Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1892-10-18


Navaioes; then their friends, the Next
cane, and last Of all his vs. people, thai
all would be supplied abundantly, and
should any Of the young bucks intro
duco fire water during the festival, they
wero to be securely locked up until the
reioicings we're over.
Every q helped themselves 10 what
ever they wished with quiet dignity.
There was no cupidity and no appropria-
tion Of more than satisfied their actual
wants, and after all had partakon Of
a generous repast, the young bucks at
tired in every conceivable costume, con-
Quoted their pattners into the space al
loted for dancing. The dance was a lit
tie beyond the powers Of a novice 10 do
scribe, but the silent, ewayine fgures,
With their copper-hued faces lit up by
the lurid light Of the wood fires, under
the %silvery rays Of full moon, and keep
ing time with solemn measured step to
the cadence of the strange music, rep
resented a veritable witches dance
LAB ANAH HAulA nAAA h0NAANA III UAOAM~
sion over their shoulders and down their
backs, secured in place around their
head by a Hllet Of scarlet ribbon, the
dusky faces, sparkling back eyes, gaudy
sashos and many hued s%carfs, all lent
an additional weirdness to the fantastic
scene. The women we're dressed in
home-spun ~petticoats reaching a little
below the knee, with their neither limbs
encased in well tanned buckskin moe
~cassins e~xquisitely embroidered with
beads Of every color in we'll executed do
signs Of flowers, birds and animals.
They are adopts in the manipulation Of
dyes and are clever designers. Their
blankets may represent all the colors of
the rainbow, but the artistic patterns
and harmonious blending and combina-
ton Of all these c%olors, relieve the eye
and soften the effect. The principal or
naments, in the jewelry line, we're silver
buttons and bracelets, and necklaces Of
turquoise and she'll beads.
Few Of the faces came up to the stand
ard Of an Americans ideal of beauty
but their bodies are we'll proportional
and they have a lighter complexion than
many other tribes. One girl Of 10 years
or SO was an exception to the rule. Tall,
willowy, and built all over like a race
horse, with a pleasant expression and
good features, she looked as il she would
make a splendid woman under the civili-
zing influence of an eastern seminary
yet, Quien sabe7 Perhaps she appeared
at her best as we first saw her in her
picturesque costume at an Indian ira
der's store, and again at the Nutri6 races,
riding man fashion, as all the women do,
on a prancing cayuse which she handled
with a bit of native manufacture, that
would have burst wide open the jaw Of
a rhinoceros. The music and dancing
become monotonous, so we hunted a soft
place on the bosom of mother earth,
rolled up in onr blankets, with the ghost
like dance in view and in full swing.
A few hours sleep in the open air, in
the wonderfully invigorating climate of
New Mexico, soon incorporates the tired
system. When we awoke, daylight was
GU the verge of breaking, and the silent,
shadowy forms, silhouetted against the
gray sky were still moving in a dreamy
fashion through the may dance. The
moment the FIRST rays of the sun glinted
over this group of freworshippers, the
, master Of the ceremonies proclaimed the
festival over. The music ceased, and
the crowd vanished like morning mist
3 on a mountain side. We fried u mutton
B chop, mounted our b~ronchos, and struck
4 through the painless timber for the
Mormon village Of Ramah.
CALDER WOODLAND.