The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-05-05
THE ZUNI INDIANS.
A Curious People That is Neither Ancient
Nor Ingenious.

no ItlllAJ IllNAiGstt1Sf 10 - leLooAttis anu
he is an intelligent and expert explorer
on the staff of Major John w. Powell,
Chief of the Bureau of Ethnology. For
six years he and his older brother,
Victor, have been engaged in the survey
of the antique ruins of Chaco and the
inhabited pueblos of Zuni and the seven
villages of Tusayan, and together they
mapped the queer habitations of those
mysterious people, and have made for
the National Museum models of the
largest and most interesting pueblos.
Mendeleff has made some three hun
dred photographs and large number
of free-hand sketches of the strange
residences of this remnant of race.
II don't know that there is much
that is really new" said Mendeleff.
ut was formerly. indeed recently,
thought that the pueblos were very
ancient-the same in which this half
civilized race lived at the time of the
Spanish conquest-but we now know
better. The inhabited villages which
exist to-day are all modern. 1t was
formerly supposed that the Tusayan
Indians never changed their place of
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 vii
lagos were mostly in the lowlands. and
they were gradually crowded up or
climbed up to the practically inacces-
sible mesas-sharp cliffs, easily de-
feasible. The reasons for an abandon
ment of villages and the building Of
others are many, sometimes military,
bat often rooted in some superstition.
THE builders of these pueblOs had
very meager architectural attainments.
Their houses are poor piles OF stone
I and mud. Their ingenuity was puerile.
The element of skill is almost wholly
lacking. These curious ruins are simply
an evidence of the existence of Il race
with unlimited time ut their disposal
and unlimited material at hand. Every
where is shown q lamentable lack Of
constructive ability. They did not
know how to make "a square room, or
how to rear one wall at right angles,
or how to make q 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 in
| 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
latter is the lightest, the best ventilated
and the safest, being defensible from
all the roofs below, it is the flvorite
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
huence and will not permit census or
hold much intercourse with Americans.
Colonel and Mrs. Stevenson had trouble
with them, and were compelled to de-
part Mr. Mendeleff and his party
were treated remarkably well and are
puzzled in trying to account for it.
Perhaps the oldest thing" added
Mr.. Mendelef, after Il moments pause,
'is the status of woman in these queer
communities. She owns all the houses
and most of the property The man
owns the crop in tho field, but as soon
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 tho household, but she
does no field work, and, taking it all
together, her condition compares favor
ably with that OF the American farmer
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 landP"
No, the land is not owned individu-
ally. Ever since before 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
can use it."
Glow 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. -
IPnsbG9,1Iot, TcfIsr