The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-14
SOME VERY QUEER INDIANS
THE AVA-SUPIS, WHO LIVE IN 4
 DEEP CANYON.

All Were Destroyed by an Earthquake,
 and the Remnant Found Themselves in
 the Canyon and They Have Stayed There Ever Since.
 Los Angeles, Cal, April 16.-Several young men connected with the ethno- | logical bureau of the Smithsonian Insti- | tuition have come into Los Angeles after life of few weeks among the Ava Supis Indians in the extreme northeast part of Arizona Territory. They were there after having spent several months | in the Navajo and Moqui countries, and | their purpose was to observe the life of the Ava-Supis and get their tribal le- gends and whatever of history they | have.
 We are so glad we went up to see the Ava-Supis," said Professor Horace Yelling of the party speaking of these Indians while in Pomona the oth- CT day. "They are by long odds the most interesting savages we have in the | Union, outside of the Zunis, from an ethnological point of view. We were told that we were the first whites (out- side of two or three cowboys) that had been In the Ava-Supis locality in seve- ral years. As soon as they believed in | us-for the average Indian of the terri 1 tories nowadays agrees with the an- cient Psalmist in saying in his heart that all men are liars-they were the most genial and hospitable red men we have ever been among, and that is say ing good deal, too. If any young American of means and taste for study ing Indian habits and observing human nature as it was among the savages in the days of Cortez and Coronado will visit them, he will find enough to not only interest, but fascinate him among | the AVa-Supis for long summer In their tribal customs the Ava-Supis have | changed less by contact with civiliZa- ton than any tribe in the Union. I don't believe their language has altered | bit in the last two centuries Yes, you may be sure we shall go there again, when we shall be better prepared to study our hosts"
 The home of the Ava-Supi tribe is between the deep defles of Cataract Canon a tributary of the little Cobra | Williams Mountains The narrow val ley is from one to five hundred yards wide, with walls of sandstone and gran ite rising perpendicularly on either side to a sheer height of two to four thou sand feet, The approach is by mar row, twisting, tortuous trail, which de- scends from the broad plateau above, winding in and out between the tower ing walls and precipices. In some places it Is so narrow that single per son with a burden finds it difficult to avoid pitching into the depths below. No tribe in the country occupies such an inaccessible locality as a home White men never go there unless on sci ence bent.
 Through the center of the little valley flows a cold clear stream fed by the mountain snoWs of the distant Bill Will Hams Peak. The current Is rapid, and the power Is utilized in a crude way for grinding the grain which is one of the principal crops of this Arcadian people. At the lower end of the stream the water is diverted into acequias, which carry it to the fertile fields. Irrigation 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 loam, de- bris left by overflows of an adjacent Colorado in untold seasons. It pro- duces, in addition to various kind of grain, peaches, grapes, mesquite beans and d species of guava.
 The Ava-Supis have no extensive : nocks, neither herds of cattle nor : horses like many of their prosperous neighbors above, for all their available : land is required in agricultural pur- l suits, but profitable trade is carried on with the Moquis, zunis and Navajos fruits and meal being exchanged for . dried meats and coarse cloths. The tribe at the present time numbers about , three hundred. They are carefully ob- servant of law and order as prescribed , by the authorities of the pueblo, and are courteous and hospitable to out siders. Down in this sylvan retreat the , climate is delightful. Neither the ex- treme heat of summer nor the severity of winter is felt. While the chill winds are raging overhead, this sequestered , glen is all abloom with flowers and green with waving grass.
 lle AN puplS pI dCllCc eitlly
 with the exception of head chief, tC
 whom Is granted a special dispensatior
 permitting him to take as many wives
 as he can secure and support. Failure
 to provide justifies a wife in securing 2
 divorce, which Is done In the simplest possible manner, by leaving the lodge
 of her husband and refusing thereafter F | to recognize him in any manner Should there be man at the bottom o , | the domestic row, the chief has then tht a satisfaction of arraigning him before , the council, and it Is the duty of tha august body to assess the damages :, The amount is usually based upon thu f ability of the defendant to pay, an(
 when a sum has been fixed upon it mus
 be instantly liquidated, or the deatl = penalty is the alternative. This rigiC e justice is supposed to exercise a benefi F cial restraint upon the hot blood of thu
 Ava-Supis. The government of thi f. primitive congregation is in the hand = of a chief who is elected by popula
 vote. The office is not hereditary anN . it is seldom that a son succeeds tn r father The disposition seems to favo ', passing the honors around, and thu , maintaining a pure democracy.
 7 There is rather interesting tradition