The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-07-06
The zuni Pueblo.

high up on the western slope of the
Sierra Madre, in New Mexico. nearly q
mule and half above the sea level, and
but few miles beyond the divide, where
scanty waters begin their timid and un-
certain way down, toward the Pacific.
stands ancient Zuni, the father Of tbe
pueblos. When Coronado made his
| famous march into the unknown north
the Aunls, or .Shi-wi-nas. as they call
themselves, were the first, and also the
most numerous and powerful. of the
pueblo people encountered By him.
fdheIr towns covered a great territory,
almost deserving the name of sskingdom,'
term SO lavishly and loosly used by
Coronado and his CONTEMPORARY explor
| ers. Oppression and pestilence have so
diminished their numbers, and their
strict exclusiveness has so Impoverished
their physical condition, that the once
mighty nation has now been reduced TO
handful of people. These inhabit a
single pueblo. But the country around
is dotted with ruined towns upon whose
walls is craven the symbol of the shi-
wilma, the sacred water spider, whose
figure forms the Zuni coat Of arms.
Here, surrounded by the forsaken homes
OF their kindred and ncestry-crumb-
ling heaps which in antiquity rival the
storied stones of the Old WorldAthe
Zunis live as their fathers lived and
jealously treasure their proud history.
.Zuni is still the largest of the pleblos
OF New Mexico and Arizona, and is
looked up to by the others, which differ
entirely in language, with the yenera-
ton and homage belonging to the elder
member of their family, the source
whence come their religion and lnstita-
tons BY. the census of 1880, under an
accurate count, the population Of Zuni
numbered 1,602, nearly 500 me re than
that OF lsleta, the next pueblo in size.
Therefore it is still considerable town.
1T is only few years since the Zunis
numbered several thousand, but an
epidemic of the smallpox de ,imated
them terribly. 1a ssss9ss
:. With the exception of the Moq1is and
the Java Supais, or XII h-nis, in Arizona
the latter an almost unknown pueblo
in Cataract Creek Canon, one oe the
!" box canonsa of the Colorado the
Zunls are the most isolated of all the
pueblo tribes. They have therefore been
little influenced by contact either with
Spanish or Anglo o-American1 1ciyilization.
and to-day live substantially the life
they led when Coronado first started out |
IN search of the seven cities. of Cibola.
The river pueblos, as they are called
those ranging along the Rio Grande from /
laos to Isleta--have monopolized the
attention of travellers and writers, being
the most convenient Of access. But these. /
surrounded by the towns of the iMexi-
cans on every hand, and latterly having |
come in contact with the more pushing
who leaves his own indelible
impress upon all whom he meets, thew
have naturally been materially influenced I
by the alien life around them, and their
manners have been considerably changed
thereby. ssA II 91ii ss
However good copy may be- how
ever faithful as reproduction, the most
OF us have strong preference for orig
lnals. So Zuni, as the oldest of the pu-
eblo families, as the father of their Kultur,
as the Germans would say, and possess
ing the most distinctive characteristics,
IS decidedly the representative pueblo Of
New Mexico.-SylUester Batter, in Hay-
Der's Aagasine.la 8I5u vnflIat,sa