West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-05-07
PUEBLO PASTIMES.
strange People and Their REGULAR
Dances and Festivities.

pueblo. forty tive miles south of here,
about which interesting umor> have
been aaoat, but little has been known
until now. II proves to Ice one of the
Puchlo> that went down in the rcNolu-
tion of 1850, and was DESTROYED by
fire. 1t was very large The walls
arr yet distinctly uaccahc and the
lines of the houses we'll marked The
square of houses surrounding the
cstuia, or underground council cham
b'r, is about POO feet on each side.
The c~tufa itself is about fifty feet i'm
diameter Judge Prince found many
pieces ui pottery of unusual hrilliaucy
of color>. and also stone axes and
hammers. Scorchcd corn i'm pots was
found which went through the con
llagratiou over two hundred Years ago.
and Is in a remarkable state of prcscr-
vution
Judge Prince has been several wears
engaged in mcarthing the my stcrirs
ul the ancient Puchlos, aud his home
here abOunds i'm rare rclics Among
the latter is the only set of Pueblo idols
known. II is composed of strange lig-
urcS and curiously marked stones.
Pucblos claim to have embraced the
Catholic faith, it is known that they
still reverence idol, the sun, moon
and morning stars Although they
present their children To the priest for
baptism on the eighth day after birth.
they go through an ancient survivor
shipping ceremony with them four or
five days before that They are a very
sccrctiyc people, and it is impossible to
discover the nature of this ceremony.
The twelve thousand members, and
they are known to have remained at
about that number since 1900, carefully
guard this ceremonial secret There
are now nineteen towns left only one
having been abandoned within the last
eighty five years. and that the prCos
Pueblo, the extensive ruins of which
are still visible ON the Atchison, 70
pcka ~ Santa Fc road near Glorictta.
This once populou- city was reduced to
eleven inhahitnut, u 1910. and, taking
with the sacred fires, which had been
kept burning for untold ages. they
| lOurncNcd to JomcZ, where one of them
was chosen Governor last year ln the
year 1910 Coronado found the pcco-
Pueblo populous and louriShing. but
IFS inhabitants wasted away by war and
disease in three hundred years until
only eleven remained
The Pueblo government is a pure de-
mocracy. On each New Year eve they
eject officers in every town., the princ-
pal officers being the Governor. the
War Captain and the Fiscal or Treas
urcr The latter also has charge of
the celebrations, and hcralds procla-
nations and the news a walking bul
| lctin-board 10y virtue of'his lungs. Ey-
| cry town has patron saint, and that
saint day is the great event of the
| year. They rival each other i'm the cN-
| tent and lovclness of the dcmonstra-
| tons and in hospitality. for cvcrI
| house * open aud the stranger l. wei
| come to the best il affords.
The ceremonial dances at these cclc-
| brations partakc of the nature Of the
drama. Every one of them tells some
| story Of ancient days II is the tribal
mythology preserved in song and
| dance. The Matacmnos is danced by
| twelve men and one woman the belle
| of the Pueblo. II represents tine trials
| Of MOnteIuma iu reaching perfection
| and thc possession Of ideal female love
| lincSs. The woman they call the
| Malinchc. MOntcWma is represented
| by some active and ambitious Young
| mon, who. in the course OF the dance,
meets with all the annoyance and diff
| cullics that can be- hcapcd upon him bv
| hi, tOrmrntOr-. He is attacked first by
! one and then another, and ovcrcOmcs
| them i'm turn, winding up with ter
! rillc combat with n Indian dcckcd out
in imitation Of bull Then hc claims
the maiden aud is happy even his late
| comDui0ntS Joining bon the praise OF the
! victor
Mrs Prince saw the /arichc. drn-
matte dance, typical Of the suffering
/ and final victory Of Hoo-pah-wah tie
| AIlcr Achilles. She describe. it as
/ follows.
1.-TWO Indians are chosen ana dressed
4 just alike or. more correctly speak
/ iug. arc painted just alike. a- that o.,
! their ad0rnWcnt for thc ceremony.
| You can get only % faint understand
| ing Of the effect by description Of the
| painting. Fine white line. raIiato from
| ihc mouth and eyes. Onr-ha'f of the
| body from the crown Of tho head tu the
| sole of the feet, i- painted q BRIGHT tcl-
| low and thc other half green A burk-
| skin pad ou The end Df % stick i- Dipped
/ in white paint and ihr Ggurc pltiod
with it making what look like iilo
/ suOwhall- ciyh Or fem inches apart.
all over the body The effect j.. very
/ odd and striking a cur.ou. necklace.
/ Of what aro said tp b. bones Of extinct
/ animals. Dr. worn about the neck. and
/ iIc finishing adOrumrnt- are feather.
/ aud bows and arrows There are two
/ dressed BOO thi- way and cNactlt alike.
| 10 each i- fastened rope made of the
strands OF hides. painted green aud