Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-04-13

ANCIENT ABORGINEES.
Tribe Whose History Dates Back in the Mists Q
FORGOTTEN Ages.

VI NtiN leTtlle tract OF Iauu, 4WdleIeuA
by pretty rivulet, an affiuent of the
Colorado Chiginto. Here they raise a
sufficiency of the cereals, great .quanti-
ties of peaches and watermelons, and
an abundance of vegetables suited to
their tastes, such as onions, squashes,
pumpkins and chile. Their houses are
of stone, laid in mud, rising to the
height of seven stories from the ground,
and lighted by windows of selenite, or
CLASSY sulphate of lime--a mineral well
suited for this purpose, and found i'll
abundance in New Mexico.
While the influence of advancing civ
iiization has made itself felt upon their
modes of life, the conservation of the
Indian nature is strongly exemplified in
the tenacity with which they adhere to
old-time custom and old-time laws
The stranger entering their village of
1,o00 inhabitants would be greatly i'm
pressed by seeing them enter their houses
by ladders reaching from the ground to
the roof of the first story, from that
again to the second, and so on. To
make the explanation more ineligible,
it should be borne in mind that each
story recedes from the one below, the
roof of the outer line of rooms in each
story forming a terrace for the front
line of rooms in the story Just above.
To enter one of these houses, it is gener-
ally necessary to ascend by ladder to
the roof of the special house or apart
ment and reascend by another; the pro-
cess showing that in days long gone by
the Lunis We're much exposed to hostile
incurSions from some source and had to
resort to the means of defense afforded
by the simple expedient of drawing up
on the roof after them the ladder which
had been employed in the ascent The
travellers need not feel lonesome while
climbing to the crest of these low roofs.
An endless stream of naked little chill
dren and many dogs nearly always keep
them company. 1t is fact, absurd as
it may seem, that many of the young
sters to be seen going up and down these
ladders are too young to walk any great
distance after reaching the ground. As
for the dogs, it must be admitted that
they make their ascent and descent
with the dignity of Roman senators.
THE zUNI INTERIORS
present many effective genre scenes,
which some bright artist would do well
toreproduce upon canvas. the diving
room" varies in size from thirty feet in
length by twelve in width to sixty feet
in length by twenty-five in width The
ceiling is formed Of moke-backened
pine logs, covered with layers of cotton
wood or willow branches, upon which
last mass of well tempered clay is
firmly packed. The roof is in no case
over eight feet from the floor. but the
rooms are usually well lighted and fair
~ ventilated. Old and young squaws
may be seen at almost any hour grind
ing corn between flat stones called
'metales,' weaving blankets and bright
sashes from the wool of their ilocks of
sheep, or engaged assiduously in the
work of preparing the evening meal
Each day witnesses a complete change
in their bill of fare; but whatever they
may have to eat, q portion is ALWAYS laid
courteously and respectfully before the
visitor. Stewed mutton, stewed peaches,
and the blue wyayel bread, all served in
earthenware bowls of domestic manu-
manufacture of an unique design, form
part of nearly every repast, and are by
no means unpleasant 10 the taste. In
manufactures, the Zunis have made
great progress. Blankets, pottery and
silverware are the principal items, each
being excellent in its way, and the pot
terry quaint and beautiful.
Historically, the Zuuis have been
known since the date of the discovery of
Florida, by the Inflated expedition land
ed at Tampa bay, under Panfilo de Mar
vaez, in 1926. This expedition of fully
200 men, attacked by famine, fatigue,
inclement weather and hostile sayares.
became reduced to four men: Caheza
de Face, Maldonado. Dorantes, and a
negro, Estevanico, who slowly made
their way across the continent; some
times the slaves, sometimes the guests
of the native tribes, passing through
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, down
to Calicacau, in Mexico. The narrative
of their suf1erings and wanderings is one
of the most thrilling chapters in the
library of American adventure and dis
covery.
1t will not astonish the student of
Spanish-American history TO learn that
Immediately upon the arrival of these
fugitives in Calicacau an expedition was
organized for the subsection to the king
of Spain of the regions they had visited
This expedition, under its leader, Car
onado, made its way to the Rio Grande,
and beyond that to the eastward an I'M
determined distance, but probably as
far as the rich agricultural lands of
southern Nebraska. About the same
time, Roman Catholic friar, Marco de
Nizza by name, penetrated to the Zuni
Pueblo to preach the gospel. All this
happened before 1911, or nearly a cen
turY before the landing of the pilgrims.
The description given of the Zunis at
that early date answers with accuracy
to-day with the limitation, already
noted, of the slight impress made by
civilization upon their domestic life, and
the further one that their religion, which
then celebrated all its ceremonials freely
now performs many in secret. and in
underground chambers, called Estufas.
At the time of the Spanish discovery,
the Zunis offered up human sacrifices
and worshipped idols. Idols are still
reyered among them, though the imno-
lation of human victims has, happily,
long since been discontinued. They
possess ritual, preserved in language
transmitted orally. SO archaic that it has
far beyond the memory of man, ceased
to form part of the vernacular Their
ceremonies are of the most elaborate
and impressive nature, and once seen
cannot be forgotten.
The language Of these people is re-
markable in its construction and com
pleteness. The verbs are regularly con
lugated and the nouns have all the eases
of the Latin except the vocative They
are able 10 express even finer shades of
meaning than the English To illus
trate, they have five different verbs to ex-
press the various shades of meaning in
our word Ito know They have an
apparently inexhaustible fund of folk
lore. Their prayers and hymns are 20
eticsl and grand. They have a dead or
classic language in which many of their
hymns are worded, as well as some of
their prayers and the lliad. This sacred
history Is practically unintelligible to
the common Zuni. 1t commences by
saying that the ancient Zuns came out
OF the four great wombs of the earth.
The second and third periods are blank.
and the fourth begins with the Separa-
ton of the tribes as it is called. I, ipdi.
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