Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1912-12-20
M HE Pueblo Indians are without
doubt the most interesting peo-
pie in America and perhaps in
the world. They preserve

pie in America and perhaps in
the world. They preserve
practically unchanged the man
ners and customs that existed among
them when America was discovered
and which are described as early as
1541 in the histories of the expedition
of Coronado. The popularity in their
buildings, the use of underground
chambers, known to the ,Spaniards as
Estaufas, for ceremonial purposes;
their industry and good government
and the contrasts which, in many re-
spects, they present to the surround
ing nomadic tribes, have long caused
them to be objects of special interest.
They have no written language and
hence their history, ceremonials and
whatever fiction or drama they pos
sess have to be handed down by oral
tradition; and to preserve these intact
they have system of instruction and
strength Of memory really marvel
GUS to us, whose powers of recollec-
ton are blunted by disuse or abuse
and by the mass of unimportant mat
tiers which come to our knowledge
without receiving attention and liter
ally go in at one ear and come out at
the other.
At the time Of the Tertio- Millennia
celebration in Santa Fe in 1SSS-the
most interesting and comprehensive
historic anniversary ever held in this
country-a most remarkable speech
was made by the governor of the
Pueblo of Zuni, who was present with
40 of his people. A dramatic repre-
sentation of the conquest of Cibola
by Coronado had just been presented
and two or three historic addresses
were made in connection with it. Then
the Zuni governor was called upon
and a newspaper man familiar with
the language Interpreted his remarks.
"The great father" said the governor,
has given to all his children good
gifts, but they vary in character. To
his white children he has given the
power to make marks on paper, so as
to perpetuate the history of the events
that are past. On his red children he
has not bestowed that gift, but he has
endowed them with great memories,
SO that they retain them in their
minds and pass them on from one
generation to another" He then pro-
ceeded to give the traditions which
existed among his people with regard
to the coming of the first Spaniards,
which agreed almost exactly with the
written story as we know 1t.
Their Religious System.
The Pueblo Indians have the most
elaborate religious system of which
we have any knowledge. 1t enters
into every phase and action Of life,
from morning to night, from the first
to the last of the year. Everything
has some ceremony connected with 1t
and all the ceremonials are founded
on their religious ideals. Perhaps it
would be more correct to say that
their religion is a most intricate sys-
tenn of ceremonies, for the latter sur
vive, while the fundamental ideas that
gave them birth may have persisted.
These ceremonies find especial express
sion in their festivals. Some of these
are secret, confined either to members
OF the Pueblo, or to single societies,
or to persons of priestly rank within
it; others are public and are the occa-
sion Of extensive visiting from other
Pueblos, from the Navajos, Apaches
and Utes and from all the white set
Elements in the vicinity The best
known of their public festivals are
those occurring on the saints DAYS
Of the different Pueblos. There are
10 Pueblo Indian villages in New
Mexico and each Of these at the time
of the Spanish occupation was dedi-
Gated by the Franciscans to some
saint who became its patron. In most
cases the old name of the Pueblo was
retained, prefxing that Of the saint,
as San Geronimo de Taos, San Diego
de Tesuque, and in others the Pueblo
has no name but that Of the saint. as
San Juan, Santa Clara, San PHILIPPE.
etc. But in all the saint is the patron,
his or her image is in the village
church and the saints day is the occs.
sion of the greatest public festival.
The mixture of Christianity with the
old religion, or rather the way the
old religion is CLOSED over with Chris
tianity, is one of the peculiarities Of |
the Pueblo condition.
Their annual festivals as at presenR
conducted are well worth 4 trim across