The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-15
STRANGE INDIAN DANCES
Always Chief Feature of Red Mans
Celebration.
(Kansas city StarN


the problem of serving two masters
rhey nave performed the impossible in
reconeiling the two hostile and diver
gent religious systems of paganism and
Christianity. They worship the num-
oeFless gods of their forefathers with
unfaIling fidelity, pay due Difference
TO the hereditary aboriginal priesthood,
decorate every butte and point of rocks
with feather-tufted prayer sticks. and
Keep the sacred fires burning in their
estuIds from generation to generatio
even as their ancestors did for q thou
SAND years and more before the white
man ever set foot upon this henis-
phere. At the same time, they are loyal
ana deyout Catholics. They attend
mass and confession with exemplary
punctlllousness, learn their catechisn
say their prayers and fail not in rever-
ence 10 the priests of the church, They
are baptized, married and buried in ac-
cordance with the rites of Catholicism
put each ceremony is followed by an
other conducted by the native pagan
priests, in which the inmemorial Gus
TOMS OF the aborigines are sacredly fol-
lowed. In thus paying reverence to
the jealous God of the white men,
ana at the same time remaining faith
ful to the numberless deities of their
ancestors, they appear to be conscious
OF nothing incOngruOus or inconsistent.
From their point of view, if one religion
is a good thing, two must be all the
better. There is always room for an
other god or two in the Pueblo pan
theon; and the more feities they can
worship the stronger is their assur-
ance that they are on the right path
mus they are sincere Catholics and
faithful pagans at one and the same
time.
This doubling I'D of religious duties
ana opl1gations necessarily makes Sc
rious inroads upon the time of our con-
per-colOTed fellow citizens of the south
west (for the Pueblos are not wards
OF the government" but citizens of the
United States, under the terms of the
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo). Their
native feast days and fast days are
numerous enough, in all conscience.
But to these have been added all the
saints days and holy days in the Cath
OIlc calendar, as well as the HOLIDAYS
customarily observed by all patriotic
Americans All special occasions
whether feast days, fast days, days of
mourning or days of jubilation are Gel
ebrated by tribal dances Hence it
happens that among the Pueblo In
dams the dance is one of the main af-
fairs of life. In the dance, the loves,
hates, joys, sorrows, hopes, fears,
prayers and aspirations of the people
hnd their fullest and freest expression
Most of the Pueblos' time, therefore,
is spent getting ready for the dance,
dancing or recovering from the effects
of the dance
Each Pueblo town has its own par
ucular and characteristic festival,
which is not duplicated or initiated by
ha 9th
these are the Acequi dance of Isieta,
the Snake dance of Walpai and Oraibe,
the Deer and Bear dance of TesQue, the
harvest dances of Acoma and Laguna
the feast of San Geronimo at Taos and
the Corn dance of Santo Domingo. The
Corn dance of SantO Domingo is really
the first of the seasons harvest dances,
OF which each community has one. 1t
always occurs on August (Which this
year falls on Sunday. Every few days
thereafter a harvest festival and dance
are held at some other community I'M
III each one of the thirty has shown its
devotion in this way to the ancestral
Pueblo gods of the harvest. In some
communities the dance and festival
are in the nature of a prayer for a
bountiful harvest. In others, it is a
thank-offering for the crops that have
been gathered. In Santo Domingo the
features. The corn crop is then re-
garded as measurably safe, and thanks
are offered TO the tribal gods for prom
ls1ng conditions, but at the same time
suppiications are offered uD that no
untoWard event may destroy the ma
turing grain.
Santo Domingo is really nothing but
handful of squalid adobe dwellings
huddled on the eastern bank of the
Rio Grande, few miles below Lamy
Junction. The tribe land grant COM
prises 74,743 acres of land, which is ex-
ceeded only by the holdings of Acoma.
lsleta, Laguna and Zuni among the
Pueblo towns. II boasts of a fairly
well preserved mission and two estu-
fas, so that it may be counted some
what above the level of the averaged
Pueblo, although ranking far below Is
leta, Acona, Laguna and Zuni. The
estufa, or kiva, 1t may be we'll to ex-
plain, is the most characteristic fca-
ture of the Pueblo community. 1t is
an underground ceremonial chamber.
which no white man and no stranger
of other tribes Is ever permitted to
enter. 1t is the Pueblo's holy of the
holies, consecrated to religious and
ceremonial uses. In it the sacred fires
are kept burning from generations to
generation throughout the ages. In
times past it has been necessary for |
many of the communities 10 migrate
from one place TO another, either TO |
secure better pasturage or to escape !
the pressure of hostile nomadic tribes. |
In such cases the sacred fire is taken |
along, and is kept burning until in
stalled in a kiva in a new home of the |
people. Should the sacred fire become |
extinguished it is believed to presage |
some dire calamity, such as the de-
struction of the whole community |
From the estufas emerge the Delight |
clowns that furnish |
to the crowd on the occa- |
sion of the corn dance. For three days
prior to the festival the native pagan |
priests remain secluded in the estu- /
fas. performing the secret rites of the
oldtime faith. In what these rites CON-
sist no man but the members of the |
native priesthood knows.
When the morning of the 4th of Au-
gust arrives every trail and road that |
leads to Santo Domingo is dotted with /
horsemen and wagons. and now and |
then a pedestrian, bound for the VII
lage They come from all the Pueblos /
within travelling distance-Sau Felipi, /
Santa Ana. Iemez, Zemez, Zia, Isleta |
and Tesuque. A few white tourists |