The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-01-16
An Ethnologist Makes Some h.
 teresting Discoveries,
Legend of the Moqui Tribe--Centurics Ago q Horrible Massacre Oc- cured on the Borders
 of Arizona.

let such a massacre, m which more
 than GOO people lost their lives, oc
 cured in Northeastern Arizona in tht
 year l700. The site of the martyr viii
 lage is marked by great heap, which
 is known to the Indians to-day as the
 Mound of Death.n Up to now, how,
 ever, nothing has been known def
 nitely about this mound. The old
 Spanish records spoke of the destruc-
 tion of the town of Awatobi, at the
 period mentioned, by seven other
 MoQui towns that combined to attack
 it, but there was no other information, save such as could be derived from
 aboriginal legends. But an investiga-
 tion set on foot by the Bureau of Ethnol- ogy has brought everything to light and digging in the mound has revealed plenty of evidence respecting the tragic catastrophe.
 Ethnologlst J. Walker Fewkes has just returned to Washington from the investigation During the last summer and autumn he has been engaged in a general examination of ruins in the neighbolhood of the present Moqui villages. There are seven modern vil- lages of these Indians, who number about 2,000 souls. Formerly they were much more numerous than at present, occupying perhaps one-fourth of Ari- zona. All around them are mounds which are the remains of towns. de- serted and extinct. or these the most remarkable are the ruins of Awatobi and Sikyatki.
 Awatobi signifies "Place of the Bow People," According to the Moqui legend it was destroyed because wizards lived there. Tie people of the town welcomed the Spanish priests and ac- cepted the Christian religion. From this cause arose much trouble The rain stayed away and so many annoy ing things happened that the seven other villages decided to wipe out Ava tobi. They combined in night as- sault, when most of the men of Ava tobi were engaged in religious exer- cises in a subterranean ceremonial chamber. The invaders, being ad- mitted by treachery through the gates, surrounded the underground chamber, and having cut off all means of escape for the occupants threw blazing faggots down upon them. They also cast in quantities of red peppers to add to the tortures of the burning victims. Most Of the people in the town were mas sacred, though the children and few of the women were saved.
 : Dr. Fewkcs made up his mind to dig into the mound of death If there was any truth in the legend he ought to find evidence He persuaded an aged Indian, who seemed to be well &C., quainted with all the traditions of the tribe, to accompany him to the ruins of Awatobi, and point out the approXi- mate location of the 'kiva," or ccre- monial chamber, referred to in the story. Then, with the assistance of force of natives, digging was begun. To remove the debris and superincum- bent sand of the mound was a big job, but the labor was well rewarded, for the excavation at length disclosed the walls of the "kiva." It was a room of large size, and at the bottom were fouLd great quantities of human bones, evidently representing scores of ind- viduals. Many of the bones had been charred by fire. In short it was demon strated that the legend was no idle tale. Here, caught like so many rats in trap, perhaps nearly 100 men had met their fate under conditions the | most horrible that could be we'll imag- ined. Not far away, near the gate of the town, Dr. Fewkes found evidence of another massacre, immense numbers of human bones forming a ghaslly accumulation In this place, as in the ceremonial chamber, the bones were mixed up higgledy-piggledy, in such a manner as 10 preclude the notion of mere burial. It was case of promis- cuous slaughter. bloodthirsty and ruth less. Among the Moqui the dead are buried ordinarily with the most re- spect and even reverence, beng laid in the grave with ceremonies as elaborate as those which prevail among Chris tians.
 Dr. Fewkes obtained q complete story of the massacre from an old