American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-05-09

-- HE recent discovery by scien-
lists of a lost tribe of Ameri-
can Indians-the Havasupai-
walled up in obscurity in a
deep canyon of western Arizona re-
veals a situation so astonishing that
it would seem incredible if the story
| came from a source less reliable than
the American Museum of Natural His
tory, writes j. A. Brashears in the
New York Sun.
clustered in a fertile valley, where
sheer walls cut the great plateau to
a depth of 5000 feet, Leslie Spier, a
member Of the museums staff, has
found a tribe of wild primitive In
lIans 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 cascade in
TO the torrents of the Grand Canyon.
these aborigines and their fOrebears
nave lived for ten centuries with sell
don a glimpse of the territory lying
beyond the canyon top. The chief of
the tribe counts the visits of the white
nan on the fingers of one hand.
A~nthropologists have pOked into the
utmost corners of the earth, from pole
to pole; have studied and classified the
: various tribes Of Indians for years,
e while in some remarkable manner the
Z Havasupai, living within our very Dor
ders, have escaped notice.
These Indians-there now are only
l75 in the tribe-constitute the only
purely aboriginal and primitive com
e munity in the United States today.
They have lived like hermits. The
& customs and machines, the social adj
vances Of the outside world have fail.
ed to penetrate the fastness of their
r. realm.
II Not Easy to Visit Them.
IN To reach their home, a 50-mile ride
)f over a waterleSs tract Is necessary
When the brink of the chnsm Il
is reached the drop of 5000 feet has &
a he made mostly on foo along a hardi,
e. n]erceptible trail. Only II small par
p of the hazardous twelve-mile descen
IS, can be made mounted. One must Iii
= orally cling to the walls of the canyO
In no place is the trail wider tim
three feet and the animals rub the.
sides raw through scraping along I'll
side of the canyon.
In one place the two walls com
together and form n corner Here
n IS necessary to make n 50O-fOot drO
~ by zigEngging from wall to wall. Til.
is the most perilous section of tn
nd -.,o., g,. 4I., trnG1 Is pAthfu,r tg,pf
~ han a series of steps. The ANNA.
he must jump from one to the other. 4
IN, the men on foot must walk In frol
eS their lives are constantly e]ndangcre
ed should a pack animal miss It's footir
ats the man in front would be Knocked
eff oblivion.
in Today the Havasupai suhsist on
maryelously cultivated tract two N
ion o~ne-quarter miles long and about on
the quarter of a mile wide. They dcpel
the chiefly on agriculture for their su
port. but In former days they dcscen
ed far south down their valley in que
IN. Of deer, antelope and bear. The cam
70 are situated along the east side of {
in creek. which irrigates the land so ".
NV that enough food is harvested Oft Il
small section of one and nnc-hi
mid square miles to supply them from 5,
tod son to season.
,in- Some Of Their Customs.
Mr.. Spier Classics the tribe as a"
termediary." since their culture e
braces traits peculiar to the four
iaceut tribes of the southwest ar
in general characteristics" he 81
49, they lean more toward the Puchlos
a,a northern Mexico. The custom that 2
,+ad vaiis among the Puehlos-that of
men and women working together
the feld-also exists among the SUI
H. THE men also make clothing out
buckskin. n domestic trait Charact
istic of the Puehlos. The influence
n' the other adjacent tribes. while sill.
may be seen in the construction
! q various types of huts and tepees.
nc Havasupal build four different tyl
',ru There is a log and mud hut conn
u VI among the Nayajes; the con
roiH matched tepee built to a great ext
IaAe mons the Mohaves and the SOU
mere matched hut Of the Plateau Indii
Among the American Indians"
Continued. "the nomadic and war