The gazette-news., 1902-12-20

| leo celebrate Christmas IN thei
i primitive way. and. although
they profess Christianity, the
also observe their religious q
well as their tribal customs
saws the New York Evening Post VI
christmas eve the Inhabitants Of eacf
village assemble at the estufa Oiaes
of Worship and elect officers for fnf
| ensuing year. Men and boys over SIX
teen years Of age. II the latter nave
Droyed their worthiness In the chase
select the candidates by viva voce
vote Women are not permitted In the
estufa. The officers elected are gov
ernor of the village, war chief. police
! official and a council Of five members
as a kind of cabinet for the govern
or. The governor, by the advice ana
| consent Of his cabinet, sets the time
for the chase, when the entire village
! turns out: also designates the time to
irrigate the little patches, the time to
go to work and Is ex oft1cio admins
traitor Of justice. The war chier dl-
rects the pasturing Of stock and pre-
vents depredatiOns upon private prop
erty. He is the chief Of police. con-
stable, Judge and jury combined Only
serious cases Of crime are referred to
the governor and council
After the election Of officers a grand
dance takes place. The braves are
dressed in buckskin pantaloOns. with
a white cotton shirt. The headdress
Is Of the skin Of the deer or fox. the
tail of the animal hanging down the
back as an ornament. Some OF the
headdresses Of the officials are prettily
decorated with bright feathers and
sometimes eagle plumes. Their faces
are painted In yellow and white stripes. !
relieved by red spots on the cheeks.
They wear moccaslns Of leather. The
braves form In a double line and march
around the village. preceded by the
officers and the caciQue. or spiritual
head. Each brave carries In his left
hand a gourd half filled with pebbles
and nlcked at the top. In his right
hand is a convex stick, which he saws
across the gourd and at the same time
gives the gourd a shake or rattle. This
excruciating noise Is partly drowned |
by the general chant, In which all join. !
The song Is a monotone, as II the |
singer were telling a story or reciting |
historical sketches. and suddenly It |
breaks out into a wild and loud blare,
like the crash of the elements Of dis
cord in the grand opera OF civilizati
The dance is a hlppetty hop. and the
10 oil |
breaks Is sounded, and then it is deliri-
Dus, like a war dance. This exercise
continues all night, or as long as the
braves can stand up. There Is a con-
siderable quantity Of mescal drunk at
.hese celebrations, and many of the
)raveS fall by the wayside. The pale
aces from the surrounding settlements
lttend the fiesta, and some bring along
heir whisky and gaming implements.
N the plaza, or central square, there
re all kinds Of games and booths for
III kinds Of drinks. The Pueblo In
Ian is not used to our whisky, and a
cry little soon induces him to gamble
way his money, clothes and wife.
lSleta, few miles from AlbuQuer-
ue, n. NJ. Is the largest Of the twenty
'ueblO villages I'm the territory, and
ne celebration here is always attended
y large crowd Of whites. 1t lasts two
three days, during which there are
orse racing. cooking mains and other
ports. The gaming tables are run night
nd day. One Of the games is chusa,
milar to the American roulette, with
hidden spring which the dealer
'uches. Another sport is ell gallo-the q
lrylng OF rooster in the sand, leav-
e his head above the surface. The
st riders in the village are selected
compete. They form In front line
distance Of 100 yards, and charge
'wn upon the rooster. The rider, 60
g at full run, leans from his saddle
III grabs at the head Of the rooster.
he catches the fowl, he is applauded
the victor. He then races for his
me, with all the other horsemen aft
him, with the intention Of depriy-
him OF his trophy. II they take
fowl from him before he reaches
me, he Is shorn Of his laurels, and
the scramble the unfortunate rooster
often torn to pieces. When a rider L
sses catching the ROSTERS head.
cry one laughs, and If be falls from II
horse be is greeted with shouts r,
derision and epIthets Of "sQuaw L
In"
There are services in the church each y,
'rnlng during the fiesta. with the
lal game and sports in the after
on and dancing at night The serv-
$ are Roman Catholic-all Pueblos
ng members Of that church. They.
wever, observe some Of their own =
hts In secret-the dance being part -
their creed worship.
Christmas In Jerusalem.