The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-08-12
THE ZUNI INDIANS.
An Ancient New Mexican Town
Social Life of the Pueblos--Langu-
age, Dress. Etc, Etc.

From an interesting article i'll Harp
el''s for August, entitled "Ancient Pue-
bios of New Mexico and Arizona we
make the following extracts:
Returning east from Arizona q year
since, we camped under the walls of the
Zuni Pueblo In New Mexico, and spent
a day with its curiouspeople. This place
is about sixty miles north of Camp Apa-
che, Arizona, and only few miles from
the line dividing the two Territories.
The town stands on the south bank of
the YUM River, some forty feet above
its bed. Its appearance is not sugges-
tive of hospitality to the stranger, pre-
senting as it does rectangular wall of
stone, varying in height from fifteen
to forty feet. Our camp was hardly
pitched, however, before some of the
chief men made us welcome, and sent
boys to us with bundles of fre-wood,
here SO scarce us to be almost luxury.
The buildings and walls are of undressed
stone, cement, and adobe; the only
means of approach being by ladders to
the roofs, from which narrow scuttles
admit the visitor by other ladders to the
interior. Many of the buildings are
three, and some four stories high, ter
raced like the teocallis of ancient Mexi-
co, as described by Prescott. Covered
ways lead from exits in the wall to the
stream, from which the women and
children carry water for the town in
glazed and ornamented vessels, called
by the Mexicans OlLaS, already referred
to in this paper as similar to the frag
ments of pottery found by us in Arizona.
These ollas are adroitly balanced on the
head while the bearer is climbing the
ladders to the house-tops, and, with the
graceful Romanesque costumes of the
women, add to the strangeness of the
scene, which seems rather Oriental than
American.
Noticeable everywhere in the interiors
WeIc tttSiCo Ol Ns'itOtiS SoIuS itlitt Sizes,
some tied by tie foot, to perches, and
others hanging in cages from the walls.
They are to these people as sacred as
they were to those of the old Aztec en-
pire. The walls inclose an area per-
haps four hundred yards square, and a
population of about fourteen hundred
souls. From a small plaza in the center
of the town few narrow streets lead IN
several directions, but the terraced roofs
of the dwellings,, which are almost con-
tinuous on the four sides of the wall,
form the usual means of communication
between neighbors. An old Jesuit
church on the plaza, which still holds
two large Spanish bells in its ancient
tower, now shelters innumerable bats
and swallows, but is otherwise untenant-
ed. A Latin inscription informs Us that
the alter was erected in 1776, but The
chief men told us that the present edi-
fee was erected at a much earlier date
upon the site of their Zuni temple, some
of the walls of which form part of the
new structure.
The Zuni Indians are IN many re
spects similar to those of the Moqui and
other Pueblos, but speak language un,
Ineligible to the latter. Their dress
resembles that of the Chinese, and many
of them, notably the women, have the
physical characteristics of the latter
among which are oval faces, merry, al
mond-shaped eyes, and similar com
plexion.