Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-27

dating back to q time
when monuments and remains afford the only
| data of peoples history, these Indians have
| aroused the hveliest interest on the part Of
| scientists. They have been visited, their homes,
method Of life and customs have been described
and many of the traditions and myths which
/ have been preserved from one generation to
| another have been patiently gathered and trans
lated.
From a literary standpoint perhaps there are
| few peoples. certainly none among the aborigi-
l mes OF America, that have received more at
tention. Recently, however, another investi-
gator has been among them, and from the
| standpoint of an educator he has looked into
their customs and their ways Of life and at
l tempted to solve the problem Of how to bring
I this strange people within the influence OF
\ modern civilization.
| DIR. DoRcHEsTER's INVESTIGATION.
The superintendent of Indian schools, DR..
Dorchester, has recently. spent some time
among the Pueblos, and the result Of his OBJ
servations he has given in carefully written
| report which has been received at the Indian
Office. The scope of DIR. Dorchesters investi-
| cations was indicated by Indian Commissioner
| Morgan, who desires to make the school sys-
| tenn among the Indians effective as possible.
| DIR. Dorchester finds that there is no accurate
| census OF the Pueblo Indians, as they look
attempts Mt enumeration.
The dumb secrecy Of the red race battles the
census taker. They look upon the knight OF the
pen, ink and book a sycamore who has come
to question them with evil intent and they
| secrete their children and confuse the ques-
| toner. Infectious diseases play havoc In the
| ill-venti!ated pueblo houses. from which the
germs of smallpox, measles, &C., cannot be ex-
PEELED. Close intermarriage is another cause
Of decline in numbers, both together leading to
gradual diminution Of the population.
THE PRESENT POPULATION.
They now number S,2S5 souls, living in nine
teen communities, and owning 1,074, 974 acres
| Of land, some OF which is wholly waste land,
much is fit only for pasture, while the rest are
fertile and well-watered valleys. With the ex-
cep,ion of two all the Pueblos are in the valley
ing much of the best land in New Mexico The
houses are built Of adobe or stones laid in adobe
mortar and are generally two stories high.
The roofs are covered with logs reeds. brush
and hay, and the floors are simply the beaten
earth ''siicked over with soft mortar. The in
terror walls are roughly plas.ered with clay
mortar and whitewashed with calcined gypsum.
NUMBER OF THE PuEBLos.
| OF the total Pueblo Indian population OF
S,2S5 DIR. Dorchester states that there are / ,624
children of school age. and Of this latter num-
| Only a small proportion of the children en-
rolled attend the schools, and the meager ut
| tendance is accounted for by the fact that there
| is no police power to put and keep children in
the day schools, and further that Pueblo chill
dren know nothing Of discipline, which Ii q
thing unknown in the Pueblos except in en-
forcing pagan and tribal customs, which are all
! against education.
DIR. Dorchester adds that the parents literally
have no desire to see their children educated.
He, however. recommends the continuance Of the
| present schools and the establishment of four
new schools. This is no time for retreat" he
urges. I'VE should push on this work with a
| firm hand"
| He recommends that the contract schools of
New Mexico be placed on a higher level and
provided with better class Of teachers. better
supply Of school books. maps and backboards
There are some excellent teachers in contract
day schools. he adds, but others are Of the
poorest class have ever known, with low ideals
ragged clothing. and teaching in rooms any
thing but attractive. He recommends that there
be an agent for the Pueblos alone, and that he
should be a man of nerve who will push matters
to the verge Of his authority.
OBSTACLES OF PROGRESS.
After this review Of the present condition of
the Indians and their needs DIR. Dorchester
turns his attention to what is perhaps the most
important part of the report, the discussion Of
He regards these difficulties as radical and as
inhering in the Pueblo genius, religion or Or
ganism.
The principal religion of the Pueblos," he
says, lis the darkest of superstltious, q pagan
fetichism which controls the whole life,
The unswerving adherence of the Pueblo In
dams to their ancient ideas and usages. amount
ing to granite obstinacy, is stated to be another
obstacle to progress.
'For this popularity" continues DR..
Dorchester, they have ever been noted. One
of the first conquerors of Mexico, Vargas, COM
planned that they ref lsed to work, even for
wages, and said: Il have been obliged to raze
whole villages to the ground to punish their
obstinacy.'"
Now, as then, the Pueblos are sun wor-
shippers. 1t took a succession Of reconversions
and rebaptisms, through scores Of years, to
perfect their surrender to the new faith, SO
often did they fall away from the mere
quasi assent yielded under constraint. This
pagan religion Is Industrious instiiled into the
minds Of their children, in the estufas, where
old legends are repeated over and over. and
pressed upon Young, susceptible hearts. Their
beliefs are sustained by prophetic hopes. As
"Sons Of MonteZuma," SO they call themselves
they believe that 'in the fullness Of time''
their Messiah will come-wili leave his bright
sun house to right the wrongs and soothe the
woes they hive suffered since the days Of the
Spaniards. Their ideas are vague; their legends,
treacherous as memory, are growing fainter
with the lapse Of years, and even their wise
men are without "open vision"
As cHRIsTIANs.
When the Pueblo Indians adopted Chris
tianity they hoped primarily for material bene-
fits. having no conception Of spiritual things
They received the new religion as another kind
Of magic, which might prove superior to the
old religion, bringing greater protection from
enemies, larger crops less wind and more rain
upon the arid fields When IL was seen that the
new faith did not produce this effect they
turned against it as not worth their support
To this BaSdelier ascribes the rebellion OF 1890
They nevertheIessretained q residuum of Chris
tianity, but it was distorted and overshadowed
| by the old fetichism and polytheism.
THEY ARE STILL PAaASs.
Though nominslly Christians they are only
baptised heathens. Even those Indians who
show in the fullest degree the effects Of Chris
| tianity and who are most attentive to the feast
| days and other religious observsnces still hold
| to the ceremonies Of the former religion.
Though in some Of the pueblos these ceremO-
MES are more secret, yet in others they are
observed a. openly as ever. To say there have
boon no changes after the lapse OF centuries Il
not true. Il would be idle TO deny that
the sltig91 wooden STICK = partly sup
wheel cart by the wagon; that iron impls-
ments have taken ths plece of stone; that
1 uool has ravklv sunrlansad o~kxo- s.>A a..