Evening star., 1898-11-04
CENTRAL AMERICAN INDIANS.
Strange Tribe in Honduras and Some
of Its Customs.

anu some
of It's Customs.
From the New Orleans Times Democrat
In parts of Central America little visited
by civilized man remnants of once powerful
tribes. now feeble and almost extinct, are
occasionally discovered Gradually but
surely these races have been assimilated,
until nearly all now united to form that
most homogeneous of beings, the Central
American native, in whose veins doubtless
flows the blood of the Chichimecs, the Cal
huas. Nahuas, Tlascalans, Olmecs Toltecs
AZtecs and of Spain.
Occasionally, but rarely, tribes have been
discovered of such types as lead to the be-
lief that in their case no such amalgama-
tion has taken place, and the preservation
of d strange tongue, of habits and traits
wholly foreign to other tribes near them,
renders this entirely probable. A singular
tribe in the interior of Honduras near the
north coast, known to native HOndurans as
HicOques, inhabits a few small villages
! widely separated, the largest of which is
not far from Villa Nueva on the Astor-
honduras railway. From this place the
trail is up the mountains to Ell Nenado
about 900 feet above the sea The Indian
village is built upon the point of the high
est peak in the mountain chain, and con-
SiSts of less than a dozen mise erabe huts
There are no streets, the huts being perch
ed along the mountain top without any
semblance of regularity or order.
A glance shows that these are not the
homes of the common Honduran. The lat
ter builds his hut of mud and thatches his
roof with palm leaves, while these huts are
without sides, consisting of four posts and
a roof of thatch made with the long grass
which grows among the pines. The interi-
ors of the huts are free from tables or
chairs, the only furniture being a number
of hammocks made from species of pita
plant. Behind the huts are little stoves and
ing
by are the guacales or gourds, in which
everything is cooked. The Hicoques use no
earthen vessels for any purpose whatever.
1t is the custom with the HicoqueS upon
the approach of strangers for the entire
village to stampede to the woods This
excessive timidity makes 1t matter of
great difficulty to obtain any accurate in
formation regarding their social customs
or their home life. 1t is known that they
differ in almost every way from the other
people of the country The Hicoques are
small and squat. with high cheek bones
broad thin lips, with prominent teeth They
have straight black hair worn long and
braided The men wear no clothes save a
small breech clout, generally woven from
some native plant. The HicOCues' food
consists generally of wild game and roots
though they occasionally have a few pigs
and sometimes cultivate a small patch of
| corn. The latter only happens when they
have lived unmoleSted for long time in
one place. The men quite skllful with
bow and arrows. and with these weapons
obtain most of the meat eaten by the fam
| lily.
The marriage ceremony Is unknown
among them. The selection of a bride hav-
| ing been made the woman walks over and
takes possession or her new home, and the
] man gets out a trifie earlier in order to
procure food for two. Polygamy is not
practiced, but the intermarrying is carried
| to a dangerously close point, and inbreed-
ing has doubtless had much to do with the
! Indians imperfect development. The same
| cause has retarded their growth in intelli-
gence and their increase in numbers.
| 1t is not believed that these Indians have
any particular form of religious worship
| but they are full of superstition which
| leads them into doing many peculiar things
For instance, when sickness oVertakes one
of them, the invalid is provided with food
| sufficient for three four days, and is
| then left to fight 1t out alone as best he
can, the balance of the family retiring to
| some other house. Their knowledge of
medicine seems confined to the use of not
| more than four herbal decoctions of the
| simplest forms.
Another singular trait is their supersti-
ton in regard to eXpectoration within their
houses Should a stranger enter one of
| their houses and so far forget himself as to
| spit upon the floor no Hicoque would ever
| enter 1t again.
| 1t is extremely difficult to learn much
| about their language, owing to their retf-
| cence and shyneSs. In many respects their
| tongue sounds like that of our western In
| dians, except that it is softer and more
| quickly blended. They seem to have quite
| complete Vocabulary and when among
| themselves their conversation is anima ed
| and lively. Music seems to be unknown
| and no musical instruments have ever been
| found among them. The mothers seem de-
! voted to their children, and in this respect
| the HicoQues are perhaps better than many
| of the other Indians of this country. Like
| the squaw of North America, the Hcoque
| mother straps her child upon her back and
| goes on her journey. This is quite unlike
| the manner of the native woman of Central
| America, who carry the children straddle
| across the hip, the mothers arm being
| placed across the small of the infants
| back.
| The complete avoidance of all other races
| and the extreme tmidity and shyness
! which are the distinguishing characteristics
| of the Hicoques are ineXplicable. Their
| complete isolation in thickly settled and
| remarkably rich and fertile country renders
| this tribe very interesting study for the
| student of ethnology.