Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-06-01
INDIANS USE BOOMERANG
Pueblos In New Mexico Still Use the
Curved Stick.


Il Curved Stick.
The Santa Clara Pueblo Indians nea
Santa Fe recently held a rabbit hunt o
enormous proportions. slaughtern!
thousands of the pests that have grown
Ito be menance to Southwestern
| ranchnen. AT these rabbit hunt.
boomerang throwers play an importan
| part in the work Of determination
| The New Mexico boomerang throw
ers have been using this primitive
weapon for countless generations
| When the Spaniards first penetrated
| New Mexico in search Of gold in tn,
mining districts of the territory. The
| Pueblos We're using the boomerang al
most exclusively as a weapon. The
Pueblo Indian boy of today occasionally
sallies forth with his bow and arrow
but most of the tribe stick to the an
cient boomerang. especially when al
their fayorite sport of rabbit hunting
The boomerang Is not, properly speak
ing, the returning boomerang of the
Australian savages, but is a variation
of that deadly instrument. 1t is simply
a curved club which is thrown with
wonderful skill and precision by the
Pueblo Indians even to the smallest
boys and girls.
The Indians begin practicing
throwing the boomerang at an early
age. Mere infants can be seen on the
sage brush plateaus, initiating their
larger brothers and sisters. and hurting
tiny sticks at each other, shouts of glee
going up as some particularly clever
shot is made. Some of the older In
dams manifest a degree of Skill with
the boomerang which is little short of
amazing. 1t is common sight to see
a skilled boomerang thrower bring
down bird on the wing, and to miss
a Jack rabbit on the run In the open
is little short of n disgrace. The rab-
bit hunts, which are held every winter,
are made the occasions of festivities
In the pueblos of the tribes. The In
dams have peculiar dances in which
they indulge Just before the arrival of
a rabbit hunt day. These rabbit hunt
ing dances vary little from the deer and
corn dances and other picturesque
ceremonials of the tribe.
The Pueblo Indians, the most civili-
zed of all Southwestern tribes, have
suffered severely owing to the depre-
dations of rabbits. The Pueblos are
expert farmers. They had the science
of irrigation at their finger tips before
the Spaniards first invaded America
Toda. their irrigated farms are models
which the white man can follow to
good advantage. Consequently these
aboriginal farmers have taken to rab-
bit hunting not only for sport, but as
A means of self-protection. The IN
lians when hunting rabbits scatter ov-
pr a broad area with shrili cries that
Brighten the rabbits from their burrows,
md then the well-aimed boomerangs
never fail to bring down the leaping
Where a rabbit refuses to
:ome from his burrow, the Indian boys
gather about with sharpened sticks and
Zig until the animal is forced 10 make
/ break for liberty. The Indian dogs
nave their share in the hunt, of course, !
md the scene is a stirring one as the
ribesmen scurry over the plain. search
ng every arroyo for lurking rabbits.
The real feature of an Indian rabbit |
lunt is the dexterity shown by individ- |
lal boomerang hunters. A sixteen year |
Id boy. straight as an arrow and as
1.-THE as n young panther, will brighten |
rabbit from a clump of sagebrush. !
70 the eye Of the inexperienced there I
5 no rabbit there, but the Indian has
,ot been deceived. Is soon as the Jack
abbit starts from his place of conceal
iary enemy, the Indian gives shrill |
ry and draws back the hand holding
he deadly boomerang. Like base
all pitcher he poises an instant, and
hen, with an overland swing, the
Is sent forth, cutting the
ir with a switch and almost invari-
bly, sending the rabbit head over heels.
nasmuch as the sportsman must mani
est fair degree OF skill with the shot
I'm to shoot jackrabbit when it Is +
rell under way, the precision neces-
airy to kill one Of the animals with
lub can be readily understood. The
verage white boy, however he may
ride himself on his skill in throwing
ne baseball, would owe it purely to
lex should he bring down a iackra bbit
18th boomerang. Yet an Indian boy
links nothing of killing ten or doz-
n rabbits in a days hunt and not hav-
lg a single miss scored against him.
Scientists have specialized in vain as
, the use of the boomerang among ;
lese Indians. No other tribes of the {
Iest or Southwest use this weapon,
hich has figured SO long in the history
the Pueblos. Some scientists have |
aimed that the boomerang shows the
ueblos to be descendants of some of
lie remote Asiatic tribes that used
milar weapons. This, however, is re- 5
lrded as mere speculation, tho the an l
.stry of the Pueblos, as we'll as of
,veral other tribes of the Southwest. {
so shrouded in darkness that one I
Jess is seemingly as good as another.
t any rate, the Pueblos cannot be in {
iced to part with their ancient and i
.Norite weapon. They use the i'm /
owed agricultural implements OF the )
hite mar, but they have no use for S
lie white mans gun. They cling to {
lie boomerang in preference to the re-
Diver or the repeating rifle. and in all 7
'obability this primitive weapon will t
) in use as long as the Pueblos exist
nation.
Reception for Forbes. c
pecial to TIMES Republican. c