The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1920-03-17
MART S'TOFAll'H'
Hopi People Punisl,sd for En-
bracing Christi
0sNsrnnsnt EthnolosIst lrvsstloat'
Ing mound Of Dealt" Finds Evil
dencs Of Truth Of Story Long
Current In the Southwest.

GtnnOlOgically speaking, the SOutn
west 10 q region Of many mysteries
There. ID fortified villages built on
shelves Of rock high up on canyon
walls. lived the cliff dwellers. nobody
knows how long ago. Perched on lofty
heights are ruined castles and towers
Over the mesa tops are scattered the
remains Of many ancient towns.
One Of these ruined towns is. rela'
lively recent, having been destroyed in
The year 100. and Its history, fortu'
nately preserved, Is most remarkable
It was called Awatobi, and all that re.
mains Of # today is huge rubbish
heap, which Is known to the Hopi In
dians as the Mound Of Death.
Il was a Hopi town, populous and
thriving, and was attacked and RACED
by the inhabitants Of seven other
Pueblo villages, who killed all the men
and carried OF the young women and
children.
Or. ]. Walker Fewkes, government
ethDologist In chief, having learned the
story undertook to excavate the mound
81 rubbish. and thereby obtained ample
evidence Of the truth Of the tradition.
II seems that Awatobi was first to
Welcome the early Spanish priests, and
to embrace Christianity. To this cir
circumstance the neighOring villages
attributed q failure OF rain. The new
religion was. suspected to be q kind Of
sofcery, and 1t was decided that the
only remedy lay In fwiping out the
offending town; together with its pop
ulatlon, which, according to the Span.
ish mission records. numbered about
eight hundred souls. Il
From the viewpoint of the Hopi
people to be a sorcerer was and Is to.
day the worst Of crimes. After. all
TIN good folks have prayed all night
for rain wizard may blow away the
clouds with a single puff Of his breath.
Sickness lis always due to sorcery, and
persons suspected Of witchcraft are
even 6owadays made away with 10
secret.
The attack was decided upon at q
secret meeting In the pueblo Of Walpi.
A certain spring was appointed as the
meeting place for bands OF warriors.
each man carrying, besides his weap-
ons. an unilghted torch and q bundle
Of greasewbod. before dawn they
marched silently up the mesa to the
cart end OF the doomed town, the gate
Of which ha1 been left open by agree
ment viii 2 faitorops Awatobi chief =; E :.
tain. III II .93
Cboice, was made Of "a timer when
Host Of ;Awatobi's. warriors would be
engaged i'm rites of religious ceremo.
NAL In Z large 'subterraneant chamber
OF akiya. "s t''.ts4.l..iiif s959pI;f ~ ~
The attacking force lee invaded the
town without causing alarm, surround.
ed the kiya and piucked up the ladder
which afforded the only means o. exit
from Il Then they lighted their
II iches and threw them down, together
M4th lighted bundles, of greasewood.
The interior OF the updergro round cham.
Der was thus converted into literal
furnace and, further to torment the
burning men. the ruthless witch hunt
era tore from the nearby house walls
strings Of red peppers that hung there
drying, crushed them in their hands
and flung them into the fire.
The story that led Doctor Fewkes
to undertake his inquiry and excava-
ton OF the Mound Of Death was told
to him by an aged Indian woman
whose Observation-Disclosures
was one Of the survivors Of the mas
sacre. She was even able to point out
TO him the approximate location Of the
subterranean chamber iniwhich the
men Of Awatobl were burned to death.