The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-27

Ill have d Navajo.
| Charles NJ. Sheldon did not sing the
above familiar ditty at his lecture at
Central church last night on the sub
ject of the Navajo and MOki Indians,
but it might have been appropriate.
Mr.. Sheldon spent part of his sum-
mer out in Arizona visiting the In
dams, and he has picked up large
amount of interesting information
about them, also a fine collection of
Navajo blankets and Indian utensils.
The Navajos appear to have only one
joke, and that joke is on their neigh
| bors, who are commonly known as the
Mokis. The real name of the Moki
tribe is Hopi, not Moki. Hopi means
peaceful people, The Navajos, on
the other hand are warlike, and they in
derision call the Hopi tribe ''Mokis,'
which means dead ones" Considering
the fact that it was originated by
Navajo, this is a very good joke 1t
worked the United States government,
all right, for it is only recently that
the government maps have given the
Hopis their proper name
Some very elegant gray and black
rugs and blankets were exhibited by Mr..
Sheldon to the large audience last
night, together with numerous other
articles in common use with both Ma
vajos and Hopis. The proceeds of the
Iecture-about S100-will be used TO
buy a carpet for the recently rebuilt
Central church
IF you never ate griddIe cakes bak-
ed on a buzz-saw,'' said Mr.. Sheldon in
speaking of the wagon trip through the
Indian country, you don't know mucn
about cooking. Our party originated
the custom among the NavaJoS- we
would dig a long hole in the ground,
lay the buzz-saw over the top, and
build fire in the hole. Then we had a
a inc
on the buzz-saw. The Indians would
crowd around to watch u.s."
An interesting story was told of the
trip across the painted desert, the eX-
and floods. But we did not see a
single snake said Mr.. Sheldon. THE
missionary who has been there eight
years says he has never seen snake.
Where the Indians get their snakes
for their snake dance is a mystery.
1.-The term lazy as an Indian does
not apply to the NavaJos, continued
Mr.. Sheldon. There are about $4,000
Navajos and they are increasing in
numbers. They are a rugged people,
and the missionaries out there say they
have never seen a drunken Navajo
The women always own the sheep.
and till the fields.
They have peculiar superstitions
which interfere seriously with some
of their domestic relations. When a
girl is married, the mother is for
ever forbidden to look upon the face
of her son in law. They must keep
apart under all circumstances. An
other superstition is that they will not
count their sheep. They know each
sheep by sight, even when they have
locks numbering as high as seven
hundred When man is sick, they
say he has had beads shot into him,
and the medicine men make a pre-
tense of extra citing the beads.
The Navajo rugs are made on
very simple loom; hung out of doors
under tree. The women do the
work. There is no typical Navajo rug.
Each woman makes her own design.
They live in what are called no.
ganS. A hogan consists of some limbs
of cottonwood locked together at the
top like a tepee, with the cracks plaS-
tered up with mud. The Navajos are
polygamous. In the eight years that
Mr. johnson, the missionary, has been
there, not a single convert to Christ
ianity has been made. But they love
Mr.. Johnson. and would lay down their
lives for him, and L believe that when
they do embrace Christianity they will
make very good Christians
The Hopi tribe lives up on the
sides of a great cliff. They are a
happy, jovial people. They are not
polygamous. The women build the
houses. and the men do the weaving.
The snake dance is a ceremony
which makes you wonder if you are
still living in the United States of
America in the year 1904. There were
about 15 white men and women there
this year Including the Indians, about /
100 or 800 people saw the dance. A little
before shutdown, the thirteen antelope
priests come up out of the kivas. each
carrying a rattle They march around
the large circle, shaking their rattles.
Ihen the snake priests come up with |
their whips. There are twelve of the
snake priests. Each of the priests went
to little booth at the further end of
the plaza and took from it a poisonous
them
The proba bility is that the fangs or
poison sacks of the reptiles are not ex-
tracted- They simply do not bite those
Indians Probably the Indians know |
how to handle them. AS they came !
dancing toward us, 1 noticed that each |
Indian had between mis- teeth one of
back of its head. and then with each |
hand the Indian held the snakes body |
out in front of him. and appeared to |
be careful not to let the reptile coil up. |
After dancing around the circle, |
they threw their snakes down. One of |
the snakes cfawled over among the |
tourists, and made a great sensation. |
1t was captured and taken back |
ground, and each of the priests threw !
his snake into pile on top of the meal. |
1 stood not five feet from this pile of |
wriggling snakes. Then each of the |
priests made a dive into the pile of |
snakes and grabbed all he could get |
hold of. Some of them got two or three. /
cOuldnl see IndI lney pd1Q any eSpec- |
ial attention to how they took hold of |
them. Each priest then ran down into |
the plain, and released his snakes. On |
their return, they drank very deeply !
out of earthen jugs Some of them must /
nave drunk as much as two quarts. |
Then the most disgusting part of it all /
happened, for each turned around and !
up everything he had drunk. /
This was not done, we are told, to coun- !
teract the snake bites. because there /
were no snake bites, but simply part |
of the ceremony of the dance.
And this whole thing is a prayer for 4
rain. They are dependent on rain for their |