The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-09
MASONRY STORAGE
BY J. A. BRASHEARS.
ME recent discovery by scle

THE recent discovery by scien-
lists of lost tribe of Amer-
- can Indians-the Havasupai-
walled up in obscurity in deep canyon
of western Arizona reveals a situation
so astonishing that it would seem in
credible If the story came from a
source less reliable than the American
MUSEUM of Natural History.
clustered in fertile valley, where
sheer walls cut the great plateau to
a depth of 5000 feet, Leslie Spier.
member of the museums staff. has
found n tribe of wild, primitive In
dams still living the lives of their an
cestors and in almost total ignorance
Of the forward march of civilization.
Here on the banks of Cataract
Creek, which flows northward to cas-
cade into the torrents of the Grand
Canyon, these aborigines and their fore
bears have lived for ten centuries with
seldom a glimpse of the territory lying
beyond the canyon top, The chief of
the tribe counts the visits of the white
man on the fingers of one hand.
Anthropologists have poked into the
utmost corners of the EARTH from pole
to pole; have studied and classified the
various tribes OF Indians for years,
while in some remarkable manner the
Havasupai, living within our very Dor
ders, have escaped notice.
Only 17S In Tribe.
These Indians-there now are only
It's in the tribe--constitute the only
purely aboriginal and primitive COM
munity in ths United States to-day.
They have lived like hermits. The
customs and machines, the social ad-
vances of the outside world have failed
to penetrate the fastness Of their
realna
The territory and tribe have been
recorded az a reservation since 1880
There have been several visits IN the
last twelve years by the Governments
Indian agent, but it was not until
August of last year that a white man
had set foot within their walled pit for
purposes of observation and scientific
investigation. Representatives OF the
American Museum are constantly
combing the world for scientific data
ana Leslie Spier was selected in this
casp to act as ambassador from the
white men TO the red men.
called for tremendous energy and
perseverance in order to penetrate the
barriers which isolate these people
from the world. To reach their home
and this accounts in a measure for
their hidden existence, a fifty mile ride
over a wa.erless tract Is necessary.
When the brink Of the chasm is
reached the drop of 5000 feet has to
be mada mostly on foot along hardly
pcYceptible trail. Only small part
of the hazardous twelve mile descent
car be wade mounted. One must lit
orally cling TO the walls of the canyon,
In no place is the trail wider than
tnree feet and the animals rub their
sides raw through scraping along the
side OF the canyon.
They Used to Hunt.
In eNe place the two walls come
together and form "a corner. Here 1t
Unnecessary to make n 500 foot drop
by zigZagging from wall to wall. This
is the most perilous section Of the
journey, for the trail is rothing more
than a series OF steppes. The animals
mnst jump from one to the other. AS
the men on foot must walk in front
their lives arc constantly endangered.
Should a pack animal miss its foot
ing the man in front would be knocked
to oblivion.
To-day the Havasupai subsist on a
marvellously cultivated tract two and
one-quarter miles long and about one
quarter of mile wide. They depend
chiefly on agriculture for their sup
port. but in former days they descended
far south down their valley In quest
OF deer, antelope and bear. The camps
ara situated along the east side of the
creek, which irrigates the land so well
that enough food Is harvested off this
small section Of one and one-half
square miles to supply them from
season to season.
Mr.. Spier classihes the tribe as "in-
termediary," since their culture EN-
braces traits peculiar to the four adj
Jacept tribes of the southwest area.
I'm general characteristics, he said
they lean more toward the Pueblos OF
northern Mexico. The custom that pre-,
walls among the Pueblos-that of the
men and women working together in
the field-also exists among the Supal.
Clothes OF Buckskin.
"The men also make clothing out OF
buckskin, domestic trait character
istlc OF the Pueblos. The influence OF
the other adjacent tribes, while slight
may be seen in the construction OF
various types OF huts and teepees. The
Havasupai build four different types
There Is log and mud hut common
among the Navajos; the conica
matched teepee built to great extern
smong the Mohaves and the square
Matched hut OF the Plateau Indians
Another matched type Is used whlcl
2, Is shaped like an igloo.
"Among the American Indians" III
j. continued, "the nomadic and warlik,
traits predominant, but the Havasupa
are unique IN this respect They ar,