Indians of Arizona

BOOK REVIEW: SOUTHWEST INDIAN PAINTING By

That Clara Lee Tanner is eminently qualified to write such a book as "Southwest Indian Painting" is readily acknowledged by anyone familiar with her years of studies and research on all phases of the life and times of our Indians of the Southwest.

Dr. Emil Haury, Head of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Arizona, in his foreword to her book, writes: "Her devotion to the study of native art began in her student days when each fragment of painted pottery, there for the collecting on the unnumbered ruins of the Southwest, inspired questions about the mind of the primitive artist. It was her sensitive appreciation of the art forms derived from archaeology and the wider range of handicrafts still produced by the surviving Indian groups that led, some sixteen years ago, to the launching of a course on Primitive and Contemporary Indian art in the curriculum of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. Here the continuities of the old and the new, the trends, the losses and additions of forms and techniques, were fully assessed. It was natural, therefore, that the modern school of Indian painting was to become an absorbing interest and that through this book Mrs. Tanner became the spokesman, the historian, and the interpreter of a new tradition.

"She has diligently searched all sources vital to an appreciation of the historical background of her subject. How much further ahead the archaeologist would be if some chronicler had put down what was happening a thousand years ago. She has personally become acquainted with many Indian artists, followed their careers, evaluated their styles and the influences which wrought changes upon them. And above all she has held to the idea that the story of an emergent art style needs telling, not only for its intrinsic value, but for what it reveals of Indian character and culture."

"Southwest Indian Painting" was published jointly by the University of Arizona Press and Arizona Silhouettes, that unique publishing firm of Tucson. Liberally illustrated throughout, the book contains thirty-six pages of color illustrations which previously appeared in ARIZONA HIGHWAYS. If not available at your bookstore, readers can order this attractively produced volume from Arizona Silhouettes, 1730 East Greenlee Road, Tucson, Arizona. The price is $10.00.

We heartily agree with Dr. Haury in the closing paragraph of his foreword: "This book was written to be read; it is not merely a reference work. Both accurate and popular, it places on record the rich contribution native Americans have made to our national heritage. Indian artists have come a long way."

A great drama is playing in the Southwest, with the State of Arizona as the stage and its Indian populations the performers. Here are more than 100,000 of these people, speaking their native tongues and practicing their age-old customs and religious beliefs.

World War II rang up the curtain on a new act in this drama. Before the curtain falls, devastating changes will be seen in the characters we call Indian. Let us stop the act midway and view this native before the drama is played out.

In Arizona is to be found the greatest concentration of pure Indian blood in the United States. Dominant in all groups are Mongoloid traits, as straight black hair, dark and slanting eyes, high and broad cheek bones. These and other features point to Asia as the original homeland of this stock. Prehistory saw some blending of different groups which would explain deviations from the Mongolian strain. Occasional lighter skin and eyes, or touches of curly hair tell of contacts with Spanish and AngloAmericans.

Some of this inheritance of blood goes far back into the past, perhaps two thousand years in the case of the Pueblo Indians. Hopis are the Arizona representatives of this group. The latest Indian arrivals in Arizona are the Apaches and Navajos. The latter tribes preceded Mayflower days by several centuries, so, to all intents and purposes, they are natives.

This long inheritance was not of blood alone. Many of the elements of ancient culture have also survived. Along with the additions of historic times they form the props against which the modern Indian drama is enacted.

Our story really begins some ten to fifteen thousand years ago. The Southwest was more moist then, with lakes in Southern Arizona, and more trees and heavier growth throughout the State. Now extinct mammoths, mastadons, and bisons, and other creatures large and small lived in this lusher land. The large animals were tracked down individually by the first inhabitants of the State. Collectively they perished as the present climate became established.

The early hunters of this large game left flint points which they used in spears and stone knives with which to cut the quarry. Some few of the earliest Arizonans were more inclined

OF ARIZONA

to be vegetarians; they lived along lakes' edges and gathered grass seeds which they ground for their daily diet. The gatherers left little more than their camp sites and the crude grinding stones with which they prepared their food.

As the climate changed, these early folk had to adapt themselves to new conditions. Exactly when, where, and how the major adaptations were made is neither fully nor clearly known. The picture comes into focus momentarily about 3,000 B. C., in a cave in New Mexico, where a crude variety of corn was cultivated. Certainly this newly acquired and precious knowledge was to spread slowly. Three thousand years later rumors of this food revolution were turning into reality in the extreme northern and southern parts of Arizona.

Crude grinding stones of the earliest seed gatherers were replaced by metates and manos for preparing corn. Beans and squash were added to the list of cultivated foods. All of these products had to be cooked, so pottery quickly found favor among the first farmers. Pottery replaced in part the baskets which were an earlier development. Too, permanent dwellings replaced camp sites.

Population increased and cultures developed. By the second millennium of the Christian era, the greater part of Arizona was, or had been, occupied. Small farming settlements were the rule. In the northern part of the State there were sizeable single-unit, stepped structures, pueblo homes of the Anasazi. The modern climate of southern Arizona was established by this time, with little rainfall and high temperatures. This is indicated in well-developed irrigation canals which watered hundreds of acres of ground. Here were built single-roomed houses, the homes of the Hokokam.

Anasazis of the north and Hohokams of the south were splendid potters. They were excellent weavers in cotton. Shell and turquoise they made into jewelry and mosaics. Theirs was a stone age culture, but one which was not surpassed in later years.

The Spanish came in 1538-40. In Southern Arizona they found simple village folk living in earth covered houses and peacefully tilling their fields. Those along the Gila River were the Pimas. On the desert lands to the south lived the Papagos, a people of frugal culture who eked out an existence on their barren and dry lands. Bare remnants of the rich prehistoric culture survived among both of these people.

In Northern Arizona the Spanish found but a handful of the once extensive Anasazi population. There the Hopi Indians lived on three small mesas, rooted to their homeland by a legend which promised the return of a white god. Contrary to the southern natives, the Hopis preserved much of the traditional past. They were rich in religious and legendary lore, they had a tightly knit social order. The Spanish mentioned their fine textiles of cotton, their pride and dignity of bearing.

Anglo-Americans drifted into Arizona after 1800. They, and the Spanish too, and later the Mexicans, were to feel the impact of the Navajo and Apache tribes as these natives increased in numbers and extended the lands they roamed. These tribes were not settled villagers, but rather, camp dwellers. They kept their groups small so as to better raid their enemies and hunt the decreasing wild life. Agriculturalists in some measure, the acquisition of the horse made these folk farm less and raid more. Raiding brought to them much of the culture of the more sedentary tribes.

In summary, it may be said that the native Arizonans inherited from their own direct ancestors specific types of homes and villages or settlements, the social order of their ancestors, and, in varying degrees, all of the arts and crafts. From the Spanish, someof them acquired a new religion, Catholicism; horses, cattle, and sheep; a few agricultural products, as wheat and melons; ovens in which to bake and chimneys for their homes; and a taste of a new way of life. From the Anglo-American, the Arizona Indian has received everything from reservations to bric-a-brac. Some of the more significant contributions would include religion, schools, household furnishings and farm machinery, new technologies, and new ideas of government and society.

Out of all the conflicts and chaos which have resulted from the meeting of two such greatly different civilizations as the stone age Indian and the sophisticated European, have come necessary adjustments. One of these was the definition of boundaries, for it was inevitable that one group should encroach upon the land rights of the other. Spanish land grants did not affect the Arizona Indians as they did others. It was not until 1859 that measures were taken to protect the Indian: by Executive order of the United States government, the first lands were set aside for the Indians of the State. Since that date, Reservations have been created for all tribes here at the opening of the historic period. Additions, reductions, and modifications have been necessary through the years, resulting in the final allotments as listed below. This chart, taken from William H. Kelly's INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST, will summarize the Reservations in far more simple and peaceful fashion than was true of the reality of the situation.of the Indian groups. The "act" in this Indian drama is stopped but a moment to better view the players. But the play goes on, dipping deeply into the past, but inevitably moving into the future.

HOPIS

Like the fellow with the longest and most authentic geneology, the Hopi can claim precedence over other Arizona tribes as the longest unquestioned dweller of the State. Spanish records of 1540 verify his ancestor's occupation of some of the very villages still lived in by members of this tribe. Beyond this date, and back to the early days of the Christian era, the archaeologist would carry Hopi geneology through pueblo dweller to true cave dwellers.

Hopi villages are perched on the tops of three mesas in north central Arizona. These mesas are really three finger-like projections which form the southern extremity of the greater Black Mesa. Today there are nine main villages on the mesas with some smaller settlements on the lower flats. When the Spanish came to this country they were traveling from New Mexico to the west, and they labelled the Hopi mesas according to their approach to each; thus First or East Mesa, Second or Middle Mesa, and Third or West Mesa. To this day these terms are used.

Following the Spanish route, we would enumerate the Hopi villages in this manner: First Mesa, Sichomovi, Walpi and Hano (the latter peopled by puebloans from New Mexico); Second

Three great language families are represented in the fourteen Indian tribes in Arizona, the Athabascan, the Yuman, and the UtoAztecan. Athabascan speaking folk include the Apaches and Navajos; the Yuman language people are the Yuma, Cocopa, Mohave, Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, and Maricopa. Strange language brothers are the Uto-Aztecans, for they include the highly developed Hopi, the culturally inferior Chemehuevi and Paiute, the Tewa, and the Pima and Papago. (The Tewa have lived with the Hopi since about 1700; their culture is very similar.) Thumb-nail sketches follow for each of the Arizona tribes. In the main, these summaries will present the recent or present status Mesa, Shimopovi, Shipaulovi, and Mishongnovi; and on Third Mesa, Oraibi, (New Oraibi at the foot of the mesa), Hotevilla, and Bacabi. About forty miles to the west is another Hopi village, Moenkopi, which was settled as a farming community by people from Old Oraibi.

To his dying day the conservative Hopi will remain atop the mesas, riding his sure-footed burro or walking up and down the steep trails, while more progressive members of the same tribe may find it expedient to live at the mesa bottom, closer to his fields. Hopi houses are constructed in the traditional manner of one against the other, using common walls. When a girl is married, she builds her home as close to that of her mother as possible, in some instances, actually joining the older home. Men of the tribe do the heavy work of house building, hauling and putting in place the heavy roughly cut rock to form the walls, and constructing the beamed roof. The latter is sufficiently well constructed that it may serve as work space or home for second story dwellers. Generally Hopi houses are unplastered on the outside, but interiors are smooth walled, plastered in pure white, or, perhaps, with a decorative red band around the lower edge. Plastering is a woman's duty.

builds her home as close to that of her mother as possible, in some instances, actually joining the older home. Men of the tribe do the heavy work of house building, hauling and putting in place the heavy roughly cut rock to form the walls, and constructing the beamed roof. The latter is sufficiently well constructed that it may serve as work space or home for second story dwellers. Generally Hopi houses are unplastered on the outside, but interiors are smooth walled, plastered in pure white, or, perhaps, with a decorative red band around the lower edge. Plastering is a woman's duty.

Hopi villages are usually arranged in rows of joined rooms, with an open space between which serves as a plaza or court. The center of interest in the open areas is the kiva, an underground chamber used for ceremonial purposes. It also serves as a club, where the men of the tribe can retire with the assurance that they will not be disturbed by anyone, and most certainly not by the women.

A Hopi family may occupy from one to half a dozen, or occasionally more, rooms. Household furnishings vary greatly, but always there are two essentials, a fireplace and a grinding bin. The former may be a stone grill to be used over coals on the clayed floor or it may be a corner, hooded fireplace. A cast iron stove may also be added. The second essential item, the grinding bin, is on the floor, close to the wall. It has two or three flat-surfaced stones placed at an angle and bedded in clay bins. Here the woman kneels, her feet braced against the wall, and grinds corn of several grades of fineness, depending upon its use.

Stone grills, or "piki stones," are made by the men for their wives. It takes some days and considerable care to produce one, for it must be ground to infallible smoothness, impregnated with the oil of watermelon seed, and slow-burned before it is ready for use. On this stone is made a ceremonial bread called "piki," paper thin and vari-colored. It is fascinating to watch a woman dip her hand into a watery cornmeal mixture, run it quickly over the stone, and just as quickly pick up and roll the "bread." Pyramids of these rolls, stacked on native-woven trays, form colorful additions to ceremonial foods.

In some Hopi homes there will be little more than these "musts" and a few mats, blankets, garments hanging from a suspended pole, and the necessary baskets, pottery, and other household utensils. On the other hand, a house may be furnished with the requisites of our modern homes, chairs and table, bedsteads, dressers, and so on. Extremes in the ways of daily life are to be found also. The family may gather about a mat "table" on the floor, each with his own cup, but eating from a common bowl. Eating on the floor is common for ceremonial affairs. And there at the edge of the mat is the coffee pot, right next to grandmother's bare foot which just sticks out from under her full skirts. At the opposite extreme will be a table with cloth, a matched set of dishes, and each member of the family with his own place and eating equipment.

Always there is a storeroom in a Hopi house. These are frugal people, for they have learned the hard way to get along in a very inhospitable land. Well do they know the possibilities of drought, or loss of crops by other means, therefore each household has at least one year's supply of food stored ahead. It is a delightful sight to behold, with the rows of colored corn, pumpkins stacked high, beans, and other produce from their fields stored with care.

Hopi Indians have been dry farmers for centuries. Believing that there is an intimate relationship between the Hopis and the forces of nature, they pray to the rain spirits and perform ceremonies for the maturation of crops. At the same time they will divert the waters of the swollen arroyos onto their fields on the dry desert lands. The practical and the not-so-practical are also blended in planting and tilling the fields. Many seeds will be placed in each hillock, one for the winds, one for the cutworms, one for the mice, and a hope and prayer that one will grow. Wooden digging sticks for cultivating the fields have not given way completely to modern machinery in Hopiland. Two fields are planted by each man, to decrease the hazards of total crop loss. Planting dates are part of the sacred lore of the Hopis. Corn, beans, and squash are the age-old products of native Southwestern fields. They are still cultivated in the clan-owned lands below the villages. Spanish-introduced melons have become popular among the Hopis as they have among practically all of the

Southwest Indians. A few fruit trees, especially peaches, may be planted at seepage points near the base of the mesa. Formerly a man walked each day to the fields far below the mesas; now he may ride in a buckboard or car.

Much ceremony is common before and during the growing season; so too are there rites when the crops are harvested. One of the most interesting of these is the ceremonial race down to the fields by young men, to bring back the first produce. They are received in this dawn rite by medicine men, matrons in traditional costume and hair-do (one roll down each side of the head), and young maidens, also in traditional dress and hair-dress (great whorls at the sides of the head).

Like so many of the Southwest Indians, the Hopi is well known for certain crafts, yet they contribute but a pittance to his over-all economy. Best known of all his craft arts are kachinas, then in turn, baskets, pottery, and silver work. Much has been inherited from a rich past in craft forms, designs, and styles.

Like so many of the Southwest Indians, the Hopi is well known for certain crafts, yet they contribute but a pittance to his over-all economy. Best known of all his craft arts are kachinas, then in turn, baskets, pottery, and silver work. Much has been inherited from a rich past in craft forms, designs, and styles. Kachina dolls are colorful figures carved from the soft root of drift cottonwood. The small images represent the masked dancers of the same name who perform in the plazas of Hopi villages. Often a father produces a doll of this type so that his little daughter may learn the details of the costumed dancer. After whittling the little figure with a penknife, and filing it to a pleasant smoothness, each detail of the original is faithfully reproduced in poster paint. Grotesque masks are typical of the kachinas; these too may be carved, painted, and bedecked with the same accuracy. Bits of fur, greenbough, yarn, metal, or other materials may make the doll copy a more realistic portrayal of the original. Quite recently the wolf kachina has been reproduced with startling realism by employing a cat's skull for the mask.

Basketry has a hoary ancestry, particularly in techniques. Plaited trays are made in all of the Hopi villages. Many of them have subtle patterns woven into them in nothing more than bleached yucca strands against green withes of the same material. Coiled baskets, which are made on Middle Mesa only, have foundations of great fat, round coils, these covered with excessively narrow and even sewing splints of yucca. The latter may be dyed, with either aniline or native colors. Patterns are varied, from simple geometric styles, as stepped clouds, to elaborate themes, as full kachina figures. The third basketry type is wicker, made exclusively on West Mesa. Colors run riot in these baskets, and designs in this technique may be simple or complex.

Women are the basket makers among the Hopis, but the men do all of the loom weaving. A man may set up his loom in the kiva so that he may gossip away the hours while he weaves, or he may weave in his home. Both the upright and slanting belt looms are used, the former for wider blankets and rugs, the latter for narrower fabrics. The Hopi is the only Southwest Indian who produces kilts, blankets, and other ceremonial costume items; these he uses himself or trades to other puebloans. When the Spanish introduced sheep, the Hopi accepted them, but used the wool solely for secular dress. To this day cotton is still employed in the weaving of any object for ceremonial purposes. Formerly the men cultivated all the cotton they used; now a commercial string has been accepted. Ceremonial fabrics may be plain or decorated with brocaded, embroidered, or woven designs. Patterns center about cloud, lightning, and rain themes. Rugs and blankets reveal simple banded patterning, reflecting the conservative nature of the Hopi.

Although cooking pots may be made on any one of the three Hopi mesas, the decorated wares for which this tribe is known are produced solely on East Mesa. There is an interesting background to modern Hopi pottery. In the late 1890's, the pottery made by these people was very poor, particularly in design. An archaeologist was excavating in one of the near-by ancestral homes of the Hopi, and among his crewmen was a fellow from the village of Hano. This fellow's wife, Nampeo, saw some of the wares from the dig, and immediately recognized them as superior to current Hopi styles. So this young lady set about a revival in the ceramics of her village, inspired by the very beautiful patterns of the prehistoric wares. Her influence spread to other First Mesa villages.

Typical Hopi pottery has a lovely, soft buff ground, with indistinct rosy areas here and there. Designs are in black, or black and red, and often feature wing patterns made famous by Nampeo (and still produced by her daughters and granddaughters). Other

Ruins of Old Oraibi

themes and other color combinations are used, but none so successfully as Nampeo's. Although Hopi vessel forms are usually plain bowls with an incurved rim, or flat shouldered jars, there is, nonetheless, some experimentation along this line. Recently a cookie jar, complete with lid, and of simple but pleasing lines, has been developed.

Without question, the Hopis are the best potters in Arizona. About the year 1898 the Hopis learned silversmithing from the Zuñi Indians. They have never been particularly outstanding or famous for their metal craft, but since World War II they have produced some work worthy of high commendation. Setting up a quonset hut for on-the-job training, they appointed one of their artists, Fred Kabotie, to do the designing, and another Hopi, Paul Saufki, to teach the craft to their young men. Some splendid pieces of silver came out of this venture, incorporating many of the lovely patterns from basketry, pottery, and other Hopi sources.

Hopi organization is vested in a theocratic state. The village chief is the head of a council of representatives from the leading ceremonial societies. Membership in such societies may cross-cut Hopi villages; however, there is no over-all tribal organization. All Hopis are bound together by a common language, a common culture. This may explain why a Tribal Council, organized in 1936, has never succeeded. In fact, there has not been representation on this Council from all of the villages. Secret Society and clan controls of village activities would also contribute to the lack of strength and success of the Council.

The life cycle, to the Hopi, is a journey from birth to death. Each phase, childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age, has accepted patterns of behavior. If followed, these will lead to a long and a happy life, and will contribute to the common good. Death marks the rebirth of the individual in the Underworld. Ceremonies large and small direct or accompany the stages of life. In fact, ceremony and life to the Hopi are so intimately a part each of the other that both will be mentioned in speaking of aspects of the life cycle. A Hopi man's life is particularly concerned with rituals. As one author has said, he spends most of his time getting ready for, having, and getting over ceremonies! For the individual there are special rites at birth, initiations into one or more secret orders, marriage, and, last of all, limited but important death rites. For the group there are many fertility and rain rituals.

Magic is quite prevalent among the Hopis. The first evidenceof it appears when the umbilical cord of the new-born infant is tied to a stirring stick if the child is a girl and to a bow if it is a boy, then placed in the house rafters. This assures success to each in his own realm. It is one of their many expressions to control the future. During his first twenty-four hours the infant is placed on a cradle board, and there he spends most of his time for the first three months. Thereafter the baby is secured to the board for sleeping purposes only. On the twenty-fifth day after his birth, the child is ritually named and presented to the sun, the Great Father deity of the Hopi.

of it appears when the umbilical cord of the new-born infant is tied to a stirring stick if the child is a girl and to a bow if it is a boy, then placed in the house rafters. This assures success to each in his own realm. It is one of their many expressions to control the future. During his first twenty-four hours the infant is placed on a cradle board, and there he spends most of his time for the first three months. Thereafter the baby is secured to the board for sleeping purposes only. On the twenty-fifth day after his birth, the child is ritually named and presented to the sun, the Great Father deity of the Hopi.

A child always feels the warmth of care and love from the moment it is born. The infant or very small child is never left alone, for evil spirits may harm him. This may well explain why one sees so many very small "mothers" in Hopiland, for little girls often play about the villages with a tiny baby brother or sister secured to their backs by a blanket shawl.

One begins his introduction to the intricacies of Hopi clan life at a tender age. That it is a matrilineal society is impressed upon the child in many ways: all of the training of girls is in the hands of the mother and her female relatives. The boy is responsible to his mother for at least the first six years of his life; thereafter the mother's brother, rather than the father, is usually called in for more serious disciplinary problems.

Little girls are usually more interested in going to school than are their brothers, for it is their first opportunity to get away from the closeness of the powerful female group. On the other hand, it takes the little boys from their fathers' sides in the fields, or on the range, where they have already known a freedom and companionship which they greatly cherish. Already both have learned something of their respective duties in life, for little girls have been participating in household chores at the same time that their brothers have been digging in the fields or herding the flocks. Even their play is directed in the same lines. They have few toys with which to play, so mud houses are made, peopled with sticks or stones, and equipped with dishes of mud pottery. "Pretend" farming and herding, shooting of bows and arrows, and practicing dance steps they have seen in the kiva occupy the leisure time of boys.

Childhood ends before a Hopi youngster is ten years of age. By this time he has been initiated into the kachina cult group which emphasizes the seriousness of life. By this time, too, he knows the fundamentals of the tribal kinship system-and it is complicated, indeed-and has become a useful member of society, knowing his responsibilities as well as his privileges.

NAVAJO LUNAR LORE BY LILYAN JOHNSON LEVY

As the seasons change, would you like to know What each month is called by the Navajo?

Initiation into the kachina cult, at a ceremony called the Bean Dance, is an impressive ritual for the Hopi child. He learns that the kachinas are his ancestors, and that they bring the rains which make the crops grow. Magic appears here, too, for the older members of the cult group bring forth great, long bean sprouts at this February rite. Unknown to others, they have forced growth in excessively heated and moistened underground kivas. Now the boys learn who the kachinas really are, but the girls never do. Now the boys can participate in kachina ceremonies, and spend more and more time in the kivas. During all this training period a boy is taught to be strong in mind and will as well as in body. By the time he is fourteen, a boy can be fully responsible for his mother's fields. It is of interest, too, that he plays in organized groups, and he is less interested in the score than the game. Many of the games now, whether running or throwing darts, are aimed in the ceremonial direction, to aid symbolically in fertility and growth of crops.

When a Hopi girl is fifteen she is ready to take her place in village life. She has learned the complicated Hopi cookery, she has mastered the back-breaking grinding of corn, she has become adept in the particular crafts of her village. Formerly it was proper for her to go through a puberty rite which included a four-day ordeal of corn grinding and the dressing of her hair in the “squash blossom” style.

The boys' adolescent ceremony takes the form of initiation into one of four secret societies, which, in turn is prerequisite to membership in another tribal-wide and very strong society. The former rite is complicated, and seems preoccupied with a death and rebirth theme, both for the individual and on a cosmic scale. Courting days follow. So well trained are both the young men and girls that each knows what his obligations are, what gifts are to be given and when, and other proprieties. The first marriage of a Hopi is a serious affair, and must be with one not previously married. It is under these conditions only that a bride can acquire the wedding garments and the groom a woven plaque which are necessary to the entrance of the two into the Underworld. The male relatives of the groom weave her white wedding blanket and braid a beautiful wide white sash for her. Women of the bride's family (or the bride herself), supply the plaque and food for this gift exchange. Among other things the girl must cook in her mother-in-law's home, during some of the days of preparation for the wedding.

Husband and wife are equally independent among the Hopis, each going about his own business, each making his own decisions. Each has the privilege of terminating the marriage if he so wills, the woman by merely depositing her husband's possessions outside the front door, the man by merely going home to mama. Yes, it is a matrilineal society.

In addition to the matrilineal order of life, leadership is vested in wisdom and the good one does for the whole group. One serves his community in the true sense of the word in Hopiland. The elaborate kinship establishes ones relationships with all other Hopis, and even other Indians, indeed, with the universe. All are interrelated; human relationships are extended into the non-human universe with an extension of duties and privileges.

Ritual leadership is of obvious importance.

This mutual dependence between man and the world about him, so real to the Hopis, makes it very necessary for him to hold the Snake Dance in August so that the late rains will come and mature the crops. Magic again! The ordered reciprocity basic to family, to clan, is extended to the universe. A Hopi's life is dedicated to right doing, right feeling, right thinking, that all may move in a rhythmic and balanced universe.

NAVAJOS

Sixteen million acres sounds like a lot of land. But when much of the soil is eroded beyond use, when water is often unavailable, when the last sprig of grass has been consumed by hungry goats, the vast acreage shrinks into insignificance.

Such is the Navajo Reservation. Spectacular in beauty beyond compare, rich in myth and historic incident to the tribe which lives here, it holds the Navajo Indians with a vice-like grip and this despite years of poverty, famine, disease, and tragedies of history.

The Navajo Indian relates in myth and chant the creation of his land by the gods. After wandering through several underworlds, the Holy Ones came to this earth, creating the spectacular features which mark Navajoland. Among these are the four great mountains with which tradition bounds their country, the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, Navajo Mountain which straddles Arizona and Utah, Sleeping Ute Woman in southwestern Colorado, and Mt. Taylor of northwestern New Mexico. Mythic history continues, telling of the slaying of great monsters which peopled the earth. Here one was destroyed and his congealed blood forms Comb Ridge, a volcanic projection attached to Ship Rock in northwestern New Mexico. At another spot a limestone formation is referred to as the bones of a giant. Then, and now too, for that matter, the Holy Ones got about by travelling over rainbows, or by lightning, or on sunbeams. They were very active on earth until they withdrew to the four directions. And, as this tribe will have it, their last act before departing was the creation of the Navajos, The People, as the word Diné indicates.

Fact replaces fancy in the story of the Navajos in the Southwest. Dim trails trace him into Colorado, possibly on back into the Plains. Then firm evidence is found of his occupation of the Gobernador country of northern New Mexico, certainly by the opening of the historic period, 1540. For several centuries he remains here, probably absorbing much of pueblo culture. Westward migration of the Diné may have been encouraged by the acquisition of more stock, and particularly of horses. Canyon de Chelly and adjoining lands of northeastern Arizona then become the center of their activities. Raiding was the root of many of the evils which befell the Navajos during the nineteenth century. This unfortunate custom, possibly of many centuries standing, culminated in the greatest tragedy of Navajo history, the Bosque Redondo. Depredations against white settlers coupled with misunderstandings to force the United States Government to take action. Kit Carson was instructed to round up all wayward Navajos; this he did, collecting both innocent and guilty. A 350-mile march, with all but babies and the infirm walking, from de Chelly to Ft. Sumner in eastern New Mexico, has ever been remembered as “The Long Walk.” Four unhappy and long years were spent on the Reservation of their enemy, the Apache. A deeply saddened and decimated group returned to de Chelly in 1869.

Combining forces with those who resisted capture by hiding in canyon fastnesses, the People once again began an upward climb. They increased in numbers and spread out in territory. Eventually their lands encompassed all of northeastern and north central Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. In spite of their apparent semi-nomadism, the Navajos have pursued agriculture to a greater or lesser extent for some centuries. Again if we may call upon legend, we find that the tribal culture hero acquired corn, beans, squash, and tobacco in the long ago from the gods themselves. The traditional thought here probably bears out the agricultural implications in permanent residences of the Navajo in New Mexico of many centuries ago.

There is no consistency in the amount of agriculture pursued by members of this tribe today for the vagaries of environment are all important. Everything from irrigation farming to dependence upon summer rains is in evidence. In spots on the Reservation one can drive along and see fields of corn which have been left to grow as best they may while the family moves the sheep into better grazing lands for the summer. These Navajo fields are often ragged, with unwatered spots stunted and growth unproductive, while the moist portions support fuller growth and a few ears of corn. To the traditional crops have been added others; melons have found great favor among the Diné. Ancient methods of planting, using a digging stick and dropping seed in by hand, still prevail in some areas, adding further to the curtailment of production. In some sections, more advanced methods have been introduced, with consequent increase in produce. Although agriculture is an insignificant part of the whole source of Navajo income, and what is produced is consumed by the tribe, nonetheless it is important. Further, it has the chance of becoming more important as the government establishes addi-tional sources of water, as dams, for this purpose. Livestock is almost three times as important as agriculture as a source of income; here too, a sizeable share is "consumed income." One would be hard pressed to define "Navajo sheep" today. The first acquired animals, from pueblo sources, were added to by government issue after the "Bosque Redondo" incident. From time to time other stock has been introduced, so that these animals are today quite a mixture. It has not been easy to produce an animal which could live under the rigorous conditions of the Navajo Reservation, with little feed and less water, and one which would provide both meat and wool. Controlled breeding, but re-cently effected, has greatly improved lamb output, weight, and wool quality in these animals. Women often own the sheep in this tribe. This gives them considerable prestige, too. In fact, between owning sheep and the hogan, a woman can rid herself of an undesirable husband by merely putting his saddle out the door. He takes the hint. Horses and cattle are traditionally owned by the men; ownership of the former holds prestige value for the men. In the late thirties it was necessary to reduce the one million sheep units of Navajo stock holdings to 750,000, this because of overgrazed and eroded lands. This, plus further reduction has completely im-poverished some Navajo families; the stock, as a whole, has been improved. Further sources of income have been developed in post World War II times. Wage earning has increased, lands have been leased to oil companies, uranium has been discovered on the Reservation, and some new industries have been introduced to the Navajos. Both private and tribal coffers have profited from these activities. Scattered all over this vast land are the homes of the Navajos, the hogan. One or several of these, with corrals, form a camp. Despite their seeming nomadic nature and their scattered homes, the Navajos are definitely a sociable people. They recognize their immediate family relations first, then they acknowledge additional ties in the extended family. Clan comes next, which is basically made up of blood relatives. "Linked Clans" were common at one time; for some reason, several clans considered themselves related. Formerly marriage restrictions and other clan controlled customs were extended to linked clans. Today many of the young people are totally unaware of linked clans. Today the "outfit" is important. It is a group of relatives, larger than the extended family. Outfits cooperate regularly in various ways, for planting and harvesting, or in giving a ceremony. Native leadership seems to have been related to extended families. White men were unaware of the lack of unity in the tribe as a whole. They did not realize that a treaty made with one chief did not apply to the members of another group, and certainly not to the tribe as a whole. The pointed shape of the Navajo hogan is often cited as an evidence of their northern origin. Materials, however, differed greatly, as they came into the Southwest. A forked stick foundation of cedar poles was mud and earth covered to make it warmer in winter and cooler in summer. This differed greatly from the Plains skin tent. A stone-lined firepit in the center of the room is kept burning most of the time, smoke emitting through the opening in the top of the hogan. That this is the older type of hogan is indicated in the same construction for the sweat lodge. Heated stones are tossed into this small version of the house, a bit of water is poured over them, and the one or several men inside sweat profusely. Better this than nothing, and water is not plentiful on the Reservation. Although the above house type is the traditional one, several other styles are constructed by the Navajos. One is more domed with logs placed horizontally rather than vertically, and in an eight-sided plan rather than a circle. When a family moves about in the spring and summer to graze the herds, a mere shelter is thrown up; four posts support a roof, and a side or two may be covered with cedar or piñon branches. Furnishings? Well, to our way of thinking, many of the Navajo hogans would appear to be exceedingly bare. At first glance they reveal little or nothing, but as ones eyes grow accustomed to the semi-darkness of the room he will see objects stuck into crannies in the wall, or hanging from sticks protruding therefrom, a chest and a stack of blankets against the wall. Sometimes the families who are sure to move with the coming of spring have few possessions beyond the clothes on their backs, some jewelry, and the cooking and eating utensils about the fireplace.

A summer curing rite, the enta, is apt to bring out the finest wearing apparel of this tribe. After all, one is going to see a great many friends and relatives one has not seen for a long time. In the second place, one is going to be in the public eye, for in the light of a great bonfire dancing takes place; hence the popular name for this event, "squaw dance." Then too, one must wear all the jewelry he or she can, for the women must appear attractive in the eyes of the men and vice versa. Romances are often made at these affairs!So here is collected all the color and charm of Navajo dress, in the circle of the squaw dance. The circle is defined by covered of the two major craft arts, are the basis of wealth, serve in lieu of money through pawning, and reflect a standard of taste and wealth in this tribe. As necessary, jewelry is left at the trading post for food, or credit for clothing. When lambs, wool, or a woven blanket are ready for market, they are taken to the same post and the jewelry is retrieved. Obviously this is a better system than a bank account when the nearest bank may be several hundreds of miles away. Too, the Indian's love for jewelry and his relatively simple life make this system far more logical than banking.

Men produce the jewelry in Navajoland, although there is a growing number of women smiths. Techniques center about hammering, casting, and cutting from various grades of sheet silver. The Navajo himself prefers smooth polished areas with little or no stamping, set with a few larger turquoises. He has bowed to the taste of white man, however, and often stamps effusively all the area about stones. The range of this craft art, acquired since 1853, has extended far beyond the production of jewelry, and includes keyrings, boxes, table ware, and miscellaneous other items.

Weaving is another of the important arts of the Navajo. Combined with silver, these crafts bring in less than ten percent of the total income of this tribe; nonetheless they play a far more significant part in the lives of the people than this figure would indicate. Traditionally, weaving is a woman's occupation; socially it gives her prestige among her peoples; and historically it presents a significant chapter in the lives of the Navajo. Legend-wise weaving was taught the Diné by Spider Woman.

Everyone wears jewelry for one of these gala occasions, the more the better. This is one time above all others when a fellow must be able to take his possessions out of pawn, for not to wear quantities of the stuff marks one a social failure. So several necklaces, earrings, as many bracelets and rings as one can conveniently wear, even a belt or two, are in order. This is not enough for some folks, so additional strips of silver, or long rows of buttons, or both, will be attached to velveteen blouses, on collars, down the length of sleeves, or down the shirt front.

Possession of jewelry, or "hard goods" as the Navajos call it, is far more significant than just for wearing purposes. Silver, turquoise, coral, and shell, of which jewelry is made, constitute one

Very likely weaving, including the loom, sheep for wool, and design styles, was acquired from the Pueblo folk while the early Navajos lived in the Gobernador country. Contemporary Navajo artists dramatically illustrate the acquisition of sheep: a bareback rider cuts a few animals out of a Pueblo herd and drives them away. Tradition embroiders this likely incident by saying that two of the sheep were black, two white, two brown, and one blue. Historians of the Navajo would place the sheep-acquisition incident at about the opening of the eighteenth century.For some years the Navajos wove plain blankets, or a few with narrow stripes in natural colors of the wool or in native dyes. Never content with a trait as they borrow it, they began to experiment. First, small geometric elements were added between bands. This style pleased the Navajo, for it has remained a favorite of his to this day. Navajo weavers welcomed the bright colored Bayeta yarns which began to appear around 1800. These came to them by a devious trail. Bayeta was manufactured in England, purchased by the Spanish, and traded to the New World, into Mexico, then into the Southwest. Raveled out of the original fabric, the gay yarns were respun by Navajo women and combined effectively with their own native materials. Blanket designing reached a peak between 1850 and 1870, in all-over, edge to edge patterns.

With the first trading posts in the Navajo country came both Germantown yarns and aniline dyes. For a short spell the Navajo weaver became "punch drunk" with color and elaboration of design. Borders, pictorial themes, all-over patterns running riot over the whole fabric, these and other fancies of the moment took over, many of them reflecting historic contacts with white men. Up to the time of these fanciful turns, the Navajo weaver hadproduced blankets for his own tribe or for other Indians. With the increased demands from white men for Navajo weaving at the close of the nineteenth century the blanket thickened into a rug.

The twentieth century has seen a multitude of changes in the story of Navajo weaving. Many efforts have been made to better the quality of the wool. This, obviously is not easy. It demands, among other things, an animal which must provide both wool and meat. It involves a grazing land which provides too little feed and too many burrs to tangle the wool. Further, considerable effort has been directed toward better spinning and weaving and improvement of dyes and patterning. Today a multitude of rugs is produced, from the subtly designed saddle blanket (the only piece he weaves for himself), to plain banded rugs in vegetable dyes, to bright creations in aniline dyed yarns.No other major craft arts are produced by the Navajo Indians today. However, there are several extinct or almost extinct crafts which have known brighter days, as basketry making and pottery. Rarely a woman here and there will produce one or the other of these two products today. Probably every conservative Navajo family has a pottery vessel around the hogan, for tradition dictates that a native-made jar be used for drums and occasional other ceremonial purposes.

Out of the basketry habit themselves, the Navajo have other tribes, primarily the Paiutes, weave a traditional form, a wedding tray. These baskets are in constant motion on the Reservation, in and out of trading posts. Requisite for a wedding, the basket is acquired by the last person to eat sacred meal out of it at the ritethis fellow often takes the wedding tray to the trading post. There it is picked up by a tribesman for another ceremony. One trader reports that in a year's time he handled about five hundred Navajo wedding baskets.

Navajo religion presents some of the most interesting aspects of American Indian life. Basically they are nature worshippers. In contrast to the pueblo belief of the individual as a part of the group, with each one functioning as a part of the whole, the Navajo puts more emphasis on the individual. Further, he looks at a man as an entity, with mind and body a functioning whole. This explains, in part at least, the curing rites of this tribe, where the sick man must be put in harmony with the universe before the disease can be treated. The Navajo practiced psychosomatic medicine before the word was coined in our own society.

First, Navajo religion is so intimately interwoven with all phases of life that it cannot be set apart. Rituals are held to restore health, to obtain food, for the continuation of life, to bless a new home, to insure a safe journey. Ceremony may be held for or "over" the individual but blessings may also flow over the whole group.

Ritual is intimately intertwined with the Holy People, toothose powerful, mysterious Beings who are so important and real to the Navajo. Changing Woman is foremost among the Holy Ones; she seems a personification of nature and the seasons. Her husband is the Sun. Their children are the Twin War gods who are not only important in ceremony but also serve as models for Navajo youth.

One of the most delightful tales in all Navajo mythology relates to the Twins. On one occasion they visited their grandparents. The grandfather was the keeper of thunderbolts. Indulgent as grandparents are, the grandfather allowed these favorite children into the sacred store of bolts. Sitting atop their grandmother's home, they delighted in throwing the powerful thunderbolts, enthusiastically casting one after the other. It was not until the poor grandmother had almost drowned from the accompanying downpour that the grandfather finally put an end to the Twins' engaging pastime.

Ghosts are important in Navajo life. "Chindi," which are spirits of the dead, are so potent that burial takes place as quickly as possible. All who have been involved with the dead must be ceremonially "cleansed" before returning to normal life.

Witches are powerful, too. They can acquire one's property, or cause illness, or bring death to those they hate. Witches work in devious ways. Among other things, they can utter spells to effect their evil, or they can shoot small objects into the bodies of their victims. A Navajo takes many precautions against witchcraft; the most elaborate protection is the chant "Enemy Way," or, as it is popularly called, the Squaw Dance.

Curing rites are basic in Navajo religious expressions. Nine day winter chants are primarily for curing. This tribe has diseases nicely catalogued, as those caused by the Holy People, because of the breaking of taboos, or by ghosts, or witchcraft, by lightning, snakes, or enemies. Likewise, each disease is cared for by the proper ritual. Special diagnosticians determine the cause and nature of the trouble; the shaman or medicine man cures it through the proper chant. A chant or “sing” is a most complicated affair. It involves the preparation of all the necessary ritual paraphernalia to be used, the practising of the songs and chants, and the lengthy presentation which has many ordered parts. All is intimately tied to the recitation of a series of songs or prayers; sometimes a chant is built around several hundred of these verses. They must be recited perfectly by the shaman. It takes years to become a shaman who administers the more elaborate chants. Perhaps the most colorful part of the chant is the sand painting. In some cases these are made on each morning of the first four days of a rite. The patient is placed upon the painting, to bring him in direct contact with the universe. These lovely creations bring the essence of deity into the presence of the ritualist and to all who are gathered in the ceremonial hogan, the House of Beauty. Sand paintings are made under the direction of the medicine man. His assistants vary in number according to the size and complexity of the painting and some may be twenty feet across and have multiple figures with many small details. On clean sand which has been spread on the floor of the hogan, the workers dribble between thumb and forefinger the colored, ground mineral and vegetable substances, creating mythical beings, sacred mountains, natural phenomena, and many other subjects of ritual significance.

Before sundown of the day they are used, the sandpainting is destroyed. The artistic creation is now a mass of blended colors which are swept onto a cloth and carried to the proper direction and distance from the hogan and deposited. So have perished many of these unusual creations. Their patterns are carried in the mind of the medicine man under whose direction the sand painting is made. In recent years some of these exquisite creations have been preserved through the interests of white men. Many will never be known. One other aspect of Navajo art should be mentioned, water colors. An “art for arts sake” in that it does not decorate another object, it would seem to be unrelated to the craft arts. The medium is new, but the water colors of the Navajo are heavily impregnated with age-old subject matter and design. Flat colors, little or no perspective, a portrayal of the life of this tribe with emphasis on horses, a rhythmic flow of line, and a touch of the mythical would characterize Navajo water color painting. And what can be said of the Navajo tribe today? The most characteristic phrase might be “fast moving.” He is rapidly increas-. ing in numbers. He is quickly adopting the white man’s way of life. He is reaching out for more and more education, now accept-. ing the latest development in Trailer Schools which may better accommodate the scattered populations. He is growing in power and wealth, particularly through the Tribal Council. He is ever more aware of his own problems, as illustrated by the recent development of a stronger police force. Some tribal members are turning back to the traditional for strength, others are accept-. ing white man’s ways and material culture. But, withal, there is still a “Navajo People,” a “Navajo Cul-. ture.”

APACHES

Two Reservations were created for the Apache in east central Arizona. The San Carlos, or southern Reservation, runs from dry, desert environment to mountainous and timbered lands; the northern, or White Mountain Reservation, contains some of the most lush country in Arizona, with creeks, heavy grass, shrubs and timber. They include the San Carlos, Cibicue, White Mountain, and Southern and Northern Tonto groups. Origins of the Apache are less easily traced than for the Navajos. One possibility is that they came in with the Navajos; another points to a separate and more southerly entrance into Arizona. Legend supports a north to south migration. Certainly these tribesmen reveal traits of the Plains Indians, as buckskin clothing and moccasins, preference for hunting, and traditions of skin covered houses. They cherished their mountain homes, leaving them only to raid more sedentary farmers, or to hunt. Agriculture was of little interest to them; yet tradition relates the custom of planting small fields and leaving them in the care of several old folks while the rest of the group went off to hunt or fight. After the opening of the eighteenth century, the Apaches became the bane of existence to many tribes, particularly the Pima, Papago, and some Puebloans. Still later, they harassed the Mexicans and Anglo-Americans. Reputedly, they took many of these folk captive, marrying some of them. Actually they seem to be purer in blood than the Navajo. Economically, the Apaches have gone through several stages. In their earlier years most of them seem to have been dependent on wild plants and animals and on proceeds from raiding and limited farming. Then they turned more and more to tilling their fields, particularly after they were placed on Reservations. Farming on the San Carlos Reservation was greatly discouraged through the diversion of waters by white settlers along the Gila River above the Indian lands. This situation may have contributed to the growing popularity of cattle raising. As early as 1877 it was reported that the Apaches had fine cattle. In 1914 a tribal herd was established for the San Carlos Indians. Today there are thirteen cattle associations on the latter Reservation. Although many problems confront these Indian cattlemen, they are producing such fine stock that buyers from all over the country come to their annual sales. Natural resources have been exploited but slightly. In particular the White Mountain Apaches have utilized the heavy timber stands for tribal benefit. Wage work is important in the economy of the Apaches. Quite a change has occurred in the organization of the Apaches. Their former bands have given way in some measure to two rather active Councils, both instigated by the Indian Service. Major difficulties in each of these bodies (White Mountain and San Carlos Councils), might well be related to the vast gap between the old form of leadership and the type necessary to the newer group. In the old days, a man became a leader of a group of families, or chief, on the basis of his individual attainment. His ability as a warrior and hunter was important, his wealth, oratorical qualities, and personality were likewise significant. He was assisted by elders in his group. A man remained a leader as long as he was worthy in terms of these Apache standards. Recently each Agency developed its own Council, with seven members on the San Carlos and nine on the White Mountain Council. A man is elected for a term of two years. Gone are the qualifi-