The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-23
The Sacred City Of Zuni Religion of
the PuehIOS.

clean for Indians. [ presume every
head IN the Holy City could furnish num-
berless offerings such as Diogenes (old-
est of tramps) cracked on the pure altar
of the chastes Diana. = a MAO
What Cholula was to the Aztec, Zuni
is to the -Pueblos; sacred as the City of
David to the sons of Israel. Touching
the religion of this people opens sub
ject so. broad and so charming am
tempted to give it more than q 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 a flint against
change and still keep to the ancient be-
liefs 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
the red men. The Moon is the Suns
wife, and eolipses are family quarrels,
that will result in disaster to the world
if they are not soon reconciled. The
stars are their children; the largest are
the Oldest. '-.i ''"'
Beside these superior deities, there is
the great snake, to which they look for
life, by command of Montezuma. IA
Like our sea-serpent on the Atlantic
Coast, he glideth at his own sweet will,
Is seen at unexpected places, as suits his
pleasure, is longer than the tallest
pine, and "thick as many men put to-
gether." .a .... -. .-.t. r.
1t has been well said the barbarian is
the most religious of mortals. His de-
pendence on the elements for food and
comfort make the primitive man regard
Nature with eager interest. Powerless
against her forces, if there be something
mysterious, threatening, the untutored
soul duplicates it in prayer, with the
Unborn faith down deep in every breast
that behind the 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-
bend why white men worship sheet of
bunting-white, red, spangled blue,
with the eagle totem-suffer for it, fight
for it in armies numberless as the sands
of the desert, and die for it without
murmur. lg .~i+,. ".atI..
The myths of the furthest West are
wonderfully like the myths of the fur
thest East. Studying them, one can not
fail in the conviction that humanity, in
all 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 Ike conditions, and that
certain religious ideas are born in every
heart sage or savage, making worship
human necessity. Here, as in ancient
Ihessaly, 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 Mexico, where the food sup
ply depends so largely on the winds and
the uncertain rainfall, the savage is most
anxious to conciiate the gods who pre-
for their worship, mystic stones among
the gnarled cedars of the Zuni mesa,
and a spring of sweet water, sacred to
the rain god, trimmed with pebbles prec-
ious as the oracular 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 Zuni
drinks from the consecrated OltGS, for
the spirit of the spring is always watch
ing, and will avenge the indignity with
instant death. Once a year, in August,
the cacique, with his chief councillors,
visits the spring, and washes its walls,
with the elaborately-tinted 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
the offender who shall profane them by
a touch! A fate awaits him like that of
Uzza, when he put forth his hand to
hold the ark in the threshing- floor of
Chidon. The lightning of the dread
god of storms will strike the sinner dead.
Somewhere near is mysterious divine
bird, kept in secret shrine. As Hero
dotus says of the Phoenix: 81 have
never seen it myself, exceptin a picture"
Like the old Greek, the Pueblo looks
up and sees the dead among the stars.
When the Aurora flashes a strange,
Pickering light along the northern sky,
it is the mastering of the spirits of the
mighty warriors, whirling their spears
and marching with proud steps, as the
shades of Agamemnon strobe across the
fields of Asphodel. The earthquakes
rumble is the grooming and turning in
sleep of big old giant, with voice of
thunder, eyes of fire, and breath of
flame. He was so immense that he
sprawled across the whole plain, and so
powerful the immortal gods, finding they
could not kill him, tore up high noun
tain and laid on him, to keep him quiet.
What is this but EnceladusP
| Under Mount Etna he lies.
1t Is slumber, it is not death; U..t 90
| For he struggles at times to arise, ..
| And above him the lurid skies
| ,, Are hot with his fiery breath. -.Iftts
| The crags are piled ON his breast. ..i 81