| Show THE RUINS OF THE ANCIENT CLIfF DWELLERS AT MESA ISA VERDE iah r. r s p i 1 1 We Ve left et our Imaginary observer used to illustrate the former article on the Ancient Indian looking on a at what ho he might have hare seen at Cliff Pal ce Lot Let ua us bring him now to Spruce Tree House and let him B see seethe e etho tho the Ancient Indian busy In his rites and ceremonies for us We can do this because an accurate observation Was vas was made by the padres when the Conquistadores came In 1541 and they of or course saw the Indian uncontaminatEd uncontaminated uncontaminated un un- un contaminated contaminatE by contact with the white Hence It may be bo quite safe In fn assuming that what they saw was wasa a practice handed down for many generations unchanged and that a aa at ata a time years ago the rites and ceremonies were practically the same samen n now as then as religion changes only slowly and and then usually only by conquest So piecing what the Spaniard saw years ago to the Information disclosed disclosed disclosed dis dis- closed by pottery dug up by mort- mort customs laid bare as aa the ruins are dug Into articles found burled buried with the dead and coupling all that with the traditions of the present day Indians about their ancient progenitors tors tOOs it is generally believed about as follows Standing before a round room of the kind shown In the photo with the ladder adder ends sticking out from It but buthe the he room at that time covered over partly or wholly underground our observer would have seen nearly neMly naked naked naked na na- na- na ked men go down the ladder poles into nto it then when assembled he would have heard a drum beaten and anda a chorus singing a sacred song For Forthe Forthe the he Indians cf of the Cliff CUff Palace had twenty three of these kivas and In Spruce Tree House which is not so large arge seven of these circular rooms Those These correspond much to our lodge rooms Acorns for Odd Fellows Woodmen Knights nights of Pythias etc elc etc among ourselves there they held secret gatherings went through sacred rites and formula held initiations practiced ked dan dance e dramas and performed those hose parts or of their religious rites which were not to be held openly before be- be tore fore ore the public Gushing Cushing says that heye were thirteen secret societies In n Zuni when he lived among the Indians Indians Indians In In- for seven years yeM'S about fifty years rears ago And in these rooms none but Initiates could participate These rites were often the magic of f bringing rain Invocations songs on prayers suggestive acts by which the gods would be influenced In Influenced In- In to do the same same same- that Is We make smoke clouds that the gods would take the hint and make real ones above from which needed rain would come And In times of excessive excessIve excess- excess Ive ve drought the men pretty nearly smoked themselves to herrings puffing put put- fing ting up clouds to the regions legions as th they y worked in tho the kivas Or and this was very general rehearsals re rehearsals rehearsals re- re of the dance processions were held In the round house weeks in advance of the public appearance practicing rau music lc and step This re required re- re e- e pera to be made costumes gotten up Images to be decorated symbolic markings to be put on this and anft that so that when enacted iu lu public all would go on smoothly The ancient Indian was strong on prayer Not an act however trivial as we view it but was worth a prayer to him For In hunting thanks for blessings received prayers for tor rain crops babies success In war wara war war- a countless myriad of things for needful to which It was proper and offer otter a prayer either elthor before or after should b be address that Th Those se Above ed In the proper reverential manner And those men held hold forth Who iwho were wore the priests or shamans of the tribe In the tho round houses the kivas The women folk were not allowed in them except on invitation or to bring food to a man The rectangular i rooms were the These can be seen in the background in the photo They were usually o of small size low ceilings plastered bythe by bythe bY bYthe the open hands of the women and nd she the owner Inheritance was thru the mother not paternally as with us usand i and when she got tired of her man i she simply hung his moccasins on the door Jamb and it was skidoo for that gink A dance drama procession was held belt somewhat often otten at the periods perIods per per- lods in the spring for good crops inthe Ini in inthe i the fall faU as thanks for crops matured for tor rain for fOl the Return of the Ancients Ancients An An- when all the tho forefathers o othe of the people all who had died in the tribe returned In spirit form and were with their descendants This was a very Important rite for the Indian like the Chinee Is an ances ances- tor worshiper And at all aU times a proper spirit of reverence and gratitude gratitude gratitude tude must be shown to Our Father the Sun to Our Mother the Earth and to the Innumerable host of minor minor mi mi- nor die ties and special guardians The ancient Greek did not supplicate te his patron any more earnestly nor oftener than did the Indian of the Cliff Curf Houses They called themselves The Happy Happy Happy Hap Hap- py Children of the Sun and were constantly referring all their fortune to o their Sun Father When he started started started start start- ed to go south which he does from June to Dec he was told In titian not to keep on going but to re- re turn urn And when he did return and begin coming back great was t the e rejoicing rejoicing re- re thereat He nudged his god for things he wanted Just as you pester pester pes- pes ter er yours a constant yammer byboth by byboth byboth both of you like a spoiled kid knowIng knowing know- know Ing ng that If It you squall hard and long enough you'll be given what youre you're howling for tor if only to stop the noise Of course he believed in witch witch- craft How strange you remark I Yes very Only In December In the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and twenty eight not so darned long ago the Digest had a report of a a. murder committed in Kentucky because a a. young man had been bewitched bewitched bewitched be be- witched by a wow pow-wow doctor and to the charm a lock of the withes withe's hair must be gotten and burIed buried bur- bur ed over the left of the victim victim vic- vic tim im in the dark of tho the moon and so forth In the scuffle the wow pow-wow doctor got killed That in the pure noble cultured U U. U S. S A A. where our only crimes are bootlegging and murder murder murder mur mur- der Oh yes the Indians Indian's beliefs were quaint In Ih Bavaria only last winter a saints saint's relic was toted around the city to save it from kom a flu outbreak Yes the Indian was sure superstitious Practicing in the kiva took them into the late hours of the night Magic Magic Magic Ma Ma- gic was practiced Sleight of hand jugglery legerdemain and some of the shamans were adepts Could Could grow corn right before your eyes or make you think they could or 01 or produce jagged tongues of ot lightning in the dark underground kiva so realistic as es to puzzle white observers use used to stage trickery to account for It On the floor sat a bowl of the water wa wa- tor ter of sunset in very cases of drought Over it you and I blew sacred cigarette smoke In enormous And amole smote or Mexican 8 soap was stirred Into the water and big lathery soap bubbles made against against a- a which we wo blew our tiny clouds until the b bubbles burst and drizzled their minute rainfall into the bowl bowl bowl- outside the Rain God do It too Oh yes tho Indian was peculiar Shall I show you my ritual with a prayer for rain in ease case of drought drought- of course courso ours Isn't superstition So much for the kivas Note the tho doorways In this house bouse Narrow at t the bottom wide at top It Is supposed they were wore made that way on purpose when I came camo home from the hunt I carried a a. de deer on md Ind the room I wanted for formy formy formy my feet Ceet big as they are was Just a narrow pathway in but for tho load on my back a wider space Or for tho load of ot sticks in the womans woman's blanket on her back Hence the door narrow at tho the bottom and wide at atthe atthe the top For a window pane Who pane Who Who ever heard of such extravagance A thin slab of stone stono kept the cold coM out even if It it didn't let light in cut to tit fit a n ahole ahole hole and pegged In One such of these Is in place in Spruce Tree House Just to show you how the nifty nitty nitty nit nit- ty arrangement was done You can cnn see that their houses were of three tm-ee stories as seen In the photo The stones of ot the walls were wore of just ordinary size laid in without mortar and up with adobe mud The ceiling timbers were practically practically gnawed ort oft with those dull stone axes they had such as I have on display in the office On top of the timbers poles laid other way to on top of that a mat of cedar bast and over that twigs and mud This house Is built under the overhang overhang overhang over over- hang of a big cliff cliffa cliff- a typical Cliff Clift At the south end of the ruin a rude rough wall was vas slung up no particular particular par par- care rare with it That being the dh direction from which the prevailing winds come it was thought It a Wind and snow break Now you may thin you what the Milky Way is but listen You You dont As our fathers died and betook betook betook be be- took themselves to the adobes of The l I Fathers they took this trail through I II I the sky and as they walked along so joyous and lighthearted were they they constantly planted prayer plumes plum plum- es of white eagle feathers Those you see In countless myriads and call It the Milky Way But it is The Path Our Fathers Trod and we hope to put our own feet on it for forthe forthe forthe the Bad Indian goes below in the dark and dank places of earth eMt to consort with the cr crawling and lowly things if It that Is his choice r rather ther than aspire to mount where abide Our Fathers we reverence rev So when you go out and look up and see soo the tho Milky Way Nay get the right Idea about It and It-and and mend your ways Nays And the Rainbow The Tho messenger from Those Above Mystical mythical mythIcal mythical myth myth- ical youth promising in his person parson more and frequent rains Thrice blessed hm who found himself himself him him- self enveloped In Its base Our of gold was as a plugged nickel compared compared com corn pared with the blessing to be shower shower- d on that fortunate fortunato man manOur manOur manOur Our observer would have seen a pious tho the people at work peaceful busy with ro- ro rites and c ceremonies part of which were strictly secret and others open to the public and constantly planting a prayer for tor anything no matter how trivial Although the Pueblo Indian of today Is on the surface surface surface sur sur- face a Roman Catholic scratch but ever so slightly and ho he is p pagan pagan pagan- and pavan as he has been these many centuries And that is why archeologists archeologists archeologists can so well welt reconstruct his religion back a thousand years ago In an early issue we will talk about Fire Temple Frank Beckwith |
