The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-04-23
The Sacred city q zssl -Rsllsiss u
The Paehlos.

The Zunis arc tho Yankees Of tho
i'usblos-self.supporting, keen q bar.
gain. thrifty, orderly. clean; that l.,
clean for Lsiians. / presume every
head In the Holy City could furnish num-.
berless offerings such - Diogenes (old.
est Of tramps) cracked on the pure altar
Of the chastc Diana.
What Ch0luls was TO the Aztec, Zuni
Is to the PueblOs; sacred ~ the City Of
David to the sons Of Israel. Touching
the religion Of this people opens SUBJ
ject so broad and so charming am
tempted to give it more than passing
glance, but space forbids. They are
pantheists in the fullest sense OF the
word. and, though missions have
been established among them three
hundred years, they, like all aborig-
ines, set their faces as flint against
change and still keep to the ancient be.
iiefs and customs. They worship the
Supreme One, whose name it is death
to utter; Montezuma, his brother and
equal; and the Sun, to whom they pray
and smoke, because his eye is always
open and his ear attends the prayers of
tho red men. The Moon Is the Suns
wife, and eclipses are family quarrels,
that will result in disaster to the world
II they are not soon reconciled. The
stars are their children; the largest are
the oldest.
Beside these superior deities, there is
the great snake, to which they look for
life, by command Of Montezunia.
Like our sea serpent on the Atlantic
Coast, he glideth at his own sweet will,
Is seen ut unexpected places, as suits his
pleasure, Is longer than the tallest
pine, and "thick as many men put to-
gether."
II has been we'll said the barbarian Is
the most religious Of mortals. His Do.
pcndence on the elements for food and
comfort make the primitive man regard
Nature with eager interest. POwerless
against her forces, IL there be something
mysterious, threatening, the untutored
soul duplicates 1t In prayer, with the
Unborn faith down deep in every breast
that behind tho visible lies close the in.
visible. the Creator, who rules the world
he made.
They adore the rainbow, bright head.
band Of the sky, rivers, mountains,
stones, trees, bears, and other animals.
Their fables appear meaningless to us !;
but we must not despise them, for many
OF our beliefs are equally SO to them.
The aboriginal brain can never compre-
hend why white men worship q sheet Of
bunting-white, red, spangled blue,
with the eagle totem-suffer for it, fight
for 1t in armies numberless q the sands
of the desert, and die for It without
murmur.
The myths Of the furthest West arc
wonderfully like the myths of the fur.
thest East. Studying them, one can not
fail In the conviction that humanity, in
oil the ages and races, is the same,
formed on one model, unfolding under
the influence Of the same inspiration ;
that, left to their own will, men do like
things under like conditions, and that
certain religious ideas are born in every
heart, sage Or savage, making worship
human necessity. Here, as In ancient
Thessaly, the powers of Heaven have
haunts in echoing mountain-sides, BY
pebbly springs, in the gloomy shades Of
the whispering pines, and under the
rushing river and cataract.
In New MeSicO, where the food sup
ply depends SO largely on the winds and
the uncertain rainfall, the savage Is most
anxious to conciliate the gods who pro.
side over these forces. There ore affairs
tor their worship, mystic stones among
the gnarled cedars Of the Zuni mesa,
and . spring Of sweet water, sacred to
the rain god, trimmed with pebbles preo.
ious ~ the oraeular jewels on the breast
Of the Jewish high priest. No animal Is
allowed to drink Of the holy waters, and
they are purified every year, with yes.
sells dedicated to the service-most an.
cient jars, handed down through the
generations since the evening and the
morning were the first day. No Zuui
drinks from the Oonsecrated ollos, for
the spirit of the spring is always watch.
Ing, and will avenge tho indignity with
instant death. Once . year, in August,
the cociQue, with his chief councillors.
visits the spring, and washes its walls,
with the elaborately.tinte vases, which
were followed by the first high priest.
They are ranged in order on the rim of
the well. The frog, the rattlesnake, the
tortoise are painted on them, animals
sacred to the presiding deity. Woe to
tho offender who shall profane them by
touch! A fate awaits him like that Of
Uxzs, when he put forth his hand to
bold the ark in the threshing. floor of
Chidon. The lightning Of the dread
god OF storms will strike the sinner dead,
Somewhere near Is Q mysterious divine
bird, kept in . secret shrine. Az Hero.
dotus says OF the Phoenix: ~ have
never SCENT myself, except in . picture. +"
Like tho old Greek, the Pueblo looks
up and sees the dead among the stars.
When the Aurora flashes = strange,
pickering light along the northern sfy,
It 70 the mastering OF the spirits of the
mighty warriors, whirling their spears
and marching with proud steps, Is the
shades Of Agsmemnon strobe across the
fields Of Asphodel. The earthquake's
rumble IL the groaning and turning in
sleep OF . big old giant, with voice Of
thunder, eyes Of fire, and breath Of
hsme. He was 20 immense that he
sprswled across the whole plain, and 60
powerful the immortal gods, finding thew
could not kill him, tore up ! high noun.
tain and laid on him, to keep him quiet.
What 10 this but Encelsdusf
Under Mount Etna he lies.
| 1t Il slumber, It ts not death:
FOR ne struggles Of times to arisA
And above him the lurid skies
Are hot with his llery breath.
13e crage are piled on his breast.
The earth IL heaped on his head:
But the grOans of his wild unrest.
Though smOthered and half suppresead.
| Are heard, and he il not dead