The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-05-28

Descendants. Of the Aztecs who Keep the
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Descendants. Of the Axtecs Who Keep the
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* els baltimore American.
e There are some communities of the Pue-
bio Indians living in New Mexico-hying in
precisely the way their ancestors lived when
Coronado reached "the land o. the Seven
Cities" ABOUT 1900 Pueblo Indians,
in IA villages, are scattered about the Terri.
tory. They are analogous in their methods
of building, but use variety of languages.
There are three entirely distinct languages
not mere dialeots-in use among
between them. In one Of these languages
the words are nearly all monosyllables; I'm
another the nearly all have three eylla-
bles. ~Pueblos,, close to each other do not
use the same languages. In the Pueblo Of
Isleta, for example, in the extreme south.
rs used the same language as is spoken ir
TAGS, in the extreme north, and none Of the
intervening PuebIos use that. language.
About IS years ago, when the Pueblo of
Pecos was abandoned by the remnant of
its lnhabitants. whose numbers had
been terribly reduced by contagious dis.
Ppeblos OF different languages to reach the
Pueblo of yamez, where there own tongue
Wa6 spoken. s 49, M
One of the most interesting of the Pueblos
is Taos, where the inhabitants nearly all
live in two large stone buildings, each about
five stories high, somewhat pyramidal in
shape, each story being slightly smaller
than the one under it Each building con-
tains am immense number of rooms, and the
stories are all reached by ladders from the
outside, the only entrance to the rooms
being through hole in the ceiling. Each
building contains about 200 people. The
buildings are not at all ruinous, but are
kept In perfect repair, and are always scru-
pulousiy clean.
The rooms have no windows or arrange
ments for light, except tine door in the cell
ing and a round hole in the. outer rooms,
about the size of q stovepipe, through the
wall. All the rooms are thoroughly white
washed, and are kept SO white and clean
that they are light enough for comfort.
Hardly an atom of dust is to be found in
any of the rooms, and the grounds about the
buildings are kept clearly swept. The PEG
pie are always hospitable to strangers, but
no visitor is ever allowed to penetrate to the
center of the building, where it is said
there is o great estufa in which the sacred
fire of Montezuma is perpetually kept
burning, and where the ancient rites of the
Aztec religion are still performed. Each
Pueblo is governed by officers elected by the
people every year, who are implicitly
obeyed. When disputes arise they are set
tied by their own tribunals. No troubles
ever come to the knowledge of the Terri
torial authorities. The men are nearly all
agriculturalists, and the Pueblos own all
the finest farming lands of the Territory.
The women make all the pottery that is
used in that section of the country, which
is all made by hand, without wheel, and
is very accusate in shape.
The furniture in the rooms consists
principally of lounges covered with skins.
The Pueblo Indians are citizens of the
United States, having been citizens of Mex
leo at the time of the treaty of peace.
Although they are entitled to vote and hold
office, they have not done SO for number
of years, preferring to be exempt from
taxation. Some of the educated ones can
read and write Spanish. The men wear
pantaloons and blankets, and men and
women are exemplary in morals. They
never intermarry with the Mexicans, and
| the men are not as small as the Mexican
| Aziecs, although the women are small. The
men look more like our Western Indians.