Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1916-06-02

"HREE hundred and sixty-six
years ago the intrepid Span
lard Coronado marched little
army northward from Mexico
across the deserts of Sonora and Arr
iona until in what is now the western
part of the state of New Mexico. he
found and conquered and occupied a
group Of Pueblo Indian towns whose
fame had reached him under the
designation of the Seven Cities Of
Cibola," or Zuni.s AS the years went
on one or another Of the seven allied
towns was abandoned and its inhabit-
ants moved to the central one Of the
group, Halona, place of the Ants"
For over two hundred years now. the
whole Zuni tribe has concentrated It.
self in this settlement which is known
to Americans as the Pueblo Zuni, and
to its inhabitants as Ittiwawa, THE
Middle Place." for in native belief its
site marks the exact center of the
earth. writes A. L. Kroeber. professor
Of anthropology in the University Of
California. in the American Museum
Journal.
With the possible exception of two
or three other Pueblo settlements.
Zuni is thus the oldest inhabited town
in tie United States. far SURPRISING
in antiquity jamestown, Plymouth and
other early English settlements. as
well as Sante Fe and st. Augustine Of
Spanish foundation. The tribe num-
bers 1900 souls or as many as it could
muster after 1t had gathered itself to-
gether after the first disastrous shock
Of Spanish contact. The houses are
still built in the prehistoric way Of
stone masonry. mortared and plas-
tered with clay, and rise densely clus-
tered, terraced one above the othersto
q height of four or five stories.
Live Life Of Long Ago.
The life too Of the Zuni. runs in the
current of long ago. They have Dor
rowed from the American his SHIRT
and his overalls, and have learned to
like his coffee and sugar. his bacon
and wheat -four. Sheep and donkeys
they obtained long since from the
Spaniards, and many today can boast
of owning horses and wagons. But
inwardly and in all his relations with
other Indians, the Zuni Is still purely
aboriginal. He does not know wheth-
er today Is Sunday or Wednesday.
whether 1t is January or July; or what
the American names of the store keep
per, missionary and government agent
are. He knows these people by nick
names which he or some friend has
given them. and he reckons time by
the number of days to the next cere-
monial dance ordained by his priests.
He supports himself as his forefathers
of the immemorial long ago did.
through raising corn by hand culture
in sandy patches where 1t would seem
that the grain would not even sprout.
In the middle of the plaza around
which his town il built stands q de-
caying. roofiess and Quilted Catholic
church, which his forefathers built of
adobe under the direction of Spanish
missionaries; but two centuries of
Christian regime have not Influenced
the inward spirit Of the Zuni. He
knew that soldiers stood back of the
priest and therefore he obeyed him.
yet he hardened his heart against
him; and no sooner did Spanish and
Mexican authority relax than the In
dian quietly shook OF the hateful yoke
Of imposed religion. and reverted open
ly to the ancient native ceyemonials
which he and his fathers had kept
alive by secret practices in hidden un-
derground rooms within fifty yards of
the walls of the mission.
Such tremendously tenacious con-
servatism has kept the Zuni substan-
TALLY where they were before Colum-
bus discovered America. They are not
hostile to Americans. in fact their ma
tive code of politeness requires that
every one should be treated with
courtesy. They are merely indiffer-
emit to ourselves. All that every Zuni
asks il that he should be left alone
to support himself. to practice his re-
ligion. and to live his life as his IA
Tiers did, without interfering with
anyone and without being interfered
with
1t is no wonder then that these re-
markable people have long attracted
extraordinary attention from anthro-
biologists and students of the aborig-
inal. Frank Hamilton Gushing. whose
genius in certain directions has never
been equaled among any of his col
leagues. took up his residence at Zuni
nearly forty years ago. and became In