The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-12-27
i-1OW THE
YUMAS LIVE.
Their Homes and Gsmes---Tne
Cremation OF the Dead.


&" S"i'J IA ehc inoI mug. Every
where are Indians in gay garments.
and with blankets around them de.
spite the heat.
Some OF the men wear straw hats
and jeans; the women have their
heads covered by black shawls which
TALL over their shoulders. All of
them have blankets. All of them
braid their black hair. so that from
behind one cannot distinguish sex.
crossing the great iron bridge
over the Colorado, says writer in
the Southern Workman, you are on
the Yuma Reservation. The stages
leave here for Laguna, where the
government is building the largest
dam In the world. except that of the
Nile.
The horse corrals near the stage
station interest the stranger. They
! are mere stalls of poles, for In Yuma
they need provide neither for rain
nor for cold.
There are signs everywhere warn
Ing people against being on the re.
seryation without permit, and also
against trading with the Indians.
No sign Is seen, however, prohibiting
photography, and so we level the
Kodak at a woman. In an instant
she has hidden her face under her
blanket and has scurried away.
A little further away on the reser.
vation, where the arrow weed and the
pigweed rise to the height of pampas
grass and hide vast coveys of quail.
are scattered the adobe huts of the
indians. Here, there, anywhere they
choose, they build their shacks, some
OF them miles from the nearest
neighbor and hidden from sight in
the arrow weed bushes.
The huts are square, and in front
the roof overhangs--a mass of dried
brush fastened to two poles at either
corner. At the sides open the cage
like corrals for the horses, mere
poles set fence fashion. Dogs are
everywhere, as numerous as in Tur.
key, and they and the men and the
women sli1k by absolutely noiseless
Even the innumerable children arc
quiet.
There is small church on the
reservation, and at its side, in
frame, an iron bell that the Catholic
priest is ringing. 1t takes me bach
to the days of the missions.
In contrast, across the railway or
the bluffs, is the modern Indiar
school. The jaunt to it is always in.
teresting to the visitor. Across the
bridge you go in company with sad.
raced Indian squaws, very dark, and
the darker for their gay-colored gar
ments of many hued. borders. Or
their heads the long black hair lies
uncombed. and they sometimes veal
bags bound on the forehead and
hanging down the back; these serve
as kind of ornamental top comb,
and in them the supplies are carried
from town to reservation.
Among the Yumas there is held a
corn feast every September, when
all the tribe gathers for a three days
meeting. Then there are games and
dancing and singing and a feast of
corn and watermelon and anything
else that can be purchased. The
principal game of the adults on the
reservation here is hoop the pole.
the hoop being rolled on the fiat
desert and the pole then thrown
through it.
This the bucks will play on the
hottest day, no matter how freely
the perspiration falls from them.
Skinny is another favorite game
Some of the Yumas have married
according to the rites of the Catholic
Church, but, for the most part, nup-
tlals are according to the Indian Gus.
tom.
Burning the dead, as observed
among the Yumas, is interesting.
The body is first thoroughly wrapped
and then placed on logs and brush
over hole in the ground. A bed of
logs is built up at each side and at
the head of the bier, which is next
covered and surrounded by dry fag-
gots.
The flames are applied and while
they burn the clothing, blankets, ETC.,
OF the deceased are added to the fire.
The horse OF the dead man, however.
is not burned among the Yumas as
is the custom with some Indians.
day or two after death the wig
wan of the deceased, If an adult, is
burned, the rest of the family then
going to live with some relative.
The Yumas make a great show OF
sorrow over their dead Later they
are never mentioned at all.
The medicine men are still largely
In control among the Yumas and the
Government makes no attempt to in
terfere. Usually their patients grow
sicker, so that they proclaim them
doomed to die and their prophecy
Will almost always come true.
The Government allows its 500
Yumas $500 acres of land - an ir-
regular tract extending fourteen
miles up the river and ten down. OF
this 1900 acres will be irrigable
when the Laguna dam is done.
lnasmuch as the Indians may set
tie where they choose on the lands.
1t is probable that the widely scat
tered houses will then be drawn
closer together. AS II is now, Yuma
itself is really the only village among
them.
Other Indian tribes receive food
and clothing, but the Yumas receive
only the land. When not hunting
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