Show written fow paper THE ZUNI ZONI INDIANS ZUNI indian village valenta co N M march 9 1894 in company with president wm win H gibbons and young david our teamster I 1 left st johns on the ath dinst to visit the distant settlement of ramah about eighty miles northeast of st johns and twenty five miles south of wingate on the atlantic pacific ry after traveling two days and camping in a fine cedar grove over night we arrived at raman ramah in the evening of the ath T the he village of ramah is beautifully situated in the extreme northeast end of a fertile valley which extends in in a southwesterly south westerly direction from the settlement about five miles its average width is one mile and it is surrounded by low cedar and pine covered mountains the foot of the higher mountains known as the zuni range is about six miles north of ramah small grain and corn are raised also potatoes but as the altitude is nearly feet only the hardier kinds of fruit are produced th the e P present r e strength of the ward is nin ninetysix ninety ety six souls or eleven families james R mcneil is the bishop the first settlers in that part of the country where ramah is situ situated atea were indian missionaries among whom were lorenzo H hatch ernest A Ti etlen john hunt luther C burnham wm H gibbons and others who located in in a little valley lying immediately north of the present ramah called ceballo pronounced savoia and at another place lying eastward known as Savo ietta the first of these missionaries arrived in 1877 and from that time till 1880 ceballo was like moan coppy in arizona an important missionary station the present ramak was founded in 1882 and it bids fair to become a flour ashing settlement if more latter day saints can be induced to locate there the natural advantages for quite a large settlement are excellent all that is needed is proper development of the resources of the country but the present strength of the settlement is inadequate to make improvements as fast as could be desired the lower part of the ceballo valley is already utilized as a reservoir and by raising the dam which is only 4 mile from the townsite ten feet or so a very large body of water could be stored and used in the season thereof for arri irrigation nation purposes there is plenty of land the present inhabitants of ramah extend a hearty invitation to such of their co religionists as are in search of homes to come and cast their lot with them yesterday we left our friends at ramah and traveled twenty two and a half miles on our return trip to zuni the famous indian village which in past years has been visited by quite a number of our indian missionaries and other elders among whom was ammon M tenney who baptized quite a number of the villagers by means of the spanish language which is spoken by quite a number of the indians and which is also spoken fluently by prest gibbons we have conversed considerably with our dusky friends several of whom after being told that we were mormons cormons Mor mons replied that they also were mormons cormons Mor mons and while they went through the gestures which were intended to illustrate the ordinance of baptism and the laying on of hands they would exclaim yes ammon tenney did so and so to us their knowledge of the gospel and the nature of its ordinances beyond this seemed to be extremely limited among the chiefs to whom we were introduced was the noted reman luna the present governor of the village who treated us very kindly he was among those baptized by elder tenney and because of his friendship to the mormon missionaries he was through certain influences brought to bear upon the majority of his people by mormon haters baters deposed from his governorship and stood thus for several years but the reaction came and when he was chosen governor again it was also owing to the tact fact that he had been a friend to the mormons cormons Mor mons whose consistent consi stant course toward their indian friends had finally gained their utmost confidence anil and today these zuni villagers look upon our pe people ople as their best and truest friends be it said to the honor 0 of f our indian missionaries that they have made a good record among the natives while other white men who have associated themselves with the indians have become notorious for their immoral conduct and betrayal of confidence our brethren have invariably acted like men and saints and the fruits of their example and precepts are now quite ap among the natives the zuni village is situated on the north bank of the so called zuni wash which in times of high water represents a large stream but which in the dry season is is very small so far as its running water is concerned the village covers about five acres of ground some of the largest buildings are five stories high but most of them only one and two stories instead of using inside stairways the upper stories are reached by means of ladders which are placed on the outside of the buildings the inhabitants thus pass from roof to roof all the roofs being flat from the top of the tallest buildings a fine view is obtained of the surrounding country there are a number of white indians in the village we were introduced to two men one woman and one half grown girl all of these were fully as fair as the average white man and their hair was also quite light their features and general physiognomy are however pure indian elder baker formerly editor of the logan nation who is at present teaching school at ramah has spent considerable time at this indian village he believes that these white indians are literal descendants of the ancient Nep hites the philosophy of this is certainly no more incredible than the theory that nearly all of those who embrace the falness of the gospel in these the last days are literal descendants 0 the house of israel though mixed up with the gentiles to such an extent that it would perhaps be impossible through the ordinary method of tracing genealogy to prove this so also with these white zunis whose parents in all instances were indians of the ordinary hue and whose children again are like the other indian children in the village as to the tint of their skins but this does not destroy destros the theory advanced by eld elder er baker and other elders in th church nor those advocated by many scientific men of the age to the effect that the color of another race though hid for generations through repeated intermarriage may occasionally assert itself in a perfect type when its iti existence was barely known while staying in the village last night we were invited by the governor to attend a dance of the young people there were in fact three dances but the governor assured us that the one he took us to represented the better blood or the aristocracy of the village after waiting till our patience was almost exhausted a young indian with a drum at length appeared and after waiting another half hour or more he commenced to beat his drum very gently at first but as he proceeded he hit it harder and harder then the older indians began to sing keeping time with the drum at farsi first they sang in in an undertone then in a more audible manner and at length they introduced their full volume of of voice next the young men began to dress or undress tor for the ball I 1 shall not attempt to describe their attire but suffice it to say that they at last placed themselves to the number of twenty eight on the flag stone floor in two rows assuming a position somewhat similar to that of of our more civilized white dancers when they are preparing to dance scotch reel or kindred figures but as yet there were no women on the floor the men stood there alone a long time waiting for the other half of the participants of the intended dance to get ready nothing is done in a hurry by these indians in the mean time the young women were preparing their toilet in the same room and at length marched up in single file and took their nosi position tion between the men without saying a word whether they chose their partners right there and then or whether it was understood beforehand as to who the respective women were going to dance side by side of our indian interpreter was unable to tell or at least we could not make him understand sufficient to give us the desired explanation it was perhaps fully three hours after the young man first began to beat his bis drum that the dancing proper commenced apparently it took them that long to get up sufficient steam or ambition to step forth and then the whole movement amounted simply to what we would call a plain balance all or stepping to music while turning to the right and then to the left now facing partners ii such they could be called for it was impossible to tell who were partners and then lacing facing the ladies on the other side sl de but there was no swinging of partners nor did the men touch the women throughout the whole performance save for an accidental touch of the elbows in turning around or in moving slowly from one end of the hall to the other which was done several times during the exercises the men danced in their moccasins while the women were barefooted the men danced holding a gourd in the right hand and a feather in the left the women while dancing held a feather in n each hand though the music consisted of nothing more than the beating of a single drum and the singing of a number of men and though the tune was painfully monotonous and partook of a sameness throughout there was time and tact in it which the respective dancers seemed to understand almost to perfection for every dancer seemed to step accurately to the music all turned and moved with one accord and alpar antly made no mistakes there were according to the U S bencus of 1890 1463 indians at zuni but though they all spent part of th the time at the main village a large number go off in the summer season to farm at neighboring villages of these there are three or four in in the vicinity considerable grain is raised and sufficient is saved or stored away to keep the inhabitants in bread for three or four years fine peach orchards are planted in the sands half way up the slope of a mountain standing lour four miles to the southeast of the village on the top of this mountain which is upwards of soo feet higher than the country below are the ruins of the old zuni village where the forefathers of the present population along a long time ago sought refuge from their enemies they y are supposed to have lived there for several generations though there is an unpleasant smell about the zuni village I 1 found the inhabitants more cleanly in their habits to all appearances than I 1 had expected judging irom from such reports as I 1 had previously heard concerning them most of their rooms are large and airy and the walls and floors are kept quite clean in most places earthen floors abound but there are some laid with flat stones the largest dwelling room we entered measured no less than 75 feet in length by 25 fiet feet in width and was about 12 fiet feet high from floor to ceiling some other dwellings which we visited contained rooms varying in size size from to feet in some rooms there were crude paintings on the walls but the furniture was very scant no tables or chairs are seen as a rule small wooden blocks are used to sit upon udon and meals are served upon the floor where also the beds are spread there are in new mexico nineteen indian pueblos altogether containing a total population ot of the smallest of these pueblos or villages pojoaque Pojo aque has only fifteen inhabitants while the largest is the zuni village which we are visiting the pueblo indians so called by the spaniards because they dwelt in fixed habitations or permanent villages are the original inhabitants of new mexico they are noted for that docility and gentleness of character that demarks civilization from barbarism and have always been distinguished distin gushed from the tio nomadic madic indians by their fixed homes their permanent cultivation of the fields adjacent to their villages and the civility that comes from an organized system ot of government the pueblo indians have from times immemorial been the bitter enemies of the apaches the utes and the Nava joes war between the wandering tribes and the pueblos were constant in times past now the warlike apaches and Nava joes are confined to their respective reservations and the semi civilized pueblos are left to pursue their labors in peace the zunis zanis unlike most other indians in the united states receive no angui annuity i y from the government ern ment as they are self sustaining we may add that we saw in the village quite a number of good wagons and some farming implements of modern modem manufacture still a great deal of their farming is yet done in the old rude way a forked stick answering lor for a plow etc the catholics seems to have lost their grip upon the zunis long ago the ol 01 old d church probably built centuries ago is is in ruins but they are now repairing the the walls with a view to roofing it in in again after which it is intended to hold cathi olic services er vices in the village once more A young intelligent indian in conversation with elder gibbons conveyed the idea that there exists a tradition among the zuni indians to the that some records are hid in a stone box up on the top of the mountain where the old village once stood but that an old catholic priest carried off t the le paper or document which described t the e place of concealment consequently the present generation of indians are unable to find these records which they believe contain some account of their forefathers perhaps after all moroni was not the only one of the ancient inhabitants of this land who hid up historical records in a stone box what tales would not the hundreds of indian pueblo ruins that abound in this part of the country unfold if they could speak or if records giving account of their inhabitants could coula be found ANDREW JENSON |