They Live by Turquoise

MARCH, 1935 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 3 They Live by Turquoise

NOW THIS many days Because of the thoughts of the enemy

Blue Jewels of Indians as Old as History Itself

Our thoughts have been troubled; Our appetites have failed. This very day That by which they live, Turquoise, To my fathers I have offered At all their abiding places. Yonder into the enemy's country We shall take the warpath. In this piece of Zuni ritualistic poetry a great tribute is paid to the stone so characteristic of the Southwest. Here it is not a pleasant reminder of blue skies and bright sunshine, but rather, and above all else, the gift to the gods of war. Thus turquoise is and has been for many a century a stone of cere monial value as well as one of personal adornment.

From Culiacan to the far north, the first conquerors in the Southwest found that turquoise was an important com modity among the native people. In Castaneda's translation of Coronado's journey of 1540, he speaks of the people of Culiacan as follows: "They worship idols and make presents to the devil of their goods and riches, consisting of cloth and turquoise. "Coronado himself wrote to Mendoza of the quan tities of turquoise which the Zuni In dians offered. Thus from northern Mexico to southern Colorado the stone was known to the ancients.

One feels that the early records of turquoise must have been exaggerated greatly in many instances. Friar Marcos (1540) "noticed the fine turquoises suspended in the ears and noses of many of the people whom he saw, and he was again informed that the principal door ways of Cibola were ceremonially orna mented with designs made of these stones." And again, "At one village the lord of the place and his two brothers greeted the Friar, having collars of tur quoises about their necks, while the rest of the people were all encaconados, as they called it, with turquoises which hung from their ears and noses."

If the unfortunate negro Estevan, who preceded Friar Marcos by a few days into the same region, saw with as large eyes these riches of the natives, it is no wonder then that he sent back such glowing accounts of the wealth Of the land. The blue stone seems to have had quite a fascination for the negro, for he collected them along with the women as the greatest prizes of this new land. It was a fatal mistake on his part however, for the women were loved and the turquoises were sac red. The Indians thought it was "hard of him to ask them for turquoises and women, and so they decided to kill him".

The great exaggeration in the many records of this period is somewhat off set by the saner observations of Men doza. In Cibola, he says, "there are very fine turquoises, although not so many as was reported". He does say that "in the ears of the women hang many turquoises, as well as on their necks and on the wrists of their arms." Mendoza does admit that "they have turquoises in quantity, although not so many as the Father Provincial said."

In spite of the many gifts of tur-quoise offered the Spaniards, they seem not to have held them in the same rev erence as did the natives. The new comers noted time and again the cere monial use of the semi-precious stone by the pueblo people. Vasquez, refer ring to the Cibola region also, reports that "sometimes, also, they offer such turquoises as they have, although poor ones" to waters, particularly to the spirits of springs. Seeing this cere monial use to which the Indian put tur quoise, the Spaniards still rather half heartedly accepted the precious gift, often betraying the goodwill and friend ship proffered through the medium of the blue stone.

The ceremonial use of the stone con tinued in the four centuries following the Spanish conquest. Fewkes, one of the most prolific investigators of the prehistory and of the lives of the na tives of the Southwest, reports the cere monial use of turquoise in many in stances. Among the Hopi Indians, he finds that the stone was often used in the sacred masks or "katcinas". The mask of the Cactus Maid has turquoise ear pendants. On another such tablet, "the square, green pendants, on each side of the head, represent turquoise ear pendants . . ." Also about the neck of the same katcina are strings of turquoise beads. Fewkes reports too, that the Antelope priests, the assistant priests in the famous Snake Dance, wear turquoise necklaces among other beads in their ceremonies.

Among the Zuni Indians similar cere monial wearing of the stone occurs to this day. "All Katcinas (Indians im personating these spirits) wear numer ous necklaces of white shell, turquoise, and coral, from which hang ear loops of finely worked turquoise of the best grade. The amount of turquoise worn by the impersonator is limited only by his borrowing capacity . . . It is not unusual for an impersonator to wear necklaces valued at more than a thous and dollars . . ."

Excavation throughout the Southwest has brought to light numerous examples of turquoise which prove its ceremonial value as well as its desirability as a stone to be used in making articles of personal adornment. The stone was used ceremonially in plaques, in frogs or other effigy figures, in altars, and in various ceremonial paraphernelia. One of the most exciting moments in the life of an archaeologist is when he unearths a turquoise encrusted frog!

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

The little effigy is usually carved of shell, the natural contour of the shell lending realism to the animal figure. Carefully squared pieces of turquoise are laid over the entire back of the frog. No more delicate piece of workcircular piece with a design worked out in a combination of turquoise and shell inlay.

the ceremonial usage of turquoise probably came about as a result of the manship has been found among people beauty of the stone. Also, the material of much higher cultural attainment. But is not generously distributed in the of course, the piece has a great symSouthwest. Because of its great cerebolical meaning; it is the offering to monial significance, myths and legends the spirits of the waters, and as agrinaturally grew up about the mysterious culture was the mainstay of existence, or sacred origin or discovery of the water was the first concern of the prestone. Most interesting along this line historic people. is the Pima legend. This relates that long ago some maidens were playing a game. They noticed a blue tailed lizard which went into a hole in the earth. All about the hole the earth was of a beautiful green color. Upon digging at the spot, the villagers found that the coloring of the lizard and the ground was due to the presence of turquoise. The same legend goes on to relate how the very gods came to desire the stone, and eventually obtained the best pieces from these people through trickery. How the angered chieftain of the village, a man of godly power himself, caused great disasters to follow merely illustrates the great reverence in which Unfortunately one is not always lucky enough to find the frog (or other objects) and the turquoise fragments. More often it is the fate of the archaeologist to encounter in the dirt the little squares of the stone which adorned the surface of some precious object. Wood as well as shell was used as a base in this work; therefore in many instances the foundation has rotted away. This is particularly true of larger ceremonial plaques. One of the largest pieces of turquoise inlay found in the Southwest came from and still is at Casa Grande Ruins. This is a the stone was held by the people. As an article of personal adornment, turquoise held first place among the ancient pueblos. In the graves are found beads, pendants, earrings, and effigies of turquoise as well as turquoise encrusted pieces. Fewkes reports that some tribes even wore nose rings of the same material. Earrings made of a combination of turquoise and shell are not uncommon. Sometimes a pink shell was thus used, making for a most pleasing combination. The small pieces of material were set on the shell or wood base in gum or pitch, probably the gum of the mesquite tree. Small and well made beads from onequarter to one-eighth of an inch in diameter were produced by the prehistoric people. One is astonished at the regularly and accuracy of making and drilling such minute fragments, particularly when the work was done with such crude tools. No metal tools were known to these artisans, so it was with other pieces of stone, with sand, cactus needles, and such simple objects that they plied their trade. Of course, with the post Spanish introduction of silver as combined with turquoise much better tools have been employed in the working of the stone.

Comparing the old work and that of more recent times Fewkes says of some Hopi wooden plates encrusted with turquoise: “The modern work of this kind is comparatively coarse, and evidently is made of old turquoises, some of which are perforated and were formerly used as beads. The turquoise stones employed are not accurately fitted, and the black gum in which they are embedded shows between the stones. The ancient work is much finer and more beautiful,” he concludes.

Many of the turquoise necklaces of today do not differ greatly from those of the past. In the Sikyatki region of northern Arizona were found many turquoise beads, some of which were flat fragments perforated at one end, while others were perfectly formed and centrally drilled. In the same region were numerous small perforated pieces of turquoise near the mastoid process of the skull, showing that they had been worn as ear pendants. The excavators here report that the only trouble which arose with the workmen was over these turquoise pieces the natives had appropriated them to their own uses! Slight wonder that one finds the old and new jewelry so alike!

Although many grave specimens equal or excel in workmanship the modern pieces, one has to admit that in jewelry as in other Indian arts there is a tendency to revive the better works of the Close-up of jewel-bedecked hands and waist. These women are financially independent from sheep raising and quite Yankee-like they put all their money on their wrists and necks-not their backs. (Lower)-a Navajo belle and ornaments.

MARCH, 1935 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Past. The recent Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts in New York is typical of such a trend. At this exposition only the best pieces of turquoise mosaic and turquoise set in silver were displayed.

The source of the material used in the Southwest was, of course, local. There were mines in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. One of the finest of these seems to have been one about twentyfive miles from Santa Fe. The Spanish refer to this mine as the source of material traded by the Indians all over New Mexico. These early Spaniards even hint that this mine probably was one inducement which led to the conquest of the region in question. It seems that the turquoises from this mine were very fine and particularly valued for ornaments.

The ancient people mined the turquoise deposits with stone hammers, mauls, and picks, many of which are found in and about the mines. They dug and burrowed for the stone, and went but little beneath the surface.

Thus the bright blue stone that matches the sky plays and has played its part in the history of the Southwest. As a material for ceremonial purposes, as a material for personal adornment, it has been revered and admired. Centuries in the dust have not paled its beauty, and the pieces exhumed from ancient graves are given the choicest places in museum collections.