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Show A PUEBLO' CHURCH. Tlio Aeainns nml How Thy Wanblp tho tloit of tho Clirlitln. Llko tho pcoplo of all' tho othor New Mexican Pueblo tribes, .tho Acomas . havo their Annual festivals, tho origin if wlilch iu lost In tho mjstcry of tho prehistoric ages. Tho Catholio priests, writes Clarenco 1'ullcn in Harper's Weekly, put all tho Christian vonocr-Inp vonocr-Inp posslblo over tho essential Uoathon-Ism Uoathon-Ism of tho ocromonlals, and undor tholr Influcnco theso colobratlons occur usually usual-ly on or near somo saint's day. Conspicuous Conspic-uous among these-jubilations is "tho harvest har-vest festival,- whon, with gamos and dances, thopooplorojolcoovor tho ripen-Inp'of ripen-Inp'of thorplts of tho earth. Aftor1 tbo performance of secrot rltoH within tho 'estufos, to which ceremonies no ono not a member of 'tho trlbh Is admitted, tho maskers, musicians and others, all decoratod in paint, ribbons nnd braBS ornaments, strdatri forth into tho open spapa boforo tho villago, whero, with the'pccullar stamping stop attending all Indian performances of tho kind, aro continued tho processions and dances, to tho musio of rudo Qfos1, drums and gong-heating. gong-heating. In somo of tholr dances tbo porformors aro attlrod In comploto suits of buokskln, adorned with frlngos, .buttons, .but-tons, beads, foatbors and ribbons, completely com-pletely covering tho. face and head, surmounted sur-mounted wltb horns, and having pnly small silts for sight and breathing, , Tho I'uoblos, a provldont folk who bo-, bo-, llovo In intrenching thomsolves with all ' tbo supernatural powers, do not neglect on theso occasions to -visit tho church to pay due oboisanco to tho Christian Ood and lesser divinities. Tho chur'oh, a flno old Htruiituio of adobo, was rebuilt re-built in 1703, after it had boon dismantled dis-mantled in tbo Indian rovolt of 1080. It Is a masslvo cdlfJuo ono hundred and fifty foot long, forty fcot wldo and forty .foot high, with -walls sovon foot thick, .standing, frontod by an. nxtcnslvo and ancient burial ground, on tho southern brink of tbo 'mesa. Tbo sand for this cemetery was brdupht up from tho foot f tho bluil'and placed in a depression it this point an operation which, ac- oordlng to priestly tradition, ocouplod forty yoars. Tho hugo buttresses, ono at each front corner of thoohurch, aro capped abtrvo tho roof by rudo bel fries In wblch-awlng two bells, which Indian tradition asserts to bo tho gift of tho ,Quocn of Spain at somo period in tho eightoeiHk oentury Ono of theso bolls bears tho Inscription "San Pedro, A. D. 1710." It Is a Woruler how thoso heavy bells and tho great plno beams, forty feet long and of proportionate thickness, that cross tho body ot tho church, wore ever brought to, tho top of tho mesa. ' ( Adjoining the church aro tho ruins ot tho old Franciscan mission of Han Estovan do Acoma, established, aa.vi tbo omlncnt arcbcoologlst and historian ' Prof. Ad. H. Ilaudellcr, by Jray Juan Ramlrcs not long after tho year ' 1628, he naming tbo ploco after Ht Sebastian on account of Us rooky aides and the large number of pobblos ao- cumulated on and about It Fray J Ramlios roturnod to Moxlco, and died' thero in 1004. Ills successor was Fray i Lucas Maldonado, from Trlbujona, I Moxlco, also a U'ranciscan. In fact, up to tho uprising of tho Indiana of Now; Moxlco under Pope and Catlto in 1080, tho Franciscan order controlled all tho mission, among tho Pueblos. On Au-j gust 10, 1080, twonty-ono Franolscanl friars wor murdered In various parts of I Now Mexico, and among thom Fray Maldon do, of Aooma. After tho rricon-quest rricon-quest of tho province twelvo years later, by tho Spaniards under Diego, do Vargas, thero woro for sovorol years occasional disturbances and bloodshed. Hut by tho.bepinnlng of tho olghtoonth century tbo provlnco hod beoomo tranquilliiod, and tho Pueblo Indians and tbo Spaniards had adjusted their .requirementa so as to gotalo.ijr together' without a great amount ot friction, ft . It Is a strango and plflturesquo sight when within tho thick Walls ot ihrfold" church, dimly Jightod y dqop Windows .llko pprt-bnles. in wfilch 'shoots ot mlco, .or yuq (transparent gypsum) sorvo for ' glass, ibo Indians, In tlio samo fashion of dress which, thpjr 'ancifstora wore, when they built fires 'to tho sunU'i ancient doys-somo' wrappod in Nayajo' i blankqts, tvlth broad hloclc and w'hlt otrlpi-s, andrcd diatn6pd flkures fa the J&'tfftl&JnuUad f'fonj tbri altar. With iio'chtfr?ferlor ta decorated with twovaluablo pictures,, tho -'Virgin and Chlldt"'and tbo '"Sfc-'JosopuV' which .woro prought from Spain moro than two bUndrodVoarsngo. Tho ociUng is rudely rude-ly rcscoed In roprosenlalion'of the sun, moon and stars, tho work', In ,tho,boglnr nlngof tho present conturjr, of an artist priost, whoso na'tno Is somqwhore inscribed in-scribed beneath tho dust that for generations gener-ations has boon settling upon this labor ot lovo and dototlon. |