El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-30

Continued From Previous Fage.)
which is translated as beautiful man
to be sure" She throws pebbles al
knows he has accepted her as his
sutton. and in few days the details
of marriage are arranged and the we'd
ding day comes apace.
HuichOlS Are SkeptIcnI.
The Huichol indians are another Pc
culiar race They have their own wor-
ship and are skeptical about Christian
ity. One of them asked a visitor why
it was that if the Christians could pray
to saints made by carpenters. they
should be denied the privilege of pray
ing to the sun made by mightier
hand. They believe in a superior be-
ing, but are little inclined to adopt
modern ways Of civilization. Court
ship among these people is a very in
teresting proceeding. The young man
who falls in love with a girl waits for
her by the spring where she goes TO
get a jug of water He catches her
hand after she has filled her jug and
holds her until she accepts his pro-
posal Of marriage or shows that she is
angry at him. When she says yes, he
takes his cane and smashes the jug
of water on her shoulder. giving her
the baptism of love. Some Of her girl
friends are always near and bring her
dry clothing. The young man carries
her wet garments to her father and
receives the parental blessing from
him After that the details for the
marriage are arranged.
Another interesting tribe of indians
is the Tarascans. They are a frugal
people even in the use Of water, the
man bathing once year and the wo-
man once a week A favorite sport of
the Tarascan indians is bull riding.
After the animal has been lassoed and
thTown, a strap or lariat is tied
around its body and the rider gets
astride its back and cHngs to this
strap. The bull attempts to gore him
and throw him off, but he is usually
able to swing on until he has COM
pletely conquered the animal.
President Diaz. as BELTS his lineage,
is a great friend of the indian. To one
of the ethnologists who recently trav-
eled through Mexico he said: ''The in
dams are good people if one explains
things to them; but they have been so
cheated and imposed upon that they
have become distrustfuI of everybody.
They have always been strong support
ers Of the government, and. Mexico
owes much to them" He has always
been willing to do whatever he could
lcWdIQ Ic1plIS lLCI4, Out u course he
is not more powerful in this direction
than the president Of the United States
is in uplifting the unfortunate poor
of many an American community.
The indians, in spite of the work
being done to Christianize them, ad-
here, to their old traditions They ac-
cept the Catholic religion as a rule.
but make it fit their own history and
beliefs. On the slopes of Iztaccihuatl
they still sacrifice their children to the
rain god in time of drouth. With all
their ignorance and superstition they
work with a skill that is astonishing
to all who see it. Whether it be in
the execution Of exquisite drawn work.
the making Of brilliant pottery, the
weaving of splendid serapes, or the
making of filigree and feather work,
ore discovers that the indian. with
out tools. can accomplish things that
put to shame many Of the best crea-
tions of enlightened American work
men
Tomorrow-Popular Pastimes of
Mexico.