The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-02-10
FIRM INDIAN WOMEN.
NAVAJOS WILL NEVER LOOK AT
MOTHERS-IN-LAW,
Trouble for PolyEamists-How Pesh-la-
Kali Got Around 1t - He Had a
brilliant Idea and Carried 1t Into
Effect. d,

Why is it that mothers-in-law are
deemed fit subjects for the wit which
hnds expression or the stage and in
the so-called comic journals? The in
dlVldual experience of the average man
certainly affords no justification for
Such Jests, and the really estimabie
mOther-ln-laW, regarded as highly by
the mar Of the house as by his wife,
IS SO common as almost to constitute
the rule, says the New York CONNER
cla Advertiser. We nus look else
where than in the conditions of to-
Ia FOR the origin of this curious idea
and We lind it far back in the days
"hen the human race was young The
Soda or a primitive people and their
herolc acts become in a later stage
the nursery tales of the same race.
nus the sacred narrative OF the gene
SIS OF human beings becomes the story
or Jack the Giant Killer" In like
manner the belief in the evil influence
or a mother-in-law, at one time abso-
lutely Justified by the primitive con-
~ IN u wa Sh
nifty, becomes in an iHternledite stage
il curious custom and later a subject
Tor jest. The intermediate custom, in
the form o. a mother-in-law taboo,
sui exists. being found in many
African tribes, but nowhere more def
nitely developed than among the
Navajo Indians of New Mexico and
Arizona. These people still cherish as
an article Of faith the old belief that
II a man should speak to or even look
at his mother-in-law he will become
Instantly dumb and blind. In that
stage Of culture which we term en-
hghtened the advent of his mOther-in-
law has been known to strike a man
dumb, but as a rule blindness does not
follow.
During a recent surveying expedi-
ton into the Navajo reservation I
camped one night in December near
a Navajo hogan, or hut. The night
was bitterly cold, with a sharp, pierre
ing wind, but happening to walk over
to the hut, perhaps an eighth of a
L pItiiiDiCu oNSl II tD-
peared to be a bundle Of old rags, but
which on examination by the dim
light Of the stars turned out to be an
Old woman, decrepit and bent with
age, and SO feeble that she had fallen
from sheer weakness. In her hands
she held a few bits Of sage brush,
which she had been collecting to make
a fire, and as she revived under our
mlnistrations she muttered, "Bes kaz!
Bes kaz!' CIT is cold: it is cold) Be-
ing asked why she did not remain
within the shelter of the hut on such
ter's husband had come to visit them,
and as she had no other place to go
she had wandered out on the open
plain. The situation is complicated
by the prevalence of polygamy in the
tribe, with the result that some one
is apt to pop out almost anywhere and
leave him a poor MANNED wreck. AS
the belief is perfectly sincere this is a
real danger, far more dreadful to the
Indian mind than an encounter with
an armed enemy. 7 have seen an old
warrior-a man whose courage had
been tried in battle and was beyond
doubt-turn and run like a rabbit when
notified hat his mother-in-law was
approaching. If no such escape is pos
sible the man will drop down by the
trail and drawing his blanket over his
head remain thus ostrich-like until
the danger is past. But if any of his
friends are about they will hustle the
woman away and conceal her behind
a rock or even behind some sage brush
until he can escape. The woman is, Of
course soundly berated for thus inter-
fering with the comfort and V
fence of her son-in-law.
We had much fun with one of our
herders, an i%ll-favored Navajo perhaps
35 years old, who had married the
daughter Of an old woman who lived
near our camp. The wife had been dis
carded for good and sufficient reasons,
but that made no difference SO far as
the old woman was concerned. Once
a mother-in-law always a mother-in-
law is the Navajo rule and we eXpend-
ed much ingenuity in the attempt to
bring these two face to face. We
never succeeded but several times we
came very close to success and were
rewarded by the intense excitement
which took possession of the crowd of
hangers-on always about camp. On
one occasion I called the old woman
into the kitchen tent and gave her
what was left Of the coffee, always in
demand by the camp followers. While
she was drinking it I sent out word
to the herder whom l saw coming IN
the hill with the horses that | wanted
to see him at once. He came up IN
a trot, smiling as usual, and had &C
tually placed his foot in the doorway
when a tremendous yell broke from
the hangers-on outside. Some word
was shouted that l did not catch; the