The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-31
A QUEER LITTLE TRIBE.
They Live in a RaVine, Where Sum-
mer Is Perpetual.

The Primitive Ava-Supies, 500 in
Number, Whose Abiding Place is a
Marrow Valley in Northeastern Ari-
zona-A Climate Of Perpetual Sum
mer.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
One of the strangest peoples, and. per-
hans. the strangesJ to be found within
the borders of the United States, is a
small band of Indians known as the Ava
Smiles. who inhaoit an almost inacces-
lille canon IN the extreme northeastern
nortion of Arizona The people are not
strange from any physical deformity or
stature. nor remarkable religious wor-
shin. but rather from their extremely
primitive mode of life. Their home is
situated in the deep defiles of Cataract
canon, a tributary of the Little Colorado
river, which has its rise in the Bill
Williams mountains. The narrow valley
is from 100 to 500 yards wide, with walls
of sandstone and granite rising perpen-
diculary on either side to a sheer hight
of 1900 to 1000 feet. The ap-
preach Is by narrow, twist
mo tortuous trail which desceuds
from the broad plateau above, winding in
and out beneath the towering walls and
precipices. In some places it is so narrow
that a single person with a burden finds
n difficult TO avoid pitching into the
depths below. Through the center of the
little valley flows a cold, clear stream
which is fed by the mountain SHOWS of
the distant Bill Williams peak. The cur
rent is rapid and the power is utilized in
crude way for grinding the grain, which
is one of the principal crops of this Area
dian people. At the lower end of the
stream the water is diverted into acequias
which carry it to the fertile fields Irri-
cation is necessary for all crops as the
rain clouds seldom pour their contents
into the hidden valley and the snow never
falls The soil is a rich, black loan de-
bris left by overtows of the adjacent
Colorado in untold seasons. 1t produces,
in addition to various kinds of grain,
peaches, grapes, apricots and a species of
guava.
MAINTAINING A PURE DEMOCRACY.
The Ava-Supies have no extensive
focks, neither herds of cattle nor horses.
like many of their prosperous neighbors
above, for all their available land is re-
CURED in agricultural pursuits but a
profitable trade IS carried on with the
Moo uis, Zunis and Navaios, fruits and
meal being exchanged for dried meats
and coarse cloths. The tribe at the pres
ent time numbers about 300 and is a
somewhat heterogeneous group, being
made up of refugees from various tribes
of the southwest. They are carefully OBJ
servant of law and order as present. bed bv
the authorities of the pueblo. and are
courteous ana hospitable to outsiders.
Down in this sylvan retreat the climate is
delightful, Neither the extreme heat of
summer nor the severity of winter is felt.
While the chill winds are raging over
head this sequestered glen is all abloom
with flowers and green with waving
grass
The Ava-Supies practice monogamy,
with the exception of the head chief, to
whom is granted a special dispensation
permitting him to take as many wives as
he can secure and support. Failure to
provide iustities wife in securing a di-
vorce, which is done in the simplest man
ner by leaving the lodge of her lord and
refusing thereafter to recognize him in
any manner. Should there be a man at
the bottom OF the domestic row the chief
has then the satisfaction of arraigning
him before the council, and it is the duty
Of that august body to assess the dam
ages. The amount is usually based upon
the ability of the defendant to pay, and
when a sum has been fixed upon it must
be instantly liquidated or the death pen
atty is the alternative. This rigid justice
is supposed to exercise a beneficial re-
straint upon the notebooks of the Ava
Supies. The government of this print
tive congregation is in the hands of a
chief who is elected by popular vote. The
Office is not hereditary, and it is seldom
that a son succeeds his father. The dis
position seems to favor passing the hon
ors around and thus maintaining pure
democracy.
ALEGEND OF THE TRIBE.
There is rather interesting tradition
which the Ava-Supies tell concerning
themselves. In the early days, ages and
ages ago, the legend runs, their fore
fathers dwelt in a great walled city on
the mesas above. They were a contented
and prosperous people, cultivating vast
helds and raising enormous herds of
stock. In the course of time, exalted by
power and riches, they became aGgres-
sive and domineered it over their weaker
neigE bors. For weeks at time they
would neglect their fields and herds
while they raided some nearby tribe
The Great Spirit whom they had always
worshipped grew angry at them, for
he was the father of all the tribes alike,
ana resolved to send some terrible vista
ton, that they might know the strength
OF his hand. 1t came at MONDAY, when
all the men and women We're in the fields.
suddenly, out of the clear sky, a bright
light burst and great wind, followed by
trembling of the whole earth. The
frightened people turned to run for their
homes, but before they could reach the
walls of the pueblo the ground opened
and they were all swallowed up. Then
darkness covered the sky, and for many
hours the shrieks Of those who had been
left within the city walls were heard
above the sound of the falling of their
homes
When light came again there was not a
sign of habitation left upon all the wide
mesa. Nearly the entire tribe had been
swept away. In one place where the
ground opened, it had only partly closed
again, leaving two separate mesas upon
lts sides. The lower was broader than
the upper, and, moreover, opened out into
tne channel of a great stream, but the
upper was cut OF from approach either
by ascent or from their brethren below
Az the bottom life might be supported on
hsh and stray fowl, and on the sides of
Jnelr rocky prison grew bushes and
Stqnted trees which yielded an abundance
OF berries and pinoles IN season. So the
4ttle band set about to begin life again.
FIRST of all they sought to build
path to their imprisoned brothers
on the upper mesa. Their numbers
We're few, and they had only such rude
implements at hand as might be made
from the tough young saplinPs. Each
gay saw them painfully and slowly ad-
Vanclng upward, but each day told upon
the hungry and suffpring na0Dlp in the