the
surroundings shows that for about a quarter of a mile, on either side,
there are signs of ancient terraced gardens, walled in with rows of
stones. These gardens have today greatly diminished in size, as
compared with the ancient outlines, and only that portion which is
occupied by a grove of peach trees is now under cultivation, although
there is plenty of water for the successful irrigation of a much
larger tract of land than the gardens now cover.[103] Judging from
their size, many of the peach trees are very old, although they still
bear their annual crop of fruit. Everything indicates, as the legends
relate, that these Kanelba gardens, the walls of which now form sheep
corrals, were long ago abandoned.
The terraces south of the Kanelba peach grove resemble the lower
terraces of Wipo. About 100 rods farther south, along the foot of the
mesa, on the same level, are a number of unused fields, and a cluster
of house remains. The whole of this terrace is of a type which shows
greater action of the weather than the others, but the boundaries of
the fields are still marked with rows of stones. The adjacent
foothills contain piles of ashes in several places, as if the sites of
ancient pottery kilns, and very old stone inclosures occur on the top
of the mesa above Kanelba. All indications seem to point to the
ancient occupancy of the region about Kanelba by many more farmers
than today. Possibly the inhabitants of Sikyatki, which is only two or
three miles away, frequented this place and cultivated these ancient
gardens. Kanelba is regarded as a sacred spring by several Hopi
religious societies of East Mesa. The Snake priests of Walpi always
celebrate a feast there on the day of the snake hunt to the east in
odd years,[104] while in the alternate years it is visited by the
Flute men.
The present appearance of Sikyatki (plate CXV) is very desolate, and
when visited by our party previously to the initiation of the work,
seemed to promise little in the way of archeological results. No walls
were standing above ground, and the outlines of the rooms were very
indistinct. All we saw at that time was a series of mounds,
irregularly rectangular in shape, of varying altitude, with here and
there faint traces of walls. Prominent above all these mounds,
however, was the pinnacle of rock on the northwestern corner, rising
abruptly from the remainder of the ruin, easily approached from the
west and sloping more gradually to the south. This rocky elevation,
which we styled the acropolis, was doubtless once covered with houses.
On the western edge of the ruin a solitary farmhouse, used during the
summer season, had been constructed of materials from the old walls,
and was inhabited by an Indian named Lelo and his family during our
excavations. He is the recognized owner of the farm land about
Sikyatki and the cultivator of the soil in the old plaza of the ruins.
Jakwaina, an enterprising Tewan who lives not far from Isba, the
spring near the trail to Hano, has also erected a modern house near
the Sikyatki spring, but it had not been completed at the time of our
stay. Probably never since its destruction in prehistoric times have
so many people as there were in our party lived for so long a time at
this desolate place.
The disposition of the mounds show that the ground plan of Sikyatki
(plate CXVI) was rectangular in shape, the houses inclosing a court in
which are several mounds that may be the remains of kivas. The highest
range of rooms, and we may suppose the most populous part of the
ancient pueblo, was on the same side as the acropolis, where a large
number of walled chambers in several series were traced.
The surface of what was formerly the plaza is crossed by rows of
stones regularly arranged to form gardens, in which several kinds of
gourds are cultivated. In the sands north of the ruin there are many
peach trees, small and stunted, but yearly furnishing a fair crop.
These are owned by Tcino,[105] and of course were planted long after
the destruction of the pueblo.
In order to obtain legends of the former occupancy and destruction of
Sikyatki, I consulted Nasyuñweve, the former head of the Kokop people,
and while the results were not very satisfactory, I learned that the
land about Sikyatki is still claimed by that phratry. Nasyuñweve,[106]
Katci, and other prominent Kokop people occupy and cultivate the land
about Sikyatki on the ground of inheritance from their ancestors who
once inhabited the place.
Two routes were taken to approach Sikyatki--one directly across the
sandy plain from the entrance to Keam's canyon, following for some
distance the road to East Mesa; the other along the edge of the mesa,
on the first terrace, to the cluster of houses at Coyote spring. The
trail to the pueblos of East Mesa ascends the cliff just above
Sikyatki spring, and joins that to Kanelba or Sheep spring, not far
from Küküchomo, the twin mounds. By keeping along the first terrace a
well-traveled trail, with interesting views of the plain and the ruin,
joins the old wagon road to _Wala_, the "gap" of East Mesa, at a
higher level than the cluster of Tewan houses at Isba. In going and
returning from their homes our Hopi workmen preferred the trail along
the mesa, which we also often used; but the climb to the mesa top from
the ruin is very steep and somewhat tiresome.
We prosecuted our excavations at Sikyatki for a few days over three
weeks, choosing as a site for our camp a small depression to the east
of the ruin near a dwarf cedar at the point where the trail to Kanelba
passes the ruin. The place was advantageously near the cemeteries, and
not too far from water. For purposes other than cooking and drinking
the Sikyatki spring was used, the remainder of the supply being
brought from Kanelba by means of a burro.
I employed Indian workmen at the ruin, and found them, as a rule,
efficient helpers. The zeal which they manifested at the beginning of
the work did not flag, but it must be confessed that toward the close
of the excavations it became necessary to incite their enthusiasm by
prizes, and, to them, extraordinary offers of overalls and calico.
They at first objected to working in the cemeteries, regarding it as a
desecration of the dead, but several of their number overcame their
scruples, even handling skulls and other parts of skeletons. The Snake
chief, Kopeli, however, never worked with the others, desiring not to
dig in the graves. Respecting his feelings, I allotted him the special
task of excavating the rooms of the acropolis, which he performed with
much care, showing great interest in the results. At the close of our
daily work prayer-offerings were placed in the trenches by the Indian
workmen, as conciliatory sacrifices to Masauwûh, the dread God of
Death, to offset any malign influence which might result from our
desecration of his domain. A superstitious feeling that this god was
not congenial to the work which was going on, seemed always to haunt
the minds of the laborers, and once or twice I was admonished by old
men, visitors from Walpi, not to persist in my excavations. The
excavators, at times, paused in their work and called my attention to
strange voices echoing from the cliffs, which they ascribed, half in
earnest, to Masauwûh.
The Indians faithfully delivered to me all objects which they found in
their digging, with the exception of turquoises, many of which, I
have good reason to suspect, they concealed while our backs were
turned and, in a few instances, even before our eyes.
The accompanying plan of Sikyatki (plate CXVI) shows that it was a
rectangular ruin with an inclosed plaza. It is evident that the
ancient pueblo was built on a number of low hills and that the eastern
portion was the highest. In this respect it resembled Awatobi, but
apparently differed from the latter pueblo in having the inclosed
plaza. In the same way it was unlike Walpi or the ancient and modern
pueblos of Middle Mesa and Oraibi. In fact, there is no Tusayan ruin
which resembles it in ground plan, except Payüpki, a Tanoan town of
much later construction. The typical Tusayan form of architecture is
the pyramidal, especially in the most ancient pueblos. The ground plan
of Sikyatki is of a type more common in the eastern pueblo region and
in those towns of Tusayan which were built by emigrants from the Rio
Grande region. Sikyatki and some of the villages overlooking Antelope
valley are of this type.
In studying the ground plans of the three modern villages on East
Mesa, the fact is noted that both Sichomovi and Hano differ
architecturally from Walpi. The forms of the former smaller pueblos
are primarily rectangular with an inclosed plaza in which is situated
the kiva; Walpi, on the other hand, although furnished with a small
plaza at the western end, has kivas located peripherally rather than
in an open space between the highest house clusters. Sichomovi is
considered by the Hopi as like Zuñi, and is sometimes called by the
Hano people, Sionimone, "Zuñi court," because to the Tewan mind it
resembles Zuñi; but the term is never applied to Walpi.[107] The
distinction thus recognized is, I believe, architecturally valid. The
inclosed court or plaza in Tusayan is an intrusion from the east, and
as eastern colonists built both Hano and Sichomovi, they preserved the
form to which they were accustomed. The Sikyatki builders drew their
architectural inspiration likewise from the east, hence the inclosed
court in the ruins of that village.
The two most considerable house clusters of Sikyatki are at each end
of a longer axis, connected by a narrow row of houses on the other
sides. The western rows of houses face the plain, and were of one
story, with a gateway at one point. The opposite row was more
elevated, no doubt overlooking cultivated fields beyond the confines
of the ruin. No kivas were discovered, but if such exist they ought to
be found in the mass of houses at the southern end. I thought we had
found circular rooms in that region, but cursory excavations did not
demonstrate their existence. As there is no reason to suspect the
existence of circular kivas in ancient Tusayan, it would be difficult
to decide whether or not any one of the large rectangular rooms was
used for ceremonial purposes, for it is an interesting fact that some
of the oldest secret rites in the Hopi villages occur, not in kivas,
but in ordinary dwelling rooms in the village. It has yet to be shown
that there were special kivas in prehistoric Tusayan.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVII
EXCAVATED ROOMS ON THE ACROPOLIS OF SIKYATKI]
The longer axis of the ruin is about north and south; the greatest
elevation is approximately 50 feet. Rocks outcrop only at one place,
the remainder of the ruin being covered with rubble, sand, stones, and
fragments of pottery. The mounds are not devoid of vegetation, for
sagebrush, cacti, and other desert genera grow quite profusely over
their surface; but they are wholly barren of trees or large bushes,
and except in the plaza the ruin area is uncultivated. As previously
stated, Sikyatki is situated about 250 or 300 feet above the plain,
and when approached from Keam's canyon appears to be about halfway up
the mesa height. On several adjacent elevations evidences of former
fires, or places where pottery was burned, were found, and one has not
to go far to discover narrow seams of an impure lignite. Here and
there are considerable deposits of selenite, which, as pointed out by
Sitgreaves in his report on the exploration of the Little Colorado,
looks like frost exuding from the ground in early spring.
THE ACROPOLIS
During the limited time devoted to the excavation of Sikyatki it was
impossible, in a ruin so large, to remove the soil covering any
considerable number of rooms. The excavations at different points over
such a considerable area as that covered by the mounds would have been
more or less desultory and unsatisfactory, but a limited section
carefully opened would be much more instructive and typical. While,
therefore, the majority of the Indian workmen were kept employed at
the cemeteries, Kopeli, the Snake chief, a man in whom I have great
confidence, was assigned to the excavation of a series of rooms at the
highest point of the ruin, previously referred to as the acropolis
(figure 262). Although his work in these chambers did not yield such
rich results as the others, so far as the number of objects was
concerned, he succeeded in uncovering a number of rooms to their
floors, and unearthed many interesting objects of clay and stone. A
brief description of these excavations will show the nature of the
work at that point.
The acropolis, or highest point of Sikyatki, is a prominent rocky
elevation at the western angle, and overlooks the entire ruin. On the
side toward the western cemetery it rises quite abruptly, but the
ascent is more gradual from the other sides. The surface of this
elevation, on which the houses stood, is of rock, and originally was
as destitute of soil as the plaza of Walpi. This surface supported a
double series of rooms, and the highest point is a bare, rocky
projection.
From the rooms of the acropolis there was a series of chambers,
probably terraced, sloping to the modern gardens now occupying the old
plaza, and the broken walls of these rooms still protrude from the
surface in many places (plate CXVIII). When the excavations on the
acropolis were begun, no traces of the biserial rows of rooms were
detected, although the remains of the walls were traceable. The
surface was strewn with fragments of pottery and other evidences of
former occupancy.
On leveling the ground and throwing off the surface stones, it was
found that the narrow ridge which formed the top of the acropolis was
occupied by a double line of well-built chambers which show every
evidence of having been living rooms. The walls were constructed of
squared stones set in adobe, with the inner surface neatly plastered.
Many of the rooms communicated by means of passageways with adjacent
chambers, some of them being provided with niches and shelves. The
average height of the standing walls revealed by excavation, as
indicated by the distance of the floor below the surface of the soil,
was about 5 feet.
[Illustration: FIG. 262--The acropolis of Sikyatki]
The accompanying illustration (plate CXVIII) shows a ground plan of
nine of these rooms, which, for purposes of reference, are lettered
_a_ to _l_. A description of each, it is hoped, will give an idea of a
typical room of Sikyatki. Room _a_ is rectangular in shape, 5 feet 3
inches by 6 feet 8 inches, and is 5 feet 8 inches deep. It has two
depressions in the floor at the southeastern corner, and there is a
small niche in the side wall above them. Some good specimens of mural
plastering, much blackened by soot, are found on the eastern wall.
Room _a_ has no passageway into room _b_, but it opens into the
adjoining room _c_ by an opening in the wall 3 feet 4 inches wide,
with a threshold 9 inches high.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVIII
PLAN OF EXCAVATED ROOMS ON THE ACROPOLIS OF SIKYATKI
(Dimensions in feet and inches)]
The shape of room _b_ is more irregular. It is 8 feet 1 inch long by 4
feet 5 inches wide, and the floor is 5 feet 2 inches below the
surface. In one corner there is a raised triangular platform 2 feet 7
inches above the floor. A large cooking pot, blackened with soot, was
found in one corner of this room, and near it was a circular
depression in the floor 17 inches in diameter, evidently a fireplace.
Room _c_ is smaller than either of the preceding, and is the only one
with two passageways into adjoining chambers. Remains of wooden beams
in a fair state of preservation were found on the floors of rooms _c_
and _b_, but they were not charred, as is so often the case, nor were
there any ashes except in the supposed fireplace.
Room _d_ is larger than those already mentioned, being 7 feet 8 inches
by 5 feet, and connects with room _c_ by means of a passageway. Rooms
_e_ and _f_ communicate with each other by an opening 16 inches wide.
We found the floors of these rooms 4 feet below the surface. The
length of room _e_ is 8 feet.
Room _f_ is 6 feet 8 inches long and of the same width as _e_. The
three chambers _g_, _h_, and _i_ are each 6 feet 9 inches wide, but of
varying width. Room _g_ is 5 feet 2 inches, _h_ is 8 feet 6 inches,
and _i_, the smallest of all, only a foot wide. These three rooms have
no intercommunication.
The evidence of former fires in some of these rooms, afforded by soot
on the walls and ashes in the depressions identified as old
fireplaces, is most important. In one or two places I broke off a
fragment of the plastering and found it to be composed of many strata
of alternating black and adobe color, indicating successive
plasterings of the room. Apparently when the surface wall became
blackened by smoke it was renewed by a fresh layer or wash of adobe in
the manner followed in renovating the kiva walls today.[108]
An examination of the dimensions of the rooms of the acropolis will
show that, while small, they are about the average size of the
chambers in most other southwestern ruins. They are, however, much
smaller than the rooms of the modern pueblo of Walpi or those of the
cliff ruins in the Red-rock region, elsewhere described. Evidently the
roof was 2 or 3 feet higher than the top of the present walls, and the
absence of external passageways would seem to indicate that entrance
was through the roof. The narrow chamber, _i_, is no smaller than some
of those which were excavated at Awatobi, but unless it was a storage
bin or dark closet for ceremonial paraphernalia its function is not
known to me. The mural plastering was especially well done in rooms
_g_ and _h_, a section thereof showing many successive thin strata of
soot and clay, implying long occupancy. No chimneys were found, the
smoke, as is the case with that from kiva fires today, doubtless
finding an exit through the hatchway in the roof.
MODERN GARDENS
The whole surface of the ancient plaza of Sikyatki is occupied by
rectangular gardens outlined by rows of stones. These are of modern
construction and are cultivated by an enterprising Hopi who, as
previously mentioned, has erected a habitable dwelling on one of the
western mounds from the stones of the old ruin. These gardens are
planted yearly with melons and squashes, and stones forming the
outlines serve as wind-breaks to protect the growing plants from
drifting sand. The plotting of the plan of these gardens was made in
1891, when a somewhat larger part of the plaza was under cultivation
than in 1895.[109]
There is a grove of dwarf peach trees in the sands between the
northern side of the ruin and the mesa along the run through which
sometimes trickles a little stream from the spring. These trees belong
to an inhabitant of Sichomovi named Tcino, who, it is claimed, is a
descendant of the ancient Sikyatkians. The trees were of course
planted there since the fall of the village, on land claimed by the
Kokop phratry by virtue of their descent from the same phratral
organization of the ancient pueblo.[110] The spring shows no evidence
of having been walled up, but apparently has been filled in by
drifting sand since the time that it formed the sole water supply of
the neighboring pueblo. It still preserves the yellow color mentioned
in traditions of the place.
THE CEMETERIES
By far the largest number of objects found at Sikyatki were gathered
from the cemeteries outside the ruin, and were therefore mortuary in
character. It would seem that the people buried their dead a short
distance beyond the walls, at the three cardinal points. The first of
these cemeteries was found in the dune between the ruin and the peach
trees below the spring, and from its relative position from the pueblo
has been designated the northern cemetery. The cemetery proper lies on
the edge of the sandy tract, and was first detected by the finding of
the long-bones of a human skeleton projecting from the soil. The
position of individual graves was indicated usually by small, oblong
piles of stones; but, as this was not an invariable sign, it was
deemed advisable to extend long trenches across the lower part of the
dune. As a rule, the deeper the excavations the more numerous and
elaborate were the objects revealed. Most of the skeletons were in a
poor state of preservation, but several could have been saved had we
the proper means at our disposal to care for them.
No evidence of cremation of the dead was found, either at Awatobi or
Sikyatki, nor have I yet detected any reference to this custom among
the modern Hopi Indians. They have, however, a strange concept of the
purification of the breath-body, or shade of the dead, by fire, which,
although I have always regarded it as due to the teaching of Christian
missionaries, may be aboriginal in character. This account of the
judgment of the dead is as follows:
There are two roads from the grave to the Below. One of these is a
straight way connected with the path of the sun into the Underworld.
There is a branch trail which divides from this straight way, passing
from fires to a lake or ocean (_patübha_). At the fork of the road
sits Tokonaka, and when the breath-body comes to this place this chief
looks it over and, if satisfied, he says "_Üm-pac lo-la-mai, ta ai_,"
"You are very good; go on." Then the breath-body passes along the
straight way to the far west, to the early _Sipapû_, the Underworld
from which it came, the home of Müiyinwû. Another breath-body comes to
the fork in the road, and the chief says, "You are bad," and he
conducts it along the crooked path to the place of the first fire pit,
where sits a second chief, Tokonaka, who throws the bad breath-body
into the fire, and after a time it emerges purified, for it was not
wholly bad. The chief says, "You are good now," and carries it back to
the first chief, who accepts the breath-body and sends it along the
straight road to the west.
If, on emerging from the first fire, the soul is still unpurified, or
not sufficiently so to be accepted, it is taken to the second fire pit
and cast into it. If it emerges from this thoroughly purified, in the
opinion of the judge, it is immediately transformed into a
_ho-ho-ya-üh_, or prayer-beetle. All the beetles we now see in the
valleys or among the mesas were once evil Hopi. If, on coming out of
the second fire pit, the breath-body is still considered bad by the
chief, he takes it to the third fire, and, if there be no evil in it
when it emerges from this pit, it is metamorphosed into an ant, but if
unpurified by these three fires--that is, if the chief still finds
evil left in the breath-body--he takes it to a fourth fire and again
casts it into the flames, where it is utterly consumed, the only
residue being soot on the side of the pit.
I have not recorded this as a universal or an aboriginal belief among
the Hopi, but rather to show certain current ideas which may have been
brought to Tusayan by missionaries or others. The details of the
purification of the evil soul are characteristic.
The western cemetery of Sikyatki is situated among the hillocks
covered with surface rubble below a house occupied in summer by a
Hopi and his family. From the nature of the soil the excavation of
this cemetery was very difficult, although the mortuary objects were
more numerous. Repeated attempts to make the Indians work in a
systematic manner failed, partly on account of the hard soil and
partly from other reasons. Although the lower we went the more
numerous and beautiful were the objects exhumed, the Indians soon
tired of deep digging, preferring to confine their work to within two
or three feet of the surface. At many places we found graves under and
between the huge bowlders, which are numerous in this cemetery.
The southern cemetery lies between the outer edge of the ruin on that
side and the decline to the plain, a few hundred feet from the
southern row of houses. Two conspicuous bowlders mark the site of most
of the excavations in that direction. The mortuary objects from this
cemetery are not inferior in character or number to those from the
other burial places. All attempts to discover a cemetery on the
eastern side of the pueblo failed, although a single food basin was
brought to the camp by an Indian who claimed he had dug it out of the
deep sand on the eastern side of the ruins. Another bowl was found in
the sand drift near the trail over the mesa to Kanelba, but careful
investigation failed to reveal any systematic deposit of mortuary
vessels east of the ruin.[111]
The method of excavation pursued in the cemeteries was not so
scientific as I had wished, but it was the only practicable one to be
followed with native workmen. Having found the location of the graves
by means of small prospecting holes sunk at random, the workmen were
aligned and directed to excavate a single long, deep trench, removing
all the earth as they advanced. It was with great difficulty that the
Indians were taught the importance of excavating to a sufficient
depth, and even to the end of the work they refused to be taught not
to burrow. In their enthusiasm to get the buried treasures they worked
very well so long as objects were found, but became at once
discouraged when relics were not so readily forthcoming and went off
prospecting in other places when our backs were turned. A shout that
anyone had discovered a new grave in the trench was a signal for the
others to stop work, gather around the place, light cigarettes, and
watch me or my collaborators dig out the specimens with knives. This
we always insisted on doing, for the reason that in their haste the
Indians at first often broke fragile pottery after they had discovered
it, and in spite of all precautions several fine jars and bowls were
thus badly damaged by them. It is therefore not too much to say that
most of the vessels which are now entire were dug out of the impacted
sand by Mr Hodge or myself.
No rule could be formulated in regard to the place where the pottery
would occur, and often the first indication of its presence was the
stroke of a shovel on the fragile edge of a vase or bowl. Having once
found a skeleton, or discolored sand which indicated the former
presence of human remains, the probability that burial objects were
near by was almost a certainty, although in several instances even
these signs failed.
A considerable number of the pottery objects had been broken when the
soil and stones were thrown on the corpse at interment. So many were
entire, however, that I do not believe any considerable number were
purposely broken at that time, and none were found with holes made in
them to "kill" or otherwise destroy their utility.
No evidences of cremation--no charred bones of man or animal in or
near the mortuary vessels--were found. From the character of the
objects obtained from neighboring graves, rich and poor were
apparently buried side by side in the same soil. Absolutely no
evidence of Spanish influence was encountered in all the excavations
at Sikyatki--no trace of metal, glass, or other object of Caucasian
manufacture such as I have mentioned as having been taken from the
ruins of Awatobi--thus confirming the native tradition that the
catastrophe of Sikyatki antedated the middle of the sixteenth century,
when the first Spaniards entered the country.
It is remarkable that in Sikyatki we found no fragments of basketry or
cloth, the fame of which among the Pueblo Indians was known to
Coronado before he left Mexico. That the people of Sikyatki wore
cotton kilts no one can doubt, but these fabrics, if they were buried
with the dead, had long since decayed. Specimens of strings and ropes
of yucca, which were comparatively abundant at Awatobi, were not found
at Sikyatki; yet their absence by no means proves that they were not
used, for the marks of the strings used to bind feathers to the
mortuary pahos, on the green paint with which the wood was covered,
may still be readily seen.
The insight into ancient beliefs and practices afforded by the
numerous objects found at Sikyatki is very instructive, and while it
shows the antiquity of some of the modern symbols, it betrays a still
more important group of conventionalized figures, the meaning of which
may always remain in doubt. This is particularly true of the
decoration on many specimens of the large collection of highly
ornamented pottery found in the Sikyatki cemeteries.
If we consider the typical designs on modern Hopi pottery and compare
them with the ancient, as illustrated by the collections from Awatobi
and Sikyatki, it is noted, in the first place, how different they are,
and secondly, how much better executed the ancient objects are than
the modern. Nor is it always clear how the modern symbols are derived
from the ancient, so widely do they depart from them in all their
essential characters.
POTTERY
CHARACTERISTICS--MORTUARY POTTERY
The pottery exhumed from the burial places of Sikyatki falls in the
divisions known as--
I--Coiled and indented ware.
II--Smooth undecorated ware.
III--Polished decorated ware.
_a_. Yellow.
_b_. Red.
_c_. Black-and-white.
By far the largest number of ancient pottery objects from this
locality belong to the yellow-ware group in the above classification.
This is the characteristic pottery of Tusayan, although coiled and
indented ware is well represented in the collection. The few pieces of
red ware are different from that found in the ruins of the Little
Colorado, while the black-and-white pottery closely resembles the
archaic ware of northern cliff houses. Although the Sikyatki pottery
bears resemblance to that of Awatobi, it can be distinguished from it
without difficulty. The paste of both is of the finest character and
was most carefully prepared. Some of the ancient specimens are much
superior to those at present made, and are acknowledged by the finest
potters of East Mesa to be beyond their power of ceramic production.
The coloration is generally in red, brown, yellow, and black.
Decorative treatment by spattering is common in the food basins, and
this was no doubt performed, Chinese fashion, by means of the mouth.
The same method is still employed by the Hopi priests in painting
their masks.
The Sikyatki collection of pottery shows little or no duplication in
decorative design, and every ornamented food basin bears practically
different symbols. The decoration of the food basins is mainly on the
interior, but there is almost invariably a geometrical design of some
kind on the outside, near the rim. The ladles, likewise, are
ornamented on their interior, and their handles also are generally
decorated. When the specimens were removed from the graves their
colors, as a rule, were apparently as well preserved as at the time of
their burial; nor, indeed, do they appear to have faded since their
deposit in the National Museum.
The best examples of ceramic art from the graves of Sikyatki, in
texture, finish, and decoration, are, in my judgment, superior to any
pottery made by ancient or modern Indians north of Mexico. Indeed, in
these respects the old Tusayan pottery will bear favorable comparison
even with Central American ware. It is far superior to the rude
pottery of the eastern pueblos, and is also considerably better than
that of the great villages of the Gila and Salado. Among the Hopi
themselves the ceramic art has degenerated, as the few remaining
potters confess. These objects can hardly be looked upon as products
of a savage people destitute of artistic feeling, but of a race which
has developed in this line of work, through the plane of savagery, to
a high stage of barbarism. While, as a whole, we can hardly regard the
modern Hopi as a degenerate people with a more cultured ancestry,
certainly the entire Pueblo culture in the Southwest, judged by the
character of their pottery manufacture, has greatly deteriorated since
the middle of the sixteenth century.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIX
COILED AND INDENTED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI]
COILED AND INDENTED WARE
The rudest type of pottery from Sikyatki has been classed as coiled
and indented ware. It is coarse in texture, not polished, and usually
not decorated. Although the outer surface of the pottery of this class
is rough, the general form of the ware is not less symmetrical than
that of the finer vessels. The objects belonging to this group are
mostly jars and moccasin-shape vessels, there being no bowls of this
type. As a rule, the vessels are blackened with soot, although some of
the specimens are light-brown in color. The former variety were
undoubtedly once used in cooking; the latter apparently for containing
water or food. In the accompanying illustration (plate CXIX, _a_) is
shown one of the best specimens of indented ware, the pits forming an
equatorial zone about the vessel. All traces of the coil of clay with
which the jar was built up have been obliterated save on the bottom.
The vessel is symmetrical and the indentations regular, as if made
with a pointed stone, bone, or stick.
In another form of coarse pottery (plate CXIX, _b_) the rim merges
into two ears or rudimentary handles on opposite sides. Traces of the
original coiling are readily observable on the sides of this vessel.
Another illustration (plate CXIX, _c_) shows an amphora or jar with
diametrically opposite handles extending from the rim to the side of
the bowl. The surface of this rude jar is rough and without
decoration, but the form is regular and symmetrical. In another
amphora (plate CXIX, _d_) the opposite handles appear below the neck
of the vessel; they are broader and apparently more serviceable.
The jar shown in plate CXIX, _e_, has two ear-like extensions or
projections from the neck of the jar, which are perforated for
suspension. This vessel is decorated with an incised zigzag line,
which surrounds it just above its equator. This is a fair example of
ornamented rough ware.
Several of the vessels made of coarse clay mixed with sand, the grains
of which make the surface very rough, are of slipper or moccasin
shape. These are covered with soot or blackened by fire, indicating
their former use as cooking pots. By adopting this form the ancients
were practically enabled to use the principle of the dutch-oven, the
coals being piled about the vessels containing the food to be cooked
much more advantageously than in the vase-like forms.
The variations in slipper-shape cooking pots are few and simple. The
blind end is sometimes of globular form, as in the example illustrated
in plate CXX, _a_, and sometimes pointed as in figures _b_ and _c_ of
the same plate. One of the specimens of this type has a handle on the
rim and another has a flaring lip. Slipper-form vessels are always of
coarse ware for the obvious reason that, being somewhat more porous,
they are more readily heated than polished utensils. They are not
decorated for equally obvious reasons.
SMOOTH UNDECORATED WARE
There are many specimens of undecorated ware of all shapes and sizes,
a type of which is shown in plate CXX, _d_. These include food bowls,
saucers, ladles, and jars, and were taken from many graves. These
utensils differ from the coarse-ware vessels not only in the character
of the clay from which they are made, but also in their superficial
polish, which, in some instances, is as fine as that of vessels with
painted designs. Several very good spoons of half-gourd shape were
found, and there are many undecorated food bowls and vases. The first
attempts at ornamentation appear to have been a simple spattering of
the surface with liquid pigment or a drawing of simple encircling
bands. In one instance (plate CXX, _d_) a blackening of the surface by
exposure to smoke was detected, but no superficial gloss, as in the
Santa Clara ware, was noted.
POLISHED DECORATED WARE
By far the greater number of specimens of mortuary pottery from
Sikyatki are highly polished and decorated with more or less
complicated designs. Of these there are at least three different
groups, based on the color of the ware. Most of the vessels are light
yellow or of cream color; the next group in point of color is the red
ware, the few remaining specimens being white with black decorations
in geometric patterns. These types naturally fall into divisions
consisting of vases, jars, bowls, square boxes, cups, ladles, and
spoons.
In the group called vases (plates CXXI, CXXII) many varieties are
found; some of these are double, with an equatorial constriction;
others are rounded below, flat above, with an elevated neck and a
recurved lip. It is noteworthy that these jars or vases are destitute
of handles, and that their decoration is always confined to the
equatorial and upper sections about the opening. In the specimens of
this group which were found at Sikyatki there is no basal rim and no
depression on the pole opposite the opening. No decoration is found on
the interior of the vases, although in several instances the inside of
the lip bears lines or markings of various kinds. The opening is
always circular, sometimes small, often large; the neck of a vessel is
occasionally missing, although the specimens bear evidence of use
after having been thus broken. In one or two instances the equatorial
constriction is so deep that the jar is practically double; in other
cases the constriction is so shallow that it is hardly perceptible
(plate CXXVI, _a, b_). The size varies from a simple globular vessel
not larger than a walnut to a jar of considerable size. Many show
marks of previous use; others are as fresh as if made but yesterday.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXX
SAUCERS AND SLIPPER BOWLS FROM SIKYATKI]
One of the most fragile of all the globular vessels is a specimen of
very thin black-and-white ware, perforated near the rim for suspension
(plate CXXXII). This form, although rare at Sikyatki, is represented
by several specimens, and in mode of decoration is very similar to the
cliff-house pottery. From its scarcity in Tusayan I am inclined to
believe that this and related specimens were not made of clay found in
the immediate vicinity of Sikyatki, but that the vessels were brought
to the ancient pueblo from distant places. As at least some of the
cliff houses were doubtless inhabited contemporaneously with and long
after the destruction of Sikyatki, I do not hesitate to say that the
potters of that pueblo were familiar with the cliff-dweller type of
pottery and acquainted with the technic which gave the black-and-white
ware its distinctive colors.
By far the largest number of specimens of smooth decorated pottery
from Sikyatki graves are food bowls or basins, evidently the dishes in
which food was placed on the floor before the members of a family at
their meals. As the mortuary offerings were intended as food for the
deceased it is quite natural that this form of pottery should far
outnumber any and all the others. In no instance do the food bowls
exhibit marks of smoke blackening, an indication that they had not
been used in the cooking of food, but merely as receptacles of the
same.
The beautiful decoration of these vessels speaks highly for the
artistic taste of the Sikyatki women, and a feast in which they were
used must have been a delight to the native eye so far as dishes were
concerned. When filled with food, however, much of the decoration of
the bowls must have been concealed, a condition avoided in the mode of
ornamentation adopted by modern Tusayan potters; but there is no doubt
that when not in use the decoration of the vessels was effectually
exhibited in their arrangement on the floor or convenient shelves.
The forms of these food bowls are hemispherical, gracefully rounded
below, and always without an attached ring of clay on which to stand
to prevent rocking. Their rims are seldom flaring, but sometimes have
a slight constriction, and while the rims of the majority are
perfectly circular, oblong variations are not wanting. Many of the
bowls are of saucer shape, with almost vertical sides and flat bases;
several are double, with rounded or flat base.
The surface, inside and out, is polished to a fine gloss, and when
exteriorly decorated, the design is generally limited to one side just
below the rim, which is often ornamented with double or triple
parallel lines, drawn in equidistant, quaternary, and other forms.
Most of the bowls show signs of former use, either wear on the inner
surface or on the base where they rested on the floor in former
feasts.
These mortuary vessels were discovered generally at one side of the
chest or neck of the person whose remains they were intended to
accompany, and a single specimen was found inverted over the head of
the deceased. The number of vessels in each grave was not constant,
and as many as ten were found with one skeleton, while in other graves
only one or two were found. In one instance a nest of six of these
basins, one inside another, was exhumed. While many of these mortuary
offerings were broken and others chipped, there were still a large
number as perfect as when made. Some of the bowls had been mended
before burial, as holes drilled on each side of a crack clearly
indicate. Fragments of various vessels, which evidently had been
broken before they were thrown into the graves, were common.
There is a general similarity in the artistic decoration of bowls
found in the same grave, as if they were made by the same potter; and
persons of distinction, as shown by other mortuary objects, were, as a
rule, more honored than some of their kindred in the character and
number of pottery objects deposited with their remains. There were
also a number of skeletons without ceramic offerings of any kind.
In one or two interments two or more small jars were found placed
inside of a food bowl, and in many instances votive offerings, like
turquois, beads, stones, and arrowpoints, had been deposited with the
dead. The bowls likewise contained, in some instances, prayer-sticks
and other objects, which will later be described.
One of the most interesting modifications in the form of the rim of
one of these food bowls is shown in plate CXX, _e_, which illustrates
a variation from the circular shape, forming a kind of handle or
support for the thumb in lifting the vessel. The utility of this
projection in handling a bowl of hot food is apparent. This form of
vessel is very rare, it being the only one of its kind in the
collection.
A considerable number of cups were found at Sikyatki; these vary in
size and shape from a flat-bottom saucer like specimen to a mug-shape
variety, always with a single handle (plate CXXV). Many of these
resemble small bowls with rounded sides, but there are others in which
the sides are vertical, and still others the sides of which incline at
an angle to the flattened base.
The handles of these cups are generally smooth, and in one instance
adorned with a figure in relief. The rims of these dippers are never
flaring, either inward or outward. As a rule they are decorated on the
exterior; indeed there is only one instance of interior decoration.
The handles of the dippers are generally attached at both ends, but
sometimes the handle is free at the end near the body of the utensil
and attached at the tip. These handles are usually flat, but sometimes
they are round, and often are decorated. Traces of imitations of the
braiding of two coils of clay are seen in a single specimen.[112]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXI
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXII
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI]
Small and large ladles, with long handles, occurred in large numbers
in Sikyatki graves, but there was little variation among them except
in the forms of their handles. Many of these utensils were much worn
by use, especially on the rim opposite the attachment of the handle,
and in some specimens the handle itself had evidently been broken and
the end rounded off by rubbing long before it was placed in the grave.
From the comparatively solid character of the bowls of these dippers
they were rarely fractured, and were commonly found to contain smaller
mortuary objects, such as paint, arrowheads, or polishing stones.
The ladles, unlike most of the cups, are generally decorated on the
interior as well as on the exterior. Their handles vary in size and
shape, are usually hollow, and sometimes are perforated at the end. In
certain specimens the extremity is prolonged into a pointed, recurved
tip, and sometimes is coiled in a spiral. A groove in the upper
surface of one example is an unusual variation, and a right-angle bend
of the tip is a unique feature of another specimen. The Sikyatki
potters, like their modern descendants,[113] sometimes ornamented the
tip of a single handle with the head of an animal and painted the
upper surface of the shaft with alternate parallel bars, zigzags,
terraces, and frets.
Several spoons or scoops of earthenware, which evidently had been used
in much the same way as similar objects in the modern pueblos, were
found. Some of these have the shape of a half gourd--a natural object
which no doubt furnished the pattern. These spoons, as a rule, were
not decorated, but on a single specimen bars and parallel lines may be
detected. In the innovations of modern times pewter spoons serve the
same purpose, and their form is sometimes imitated in earthenware.
More often, in modern and probably also in ancient usage, a roll of
paper-bread or _piki_ served the same purpose, being dipped into the
stew and then eaten with the fingers. Possibly the Sikyatkian drank
from the hollow handle of a gourd ladle, as is frequently done in
Walpi today, but he generally slaked his thirst by means of a clay
substitute.[114]
Several box-like articles of pottery of both cream and red ware were
found in the Sikyatki graves, some of them having handles, others
being without them (plate CXXV). They are ornamented on the exterior
and on the rim, and the handle, when not lacking, is attached to the
longer side of the rectangular vessel. Not a single bowl was found
with a terraced rim, a feature so common in the medicine bowls of
Tusayan at the present time.[115]
In addition to the various forms of pottery which have been mentioned,
there are also pieces made in the form of birds, one of the most
typical of which is figured in plate CXII, _c_. In these objects the
wings are represented by elevations in the form of ridges on the
sides, and the tail and head by prolongations, which unfortunately
were broken off.
Toys or miniature reproductions of all the above-mentioned ceramic
specimens occurred in several graves. These are often very roughly
made, and in some cases contained pigments of different colors. The
finding of a few fragments of clay in the form of animal heads, and
one or two rude images of quadrupeds, would seem to indicate that
sometimes such objects were likewise deposited with the dead. A clay
object resembling the flaring end of a flageolet and ornamented with a
zigzag decoration is unique in the collections from Sikyatki, although
in the western cemetery there was found a fragment of an earthenware
tube, possibly a part of a flute.
In order to show more clearly the association of mortuary objects in
single graves a few examples of the grouping of these deposits will be
given.
In a grave in the western cemetery the following specimens were found:
1, ladle; 2, paint grinder; 3, paint slab; 4, arrowpoints; 5,
fragments of a marine shell (_Pectunculus_); 6, pipe, with fragments
of a second pipe, and 7, red paint (sesquioxide of iron).
In the grave which contained the square medicine bowl shown in plate
CXXVIII, _a_, a ladle containing food was also unearthed.
The bowl decorated with a picture of a girl's head was associated with
fragments of another bowl and four ladles.
Another single grave contained four large and small cooking pots and a
broken metate.
In a grave 8 feet below the surface in the western cemetery we found:
1, decorated food vessel; 2, black shoe-shape cooking pot resting in a
food bowl and containing a small rude ladle; 3, coarse undecorated
basin.
A typical assemblage of mortuary objects comprised: 1, small decorated
bowl containing polishing stones; 2, miniature cooking pot blackened
by soot; 3, two small food bowls.
In modern Hopi burials the food bowls with the food for the dead are
not buried with the deceased, but are placed on the mound of soil and
stones which covers the remains. From the position of the mortuary
pottery as regards the skeletons in the Sikyatki interments, it is
probable that this custom is of modern origin. Whether in former times
food bowls were placed on the burial mounds as well as in the grave I
am not able to say. The number of food bowls in ancient graves exceeds
those placed on modern burials.
The Sikyatki dead were apparently wrapped in coarse fabrics, possibly
matting.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXIII
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI]
PALEOGRAPHY OF THE POTTERY
GENERAL FEATURES
The pottery from Sikyatki is especially rich in picture writing, and
imperfect as these designs are as a means of transmitting a knowledge
of manners, customs, and religious conceptions, they can be
interpreted with good results.
One of the most important lessons drawn from the pottery is to be had
from a study of the symbols used in its decoration, as indicative of
current beliefs and practices when it was made. The ancient
inhabitants of Sikyatki have left no written records, for, unlike the
more cultured people of Central America, they had no codices; but they
have left on their old mortuary pottery a large body of picture
writings or paleography which reveals many instructive phases of their
former culture. The decipherment of these symbols is in part made
possible by the aid of a knowledge of modern survivals, and when
interpreted rightly they open a view of ancient Tusayan myths, and in
some cases of prehistoric practices.[116]
Students of Pueblo mythology and ritual are accumulating a
considerable body of literature bearing on modern beliefs and
practices. This is believed to be the right method of determining
their aboriginal status, and is therefore necessary as a basis of our
knowledge of their customs and beliefs. It is reasonable to suppose
that what is now practiced in Pueblo ritual contains more or less of
what has survived from prehistoric times, but from Taos to Tusayan
there is no pueblo which does not show modifications in mythology and
ritual due to European contact. Modern Pueblo life resembles the
ancient, but is not a facsimile of it, and until we have rightly
measured the effects of incorporated elements, we are more or less
inexact in our estimation of the character of prehistoric culture. The
vein of similarity in the old and the new can be used in an
interpretation of ancient paleography, but we overstep natural
limitations if by so doing we ascribe to prehistoric culture every
concept which we find current among the modern survivors. To show how
much the paleography of Tusayan has changed since Sikyatki was
destroyed, I need only say that most of the characteristic figures of
deities which are used today in the decoration of pottery are not
found on the Sikyatki ware. Perhaps the most common figures on modern
food bowls is the head of a mythologic being, the Corn-maid,
_Calako-mana_, but this picture, or any which resembles it, is not
found on the bowls from Sikyatki. A knowledge of the cult of the
Corn-maid possibly came into Tusayan, through foreign influences,
after the fall of Sikyatki, and there is no doubt that the picture
decoration of modern Tusayan pottery, made within a league of
Sikyatki, is so different from the ancient that it indicates a
modification of the culture of the Hopi in historic times, and implies
how deceptive it may be to present modern beliefs and practices as
facsimiles of ancient culture.
The main subjects chosen by the native women for the decoration of
their pottery are symbolic, and the most abundant objects which bear
these decorations are food bowls and water vases. Many mythic concepts
are depicted, among which may be mentioned the Plumed Snake, various
birds, reptiles, frogs, tadpoles, and insects. Plants or leaves are
seldom employed as decorative motives, but the flower is sometimes
used. The feather was perhaps the most common object utilized, and it
may likewise be said the most highly conventionalized.
An examination of the decorations of modern food basins used in the
villages of East Mesa shows that the mythologic personages most
commonly chosen for the ornamentation of their interiors are the Corn
or Germ goddesses.[117] These assume a number of forms, yet all are
reducible to one type, although known by very different names, as
Hewüqti, "Old Woman," Kokle, and the like.
Figures of reptiles, birds, the antelope, and like animals do not
occur on any of the food bowls from the large collection of modern
Tusayan pottery which I have studied, and as these figures are well
represented in the decorations on Sikyatki food bowls, we may suppose
their use has been abandoned or replaced by figures of the
Corn-maids.[118] This fact, like so many others drawn from a study of
the Tusayan ritual, indicates that the cult of the Corn-maids is more
vigorous today than it was when Sikyatki was in its prime.
Many pictures of masks on modern Tusayan bowls are identified as
_Tacab_ or Navaho _katcinas_.[119] Their symbolism is well
characterized by chevrons on the cheeks or curved markings for eyes.
None of these figures, however, have yet been found on ancient Tusayan
ceramics. Taken in connection with facts adduced by Hodge indicative
of a recent advent of this vigorous Athapascan tribe into Tusayan, it
would seem that the use of the _Tacab katcina_ pictures was of recent
date, and is therefore not to be expected on the prehistoric pottery
of the age of that found in Sikyatki.
In the decoration of ancient pottery I find no trace of figures of the
clown-priests, or _tcukuwympkiya_, who are so prominent in modern
Tusayan _katcina_ celebrations. These personages, especially the
Tatcukti, often called by a corruption of the Zuñi name Kóyimse
(Kóyomäshi), are very common on modern bowls, especially at the
extremities of ladles or smaller objects of pottery.
Many handles of ladles made at Hano in late times are modeled in the
form of the Paiakyamu,[120] a glutton priesthood peculiar to that
Tanoan pueblo. From the data at hand we may legitimately conclude that
the conception of the clown-priest is modern in Tusayan, so far as the
ornamentation of pottery is concerned.
The large collections of so-called modern Hopi pottery in our museums
is modified Tanoan ware, made in Tusayan. Most of the component
specimens were made by Hano potters, who painted upon them figures of
_katcinas_, a cult which they and their kindred introduced.
Several of the food bowls had evidently cracked during their firing or
while in use, and had been mended before they were buried in the
graves. This repairing was accomplished either by filling the crack
with gum or by boring a hole on each side of the fracture for tying.
In one specimen of black-and-white ware a perfectly round hole was
made in the bottom, as if purposely to destroy the usefulness of the
bowl before burial. This hole had been covered inside with a rounded
disk of old pottery, neatly ground on the edge. It was not observed
that any considerable number of mortuary pottery objects were "killed"
before burial, although a large number were chipped on the edges. It
is a great wonder that any of these fragile objects were found entire,
the stones and soil covering the corpse evidently having been thrown
into the grave without regard to care.
The majority of the ancient symbols are incomprehensible to the
present Hopi priests whom I have been able to consult, although they
are ready to suggest many interpretations, sometimes widely divergent.
The only reasonable method that can be pursued in determining the
meaning of the conventional signs with which the modern Tusayan
Indians are unfamiliar seems, therefore, to be a comparative one. This
method I have attempted to follow so far as possible.
There is a closer similarity between the symbolism of the Sikyatki
pottery and that of the Awatobi ware than there is between the
ceramics of either of these two pueblos and that of Walpi, and the
same likewise may be said of the other Tusayan ruins so far as known.
It is desirable, however, that excavations be made at the site of Old
Walpi in order to determine, if possible, how widely different the
ceramics of that village are from the towns whose ruins were studied
in 1895. There are certain practical difficulties in regard to work at
Old Walpi, one of the greatest of which is its proximity to modern
burial places and shrines still used. Moreover, it is
probable--indeed, quite certain--that most of the portable objects
were carried from the abandoned pueblo to the present village when the
latter was founded; but the old cemeteries of Walpi contain many
ancient mortuary bowls which, when exhumed, will doubtless contribute
a most interesting chapter to the history of modern Tusayan decorative
art.
One of the largest, and, so far as form goes, one of the most unique
vessels, is shown in plate CXXVI, _b_. This was not exhumed from
Sikyatki, but was said to have been found in the vicinity of that
ruin. While the ware is very old, I do not believe it is ancient, and
it is introduced in order to show how cleverly ancient patterns maybe
simulated by more modern potters. The sole way in which modern
imitations of ancient vessels may be distinguished is by the peculiar
crackled or crazed surface which the former always has. This is due, I
believe, to the method of firing and the unequal contraction or
expansion of the slip employed. All modern imitations are covered with
a white slip which, after firing, becomes crackled, a characteristic
unknown to ancient ware. The most expert modern potter at East Mesa is
Nampéo, a Tanoan woman who is a thorough artist in her line of work.
Finding a better market for ancient than for modern ware, she cleverly
copies old decorations, and imitates the Sikyatki ware almost
perfectly. She knows where the Sikyatki potters obtained their clay,
and uses it in her work. Almost any Hopi who has a bowl to sell will
say that it is ancient, and care must always be exercised in accepting
such claims.
An examination of the ornamentation of the jar above referred to shows
a series of birds drawn in the fashion common to early pottery
decoration. This has led me to place this large vessel among the old
ware, although the character of the pottery is different from that of
the best examples found at Sikyatki. I believe this vessel was exhumed
from a ruin of more modern date than Sikyatki. The woman who sold it
to me has farming interests near Awatobi, which leads me to conjecture
that she or possibly one of her ancestors found it at or near that
ruin. She admitted that it had been in the possession of her family
for some time, but that the story she had heard concerning it
attributed its origin to Sikyatki.
HUMAN FIGURES
Very few figures of men or women are found on the pottery, and these
are confined to the interior of food basins (plate CXXIX).[121] They
are ordinarily very roughly drawn, apparently with less care and with
much less detail than are the figures of animals. From their character
I am led to the belief that the drawing of human figures on pottery
was a late development in Tusayan art, and postdates the use of animal
figures on their earthenware. There are, however, a few decorations in
which human figures appear, and these afford an interesting although
meager contribution to our knowledge of ancient Tusayan art and
custom.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXIV
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI]
As is well known, the Hopi maidens wear their hair in two whorls, one
over each ear, and that on their marriage it is tied in two coils
falling on the breast. The whorl is arranged on a U-shape stick called
a _gñela_; it is commonly done up by a sister, the mother, or some
friend of the maiden, and is stiffened with an oil pressed from squash
seeds. The curved stick is then withdrawn and the two puffs held in
place by a string tightly wound between them and the head. The habit
of dressing the hair in whorls is adopted after certain puberty
ceremonials, which have elsewhere been described. When on betrothal a
Hopi maid takes her gifts of finely ground cornmeal to the house of
her future mother-in-law, her hair is dressed in this fashion for the
last time, because on her return she is attacked by the women of the
pueblo, drawn hither and thither, her hair torn down, and her body
smeared with dirt. If her gifts are accepted she immediately becomes
the wife of her lover, and her hair is thenceforth dressed in the
fashion common to matrons.
The symbolic meaning of the whorls of hair worn by the maidens is said
to be the squash-flower, or, perhaps more accurately speaking, the
potential power of fructification. There is legendary and other
evidence that this custom is very ancient among the Tusayan Indians,
and the data obtainable from their ritual point the same way. In the
personification of ancestral "breath-bodies," or spirits by men,
called _katcinas_, the female performers are termed _katcina-manas_
(katcina-virgins), and it is their custom to wear the hair in the
characteristic coiffure of maidens. In the personification of the
Corn-maid by symbolic figures, such as graven images,[122] pictures,
and the like, in secret rites, the style of coiffure worn by the
maidens is common, as I have elsewhere shown in the descriptions of
the ceremonials known as the Flute, _Lalakonti_, _Mamzrauti_,
_Palülükoñti_, and others. The same symbol is found in images used as
dolls of Calako-mana, the equivalent, as the others, of the same
Corn-maid. From the nature of these images there can hardly be a doubt
of the great antiquity of this practice, and that it has been brought
down, through their ritual, to the present day. This style of hair
dressing was mentioned by the early Spanish explorers, and is
represented in pictographs of ancient date; but if all these evidences
of its antiquity are insufficient the testimony afforded by the
pictures on certain food-basins from Sikyatki leaves no doubt on this
point.[123]
Plate CXXIX, _b_, represents a food-basin, on the inside of which is
drawn, in brown, the head and shoulders of a woman. On either side the
hair is done up in coils which bear some likeness to the whorls worn
by the present Hopi maidens. It must be borne in mind, however, that
similar coils are sometimes made after ceremonial head-washing, and
certain other rites, when the hair is tied with corn husks. The face
is painted reddish, and the ears have square pendants similar to the
turquois mosaics worn by Hopi women at the present day. Although there
is other evidence than this of the use of square ear-pendants, set
with mosaic, among the ancient people--and traditions point the same
way--this figure of the head of a woman from Sikyatki leaves no doubt
of the existence of this form of ornament in that ancient pueblo.
However indecisive the last-mentioned picture may be in regard to the
coiffure of the ancient Sikyatki women, plate CXXIX, _a_, affords
still more conclusive evidence. This picture represents a woman of
remarkable form which, from likenesses to figures at present made in
sand on an altar in the _Lalakonti_ ceremony,[124] I have no
hesitation in ascribing to the Corn-maid. The head has the two whorls
of hair very similar to those made in that rite on the picture of the
Goddess of Germs, and the square body is likewise paralleled in the
same figure. The peculiar form is employed to represent the
outstretched blanket, a style of art which is common in Mayan
codices.[125] On each lower corner representations of feathered
strings, called in the modern ritual _nakwákwoci_,[126] are appended.
The figure is represented as kneeling, and the four parallel lines are
possibly comparable with the prayer-sticks placed in the belt of the
Germ goddess on the _Lalakonti_ altar. In her left hand (which, among
the Hopi, is the ceremonial hand or that in which sacred objects are
always carried) she holds an ear of corn, symbolic of germs, of which
she is the deity. The many coincidences between this figure and that
used in the ceremonials of the September moon, called Lalakonti, would
seem to show that in both instances it was intended to represent the
same mythic being.
There is, however, another aspect of this question which is of
interest. In modern times there is a survival among the Hopi of the
custom of decorating the inside of a food basin with a figure of the
Corn-maid, and this is, therefore, a direct inheritance of ancient
methods represented by the specimen under consideration. A large
majority of modern food bowls are ornamented with an elaborate figure
of Calako-mana, the Corn-maid, very elaborately worked out, but still
retaining the essential symbolism figured in the Sikyatki bowl.[127]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXV
FLAT DIPPERS AND MEDICINE BOX FROM SIKYATKI]
While one of the two figures shown in plate CXXIX, _e_, is valuable as
affording additional and corroborative evidence of the character of
the ancient coiffure of the women, its main interest is of a somewhat
different kind. Two figures are rudely drawn on the inside of the
basin, one of which represents a woman, the other, judging from the
character of the posterior extremity of the body, a reptilian
conception in which a single foreleg is depicted, and the tail is
articulated at the end, recalling a rattlesnake. Upon the head is a
single feather;[128] the two eyes are represented on one side of the
head, and the line of the alimentary tract is roughly drawn. The
figure is represented as standing before that of the woman.
With these few lines the potter no doubt intended to depict one of
those many legends, still current, of the cultus hero and heroine of
her particular family or priesthood. Supposing the reptilian figure to
be a totemic one, our minds naturally recall the legend of the
Snake-hero and the Corn-mist-maid[129] whom he brought from a mythic
land to dwell with his people.
The peculiar hairdress is likewise represented in the figures on the
food basin illustrated in plate CXXIX, _c_, which represent a man and
a woman. Although the figures are partly obliterated, it can easily be
deciphered that the latter figure wears a garment similar to the
_kwaca_ or dark-blue blanket for which Tusayan is still famous, and
that this blanket was bound by a girdle, the ends of which hang from
the woman's left hip. While the figure of the man is likewise
indistinct (the vessel evidently having been long in use), the nature
of the act in which he is engaged is not left in doubt.[130]
Among the numerous deities of the modern Hopi Olympus there is one
called Kokopeli,[131] often represented in wooden dolls and clay
images. From the obscurity of the symbolism, these dolls are never
figured in works on Tusayan images. The figure in plate CXXIX, _d_,
bears a resemblance to Kokopeli. It represents a man with arms raised
in the act of dancing, and the head is destitute of hair as if covered
by one of the peculiar helmets, used by the clowns in modern
ceremonials. As many of the acts of these priests may be regarded as
obscene from our point of view, it is not improbable that this figure
may represent an ancient member of this archaic priesthood.
The three human figures on the food basin illustrated in plate CXXIX,
_f_, are highly instructive as showing the antiquity of a curious and
revolting practice almost extinct in Tusayan.
As an accompaniment of certain religious ceremonials among the Pueblo
and the Navaho Indians, it was customary for certain priests to insert
sticks into the esophagus. These sticks are still used to some extent
and may be obtained by the collector. The ceremony of stick-swallowing
has led to serious results, so that now in the decline of this cult a
deceptive method is often adopted.
In Tusayan the stick-swallowing ceremony has been practically
abandoned at the East Mesa, but I have been informed by reliable
persons that it has not wholly been given up at Oraibi. The
illustration above referred to indicates its former existence in
Sikyatki. The middle figure represents the stick-swallower forcing the
stick down his esophagus, while a second figure holds before him an
unknown object. The principal performer is held by a third figure, an
attendant, who stands behind him. This instructive pictograph thus
illustrates the antiquity of this custom in Tusayan, and would seem to
indicate that it was once a part of the Pueblo ritual.[132] It is
possible that the Navaho, who have a similar practice, derived it from
the Pueblos, but there are not enough data at hand to demonstrate this
beyond question.
Regarding the pose of the three figures in this picture, I have been
reminded by Dr Walter Hough of the performers who carry the wad of
cornstalks in the Antelope dance. In this interpretation we have the
"carrier," "hugger," and possibly an Antelope priest with the unknown
object in his hand. This interpretation appears more likely to be a
correct one than that which I have suggested; and yet Kopeli, the
Snake chief, declares that the Snake family was not represented at
Sikyatki. Possibly a dance similar to the Antelope performance on the
eighth day of the Snake dance may have been celebrated at that pueblo,
and the discovery of a rattlesnake's rattle in a Sikyatki grave is yet
to be explained.
One of the most prominent of all the deities in the modern Tusayan
Olympus is the cultus-hero called Püükoñhoya, the Little War God. Hopi
mythology teems with legends of this god and his deeds in killing
monsters and aiding the people in many ways. He is reputed to have
been one of twins, children of the Sun and a maid by parthenogenetic
conception. His adventures are told with many variants and he
reappears with many aliases.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXVI
DOUBLE-LOBE VASES FROM SIKYATKI]
The symbolism of Püükoñhoya at the present day consists of parallel
marks on the face or body, and when personated by a man the figure
is always represented as carrying weapons of war, such as a bow and
arrows. Images of the same hero are used in ceremonies, and are
sometimes found as household gods or penates, which are fed as if
human beings. A fragment of pottery represented in the accompanying
illustration (figure 263), shows enough of the head of a personage to
indicate that Püükoñhoya was intended, for it bears on the cheek the
two parallel marks symbolic of that deity, while in his hands he holds
a bow and a jointed arrow as if shooting an unknown animal. All of
these features are in harmony with the identification of the figure
with that of the cultus-hero mentioned, and seem to indicate the truth
of the current legend that as a mythologic conception he is of great
antiquity in Tusayan.
[Illustration: FIG. 263--War god shooting an animal. (Fragment of food
bowl.)]
In this connection it may be instructive to call attention to two
figures on a food bowl collected by Mr H. R. Voth from a ruin near
Oraibi. It represents a man and a woman, the former with two horns, a
crescent on the forehead, and holding in his outstretched hand a
staff. The woman has a curious gorget, similar to some which I have
found in ruins near Tusayan, and a belt like those still worn by
Pueblo Indians. This smaller figure likewise has a crescent on its
face and three strange appendages on each side of the head.
Another food basin in Mr Voth's collection is also instructive, and is
different in its decoration from any which I have found. The character
of the ware is ancient, but the figure is decidedly modern. If,
however, it should prove to be an ancient vessel it would carry back
to the time of its manufacture the existence of the _katcina_ cult in
Tusayan, no actual proof of the existence of which, at a time when
Sikyatki was in its prime, has yet been discovered.
The three figures represent Hahaiwüqti, Hewüqti, and Natacka exactly
as these supernatural beings are now personated at Walpi in the
_Powamû_, as described and figured in a former memoir.[133]
It is unfortunate that the antiquity of this specimen, suggestive as
it is, must be regarded as doubtful, for it was not exhumed from the
ruin by an archeologist, and the exact locality in which it was found
is not known.
THE HUMAN HAND
Excepting the figure of the maid's head above described, the human
hand, for some unknown reason, is the only part of the body chosen by
the ancient Hopi for representation in the decoration of their
pottery. Among the present Tusayan Indians the human hand is rarely
used, but oftentimes the beams of the kivas are marked by the girls
who have plastered them with impressions of their muddy hands, and
there is a _katcina_ mask which has a hand painted in white on the
face. As in the case of the decoration of all similar sacred
paraphernalia, there is a legend which accounts for the origin of the
_katcina_ with the imprint of the hand on its mask. The following
tale, collected by the late A. M. Stephen, from whose manuscript I
quote, is interesting in this connection:
"The figure of a hand with extended fingers is very common, in the
vicinity of ruins, as a rock etching, and is also frequently seen
daubed on the rocks with colored pigments or white clay. These are
vestiges of a test formerly practiced by the young men who aspired for
admission to the fraternity of the Calako. The Calako is a trinity of
two women and a man from whom the Hopi obtained the first corn, and of
whom the following legend is told:
"In the early days, before houses were built, the earth was
devastated by a whirlwind. There was then neither springs nor
streams, although water was so near the surface that it could
be found by pulling up a tuft of grass. The people had but
little food, however, and they besought Masauwûh to help
them, but he could not.
"There came a little old man, a dwarf, who said that he had
two sisters who were the wives of Calako, and it might be
well to petition them. So they prepared an altar, every man
making a _paho_, and these were set in the ground so as to
encircle a sand hillock, for this occurred before houses were
known.
"Masauwûh's brother came and told them that when Calako came
to the earth's surface wherever he placed his foot a deep
chasm was made; then they brought to the altar a huge rock,
on which Calako might stand, and they set it between the two
pahos placed for his wives.
"Then the people got their rattles and stood around the
altar, each man in front of his own paho; but they stood in
silence, for they knew no song with which to invoke this
strange god. They stood there for a long while, for they were
afraid to begin the ceremonies until a young lad, selecting
the largest rattle, began to shake it and sing. Presently a
sound like rushing water was heard, but no water was seen; a
sound also like great winds, but the air was perfectly still,
and it was seen that the rock was pierced with a great hole
through the center. The people were frightened and ran away,
all save the young lad who had sung the invocation.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXVII
UNUSUAL FORMS OF VASES FROM SIKYATKI]
"The lad soon afterward rejoined them, and they saw that his
back was cut and bleeding and covered with splinters of yucca
and willow. The flagellation, he told them, had been
administered by Calako, who told him that he must endure this
laceration before he could look upon the beings he had
invoked; that only to those who passed through his ordeals
could Calako become visible; and, as the lad had braved the
test so well, he should thenceforth be chief of the Calako
altar. The lad could not describe Calako, but said that his
two wives were exceedingly beautiful and arrayed with all
manner of fine garments. They wore great headdresses of
clouds and every kind of corn which they were to give to the
Hopi to plant for food. There were white, red, yellow, blue,
black, blue-and-white speckled, and red-and-yellow speckled
corn, and a seeded grass (_kwapi_).
"The lad returned to the altar and shook his rattle over the
hole in the rock, and from its interior Calako conversed with
him and gave him instructions. In accordance with these he
gathered all the Hopi youths and brought them to the rock,
that Calako might select certain of them to be his priests.
The first test was that of putting their hands in the mud and
impressing them upon the rock. Only those were chosen as
novices the imprints of whose hands had dried on the instant.
"The selected youths then moved within the altar and
underwent the test of flagellation. Calako lashed them with
yucca and willow. Those who made no outcry were told to
remain in the altar, to abstain from salt and flesh for ten
days, when Calako would return and instruct them concerning
the rites to be performed when they sought his aid.
"Calako and his two wives appeared at the appointed time, and
after many ceremonials gave to each of the initiated five
grains of each of the different kinds of corn. The Hopi women
had been instructed to place baskets woven of grass at the
foot of the rock, and in these Calako's wives placed the
seeds of squashes, melons, beans, and all the other
vegetables which the Hopi have since possessed.
"Calako and his wives, after announcing that they would again
return, took off their masks and garments, and laying them on
the rock disappeared within it.
"Some time after this, when the initiated were assembled in
the altar, the Great Plumed Snake appeared to them and said
that Calako could not return unless one of them was brave
enough to take the mask and garments down into the hole and
give them to him. They were all afraid, but the oldest man of
the Hopi took them down and was deputed to return and
represent Calako.
"Shortly afterward Masauwûh stole the paraphernalia, and with
his two brothers masqueraded as Calako and his wives. This
led the Hopi into great trouble, and they incurred the wrath
of Muiyinwûh, who withered all their grain and corn.
"One of the Hopi finally discovered that the supposed Calako
carried a cedar bough in his hand, when it should have been
willow; then they knew that it was Masauwûh who had been
misleading them.
"The boy hero one day found Masauwûh asleep, and so regained
possession of the mask. Muiyinwûh then withdrew his
punishments and sent Palülükoñ (the Plumed Snake) to tell
the Hopi that Calako would never return to them, but that the
boy hero should wear his mask and represent him, and his
festival should be celebrated when they had a proper number
of novices to be initiated."[134]
Several food basins from Sikyatki have a human hand depicted upon
them, and in one of these both hands are represented. On the most
perfect of these hand figures (plate CXXXVII, _c_) a wristlet is well
represented, with two triangular figures, which impart to it an
unusual form. From between the index and second finger there arises a
triangular appendage, which joins a graceful curve, extending on one
side to the base of the thumb and continued on the other side to the
arm. The whole inside of the basin, except the figure of the hand and
its appendage, is decorated with spattering,[135] and on the outside
there is a second figure, evidently a hand or the paw of some animal.
This external decoration also has a triangular figure in which are two
terraces, recalling rain-cloud symbols.
One of the most interesting representations of the human hand (figure
354) is found on the exterior of a beautiful bowl. The four fingers
and the thumb are shown with representations of nails, a unique
feature in such decorations. From between the index finger and the
next, or rather from the tip of the former, arises an appendage
comparable with that before mentioned, but of much simpler form. The
palm of the hand is crossed by a number of parallel lines, which
recall a custom of using the palm lines in measuring ceremonial prayer
sticks, as I have described in a memoir on the Snake dance. In place
of the arm this hand has many parallel lines, the three medial ones
being continued far beyond the others, as shown in the figure.
QUADRUPEDS
Figures of quadrupeds are sparingly used in the decoration of food
bowls or basins, but the collection shows several fine specimens on
which appear some of the mammalia with which the Hopi are familiar.
Most of these are so well drawn that there appears to be no question
as to their identification.
One of the most instructive of these figures is shown in plate CXXX,
_a_, which is much worn, and indistinct in detail, although from what
can be traced it was probably intended to represent a mythic creature
known as the Giant Elk. The head bears two branched horns, drawn
without perspective, and the neck has a number of short parallel marks
similar to those occurring on the figure of an antelope on the walls
of one of the kivas at Walpi. The hoofs are bifid, and from a short
stunted tail there arises a curved line which encircles the whole
figure, connecting a series of round spots and terminating in a
triangular figure with three parallel lines representing feathers.
Perhaps the strangest of all appendages to this animal is at the tail,
which is forked, recalling the tail of certain birds. Its meaning is
unknown to me.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXVIII
MEDICINE BOX AND PIGMENT POTS FROM SIKYATKI]
There can be no doubt that the delineator sought to represent in this
figure one of the numerous horned _Cervidæ_ with which the ancient
Hopi were familiar, but the drawing is so incomplete that to choose
between the antelope, deer, and elk seems impossible. It may be
mentioned, however, that the Horn people are reputed to have been
early arrivals in Tusayan, and it is not improbable that
representatives of the Horn clans lived in Sikyatki previous to its
overthrow.
Two faintly drawn animals, evidently intended for quadrupeds, appear
on the interior of the food bowl shown in plate CXXX, _b_. These are
interesting from the method in which they were drawn. They are not
outlined with defined lines, but are of the original color of the
bowl, and appear as two ghost-like figures surrounded by a dense
spattering of red spots, similar in technic to the figure of the human
hand. I am unable to identify these animals, but provisionally refer
them to the rabbit. They have no distinctive symbolism, however, and
are destitute of the characteristic spots which members of the Rabbit
clan now invariably place on their totemic signatures.
[Illustration: FIG. 264--Mountain sheep]
The animal design on the bowl illustrated in plate CXXX, _c_, probably
represents a rabbit or hare, quite well drawn in profile, with a
feathered appendage from the head. Behind it is the ordinary symbol of
the dragon-fly. Several crosses are found in an opposite hemisphere,
separated from that occupied by the two animal pictures by a series of
geometric figures ornamented with crooks and other designs.
The interior of the food bowl shown in plate CXXX, _d_, as well as the
inner sides of the two ladles represented in plate CXXXI, _b_, _d_,
are decorated with peculiar figures which suggest the porcupine. The
body is crescentic and covered with spines, and only a single leg,
with claws, is represented. It is worthy of mention that so many of
these animal forms have only one leg, representative, no doubt, of a
single pair, and that many of these have plantigrade paws like those
of the bear and badger. The appendages to the head in this figure
remind one of those of certain forms regarded as reptiles, with which
this may be identical.
[Illustration: FIG. 265--Mountain lion]
In another decoration we have what is apparently the same animal
furnished with both fore and hind legs, the tail curving upward like
that of a cottontail rabbit, which it resembles in other particulars
as well. This figure also hangs by a band from a geometric design
formed of two crescents and bearing four parallel marks representing
feathers. The single crescent depicted on the inside of the ladle
shown in plate CXXXI, _b_, is believed to represent the same
conception, or the moon; and in this connection the very close
phonetic resemblance between the Hopi name for moon[136] and that for
the mammal may be mentioned. In the decoration last described the same
crescentic figure is elaborated into its zoömorphic equivalent.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXIX
DESIGNS ON FOOD BOWLS FROM SIKYATKI]
An enumeration of the pictographic representations of mammalia
includes the beautiful food bowl shown in plate CXXX, _e_, which is
made of fine clay spattered with brown pigment. This design
(reproduced in figure 264) represents probably some ruminant, as the
mountain sheep or possibly the antelope, both of which gave names to
clans said to have resided at Sikyatki. The hoofs are characteristic,
and the markings on the back suggest a fawn or spotted deer. There is
a close similarity between the design below this animal and that of
the exterior decorations of certain vases and square medicine bowls.
Among the pictures of quadrupedal animals depicted on ancient food
bowls there is none more striking than that illustrated in plate CXXX,
_f_, which has been identified as the mountain lion. While this
identification is more or less problematical, it is highly possible.
The claws of the forelegs (figure 265) are evidently those of one of
the carnivora of the cat family, of which the mountain lion is the
most prominent in Tusayan. The anterior part of the body is spotted;
the posterior and the hind legs are black. The snout bears little
resemblance to that of the puma.
The entire inner surface of the bowl, save a central circle in which
the head, fore-limbs, and anterior part of the body are represented,
is decorated by spattering. Within this spattered area there are
highly interesting figures, prominent among which is a squatting
figure of a man, with the hand raised to the mouth and holding a
ceremonial cigarette, as if engaged in smoking. The seven patches in
black might well be regarded as either footprints or leaves, four of
which appear to be attached to the band inclosing the central area. In
the intervals between three of these there are branched bodies
representing plants or bushes.
REPTILES
Snakes and other reptilian forms were represented by the ancient
potters in the decoration of food bowls, and it is remarkable how
closely some of these correspond in symbolism with conceptions still
current in Tusayan. Of all reptilian monsters the worship of which
forms a prominent element in Hopi ritual, that of the Great Plumed
Snake is perhaps the most important. Effigies of this monster exist in
all the larger Hopi villages, and they are used in at least two great
rites--the _Soyaluña_ in December and the _Palülükonti_ in March, as I
have already described. The symbolic markings and appendages of the
Plumed Snake effigy are distinctive, and are found in all modern
representations of this mystic being. While several pictographs of
snakes are found on Sikyatki pottery, there is not a single instance
in which these modern markings appear; consequently there is
considerable doubt in regard to the identification of many of the
Sikyatki serpents with modern mythologic representatives.
[Illustration: FIG. 266--Plumed serpent]
In questioning the priests in regard to the derivation of the Plumed
Serpent cult in Tusayan, I have found that they declare that this
cultus was brought into Tusayan from a mythic land in the south,
called Palatkwabi, and that the effigies and fetiches pertaining to it
were introduced by the Patki or Water-house people. From good
evidence, I suspect that the arrival of this phratry was comparatively
late in Tusayan history, and it is possible that Sikyatki was
destroyed before their advent, for in all the legends which I have
been able to gather no one ascribes to Sikyatki any clan belonging to
the phratries which are said to have migrated from the far south. I
believe we must look toward the east, whence the ancestors of the
Kokop or Firewood people are reputed to have come, for the origin of
the symbolic markings of the snakes represented on Sikyatki ceramics.
Figures of apodal reptiles, with feathers represented on their heads,
occur in Sikyatki pictography, although there is no resemblance in the
markings of their bodies to those of modern pictures. One of the most
striking of these occurs on the inside of the food basin shown in
plate CXXXII, _a_. It represents a serpent with curved body, the tail
being connected with the head, like an ancient symbol of eternity. The
body (figure 266) is destitute of any distinctive markings, but is
covered with a crosshatching of black lines. The head bears two
triangular markings, which are regarded as feather symbols. The
position of the eyes would seem to indicate that the top of the head
is represented, but this conclusion is not borne out by comparative
studies, for it was often the custom of ancient Tusayan potters, like
other primitive artists, to represent both eyes on one side of the
head.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXX
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF QUADRUPEDS FROM SIKYATKI]
The zigzag line occupying the position of the tongue and terminating
in a triangle is a lightning symbol, with which the serpent is still
associated. While striving not to strain the symbolism of this figure,
it is suggested that the three curved marks on the lower and upper
jaws represent fangs. It is highly probable that conceptions not
greatly unlike those which cluster about the Great Plumed Serpent were
associated with this mythic snake, the figure of which is devoid of
some of the most essential elements of modern symbolism.
While from the worn character of the middle of the food bowl
illustrated in plate CXXXII, _b_, it is not possible to discover
whether the animal was apodal or not from the crosshatching of the
body and the resemblance of the appendages of the head to those of the
figure last considered, it appears probable that this pictograph
likewise was intended to represent a snake of mystic character. Like
the previous figure, this also is coiled, with the tail near the head,
its body crosshatched, and with two triangular appendages to the head.
There is, however, but one eye, and the two jaws are elongated and
provided with teeth,[137] as in the case of certain reptiles.
The similarity of the head and its appendages to the snake figure last
described would lead me to regard the figure shown in plate CXXXII,
_c_, as representing a like animal, but the latter picture is more
elaborately worked out in details, and one of the legs is well
represented. I have shown in the discussion of a former figure how the
decorator, recognizing the existence of two eyes, represented them
both on one side of the head of a profile figure, although only one is
visible, and we see in this picture (figure 267) a somewhat similar
tendency, which is very common in modern Tusayan figures of animals.
The breath line is drawn from the extremity of the snout halfway down
the length of the body. In modern pictography a representation of the
heart is often depicted at the blind extremity of this line, as if, in
fact, there was a connection with this organ and the tubes through
which the breath passes. In the Sikyatki pottery, however, I find only
this one specimen of drawing in which an attempt to represent internal
organs is made.
The tail of this singular picture of a reptile is highly
conventionalized, bearing appendages of unknown import, but recalling
feathers, while on the back are other appendages which might be
compared with wings. Both of these we might expect, considering the
association of bird and serpent in the Hopi conception of the Plumed
Snake.
Exact identifications of these pictures with the animals by which the
Hopi are or were surrounded, is, of course, impossible, for they are
not realistic representations, but symbolic figures of mythic beings
unknown save to the imagination of the primitive mythologist.
[Illustration: FIG. 267--Unknown reptile]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXI
ORNAMENTED LADLES FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: FIG. 268--Unknown reptile]
A similar reptile is pictured on the food bowl shown in plate CXXXII,
_d_, in which design, however, there are important modifications, the
most striking of which are: (1) The animal (figure 268) has both fore
and hind legs represented; (2) the head is round; (3) the mouth is
provided with teeth; and (4) there are four instead of two feather
appendages on the head, two of which are much longer than the others.
Were it not that ears are not represented in reptiles, one would be
tempted to regard the smaller appendages as representations of these
organs. Their similarity to the row of spines on the back and the
existence of spines on the head of the "horned toad" suggests this
reptile, with which both ancient and modern Hopi are very familiar. On
a fragment of a vessel found at Awatobi there is depicted the head of
a reptile evidently identical with this, since the drawing is an
almost perfect reproduction. There is a like figure, also from
Sikyatki, in the collection of pottery made at that ruin by Dr
Miller, of Prescott, the year following my work there. The most
elaborate of all the pictures of reptiles found on ancient Tusayan
pottery is shown in plate CXXXII, _e_, in which the symbolism is
complicated and the details carefully worked out. A few of these
symbols I am able to decipher; others elude present analysis. There is
no doubt as to the meaning of the appendage to the head (figure 269),
for it well portrays an elaborate feathered headdress on which the
markings that distinguish tail-feathers, three in number, are
prominent. The extension of the snout is without homologue elsewhere
in Hopi pictography, and, while decorative in part, is likewise highly
conventionalized. On the body semicircular rain cloud symbols and
markings similar to those of the bodies of certain birds are
distinguishable. The feet likewise are more avian than reptilian, but
of a form quite unusual in structure. It is interesting to note the
similarity in the carved line with six sets of parallel bars to the
band surrounding the figure of the human hand shown in plate CXXXVII,
_c_. In attempting to identify the pictograph on the bowl reproduced
in plate CXXXIV, _a_, there is little to guide me, and the nearest I
can come to its significance is to ascribe it to a reptile of some
kind. Highly symbolic, greatly conventionalized as this figure is,
there is practically nothing on which to base the absolute
identification of the figure save the serrated appendage to the body
and the leg, which resembles that of the lizard as it is sometimes
drawn. The two eyes indicate that the enlargement in which these were
placed is the head, and the extended curved snout a beak. All else is
incomprehensible to me, and my identification is therefore provisional
and largely speculative.
[Illustration: FIG. 269--Unknown reptile]
I wish, however, in leaving the description of this beautiful bowl, to
invite attention to the brilliancy and the characteristics of the
coloring, which differ from the majority of the decorated ware from
Sikyatki.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF REPTILES FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXIII
BOWLS AND DIPPERS WITH FIGURES OF TADPOLES, BIRDS, ETC. FROM
SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXIV
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF SUN, BUTTERFLY, AND FLOWER FROM SIKYATKI]
Among the fragments of pottery found in the Sikyatki graves there was
one which, had it been entire, would doubtless have thrown
considerable light on ancient pictography. This fragment has depicted
upon it portions of the body and the whole head and neck of a
reptilian animal. We find on that part of the body which is
represented, three parallel marks which recall those on the modern
pictures of the Great Plumed Serpent. On the back there were
apparently the representations of wings, a feather of which is shown
above the head. The head likewise bears a crest of three feathers, and
there are three reptilian like toes. Whether this represents a reptile
or a bird it is impossible for me to say, but enough has already been
recorded to indicate how close the symbolism of these two groups
sometimes is in ancient pictography. It would almost appear as if the
profound anatomical discovery of the close kinship of birds and
reptiles was unconsciously recognized by a people destitute of the
rudiments of the knowledge of morphology.
TADPOLES
Among the inhabitants of an arid region, where rain-making forms a
dominant element in their ritual, water animals are eagerly adopted as
symbols. Among these the tadpole occupies a foremost position. The
figures of this batrachian are very simple, and are among the most
common of those used on ceremonial paraphernalia in Tusayan at the
present time. In none of these is anything more than a globular head
and a zigzag tail represented, and, as in nature, these are colored
black. The tadpole appears on several pieces of painted pottery from
Sikyatki, one of the best of which is the food bowl illustrated in
plate CXXXIII, _a_. The design represents a number of these aquatic
animals drawn in line across the diameter of the inner surface of the
bowl, while on each side there is a row of rectangular blocks
representing rain clouds. These blocks are separated from the tadpole
figures by crescentic lines, and above them are short parallel lines
recalling the symbol of falling rain.
One of the most beautiful forms of ladles from Sikyatki is figured in
plate CXXXIII, _b_, a specimen in which the art of decoration by
spattering is effectively displayed. The interior of the bowl of this
dipper is divided by parallel lines into two zones, in each of which
two tadpoles are represented. The handle is pointed at the end and is
decorated. This specimen is considered one of the best from Sikyatki.
The rudely drawn picture on the bowl figured in plate CXXXII, _f_,
would be identified as a frog, save for the presence of a tail which
would seem to refer it to the lizard kind. But in the evolution of the
tadpole into the frog a tailed stage persists in the metamorphosis
after the legs develop. In modern pictures[138] of the frog with which
I am familiar, this batrachian is always represented dorsally or
ventrally with the legs outstretched, while in the lizards, as we have
seen, a lateral view is always adopted. As the sole picture found on
ancient pottery where the former method is employed, this fact may be
of value in the identification of this rude outline as a frog rather
than as a true reptile.
BUTTERFLIES OR MOTHS
One of the most characteristic modern decorations employed by the
Hopi, especially as a symbol of fecundity, is the butterfly or moth.
It is a constant device on the beautiful white or cotton blankets
woven by the men as wedding gifts, where it is embroidered on the
margin in the forms of triangles or even in more realistic patterns.
This symbol is a simple triangle, which becomes quite realistic when a
line is drawn bisecting one of the angles. This double triangle is not
only a constant symbol on wedding blankets, but also is found on the
dadoes of houses, resembling in design the arrangement of tiles in the
Alhambra and other Moorish buildings. This custom of decorating the
walls of a building with triangles placed at intervals on the upper
edge of a dado is a feature of cliff-house kivas, as shown in
Nordenskiöld's beautiful memoir on the cliff villages of Mesa Verde.
While an isosceles triangle represents the simplest form of the
butterfly symbol, and is common on ancient pottery, a few vessels from
Sikyatki show a much more realistic figure. In plate CXXXIV, _f_, is
shown a moth with extended proboscis and articulated antennæ, and in
_d_ of the same plate another form, with the proboscis inserted in a
flower, is given. As an associate with summer, the butterfly is
regarded as a beneficent being aside from its fecundity, and one of
the ancient Hopi clans regarded it as their totem. Perhaps the most
striking, and I may say the most inexplicable, use of the symbol of
the butterfly is the so-called _Hokona_ or Butterfly virgin slab used
in the Antelope ceremonies of the Snake dance at Walpi, where it is
associated with the tadpole water symbol.
[Illustration: FIG. 270--Outline of plate CXXXV, _b_]
The most beautiful of all the butterfly designs are the six figures on
the vase reproduced in plate CXXXV, _b_. From the number of these
pictures it would seem that they bore some relationship to the six
world-quarters--north, west, south, east, zenith, and nadir. The vase
has a flattened shoulder, and the six butterfly figures are
represented as flying toward the orifice. These insect figures closely
resemble one another, and are divided into two groups readily
distinguished by the symbolism of the heads. Three have each a cross
with a single dot in each quadrant, and each of the other three has a
dotted head without the cross. These two kinds alternate with each
other, and the former probably indicate females, since the same
symbols on the heads of the snakes in the sand picture of the Antelope
altar in the Snake dance are used to designate the female.[139]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXV
VASES WITH FIGURES OF BUTTERFLIES FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVI
VASES WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
Two antennæ and a double curved proboscis are indicated in all the
figures of butterflies on the vase under consideration. The zones
above and below are both cut by a "line of life," the opening through
which is situated on opposite equatorial poles in the upper and under
rim.
[Illustration: FIG. 271--Butterfly design on upper surface of plate
CXXXV, _b_]
The rectangular figures associated with the butterflies on this
elaborately decorated vase are of two patterns alternating with each
other. The rectangles forming one of these patterns incloses three
vertical feathers, with a triangle on the right side and a crook on
the left. The remaining three rectangles also have three feathers, but
they are arranged longitudinally on the surface of the vase.
The elaborate decoration of the zone outside the six butterflies is
made up of feathers arranged in three clusters of three each,
alternating with key patterns, crosshatched crooks, triangles, and
frets. The wealth of ornament on this part of the vase is noteworthy,
and its interpretation very baffling. This vase may well be considered
the most elaborately decorated in the whole collection from Sikyatki.
There are several figures of butterflies, like those shown in plate
CXXXI, _a_, in which the modifications of wings and body have
proceeded still further, and the only features which refer them to
insects are the jointed antennæ. The passage from this highly
conventionalized design into a triangular figure is not very great.
There are still others where the head, with attached appendages,
arises not from an angle of a triangle, but from the middle of one
side. This gives us a very common form of butterfly symbol, which is
found, variously modified, on many ancient vessels. In such designs
there is commonly a row of dots on each side, which may be represented
by a sinuous line, a series of triangles, bars, or parallel bars.
The design reproduced in plate CXXXIV, _d_, represents a moth or
butterfly associated with a flower, and several star symbols. It is
evidently similar to that figured in _a_ of the same plate, and has
representations of antennæ and extended proboscis, the latter organ
placed as if extracting honey from the flower. The conventional flower
is likewise shown in _e_ of this plate. The two crescentic designs in
plate CXXXV, _a_, are regarded as butterflies.
The jar illustrated in plate CXLV, _b_, is ornamented with highly
conventionalized figures on four sides, and is the only one taken from
the Sikyatki cemeteries in which the designs are limited to the
equatorial surface. The most striking figure, which is likewise found
on the base of the paint saucer shown in plate CXLVI, _f_, is a
diamond-shape design with a triangle at each corner (figure 276). The
pictures drawn on alternating quadrants have very different forms,
which are difficult to classify, and I have therefore provisionally
associated this beautiful vessel with those bearing the butterfly and
the triangle. The form of this vessel closely approaches that of the
graceful cooking pots made of coiled and coarse indented ware, but the
vessel was evidently not used for cooking purposes, as it bears no
marks of soot.[140]
DRAGON-FLIES
Among the most constant designs used in the decoration of Sikyatki
pottery are figures of the dragon-fly. These decorations consist of a
line, sometimes enlarged into a bulb at one end, with two parallel
bars drawn at right angles across the end, below the enlargement. Like
the tadpole, the dragon-fly is a symbol of water, and with it are
associated many legends connected with the miraculous sprouting of
corn in early times. It is a constant symbol on modern ceremonial
paraphernalia, as masks, tablets, and pahos, and it occurs also on
several ancient vessels (plates CXL, _b_; CLXIII, _a_), where it
always has the same simple linear form, with few essential
modifications.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVII
VESSELS WITH FIGURES OF HUMAN HAND, BIRDS, TURTLE, ETC. FROM
SIKYATKI]
The symbols of four dragon-flies are well shown on the rim of the
square box represented in plate CXXVIII, _a_. This box, which was
probably for charm liquid, or possibly for feathers used in
ceremonials, is unique in form and is one of the most beautiful
specimens from the Sikyatki cemeteries. It is elaborately decorated on
the four sides with rain-cloud and other symbols, and is painted in
colors which retain their original brilliancy. The interior is not
decorated.
The four dragon-flies on the rim of this object are placed in such a
way as to represent insects flying about the box in a dextral circuit,
or with the heads turned to the right. This position indicates a
ceremonial circuit, which is exceptional among the Tusayan people,
although common in Navaho ceremonies. In the sand picture of the Snake
society, for instance, where four snakes are represented in a border
surrounding a mountain lion, these reptiles are represented as
crawling about the picture from right to left. This sequence is
prescribed in Tusayan ceremonials, and has elsewhere been designated
by me as the sinistral circuit, or a circuit with the center on the
left hand. The circuit used by the decorator of this box is dextral or
sunwise.
Several rectangular receptacles of earthenware, some with handles and
others without them, were obtained in the excavations at Sikyatki. The
variations in their forms may be seen in plates CXXVIII, _a, c,_ and
CXXV, _f_. These are regarded as medicine bowls, and are supposed to
have been used in ancient ceremonials where asperging was performed.
In many Tusayan ceremonials square medicine bowls, some of them
without handles, are still used,[141] but a more common and evidently
more modern variety are round and have handles. The rim of these
modern sacred vessels commonly bears, in its four quadrants, terraced
elevations representing rain-clouds of the cardinal points, and the
outer surface of the bowl is decorated with the same symbols,
accompanied with tadpole or dragon-fly designs.
One of the best figures of the dragon-fly is seen on the saucer shown
in plate CXX, _f_. The exterior of this vessel is decorated with four
rectangular terraced rain-cloud symbols, one in each quadrant, and
within each there are three well-drawn figures of the dragon-fly. The
curved line below represents a rainbow. The terrace form of rain-cloud
symbol is very ancient in Tusayan and antedates the well-known
semicircular symbol which was introduced into the country by the Patki
people. It is still preserved in the form of tablets[142] worn on the
head and in sand paintings and various other decorations on altars and
religious paraphernalia.
BIRDS
The bird and the feather far exceed all other motives in the
decoration of ancient Tusayan pottery, and the former design was
probably the first animal figure employed for that purpose when the
art passed out of the stage where simple geometric designs were used
exclusively. A somewhat similar predominance is found in the part
which the bird and the feather play in the modern Hopi ceremonial
system. As one of the oldest elements in the decoration of Tusayan
ceramics, figures of birds have in many instances become highly
conventionalized; so much so, in fact, that their avian form has been
lost, and it is one of the most instructive problems in the study of
Hopi decoration to trace the modifications of these designs from the
realistic to the more conventionalized. The large series of food bowls
from Sikyatki afford abundant material for that purpose, and it may
incidentally be said that by this study I have been able to interpret
the meaning of certain decorations on Sikyatki bowls of which the best
Hopi traditionalists are ignorant.[143] In order to show the method of
reasoning in this case I have taken a series illustrating the general
form of an unknown bird.
There can be no reasonable doubt that the decoration of the food basin
shown in plate CXXXVII, _a_, represents a bird, and analogy would
indicate that it is the picture of some mythologic personage. It has a
round head (figure 272), to which is attached a headdress, which we
shall later show is a highly modified feather ornament. On each side
of the body from the region of the neck there arise organs which are
undoubtedly wings, with feathers continued into arrowpoints. The
details of these wings are very carefully and, I may add,
prescriptively worked out, so that almost every line, curve, or zigzag
is important. The tail is composed of three large feathers, which
project beyond two triangular extensions, marking the end of the body.
The technic of this figure is exceedingly complicated and the colors
very beautiful. Although this bowl was quite badly broken when
exhumed, it has been so cleverly mended by Mr Henry Walther that no
part of the symbolism is lost.
While it is quite apparent that this figure represents a bird, and
while this identification is confirmed by Hopi testimony, it is far
from a realistic picture of any known bird with which the ancients
could have been familiar. It is highly conventionalized and idealized
with significant symbolism, which is highly suggestive.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVIII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
Bearing in mind the picture of this bird, we pass to a second form
(plate CXXXVIII, _a_), in which we can trace the same parts without
difficulty. On a round head is placed a feathered headdress. The
different parts of the outstretched wings are readily homologized even
in details in the two figures. There are, for instance, two terminal
wing feathers in each wing; the appendages to the shoulder exist in
both, and the lateral spurs, exteriorly and interiorly, are
represented with slight modifications.
[Illustration: FIG. 272--Man-eagle]
The body is ornamented in the same way in both figures. It is
continued posteriorly on each side into triangular extensions, and the
same is true of its anterior, which in one figure has three curved
lines, and in the other a simple crook. There are three tail-feathers
in each figure. I believe there can be no doubt that both these
designs represent the same idea, and that a mythologic bird was
intended in each instance.
The step in conventionalism from the last-mentioned figure of a bird
to the next (plate CXLVII, _a_) is even greater than in the former.
The head in this picture is square or rectangular, and the wings
likewise simple, ending in three incurved triangles without
appendages. The tail has five feathers instead of three, in which,
however, the same symbolic markings which distinguish tail-feathers
are indicated.
The conventionalized wings of this figure are repeated again and again
in ancient Tusayan pottery decorations, as one may see by an
examination of the various birds shown in the plates. In many
instances, however, all the other parts of the bird are lost and
nothing but the triangular feathers remain; but as these have the same
form, whatever organs are missing, the presumption is that their
meaning has not changed.
In passing to the figure of the bird shown in plate CXXXVIII, _b_, we
find features homologous with those already considered, but also
detect considerable modification. The head is elongated, tipped with
three parallel lines, but decorated with markings similar to those of
the preceding figure. The outstretched wings have a crescentic form,
on the anterior horn of which are round spots with parallel lines
arising from them. This is a favorite figure in pottery decoration,
and is found very abundantly on the exterior of food bowls; it
represents highly conventionalized feathers, and should be so
interpreted wherever found. The figure of the body of the bird
depicted is simple, and the tail is continued into three
tail-feathers, as is ordinarily the case in highly conventionalized
bird figures.
The most instructive of all the appendages to the body are the
club-shape bodies, one on each side, rising from the point of union of
the wings and the breast. These are spatulate in form, with a terraced
terminal marking. They, like other appendages, represent feathers, but
that peculiar kind which is found under the wing is called the breath
feather.[144] This feather is still used in certain ceremonials, and
is tied to certain prayer offerings. Its ancient symbolism is very
clearly indicated in this picture, and is markedly different from that
of either the wing or tail feathers, which have a totally different
ceremonial use at the present time.
For convenience of comparison, a number of pictures which undoubtedly
refer to different birds in ancient interpretations will be grouped in
a single series.
Plate CXXXVIII, _d_, represents a figure of a bird showing great
relative modification of organs when compared with those previously
discussed. The head is very much broadened, but the semicircular
markings, which occur also on the heads of previously described bird
figures, are well drawn. The wings are mere curved appendages,
destitute of feather symbols, but are provided with lateral spurs and
have knobs at their bases. The body is rectangular; the tail-feathers
are numerous, with well-marked symbolism. Perhaps the most striking
appendages to the body are the two well-defined extensions of parts of
the body itself, which, although represented in other pictures of
birds, nowhere reach such relatively large size.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXIX
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
The figure of a bird shown in plate CXXXVIII, _c_, is similar in many
respects to that last described. The semicircular markings on the head
of the former are here replaced by triangles, but both are symbolic of
rain-clouds. The wings are curved projections, without any suggestion
of feathers or basal spurs and knobs. The tail-feathers show nothing
exceptional, and the body is bounded posteriorly by triangular
extensions, as in figures of birds already described.
The representation of the bird in plate CXXXVIII, _e_, has a
triangular body continued into two points on the posterior end,
between which the tail-feathers are situated. The body is covered with
terraced and triangular designs, and the head is rectangular in form.
On each side of the bird figure there is a symbol of a flower,
possibly the sunflower or an aster.
In the figures of birds already considered the relative sizes of the
heads and bodies are not overdrawn, but in the picture of a bird on
the food bowl shown in plate CXXXVIII, _f_, the head is very much
enlarged. It bears a well-marked terraced rain-cloud symbol above
triangles of the same meaning. The wings are represented as diminutive
appendages, each consisting of two feathers. The body has a triangular
extension on each side, and the tail is composed of two comparatively
short rectangular feathers. The figure itself could hardly be
identified as a representation of a bird were it not for the
correspondence, part for part, with figures which are undoubtedly
those of birds or flying animals.
A more highly conventionalized figure of a bird than any thus far
described is painted on the food bowl reproduced in plate CXL, _b_.
The head is represented by a terraced figure similar to those which
appear as decorations on some of the other vessels; the wings are
simply extended crescents, the tips of which are connected by a band
which encircles the body and tail; the body is continued at the
posterior end into two triangular appendages, between which is a tail,
the feathers of which are not differentiated. On each side of the
body, in the space inclosed by the band connecting the tips of the
wings, a figure of a dragon-fly appears.
The figure on the food bowl illustrated in plate CXXXIX, _c_, may also
be reduced to a conventionalized bird symbol. The two pointed objects
on the lower rim represent tail-feathers, and the triangular
appendages, one on each side above them, the body, as in the designs
which have already been described. Above the triangles is a
rectangular figure with terraced rain-cloud emblems, a constant
feature on the body and head of the bird, and on each side, near the
rim of the bowl, occur the primary feathers of the wings. The cross,
so frequently associated with designs representing birds, is replaced
by the triple intersecting lines in the remaining area. The
resemblance of this figure to those already considered is clearly
evident after a little study.
The decoration on the food basin presented in plate CXXXIX, _a_, is
interesting in the study of the evolution of bird designs into
conventional forms. In this figure those parts which are identified as
homologues of the wings extend wholly across the interior of the food
bowl, and have the forms of triangles with smaller triangular spurs at
their bases. The wings are extended at right angles to the axis of the
body, and taper uniformly to the rim of the bowl. The smaller spurs
near the union of the wings and body represent the posterior part of
the latter, and between them are the tail-feathers, their number being
indicated by three triangles.
There is no representation of a head, although the terraced rain-cloud
figure is drawn on the anterior of the body between the wings.
The reduction of the triangular wings of the last figure to a simple
band drawn diametrically across the inner surface of the bowl is
accomplished in the design shown in plate CXXXIX, _b_. At intervals
along this line there are arranged groups of blocks, three in each
group, representing stars, as will later be shown. The semicircular
head has lost all appendages and is reduced to a rain-cloud symbol.
The posterior angles of the body are much prolonged, and the tail
still bears the markings representing three tail-feathers.
The association of a cross with the bird figure is both appropriate
and common; its modified form in this decoration is not exceptional,
but why it is appended to the wings is not wholly clear. We shall see
its reappearance on other bowls decorated with more highly
conventionalized bird figures.
In the peculiar decoration used in the treatment of the food bowl
shown in plate CXXXIX, _c_, we have almost a return to geometric
figures in a conventional representation of a bird. In this case the
semblance to wings is wholly lost in the line drawn diametrically
across the interior of the bowl. On one side of it there are many
crosses representing stars, and on the other the body and tail of a
bird. The posterior triangular extensions of the former are continued
to a bounding line of the bowl, and no attempt is made to represent
feathers in the tail. The rectangular figure, with serrated lower edge
and inclosed terraced figures, finds, however, a homologue in the
heads and bodies of most of the representations of birds which have
been described.
This gradual reduction in semblance to a bird has gone still further
in the figure represented in plate CXXXIX, _d_, where the posterior
end of the body is represented by two spurs, and the tail by three
feathers, the triangular rain-clouds still persisting in the
rectangular body. In fact, it can hardly be seen how a more
conventionalized figure of a bird were possible did we not find in _e_
of the same plate this reduction still greater. Here the tail is
represented by three parallel lines, the posterior of the body by two
dentate appendages, and the body itself by a square.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXL
FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
In plate CXL, _c_, we have a similar conventional bird symbol where
two birds, instead of one, are represented. In both these instances it
would appear that the diametric band, originally homologous to wings,
had lost its former significance.
It must also be pointed out that there is a close likeness between
some of these so-called conventionalized figures of birds and those of
moths or butterflies. If, for instance, they are compared with the
figures of the six designs of the upper surface of the vase shown in
plate CXXXV, _b_, we note especially this resemblance. While,
therefore, it can hardly be said there is absolute proof that these
highly conventionalized figures always represent birds, we may, I
think, be sure that either the bird or the moth or butterfly is
generally intended.
There are several modifications of these highly conventionalized
figures of birds which may be mentioned, one of the most interesting
of which is figured in plate CXXXIX, _f_. In this representation the
two posterior triangular extensions of the body are modified into
graceful curves, and the tail-feathers are simply parallel lines. The
figure in this instance is little more than a trifid appendage to a
broad band across the inner surface of the food bowl. In addition to
this highly conventionalized bird figure, however, there are two
crosses which represent stars. In this decoration all resemblance to a
bird is lost, and it is only by following the reduction of parts that
one is able to identify this geometric design with the more elaborate
pictures of mythic birds. When questioned in regard to the meaning of
this symbol, the best informed Hopi priests had no suggestion to
offer.
In all the figures of birds thus far considered, the head, with one or
two exceptions, is represented or indicated by symbolic markings. In
that which decorates the vessel shown in plate CXL, _a_, we find a new
modification; the wings, instead of being attenuated into a diametric
line or band, are in this case curved to form a loose spiral. Between
them is the figure of a body and the three tail-feathers, while the
triangular extensions which generally indicate the posterior of the
body are simply two rounded knobs at the point of union of the wings
and tail. There is no indication of a head.
The modifications in the figure of the bird shown in the last
mentioned pictograph, and the highly conventionalized forms which the
wings and other parts assume, give me confidence to venture an
interpretation of a strange figure shown in plate CXLI, _a_. This
picture I regard as a representation of a bird, and I do so for the
following resemblances to figures already studied. The head of the
bird, as has been shown, is often replaced by a terraced rain-cloud
symbol. Such a figure occurs in the pictograph under consideration,
where it occupies the position of the head. On either side of what
might be regarded as a body we find, at the anterior end, two curved
appendages which so closely resemble similarly placed bodies in the
pictograph last discussed that they are regarded as representations of
wings. These extensions at the posterior end of the body are readily
comparable with prolongations in that part on which we have already
commented. The tail, although different from that in figures of birds
thus far discussed, has many points of resemblance to them. The two
circles, one on each side of the bird figure, are important additions
which are treated in following pages.[145]
From the study of the conventionalized forms of birds which I have
outlined above it is possible to venture the suggestion that the
star-shape figure shown in plate CLXVII, _b_, may be referred to the
same group, but in this specimen we appear to have duplication, or a
representation of the bird symbol repeated in both semicircles of the
interior of the bowl. Examining one of these we readily detect the two
tail-feathers in the middle, with the triangular end of the body on
each side. The lateral appendages duplicated on each side correspond
with the band across the middle of the bowl in other specimens, and
represent highly conventionalized wings. The middle of this compound
figure is decorated with a cross, and in each quadrant there is a row
of the same emblems, equidistant from one another.
It would be but a short step from this figure to the ancient sun
symbol with which the eagle and other raptorial birds are intimately
associated. The figure represented in plate CXXXIII, _c_, is a
symbolic bird in which the different parts are directly comparable
with the other bird pictographs already described. One may easily
detect in it the two wings, the semicircular rain-cloud figures, and
the three tail-feathers. As in the picture last considered, we see the
two circles, each with a concentric smaller circle, one on each side
of the mythic bird represented. Similar circular figures are likewise
found in the zone surrounding the centrally placed bird picture.
In the food bowl illustrated in plate CXLI, _b_, we find the two
circles shown, and between them a rectangular pictograph the meaning
of which is not clear. The only suggestion which I have in regard to
the significance of this object is that it is an example of
substitution--the substitution of a prayer offering to the mythic bird
represented in the other bowls for a figure of the bird itself. This
interpretation, however, is highly speculative, and should be accepted
only with limitations. I have sometimes thought that the prayer-stick
or paho may originally have represented a bird, and the use of it is
an instance of the substitution[146] of a symbolic effigy of a bird, a
direct survival of the time when a bird was sacrificed to the deity
addressed.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLI
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLII
VASES, BOWLS, AND LADLE, WITH FIGURES OF FEATHERS, FROM SIKYATKI]
The studies of the conventional bird figures which are developed in
the preceding pages make it possible to interpret one of the two
pictures on the food bowl represented in plate CLII, while the
realistic character of the smaller figure leaves no question that we
can rightly identify this also as a bird. In the larger figure the
wings are of unequal size and are tipped with appendages of a more or
less decorative nature. The posterior part of the body is formed of
two triangular extensions, to which feathers are suspended, and the
tail is composed of three large pointed feathers. The head bears the
terraced rain-cloud designs almost universal in pictographs of birds.
It is hardly necessary for me to indicate the head, body, wings, and
legs of the smaller figure, for they are evidently avian, while the
character of the beak would indicate that a parrot or raptorial genus
was intended. The same beak is found in the decoration of a vase with
a bird design, which will later be considered.
From an examination of the various figures of birds on the Sikyatki
pottery, and an analysis of the appendages to the wings, body, and
legs, it is possible to determine the symbolic markings characteristic
of two different kinds of feathers, the large wing or tail feathers
and the so-called breath or body feathers. There is therefore no
hesitation, when we find an object of pottery ornamented with these
symbols, in interpreting them as feathers. Such a bowl is that shown
in plate CXLI, _c_, in which we find a curved line to which are
appended three breast feathers. This curved band from which they hang
may take the form of a circle with two pendent feathers as in plate
CXLI, _d_.
In the design on the bowl figured in plate CXLI, _e_, tail-feathers
hang from a curved band, at each extremity of which is a square design
in which the cross is represented. It has been suggested that this
represents the feathered rainbow, a peculiar conception of both the
Pueblo and the Navaho Indians. The design appearing on the small food
bowl represented in plate CXLI, _f_, is no doubt connected in some way
with that last mentioned, although the likeness between the appendages
to the ring and feathers is remote. It is one of those
conventionalized pictures, the interpretation of which, with the
scanty data at hand, must be largely theoretical.
Figures of feathers are most important features in the decoration of
ancient Sikyatki pottery, and their many modifications may readily be
seen by an examination of the plates. In modern Tusayan ceremonials
the feather is appended to almost all the different objects used in
worship; it is essential in the structure of the _tiponi_ or badge of
the chief, without which no elaborate ceremony can be performed or
altar erected; it adorns the images on the altars, decorates the heads
of participants, is prescribed for the prayer-sticks, and is always
appended to aspergills, rattles, and whistles.
In the performance of certain ceremonials water from sacred springs is
used, and this water, sometimes brought from great distances, is kept
in small gourd or clay vases, around the necks of which a string with
attached feathers is tied. Such a vase is the so-called _patne_ which
has been described in a memoir on the Snake ceremonies at Walpi.[147]
The artistic tendency of the ancient people of Sikyatki apparently
exhibited itself in painting these feathers on the outside of similar
small vases. Plate CXLII, _a_, shows one of these vessels, decorated
with an elaborate design with four breath-feathers suspended from the
equator. (See also figure 273.) On the vases shown in plate CXLII,
_b_, _c_, are found figures of tail-feathers arranged in two groups on
opposite sides of the rim or orifice. One of these groups has eight,
the other seven, figures of these feathers, and on the two remaining
quadrants are the star emblems so constantly seen in pottery decorated
with bird figures. The upper surface of the vase (figure 274) shows a
similar arrangement, although the feathers here are conventionalized
into triangular dentations, seven on one side and three on the other,
individual dentations alternating with rectangular designs which
suggest rain-clouds. This vase (plate CXLIII, _a_, _b_) is also
striking in having a well-drawn figure of a bird in profile, the head,
wings, tail, and legs suggesting a parrot. The zone of decoration of
this vessel, which surrounds the rows of feathers, is strikingly
complicated, and comprises rain-cloud, feather, and other designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 273--Pendent feather ornaments on a vase.]
In a discussion of the significance of the design on the food bowl
represented in plate CXXXIX, _a_, _b_, I have shown ample reason for
regarding it a figure of a highly conventionalized bird. On the upper
surface of the vase (plate CXLIV, _a_, _b_) are four similar designs,
representing birds of the four cardinal points, one on each quadrant.
The wings are represented by triangular extensions, destitute of
appendages but with a rounded body at their point of juncture with the
trunk. Each bird has four tail-feathers and rain-cloud symbols on the
anterior end of the body. As is the case with the figures on the food
basins, there are crosses representing stars near the extended wings.
A broad band connects all these birds, and terraced rain-cloud
symbols, six in number and arranged in pairs, fill the peripheral
sections between them. This vase, although broken, is one of the most
beautiful and instructive in the rich collection of Sikyatki
ceramics.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIII
VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIV
VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLV
VASES WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: FIG. 274--Upper surface of vase with bird decoration]
I have not ventured, in the consideration of the manifold pictures of
birds on ancient pottery, to offer an interpretation of their probable
generic identification. There is no doubt, however, that they
represent mythic conceptions, and are emblematic of birds which
figured conspicuously in the ancient Hopi Olympus. The modern legends
of Tusayan are replete with references to such bird-like beings which
play important rôles and which bear evidence of archaic origins. There
is, however, one fragment of a food bowl which is adorned with a
pictograph so realistic and so true to modern legends of a harpy that
I have not hesitated to affix to it the name current in modern Tusayan
folklore. This fragment is shown in figure 275.
[Illustration: FIG. 275--Kwataka eating an animal]
According to modern folklore there once lived in the sky a winged
being called Kwataka, or Man-eagle, who sorely troubled the ancients.
He was ultimately slain by their War god, the legends of which have
elsewhere been published. There is a pictograph of this monster near
Walpi,[148] and pictures of him, as he exists in modern conceptions,
have been drawn for me by the priests. These agree so closely with the
pictograph and with the representation on the potsherd from Sikyatki,
that I regard it well-nigh proven that they represent the same
personage. The head is round and bears two feathers, while the star
emblem appears in the eye. The wing and the stump of a tail are well
represented, while the leg has three talons, which can only be those
of this monster. He holds in his grasp some animal form which he is
represented as eating. Across the body is a kilt, or ancient blanket,
with four diagonal figures which are said to represent flint
arrowheads. It is a remarkable fact that these latter symbols are
practically the same as those used by Nahuatl people for obsidian
arrow- or spearpoints. In Hopi lore Kwataka wore a garment of
arrowpoints, or, according to some legends, a flint garment, and his
wings are said to have been composed of feathers of the same
material.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVI
BOWLS AND POTSHERD WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS, FROM SIKYATKI]
From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism
there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended
to represent this monster, of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and
then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise
represent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so
closely to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the
Tusayan villages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and
consequently figures of him are commonly associated with star and
cloud emblems; he is a god of luck or chance, hence it is not
exceptional to find figures of gaming implements[149] in certain
elaborate figures of this monster.
By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, I
believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the
United States, is that figured in plate CXLVI, _d_. This remarkable
object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this
pueblo, several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly
conventional figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is
difficult to determine the different parts. The four appendages to the
left represent the tail; the two knobs at the right the head, but the
remaining parts are not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed
crosshatching on the body is astonishing, considering that it was
drawn freehand and without pattern. The coloring is bright and the
surface glossy.
The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into
sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag
diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the
bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its
decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in
design. Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this
specimen, and so fresh are the colors that some have found it
difficult to believe it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The
specimen itself, now on exhibition in the National Museum, gives a
better idea of its excellence than any figure which could be made.
This specimen, like all the others, is in exactly the same condition
as when exhumed, save that it has been wiped with a moist cloth to
clean the traces of food from its inner surface. All the pottery found
in the same grave is of the finest character, and although no two
specimens are alike in decoration, their general resemblances point to
the same maker. This fact has been noticed in several instances,
although there were many exceptional cases where the coarsest and most
rudely painted vessels were associated with the finest and most
elaborately decorated ware.
The ladle illustrated in plate CXLII, _e_, is one of the most
beautiful in the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an
unknown animal with a single feather on the head. The eyes are double
and the snout continued into a long stick or tube, on which the animal
stands. While the appendage to the head is undoubtedly a feather and
the animal recalls a bird, I am in doubt as to its true
identification. The star emblems on the handle of the ladle are in
harmony with known pictures of birds.
The feather decoration on the broken ladle shown in plate CXXXI, _f_,
is of more than usual interest, although it is not wholly
comprehensible. The representations include rain-cloud symbols, birds,
feathers, and falling rain. The medially placed design, with four
parallel lines arising from a round spot, is interpreted as a feather
design, and the two triangular figures, one on each side, are believed
to represent birds.
The design on the food bowl depicted in plate CXXXI, _e_, is obscure,
but in it feather and star symbols predominate. On the inside of the
ladle shown in plate CXXXI, _c_, there is a rectangular design with a
conventionalized bird at each angle. The reduction of the figure of a
bird to head, body, and two or more tail-feathers occurs very
constantly in decorations, and in many instances nothing remains save
a crook with appended parallel lines representing feathers. Examples
of this kind occur on several vessels, of which that shown in plate
CXLV, _a_, is an example.
[Illustration: FIG. 276--Decoration on the bottom of plate CXLVI, _f_]
There are many pictures of birds and feathers where the design has
become so conventionalized that it is very difficult to recognize the
intention of the decorator. Plate CXLVII, _f_, shows one of these in
which the feather motive is prominent and an approximation to a bird
form evident. The wings are shown with a symmetric arrangement on the
sides of the tail, while the latter member has the three feathers
which form so constant a feature in many bird symbols. In _b_ of the
same plate there is shown a more elaborated bird figure, also highly
modified, yet preserving many of the parts which have been identified
in the design last described.
The beautiful design shown in plate CXLVI, _e_, represents a large
breath feather with triangular appendages on the sides, recalling the
posterior end of the body of the bird figures above discussed.
The interior of the saucer illustrated in plate CLXVI, _f_, is
decorated with feather symbols and four triangles. The remaining
figures of this plate have already been considered.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIII
FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIX
FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
The figures on the vessel shown in plate CLXVII are so arranged that
there can be little question of their homologies, and from comparisons
it is clear that they should all be regarded as representations of
birds. There appears no necessity of discussing figures _a_ and
_b_ of the plate in this interpretation. In figure _c_ the center of
the design becomes circular, recalling certain sun symbols, and the
tail-feathers are readily recognized on one side. I am by no means
sure, however, that the lateral terraced appendages at the opposite
pole are representations of wings, but such an interpretation can not
be regarded as a forced one. Figure _d_ shows the three tail-feathers,
lateral appendages suggestive of wings, and a square body with the
usual decorations of the body and head of a bird. The design shown in
figure _f_ suggests in many ways a sun-bird, and is comparable with
those previously studied and illustrated. There is no question of the
homologues of tail, head, and wings. The meridional band across the
bowl is similar to those already discussed, and its relationship to
the head and tail of the bird identical. This design is interpreted as
that of one of the numerous birds associated with the sun. The
crescentic extension above what is apparently the head occurs in many
bird figures and may represent a beak.
Many food bowls from Sikyatki are ornamented on their interior with
highly conventionalized figures, generally of curved form, in which
the feather is predominant. Many of these are shown in plates CXLVIII
to CLVII, inclusive, and in studying them I have found it very
difficult to interpret the symbolism, although the figures of feathers
are easy to find in many of them. While my attempt at decipherment is
not regarded as final, it is hoped that it may at least reveal the
important place which the feather plays in Tusayan ceramic decoration.
Plate CXLVIII, _a_, shows the spiral ornament worn down to its lowest
terms, with no hint of the feather appendage, but its likeness in
outline to those designs where the feather occurs leads me to
introduce it in connection with those in which the feather is more
prominent. Figure _b_ of the same plate represents a spiral figure
with a bird form at the inner end, and a bundle of tail-feathers at
the outer extremity. On this design there is likewise a figure of the
dragon-fly and several unknown emblems. Figure _c_ has at one
extremity a trifid appendage, recalling a feather ornament on the head
of a bird shown in plate CXXXVIII, _a_. Figure _d_ has no
conventionalized feather decoration, but the curved line terminates
with a triangle. Its signification is unknown to me. For several
reasons the design in _e_ reminds me of a bird; it is accompanied by
three crosses, which are almost invariably found in connection with
bird figures, and at the inner end there is attached a breath feather.
This end of the figure is supposed to be the head, as will appear by
later comparative studies. The bird form is masked in _f_, but the
feather designs are prominent. This bowl is exceptional in having an
encircling band broken at two points, one of the components of which
is red, the other black.
Feather designs are conspicuous in plate CXLIX, _a_, _b_, in the
former of which curved incised lines are successfully used. In _c_,
however, is found the best example of the use of incised work as an
aid in pottery decoration, for in this specimen there are semicircles,
and rings with four triangles, straight lines, and circles. The
symbolism of the whole figure has eluded analysis. Figure _d_ has no
feather symbols, but _e_ may later be reduced to a circle with
feathers. The only symbols in the design shown in _f_ which are at all
recognizable are the two zigzag figures which may have been intended
to represent snakes, lightning, or tadpoles.
When the design in plate CL, _a_, is compared with the beautiful bowl
shown in plate CXLVI, _d_, a treatment of somewhat similar nature is
found. It is believed that both represent birds drawn in profile; the
four bands (_a_) are tail-feathers, while the rectangle represents the
body and the curved appendage a part of the head. From a similarity to
modern figures of a turkey feather, it is possible that the triangle
at the end of the curved appendage is the feather of this bird. An
examination of _b_ leads to the conclusion that the inner end of the
spiral represents a bird's head. Two eyes are represented therein, and
from it feathers are appended. The parallel marks on the body are
suggestive of similar decorations on the figure of the Plumed Snake
painted on the kilts of the Snake priests of Walpi. The star emblems
are constant accompaniments of bird designs. Figure _c_ has, in
addition to the spiral, the star symbols and what appears to be a
flower. The design shown in _d_ is so exceptional that it is here
represented with the circular forms. It will be seen that there are
well-marked feathers in its composition. Figure _f_ is made up of
several bird forms, feathers, rectangles, and triangles, combined in a
complicated design, the parts of which may readily be interpreted in
the light of what has already been recorded.
The significance of the spiral in the design on plate CLI, _a_, is
unknown. It is found in several pictures, in some of which it appears
to have avian relationship. Figure _b_ of the same plate is a square
terraced design appended to the median line, on which symbolic stars
are depicted. As in many bird figures, a star is found on the opposite
semicircle. There is a remote likeness between this figure and that of
the head of the bird shown in plate CXLV, _d_. Plate CLI, _c_, is a
compound figure, with four feathers arranged in two pairs at right
angles to a median band. The triangular figure associated with them is
sometimes found in symbols of the sun. Figure _d_ is undoubtedly a
bird symbol, as may be seen by a comparison of it with the bird
figures shown in plate CXXXVIII, _a-f_. There are two tail-feathers,
two outstretched wings, and a head which is rectangular, with terraced
designs. The cross is triple, and occupies the opposite segment, which
is finely spattered with pigment. This trifid cross represents a game
played by the Hopi with reeds and is depicted on many objects of
pottery. As representations of it sometimes accompany those of birds I
am led to interpret the figure (plate CLVII, _c_) as that of a bird,
which it somewhat resembles. The two designs shown in plate CLI, _e_,
_f_, are believed to be decorative, or, if symbolic, they have been so
worn by the constant use of the vessel that it is impossible to
determine their meaning by comparative methods. Both of these figures
show the "line of life" in a somewhat better way than any yet
considered.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CL
FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLI
FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
In plate CLII, _a_, is shown a compound figure of doubtful
significance, made up of a series of crescents, triangles, and
spirals, which, in _c_, are more compactly joined together, and
accompanied by three parallel lines crossing three other lines. The
curved figure shown in _b_ represents three feathers; a large one on
each side, inclosing a medially smaller member. In _d_ is shown the
spiral bird form with appended feathers, triangles, and terraced
figures. Figure _f_ of this plate is decorated with a design which
bears many resemblances to a flower, the peripheral appendages
resembling bracts of a sunflower. A somewhat similar design is painted
on the side of the helmets of some _katcina_ dancers, where the bracts
or petals are colored in sequence, with the pigments corresponding to
the six directions--north, west, south, east, above, and below. In the
decoration on the ancient Sikyatki bowl we find seven peripheral
bracts, one of which is speckled. The six groups of stamens(?) are
represented between the triangular bracts.
The designs shown in plates CLIII to CLV, inclusive, still preserve
the spiral form with attached feathers, some of them being greatly
conventionalized or differentiated. In the first of these plates
(figure _b_) is represented a bird form with triangular head with four
feathers arranged in fan shape. These feathers are different from any
which I have been able to find attached to the bodies of birds, and
are thus identified from morphological rather than from other reasons.
The body of the conventionalized bird is decorated with terraced
figures, spirals, flowers, and other designs arranged in a highly
complicated manner. From a bar connecting the spiral with the
encircling line there arises a tuft of feathers. Figure _a_ of the
same plate is characterized by a medially placed triangle and a
graceful pendant from which hangs seven feathers. In this instance
these structures take the form of triangles and pairs of lines. The
relation of these structures to feathers would appear highly
speculative, but they have been so interpreted for the following
reason: If we compare them with the appendages represented in the
design on the vase shown in CXLIII, _b_, we find them the same in
number, form, and arrangement; the triangles in the design on this
vase are directly comparable with the figures in plate CXLIII, _b_, in
the same position, which are undoubtedly feathers, as has been shown
in the discussion of this figure. Consequently, although the triangles
on the pendant in plate CLIII, _a_, appear at first glance to have no
relation to the prescribed feather symbol, morphology shows their true
interpretation. The reduction of the wing feather to a simple
triangular figure is likewise shown in several other pictures on food
vessels, notably in the figure, undoubtedly of a bird, represented in
plate CXLVI, _a_.
In the two figures forming plate CLIV are found simple bird symbols
and feather designs very much conventionalized. The same is true of
the two figures given in plate CLV.
The vessels illustrated in plate CLVI, _a_, _b_, are decorated with
designs of unknown meaning, save that the latter recalls the
modification of the feather into long triangular forms. On the outer
surface this bowl has a row of tadpoles encircling it in a sinistral
direction, or with the center of the bowl on the left. The design of
figure _c_ shows a bird's head in profile, with a crest of feathers
and with the two eyes on one side of the head and a necklace. The
triangular figure bears the symbolism of the turkey feather, as at
present designated in Tusayan altar paraphernalia. As with other bird
figures, there is a representation in red of the triple star.
Figure _d_ is the only specimen of a vessel in the conventional form
of a bird which was found at Sikyatki; it evidently formerly had a
handle. The vessel itself is globular, and the form of the bird is
intensified by the designs on its surface. The bird's head is turned
to the observer, and the row of triangles represent wing feathers. The
signification of the designs on _e_ and _f_ is unknown to me.
Figures _e_ and _f_ of plate CLVI are avian decorations, reduced in
the case of the former to geometric forms. The triangular figure is a
marked feature in the latter design.
The designs represented in plate CLVII are aberrant bird forms. Of
these _a_ and _b_ are the simplest and _c_ one of the most
complicated. Figure _d_ is interpreted as a double bird, or twins with
a common head and tails pointing in opposite directions. Figure _e_
shows a bird in profile with one wing, furnished with triangular
feathers, extended. There is some doubt about the identification of
_f_ as a bird, but there is no question that the wing, tail, and
breath feathers are represented in it. Of the last mentioned there are
three, shown by the notch, colored black at their extremities.
VEGETAL DESIGNS
Inasmuch as they so readily lend themselves as a motive of decoration,
it is remarkable that the ancient Hopi seem to have used plants and
their various organs so sparingly in their pottery painting.
Elsewhere, especially among modern Pueblos, this is not the case, and
while plants, flowers, and leaves are not among the common designs on
modern Tusayan ware, they are often employed. It would appear that the
corn plant or fruit would be found among other designs, especially as
corn plays a highly symbolic part in mythic conceptions, but we fail
to find it used as a decoration on any ancient vessel.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLII
FOOD BOWLS WITH BIRD, FEATHER, AND FLOWER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
In a figure previously described, a flower, evidently an aster or
sunflower, appears with a butterfly, and in the bowl shown in
plate CXXXIV, _e_, we have a similar design. This figure
evidently represents the sunflower, the seeds of which were ground and
eaten in ancient times. The plant apparently is represented as growing
from the earth and is surrounded by a broad band of red in rudely
circular form. The totem of the earth today among the Hopi is a
circle; possibly it was the same among the ancients, in which case the
horizon may have been represented by the red encircling band, which is
accompanied by the crook and the emblem of rain. The petals are
represented by a row of dots and no leaves are shown. From the kinship
of the ancient accolents of Sikyatki with the Flute people, it is to
be expected that in their designs figures of asters or sunflowers
would appear, for these plants play a not inconspicuous rôle in the
ritual of this society which has survived to modern times.
THE SUN
Sun worship plays a most important part in modern Tusayan ritual, and
the symbol of the sun in modern pictography can not be mistaken for
any other. It is a circle with radiating feathers on the periphery and
ordinarily with four lines arranged in quaternary groups. The face of
the sun is indicated by triangles on the forehead, two slits for eyes,
and a double triangle for the mouth. This symbol, however, is not
always used as that of the sun, for in the Oraibi _Powalawû_ there is
an altar in which a sand picture of the sun has the form of a
four-pointed star. The former of these sun symbols is not found on
Sikyatki pottery, but there is one picture which closely resembles the
latter. This occurs on the bowl illustrated in plate CLXI, _c_. The
main design is a four-pointed star, alternating with crosses and
surrounded by a zone in which are rectangular blocks. While the
identification may be fanciful, its resemblances are highly
suggestive. The existence of a double triangle adjacent to this figure
on the same bowl, and its likeness to the modern mouth-design of sun
pictures, appears to be more than a coincidence, and is so regarded in
this identification.
In the design shown in plate CLVIII, _a_, one of the elaborate ancient
sun figures is represented. As in modern symbols, the tail-feathers of
the periphery of the disk are arranged in the four quadrants, and in
addition there are appended to the same points curved figures which
recall the objects, identified as stringed feathers, attached to the
blanket of the maid (plate CXXIX, _a_). The design on the disk is
different from that of any sun emblem known to me, and escapes my
interpretation. I have used the distribution of the feathers on the
four quadrants as an indication that this figure is a sun symbol,
although it must be confessed this evidence is not so strong as might
be wished. The triangles at the sides of two feathers indicate that a
tail-feather is intended, and for the correlated facts supporting this
conclusion the reader is referred to the description of the vessels
shown in plate CXXXVIII.
It would appear that there is even more probability that the picture
on the bowl illustrated in plate CLVIII, _b_, is a sun symbol. It
represents a disk with tail and wing feathers arranged on the
periphery in four groups. This recalls the sun emblems used in Tusayan
at the present time, although the face of the sun is not represented
on this specimen. There is a still closer approximation to the modern
symbol of the sun on a bowl in a private collection from Sikyatki.
In plate CLVIII, _c_, the sun's disk is represented with the four
clusters of feathers replaced by the extremities of the bodies of four
birds, the tail-feathers, for some unknown reason, being omitted. The
design on the disk is highly symbolic, and the only modern sun symbol
found in it are the triangles, which form the mouth of the face of the
sun in modern Hopi symbolism.
One of the most aberrant pictures of the sun, which I think can be
identified with probability, is shown in the design on the specimen
illustrated in plate CXXXIV, _b_. The reasons which have led me to
this identification may briefly be stated as follows:
Among the many supernaturals with which modern Hopi mythology is
replete is one called Calako-taka, or the male Calako. In legends he
is the husband of the two Corn-maids of like name. The ceremonials
connected with this being occur in Sichomovi in July, when four giant
personifications enter the village as have been described in a former
memoir. The heads of these giants are provided with two curved horns,
between which is a crest of eagle tail-feathers.
Two of these giants, under another name, but with the same symbolism,
are depicted on the altars of the _katcinas_ at Walpi and Mishoñinovi,
where they represent the sun. A chief personifying the same
supernatural flogs children when they are initiated into the knowledge
of the _katcinas_.
The figure on the bowl under discussion has many points of resemblance
to the symbolism of this personage as depicted on the altars
mentioned. The head has two horns, one on each side, with a crest,
apparently of feathers, between them. The eyes and mouth are
represented, and on the body there is a four-pointed cross. The
meaning of the remaining appendages is unknown, but the likenesses to
Calako-taka[150] symbolism are noteworthy and important. The figure on
the food bowl illustrated in plate CXXXIV, _c_, is likewise regarded
as a sun emblem. The disk is represented by a ring in the center, to
which feathers are appended. The triangle, which is still a sun
symbol, is shown below a band across the bowl. This band is decorated
with highly conventionalized feathers.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIV
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLV
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVI
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
It may be added that in this figure we have probably the most aberrant
sun-symbol yet recognized, and on that account there is a possibility
that the validity of my identification is more or less doubtful.
The three designs shown in plate CLVIII, _c_, _d_, _e_, evidently
belong in association with sun or star symbols, but it is hardly
legitimate to definitely declare that such an interpretation can be
demonstrated. The modern Tusayan Indians declare that the equal-arm
cross is a symbol of the "Heart of the Sky" god, which, from my
studies of the effigies of this personage on various altars, I have
good reason to identify with the lightning.
GEOMETRIC FIGURES
INTERPRETATION OF THE FIGURES
Most of the pottery from Sikyatki is ornamented with geometric designs
and linear figures, the import of many of which are unknown.
Two extreme views are current in regard to the significance of these
designs. To one school everything is symbolic of something or some
religious conception; to the other the majority are meaningless save
as decorations. I find the middle path the more conservative, and
while regarding many of the designs as highly conventionalized
symbols, believe that there are also many where the decorator had no
thought of symbolism. I have ventured an explanation of a few of the
former.
Terraced figures are among the most common rectangular elements in
Pueblo ceramic decorations. These designs bear so close a likeness to
the modern rain-cloud symbol that they probably may all be referred to
this category. Their arrangement on a bowl or jar is often of such a
nature as to impart very different patterns. Thus terraced figures
placed in opposition to each other may leave zigzag spaces suggesting
lightning, but such forms can hardly be regarded as designed for
symbols.
Rectangular patterns (plates CLXII-CLXV) are more ancient in the
evolution of designs on Tusayan pottery than curved geometric figures,
and far outnumber them in the most ancient specimens; but there has
been no epoch in the development reaching to modern times when they
have been superseded. While there are many specimens of Sikyatki
pottery of the type decorated with geometric figures, which bear
ornamentations of simple and complex terraced forms, the majority
placed in this type are not reducible to stepped or terraced designs,
but are modified straight lines, bars, crosshatching, and the like. In
older Pueblo pottery the relative proportion of terraced figures is
even less, which would appear to indicate that basket-ware patterns
were secondary rather than primary decorative forms.
By far the largest element in ancient Tusayan pottery decoration must
be regarded as simple geometric lines, triangles, spirals, curves,
crosshatching, and the like, some of which are no doubt symbolic,
others purely decorative (plate CLXVI). In the evolution of design I
am inclined to believe that this was the simplest form, and I find it
the most constant in the oldest ware. Rectangular figures are regarded
as older than circular figures, and they possibly preceded the latter
in evolution, but in many instances both are forms of reversion,
highly conventionalized representations of more elaborate figures.
Circles and crosses are sometimes combined, the former modified into a
wavy line surrounding the latter, as in plate CLIX, _c_, _d_, where
there is a suggestion (_d_) of a sun emblem.
CROSSES
A large number of food bowls are decorated with simple or elaborate
crosses, stars, and like patterns. Simple crosses with arms of equal
length appear on the vessels shown in plate CLIX, _c_, _d_. There are
many similar crosses, subordinate to the main design, in various
bowls, especially those decorated with figures of birds and sky
deities.
Plate CLX, _a_, exhibits a cruciform design, to the extremities of
three arms of which bird figures are attached. In this design there
are likewise two sunflower symbols. The modified cross figure in _b_
of the same plate, like that just mentioned, suggests a swastica, but
fails to be one, and unless the complicated design in figure _c_ may
be so interpreted, no swastica was found at Sikyatki or Awatobi. Plate
CLX, _d_, shows another form of cross, two arms of which are modified
into triangles.
On the opening of the great ceremony called _Powamû_ or
"Bean-planting," which occurs in February in the modern Tusayan
villages, there occurs a ceremony about a sand picture of the sun
which is called _Powalawû_. The object of this rite is the
fructification of all seeds known to the Hopi. The sand picture of the
sun which is made at that time is in its essentials identical with the
design on the food bowl illustrated in plate CLXI, _c_; consequently
it is possible that this star emblem represents the sun, and the
occurrence of the eight triangles in the rim, replaced in the modern
altar by four concentric bands of differently colored sands, adds
weight to this conclusion. The twin triangles outside the main figure
are identical with those in the mouth of modern sun emblems. These
same twin triangles are arranged in lines which cross at right angles
in plate CLXI, _d_, but from their resemblance to figure _b_ they
possibly have a different meaning.
The most complicated of all the star-shape figures, like the simplest,
takes us to sun emblems, and it seems probable that there is a
relationship between the two. Plate CLXI, _f_, represents four bundles
of feathers arranged in quadrants about a rectangular center. These
feathers vary in form and arrangement, and the angles between them are
occupied by horn-shape bodies, two of which have highly complicated
extremities recalling conventionalized birds.
[Illustration: BUREAU Of AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVII
FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVIII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF SUN AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI]
A large number of crosses are represented in plate CLXII, _d_, in
which the remaining semicircle is filled with a tessellated pattern. A
spiral line with round spots at intervals adorns the specimen
shown in plate CLXI, _a_. Parallel lines with similar spots appear on
the vessel illustrated in plate CLXII, _e_, and a network of the same
is shown in _f_ of the same plate. Plate CLXVII, _b_, represents a
compound star.
While simple swasticas are not found on any of the Sikyatki pottery,
modified and compound forms are well represented. There are several
specimens of figures of the Maltese cross, and one closely
approximating the Saint Andrew's cross. It is scarcely necessary to
say that the presence of the various kinds of crosses do not
necessarily indicate the influence of Semitic or Aryan races, for I
have already shown[151] that even cross-shape prayer-sticks were in
use among the Pueblos when Coronado first visited them.
TERRACED FIGURES
Among the most common of all geometric designs on ancient Tusayan
pottery none excel in variety or number those which I place in the
above group. They form the major part of all decoration, and there is
hardly a score of ornamented vessels in which they can not be
detected. In a typical form they appear as stepped designs,
rectangular figures with diagonals continuous, or as triangular
designs with steps represented along their sides.
While it is probable that in some instances these figures are simply
decorative, with no attempt at symbolism, in other cases without doubt
they symbolize rain-clouds, and the same figures are still used with
similar intent in modern ceremonial paraphernalia--altars,
mask-tablets, and the like. Decorative modifications of this figure
were no doubt adopted by artistic potters, thus giving varieties where
the essential meaning has been much obscured or lost.
THE CROOK
Among the forms of geometric designs on ancient Tusayan pottery there
are many jars, bowls, and other objects on which a crook, variously
modified, is the essential type. This figure is so constant that it
must have had a symbolic as well as a decorative meaning. The crook
plays an important part in the modern ritual, and is prominent on many
Tusayan altars. Around the sand picture of the rain-cloud, for
example, we find a row of wooden rods with curved ends, and in the
public Snake dance these are carried by participants called the
Antelopes. A crook in the form of a staff to which an ear of corn and
several feathers are attached is borne by _katcinas_ or masked
participants in certain rain dances. It is held in the hand by a
personage who flogs the children when they are initiated into certain
religious societies. Many other instances might be mentioned in which
this crozier-like object is carried by important personages. While it
is not entirely clear to me that in all instances this crook is a
badge of authority, in some cases it undoubtedly represents the
standing of the bearer. There are, likewise, prayer offerings in the
form of crooks, and even common forms of prayer-sticks have miniature
curved sticks attached to them.
Some of the warrior societies are said to make offerings in the form
of a crook, and a stick of similar form is associated with the gods of
war. There is little doubt that some of the crook-form decorations on
ancient vessels may have been used as symbols with the same intent as
the sticks referred to above. The majority of the figures of this
shape elude interpretation. Many of them have probably no definite
meaning, but are simply an effective motive of decoration.
In some instances the figure of the crook on old pottery is a symbol
of a prayer offering of a warrior society, made in the form of an
ancient weapon, allied to a bow.
THE GERMINATIVE SYMBOL
The ordinary symbol of germination, a median projection with lateral
extensions at the base (plate CXLIX, _e_), occurs among the figures on
this ancient pottery. In its simplest form, a median line with a
triangle on each side attached to one end, it is a phallic emblem.
When this median line becomes oval, and the triangles elongated and
curved at the ends, it represents the ordinary squash symbol,[152]
also used as an emblem of fertility.
The triangle is also an emblem of germination and of fecundity--the
female, as the previously mentioned principle represents the male. The
geometric designs on the ancient Sikyatki ware abundantly illustrate
both these forms.
BROKEN LINES
In examining the simple encircling bands of many of the food bowls,
jars, and other ceramic objects, it will be noticed that they are not
continuous, but that there is a break at one point, and this break is
usually limited to one point in all the specimens. Various
explanations of the meaning of this failure to complete the band have
been suggested, and it is a remarkable fact that it is one of the most
widely extended characteristics of ancient pottery decoration in the
whole Pueblo area, including the Salado and Gila basins. While in the
specimens from Sikyatki the break is simple and confined to one point,
in those from other regions we find two or three similar failures in
the continuity of encircling lines, and in some instances the lines at
the point of separation are modified into spirals, terraces, and other
forms of geometric figures. In the more complex figures we find the
most intricate variations, which depart so widely from the simple
forms that their resemblances are somewhat difficult to follow. A
brief consideration of these modifications may aid toward an
understanding of the character of certain geometric ornamental
motives.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIX
CROSS AND RELATED DESIGNS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLX
CROSS AND OTHER SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXI
STAR, SUN, AND RELATED SYMBOLS FROM SIKYATKI]
If any of the interlocking spirals on bowls or vases are traced, it is
found that they do not join at the center of the figure. The same is
true when these spirals become frets. There is always a break in the
network which they form. This break is comparable with the hiatus on
encircling bands and probably admits of the same interpretation. In a
simple form this motive appears as two crescents or two key patterns
with the ends overlapping. This simple ornament, called the friendship
sign, is commonly used in the decoration of the bodies of _katcinas_,
and has been likened to the interlocking of fingers or hands of the
participants in certain dances, the fingers half retracted with inner
surfaces approximated, the palms of the hands facing in opposite
directions and the wrists at opposite points. If the points be
extended into an elaborate key pattern or curved into extended
spirals, a complicated figure is produced in which the separation is
less conspicuous although always present.
The same points may be modified into terraced figures, the separation
then appearing as a zigzag line drawn across the figure, or they may
have interlocking dentate or serrate prolongations imparting a variety
of forms to the interval between them.[153] In order to trace out
these modifications it would be necessary to specify each individual
case, but I think that is unnecessary. In other words, the broken line
appears to be a characteristic not only of simple encircling bands,
but also of all geometric figures in which highly complicated designs
extend about the periphery of a utensil.
DECORATIONS ON THE EXTERIOR OF FOOD BOWLS
The decorations on the exterior of the ancient food bowls are in most
instances very characteristic and sometimes artistic. Generally they
reproduce patterns which are found on the outside of vases and jars
and sometimes have a distant relationship to the designs in the
interior of the bowl upon which they occur. Usually these external
decorations are found only on one side, and in that respect they
differ from the modern food bowls, in which nothing similar to them
appears.
The characteristics of the external decorations of food bowls are
symbolic, mostly geometric, square or rectangular, triangular or
stepped figures; curved lines and spirals rarely if ever occur, and
human or animal figures are unknown in this position in Sikyatki
pottery; the geometric figures can be reduced to a few patterns of
marked simplicity.
It is apparent that I can best discuss the variety of geometric
designs by considering these external decorations of food vessels at
length. From the fact that they are limited to one side, the design is
less complicated by repetition and seems practically the same as the
more typical forms. It is rarely that two of these designs are found
to be exactly the same, and as there appears to be no duplication a
classification of them is difficult. Each potter seems to have
decorated her ware without regard to the work of her contemporaries,
using simple designs but combining them in original ways. Hence the
great variety found even in the grave of the same woman, whose
handiwork was buried with her. As, however, the art of the potter
degenerated, as it has in later times, the patterns became more alike,
so that modern Tusayan decorated earthenware has little variety in
ornamentation and no originality in design. Every potter uses the same
figures.
[Illustration: FIG. 277--Oblique parallel line decoration]
[Illustration: FIG. 278--Parallel lines fused at one point]
[Illustration: FIG. 279--Parallel lines with zigzag arrangement]
The simplest form of decoration on the exterior of a food bowl is a
band encircling it. This line may be complete or it may be broken at
one point. The next more complicated geometric decoration is a double
or multiple band, which, however, does not occur in any of the
specimens from Sikyatki. The breaking up of this multiple band into
parallel bars is shown in figure 277. These bars generally have a
quadruple arrangement, and are horizontal, vertical, or, as in the
illustration, inclined at an angle. They are often found on the lips
of the bowls and in a similar position on jars, dippers, and vases.
The parallel lines shown in figure 278 are seven in number, and do not
encircle the bowl. They are joined by a broad connecting band near one
extremity. The number of parallel bands in this decoration is highly
suggestive.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXII
GEOMETRIC ORNAMENTATION FROM SIKYATKI]
Four parallel bands encircle the bowl shown in figure 279, but they
are so modified in their course as to form a number of trapezoidal
figures placed with alternating sides parallel. This interesting
pattern is found only on one vessel.
The use of simple parallel bars, arranged at equal intervals on the
outside of food bowls, is not confined to these vessels, for they
occur on the margin of vases, cups, and dippers. They likewise occur
on ladle handles, where they are arranged in alternate transverse and
longitudinal clusters.
[Illustration: FIG. 280--Parallel lines connected by middle bar.]
The combination of two vertical bands connected by a horizontal band,
forming the letter H, is an ornamental design frequently occurring on
the finest Hopi ware. Figure 280 shows such an H form, which is
ordinarily repeated four times about the bowl.
[Illustration: FIG. 281--Parallel lines of different width; serrate
margin]
The interval between the parallel bands around the vessel may be very
much reduced in size, and some of the bands may be of different width,
or otherwise modified. Such a deviation is seen in figure 281, which
has three bands, one of which is broad with straight edges, the other
with serrate margin and hook-like appendages.
[Illustration: FIG. 282--Parallel lines of different width; median
serrate]
[Illustration: FIG. 283--Parallel lines of different width; marginal
serrate]
In figure 282 eight bands are shown, the marginal broad with edges
entire, and the median pair serrated, the long teeth fitting each
other in such a way as to impart a zigzag effect to the space which
separates them. The remaining four lines, two on each side, appear as
black bands on a white ground. It will be noticed that an attempt was
made to relieve the monotony of the middle band of figure 282 by the
introduction of a white line in zigzag form. A similar result was
accomplished in the design shown in figure 283 by rectangles and
dots.
[Illustration: FIG. 284--Parallel lines and triangles]
The modification of the multiple bands in figure 283 has produced a
very different decorative form. This design is composed of five bands,
the marginal on each side serrate, and the middle band relatively very
broad, with diagonals, each containing four round dots regularly
arranged. In figure 284 there are many parallel, noncontinuous bands
of different breadth, arranged in groups separated by triangles with
sides parallel, and the whole united by bounding lines. This is the
most complicated form of design where straight lines only are used.
[Illustration: FIG. 285--Line with alternate triangles]
We have thus far considered modifications brought about by fusion and
other changes in simple parallel lines. They may be confined to one
side of the food bowl, may repeat each other at intervals, or surround
the whole vessel. Ordinarily, however, they are confined to one side
of the bowls from Sikyatki.
[Illustration: FIG. 286--Single line with alternate spurs]
[Illustration: FIG. 287--Single line with hourglass figures]
Returning to the single encircling band, it is found, in figure 285,
broken up into alternating equilateral triangles, each pair united at
their right angles. This modification is carried still further in
figure 286, where the triangles on each side of the single line are
prolonged into oblique spurs, the pairs separated a short distance
from each other. In figure 287 there is shown still another
arrangement of these triangular decorations, the pairs forming
hourglass-shape figures connected by an encircling line passing
through their points of junction.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXIII
FOOD BOWLS WITH GEOMETRIC ORNAMENTATION FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: FIG. 288--Single line with triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 289--Single line with alternate triangles and
ovals]
[Illustration: FIG. 290--Triangles and quadrilaterals]
[Illustration: FIG. 291--Triangle with spurs]
In figure 288 the double triangles, one on each side of the encircling
band, are so placed that their line of separation is lost, and a
single triangle replaces the pair. These are connected by the line
surrounding the bowl and there is a dot at the smallest angle. In
figure 289 there is a similar design, except that alternating with
each triangle, which bears more decoration than that shown in figure
288, there are hourglass figures composed of ovals and triangles. The
dots at the apex of that design are replaced by short parallel lines
of varying width. The triangles and ovals last considered are arranged
symmetrically in relation to a simple band. By a reduction in the
intervening spaces these triangles may be brought together and the
line disappears. I have found no specimen of design illustrating the
simplest form of the resultant motive, but that shown in figure 290 is
a new combination comparable with it.
The simple triangular decorative design reaches a high degree of
complication in figure 290, where a connecting line is absent, and two
triangles having their smallest angles facing each other are
separated by a lozenge shape figure made up of many parallel lines
placed obliquely to the axis of the design. The central part is
composed of seven parallel lines, the marginal of which, on two
opposite sides, is minutely dentate. The median band is very broad and
is relieved by two wavy white lines. The axis of the design on each
side is continued into two triangular spurs, rising from a rectangle
in the middle of each triangle. This complicated design is the highest
development reached by the use of simple triangles. In figure 291,
however, we have a simpler form of triangular decoration, in which no
element other than the rectangle is employed. In the chaste decoration
seen in figure 292 the use of the rectangle is shown combined with the
triangle on a simple encircling band. This design is reducible to that
shown in figure 290, but is simpler, yet not less effective. In figure
293 there is an aberrant form of design in which the triangle is used
in combination with parallel and oblique bands. This form, while one
of the simplest in its elements, is effective and characteristic. The
triangle predominates in figure 294, but the details are worked out in
rectangular patterns, producing the terraced designs so common in all
Pueblo decorations. Rectangular figures are more commonly used than
the triangular in the decoration of the exterior of the bowls, and
their many combinations are often very perplexing to analyze.
[Illustration: FIG. 292--Rectangle with single line]
[Illustration: FIG. 293--Double triangle; multiple lines]
[Illustration: FIG. 294--Double triangle; terraced edges]
[Illustration: FIG. 295--Single line; closed fret]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXIV
FOOD BOWLS WITH GEOMETRIC ORNAMENTATION FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: FIG. 296--Single line; open fret]
[Illustration: FIG. 297--Single line; broken fret]
[Illustration: FIG. 298--Single line; parts displaced]
In figure 295, starting with the simple encircling band, it is found
divided into alternating rectangles. The line is continuous, and hence
one side of each rectangle is not complete. Both this design and its
modification in figure 296 consist of an unbroken line of equal
breadth throughout. In the latter figure, however, the openings in the
sides are larger or the approach to a straight line closer. The forms
are strictly rectangular, with no additional elements. Figure 297
introduces an important modification of the rectangular motive,
consisting of a succession of lines broken at intervals, but when
joined are always arranged at right angles.
[Illustration: FIG. 299--Open fret; attachment displaced]
[Illustration: FIG. 300--Simple rectangular design]
Possibly the least complex form of rectangular ornamentation, next to
a simple bar or square, is the combination shown in figure 298, a type
in which many changes are made in interior as well as in exterior
decorations of Pueblo ware. One of these is shown in figure 299, where
the figure about the vessel is continuous. An analysis of the elements
in figure 300 shows squares united at their angles, like the last, but
that in addition to parallel bands connecting adjacent figures there
are two marginal lines uniting the series. Each of the inner parallel
lines is bound to a marginal on the opposite side by a band at right
angles to it. The marginal lines are unbroken through the length of
the figure. Like the last, this motive also may be regarded as
developed from a single line.
[Illustration: FIG. 301--Rectangular reversed S-form]
[Illustration: FIG. 302--Rectangular S-form with crooks]
Figures 301 and 302 are even simpler than the design shown in figure
300, with appended square key patterns, all preserving rectangular
forms and destitute of all others. They are of S-form, and differ more
especially in the character of their appendages.
[Illustration: FIG. 303--Rectangular S-form with triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 304--Rectangular S-form with terraced triangles]
While the same rectangular idea predominates in figure 303, it is
worked out with the introduction of triangles and quadrilateral
designs. This fairly compound pattern, however, is still classified
among rectangular forms. A combination of rectangular and triangular
geometric designs, in which, however, the former predominate, is shown
in figure 304, which can readily be reduced to certain of those forms
already mentioned. The triangles appear to be subordinated to the
rectangles, and even they are fringed on their longer sides with
terraced forms. It may be said that there are but two elements
involved, the rectangle and the triangle.
[Illustration: FIG. 305--S-form with interdigitating spurs]
The decoration in figure 305 consists of rectangular and triangular
figures, the latter so closely approximated as to leave zigzag lines
in white. These lines are simply highly modified breaks in bands which
join in other designs, and lead by comparison to the so-called "line
of life" which many of these figures illustrate.
[Illustration: FIG. 306--Square with rectangles and parallel lines]
[Illustration: FIG. 307--Rectangles, triangles, stars, and feathers]
The distinctive feature of figure 306 is the square, with rectangular
designs appended to diagonally opposite angles and small triangles at
intermediate corners. These designs have a distant resemblance to
figures later referred to as highly conventionalized birds, although
they may be merely simple geometrical patterns which have lost their
symbolic meaning.
[Illustration: FIG. 308--Crook, feathers, and parallel lines]
Figure 307 shows a complicated design, introducing at least two
elements in addition to rectangles and triangles. One of these is a
curved crook etched on a black ground. In no other exterior decoration
have curved lines been found except in the form of circles, and it is
worthy of note how large a proportion of the figures are drawn in
straight lines. The circular figures with three parallel lines
extending from them are found so constantly in exterior decorations,
and are so strikingly like some of the figures elsewhere discussed,
that I have ventured a suggestion in regard to their meaning. I
believe they represent feathers, because the tail-feathers of certain
birds are symbolized in that manner, and their number corresponds with
those generally depicted in the highly conventionalized tails of
birds. With this thought in mind, it may be interesting to compare the
two projections, one on each side of the three tail-feathers of this
figure, with the extremity of the body of a bird shown in plate CXLI,
_e_. On the supposition that a bird figure was intended in this
design, it is interesting also to note the rectangular decorations of
the body and the association with stars made of three blocks in
several bird figures, as already described. It is instructive also to
note the fact that the figure of a maid represented in plate CXXIX,
_a_, has two of the round designs with appended parallel lines hanging
to her garment, and four parallel marks drawn from her blanket. It is
still customary in Hopi ceremonials to tie feathers to the garments of
those who personate certain mythic beings, and it is possible that
such was also the custom at Sikyatki. If so, it affords additional
evidence that the parallel lines are representations of feathers.
[Illustration: FIG. 309--Crooks and feathers]
[Illustration: FIG. 310--Rectangle, triangles, and feathers]
[Illustration: FIG. 311--Terraced crook, triangle, and feathers]
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In figure 308 a number of these parallel lines are represented, and
the general character of the design is rectangular. In figure 309 is
shown a combination of rectangular and triangular figures with three
tapering points and circles with lines at their tips radiating instead
of parallel. Another modification is shown in figure 310 in which the
triangle predominates, and figure 311 evidently represents one-half of
a similar device with modifications.
[Illustration: FIG. 312--Double key]
[Illustration: FIG. 313--Triangular terrace]
One of the most common designs on ancient pottery is the stepped
figure, a rectangular ornamentation, modifications of which are shown
in figures 312-314. This is a very common design on the interior of
food vessels, where it is commonly interpreted as a rain-cloud symbol.
[Illustration: FIG. 314--Crook, serrate end]
Of all patterns on ancient Tusayan ware, that of the terrace figures
most closely resemble the geometrical ornamentation of cliff-house
pottery, and there seems every reason to suppose that this form of
design admits of a like interpretation. The evolution of this pattern
from plaited basketry has been ably discussed by Holmes and
Nordenskiöld, whose works have already been quoted in this memoir.
The terraced forms from the exterior of food bowls here considered are
highly aberrent; they may be forms of survivals, motives of decoration
which have persisted from very early times. Whatever the origin of the
stepped figure in Pueblo art was, it is well to remember, as shown by
Holmes, that it is "impossible to show that any particular design of
the highly constituted kind was desired through a certain identifiable
series of progressive steps."
[Illustration: FIG. 315--Key pattern; rectangle and triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 316--Rectangle and crook]
For some unknown reason the majority of the simple designs on the
exterior of food bowls from Tusayan are rectangular, triangular, or
linear in their character. Many can be reduced to simple or multiple
lines. Others were suggested by plaited ware.
[Illustration: FIG. 317--Crook and tail feathers]
In figure 312 is found one of the simplest of rectangular designs, a
simple band, key pattern in form, at one end, with a reentrant square
depression at the opposite extremity. In figure 313 is an equally
simple terrace pattern with stepped figures at the ends and in the
middle. These forms are common decorative elements on the exterior of
jars and vases, where they occur in many combinations, all of which
are reducible to these types. The simplest form of the key pattern is
shown in figure 314, and in figure 315 there is a second modification
of the same design a little more complicated. This becomes somewhat
changed in figure 316, not only by the modifications of the two
extremities, but also by the addition of a median geometric figure.
[Illustration: FIG. 318--Rectangle, triangle, and serrate spurs]
[Illustration: FIG. 319--W-pattern; terminal crooks]
[Illustration: FIG. 320--W-pattern; terminal rectangles]
The design in figure 317 is rectangular, showing a key pattern at one
end, with two long feathers at the opposite extremity. The five bodies
on the same end of the figure are unique and comparable with
conventionalized star emblems. The series of designs in the upper
left-hand end of this figure are unlike any which have yet been found
on the exterior of food bowls, but are similar to designs which have
elsewhere been interpreted as feathers. On the hypothesis that these
two parts of the figure are tail-feathers, we find in the crook the
analogue of the head of a bird. Thus the designs on the equator of the
vase (plate CXLV, _a_), which are birds, have the same crook for the
head, and two simple tail-feathers, rudely drawn but comparable with
the two in figure 317. The five dentate bodies on the lower left-hand
end of the figure also tell in favor of the avian character of the
design, for the following reason: These bodies are often found
accompanying figures of conventionalized birds (plates CXLIV, CLIV,
and others). They are regarded as modified crosses of equal arms,
which are all but universally present in combinations with birds and
feathers (plates CXLIV, _a_, _b_; CLIV, _a_), from the fact that in a
line of crosses depicted on a bowl one of the crosses is replaced by a
design of similar character. The arms of the cross are represented;
their intersection is left in white. The interpretation of figure 317
as a highly conventionalized bird design is also in accord with the
same interpretation of a number of similar, although less complicated,
figures which appear with crosses. Thus the three arms of plate CLX,
_a_, have highly conventionalized bird symbols attached to their
extremities. In the cross figure shown in plate CLVIII, _d_, we find
four bird figures with short, stumpy tail-feathers. These highly
conventionalized birds, with the head in the form of a crook and the
tail-feathers as parallel lines, are illustrated on many pottery
objects, nowhere better, however, than in those shown in plates CXXVI,
_a_, and CLX, _e_. Figure 318 may be compared with figure 317.
[Illustration: FIG. 321--W-pattern; terminal terraces and crooks.]
[Illustration: FIG. 322--W-pattern; terminal spurs]
Numerous modifications of a key pattern, often assuming a double
triangular form, but with rectangular elements, are found on the
exterior of many food bowls. These are variations of a pattern the
simplest form of which is shown in figure 319. Resolving this figure
into two parts by drawing a median line, we find the arrangement is
bilaterally symmetrical, the two sides exactly corresponding. Each
side consists of a simple key pattern with the shank inclined to the
rim of the bowl and a bird emblem at its junction with the other
member.
In figure 320 there is a greater development of this pattern by an
elaboration of the key, which is continued in a line resembling a
square spiral. There are also dentations on a section of the edge of
the lines.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
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In figure 321 there is a still further development of the same design
and a lack of symmetry on the two sides. The square spirals are
replaced on the left by three stepped figures, and white spaces with
parallel lines are introduced in the arms of a W-shape figure.
[Illustration: FIG. 323--W-pattern; bird form]
In figure 322 the same design is again somewhat changed by
modification of the spirals into three triangles rimmed on one side
with a row of dots, which are also found on the outer lines
surrounding the lower part of the design.
[Illustration: FIG. 324--W-pattern; median triangle]
In figure 323 the same W shape design is preserved, but the space in
the lower reentrant angle is occupied by a symmetrical figure
resembling two tail-feathers and the extremity of the body of a bird.
When this figure is compared with the design on plate CXLVI, _a_,
resemblances are found in the two lateral appendages or wings. The
star emblem is also present in the design. The median figure in that
design which I have compared to the tail of a bird is replaced in
figure 324 by a triangular ornament. The two wings are not
symmetrical, but no new decorative element is introduced. It, however,
will be noticed that there is a want of symmetry on the two sides of a
vertical line in the figure last mentioned. The right-hand upper side
is continued into five pointed projections, which fail on the
left-hand side. There is likewise a difference in the arrangement of
the terraced figures in the two parts. The sides of the median
triangles are formed of alternating black and white blocks, and the
quadrate figure which it incloses is etched with a diagonal and cross.
[Illustration: FIG. 325--Double triangle; two breath feathers]
[Illustration: FIG. 326--Double triangle; median trapezoid]
The decoration in figure 325 consists of two triangles side by side,
each having marginal serrations, and a median square key pattern. One
side of these triangles is continued into a line from which hang two
breath feathers, while the other end of the same line ends in a round
dot with four radiating, straight lines. The triangles recall the
butterfly symbol, the key pattern representing the head.
[Illustration: FIG. 327--Double triangle; median rectangle]
[Illustration: FIG. 328--Double compound triangle; median rectangle]
In figure 326 there is a still more aberrant form of the W-shape
design. The wings are folded, ending in triangles, and prolonged at
their angles into projections to which are appended round dots with
three parallel lines. The median portion, or that in the reentrant
angle of the W, is a four-sided figure in which the triangle
predominates with notched edges. Figure 327 shows the same design with
the median portion replaced by a rectangle, and in which the key
pattern has wholly disappeared from the wings. In figure 328 there are
still greater modifications, but the symmetry about a median axis
remains. The ends of the wings instead of being folded are expanded,
and the three triangles formerly inclosed are now free and extended.
The simple median rectangle is ornamented with a terrace pattern on
its lower angles.
[Illustration: FIG. 329--Double triangle; median triangle]
[Illustration: FIG. 330--Double compound triangle]
Figure 329 shows a design in which the extended triangles are even
more regular and simple, with triangular terraced figures on their
inner edge. The median figure is a triangle instead of a rectangle.
[Illustration: FIG. 331--Double rectangle; median rectangle]
Figure 330 shows the same design with modification in the position of
the median figure, and a slight curvature in two of its sides.
[Illustration: FIG. 332--Double rectangle; median triangle]
[Illustration: FIG. 333--Double triangle with crooks]
Somewhat similar designs, readily reduced to the same type as the last
three or four which have been mentioned, are shown in figures 331 and
332. The resemblances are so close that I need not refer to them in
detail. The W form is wholly lost, and there is no resemblance to a
bird, even in its most highly conventionalized forms. The median
design in figure 331 consists of a rectangle and two triangles so
arranged as to leave a rectangular white space between them. In figure
332 the median triangle is crossed by parallel and vertical zigzag
lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 334--W-shape figure; single line with feathers]
In the design represented in figure 333 there are two triangular
figures, one on each side of a median line, in relation to which they
are symmetrical. Each triangle has a simple key pattern in the middle,
and the line from which they appear to hang is blocked off with
alternating black and white rectangles. At either extremity of this
line there is a circular dot from which extend four parallel lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 335--Compound rectangle, triangles, and feathers]
A somewhat simpler form of the same design is found in figure 334,
showing a straight line above terminating with dots, from which extend
parallel lines, and two triangular figures below, symmetrically placed
in reference to an hypothetical upright line between them.
[Illustration: FIG. 336--Double triangle]
Figure 335 bears a similarity to the last mentioned only so far as the
lower half of the design is concerned. The upper part is not
symmetrical, but no new decorative element is introduced. Triangles,
frets, and terraced figures are inserted between two parallel lines
which terminate in round dots with parallel lines.
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[Illustration: FIG. 337--Double triangle and feathers]
The design in figure 336 is likewise unsymmetrical, but it has two
lateral triangles with incurved terrace and dentate patterns. The same
general form is exhibited in figure 337, with the introduction of two
pointed appendages facing the hypothetical middle line. From the
general form of these pointed designs, each of which is double, they
have been interpreted as feathers. They closely resemble the
tail-feathers of bird figures on several bowls in the collection, as
will be seen in several of the illustrations.
[Illustration: FIG. 338--Twin triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 339--Triangle with terraced appendages]
[Illustration: FIG. 340--Mosaic pattern]
Figure 338 is composed of two triangular designs fused at the greatest
angles. The regularity of these triangles is broken by a square space
at the fusion. At each of the acute angles of the two triangles there
are circular designs with radiating lines, a common motive on the
exterior of food bowls. Although no new elements appear in figure 338,
with the exception of bracket marks, one on each side of a circle, the
arrangement of the two parts symmetrically about a line parallel with
the rim of the bowl imparts to the design a unique form. The motive in
figure 339 is reducible to triangular and rectangular forms, and while
exceptional as to their arrangement, no new decorative feature is
introduced.
The specimen represented in figure 340 has as its decorative elements,
rectangles, triangles, parallel lines, and birds' tails, to which may
be added star and crosshatch motives. It is therefore the most
complicated of all the exterior decorations which have thus far been
considered. There is no symmetry in the arrangement of figures about a
central axis, but rather a repetition of similar designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 341--Rectangles, stars, crooks, and parallel
lines]
The use of crosshatching is very common on the most ancient Pueblo
ware, and is very common in designs on cliff-house pottery. This style
of decoration is only sparingly used on Sikyatki ware. The
crosshatching is provisionally interpreted as a mosaic pattern, and
reminds one of those beautiful forms of turquois mosaic on shell,
bone, or wood found in ancient pueblos, and best known in modern times
in the square ear pendants of Hopi women. Figure 340 is one of the few
designs having terraced figures with short parallel lines depending
from them. These figures vividly recall the rain-cloud symbol with
falling rain represented by the parallel lines. Figure 341 is a
perfectly symmetrical design with figures of stars, rectangles, and
parallel lines. It may be compared with that shown in figure 340 in
order to demonstrate how wide the difference in design may become by
the absence of symmetrical relationship. It has been shown in some of
the previous motives that the crook sometimes represents a bird's
head, and parallel lines appended to it the tail-feathers. Possibly
the same interpretation may be given to these designs in the following
figures, and the presence of stars adjacent to them lends weight to
this hypothesis.
[Illustration: FIG. 342--Continuous crooks]
[Illustration: FIG. 343--Rectangular terrace pattern]
An indefinite repetition of the same pattern of rectangular design is
shown in figure 342. This highly decorative motive may be varied
indefinitely by extension or concentration, and while it is modified
in that manner in many of the decorations of vases, it is not so
changed on the exterior of food bowls.
There are a number of forms which I am unable to classify with the
foregoing, none of which show any new decorative design. All possible
changes have been made in them without abandoning the elemental
ornamental motives already considered. The tendency to step or terrace
patterns predominates, as exemplified in simple form in figure 343. In
figure 344 there is a different arrangement of the same terrace
pattern, and the design is helped out with parallel bands of different
length at the ends of a rectangular figure. A variation in the depth
of color of these lines adds to the effectiveness of the design. This
style of ornamentation is successfully used in the designs represented
in figures 345 and 346, in the body of which a crescentic figure in
the black serves to add variety to a design otherwise monotonous. The
two appendages to the right of figure 346 are interpreted as feathers,
although their depart forms widely from that usually assumed by these
designs. The terraced patterns are replaced by dentate margins in this
figure, and there is a successful use of most of the rectangular and
triangular designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 344--Terrace pattern with parallel lines]
[Illustration: FIG. 345--Terrace pattern]
[Illustration: FIG. 346--Triangular pattern with feathers]
In the specimens represented in figures 347 and 348 marginal
dentations are used. I have called the design referred to an S-form,
which, however, owing to its elongation is somewhat masked. The
oblique bar in the middle of the figure represents the body of the
letter, the two extremities taking the forms of triangles.
[Illustration: FIG. 347--S-pattern]
[Illustration: FIG. 348--Triangular and terrace figures]
So far as decorative elements are concerned the design in figure 349
can be compared with some of those preceding, but it differs from them
in combination. The motive in figure 350 is not unlike the
ornamentation of certain oriental vases, except from the presence of
the terraced figures. In figure 351 there are two designs separated by
an inclined break the edge of which is dentate. This figure is
introduced to show the method of treatment of alternating triangles of
varying depth of color and the breaks in the marginal bands or "lines
of life." One of the simplest combinations of triangular and
rectangular figures is shown in figure 353, proving how effectually
the original design may be obscured by concentration.
[Illustration: FIG. 349--Crook, terrace, and parallel lines]
[Illustration: FIG. 350--Triangles, squares, and terraces]
In the foregoing descriptions I have endeavored to demonstrate that,
notwithstanding the great variety of designs considered, the types
used are very limited in number. The geometrical forms are rarely
curved lines, and it may be said that spirals, which appear so
constantly on pottery from other (and possibly equally ancient or
older) pueblos than Sikyatki, are absent in the external decorations
of specimens found in the ruins of the latter village.
Every student of ancient and modern Pueblo pottery has been impressed
by the predominance of terraced figures in its ornamentation, and the
meaning of these terraces has elsewhere been spoken of at some length.
It would, I believe, be going too far to say that these step designs
always represent clouds, as in some instances they are produced by
such an arrangement of rectangular figures that no other forms could
result.
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[Illustration: FIG. 351--Bifurcated rectangular design]
[Illustration: FIG. 352--Lines of life and triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 353--Infolded triangles]
The material at hand adds nothing new to the theory of the evolution
of the terraced ornament from basketry or textile productions, so ably
discussed by Holmes, Nordenskiöld, and others. When the Sikyatki
potters decorated their ware the ornamentation of pottery had reached
a high development, and figures both simple and complicated were used
contemporaneously. While, therefore, we can so arrange them as to make
a series, tracing modifications from simple to complex designs, thus
forming a supposed line of evolution, it is evident that there is no
proof that the simplest figures are the oldest. The great number of
terraced figures and their use in the representation of animals seem
to me to indicate that they antedate all others, and I see no reason
why they should not have been derived from basketry patterns. We must,
however, look to pottery with decorations less highly developed for
evidence bearing on this point. The Sikyatki artists had advanced
beyond simple geometric figures, and had so highly modified these that
it is impossible to determine the primitive form.
As I have shown elsewhere, the human hand is used as a decorative
element in the ornamentation of the interior of several food bowls. It
is likewise in one instance chosen to adorn the exterior. It is the
only part of the human limbs thus used. Figure 354 shows the hand with
marks on the palm probably intended to represent the lines which are
used in the measurement of the length of pahos or prayer-sticks. From
between the index and the middle finger rises a line which recalls
that spoken of in the account of the hand on the interior of the food
bowl shown in plate CXXXVII.
[Illustration: FIG. 354--Human hand]
The limb of an animal with a paw, or possibly a human arm and hand,
appears as a decoration on the outside of another food bowl, where it
is combined with the ever-constant stepped figure, as shown in figure
355.
[Illustration: FIG. 355--Animal paw, limb, and triangle]
PIGMENTS
The ancient Sikyatki people were accustomed to deposit in their
mortuary vessels fragments of minerals or ground oxides and
carbonates, of different colors, used as paints. It thus appears
evident that these substances were highly prized in ancient as in
modern times, and it may be mentioned that the present native priests
regard the pigments found in the graves as so particularly efficacious
in coloring their ceremonial paraphernalia that they begged me to give
them fragments for that purpose. The green color, which was the most
common, is an impure carbonate of copper, the same as that with which
pahos are painted for ceremonial use today. Several shallow,
saucer-like vessels contained yellow ocher, and others sesquioxide of
iron, which afforded both the ancients and the moderns the red pigment
called _cuta_, an especial favorite of the warrior societies. The
inner surface of some of the bowls is stained with the pigments which
they had formerly contained, and it was not uncommon to find several
small paint pots deposited in a single grave. The white used was an
impure kaolin, which was found both in masses and in powdered form,
and there were unearthed several disks of this material which had been
cut into definite shape as if for a special purpose.
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One of these disks or circular plates (figure 356) was found on the
head of a skeleton. The rim is rounded, and the opposite faces are
concave, with a perforation in the middle. Other forms of this worked
kaolin are spherical, oblong, or lamellar, sometimes more or less
decorated on the outer surface, as shown in plate CLXXII, _e_.
Another, shown in _f_, of the same plate, is cylindrical, and other
fragments of irregular shapes were found. A pigment made of micaceous
hematite was found in one of the Sikyatki paint jars. This material is
still used as coloring matter by the Tusayan Indians, by whom it is
called _yayala_, and is highly prized by the members of the warrior
societies.
[Illustration: FIG. 356--Kaolin disk (natural size)]
STONE OBJECTS
Almost every grave at Sikyatki contained stone objects which were
found either in the bowls or in the soil in the immediate neighborhood
of the skeletons. Some of these implements are pecked or chipped,
others are smooth--pebbles apparently chosen for their botryoidal
shape, polished surface, or fancied resemblance to some animal or
other form.
Many of the smooth stones were probably simply polishing stones, used
by the women in rubbing pottery to a gloss before it was fired. Others
were charm stones such as are still employed in making medicine, as
elsewhere described. There were still other stones which, from their
resemblance to animals, may have been personal fetishes. Among the
unusual forms of stones found in this association is a quartz crystal.
As I have shown in describing several ceremonies still observed, a
quartz crystal is used to deflect a ray of sunlight into the medicine
bowl, and is placed in the center of a sand picture of the sun in
certain rites called _Powalawû_; the crystal is also used in divining,
and for other purposes, and is highly prized by modern Tusayan
priests.
A botryoidal fragment of hematite found in a grave reminds me that in
the so-called Antelope rock[154] at Walpi, around which the Snake
dancers biennially carry reptiles in their mouths, there is in one
side a niche in which is placed a much larger mass of that material,
to which prayers are addressed on certain ceremonial occasions, and
upon which sacred meal and prayer emblems are placed.
One or two mortuary bowls contained fragments of stalactites
apparently from the Grand canyon of the Colorado or from some other
locality where water is or has been abundant.
The loose shaly deposit which underlies the Tusayan mesas contains
many cephalopod fossils, a collection of which was made in former
years and deposited in the National Museum. Among these the most
beautiful are small cephalopods called by the Hopi, _koaitcoko_. Among
the many sacred objects in the _tiponi_ baskets of the Lalakonti
society, as described in my account[155] of the unwrapping of that
fetish, there was a specimen of this ammonite; that the shell was
preserved in this sacred bundle is sufficient proof that it is highly
venerated. As a natural object with a definite form it is regarded as
a fetish which is looked upon with reverence by the knowing ones and
pronounced bad by the uninitiated. The occurrence of this fossil in
one of the mortuary bowls is in harmony with the same idea and shows
that it was regarded in a similar light by the ancient occupants of
Sikyatki.
But the resemblance of these and other stones to animal fossils[156]
is not always so remote as in the instances above mentioned. There was
in one grave a single large fetish of a mountain lion, made of
sandstone (plate CLXXII, _b_, _c_), in which legs, ears, tail, and
eyes are represented, and the mouth still retains the red pigment with
which it was colored, although there was no sign of paint on other
parts of the body. This fetish is very similar to the one found at
Awatobi, and is identical in form with those made by the Hopi at the
present time.
It was customary to bury in Sikyatki graves plates or fragments of
selenite or mica, some of which are perforated as if for suspension,
while others are in plain sheets (plate CLXIX, _c_).
Among the stone implements used as mortuary offerings which were found
in the cemeteries, was one made of the same fine lithographic
limestone as the so-called _tcamahia_ (plate CLXXI, _g_) which occur
on the Antelope altar in the Snake ceremonies. The exceptional
character of this fragment is instructive, and its resemblance to the
finely polished stone hoes found in other ruins is very suggestive.
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There were found many disk-shape stones, pecked on the periphery as if
used in grinding pigment or in bruising seeds, and spheroidal stones
with a facet worn at one pole as if used for the same or a similar
purpose (plate CLXXI, _b_, _c_). A few stone axes and hatchets were
also taken from the graves; most of these are rude specimens of stone
working, although one of them can hardly be excelled in any other
collection. Many arrowpoints were found, but these are in no respect
peculiar. They are made of many different kinds of stone, but those of
obsidian are the most numerous. They were generally found in numbers,
sometimes in bowls. Evidently they had not been attached to shafts
when buried, for no sign of the reeds remained. Arrowheads sewed into
a bandoleer are still worn as insignia of rank by warriors, and it is
probable that such was also true in the past, so that on interment
these arrowpoints might have been placed in the mortuary basin
deposited by the side of the warrior, as indicative of his standing or
rank, and the bandoleer or leather strap to which they were attached
decayed during its long burial in the earth. Spearpoints of much
coarser make and larger in size than the arrowheads were also found in
the graves, and a rare knife, made of chalcedony, showed that the
ancient, like the modern Hopi, prized a sharp cutting instrument.
Among the many large stones picked up on the mounds of Sikyatki there
was one the use of which has long puzzled me. This is a rough stone,
not worked save in an equatorial groove. The object is too heavy to
have been carried about, except with the utmost difficulty, and the
probability of the former existence of a handle is out of the
question. It has been suggested that this and similar but larger
grooved stones might have been used as tethers for some domesticated
animal, as the eagle or the turkey, which is about the only
explanation I can suggest. Both of these creatures, and (if we may
trust early accounts) a quadruped about the size of a dog, were
domesticated by the ancient Pueblo people, but I have found no
survival of tethering in use today. Eagles, however, are tied by the
legs and not confined in corrals as at Zuñi, while sheep are kept in
stone inclosures. It is probable that this latter custom came with the
introduction of sheep, and that these stones were weights to which the
Sikyatki people tied by the legs the eagles and turkeys, the feathers
of which play an important part in their sacred observances.
Certain small rectangular slabs of stone have been found, with a
groove extending across one surface diagonally from one angle to
another (plate CLXIX, _a_, _b_.) These are generally called arrowshaft
polishers, and were used to rub down the surface of arrowshafts or
prayer-sticks. Several of these polishers were taken from Sikyatki
graves, and one or two were of such regular form that considerable
care must have been used in their manufacture. A specimen from Awatobi
is decorated with a bow and an arrow scratched on one side, and one of
dark basaltic rock evidently came from a distance. A number of metates
and mullers were found in the graves at Sikyatki. One of the best of
the latter is shown in plate CLXX. These stones are of different
degrees of fineness, and vary from simple triangular slabs of fine
sandstone to very coarse lava. The specimen figured has depressions on
the sides to facilitate handling.[157]
Perhaps the most significant of all the worked stones found in the
Sikyatki cemeteries were the flat slabs the edges of which near the
surface of the soil marked the presence of the graves. These slabs may
be termed headstones, but they have a far different meaning from those
that bear the name of the deceased with which we are most familiar,
for when they have any marking on their faces, it is not a totem of
the dead, but a symbol of the rain-cloud, which is connected with
ancestor worship.
One of the best of these mortuary slabs has its edge cut in such a way
as to give it a terraced outline, and on one face a similar terrace is
drawn in black pigment. These figures are symbols of rain-clouds, and
the interpretation of the use of this design in graves is as follows:
The dead, according to current Tusayan thought, become rain-cloud
gods, or powerful intercessors with those deities which cause or send
the rains. Hence, the religious society to which the deceased
belonged, and the members of the clan who survive, place in the
mortuary bowls, or in the left hand of their friend, the paho or
prayer emblem for rain; hence, also, in prayers at interment they
address the breath body of the dead as a _katcina_, or rain god. These
_katcinas_, as divinized ancestors, are supposed to return to the
villages and receive prayers for rain. In strict accord with this
conception the rain-cloud symbol is placed, in some instances, on the
slab of rock in the graves of the dead at Sikyatki. It proves to me
that the cult of ancestor worship, and the conception that the dead
have power to bring needed rain, were recognized in Sikyatki when the
pueblo was in its prime. One of these slabs is perforated by a small
hole, an important fact, but one for which I have only a fanciful
explanation, namely, to allow the escape of the breath body. Elsewhere
I have found many instances of perforated mortuary stone slabs, which
will be considered in a report of my excavations in 1896.
OBSIDIAN
Many fragments of obsidian, varying in size, are found strewn over the
surface of the majority of ancient ruins in Tusayan, and the quantity
of this material on some mounds indicates its abundance in those early
habitations. This material must have been highly prized for knives,
arrowpoints, and weapons of various kinds, as several of the graves
contained large fragments of it, some more or less chipped, others in
natural forms. The fact of its being deemed worthy of deposit in the
graves of the Sikyatkians would indicate that it was greatly esteemed.
I know of no natural deposit of obsidian near Sikyatki or in the
province of Tusayan, so that the probability is that these fragments
had been brought a considerable distance before they were buried in
the earth that now covers the dead of the ancient pueblos.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXXI
STONE IMPLEMENTS FROM PALATKI, AWATOBI, AND SIKYATKI]
NECKLACES, GORGETS, AND OTHER ORNAMENTS
The Sikyatki people buried their dead adorned with necklaces and other
ornaments as when living. The materials most highly prized for
necklaces were turquois and shell which were fashioned into beads,
some of which were finely made. These necklaces did not differ from
those now worn, and the shells employed were mostly marine varieties
of the genus _Pectunculus_. The turquois beads are often as finely cut
as any now worn, and their presence in the graves led to the only
serious trouble which I had with my native workmen, as they
undoubtedly appropriated many which were found. Some of these turquois
beads are simply flat fragments, perforated at one end, others are
well formed. Many skeletons had a single turquois near the mastoid
process of the skull, showing that they had been worn as ear pendants.
On the neck of one skeleton we found a necklace of many strands,
composed of segments of the leg bones of the turkey, stained green.
There were other specimens of necklaces made of turkey bones, which
were smoothly finished and apparently had not been stained.
Necklaces of perforated cedar berries were likewise found, some of
them still hanging about the necks of the dead, and in one instance, a
small saucer like vessel (plate CXX, _d_) was filled with beads of
this kind, as if the necklace had thus been deposited in the grave as
a votive offering.
For gorgets the Sikyatki people apparently prized slabs of lignite
(plate CLXXII, _d_) and plates of selenite. It was likewise customary
to make small clay imitations of birds and shells for this and for
other ornamental purposes; these, for the most part, however, were not
found in the graves, but were picked up on the surface or in the
débris within the rooms.
The three forms imitating birds shown in plate CLXXIII, _g_, _h_, _i_,
are rude in character, and one of them is crossed by a black line from
which depend parallel lines, representing falling rain; all of these
specimens have a perforated knot on the under side for suspension, as
shown in the figure between them.
The forms of imitations of shells, in clay, of which examples are
shown in plate CLXXIII, _j_, _k_, _l_, are rude in character; they are
often painted with longitudinal or vertical black lines, and have a
single or double perforation for suspension. The shell imitated is
probably the young _Pectunculus_, a Pacific-coast mollusk, with which
the ancient Hopi were familiar.
TOBACCO PIPES
I have elsewhere mentioned that every modern Tusayan ceremony opens
and closes with a ceremonial smoke, and it is apparent that pipes were
highly prized by the ancient Sikyatkians.
The form of pipe used in most ceremonials today has a bowl with its
axis at right angles to the stem, but so far as I have studied ancient
Pueblo pipes this form appears to be a modern innovation.[158] To
determine the probable ancient form of pipe, as indicated by the
ritual, I will invite attention to one of the most archaic portions of
the ceremonies about the altar of the Antelope priesthood, at the time
of the Snake dance at Walpi:[159]
"The songs then ceased, and Wí-ki sent Ká-tci to bring him a light.
Ká-tci went out, and soon returned with a burning corncob, while all
sat silently awaiting Wí-ki's preparation for the great _Ó-mow-ûh_
smoke, which was one of the most sacred acts performed by the Antelope
priests in these ceremonials.
"The _wu-kó-tco-ño_ is a huge, stemless pipe, which has a large
opening in the blunt end, and a smaller one in the pointed. It is five
inches long, one inch in diameter at the large aperture, and its
greatest circumference is seven and a half inches. The pipe is made of
some black material, possibly stone, and as far as could be seen was
not ornamented. The bowl had previously been filled with leaves
carefully gathered from such places as are designated by tradition. In
the subsequent smokes the ashes, "dottle," were saved, being placed in
a small depression in the floor, but were not again put in the pipe.
"Wí-ki took the live ember from Ká-tci and placed it in the large
opening of the pipe, on the leaves which filled its cavity. He then
knelt down and placed the pipe between the two _tí-po-nis_, so that
the pointed end rested on the head of the large fetish, between the
ears. Every one remained silent, and Wí-ki blew several dense clouds
of smoke upon the sand altar, one after another, so that the picture
was concealed. The smoke was made by blowing through the pipe, the
fire being placed in the bowl next the mouth, and the whole larger end
of the pipe was taken into the mouth at each exhalation.
"At the San Juan pueblo, near Santa Fé, where I stopped on my way to
Tusayan, I purchased a ceremonial headdress upon which several spruce
twigs were tied. Wí-ki received some fragments of these with
gratitude, and they formed one of the ingredients which were smoked in
the great _ó-mow-ûh_ pipe. The scent of the mixture was very fragrant,
and filled the room, like incense. The production of this great
smoke-cloud, which is supposed to rise to the sky, and later bring the
rain, ended the first series of eight songs.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXXII
PAINT GRINDER, FETISH, KAOLIN DISKS, AND LIGNITE FROM SIKYATKI]
"Immediately after this event, Há-ha-we filled one of the
small-stemmed pipes lying near the fireplace with native tobacco, and
after lighting it puffed smoke on the altar. He passed the pipe to
Wí-ki, holding it near the floor, bowl foremost, as he did so, and
exchanging the customary terms of relationship. Wí-ki then blew dense
clouds of smoke over the two _tí-po-nis_ and on the sand picture.
Há-ha-we, meanwhile, lit a second pipe, and passed it to Kó-pe-li, the
Snake chief, who enjoyed it in silence, indiscriminately puffing smoke
on the altar, to the cardinal points, and in other directions.
Kó-pe-li later gave his pipe to Ká-kap-ti, who sat at his right, and
Wí-ki passed his to Na-syuñ-'we-ve, who, after smoking, handed the
pipe to Kwá-a, who in turn passed it to Ká-tci, by whom it was given
to Há-ha-we. Ká-tci, the last priest to receive it before it was
returned to the pipe-lighter, smoked for a long time, and repeatedly
puffed clouds of smoke upon the sand picture. Meanwhile Ká-kap-ti had
handed his pipe to Há-ha-we, both exchanging terms of relationship and
carefully observing the accompanying ceremonial etiquette. Há-ha-we,
as was his unvarying custom, carefully cleaned the two pipes, and laid
them on the floor by the side of the fireplace."
The form of pipe used in the above ceremony is typical of ancient
Pueblo pipes, several of which were found at Sikyatki. One of these,
much smaller than the _ó-mow-ûh_ pipe, was made of lava, and bore
evidence of use before burial. It is evident, however, that these
straight pipes were not always smoked as above described. The most
interesting pipes found at Sikyatki were more elongated than that
above mentioned and were made of clay. Their forms are shown in plate
CLXXIII, _b_, _c_, _d_, _f_. One of these (_b_) is very smooth, almost
glazed, and enlarged into two lateral wings near the mouth end, which
is perforated with a small hole. The cavity at the opposite end is
large enough to hold sufficient for a good smoke, and shows evidence
of former use. The whole median region of the exterior is formed by a
collar incised with lines, as if formerly wrapped with fiber. In some
of the modern ceremonials, as that of the Bear-Puma dramatization in
the Snake dance, a reed cigarette is used, ancient forms of which have
been found in sacrificial caves, and there seems no doubt that this
pipe is simply a clay form of those reeds. The markings on the collar
would by this interpretation indicate the former existence of a small
fabric wrapped about it. The two pipes shown, in plate CLXXIII, _b_,
_f_, are tubular in shape,[160] highly polished, and on one of them
(_f_) we see scratches representing the same feature as the collar of
_b_, and probably made with the same intent.
The fragment of a pipe shown in plate CLXXIII, _d_, is interesting in
the same connection. The end of this pipe is broken, but the stem is
intact, and on two sides of the bowl there are elevations covered with
crosshatching. The pipe is of clay and has a rough external surface.
It is improbable that these pipes were always smoked as the
_wu-kó-tco-ño_ of the Snake ceremony, but the smaller end was placed
to the mouth, and smoke taken into the mouth and exhaled. It is
customary in ceremonials now practiced, to wind a wisp of yucca about
the stem of a short pipe, that it may not become too hot to hold in
the hand. This may be a possible explanation[161] of the scratches on
the sides of the ancient tube pipes from Sikyatki.
PRAYER-STICKS
One of the most important objects made in the secret ceremonials of
the modern Pueblos is sacrificial in nature, and is called a paho or
"water wood," which is used as an offering to the gods (figure 357).
These pahos are made of a prescribed wood, of length determined by
tradition, and to them are tied appendages of symbolic meaning. They
are consecrated by songs, about an altar, upon which they are laid,
and afterward deposited in certain shrines by a special courier.
[Illustration: FIG. 357--Mortuary prayer-stick (natural size)]
In modern times the forms of these pahos differ very greatly, the
shape depending on the society which makes them, the god addressed,
and the purpose for which they are used, as understood by the
initiated. Among many other uses they are sometimes mortuary in
character, and are deposited in the graves of chiefs, as offerings
either to the God of Death, or to other deities, to whom they may be
presented by the shade or breath body of the deceased. This use of
pahos is of ancient origin in Tusayan, as shown by the excavations at
Sikyatki, where they were found in mortuary bowls or vases deposited
by the relatives or surviving members of the sacerdotal societies to
which the deceased had belonged.
This pre-Spanish custom in Tusayan was discovered in my excavations at
Awatobi, but the prayer-sticks from that place were fragmentary as
compared with the almost perfect pahos from Sikyatki. These pahos are
of many forms;[162] some of them are of considerable size, and the
majority are of distinctive forms (plates CLXXIV-CLXXV). There are
also many fragments, the former shapes of which could not be
determined. When it is considered that these wooden objects with their
neat carvings were fashioned with stone implements, the high character
of the work is very remarkable. They show, in several instances, the
imprint of attached strings and feathers, portions of which still
remain; also, in one instance, fragments of a pine needle. They are
painted with green and black mineral pigments, the former of which had
undoubtedly done much to preserve the soft wood of which they were
manufactured. As at the present day, cottonwood and willow were the
favorite prescribed woods for pahos, and some of the best were made of
pine. The forms of these ancient prayer offerings, as mentioned
hereafter, differ somewhat from those of modern make, although in
certain instances there is a significant resemblance between the two
kinds.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXXIII
PIPES, BELL, AND CLAY BIRDS AND SHELLS FROM AWATOBI AND SIKYATKI]
One of the most striking instances of resemblance between the old and
the new is the likeness of some of these ancient pahos to those now
made by the Flute society, and if this resemblance is more than a
coincidence, the conclusion that the present flute paho is a survival
of the ancient form may be accepted. As adding weight to this theory
it may be mentioned that traditionally the Flute people claim to be
the ancient people of Tusayan, and possibly contemporaries, in that
province, with the ancient inhabitants of Sikyatki. There is likewise
a most suggestive resemblance between these pahos and certain similar
sticks from cliff dwellings, and it is a belief, which I can not yet
demonstrate as true, that kindred people, or the same sacerdotal
societies represented in cliff houses and in Sikyatki, manufactured
ceremonial prayer offerings which are identical in design. Plate
CLXXIV, _a_, represents a double stick paho, which closely resembles
the prayer offering of the modern Flute society. The two rods were
found together and originally had been attached, as indicated by the
arrangement of the impression of the string midway of their length.
The stick of the left has a facet cut on one side, upon which
originally three dots were depicted to represent the eyes and the
mouth. This member of the paho was the female; the remaining stick was
the male. There are two deep grooves, or ferules, cut midway of their
length, a distinctive characteristic of the modern flute paho. Both
components are painted green, as is still customary in prayer-sticks
of this fraternity. The pahos shown in _b_, _c_, and _d_, are likewise
ascribed to the same society, and differ from the first only in
length. They represent female sticks of double flute pahos. The length
of these prayer-sticks varies on different ceremonial days, and is
determined by the distance of the shrines for which they are intended.
The unit of measurement is the length of certain joints of the finger,
and the space between the tip of longest digit to certain creases in
the palm of the hand. The length of the ancient Sikyatki pahos,
ascribed to the Flute society, follows the same rule.
Plate CLXXIV, _e_, _f_, have the same ferules referred to in the
description above, but are of greater diameter. They are unlike any
modern paho except in this particular. In _g_ is depicted a still
larger prayer-stick, with two serrate incisions on each side of the
continuation of the flattened facet.
Specimens _h_ to _m_ are forms of pahos which I can not identify. They
are painted green, generally with black tips, round, flattened, and of
small size. Figure _n_ is a part of a paho which closely resembles
prayer-sticks found in the cliff houses of Mesa Verde and San Juan
valley of northern New Mexico.
Numerous specimens of a peculiar razor-shape paho were found, two of
which are shown in plate CLXXV, _o_, _s_. The paho shown in figure _d_
is flat on one side and rounded on the other, narrowing at one end,
where it was probably continued in a shaft, and a hole is punctured at
the opposite extremity, as if for suspension. It is barely possible
that this may have been a whizzer or bull-roarer, such as are used at
the present day to imitate the wind, and commonly carried by the
performer in a public dance who personifies the warrior. Figure _t_
differs from the ordinary flute paho in having five constrictions in
the upper part, and in being continued into a very long shank.
The best preserved of all the pahos from the Sikyatki graves are
represented in _u_ and _v_, both of which were found in the same
mortuary bowl. They are painted with a thick layer of green pigment,
and have shafts, which are blackened and placed in opposite directions
in the two figures. Their general form may be seen at a glance. The
lower surface of the object shown in _u_ is perfectly flat, and the
part represented at the upper end is evidently broken off. This is
likewise true of both extremities of the object shown in _v_; it is
also probable that it had originally a serrated end, comparable with
that shown in _c_. A similar terraced extremity survives in the corn
paho carried by the so-called Flute girls in the biennial celebrations
of the Flute ceremonies in the modern Tusayan pueblos.
I refer the paho to the second group of sacrifices mentioned by
Tylor,[163] that of homage, "a doctrine that the gist of sacrifice is
rather in the worshiper giving something precious to himself than in
the deity receiving benefit. This may be called the abnegation theory,
and its origin may be fairly explained by considering it as derived
from the original gift theory."
While it is probably true that the Hopi barters his paho with the idea
of receiving in return some desired gift, the main element is probably
homage, but there is involved in it the third and highest element of
sacrifice, abnegation. It is a sacrifice by symbolism, a part for the
whole.
On this theory the query naturally is, what does a paho represent?
While it is difficult to answer this question, I think a plausible
suggestion can be made. It is a sacrifice by symbolic methods of that
which the Hopi most prize, corn or its meal.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXXIV
PAHOS OR PRAYER-STICKS FROM SIKYATKI]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXXV
PAHOS OR PRAYER-STICKS FROM SIKYATKI]
In a simple prayer the sacrifice is a pinch of meal thrown on the
fetish or toward it. This is an individual method of prayer, and the
pinch of meal, his prayer bearer, the sacrifice.
When a society made its prayers this meal, symbolic of a gift of corn,
is tied in a packet and attached to two sticks, one male, the other
female, with prescribed herbs and feathers. Here we have the ordinary
prayer-stick, varying in details but essentially the same, a sacrifice
to the gods appropriately designated by prescribed accessories.
Frequently this packet of meal may be replaced by a picture of an ear
of corn drawn on a flat slat, the so-called "corn paho" of the Flute
maidens,[164] or we may have an ear of corn tied to the wooden slat.
In the _Mamzrau_ ceremony the women carry these painted slats in their
hands, as I have elsewhere described.[165] It appears as if, in all
these instances, there exists a sacrificial object, a symbolic
offering of corn or meal.
The constant appearance of the feather on the paho has suggested an
interpretation of the prayer-plumes as symbolic sacrifices of birds on
the theory of a part for the whole; we know that among the Nahua
sacrifices of birds were common in many ceremonials. The idea of
animal sacrifice, and, if we judge from legends, of human sacrifice,
was not an unknown conception among the Pueblos. While it is possible
that the omnipresence of the feather on the prayer-sticks may admit of
that interpretation, to which it must be confessed the male and the
female components in double pahos lend some evidence,[166] I believe
the main object was, as above stated, an offering of meal, which
constituted the special wealth of an agricultural people.
MARINE SHELLS AND OTHER OBJECTS
The excavations at Sikyatki did not reveal a large number of marine
shells, although some of the more common genera used in the ancient
pueblos were found.
There were several fragments of _Pectunculus_ cut into the form of
wristlets, like those from the ruins on the Little Colorado which I
have described. Two beautiful specimens of _Oliva angulata_, truncated
at each pole, which occurred in one of the mortuary bowls, and a few
conical rattles, made of the spires of _Conus_, were taken from the
graves; there were also a few fragments of an unknown _Haliotis_. All
of the above genera are common to the Pacific, and no doubt were
obtained by barter or brought by migratory clans to Tusayan from the
far south. One of the most interesting objects in Sikyatki food basins
from the necropolis was a comparatively well preserved rattle of a
rattlesnake. The Walpi Snake chief, who was employed by me when this
was found and was present at the time it was removed from the earth,
declared that, according to the legends, there were no Snake people
living at Sikyatki when it was destroyed, but the discovery of the
snake rattle shows that the rattler was not without reverence there,
even if not in the house of his friends, and some other explanation
may be suggested to account for this discovery. There are evidences
that the ancient Hopi, like certain Yuman tribes, wore a snake's
rattle as an ornament for the neck, in which case the rattle found in
the Sikyatki food basin may have been simply a votive offering, and in
no way connected with ceremonial symbolism.
Among many other mortuary offerings was one which was particularly
suggestive. This specimen represented in plate CLXIX, _e_, is made of
unbaked clay, and has a reticulated surface, as if once incrusted with
foreign objects. The Hopi who were at work for me declared that this
incrustation had been composed of seeds, and that the pits over the
surface of the clay cone were evidence of their former existence. They
identified this object as a "corn mound," and reminded me that a
similar object is now used in the _Powamu_, _Lalakonti_, and certain
other ceremonies. I have elsewhere mentioned the clay corn mound
incrusted with seeds of various kinds in a description of the altar of
the last-mentioned ceremony. These corn mountains (_ká-ü-tü'-kwi_) are
made in the November ceremony called the _N[=a]-ác-nai-ya_, as
described in my account of those rites from which I quote[167]--
"The _Tá-tau-kya-mû_ were very busy in their kib-va. Every
member was shelling corn of the different colors as if on a
wager. Each man made a figure of moist clay, about four or
five inches across the base. Some of these were in the form
of two mammæ, and there were also many wedge and cone forms,
in all of which were embedded corn kernels, forming the
cloud and other of the simpler conventional figures in
different colors, but the whole surface was studded as full
as possible with the kernels. Each man brought down his own
_pó-o-tas_ (tray), on which he sprinkled prayer-meal, and
set his _ká-ü-tü'-kwi_ (corn mountain) upon it. He also
placed ears of corn on the tray."
These corn mountains were carried by the _Tá-tau-kya-mû_ priesthood
during an interesting ceremony which I have thus described:[168]
"The whole line then passed slowly along the front of the
village sideways, facing the north, and singing, and all the
women came out and helped themselves to the clay molds and
the ears of corn borne by the _Tá-tau-kya-mû_, bestowing
many thanks upon the priests."
The fragment of polished stone shown in plate CLXIX, _d_, is
perforated near the edge for suspension, and was found near the aural
orifice of a skull, apparently indicating that it had been used as a
pendant. With this object, many rude arrowpoints, concretions of
stone, and the kaolin disk mentioned above were also found. Small
round disks of pottery, with a median perforation, were not common,
although sometimes present. They are identified as parts of primitive
drills.
No object made of metal was found at Sikyatki, nor is there any
evidence that the ancient people of that pueblo ever saw the Spaniards
or used any implement of their manufacture. While negative evidence
can hardly be regarded as a safe guide to follow, so far as knowledge
of copper is concerned, it is possible that the people of ancient
Tusayan pueblos, in their trading expeditions to southern Arizona, may
have met races who owned small copper bells and trinkets of metal. I
can hardly believe, however, that the Tusayan Indians were familiar
with the art of tempering copper, and even if objects showing this
treatment shall be found hereafter in the ruins of this province it
will have to be proved that they were made in that region, and not
brought from the far south.
No glazed pottery showing Spanish influence was found at Sikyatki, but
there can hardly be a doubt that the art of glazing pottery was
practiced by the ancestors of the Tusayan people. The modern potters
of the East Mesa never glaze their pottery, and no fragment of glazed
ware was obtained from the necropolis of Sikyatki.
PERISHABLE CONTENTS OF MORTUARY FOOD BOWLS
It is the habit of the modern Tusayan Indians to deposit food of
various kinds on the graves of their dead. The basins used for that
purpose are heaped up with paper-bread, stews, and various delicacies
for the breath-body of the deceased. Naturally from its exposed
position much of this food is devoured by animals or disappears in
other ways. There appears excellent evidence, however, that the
mortuary food offerings of the ancient Sikyatkians were deposited with
the body and covered with soil and sometimes stones.
The lapse of time since these burials took place has of course caused
the destruction of the perishable food substances, which are found to
be simple where any sign of their former presence remains. Thin films
of interlacing rootlets often formed a delicate network over the whole
inner surface of the bowl. Certain of the contents of these basins in
the shape of seeds still remain; but these seeds have not germinated,
possibly on account of previous high temperatures to which they have
been submitted. A considerable quantity of these contents of mortuary
bowls were collected and submitted to an expert, the result of whose
examination is set forth in the accompanying letter:
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, DIVISION OF BOTONY,
_Washington, D. C., March 25, 1896._
DEAR DR FEWKES: Having made a cursory examination of the
samples of supposed vegetable material sent by you day
before yesterday, collected at Sikyatki, Arizona, in
supposed prehistoric burial places, I have the following
preliminary report to make:
No. 156247. A green resinous substance. I am unable to say
whether or not this is of vegetable origin.
No. 156248. A mass of fibrous material intermixed with sand,
the fibers consisting in part of slender roots, in part of
the hair of some animal.
No. 156249. This consists of a mixture of seed with a small
amount of sand present. The seeds are, in about the relative
order of their abundance, (_a_) a leguminous shiny seed of a
dirty olive color, possibly of the genus _Parosela_ (usually
known as _Dalea_); (_b_) the black seed shells, flat on one
side and almost invariably broken, of a plant apparently
belonging to the family _Malvaceae_; (_c_) large, flat,
nearly black achenia, possibly of a _Coreopsis_, bordered
with a narrow-toothed wing; (_d_) the thin lenticular
utricles of a _Carex_; (_e_) the minute black, bluntly
trihedral seeds of some plant of the family _Polygonaceae_,
probably an _Eriogonum_. The majority of these seeds have a
coating of fine sand, as if their surface had originally
been viscous; (_f_) a dried chrysalis bearing a slight
resemblance to a seed.
No. 156250. This bottle contains the same material as No.
156249, except that no larvæ are found, but a large, plump,
brownish, lenticular seed 4 mm. in diameter, doubtless the
seed of a _Croton_.
No. 156251. A thin fragment of matter consisting of minute
roots of plants partially intermixed on one surface with
sand.
No. 156252. This consists almost wholly of plant rootlets
and contains a very slight amount of sand.
No. 156254. This consists of pieces of rotten wood through
which had grown the rootlets of plants. The wood, upon a
microscopical examination, is shown to be that of some
dicotyledonous tree of a very loose and light texture. The
plant rootlets in most cases followed the large ducts that
run lengthwise through the pieces of wood and take up the
greater part of the space.
No. 156255. The mass contained in this bottle is made up of
(_a_) grains, contained in their glumes or husks, of some
grass, probably _Oryzopsis membranacea_; (_b_) what appears
to be the minute spherical spore cases of some microscopical
fungus. The spore cases have a wall with a shiny brown
covering, or apparently with this covering worn off and
exhibiting an interior white shell. Within this is a very
large number of spherical spore-like bodies of a uniform
size; (_c_) a few plant rootlets.
No. 156256. The material in this bottle is similar to that
in 156255 except that the amount of rootlets is greater, the
grass seeds are of a darker color, seemingly somewhat more
disorganized, and somewhat more slender in form, and that
the spore cases seem to be entirely wanting.
No. 156257. The material in this bottle is similar to that
in No. 156249, containing the seeds numbered _a_, _b_, _c_,
and _d_ mentioned under that number, besides a greater
amount of plant rootlets and some fragments of corncob.
No. 156258. This consists almost entirely of plant rootlets
and sand.
No. 156259. This consists chiefly of the leaves of some
coniferous tree, either an _Abies_ or a _Pseudotsuga_.
All the seeds with the exception of those of the leguminous
plant are dead and their seed-coats rotten. The leguminous
seeds are still hard and will be subjected to a germination
test.[169]
For a specific and positive identification of these seeds it
will be necessary either for a botanist to visit the region
from which they came or to have at his disposal a complete
collection of the plants of the vicinity. Under such
conditions he could by process of exclusion identify the
seeds with an amount of labor almost infinitely less than
would be required in their identification by other means.
Very sincerely yours,
FREDERICK V. COVILLE, _Botanist._
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: See "The Prehistoric Culture of Tusayan," _American
Anthropologist_, May, 1896. "Two Ruins Recently Discovered in the Red
Rock Country, Arizona," ibid., August, 1896. "The Cliff Villages of
the Red Rock Country, and the Tusayan Ruins, Sikyatki and Awatobi,
Arizona," Smithsonian Report for 1895.]
[Footnote 2: The reader's attention is called to the fact that this
report is not intended to cover all the ruins in the section of
Arizona through which the expedition passed; it is simply a
description of those which were examined, with a brief mention of such
others as would aid in a general comprehension of the subject. The
ruins on the Little Colorado, near Winslow, Arizona, will be
considered in a monograph to follow the present, which will be a
report on the field work in 1896. If a series of monographs somewhat
of this nature, but more comprehensive, recording explorations during
many years in several different sections, were available, we would
have sufficient material for a comprehensive treatment of southwestern
archeology.]
[Footnote 3: It may be borne in mind that several other clans besides
the Patki claim to have lived long ago in the region southward from
modern Tusayan. Among these may be mentioned the Patuñ (Squash) and
the Tawa (Sun) people who played an important part in the early
colonization of Middle Mesa.]
[Footnote 4: Report upon the Indian Tribes, Pacific Railroad Survey,
vol. III, pt. iii, p. 14, Washington, 1856. The cavate dwellings of
the Rio Verde were first described by Dr E. A. Mearns. Although it has
sometimes been supposed that Coronado followed the trail along Verde
valley, and then over the Mogollones to Rio Colorado Chiquito,
Bandelier has conclusively shown a more easterly route.]
[Footnote 5: See mention of cliff houses in Walnut canyon in the Fifth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.]
[Footnote 6: The kinship of Cliff dwellers and Pueblos was long ago
recognized by ethnologists, both from resemblances of skulls, the
character of architecture, and archeological objects found in each
class of dwellings. It is only in later years, however, that the
argument from similar ceremonial paraphernalia has been adduced, owing
to an increase of our knowledge of this side of Pueblo life. See
Bessels, Bull. U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the
Territories, vol. II, 1876; Hoffman, Report on Chaco Cranium, ibid.,
1877, p. 457. Holmes, in 1878, says: "The ancient peoples of the San
Juan country were doubtless the ancestors of the present Pueblo tribes
of New Mexico and Arizona." See, likewise, Cushing, Nordenskiöld, and
later writers regarding the kinship of Cliff villagers and Pueblos.]
[Footnote 7: Report of the Director of the Bureau of American
Ethnology for the year ending June 30, 1894; Smithsonian Report,
1894.]
[Footnote 8: The ruins in Chaves Pass, 110 miles south of Oraibi, will
be considered in the report of the expedition of 1896, when extensive
excavations were made at this point. About midway between the Chaves
Pass ruins and those of Beaver creek, in Verde valley, there are other
ruins, as at Rattlesnake Tanks, and as a well-marked trail passes by
these former habitations and connects the Verde series with those of
Chaves Pass, it is possible that early migrations may have followed
this course. There is also a trail from Homolobi and the Colorado
Chiquito ruins through Chaves Pass into Tonto Basin.]
[Footnote 9: Smithsonian Report, 1883; Report of Major Powell,
Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 57 et seq. Explorations in the
Southwest, ibid., 1886, p. 52 et seq.]
[Footnote 10: Report of an Expedition down the Zuñi and Colorado
rivers; Washington, 1853.]
[Footnote 11: Smithsonian Report, 1883, Report of the Director of the
Bureau of Ethnology, p. 62: "Pending the arrival of goods at Moki, Mr
Cushing returned across the country to Zuñi for the purpose of
observing more minutely than on former occasions the annual sun
ceremonials. En route he discovered two ruins, apparently before
unvisited. One of these was the outlying structure of K'n'-i-K'él,
called by the Navajos Zïnni-jin'ne and by the Zuñis He'-sho'ta
pathl-tâ[)i]e, both, according to Zuñi tradition, belonging to the
Thlé-e-tâ-kwe, the name given to the traditional northwestern
migration of the Bear, Crane, Frog, Deer, Yellow-wood, and other
gentes of the ancestral pueblos."]
[Footnote 12: The reduplicated syllable recalls Hopi methods of
forming their plural, but is not characteristic of them, and the word
Totonteac has a Hopi sound. The supposed derivation of Tonto from
Spanish _tonto_, "fool," is mentioned, elsewhere. The so-called Tonto
Apache was probably an intruder, the cause of the desertion of the
"basin" by the housebuilders. The question whether Totonteac is the
same as Tusayan or Tuchano is yet to be satisfactorily answered. The
map makers of the sixteenth century regarded them as different places,
and notwithstanding Totonteac was reported to be "a hotte lake" in the
middle of the previous century, it held its place on maps into the
seventeenth century. It is always on or near a river flowing into the
Gulf of California.]
[Footnote 13: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.]
[Footnote 14: Mr Mindeleff's descriptions deal with the same cluster
of cavate ruins here described, but are more specially devoted to the
more southern section of them, not considering, if I understand him,
the northern row here described. I had also made extensive studies of
the rooms figured by him previously to the publication of his article,
but as my notes on these rooms are anticipated by his excellent memoir
I have not considered the rooms described by him, but limited my
account to brief mention of a neighboring row of chambers not
described in his report.]
[Footnote 15: _Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology_, vol. II,
No. 1. All the Tusayan kivas with which I am familiar have this raised
spectator's part at one end. The altars are always erected at the
opposite end of the room, in which is likewise the hole in the floor
called the _sipapû_, symbolic of the traditional opening through which
races emerged to the earth's surface from an underworld. Banquettes
exist in some Tusayan kivas; in others, however, they are wanting. The
raised platform in dwelling rooms is commonly a sleeping place, above
which blankets are hung and, in some instances, corn is stored. A
small opening in the step often admits light to an otherwise dark
granary below the floor. In no instance, however, are there more than
one such platform, and that commonly partakes of the nature of another
room, although seldom separated from the other chamber by a
partition.]
[Footnote 16: Counting from the point of the cliff shown in plate
XCI_a_. The positions of the rooms are indicated by the row of
entrances.]
[Footnote 17: It was from this region that the individual chambers,
described by Mindeleff, were chosen.]
[Footnote 18: Mr Mindeleff, in his valuable memoir, has so completely
described the cavate dwellings of the Rio Grande and San Juan regions
that their discussion in this account would be superfluous.]
[Footnote 19: See Mindeleff, Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly,
_American Anthropologist_, April, 1895. The suggestion that cliff
outlooks were farming shelters in some instances is doubtless true,
but I should hesitate giving this use a predominance over outlooks for
security. In times of danger, naturally the agriculturist seeks a high
or commanding position for a wide outlook; but to watch his crops he
must camp among them.]
[Footnote 20: Ancient Dwellings of the Rio Verde Valley, Dr E. A.
Mearns; _Popular Science Monthly_, vol. XXVII. Mindeleff, Aboriginal
Remains in Verde Valley; Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology.]
[Footnote 21: Since the above lines were written Mr C. F. Lummis, who
has made many well-known contributions to the ethnology and archeology
of the Pueblo area, has published in _Land of Sunshine_ (Los Angeles,
1895), a beautiful photographic illustration and an important
description of this unique place.]
[Footnote 22: Miscellaneous Ethnographic Observations on Indians
inhabiting Nevada, California, and Arizona, Tenth Annual Report of the
Hayden Survey, p. 478; Washington, 1878.]
[Footnote 23: The cliff houses of Bloody Basin I have not examined,
but I suspect they are of the same type as the so-called Montezuma
Castle, or Casa Montezuma, on the right bank of Beaver creek. The
latter is referred to the cliff-house class, but it differs
considerably from the ruins of the Red-rocks, on account of the
character of the cavern in which it is built (see figure 246).]
[Footnote 24: Fortified hilltops occur in many places in Arizona and
are likewise found in the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua,
where they are known as _trincheras_. They are regarded as places of
refuge of former inhabitants of the country, contemporaneous with
ancient pueblos and cliff houses.]
[Footnote 25: This pinnacle is visible for miles, and is one of many
prominences in the surrounding country. Unfortunately this region is
so imperfectly surveyed that only approximations of distances are
possible in this account, and the maps known to me are too meager in
detail to fairly illustrate the distribution of these buttes.]
[Footnote 26: In certain cavate houses on Oak creek we find these
caverns in two tiers, one above the other, and the hill above is
capped by a well-preserved building. In one of these we find the
entrance to the cavern walled in, with the exception of a T-shape
doorway and a small window. This chamber shows a connecting link
between the type of true cavate dwellings and that of cliff-houses.]
[Footnote 27: The absence of kivas in the ruins of the Verde has been
commented on by Mindeleff, and has likewise been found to be
characteristic of the cliff houses on the upper courses of the other
tributaries of Gila and Salado rivers. The round kiva appears to be
confined to the middle and eastern ruins of the pueblo area, and are
very numerous in the ruins of San Juan valley.]
[Footnote 28: See "Tusayan Totemic Signatures," _American
Anthropologist_, Washington, January, 1897.]
[Footnote 29: An exhaustive report on the ruins near Winslow, at the
Sunset Crossing of the Little Colorado, will later be published. These
ruins were the sites of my operations in the summer of 1896, and from
them a very large collection of prehistoric objects was taken. The
report will consider also the ruins at Chaves Pass, on the trail of
migration used by the Hopi in prehistoric times in their visits, for
barter and other purposes, to the Gila-Salado watershed.]
[Footnote 30: Possibly the Shoshonean elements in Hopi linguistics are
due to the Snake peoples, the early colonists who came from the north,
where they may have been in contact with Paiute or other divisions of
the Shoshonean stock. The consanguinity of this phratry may have been
close to that of the Shoshonean tribes, as that of the Patki was to
the Piman, or the Asa to the Tanoan. The present Hopi are a composite
people, and it is yet to be demonstrated which stock predominates in
them.]
[Footnote 31: A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola;
Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1886-87.]
[Footnote 32: This account was copied from a copy made by the eminent
scholar, A. F. Bandelier, for the archives of the Hemenway Expedition,
now at the Peabody Museum, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.]
[Footnote 33: Hano or "Tewa."]
[Footnote 34: Sichomovi. In the manuscript report by Don José Cortez,
who wrote of the northern provinces of Mexico, where he lived in 1799,
Sichomovi is mentioned as a nameless village between Tanos (Hano) and
Gualpi (Walpi), settled by colonists from the latter pueblo. One of
the first references to this village by name was in a report by Indian
Agent Calhoun (1850), where it is called Chemovi.]
[Footnote 35: Mishoñinovi.]
[Footnote 36: Shipaulovi.]
[Footnote 37: Shuñopovi.]
[Footnote 38: In 1896 I collected over a hundred beautiful specimens
from this cemetery.]
[Footnote 39: There lived in Walpi, years ago, an old woman, who
related to a priest, who repeated the story to the writer, that when a
little girl she remembered seeing the Payüpki people pass along the
valley under Walpi when they returned to the Rio Grande. Her story is
quite probable, for the lives of two aged persons could readily bridge
the interval between that event and our own time.]
[Footnote 40: "La Mission de N. Sra. de las Dolores de Zandia de
Indios Teguas á Moqui."]
[Footnote 41: See J. F. Meline, Two Thousand Miles on Horseback, 1867.
Sandia, according to Bancroft, is not mentioned by Menchero in 1744,
but Bonilla gave it a population of 400 Indians in 1749. In 1742 two
friars visited Tusayan, and, it is said, brought out 441 apostate
Tiguas, who were later settled in the old pueblo of Sandia.
Considering, then, that Sandia was resettled in 1748, six years after
this visit, and that the numbers so closely coincide, we have good
evidence that Payüpki, in Tusayan, was abandoned about 1742. It is
probable, from known evidence, that this pueblo was built somewhere
between 1680 and 1690; so that the whole period of its occupancy was
not far from fifty years.]
[Footnote 42: Mindeleff mentions two other sites of Old Walpi--a mound
near _Wala_, and one in the plain between Mishoñinovi and Walpi; but
neither of these is large, although claimed as former sites of the
early clans which later built the town on the terrace of East Mesa
below Walpi. I have regarded Küchaptüvela as the ancient Walpi, but
have no doubt that the Hopi emigrants had several temporary dwellings
before they settled there.]
[Footnote 43: Sometimes called Nüsaki, a corruption of "Missa ki,"
Mass House, Mission. One of the beams of the old mission at Nüsaki or
Kisakobi is in the roof of Pauwatiwa's house in the highest range of
rooms of Walpi. This beam is nicely squared, and bears marks
indicative of carving. There are also large planks in one of the kivas
which were also probably from the church building, although no one has
stated that they are. Pauwatiwa, however, declares that a legend has
been handed down in his family that the above-mentioned rafter came
from the mission.]
[Footnote 44: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,
January 2, 1895, p. 441.]
[Footnote 45: Thus in Castañeda's account we are told: "Farther off
[near Cia?] was another large village where we found in the courtyards
a great number of stone balls of the size of a leather bag, containing
one arroba. They seem to have been cast with the aid of machines, and
to have been employed in the destruction of the village." It is
needless for me to say that I find no knowledge of such a machine in
Tusayan!]
[Footnote 46: The ceremonials attending to burial of the eagle, whose
plumes are used in secret rites, have never been described, and
nothing is known of the rites about the Eagle shrine at Tukinobi.]
[Footnote 47: Recent Archeologic Find in Arizona, _American
Anthropologist_, Washington, July, 1893.]
[Footnote 48: For a previous description see the Preliminary Account,
Smithsonian Report for 1895; also "Awatobi: An Archeological
Verification of a Tusayan Legend," _American Anthropologist_,
Washington, October, 1893.]
[Footnote 49: This important ceremony celebrates the departure from
the pueblos of ancestral gods called _katcinas_, and is one of the
most popular in the ritual.]
[Footnote 50: Pacheco-Cardenas, Colleccion de Documentos Inéditos, XV,
122, 182.]
[Footnote 51: Voyages, III, pp. 463, 470, 1600; reprint 1810.]
[Footnote 52: Pacheco-Cardenas, Documentos Inéditos, op. cit., XVI,
139.]
[Footnote 53: Menologio Franciscano, 275; Teatro Mexicano, III, 321.]
[Footnote 54: San Bernardino de Ahuatobi (Vetancurt, 1680); San
Bernardo de Aguatuvi (Vargas, 1692). I find that the mission at Walpi
was also mentioned by Vargas as dedicated to San Bernardino. The
church at Oraibi was San Francisco de Oraybe and San Miguel. The
mission at Shuñopovi was called San Bartolomé, San Bernardo, and San
Bernabe.]
[Footnote 55: This article was in type too early for a review of
Dellenbaugh's identification of Cibola with a more southeasterly
locality. His arguments bear some plausibility, but they are by no
means decisive.]
[Footnote 56: An exact translation by Winship of the copy of Castañeda
in the Lenox Library was published in the Fourteenth Annual Report of
the Bureau.]
[Footnote 57: "At evening the chiefs asked that notices be written for
them warning all white people to keep away from the mesa tomorrow, and
these were set up by the night patrols in cleft wands on all the
principal trails. At daybreak on the following morning the principal
trails leading from the four cardinal points were 'closed' by
sprinkling meal across them and laying on each a whitened elk horn.
Anawita told the observer that in former times if any reckless person
had the temerity to venture within this proscribed limit the Kwakwantû
inevitably put him to death by decapitation and dismemberment."
("Naacnaiya," _Journal of American Folk-lore_, vol. v, p. 201.) This
appears to be the same way in which the Awatobians "closed" the trail
to Tobar.]
[Footnote 58: When the Flute people approach Walpi, as is biennially
dramatized at the present time, "an assemblage of people there (at the
entrance to the village) meet them, and just back of a line of meal
drawn across the trail stood Winuta and Hoñyi," also two girls and a
boy. After these Flute people are challenged and sing their songs the
trail is opened, viz: "Alosaka drew the end of his _moñkohu_ along the
line of meal, and Winuta rubbed off the remainder from the trail with
his foot." "Walpi Flute Observance," _Journal of American Folk-lore_,
vol. VII, p. 19.]
[Footnote 59: This custom of sprinkling the trail with sacred meal is
one of the most common in the Tusayan ritual. The gods approach and
leave the pueblos along such lines, and no doubt the Awatobians
regarded the horses of Espejo as supernatural beings and threw meal on
the trail before them with the same thought in mind that they now
sprinkle the trails with meal in all the great ceremonials in which
personators of the gods approach the villages.]
[Footnote 60: According to the reprint of 1891. In the reprint of 1810
it appears as "Ahuato." I would suggest that possibly the error in
giving the name of a pueblo to a chief may have arisen not from the
copyist or printer, but from inability of the Spaniards and Hopi to
understand each other. If you ask a Hopi Indian his name, nine times
out of ten he will not tell you, and an interlocutor for a party of
natives will almost invariably name the pueblos from which his
comrades came.]
[Footnote 61: This was possibly the expedition which P. Fr. Antonio
(Alonzo?) made among the Hopi in 1628; however that may be, there is
good evidence that Porras, after many difficulties, baptized several
chiefs in 1629.]
[Footnote 62: _Segunda Relacion de la grandiosa conversion que ha
avido en el Nuevo Mexico. Embiada por el Padre Estev[=a] de Perea_,
etc., 1633.]
[Footnote 63: An earlier rumor was that the horses were
anthropophagous.]
[Footnote 64: As Vargas appears not to have entered Oraibi at this
time he may have found it too hostile. Whether Frasquillo had yet
arrived with his Tanos people and their booty is doubtful. The story
of the migration to Tusayan of the Tanos under Frasquillo, the
assassin of Fray Simón de Jesus, and the establishment there of a
"kingdom" over which he ruled as king for thirty years, is a most
interesting episode in Tusayan history. Many Tanos people arrived in
several bands among the Hopi about 1700, but which of them were led by
Frasquillo is not known to me.]
[Footnote 65: "El templo acabo en llamas." At this time Awatobi was
said to have 800 inhabitants.]
[Footnote 66: At the present time one of the most bitter complaints
which the Hopi have against the Spaniards is that they forcibly
baptized the children of their people during the detested occupancy by
the conquerors.]
[Footnote 67: _Naacnaiya_ and _Wüwütcimti_ are the elaborate and
abbreviated New-fire ceremonies now observed by four religious warrior
societies, known as the _Tataukyamû_, _Wüwütcimtû_, _Aaltû_ and
_Kwakwantû_. Both of these ceremonials, as now observed at Walpi, have
elsewhere been described.]
[Footnote 68: Obiit 1892. Shimo was chief of the Flute Society and
"Governor" of Walpi.]
[Footnote 69: Oldest woman of the Snake clan; mother of Kopeli, the
Snake chief of Walpi; chief priestess of the Mamzráuti ceremony.]
[Footnote 70: Vetancurt, Chronica, says that Aguatobi (Awatobi) had
800 inhabitants and was converted by Padre Francisco de Porras. In
1630 Benavides speaks of the Mokis as being rapidly converted. It
would appear, if we rely on Vetancurt's figures, that Awatobi was not
one of the largest villages of Tusayan in early times, for he ascribes
1,200 to Walpi and 14,000 to Oraibi. The estimate of the population of
Awatobi was doubtless nearer the truth than that of the other pueblos,
and I greatly doubt if Oraibi ever had 14,000 people. Probably 1,400
would be more nearly correct.]
[Footnote 71: Architecture of Cibola and Tusayan, p. 225.]
[Footnote 72: There are two fragments, one of which is large enough to
show the size of the bell, which was made either in Mexico or in
Spain. The smaller fragment was used for many years as a paint-grinder
by a Walpi Indian priest.]
[Footnote 73: See his Final Report, p. 372.]
[Footnote 74: The only Awatobi name I know is that of a chief, Tapolo,
which is not borne by any Hopi of my acquaintance (see page 603).]
[Footnote 75: This explains the fact that the ruins in Tusayan, as a
rule, have no signs of kivas, and the same appears to be true of the
ruins of the pueblos on the Little Colorado and the Verde, in Tonto
Basin, and other more southerly regions.]
[Footnote 76: See Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology, vol.
II.]
[Footnote 77: "Las casas son de tres altos"--_Segunda Relacion_, p.
580.]
[Footnote 78: So far as our limited knowledge of the older ruins of
Tusayan goes, we find that their inhabitants must have been as far
removed from rude Shohonean nomads as their descendants are today. The
settlement at the early site of Walpi is reported to have been made in
very early times, some legends stating that it occurred at a period
when the people were limited to one family--the Snake. The fragments
of pottery which I have found in the mounds of that ancient habitation
are as fine and as characteristic of Tusayan as that of Sikyatki or
Awatobi. It is inferior to none in the whole pueblo area, and betrays
long sedentary life of its makers before it was manufactured.]
[Footnote 79: Journal of American Folk-lore, vol. v, No. xviii, 1892.]
[Footnote 80: There is a rude sketch of these two idols of _Alosaka_
in the archives of the Hemenway Expedition. They represent figurines
about 4 feet tall, with two horns on the head not unlike those of the
Tewan clowns or gluttons called Paiakyamû. As so little is known of
the Mishoñinovi ritual, the rites in which they are used are at
present inexplicable.]
[Footnote 81: See the ear-ornament of the mask shown in plate CVIII,
of the Fifteenth Annual Report.]
[Footnote 82: Similar "spouts" were found by Mindeleff at Awatobi, and
a like use of them is suggested in his valuable memoir.]
[Footnote 83: The Keresan people are called by the same name, Kawaika,
which, as hitherto explained, is specially applied to the modern
pueblo of Laguna.]
[Footnote 84: The Asa people who came to Tusayan from the Rio Grande
claim to have lived for a few generations in Tubka or Tségi (Chelly)
canyon.]
[Footnote 85: The pottery of ancient Cibola is practically identical
with that of the ruined pueblos of the Colorado Chiquito, near
Winslow, Arizona.]
[Footnote 86: The specimens labeled "New Mexico" and "Arizona" are too
vaguely classified to be of any service in this consideration. It is
suggested that collectors carefully label their specimens with the
exact locality in which they are found, giving care to their
association and, when mortuary, to their position in the graves in
relation to the skeletons.]
[Footnote 87: I am informed by Mr F. W. Hodge that similar fragments
were found by the Hemenway Expedition in 1888 in the prehistoric ruins
of the Salado.]
[Footnote 88: The head is round, with lateral appendages. The face is
divided into two quadrants above, with chin blackened, and marked with
zigzag lines, which are lacking in modern pictures. In the left hand
the figure holds a rattle. The body is wanting, but the breast is
decorated with rectangles.]
[Footnote 89: A single metate of lava or malpais was excavated at
Awatobi. This object must have had a long journey before it reached
the village, since none of the material from which it was made is
found within many miles of the ruin.]
[Footnote 90: There are many fine pictographs, some of which are
evidently ancient, on the cliffs of the Awatobi mesa. These are in no
respect characteristic, and among them I have seen the _awata_ (bow),
_honani_ (badger's paw), _tcüa_ (snake), and _omowûh_ (rain-cloud). On
the side of the precipitous wall of the mesa south of the western
mounds there is a row of small hemispherical depressions or pits, with
a groove or line on one side. There is likewise, not far from this
point, a realistic figure of a vulva, not very unlike the _asha_
symbols on Thunder mountain, near Zuñi.]
[Footnote 91: _Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology_, vol. II,
No. 1, p. 77.]
[Footnote 92: In the expedition of 1896 there were found a large
number of shell ornaments, which will be described in a forthcoming
report of the operations during that year. See the preliminary account
in the article "Pacific Coast Shells in Tusayan Ruins," _American
Anthropologist_, December, 1896.]
[Footnote 93: One of these bells was found in a grave at Chaves Pass
during the field work of 1896.]
[Footnote 94: Bells made of clay are not rare in modern Tusayan
villages, and while their form is different from that of the Awatobi
specimen, and the size larger, there seems no reason to doubt the
antiquity of the specimen from the ruin of Antelope mesa.]
[Footnote 95: Many of the specimens in the well-known Keam collection,
now in the Tusayan room of the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, are
undoubtedly from Sikyatki, and still more are from Awatobi. Since the
beginning of my excavations at Sikyatki it has come to be a custom for
the Hopi potters to dispose of, as Sikyatki ware, to unsuspecting
white visitors, some of their modern objects of pottery. These
fraudulent pieces are often very cleverly made.]
[Footnote 96: Architecture of Tusayan and Cibola, op. cit., pp. 20,
21.]
[Footnote 97: These rooms I failed to find. One of the rocky knolls
may be that called by me the "acropolis." The second knoll I cannot
identify, unless it is the elevation in continuation of the same side
toward the east. Possibly he confounded the ruin of Küküchomo with
that of Sikyatki.]
[Footnote 98: The legends of the origin of Oraibi are imperfectly
known, but it has been stated that the pueblo was founded by people
from Old Shuñopovi. It seems much more likely, however, that our
knowledge is too incomplete to accept this conclusion without more
extended observations. The composition of the present inhabitants
indicates amalgamation from several quarters, and neighboring ruins
should be studied with this thought in mind.]
[Footnote 99: It is distinctly stated that the Tanoan families whose
descendants now inhabit Hano were not in Tusayan when Awatobi fell. To
be sure they may have been sojourning in some valley east of the
province, which, however, is not likely, since they were "invited" to
East Mesa for the specific purpose of aiding the Hopi against northern
nomads. Much probability attaches to a suggestion that they belonged
to the emigrants mentioned by contemporary historians as leaving the
Rio Grande on account of the unsettled condition of the country after
the great rebellion of 1680.]
[Footnote 100: The succession of priests is through the clan of the
mother, so that commonly, as in the case of Katci, the nephew takes
the place of the uncle at his death. Some instances, however, have
come to my knowledge where, the clan having become extinct, a son has
been elevated to the position made vacant by the death of a priest.
The Kokop people at Walpi are vigorous, numbering 21 members if we
include the Coyote and Wolf clans, the last mentioned of which may be
descendants of the former inhabitants of Küküchomo, the twin ruins on
the mesa above Sikyatki.]
[Footnote 101: In this census I have used also the apparently
conservative statement of Vetancurt that there were 800 people in
Awatobi at the end of the seventeenth century.]
[Footnote 102: _Kanel_ = Spanish _carnero_, sheep; _ba_ = water,
spring.]
[Footnote 103: Wipo spring, a few miles northward from the eastern end
of the mesa, would be an excellent site for a Government school. It is
sufficiently convenient to the pueblos, has an abundant supply of
potable water at all seasons, and cultivable fields in the
neighborhood.]
[Footnote 104: The boy who brought our drinking water from Kanelba
could not be prevailed upon to visit it on the day of the snake hunt
to the east in 1895, on the ground that no one not a member of the
society should be seen there or take water from it at that time. This
is probably a phase of the taboo of all work in the world-quarter in
which the snake hunts occur, when the Snake priests are engaged in
capturing these reptilian "elder brothers."]
[Footnote 105: Tcino lives at Sichomovi, and in the Snake dance at
Walpi formerly took the part of the old man who calls out the words,
"_Awahaia_," etc. at the kisi, before the reptiles are carried about
the plaza. These words are Keresan, and Tcino performed this part on
account of his kinship. He owns the grove of peach trees because they
are on land of his ancestors, a fact confirmatory of the belief that
the people of Sikyatki came from the Rio Grande.]
[Footnote 106: Nasyuñweve, who died a few years ago, formerly made the
prayer-stick to Masauwûh, the Fire or Death god. This he did as one of
the senior members of the Kokop or Firewood people, otherwise known as
the Fire people, because they made fire with the fire-drill. On his
death his place in the kiva was taken by Katci. Nasyuñweve was
Intiwa's chief assistant in the Walpi _katcinas_, and wore the mask of
Eototo in the ceremonials of the _Niman_. All this is significant, and
coincides with the theory that _katcinas_ are incorporated in the
Tusayan ritual, that Eototo is their form of Masauwûh, and that he is
a god of fire, growth, and death, like his dreaded equivalent.]
[Footnote 107: The Hano people call the Hopi _Koco_ or _Koso_; the
Santa Clara (also Tewa) people call them _Khoso_, according to Hodge.]
[Footnote 108: The replastering of kivas at Walpi takes place during
the _Powamu_, an elaborate _katcina_ celebration. I have noticed that
in this renovation of the kivas one corner, as a rule, is left
unplastered, but have elicited no satisfactory explanation of this
apparent oversight, which, no doubt, has significance. Someone,
perhaps overimaginative, suggested to me that the unplastered corner
was the same as the break in encircling lines on ancient pottery.]
[Footnote 109: I was aided in making this plan by the late J. G.
Owens, my former assistant in the field work of the Hemenway
Expedition. It was prepared with a few simple instruments, and is not
claimed to be accurate in all particulars.]
[Footnote 110: The existence of these peach trees near Sikyatki
suggests, of course, an abandonment of the neighboring pueblo in
historic times, but I hardly think it outweighs other stronger proofs
of antiquity.]
[Footnote 111: The position of the cemeteries in ancient Tusayan ruins
is by no means uniform. They are rarely situated far from the houses,
and are sometimes just outside the walls. While the dead were seldom
carried far from the village, a sandy locality was generally chosen
and a grave excavated a few feet deep. Usually a few stones were
placed on the surface of the ground over the burial place, evidently
to protect the remains from prowling beasts.]
[Footnote 112: The excavations at Homolobi in 1896 revealed two
beautiful cups with braided handles and one where the clay strands are
twisted.]
[Footnote 113: The modern potters commonly adorn the ends of ladle
handles with heads of different mythologic beings in their pantheon.
The knob-head priest-clowns are favorite personages to represent,
although even the Corn-maid and different _katcinas_ are also
sometimes chosen for this purpose. The heads of various animals are
likewise frequently found, some in artistic positions, others less
so.]
[Footnote 114: The clay ladles with perforated handles with which the
modern Hopi sometimes drink are believed to be of late origin in
Tusayan.]
[Footnote 115: The oldest medicine bowls now in use ordinarily have
handles and a terraced rim, but there are one or two important
exceptions. In this connection it may be mentioned that, unlike the
Zuñi, the Hopi never use a clay bowl with a basket-like handle for
sacred meal, but always carry the meal in basket trays. This the
priests claim is a very old practice, and so far as my observations go
is confirmed by archeological evidence. The bowl with a basket-form
handle is not found either in ancient or modern Tusayan.]
[Footnote 116: Symbolism rather than realism was the controlling
element of archaic decoration. Thus, while objects of beauty, like
flowers and leaves, were rarely depicted, and human forms are most
absurd caricatures, most careful attention was given to minute details
of symbolism, or idealized animals unknown to the naturalist.]
[Footnote 117: Certainly no more appropriate design could be chosen
for the decoration of the inside of a food vessel than the head of the
Corn-maid, and from our ideas of taste none less so than that of a
lizard or bird. The freshness and absence of wear of many of the
specimens of Sikyatki mortuary pottery raises the question whether
they were ever in domestic use. Many evidently were thus employed, as
the evidences of wear plainly indicate, but possibly some of the
vessels were made for mortuary purposes, either at the time of the
decease of a relative or at an earlier period.]
[Footnote 118: The figure shown in plate CXXIX, _a_, was probably
intended to represent the Corn-maid, or an Earth goddess of the
Sikyatki pantheon. Although it differs widely in drawing from figures
of Calako-mana on modern bowls, it bears a startling resemblance to
the figure of the Germ goddess which appears on certain Tusayan
altars.]
[Footnote 119: Hopi legends recount how certain clans, especially
those of Tanoan origin, lived in Tségi canyon and intermarried with
the Navaho so extensively that it is said they temporarily forgot
their own language. From this source may have sprung the numerous
so-called Navaho _katcinas_, and the reciprocal influence on the
Navaho cults was even greater.]
[Footnote 120: These priests wear a close-fitting skullcap, with two
long, banded horns made of leather, to the end of which corn husks are
tied. For an extended description see _Journal of American Ethnology
and Archæology_, vol. II, No. 1, page 11.]
[Footnote 121: The rarity of human figures on such kinds of pottery as
are found in the oldest ruins would appear to indicate that
decorations of this kind were a late development. No specimen of
black-and-white ware on which pictures of human beings are present has
yet been figured. The sequence of evolution in designs is believed to
be (1) geometrical figures, (2) birds, (3) other animals, (4) human
beings.]
[Footnote 122: In some of the figurines used in connection with modern
Hopi altars these whorls are represented by small wheels made of
sticks radiating from a common juncture and connected by woolen yarn.]
[Footnote 123: The natives of Cibola, according to Castañeda, "gather
their hair over the two ears, making a frame which looks like an
old-fashioned headdress." The Tusayan Pueblo maidens are the only
Indians who now dress their hair in this way, although the custom is
still kept up by men in certain sacred dances at Zuñi. The country
women in Salamanca, Spain, do their hair up in two flat coils, one on
each side of the forehead, a custom which Castañeda may have had in
mind when he compared the Pueblo coiffure to an "old-fashioned
headdress."]
[Footnote 124: _American Anthropologist_, April, 1892.]
[Footnote 125: Troano and Cortesiano codices.]
[Footnote 126: A _nakwákwoci_ is an individual prayer-string, and
consists of one or more prescribed feathers tied to a cotton string.
These prayer emblems are made in great numbers in every Tusayan
ceremony.]
[Footnote 127: The evidence afforded by this bowl would seem to show
that the cult of the Corn-maid was a part of the mythology and ritual
of Sikyatki. The elaborate figures of the rain-cloud, which are so
prominent in representations of the Corn-maid on modern plaques,
bowls, and dolls, are not found in the Sikyatki picture.]
[Footnote 128: The reason for my belief that this is a breath feather
will be shown under the discussion of feather and bird pictures.]
[Footnote 129: For the outline of this legend see _Journal of American
Ethnology and Archæology_, vol. IV. The maid is there called the
Tcüa-mana or Snake-maid, a sacerdotal society name for the Germ
goddess. The same personage is alluded to under many different names,
depending on the society, but they are all believed to refer to the
same mythic concept.]
[Footnote 130: The attitude of the male and female here depicted was
not regarded as obscene; on the contrary, to the ancient Sikyatki mind
the picture had a deep religious meaning. In Hopi ideas the male is a
symbol of active generative power, the female of passive reproduction,
and representations of these two form essential elements of the
ancient pictorial and graven art of that people.]
[Footnote 131: The doll of Kokopeli has along, bird-like beak,
generally a rosette on the side of the head, a hump on the back, and
an enormous penis. It is a phallic deity, and appears in certain
ceremonials which need not here be described. During the excavations
at Sikyatki one of the Indians called my attention to a large Dipteran
insect which he called "Kokopeli."]
[Footnote 132: The practice still exists at Zuñi, I am told, and there
is no sign of its becoming extinct. It is said that old Naiutci, the
chief of the Priesthood of the Bow, was permanently injured during one
of these performances. (Since the above lines were written I have
excavated from one of the ruins on the Little Colorado a specimen of
one of these objects used by ancient stick-swallowers. It is made of
bone, and its use was explained to me by a reliable informant familiar
with the practices of Oraibi and other villagers. It is my intention
to figure and describe this ancient object in the account of the
explorations of 1896.)]
[Footnote 133: "Tusayan Katcinas," Fifteenth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology, 1893-94, Washington, 1897. Hewüqti is also called
Soyokmana, a Keresan-Hopi name meaning the Natacka-maid. The Keresan
(Sia) Skoyo are cannibal giants, according to Mrs Stevenson, an
admirable definition of the Hopi Natackas.]
[Footnote 134: The celebration occurs in the modern Tusayan pueblos in
the _Powamû_ where the representative of Calako flogs the children.
Calako's picture is found on the _Powamû_ altars of several of the
villages of the Hopi.]
[Footnote 135: Figures of the human hand have been found on the walls
of cliff houses. These were apparently made in somewhat the same way
as that on the above bowl, the hand being placed on the surface and
pigment spattered about it. See "The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly,"
by Cosmos Mindeleff; Sixteenth Annual Report, 1894-95.]
[Footnote 136: Mu^{r}yi, mole or gopher; mu^{r}iyawû, moon. There
maybe some Hopi legend connecting the gopher with the moon, but thus
far it has eluded my studies, and I can at present do no more than
call attention to what appears to be an interesting etymological
coincidence.]
[Footnote 137: This form of mouth I have found in pictures of
quadrupeds, birds, and insects, and is believed to be
conventionalized. Of a somewhat similar structure are the mouths of
the _Natacka_ monsters which appear in the Walpi _Powamû_ ceremony.
See the memoir on "Tusayan Katcinas," in the Fifteenth Annual Report.]
[Footnote 138: Figures of the tadpole and frog are often found on
modern medicine bowls in Tusayan. The snake, so common on Zuñi
ceremonial pottery, has not been seen by me on a single object of
earthenware in use in modern Hopi ritual.]
[Footnote 139: _Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology_, vol.
IV.]
[Footnote 140: Although made of beautiful yellow ware, it shows at one
point marks of having been overheated in firing, as is often the case
with larger vases and jars.]
[Footnote 141: One of the best examples of the rectangular or ancient
type of medicine bowl is used in the celebration of the Snake dance at
Oraibi, where it stands on the rear margin of the altar of the
Antelope priesthood of that pueblo.]
[Footnote 142: One of the best of these is that of the Humis-katcina,
but good examples occur on the dolls of the Calakomanas. The Lakone
maid, however, wears a coronet of circular rain-cloud symbols, which
corresponds with traditions which recount that this form was
introduced by the southern clans or the Patki people.]
[Footnote 143: In the evolution of ornament among the Hopi, as among
most primitive peoples where new designs have replaced the old, the
meaning of the ancient symbols has been lost. Consequently we are
forced to adopt comparative methods to decipher them. If, for
instance, on a fragment of ancient pottery we find the figure of a
bird in which the wing or tail feathers have a certain characteristic
symbol form, we are justified, when we find the same symbolic design
on another fragment where the rest of the bird is wanting, in
considering the figure that of a wing or tail feather. So when the
prescribed figure of the feather has been replaced by another form it
is not surprising to find it incomprehensible to modern shamans. The
comparative ethnologist may in this way learn the meanings of symbols
to which the modern Hopi priest can furnish no clue.]
[Footnote 144: In an examination of many figures of ancient vessels
where this peculiar design occurs it will be found that in all
instances they represent feathers, although the remainder of the bird
is not to be found. The same may also be said of the design which
represents the tail-feathers. This way of representing feathers is not
without modern survival, for it may still be seen in many dolls of
mystic personages who are reputed to have worn feathered garments.]
[Footnote 145: At the present time the circle is the totemic signature
of the Earth people, representing the horizon, but it has likewise
various other meanings. With certain appendages it is the disk of the
sun--and there are ceremonial paraphernalia, as amulets, placed on
sand pictures or tied to helmets, which may be represented by a simple
ring. The meaning of these circles in the bowl referred to above is
not clear to me, nor is my series of pictographs sufficiently
extensive to enable a discovery of its significance by comparative
methods. A ring of meal sometimes drawn on the floor of a kiva is
called a "house," and a little imagination would easily identify these
with the mythic houses of the sky-bird, but this interpretation is at
present only fanciful.]
[Footnote 146: The _paho_ is probably a substitution of a sacrifice of
corn or meal given as homage to the god addressed.]
[Footnote 147: _Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology_, vol.
IV. These water gourds figure conspicuously in many ceremonies of the
Tusayan ritual. The two girls personating the Corn-maids carry them in
the Flute observance, and each of the Antelope priests at Oraibi bears
one of these in the Antelope or Corn dance.]
[Footnote 148: "A few Tusayan Pictographs;" _American Anthropologist_,
Washington, January, 1892.]
[Footnote 149: A beautiful example of this kind was found at Homolobi
in the summer of 1896.]
[Footnote 150: In this connection the reader is referred to the story,
already told in former pages of this memoir, concerning the flogging
of the youth by the husband of the two women who brought the Hopi the
seeds of corn. It may be mentioned as corroboratory evidence that
Calako-taka represents a supernatural sun-bird, that the Tataukyamû
priests carry a shield with Tunwup (Calako-taka) upon it in the
Soyaluña. These priests, as shown by the etymology of their name, are
associated with the sun. In the Sun drama, or Calako ceremony, in
July, Calako-takas are personated, and at Zuñi the Shalako is a great
winter sun ceremony.]
[Footnote 151: _American Anthropologist_, April, 1895, p. 133. As
these cross-shape pahos which are now made in Tusayan are attributed
to the Kawaika or Keres group of Indians, and as they were seen at the
Keresan pueblo of Acoma in 1540, it is probable that they are
derivative among the Hopi; but simple cross decorations on ancient
pottery were probably autochthonous.]
[Footnote 152: In dolls of the Corn-maids this germinative symbol is
often found made of wood and mounted on an elaborate tablet
representing rain-clouds.]
[Footnote 153: Many similarities might be mentioned between the
terraced figures used in decoration in Old Mexico and in ancient
Tusayan pottery, but I will refer to but a single instance, that of
the stuccoed walls of Mitla, Oaxaca, and Teotitlan del Valle. Many
designs from these ruins are gathered together for comparative
purposes by that eminent Mexicanist, Dr E. Seler, in his beautiful
memoir on Mitla (_Wandmalereien von Mitla_, plate X). In this plate
exact counterparts of many geometric patterns on Sikyatki pottery
appear, and even the broken spiral is beautifully represented. There
are key patterns and terraced figures in stucco on monuments of
Central America identical with the figures on pottery from Sikyatki.]
[Footnote 154: This pillar, so conspicuous in all photographs of
Walpi, is commonly called the Snake rock.]
[Footnote 155: _American Anthropologist_, April, 1892.]
[Footnote 156: I failed to find out how the Hopi regard fossils.]
[Footnote 157: These objects were eagerly sought by the Hopi women who
visited the camps at Awatobi and Sikyatki.]
[Footnote 158: The tubular form of pipe was almost universal in the
pueblo area, and I have deposited in the National Museum pipes of this
kind from several ruins in the Rio Grande valley.]
[Footnote 159: _Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology_, vol.
IV, pp. 31, 32, 33.]
[Footnote 160: This form of pipe occurs over the whole pueblo area.]
[Footnote 161: Ancient cigarette reeds, found in sacrificial caves,
have a small fragment of woven fabric tied about them.]
[Footnote 162: The so-called "implements of wood" figured by
Nordenskiöld ("The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde," plate XLII) are
identical with some of the pahos from Sikyatki, and are undoubtedly
prayer-sticks.]
[Footnote 163: Primitive Culture, vol. ii, p. 396.]
[Footnote 164: Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology, Vol.
_ii_, p. 131.]
[Footnote 165: _American Anthropologist_, July, 1892.]
[Footnote 166: As stated in former pages, there is some paleographic
evidence looking in that direction.]
[Footnote 167: _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. V, no. xviii, p.
213.]
[Footnote 168: Op. cit., p. 214.]
[Footnote 169: They failed to germinate.]
APPENDIX
The following list introduces the numbers by which the specimens
illustrated in this memoir are designated in the catalog of the United
States National Museum. Each specimen is also marked with a field
catalog number, the locality in which it was found, and the name of
the collector:
PLATE
CXI. _a_, 155895; _b_, 155897; _c_, 155898; _d_, 155896; _e_, 155900;
_f_, 155916.
CXII. _a_, 155875; _b_, 155996; _c_, 155902; _d_, 155996; _e_, 155997.
CXIII. _a_, 155992; _b_, 155913; _c_, 155991; _d_, 155994; _e_, 155993.
CXIV. _a_-_g_, 156018; _h_, 156131; _i_, 156091; _j_, 156018.
CXIX. _a_, 155806; _b_, 155841; _c_, 155832; _d_, 155678; _e_, 155820;
_f_, 155838.
CXX. _a_, 155867; _b_, 155866; _c_, 155871; _d_, 155856; _e_, 155861;
_f_, 155460.
CXXI. _a_, 155694; _b_, 155698; _c_, 155719.
CXXII. _a_, 155702; _b_, 155684; _c_, 155688.
CXXIII. _a_, 155711; _b_, 155703; _c_, 155707; _d_, 155673.
CXXIV. _a_, 155674; _b_, 155683.
CXXV. _a_, 155750; _b_, 155753; _c_, 155751; _d_, 155752; _e_, 155749;
_f_, 155747.
CXXVI. _a_, 155700; _b_, 155682.
CXXVII. _a_, 155718; _b_, 155714; _c_, 155723; _d_, 155691.
CXXVIII. _a_, 155745; _b_, 155744; _c_, 155746; _d_, 155735; _e_, 155734;
_f_, 155733; _g_, 155736.
CXXIX. _a_, 155467; _b_, 155462; _c_, 155463; _d_, 155464; _e_, 155466;
_f_, 155465.
CXXX. _a_, 155474; _b_, 155475; _c_, 155477; _d_, 155484; _e_, 155473;
_f_, 155476.
CXXXI. _a_, 155758; _b_, 155773; _c_, 155768; _d_, 155771; _e_, 155546;
_f_ 155764.
CXXXII. _a_, 155482; _b_, 155483; _c_, 155481; _d_, 155480; _e_, 155479;
_f_, 155485.
CXXXIII. _a_, 155614; _b_, 155757; _c_, 155502; _d_, 155772; _e_, 155758;
_f_, 155781.
CXXXIV. _a_, 155570; _b_, 155597; _c_, 155567; _d_, 155507; _e_, 155575;
_f_, 155505.
CXXXV. _a_, 155692; _b_, 155681.
CXXXVI. _a_, 155687; _b_, 155737; _c_, 155695.
CXXXVII. _a_, 155488; _b_, 155450; _c_, 155468; _d_, 155732; _e_, 155776;
_f_, 155740.
CXXXVIII. _a_, 155498; _b_, 155490; _c_, 155492; _d_, 155500; _e_, 155499;
_f_, 155494.
CXXXIX. _a_, 155524; _b_, 155528; _c_, 155491; _d_, 155523; _e_, 155527;
_f_, 155522.
CXL. _a_, 155529; _b_, 155489; _c_, 155540; _d_, 155541; _e_, 155606;
_f_, 155410.
CXLI. _a_, 155501; _b_, 155503; _c_, 155509; _d_, 155511; _e_, 155510;
_f_, 155512.
CXLII. _a_, 155712; _b_, 155693; _c_, 155756; _d_, 155636; _e_, 155697.
CXLIII. _a_, _b_, 155690.
CXLIV. _a_, _b_, 155689.
CXLV. _a_, 155717; _b_, 155696.
CXLVI. _a_, 155538; _b_, 155508; _c_, 155802; _d_, 155537; _e_, 155487;
_f_, 155653.
CXLVII. _a_, 155493; _b_, 155497; _c_, 155602; _d_, 155504; _e_, 155608;
_f_, 155495.
CXLVIII. _a_, 155556; _b_, 155408; _c_, 155545; _d_, 155548; _e_, 155544;
_f_, 155542.
CXLIX. _a_, 155554; _b_, 155549; _c_, 155573; _d_, 155607; _e_, 155572;
_f_, 155581.
CL. _a_, 155565; _b_, 155519; _c_, 155518; _d_, 155569; _e_, 155551;
_f_, 155574.
CLI. _a_, 155535; _b_, 155532; _c_, 155539; _d_, 155526; _e_, 155613;
_f_, 155615.
CLII. _a_, 155555; _b_, 155547; _c_, 155571; _d_, 155553; _e_, 155536;
_f_, 155521.
CLIII. _a_, 155558; _b_, 155564.
CLIV. _a_, 155560; _b_, 155568.
CLV. _a_, 155543; _b_, 155557.
CLVI. _a_, 155562; _b_, 155561; _c_, 155562; _d_, 155796; _e_, 155601;
_f_, 155588.
CLVII. _a_, 155531; _b_, 155530; _c_, 155525; _d_, 155585; _e_, 155563;
_f_, 155552.
CLVIII. _a_, 155628; _b_, 155742; _c_, 155632; _d_, 155633; _e_, 155587;
_f_, 155634.
CLIX. _a_, 155583; _b_, 155598; _c_, 155516; _d_, 155629; _e_, 155590;
_f_, 155520.
CLX. _a_, 155577; _b_, 155576; _c_, 155622; _d_, 155594; _e_, 155647;
_f_, 155654.
CLXI. _a_, 155642; _b_, 155506; _c_, 155517; _d_, 155472; _e_, 155589;
_f_, 155600.
CLXII. _a_, 155637; _b_, 155618; _c_, 155643; _d_, 155621; _e_, 155534;
_f_, 155533.
CLXIII. _a_, 155611; _b_, 155612.
CLXIV. _a_, 155610; _b_, 155609.
CLXV. _a_, 155593; _b_, 155592.
CLXVI. _a_, 155641; _b_, 155616; _c_, 155617; _d_, 155619; _e_, 155584;
_f_, 155640.
CLXVII. _a_, 155877; _b_, 155878; _c_, 155892; _d_, 155882; _e_, 155890;
_f_, 155881.
CLXVIII. _a_, 155876; _b_, 155891; _c_, 155884; _d_, 155914; _e_, 155940;
_f_, 155880.
CLXIX. _a_, 156095; _b_, 156098; _c_, 156175; _d_, 156174; _e_, 156154;
_f_, 156065.
CLXX. _a_, _b_, 156227.
CLXXI. _a_, 156270; _b_, _c_, 156303; _e_, 156199; _f_, 156043.
CLXXII. _a_, 156042; _b_, 156169; _c_, 156169; _d_, 156170; _e_, 156184;
_f_, 156164.
CLXXIII. _a_, 155999; _b_, 155154; _c_, 156128; _d_, 156131;
_e_, _f_, 1561?0; _g_, 156010; _h-l_, 156130.
CLXXIV. _a_, 156191; _b_, _c_, 156183; _d_, 156185; _e-g_, 156183;
_h-j_, 156194; _k_, 156180; _l_, _m_, 156191; _n_, 156182.
CLXXV. _o_, 156188; _p_, 156185; _q_, 156191; _r_, 156186; _s_, 156180;
_t_, 156188; _u_, 156181; _v_, 156179; _w_, 156187.
INDEX
ACROPOLIS of Sikyatki 638, 640, 643-646
ADOBE plastering in cavate houses 542
[ADOBE], _see_ MASONRY, PLASTERING.
AGAVE fiber used in Tusayan 629, 630
AGUATO, an Awatobi synonym 594
AGUATOBI, an Awatobi synonym 594
AGUATUVÍ, an Awatobi synonym 594
AGUATUYA, an Awatobi synonym 594
AGUATUYBÁ, an Awatobi synonym 594
AGUITOBI, an Awatobi synonym 594
AHUATO, an Awatobi synonym 594
AHUATOBI, an Awatobi synonym 594
AHUATU, an Awatobi synonym 594
AHUATUYBA, an Awatobi synonym 594
AH-WAT-TENNA an Awatobi synonym 594
ALOSAKA idols in Awatobi shrine 619
ANAWITA, traditional information given by 595
ANCESTOR worship at Sikyatki 732
ANTELOPE VALLEY, _see_ JEDITOH VALLEY.
APACHE depredation in Tusayan 585
[APACHE], late appearance of, at Tusayan 581
[APACHE] occupancy of Verde ruins 550, 565, 570
[APACHE] pictographs in Verde valley 550, 556, 567, 568
AQUATASI, an Awatobi synonym 594
AQUATUBI, an Awatobi synonym 594
ARCHEOLOGICAL expedition to Arizona, 1895 519-744
ARIZONA, archeological expedition to, 1895 519-744
[ARIZONA], _see_ NAVAHO.
ARROWHEAD KILT worn by man-eagle 692-693
ARROWHEADS from Awatobi 618, 625
[ARROWHEADS] in Sikyatki graves 731, 740
ARROWSHAFT POLISHERS from Awatobi 611, 731
[ ARROWSHAFT POLISHERS] in Sikyatki graves 731
ART REMAINS in Palatki and Honanki 569
ASA PEOPLE join the Hopi 578
[ASA PEOPLE], migration of 622
[ASA PEOPLE] settle at Sichomovi 578
ASH-HEAP PUEBLO, former site of Walpi 635
ATABI-HOGANDI, an Awatobi synonym 594
AUA-TU-UI, an Awatobi synonym 594
A-WA-TE-U, an Awatobi synonym 594
AWATOBI and Sikyatki pottery compared 659
[AWATOBI], arrowshaft polishers from 611, 731
[AWATOBI], etymology of 594
[AWATOBI], legend of destruction of 602
[AWATOBI], population of 637
[AWATOBI], reasons for excavating 591
[AWATOBI] ruin discussed 592-631
[AWATOBI] ruin examined 535
[AWATOBI], settlement of Sikyatki people at 634
[AWATOBI] settled by Küküchomo and Sikyatki people 589
[AWATOBI] visited in 1540 596
AWATÛBI, an Awatobi synonym 594
Á-WAT-U-I, an Awatobi synonym 594
AWLS, bone, from Awatobi 627
AXES, stone, in Sikyatki graves 730, 731
[AXES] from Awatobi 625
BADGER PEOPLE settle Sichomovi 578
BAER, ERWIN, with archeological expedition in 1895 527
BANCROFT, H. H., on destruction of Awatobi 601
BANDELIER, A. F., Cibola identified by 595
[BANDELIER, A. F.], on record of Awatobi destruction 610
BAPTISM opposed by the Hopi 601
BASINS, _see_ POTTERY.
BASKETRY found in Honanki 572
[BASKETRY] not found at Sikyatki 649
BAT-HOUSE, ruin of the 590
BEADS from Awatobi 628
[BEADS] in Sikyatki graves 733
BEAMS of mission in Walpi houses 586
[BEAMS] of Palatki ruin 557
BEAN-PLANTING ceremony of the Hopi 702
BEAR CLANS, early arrival of, at Tusayan 582
BELL, clay, from Awatobi 628
[BELL], copper fragments of, from Awatobi 609, 631
[BELL] used in Hopi ceremony 628
BERRIES in Sikyatki graves 733
BESSELS, EMIL, on affinity of cliff-dwellers and pueblos 532
BICKFORD, F. D., on cliff houses in Walnut canyon 532
BIRD figures on Hopi pottery 660
[BIRD] figures on Sikyatki pottery 658, 682-698, 714
[BIRD] ornaments from Awatobi 628
[BIRD] ornaments in Sikyatki graves 733
[BIRD] vessels from Awatobi 624
BLOODY BASIN, cliff houses of 549
BODKINS, bone, from Awatobi 627
BONE BEADS from Honanki 573
[BONE BEADS] in Sikyatki graves 733
BONE OBJECTS from Awatobi 627, 628
[BONE OBJECTS], from Honanki 572
BONILLA, --, on Sandia population in 1749 584
BOURKE, J. G., identifies Tally-hogan with Awatobi 602
BOWLS, Sikyatki, decorations on 705
[BOWLS], _see_ POTTERY.
BOXES, earthenware, from Sikyatki 655
BRACELETS from Awatobi 628
BUTTERFLY figures on Sikyatki pottery. 678-680, 698
[BUTTERFLY] symbol on Hopi pottery 687
CALAKO in Hopi mythology 700
[CALAKO] katcina, origin of 666
CAMPBELL, GEO., cliff houses discovered by 533
CAMP VERDE, ruins near 534
CARDENAS, G. L., visits Tusayan in 1540 595
CARDINAL POINTS in Hopi ceremony 613, 628, 678
CASA GRANDE ascribed to the Hopi 531
CASA MONTEZUMA, _see_ MONTEZUMA CASTLE.
CASAS GRANDES, pottery from 624
CASTEÑEDA, P. DE, account of Tusayan 596
[CASTEÑEDA, P. DE] on Cibola hair-dressing 661
[CASTEÑEDA, P. DE] on early pueblo warfare 588
[CASTEÑEDA, P. DE] on Hopi fabrics 629
[CASTEÑEDA, P. DE] on pueblo kivas in 1540 575
[CASTEÑEDA, P. DE] on visit to Tusayan in 1540 596, 597
CAVATE DWELLINGS, function of 544
[CAVATE DWELLINGS] in Verde valley discussed 536, 537-545
CEMETERIES of Sikyatki 646-649
CEMETERY of Awatobi 593, 618
CEREMONIAL CIRCUIT of the Hopi 681
CHAIRS tabooed in Hopi kivas 626
CHARM STONES from Sikyatki 729
CHAVERO, A., on Nahuatl water symbol 569
CHAVES PASS, ruins at 532, 573
CHELLY CANYON, cliff houses in 578
[CHELLY CANYON], _see_ TSÉGI.
CHIMNEYS, absence of, at Sikyatki 646
CHUKUBI, ruin of, discussed 583
CIBOLA, identification of 595
[CIBOLA], _see_ ZUÑI.
CIGARETTES of reeds in sacrificial caves 736
[CIGARETTES] in Hopi ceremony 735
CINDER CONES, ruins in 532
CIRCULAR RUINS absent in southern pueblo area 576
CIST in Awatobi kiva 612
[CIST] in cavate lodges 542
[CIST] near cavate houses 543
CLANS formerly occupying Sikyatki 636
[CLANS] of Awatobi 610
[CLANS] of Küküchomo and Sikyatki 587, 588
CLIFF DWELLERS defined 531
CLIFF HOUSES, age of, in Red-rocks 545
[CLIFF HOUSES] and pueblos similar 537
[CLIFF HOUSES] formerly occupied by Hopi 578
[CLIFF HOUSES], human hand figures on 668
[CLIFF HOUSES] in Walnut canyon 532
[CLIFF HOUSES] of the Red-rocks 548, 549
[CLIFF HOUSES] of Verde valley classified 536
CLIFF PALACE and Honanki compared 552
CLIFF'S RANCH, pictographs near 548
CLOUD, _see_ RAINCLOUD.
CLOWN-PRIEST figures on Hopi pottery 659
COLANDER fragments from Tusayan ruins 624
COMUPAVÍ identified with Shuñopovi 599
CONCEPCION, CRISTOVAL DE LA, at founding of Awatobi mission 599
COPPER found in Awatobi 608, 609, 631
[COPPER] bells in Arizona ruins 628, 629
[COPPER] unknown to ancient Tusayan 741
CORN attached to prayer-sticks 739
[CORN] found in Awatobi 606, 619
[CORN] found in Honanki 572
[CORN], Hopi symbolism of 662
[CORN] in Hopi ceremony 628
[CORN], sweet, introduced in Mishoñinovi 604
CORN-MAID dolls of the Hopi 704
[CORN-MAID] figures of the Hopi 661
[CORN-MAID] figures on Hopi pottery 657, 658, 662
CORN MOUND, symbolic 740
CORN POLLEN in Hopi ceremony 628
CORNADO, F. V. DE, route of 530
COSMOGONY of the Hopi 647, 666, 732
COTTON cultivated by the Hopi 596, 629
[COTTON] fabrics in Verde ruins 573
[COTTON] garments of the Hopi 599
COVILLE, F. V., on identification of ancient food remains 741-742
CREMATION not practiced at Sikyatki 649
CROOKS in Tusayan ritual 703
[CROOKS] on Sikyatki pottery 703-704, 714, 724
CROSS figure allied to sun symbol 623
[CROSS] on Sikyatki pottery 702
CRYSTAL, _see_ QUARTZ CRYSTAL.
CUANRABI mentioned by Oñate 599
CUPS from Sikyatki described 654
[CUPS], _see_ POTTERY.
CUSHING, F. H., on affinity of cliff dwellers and pueblos 532
[CUSHING, F. H.], on southern origin of Zuñi clans 574
[CUSHING, F. H.], ruins visited by 534
DECORATION of Awatobi pottery 623, 624-625
[DECORATION] of Honanki pottery 570, 571
[DECORATION] of ladle handles 624
[DECORATION] of pottery by spattering 650, 668, 671, 677
[DECORATION] of Sikyatki pottery 650, 652, 655, 657-728
DELLENBAUGH, F. S., on identification of Cibola 595
DIPPERS from Awatobi described 624
[DIPPERS], _see_ POTTERY.
DOLLS, Corn-maid, of the Hopi 704
DOMESTIC ANIMALS of the Hopi 731
DOORWAYS of cavate houses 543, 552
DRAGONFLY symbolic of rain 630
[DRAGONFLY] symbol on pottery 669, 680-682
DRILL balances from Sikyatki graves 740
EAGLE PLUMES in Hopi rites 589
EAGLE SHRINE at Tukinobi 589
EAGLES kept by the Hopi 731
EAST MESA, ruins at 581, 585
ESPEJO, ANTONIO, Awatobi referred to by 596, 599
[ESPEJO, ANTONIO], Awatobi visited by 594
[ESPEJO, ANTONIO], on Hopi fabrics 629
[ESPEJO, ANTONIO], visits Tusayan in 1583 598
ESPELETA, an Oraibi chief 601
[ESPELETA], visits Santa Fé 601, 602
ESPELETA, JOSÉ, killed at Oraibi 600
ESPERIEZ mentioned by Oñate 599
ESTUFA, _see_ KIVA.
FABRICS, _see_ TEXTILE.
FEATHER fabrics from Sikyatki 629
[FEATHER] symbols on Hopi pottery 663
[FEATHER] symbols on Sikyatki pottery 658, 682-698, 714, 723, 724
FEATHERED STRINGS represented on pottery 662
FEATHERS on prayer-sticks 739
FETISH, mountain lion, from Awatobi 618
[FETISH], mountain lion, from Sikyatki 730
[FETISH], personal, from Sikyatki 729
FEWKES, J. W., on archeological expedition to Arizona, 1895 519-744
FIGUEROA, JOSÉ, killed at Awatobi 600
FIRE, Hopi purification by 647
[FIRE], _see_ NEW-FIRE CEREMONY.
FIRE-HOUSE, ancient occupancy of 633
[FIRE-HOUSE] ruin of Tusayan 590, 633
FIREPLACES in cavate dwellings 641
FIREWOOD PEOPLE at Sikyatki 632, 633, 640, 646
[FIREWOOD PEOPLE] of Tusayan 672
FLAGSTAFF, cliff houses near 533
FLOWER FIGURE on Hopi pottery 697
[FLOWER FIGURE] on Sikyatki pottery 658, 680
FLOWERS, _see_ VEGETAL DESIGNS.
FLUTE CEREMONY not performed in kiva 575, 612
[FLUTE CEREMONY], trails closed during 597
FLUTE-LIKE OBJECTS from Awatobi 624
[FLUTE-LIKE OBJECTS] from Sikyatki 656
FLUTE SOCIETY, prayer-sticks of the 737
FOOD REMAINS in mortuary vessels 741
FOSSILS used in Hopi ceremony 730
FRASQUILLO, flight of Tanoan refugees under 578, 600
FROG figures on Sikyatki pottery 658
[FROG] figures on Tusayan bowls 677
GARAYCOECHEA, JUAN, Awatobi visited by 600
[GARAYCOECHEA, JUAN], missionary labors of 601
GARDENS, modern, at Sikyatki 646
GENESIS, _see_ COSMOGONY.
GEOMETRIC figures on Sikyatki pottery 701-705
GERMINATIVE symbol on Sikyatki pottery 704
GODDARD, S., with archeological expedition in 1895 527
GOD OF DEATH of the Hopi 641
GOODE, G. BROWN, acknowledgments to 528
GORGETS in Sikyatki graves 733
GUTIERREZ, ANDRES, at founding of Awatobi mission 599
HAIR, human, woven by the Hopi 630
HAIRDRESSING of the Hopi 661, 663
HANCE'S RANCH, pictograph bowlder near 545
HAND figures on Sikyatki pottery 666-668, 728
HANO compared with Walpi 642
[HANO] in 1782 579
[HANO], when established 636
HAVASUPAI, cliff dwellings occupied by 533
HEART represented in animal figures 673
HEMATITE fetish from Sikyatki 730
HEMENWAY, MARY, Kawaika pottery purchased by 590
HÉ-SHÓTA-PATHL-TÂ[)I]E, Zuñi name of Kintiel 534
HODGE, F. W., acknowledgments to 527
[HODGE, F. W.] on colander fragments from Salado ruins 624
[HODGE, F. W.] on recent advent of the Navaho 658
[HODGE, F. W.], Sikyatki excavation aided by 648
HODGE, _Mrs_ M. W., acknowledgments to 527
HOFFMAN, W. J., on ruins at Montezuma Well 546
HOLBROOK, ruins near 533
HOLGUIN, _Capt_., Payüpki attacked by 583
HOLMES, W. H., on evolution of pottery designs 715, 716, 727
HOMOLOBI, location of 532
HONANKI, art remains found at 569
[HONANKI], origin of name 553, 559
[HONANKI], discovery of ruin of 534, 551
[HONANKI] ruin discussed 558-569
HOPI, abandonment of villages by 580
[HOPI] and Verde ruins compared 573
[HOPI], early migrations of clans of 574
[HOPI] knowledge of Montezuma Well 547
[HOPI] pictographic score 568
[HOPI] pueblos in 1782 579
[HOPI] request removal to Tonto basin 534
[HOPI] ruins, distribution of 581
[HOPI], southern origin of part of 568
HORN CLANS at Sikyatki 669
HORN-HOUSE, ruin of 590
HORSES, how regarded by ancient Hopi 598, 599
HOUGH, W., pottery figure interpreted by 664
HOWELL, E., cliff houses discovered by 533
HUMAN FIGURES on Sikyatki pottery 660
HUMAN REMAINS in Awatobi ruins 610, 612, 618
[HUMAN REMAINS], _see_ CEMETERIES.
IDOL, _see_ ALOSAKA, DOLL, FETISH.
INSECT figures on Sikyatki pottery 658
IRRIGATION represented in pictography 545
[IRRIGATION] ditches in Verde valley 538
JACOB'S WELL described 546
JAKWAINA, farm of, at Sikyatki 640
JARAMILLO, JUAN, on "Tucayan" 595
JARS, _see_ POTTERY.
JEDITOH VALLEY, ruins in 581, 589, 592
JUDD, JAMES S., acknowledgments to 527
KACHINBA ruin described 589
KATCI, a Hopi folklorist 637
[KATCI], farm of, at Sikyatki 641
KATCINA cult in Tusayan 625, 633
[KATCINA] defined 661, 732
[KATCINA] figures on Hopi pottery 624, 658, 665
KAWAIKA, application of name 622
[KAWAIKA], pottery from 622
[KAWAIKA], ruins at 590
KEAM, T. V., excavations by, at Kawaika 622
[KEAM, T. V.], idols removed and returned by 619
KEAM'S CANYON, ruins in 581
KINNAZINDE, ruin of 534
KINTIEL ascribed to the Zuñi 534, 591
[KINTIEL], location of 533
KISAKOBI, former site of Walpi 578
[KISAKOBI] ruins described 585
[KISAKOBI], settlement of 635
KISHYUBA, a Hopi ruin 591
KISI and cavate house compared 544
KIVA-LIKE remains at Honanki 560
KIVAS, absence of, in Sikyatki 642
[KIVAS], absence of, in southern cliff houses 574
[KIVAS], ceremonial replastering of 645
[KIVAS], distribution of 561, 574
[KIVAS] of Awatobi 611
[KIVAS], platforms characteristic of 541
[KIVAS], round, evolution of 575
K'N'-I-K'ÉL, _see_ KINTIEL.
KOKOPELI, a Hopi deity 663
KOPELI, services of, at Sikyatki 641, 643
KÓYIMSE of the Hopi 659
KÜCHAPTÜVELA, former site of Walpi 578
[KÜCHAPTÜVELA] ruin described 585
KÜKÜCHOMO ruins described 586
KWATAKA, a Hopi monster 691
LADLES from Awatobi described 624
[LADLES] from Sikyatki described 655
[LADLES], _see_ POTTERY.
LANGLEY, S. P., acknowledgments to 528
LELO, farm of, at Sikyatki 640
LEROUX, A., Verde ruins discovered by 530
LIGHTNING symbol on Hopi pottery 673
LIGNITE deposits near Sikyatki 643
[LIGNITE] gorgets in Sikyatki graves 733
LINES, broken, on Sikyatki pottery 704
LUMMIS, C. F., on Montezuma Well ruins 546
MAMZRÁUTI ceremony introduced at Walpi 604
MAN-EAGLE, a Hopi monster 691
[MAN-EAGLE] on Sikyatki pottery 683
MARIE, AUG. STA., an Awatobi missionary 600
MASAUWÛH in Hopi mythology 666
[MASAUWÛH], _see_ GOD OF DEATH.
MASIUMPTIWA, Awatobi legend repeated by 603
MASONRY of Awatobi 616
[MASONRY] of Honanki 563
[MASONRY] of Palatki 554-555
[MASONRY] of Sikyatki 644
MEAL, sacred, trail closed with 596, 597
[MEAL] sacrifice by the Hopi 739
MEARNS, E. A., on Verde valley ruins 535, 544, 546
MEDICINE BOWLS of the Hopi 681
[MEDICINE BOWLS] of the Zuñi and Hopi 655
MELINE, J. F., on settlement of Sandia 584
MESCAL in Verde valley caves 550
METAL not found at Honanki 571
[METAL] not found at Sikyatki 649, 741
METATES found in Awatobi 625, 626
[METATES] found in Honanki 571
[METATES] found in Sikyatki graves 731
MICA, _see_ SELENITE.
MIDDLE MESA, ruins at 581, 582
MIGRATION of Hopi clans 577
MILLER, _Dr_, pottery collected by 675
MINDELEFF, COSMOS, Homolobi ruins examined by 532
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on absence of kivas in Verde ruins 561
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on cavate houses 543
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on function of cavate lodges 544
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on origin of circular kivas 576
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on similarity of cliff dwellings and pueblos 537
[MINDELEFF, COSMOS], on Verde valley ruins 535
MINDELEFF, VICTOR, Awatobi described by 602
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], groundplan of Chukubi by 583
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], groundplan of Mishiptonga by 590
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], on Awatobi kivas 612
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], on distribution of Tusayan ruins 577
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], on former sites of Walpi 585
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], on Horn-house and Bat-house 590
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], on origin of circular kivas 576
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], Shitaimovi mentioned by 582
[MINDELEFF, VICTOR], Sikyatki described by 632
MISHIPTONGA, ruin of 590
MISHOÑINOVI in 1782 579
MISHOÑINOVI, OLD, discussed 582
MISSION, ruins of, at Awatobi 606
[MISSION], when established at Awatobi 599
MISSIONS among the Hopi 595
MOKI, _see_ HOPI.
MONTEZUMA CASTLE and Honanki compared 563
[MONTEZUMA CASTLE] on Beaver creek 549
MONTEZUMA WELL, ruins at 534, 546-548
MOONEY, JAMES, cited on Kawaika pottery 590
MORFI, JUAN A., on Hopi pueblos in 1782 579
[MORFI, JUAN A.], on settlement of Sandia 584
MORTARS found in Awatobi 626
MORTUARY CUSTOMS of the Hopi 648, 656
MORTUARY OBJECTS in Sikyatki graves 650, 656
MORTUARY REMAINS in Awatobi 617
MORTUARY SLABS from Sikyatki 732
MORTUARY VESSELS, food remains in 741
MOTH FIGURES on Sikyatki pottery 678-680
MOUNTAIN-LION fetish from Sikyatki 730
[MOUNTAIN-LION] figure on pottery 671
[MOUNTAIN-LION] in Hopi mythology 545
MOUNTAIN-SHEEP figure on pottery 669, 671
MÜYINWÛ, a Hopi deity 647, 667
MYTH, _see_ COSMOGONY; GENESIS.
MYTHIC origin of Kanelba 638-639
[MYTHIC] personages on pottery 665
NAHUATL and Hopi pictographs compared 569
NAIUTCI injured by stick swallowing 664
NAKWÁKWOCI defined 662
NAMPÉO, a Hopi potter 660
NASYUÑWEVE, a Hopi folklorist 637, 640
NAVAHO and Hopi intermarriage 658
[NAVAHO] ceremonial circuit 681
[NAVAHO] depredations in Tusayan 585
[NAVAHO] in Antelope valley 592, 593
[NAVAHO] katcinas on Hopi pottery 658
[NAVAHO], late appearance of, in Tusayan 581
[NAVAHO] name of Awatobi 594
[NAVAHO], recent advent of, in New Mexico 658
[NAVAHO], shrine robbed by 612
NAYBI identified with Oraibi 599
NECKLACES in Sikyatki graves 733
NEEDLES, bone, from Awatobi 627
NEW-FIRE CEREMONIES of the Hopi 586, 602
NEW MEXICO, _see_ NAVAHO.
NIEL, J. A., on Tanoan migration to Tusayan 578, 584
NIMANKATCINA of the Hopi 593
NIZA, MARCOS DE, on Totonteac fabrics 629
NOMENCLATURE of Awatobi 594
[NOMENCLATURE] of Sikyatki 636
NORDENSKIÖLD, G., on affinity of cliff dwellers and pueblos 532
[NORDENSKIÖLD, G.], on evolution of pottery design 716, 727
[NORDENSKIÖLD, G.], cited on Mesa Verde villages 555, 563, 678
[NORDENSKIÖLD, G.], on origin of round kivas 575
[NORDENSKIÖLD, G.], on platforms in Mesa Verde kivas 541
[NORDENSKIÖLD, G.], prayer-sticks found by 736
NÜSHAKI, etymology of 578, 586
OAK CREEK, ruins on 533, 550
OBSIDIAN objects from Sikyatki 732
OFFERINGS by Indian excavators 641
OÑATE, JUAN DE, Awatobi visited by 594, 599
OPENINGS in Honanki walls 565
[OPENINGS], _see_ DOORWAY.
ORAIBI, age of 607
[ORAIBI] in 1782 580
[ORAIBI] legendary origin of 634
[ORAIBI], site of 578
ORIENTATION of Awatobi mission 609
ORNAMENTS in Sikyatki graves 733
OTERMIN, ANT., attempted reconquest by 584
OWENS, J. G., acknowledgments to 646
PADILLA, JUAN, visits Tusayan in 1540 596
PAHO, _see_ PRAYER-STICK.
PAIAKYAMU figures on Hopi pottery 659
PAINT, _see_ PIGMENT.
PALATKI, art remains found at 569
[PALATKI], population of 567
[PALATKI] ruins discovered 534, 551
[PALATKI] ruins described 553-558
PALATKWABI, a traditional land of the Hopi 529, 531, 568, 672
PALEOGRAPHY, _see_ DECORATION.
PASSAGEWAYS in cavate dwellings 542
[PASSAGEWAYS] in Honanki 565
PATKI PEOPLE, early migrations of the 574
[PATKI PEOPLE], southern origin of the 529, 568
PATUÑ PHRATRY, southern origin of 529
PAYÜPKI, a ruin in Tusayan 578, 583
[PAYÜPKI], possible origin of 584
PEACHES cultivated near Sikyatki 646
[PEACHES] introduced in Oraibi 604
[PEACHES] of the Hopi 639
PHALLIC representations among the Hopi 663
PICTOGRAPHS at Honanki 567, 568
[PICTOGRAPHS] at Palatki ruin 556
[PICTOGRAPHS] in Verde valley 545
[PICTOGRAPHS] near Montezuma Well 548
[PICTOGRAPHS] near Schürmann's ranch 550
[PICTOGRAPHS] of Awatobi totems 610
[PICTOGRAPHS] on Awatobi cliffs 626
[PICTOGRAPHS], _see_ DECORATION.
PIGMENT found at Awatobi 618
[PIGMENT] found at Sikyatki 728, 729
[PIGMENT] how applied by the Hopi 650
[PIGMENT] used on prayer-sticks 630
PIPES in Sikyatki graves 733
PLASTERING on Awatobi walls 616
[PLASTERING] of Honanki ruin 563
[PLASTERING] of Palatki ruin 555
[PLASTERING] of Sikyatki rooms 645, 646
PLATFORMS in cavate dwellings 541
[PLATFORMS] in Honanki 566
PLUMED SNAKE cult in Tusayan 671, 672
[PLUMED SNAKE] figures on Hopi kilts 696
[PLUMED SNAKE] figure on pottery 658, 671
[PLUMED SNAKE] in Hopi mythology 668
POLISHING STONES from Sikyatki 729
POPULATION of Awatobi 605
[POPULATION] of Honanki 567
PORCUPINE figure on pottery 669
PORRAS, _Padre_, missionary labors of 595, 599, 600, 605
POTTERY decoration of the Hopi 569
[POTTERY] from ancient Walpi 585
[POTTERY] from Awatobi 621-625
[POTTERY] from Honanki classified 570
[POTTERY] from Payüpki 584
[POTTERY] from Shuñopovi and Mishoñinovi 582
[POTTERY] from Sikyatki discussed 650-728
[POTTERY] from Verde and Colorado Chiquito compared 573
[POTTERY], mortuary, from Awatobi 617
[POTTERY], mortuary, from Kawaika 590
[POTTERY], mortuary, from Sikyatki 649
[POTTERY] of ancient Tusayan 617
POWAMÛ ceremony of the Hopi 702
POWELL, J. W., ruins found by 532
PRAYER-STICKS, cross-shape, of Keres origin 703
[PRAYER-STICKS] from Awatobi 613, 618, 630-631
[PRAYER-STICKS] from Honanki 573
[PRAYER-STICKS] from Sikyatki 649, 736-739
[PRAYER-STICKS] in Hopi ceremony 628
[PRAYER-STICKS], prescribed length of 668
[PRAYER-STICKS], significance of 688, 738
PRAYER-STRINGS of the Hopi 662
PRIESTS, Hopi, succession of 637
PUEBLO GRANDE, _see_ KINTIEL.
PUEBLO INDIANS descended from cliff dwellers 531, 532
[PUEBLO INDIANS] RUINS, of Verde valley classified 536
[PUEBLO INDIANS] and cliff dwellings similar 537
QUADRUPED figures on Sikyatki pottery 668-671
QUARTZ CRYSTAL from Sikyatki 729
RABBIT figure on Sikyatki pottery 669, 670
RABBIT-SKIN robes of Tusayan 629
RAIN symbol on bird ornaments 733
RAINBOW symbols on Sikyatki pottery 681
RAINCLOUD SYMBOL of the Hopi 681
[RAINCLOUD SYMBOL] on Awatobi cist 613
[RAINCLOUD SYMBOL] on gravestones 732
[RAINCLOUD SYMBOL] on Hopi pottery 694
[RAINCLOUD SYMBOL] on Sikyatki pottery 689, 690
RATTLESNAKE TANKS, ruins at 532
RED ROCKS, cliff houses of the 548-549
REPTILE figures on pottery 658, 671-677
RUINS of East Mesa discussed 585
[RUINS] of Tusayan 577
[RUINS], _see_ AWATOBI, HONANKI, PALATKI, SIKYATKI, _etc._
SACRIFICE among the Hopi 738
[SACRIFICE], _see_ OFFERING.
SAINT JOHNS, ruins near 533
SALIKO, Awatobi legend repeated by 603
[SALIKO] on the Awatobi Mamzráutu 611
SAN BERNABE, mission name of Shuñopovi 607
SAN BERNARDO, mission name of Awatobi 594, 595, 599
SANDALS found in Honanki 573
SANDIA, Hopi name for 584
[SANDIA] settled by Tanoan people from Tusayan 584
SAN JUAN, headdress from 734
SCHÜRMANN, --, acknowledgments to 559
[SCHÜRMANN], ruins near ranch of 550-553
SEATS, stone, in Awatobi ruins 626
SEEDS in mortuary vessels 741
SELENITE deposits near Sikyatki 643
[SELENITE] in Sikyatki graves 730, 733
SELER, E., Mexican designs gathered by 705
SERPENT, plumed, of the Hopi 547, 548
SHALAKO, _see_ CALAKO.
SHELL beads from Honanki 573
[SHELL] bracelet from Honanki 572
[SHELL] from Sikyatki graves 739
[SHELL] ornaments from Awatobi 628
[SHELL] ornaments in Sikyatki graves 733
SHIMO, Awatobi legend repeated by 602
SHIPAULOVI in 1782 579
SHITAIMOVI, ruin of 582
SHRINES at Awatobi described 619-621
[SHRINES] at Walpi 586
[SHRINES] near Tukinobi 589
[SHRINES] robbed by Navaho 612
[SHRINES] unearthed at Awatobi 613
[SHRINES] of the Hopi 613
SHUÑOPOVI in 1782 579
[SHUÑOPOVI], OLD, discussed 582
SICHOMOVI compared with Walpi 642
[SICHOMOVI], Tewa name for 642
[SICHOMOVI], when established 578, 636
SIKYATKI and Awatobi pottery compared 623, 659
[SIKYATKI] and modern Hopi pottery compared 649
[SIKYATKI], destruction of 633
[SIKYATKI], etymology of 636
[SIKYATKI] inhabitants settle at Awatobi 596
[SIKYATKI] people harrassed by Walpians 588
[SIKYATKI], prehistoric character of 592, 632
[SIKYATKI] ruins described 631-742
[SIKYATKI], reasons for excavating 591
[SIKYATKI] ruins examined 535
SITES of Tusayan pueblos 578
SITGREAVES, L., on ruins near San Francisco mountains 532, 533
[SITGREAVES, L.], cited on selenite deposits 643
SLIPPER-FORM VESSELS from Sikyatki 652
SMOKING in Hopi ceremony 734
SNAKE represented on pottery 671, 677
[SNAKE], _see_ PLUMED SNAKE.
SNAKE HUNT, taboo of work during 639
SNAKE PEOPLE, absence of, at Sikyatki 740
[SNAKE PEOPLE], early arrival of, at Tusayan 582
[SNAKE PEOPLE], northern origin of 575
[SNAKE PEOPLE] settle at Walpi 617
SNAKE-RATTLE in Sikyatki grave 740
[SNAKE-RATTLE] used for ornament 740
SORCERY, Awatobi men accused of 603
SPANISH OBJECTS found at Awatobi 606, 623, 631
[SPANISH OBJECTS] unknown to early Tusayan 741
SPATTERING, pottery decorated by 650, 668, 671, 677
SPOONS from Sikyatki described 655
[SPOONS], _see_ POTTERY.
SQUASH indigenous to the southwest 621
[SQUASH] flower, symbolism of the 661
SQUAW MOUNTAIN, cavate dwellings near 534
STALACTITES in Sikyatki graves 730
STAR figures on Sikyatki pottery 702, 724
[STAR] symbol on Hopi pottery 696
[STAR] symbols on Sikyatki pottery 680, 690
STEPHEN, A. M., on Awatobi kivas 612
[STEPHEN, A. M.], on Horn-house and Bat-house 590
[STEPHEN, A. M.], on Mishiptonga ruin 590
[STEPHEN, A. M.], on occupancy of Küküchomo 587
[STEPHEN, A. M.], on origin of certain katcina 666
STEVENSON, JAMES, ruins discovered by 532
STEVENSON, M. C., on Keresan cannibal giants 665
STICK SWALLOWING by the Hopi 664
STONE IMPLEMENTS from Awatobi 625-626
[STONE IMPLEMENTS] from Honanki 571
[STONE IMPLEMENTS] from Sikyatki 729
SUN FIGURE in Powamû ceremony 702
SUNFLOWER symbols on Sikyatki pottery 702
SUN SYMBOL, cross allied to 623
[SUN SYMBOL] on Sikyatki pottery 699-701
SUN WORSHIP of the Hopi 699
SUPELA, Awatobi legend repeated by 603
SWASTIKA figures on Sikyatki pottery 703
TABOO of work during snake hunt 639
TADPOLE figures on Sikyatki pottery 658, 677
TALLA-HOGAN, meaning of 594
[TALLA-HOGAN], Navaho name of Awatobi 594
TANOAN migration to Tusayan 578, 600, 636
TAPOLO, an Awatobi chief 603, 611
TATAUKYAMÛ, a Hopi priesthood 611
TATCUKTI, a Hopi clown-priest 659
TAWA (SUN) PHRATRY, southern origin of 529
TCINO, garden of, at Sikyatki 638, 640, 646
TERRACED FIGURES of Mexico and Tusayan 705
[TERRACED FIGURES] on Sikyatki pottery 701, 703
TEWA PEOPLE occupy Payüpki 584
[TEWA PEOPLE], progressiveness of, in Tusayan 580
TEXTILE FABRICS from Awatobi 629-630
[TEXTILE FABRICS], absence of, at Sikyatki 649
[TEXTILE FABRICS] found in Honanki 572, 573
[TEXTILE FABRICS], Sikyatki dead wrapped with 656
TINDER TUBE from Honanki 572, 573
TOBACCO, _see_ SMOKING.
TOBACCO PHRATRY in Awatobi 611
TOBAR, PEDRO, visits Tusayan in 1540 578, 595, 596, 631
TONTO, origin of term 534
TONTO BASIN, ruins in 534
TOTONAKA, a Hopi deity 647
TOTONTEAC identified with Tusayan 534
[TOTONTEAC], suggested origin of 534
TOYS of pottery from Sikyatki 656
TRAILS ceremonially closed 596-597
TRINCHERAS defined 550
[TRINCHERAS] in Red-rock country 549, 550
TRUJILLO, JOSÉ, probably killed at Shuñopovi 600
TSÊGI CANYON and Tusayan pottery compared 623
[TSÊGI CANYON] formerly occupied by Hopi clans 658
[TSÊGI CANYON], _see_ CHELLY CANYON.
TUBES, bone, from Awatobi 627
TUCANO, name applied to Tusayan 595
TUCAYAN, name applied to Tusayan 595
TUKINOBI, ruin of, described 589
TURQUOIS beads found at Honanki 573
[TURQUOIS] mosaics of the Hopi 662
[TURQUOIS] objects in Sikyatki graves 641, 733
TUSAYAN, application of term 577
[TUSAYAN] identified with Hopi villages 595
[TUSAYAN] ruins discussed 577-742
[TUSAYAN] towns in 1540 606
[TUSAYAN], _see_ HOPI.
TUZAN, name applied to Tusayan 595
TYLOR, E. B., cited on primitive sacrifice 738
UTE depredations in Tusayan 585
[UTE], late appearance of, at Tusayan 581
VARGAS, DIEGO DE, Awatobi visited by 594
[VARGAS, DIEGO DE], Tusayan conquered by 600
VASES, _see_ POTTERY.
VEGETAL DESIGNS on Hopi pottery 698-699
VERDE VALLEY and Tusayan ruins compared 573
[VERDE VALLEY], archeology of 530
[VERDE VALLEY] ruins discussed 536, 576
VETANCURT, A. DE, Awatobi mentioned by 594
[VETANCURT, A. DE], on destruction of Awatobi mission 600
VOTH, H. R., decorated bowl collected by 665
[VOTH, H. R.], on ancient pottery found at Oraibi 607
WALLS of Honanki described 559
[WALLS] of Palatki ruin 557
[WALLS], _see_ MASONRY.
WALNUT CANYON, cliff houses in 532
WALPI, ancient, pottery of 660
[WALPI] compared with other villages 642
[WALPI], former sites of 585, 635
[WALPI], gradual desertion of 586
[WALPI] in 1540 578
[WALPI] in 1782 579
[WALPI], origin of name 585
[WALPI], southern origin of clans of 529
WALTHER, HENRY, pottery repaired by 682
WAR GOD symbolism on Hopi pottery 664
WATER used in Hopi ceremony 689
WATER-HOUSE PEOPLE of Tusayan 672
[WATER-HOUSE PEOPLE], _see_ PATKI.
WATER SUPPLY of Sikyatki 638, 646
WEAPONS of ancient Tusayan 596, 598
WHISTLES, bone, from Awatobi 627
[WHISTLES] used in Hopi ceremonies 628
WINSHIP, G. P., acknowledgments to 527
[WINSHIP, G. P.], Castañeda's narrative translated by 596
WIPO SPRING in Tusayan 639
WOOD in Palatki ruin 555
[WOOD], method of working, at Honanki 571
[WOOD], remains of, at Honanki 562, 566
[WOOD], objects of, from Honanki 572
WOOD'S RANCH, pictograph bowlder near 545
XUMUPAMÍ identified with Shuñopovi 599
YUCCA fiber anciently used 572
ZAGNATO, an Awatobi synonym 594
ZAGUATE, an Awatobi synonym 594
ZAGUATO, an Awatobi synonym 594
ZÏNNI-JINNE, _see_ KINNAZINDE.
ZUÑI and other pottery compared 623
[ZUÑI] origin of Kintiel 534, 591
[ZUÑI], Shalako ceremony of 700
[ZUÑI], snake figures on pottery of 677
[ZUÑI], southern origin of clans of 574
[ZUÑI], stick-swallowing at 664
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Some illustrations have been repositioned to avoid breaking up the
text. Page numbers in the List of Illustrations refer to the original
printed report. The Index has been edited to list only the topics
contained in this report.
The original book contains some diacriticals that are represented in
this e-text as follows:
The [)i] represents a breve (u-shaped) above the i.
(He'-sho'ta pathl-tâ[)i]e,)
The [=a] represents a macron (straight-line) above the a.
(_N[=a]-ác-nai-ya_, and Estev[=a])
Page 522, Table of Contents: Ornaments, necklaces, and gorgets (page
733) in original report changed to Necklaces, gorgets, and other
ornaments to match the actual section heading.
Page 525, List of Illustrations: CXXXV, _a_ in original report changed
to CXXXV, _b_ to match the actual caption.
(Fig. 270. Outline of plate CXXXV, _a_)
Page 526, List of Illustrations: triangles in original report changed
to triangle to match the actual captions.
(Fig. 336. Double triangles) and
(Fig. 337. Double triangles and feathers)
Page 652: attemps in original report changed to attempts.
(The first attemps at ornamentation)
Page 688, Footnote 1 in original report, now Footnote 145:
annulets in original report changed to amulets.
(ceremonial paraphernalia, as annulets, placed on sand pictures)
Page 702: respresented in original report changed to represented.
(A large number of crosses are respresented in plate)
Page 706: Sityatki in original report changed to Sikyatki.
(animal figures are unknown in this position in Sityatki pottery;)
Page 709 in original report, now page 708: lines in original report changed to line.
(FIG. 288--Single lines with triangles)
Page 731: to-day in original report changed to today for consistency.
(tethering in use today.)
Page 737: offerigs in original report changed to offerings.
(ancient prayer offerigs)
Page 741: accompaning in original report changed to accompanying.
(is set forth in the accompaning letter)
Page 744: In Appendix, Plate CLXXIII, _f_, the 5th digit of number
is missing in original report; represented by a question mark.
(_f_, 1561 0;)
Plate CXL: SITYATKI in original report changed to SIKYATKI.
(FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SITYATKI)
All other spelling and accent variations and inconsistencies have not
been changed from the original document, except for minor punctuation
corrections.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 - Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American - Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, - 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, - pages 519-744" ***
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