The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1919-01-23
PREHISTORIC INDIANS
Stone Age People in Arizona Many of Whom Never
Saw White Man Until Recently
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people as those Columbus discov-
cred when he landed upon the
shores of the new world.
Yet with all this the Havasupai
village is one of the few entirely
self-supporting communities, pro-
ducing everything for its own needs,
within our country's boundaries.
There is a very good reason for
this as the canyon bottom is per-
feet oasis in the semi. desert which
covers northern Arizona. Here
great fields of corn, beans, squash
and fruit, including the fig, are
raised. Wild seeds and cactus are
gathered on the surrounding noun
tains in which deer, antelope.
mountain sheep and wild turkey
abound, everything needed to well
support the tribes who are also
somewhat isolated, and until the
most recent period these Indians
had practically no relations what
ever with the white settlers en-
croaching on their hunting
grounds.
While they have characteristics
of other tribes we'll known to In
dian students Pueblos, Mo-
javes and Plateau people-they are
entirely individual and their exact
origin is unknown.
It is a small tribe with only
about IT'S members now and &C
cording to their traditions there
never have been more than $50.
There is a scarcity of women be-
tween 20 and 40 and there are a
number of widowers with children.
Altogether there are 80 camps or
family groups with several houses
in each.
On the top of the plateau from
which one descends to the Hava-
supais there is a country of pine
forests. Going down, one passes
through the arid regions, and on
reaching the bottom of the canyon
he finds the fertile oasis just
mentioned.
Before Mr.. Spier visited the
Hauasupai he sent a representative
to them, a friendly Indian who
understood their language, to learn
if they would be willing to receive
a white visitor. They replied they
would be glad to welcome such a
guest.
The next problem was to get
there. The only entrance to their
canyon is by a precipitous trail,
the, rocks forming great 1O0-foot
steps, the final 500 feet being down
an almost vertical wall on which
the visitor has the appearance of a
fly. This difficulty of entrance
has for years prevented the visit of
friends and foes and has kept the
people lost tribe.
Mr.. Spier is a young man and
well knows what roughing it in
the west means, but he did not un-
dertake the journey down the 5000
feet of sheer rock without misgiv-
ings as to whether he would ever
reach the bottom.
However, he made the trip with
out mishap and the Indians well
coined their guest as special am
bassador from another world. He
spent month half with them in
what was an almost undiscovered
country.
The tribe lives in brush huts of
the crudest nature as much as they
live in anything, for the climate at
the bottom of the canyon is very
mild, and it is necessary to 60 in
side only when it rains. One of
the tents was assigned to Mr..
Spier. His own blankets served
for a bed. The household equip
ment of the people is slender. They
have q few cooking utensils of
their own manufacture and baskets
serve for table service as we'll as
for many other purposes. They
take basket. make it freproof