The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-04-10

Christian observance of Easter.
 Late this afternoon, fantastically coStumed tribesmen will reenact the betrayal, seizure, trial condemna- ton and crucifixion of Christ. In ceremonies which have their origin in the 18th Century when their forefathers were visited by intrepid Jesuit missionaries, they will set up a bier and guard 1t closely until sunrise Easter morning.
 For a month "los Fariseos" (Pharisees), men doing penance for sins have hunted the desert around this village of 500 persons, only 12 miles from Phoenix in actual dis tance, but hundreds of years and hundreds of miles away in customs and ceremonies.
 The "Fariseos" seek a mythical figure behind the cacti, under the mesquite and palo verde trees, and in possible underground hiding places which they tap with deco- rated sticks. Fantastically masked, they also are ogres to children. Naughty youngsters are captured by the "Fariseos" and put in jail, from which they may escape only by pay ment of a fine. Failing to pay the fine, they remain in the jail until "the Night of Darkness" before Easter Sunday and, on this night, are whipped while the "Fariseos" are hogged.
 Act as Pilates Soldiers
 Tonight, the "Fariseos," appear ing as "los Pilatos," soldiers of Pontius Pilate, finally will find" Christ in the Garden of Gethse- mane, a crude bower of cottonwood boughs.
 "Pilatos," the men are masked and crary spears.
 The "Pilatos'" capture of their prisoner and their bearing him away for symbolic trial and cruci- flxion are to the accompaniment of a half-C Christian, half-pagan chant marked by shuttering goat skin drumbs, squealing homemade flutes and whining violins and the swish and rattle of pebble-filled gourds.
 Some of the chants, in unortho- dox Latin, are the remnants of chants taught the Yaquis 400 years aRo when the first Jesuits fearlessly entered their mountain strongholds in Sonora, Mexico, and converted them to Catholicism. Others are purely Indian, with origins in the tribes ancient pagan rites.
 Ceremony Weird and Ancient
 The whole ceremony is a weird but compelling mixture of medi- eval Passion play, heather mystic ism and modern Christianity.
 Tomorrow night, "the Night of Darkness" the Yaqui will begin tIaeir Easter dance. Half-naked, gar- ishly dressed men vS stamp and prance to the rhythm of the drums and rattles.
 Bearing fantastic headdresses, their bodies painted, they will dance until dawn, then all will attend mass in the adobe mission church the Yaquis built when they first settled at Guadalupe. All-men, women and children-will hear the Roman Catholic service said by a priest from Tempe, Ariz. The church will be decorated with paper flowers made by Yaqui women.
 The Easter dance always is wit messed by hundreds of Arizonians and visitors from other states, de- spite the Yaquis' annual request that they be left to themselves.
 Resent White Visitors
 Sincere, deeply religious, they re- sent the laughter and scuffing of white visitors. This resentment, on occasions, has led to violence, so that to prevent recurrence 8 dozen deputy sheriffs patrol the plaza dur ing the ceremony, removing those who might endanger themselves by profaning the rites.
 How fare back into Yaqui history the Easter ceremony goes, no one knows definitely. The Arizona Ya- quis brought the rites with them when they left Mexico more than 40 years ago because of Mexican persecution and migrated to the Arizona desert.
 Church records shows that the tribe first was vis'A,d by Jesuits in 1539 when Padre Marcos de Niza made a journey to their stronghold in what now is known as the Yaqui valley of Sonora.
 Ruthless in War
 Claiming to be descendants of mythical wolf, the tribe waged a relentless and cruel war upon Span- iards, Mexicans and other Indians