Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1903-03-07

what kind Of a ceremony II was-well,
that was altogether out OF the regular
vocabulary. The Indians showed their
friendly guests the greatest hospitality
and the wine made by the Isletas was
greatly relished. One Is filled with a
certain mystery and awe on entering
an Indian hcne. which renders the as.
ISOLATION more interesting and fasciD-
ating. The old Indians. seated on the
narrow seats around the walls, chatted
pleasantly among themselves while
their guests sat quietly by and looked
on. Who and what were these men
whose appearance often deceive one
to think there re no intelligent
thoughts connected with his life Doubt
less he has his quiet joke. and a conf
dent sense of superiority. but he Is not
curious. OF the outer world he knows
little. He Is mildly, exclusively taken
up with his own affairs. These rev.
cries were broken by the rumble Of a
drum In distance. As all the activity
had ceased In the governors palace. n
retreat was made in the direction from
which the drum beats were sounding
Indians could be seen going and com
ing In all directions. On entering the
plaza. which spreads out before the
historic old church of Isleta, a large
circle of Indians were giving their
characteristic. mystic chant and step
ping In a circle to the beat of n large
drum, which was being played by a
lone Indian In the center. Many of the
old men were clad in clean, white cot
ton. the shirts protusely decorated
with beautiful white lace The squaws.
OF whom there were many in the dance
were rendered most conspicuous by
their shawls of gaudy hue, with
heavy white leggings and moccasins
and a brilliant turban bound about
their heads. The dancers seemed to
he CT two different clans each dancing
at different times and for a certain in
terval. II is almost impossible and
was impossible in this case. To get an
Indian to explain the dance, on account
of its sacredness
The scenery around the plaza, In
which the dance was going on, formed
n most striking back ground The
tops of the one-story adobes were Gov
cred by old and young Indians wrapped
in bright colored and gaudy blankets
watching the dance. Not alone were
they seated on top of their homes, but
huddled up around the doorways and
fronts as well. The dancing continued
until sunset when all disappeared
from view almost as quickly as they
appeared
Isleta Is Tigua. Its reservation con.
tains little more than 100 900 acres.
and agriculture and fruit raising are
very proftably followed by this com.
munity, which in a single year manu-
features a thousand barrels OF wine
and sells thousands of dollars of fruits
They make pottery. belts and mecca
sins, but mostly for their own use
Their blankets and clothes are bought,
experience has taught these thrifty
Tiguas that their own time can be
more profitably employed In tilling the
soil. j. p. Lente Is the only Indian
merchant in the lsleta pueblo, and
does larger business than any Indian
In the territory. The Pueblo Indians
are generally well.to-do. and many are
possessed of considerable wealth
Sheep ranches are greatly in evidence.
The costumes of the women are often
quite costly. A day spent at the pueblo,
where so many interesting sights are
to be witnessed and so many valuable
points OF information picked up about
the aborigine, is never regretted.