The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-26
IN CAVE CHURCHES.
Underground Houses of Worship
Used by the Moquis.

From the San Francisco Call.
A white man has at last witnessed the
secret rites of the fire worshipers of Amer
lea. He accomplished this after years of
unremitting effort to convince these peo-
PIE of his friendrness. 1t was not, how
ever, until he entered the Moqui priesthood
that he was successful. The fortunate man
is ]. Walter FewlSes, who has done more
toward supplying the connecting links be-
tween ancient and modern Indians than
any other man. His work along these lines
has made him famous the world over
The Moqui Indians are the sole represen-
tatives of what their sort of Indian was in
past centuries They are almost the same
| to-day as when Coronado's men found
them early in the sixteenth century. In
the village where Mr. Fewkes lived, aWlpi,
the houses are centuries old. located on
the brow of a cliff hundreds of feet above
a great plain, and are not one jot different
from the dwellings that have occupied that
site for perhaps a thousand years. The
scientist lived among the Indians as one
of them, and in this isolation from the
white folks has been alone, except during
the latter years of his Investigation, when
Mrs FeWkes accompanied him, the first
white woman ever looked on with favor by
the Moqui race.
The customs of their neghbors, the
| Apaches, as well as those of the other In
| dian tribes with whom people are familiar,
are utterly unlike the ways and habits Of
the Moquis. In the SOS, when the white
| men of science first visited them, they
| were using stone implements, and in iact,
| living in just the way that we are taught
the Indians lived when Columbus made
his entrance on the scene.
While history is unable to give any in
| formation of the Moquis before the advent
! OF Coronados men, investigation of the
| graves made by Mr.. Fewkes furnishes con-
| elusive proof that the symbols of the tribe
were as ancient in the sixteenth century
| as they are regarded by the Moquis 10
| to-day
| While Mr.. Fewkes had no difficulty in
witnessing number of the Moqui cerc-
| monies, he was well aware that there were
! very interesting secrets in connection with
| the religious rites Of the Indians of which
| he was entirely ignorant. Every effort ne
made to learn was checkmated, and he
found that as an outsider he was at the
end of his investigation.
! Il saw" he said, when telling me the
| result of his Investigations, that it was
| through the priesthood l must get at tbs
| facts The Moquis were distinctly fire
worshipers, though unlike any other of
the fire-worshipping sect of which ever
| heard. They created their sacred fire
this I knew-but how it was all done was
/
| and the utmost care to convince the In
dams that-I~meant only good; and that
| did not want to use the information /
| gained to their disadvantage. AT last l
| brought them to q frame of mind where
they agreed that l should enter their
| priesthood and be initia ted into the Sc
! crets Of their underground temples, for the
more important features of the Moqui
ritual are performed in these caves.
| 1T was in one of these temples that
| witnessed what to me was as interesting a
| thing as could be seen, of all the more in
| terest because / knew that l was the first
white man whom the Moquis had ever per-
mitted to be present on such an occasion.
| To the Moqui. fire is a living, breathing
| thing. Its cation is to him exactly the
| same as the birth of child 1t is a sacred
| creation however, and the Indian pays to
| the fame as great a tribute as he can
| conceive ONO one is permitted to light
! either pipe or a cigarette from it. Ana
| when you stop to think that with the In
den all things begin and end with a
smoke you see the significance of his ac-
| ton.
The ritual observed in the creation of
| the fire is so simple that it is impressive
| The members of the priesthood present
| gather in a semicircle in front of the all
| tar, and the priest upon whom falls the
duty of bringing the fire into being takes a
| notched piece of wood, and in that notch
| places a stick which nearly fits ii. This
! stick he >repadily rotates. Directly be-
meath the earth has been covered with
| shredded cedar. A hush that is impress
! siv follows, nothing being heard except
| the grinding noise made by the two pieces
| of wood The friction of the wood is con-
| tinued for not more than minute, when
| a spark falls upon the cedar. and then an
other. The blaze is instantly nursed, AMI
presently is of sufficient size to permit a
| torch to be lighted from it. The sacred
fire has come into being.
Then one OF the priests is selected to
! carry the fire and the news from house TO
| house In every dwelling the squaws are
| waiting for him, the pile of fuel is ready
| and he lights it with his torch. The pro-
| ceedins is the same in every dwelling, and
| after a while every house in the village
| has its flame, which will not be allowed to
| die out until summer comes. That is all
| that happens the day of the fires creation,
| but the day following is celebrated by pro-
| cessions and incantations Of variouh sorts
| of nature which does not permit of de-
| scription. 1t is all along the line of the
| Indians idea OF the resemblance Of The
| birth of fire to that of a human being.
tine ceremonies do not, I think, have
| the same weight with the younger genera
| ton Of Indisns that they do with the ED
| ers In fact, ! am inclined to believe that
| the Younger element would willingly break
| away from this sort of thing If II could.
| This ceremony Of the fire creation seemed
| all the more interesting to me because It
Is an undeniable fact that the rites l saw
In the caves had never before been wilt
| messed by white man"
| S-@-S-~-