The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1920-10-22
Tribe on Tehuantepec Isthmus
Is Of Teuton Origin, Say
the Mexicans.
HAIR and SKINS ARE FAIR
Berlin Ethnologlst, Who Lived Among
These People Several Years, De-
scribes Their Appearance and
Habits and Their Language.

MOnterey.-~lt Is not generally known
even to many ethnOlOgists that there
Is Il tribe or nation of about 10000
people IN Mexico who are. said to be
| descendants of Germans.
According to me legends Of these
| aborigines, however. the Germans are
| descendants of the Msecs which is
the name Of the tribe. They inhablt
several districts of the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec. An investigation Of the
Misecs was made some years age by
Or. William Bauer. a noted ethnologist
| OF Berlin. He lived for several years
among Indian tribes Of Mexico and
studied their history. habits and GUS
toms. On the occasion of his last visit
to this country he spoke Of the Misses
us follows:
They are rather low In stature,
and besides this they are somewhat
| deformed. The hips are broad. the
faces fiat, and their movements are
very awkward. Their hair Is black.
falling over their shoulders. The men
wear their hair as did tho Spanish
priests-with shaven crown and as
long as possible on the sides.
Always Return Home.
"The Misses are very fond Of roam
Ing about. but, although they often
go to the gulf coast they always re-
turn to their poor villages. More than
their neighbOrs, they are conservative
In their customs, manners of living,
and. above all their language. This
Is still extraordinarily pure, although
very hard to learn and very disagree
able to hear. During three months Of
1902 | studied this language and wrote
u nj The same time. as nearly correct
as possible.
| "Some Of these people are fair
haired and have n light skin. For
this reason they were said to be de-
seenannts of the Germans. In nearly
every Mexican history Is found this
tale. | asked them of their origin
and they said that they were aho-
rhymes Of this country. Several of the
more intelligent said that. on the con
trary, the Germans were descendants
OF the Misses. The Joke was not bad.
However, the Misses form evidently
n very particular race worthy OF a
large amount of study.
They are famous for their
strength. They carry easily from sly
to eight arrohas (from $50 to 200
pounds) for many miles, and over the
steepest hills.
Need Ballast In Walking
ut Is said that the Misses. on their
return from carrying n load 10 some
point, pack n load OF stones, ms they
find II difficult work to walk without
some sort of ballast.
'This nation. like all the other
tiihes. Is very superstitiouS. They
still worship their old gods and offer
them up to this day sacrifices In the
fields. on the hills and on the rivers,
| visited several places where | fom,d
the remains of sacrifices, such ms
fowls, small dogs. bread, chocolate
eggs and fruit. Certain VILLAGES have
their Idols hidden IN places knowp
only Ia the oldest men Of the tribe"
Another strange fact brought IN
light by DIR. Rauer was thut The great.
est nation OF indians In Mexico Is the
2ap"te"as. and II is from them. he he,
lieves that the future greatness Of the
country viii come. He said:
u have visited ChiapaS. oaxaca
Guerrero. Vera Cruz AMI other states
and have studied the nations called
Misses, Zapoteca, MiSetcia. Mazateca
Mazahua and the othumi The mos,
Interesting of all these. however and
perhaps Of all the Indian races n,
Mexico, are the Zapotecas. who ara a,
present situated In nearly the whols
sonth of the country. and esnse,su,
w the state OF oaSaca. They numb G,
about 400 600 persons.
The Iaro'ecas are a strong peo