Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-11-24
THE NAVAJOES.
The Famous Indians of the Far South
west.

The Famous Indians Of the Far South
west.
The present-day Indian if not con-
sidered "A menace to society, Is looked
upon as a charge on the body polite,
and we frequently hear that the only
good Indian is the dead one, yet there
are exceptions.
The tribe of Navajoes, whose reser-
vation in New Mexico and Arizona
borders on southeastern Utah and
southwestern Colorado, numbers
nearly 1000 souls. They are a pas
toral people, herding sheep, goats and
horses over their great arid ranges,
and in a small way cultivating corn
and other grains. Except when excit-
ed by fire water, they are peaceable
and to a degree industrious. The
women are notable blanket weavers
and the men are silversmiths of no
mean ability.
| Of late years the Navajoes have
been employed with considerable de-
gree of satisfaction as section men on
the Denver and Rio Grande and other
railroads running in close proximity
to their reservation. They have also
been engaged by orchardists to gath
er fruit, and last season hundreds Of
young bucks ranging in age from IL
to 20 years were employed in thinning
the sugar beet fields of the Arkansas,
Grand and Uncompaghre valleys In
| Colorado. They were away from the
reservation two months at a time,
and their employers report that their
work was quite as satisfactory as that
Of the Russian peasants generally en-
ployed to do this work and supposed
to be unusually skilled in this partic-
ular kind of labor.
Like all Indians, their besetting sin
is monte" Give an Indian the price
of his hire and he will quit work un-
| til it is gambled away. They are a
polygamous people, having no reli-
gion, and like all aborigines, are su-
perstitious, believing in all kinds Of
signs and workings of supernatural
powers.
Although the Navajo reservation
adjoins the Mesa Verde National
Park, where so many Cliff Dweller
ruins are found, it is with difficulty
that a Navajo can be induced to act
as guide to the ruins. When one is
found willing to show the way he can
ho i,,1 70 n n ~
mediate vicinity, and when night
comes on he moves miles away.
a curious tradition. and one ac-
counting perhaps for their adherence
of the Cliff Dweller region. is that
ages ago, when the Cliff Dwellers and
their enemies were engaged in an ex-
terminating warfare, the former were
finally driven into mighty river, and,
drowning, the souls Of the Cliff Dwell
ers were transmitted into the bodies
of fishes. And from that time to this
a Navajo cannot be induced to eat
| fish.
Another legend, no less curious, re-
lates to the Ship Rock. About thirty
five miles due west from Pennington,
~ NJ. and within the borders Of their
reservation. situated in the midst Of
the desert, stands a famous rock call
ed Ship Rock, which looms to the
height of 1000 feet above the sur
rounding plain. 1t rises from the
centre of an immense and gradually
sloping mound, which gives it tow
ering appearance and it's outlines can
be seen for many miles in various di-
rections
The rock derives it's name from It's
appearance when seen from a certain
direction, whence it resembles a full
rugged ship stranded and petrified.
The Indian legend is that in the dim
and misty past they had their habita-
ton in a distant land beyond the
great ocean and that the rock was sit
uated in their ancient country. Once
upon a time, the tribe being closely
pressed by its enemies and in danger
of total annihilation, the survivors
climbed into the cracks and creViceS
OF the great rock and implored it for
protection. The supplications were
heard and shortly the rock began to
move 1t crossed innumerable wastes,
gradually reached the ocean, which 1t
crossed, traversed more wastes and
deserts and finally arrived at its pres
ent resting place. when the refugees
sprang from its bosom. Thus the
tribe remained upon the face Of the
earth.
The ranks of the tribe are being de-
pleted, and before a great many years
ln
gather up the people and go on anoth-
er long voyage in order that the tribe
of the Navajo may be perpetuated
among the tribes of the earth.-San
Francisco Chronicle.