Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-08-31
THE FIRST FAMILIES OF AMERICA
By Frederic j. Haskin.

IaOS PUEBLO, ABOUT bUU IN NUMBER, IOFm one
American community which has been relatively
little affected by fluctuations in the cost Of liv-
ing.
These Indians are the communal owners of a
rich tract of valley farming land, upon which
their pueblo stands, and of many square miles
Of the mountains adjoining it. Their ancestors
were living here when the Spaniards came. The
Spanish, Mexican and United States govern
ments have successfully confirmed them in the
title to these lands.
The Indians meet the of living problem
in a way which may be adopted by other far
mers in this country is something is not done to
make farming more profitable as a commercial
venture. While the cotton planter in Texas
raises nothing but cotton, sells it for less than
it cost to produce, and faces bankruptcy and
want, the Pueblo Indian raises almost every
thing he needs, sells little and buys little. His
lands produce wheat, corn, beans, potatoes, all
sorts of melons, and fresh vegetables and a lit
tie fruit. On his mountain range he raises cat
tie enough to keep him in beef. In the fine
trout stream that flows down the Pueblo Can
yon he can catch all the fish he wants all sum-
mer. He grinds his own meal, dries fruits and
vegetables, and jerks meat for winter consump-
ton. If shoes are high he makes his own moe
cassins, and the rest of his clothing is not elab-
crate. He makes his own pottery. He builds
his own house and keeps 1t in repair. There IS
little he must buy except sugar, coffee, lard, and
a few things in the way of clothing and uten-
sis.
Examinations of conscripts showed that a
large percentage Of the Mexicans in New Mex
leo are undernourished. 1t showed the same
thing with regard to poor people all over the
United States. The Indian is generally a poor
man, in that he has little money and few possess
sions, but he has the physical stamina and Prov
ess of which civilization is robbing the rest OF
MS. In the foot races which take place at his
hestas he shows great wind and speed. He can
do as hard a days work as any man on earth.
The Indians have only a few acres OF land per
land nourish them, instead of trying to make
money, and thereby nourishing the jobbers,
wholesalers. retailers, and all the rest Of the
commercial army.
A Spartan Bather.
The Indian preserves another virtue which
civilized man often loses when he is poor, and
that is cleanliness. There is nothing sordtd
about the way the Indian lives. Every morning,
winter and summer. he bathes in the clear
stream which runs past his door. He VIII not
battle in warm water, not even in a natural
warm spring. But he will chop a hole in the
ice in January and battle himself and ms pa
poose in ice water.
The inside of his house, If he Is a poor Indian,
is sparsely furnished, but it is scrupulously
clean. Walls and ceiling are covered with a
and it gives the p%lastered adobe the appearance
of polished ivory. In a corner is a little 1re-
place. Along one side of the wall the bedding
is rolled up and covered with a bright blanket
make a sort of divan. The effect is one OF
cleanliness, simplicity and a pleasing harmony
of colors. Some of the Indians, who have made
money by working for the white men or by
trading in cattle and horses, have furnished
their houses with chairs and iron bedsteads and
sewing machines. Il
A young man from the East was introduced
to an Indian of about his own age. The Indian
shook hands with him, and invited him to visit
the pueblo on the next day. AS they drove out
the Indian said: ,
" dIS NY L as SONA
hands with you, I knew that you were my
brother" 5000,
He led the white man into his house and pade
him be seated.
Entertained BY An Indian.
This is your house." he said. III
Later he asked the white man if he would
like to hear some Indian music, and getting an
affirmative reply, he sang a native song of his
own composition. He was an ideal most, cour-
teous and sincere. He did not apologize nor
bluff, nor indulge in elaborate and mendaclous
protestations which make up such a large part
Of our own company manners.
The Indian is a moral man and he perceives
the fact that the real foundation of all ethics is
honesty. He believes in keeping his word. What
an Indian says he will do, he does, even though
the matter is not important. An Indian was Wis
iting a friend in town when he suddenly noticed
that his horse had strayed away. He went after
ii, saying, I'll be back"
He cam back about five hours later, in the
middle of the night, and walked his host. His
only purpose in coming was to keep his promise.
OF course not all Indians are so quixotic, nor
SO honest. There are crafty Indians and weak
Indians, just as there are weak and crafty men
among all other races. The point is that abso-
lutte honesty is a real moral ideal to these peo-
pie, while among us it is only a nominal ideal,
falsehood and fraud being indispensable parts of
both our social and our business system.
The Indian is also a sincerely religious man.
He has long had a religion of his own. which
phenomena of nature. When the Spaniards
came along they baptized him a Christian and
Ever since then the Indian has had two relig-
ions. He still holds his pagan dances and cere-
monies, just as he always did, and he goes to
the Christian church also, though he is not al
regular attendant of mass.
There is only one God he says. In church,
in the woods, with his prayer sticks before him,
in his underground chapel, he is communing
with the same Great Spirit. To him this great
spirit is real and near. God is just as percep-
tible a personality to him as his wife. He is
incapable of doubt. Every day he sees the
hand of God in a hundred natural happenings.
His God is a God of love. The Pueblos have
never been warlike Indians and they fight little
among themselves. they honestly believe and
practice the primitive gospel that strife is futile.
living thing a councillor of the tribe said. 1--WE
pray even for a stray dog that comes to the
pueblo"
There is never any suspicion of cant or ny
pocracy about an Indians religion. His sin
certify is child-like and obvious.
Such are the Pueblos, the only Indians which
civilization has not greatly changed, at their
best. There are Indian scoundrels and ~loafers.
just as there are white ones. But the Pueblo
Indian at his best is a man worthy of any ones
respect. He is a clean and honest man, and a
man OF principle. He is kindly, goo~d-humored
and tolerant. He knows how to enjoy life. He
has faith without bigotry. He makes one reflect
that if a dignifed and happy human life is the
object of our labors, then our civilization is a
questionable success. The poor Indian gets
along remarkably well without it.
DISCREPANCY IN ROAD COSTS
Examination of the figures published by the