Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-08-17
THE ZuNi INDIANS.
Curious People That ia Neither Ancient
Nor Ingenious.

Nor Ingenious.
Cosmos Mendeleff has returned from
Arizona to Washington. Mendeleff, as
his name indicates, is a Russian. and
he is an intelligent and expert explorer
on the staff of Major John w. Powell.
Chief of the Bureau OF Ethnology. Foi
six years he and his older brother.
Victor. have been engaged in the survc,
OF the antique ruins of Chaco and tn,
inhabited pueblos of Zuni and the sever
villages Of Tusayan, and together the,
mapped the queer habitations of thos,
mysterious people, and have made fl
the National Museum models Of th
largest and most interesting pueblos
Mendeief has made some three hun
dred photographs and large number
Of frce-hand sketches Of the strange
residences of this remnant of race.
II don't know that there Ia much
that is really new" said Mendeleff
1T was formerly. indeed recently.
thought that the pueblos were vela
ancient-the same in which this half
civilized race lived at the time of th
Spanish conqnest-but we now know
better. The inhabited villages which
exist to-day are all modern. It wa.
formerly supposed that the Tusayan
Indians never changed their place o.
abode, but held to the same site from
generation to generation. 1t is now
known that they have been in the habit
Of abandoning their old houses and
building new. In early days the VIII
lagos were mostly in the lowlands. and
they were gradually crowded up o,
climbed up to the practically inacces
sible mesas-sharp cliffs. easily de-
fensible. The reasons for an abandon
ment of villages and the building o
others are many. sometimes military
but often rooted in some superstition
THE builders of these pueblos har
very meager architectural attachments
Their houses are poor piles of ston.
and mud Their ingenuity was puerile
The element of skill is almost wholly
lacking. These curious ruins are simpl,
an evidence of the existence of a race
with unlimited time at their disposal
and unlimited material at hand. Every
where is shown a lamentable lack Of
constructive ability. They did not
know how to make square room, or
how to rear one wall at right angles,
or how to make a circle or even a
straight line
Mr.. Mendeleff has comprehensive
photographs of the seven Tusayan vii
lagos. Each village consists of fifteen
or twenty houses and each house OF
several residences. The house is a
series of terraces. receding as they rise.
The first story is about seven feet high.
and is approached from without only
by ladder which leads to hole III
the roof. In war times the ladder is
always pulled up. From the rear OF
this story rises the second story. seven
feet higher, mounted also by ladder,
and other ladders lead to third and
perhaps fourth story. Of course the
first story under this arrangement is of
much the largest and the upper story
of much the smallest area, and as the
la ter is the lightest, the best ventilated
and the safest, being defensible from
all the roofs below. it is the favorite
habitation, and usually occupied BY
the officers and the aristocracy 1t is
estimated that in all the seven Tusayan
villages there are 1000 people. They
live mainly On Indian corn. squashes
and beans. They are under Mormon in-
iuence and will not permit census OF
hold much intercourse with Americans
| Colonel and Mrs. Stevenson had nouble
with them, and were compelled to de
part. Mr.. Mendeleif and his party
were treated remarkably well and are
puzzled in trying to account for it.
Perhaps the oldest thing" aided
Mr.. Mendelef. after a moments pause,
lis the status of woman in these queer
communities. She owns all the house,
| and most of the property. The man
owns the crop in the field, but as scon
as it is harvested it belongs to his wife.
She controls the house and all that is in
it. She works steadily and constantly
in the duties of the household. but she
does no field work, and. taking it all
together, her condition compares favor.
ably with that of the American farmer S
wife. The descent of all property is in
the female line and through the mother;
it is she who makes the will and pro-
vides for the offspring"
What does the man own then, -
asked
The donkeys, perhaps" he said
"but am not sure about that"
And the land?'
No. the land is not owned individu.
! ally. Ever since sefore historic time
land has been owned by the whole ma
ton. If an Indian goes out and takes
up some land not in use and cultivates
| it, nobody can take it from him. But
if he stops using it anybody else can
| jump it 1t belongs to the fellow that
t can use it.
'How does that work?'
There are no millionaires. There
is about the same degree of comfort
that there is among very poor people
anywhere. As to land. the shrewdest
and smartest Indian manages to get the
best, the same as under any system. -
| Washington Letter.
Wit" AND WISDOM.