· A NALYSIS OF CONTENTS. Taos Valley, 5 ; discovery of Taos by the Spaniards, 6 ; houses now...
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Transcript of · A NALYSIS OF CONTENTS. Taos Valley, 5 ; discovery of Taos by the Spaniards, 6 ; houses now...
!the“
!un iversity of ChicagoFO UNDED B Y !OH N D . ROCK-E FE LLE R
A PRELIMINARY STUDY
TH E PU EB LO OF TAD S
NEW MEX ICO
A D I S SERTAT I ON SU B M I TTED TO T H E F ACU L T I ES OF T H E GRADU ATESCH OO L S OF ART S , L I TERATU RE ,
A N D SC IE N CE , I N CAN D I DACYFOR T H E DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF P H I L O SOP H Y
DE PARTM ENT OF ANTH RO POL OGY
MERTON LELAND MILLER
A NALYS I S OF CONTENTS .
Taos Val l ey , 5 ; d i scovery of Taos by the Span i ard s , 6 ; houses
now occup i ed at Taos n o t those i n u se when d i scovered , 9 ; re s i s tance
o ffered t o th e Span i ard s , r o ; l i ngu i s t i c re l at i on s o f th e Pueb l o s o f
N ew Mexi co,1 1 ; orig i n of T ao s peop l e , 1 3 ; numbers o f th e Pueb lo
I n d i an s,1 3 ; l an d t enure , 1 5 ; l ocat i on o f Taos
,1 6 ; i r r i gat i on , 1 7 ;
houses,1 8 ; oven s , 20 ; p roduce an d mode of agricu l ture , 2 1 ; p l ows , 2 2
harves t i ng, 2 2 ; hun t i ng , 2 3 ; work o f the women ,
2 3 ; k i vas , form ,use
,
l ocat i on,an d number , 24 ; d res s , 2 7 ; hai r d ress i ng , 30 ; civ i l organ iza
t i on, 3 1 c l an s
, 34 ; marr i age , 3 5 mode o f reckon i ng t i m e, 3 5 season s ,
3 6 ; communal Wo rk , 3 6 ; communal hun t s , 36 ; l angu age , 3 7 ; personal
names, 38 ; peop l e at Taos from other Pueb l os
, 38 ; re l i g i on , 39 ;
force of cu s tom am ong I nd i an s, 4 1 ; d i ffi cu l t i e s i n l earn i ng I nd i an
t rad i t i on s, 4 2 ; myth s an d t rad i t i on s , 4 2 .
PREFATORY NOTE .
TH I S bri e f accoun t o f th e Pueb l o o f Taos i s th e resu l t mai n ly of a
t h ree - months ’ v i s i t at the Pueb l o i n th e summer o f 1 896 . Now that a
few fr i end s have been mad e th ere,i t i s hop ed that at a l ater t im e a more
comp l e te an d thorough s tudy may be made .
The repeat ed re ferences t o the P aper s of t/ze A r e/zaologz’
ea! l n sn'
ta fe
of Amer ica sh ow how much I am i n debted to th e wr i t i ngs o f M r . A . F .
Ban dehen
I n spe l l i ng t he few nat i ve names wh i ch occu r i n th i s s tudy and
wh i ch I have n ot seen men t i oned be fo re,I have fo l l owed the alphabe t
g iven i n Powe l l ’s I n tr oduction fa fize S tudy of I n dian L anguages.
M . L . M .
A PR E L I M I N AR Y ST U D Y OF T H E PU E BLO OF
T AOS ,N EW M E X I CO .
On e o f th e most at t ract i ve va l l eys i n New Mexi co i s that o f Taos .
I t i s s i tuated i n th e cen ter of th e n orthern par t of t h e terr i t ory , no t
m any m i l es from th e Co l orado l i n e . Shut i n by th e Tao s range o f th e
Rocky moun tai n s on th e eas t an d by th e mesas wh i ch b ord er th e R i o
Grande on the wes t,i t i s t oday , as i t has been i n th e pas t , on e o f th e
best watered,green es t
,and most fer t i l e va l l ey s i n th e Southwes t . The
on e th i ng above a l l o thers n eed ed i n New Mex i co i s water . Taos
valley, wh i l e i t has not an over - abundan t supp ly , has en ough to enab l e
th e p eop l e t o i rr i gate as much as th ey wi sh , excep t i n unusual ly d ry
seas on s . The severa l s t ream s wh i ch water th e val l ey,th e p r i n ci pa l o f
wh i ch are L uce r r o ,Pueb l o
,Taos
, an d Fernandez creek s,are rare ly
en t i re ly d ry,un l es s th e wat er i s t u rned as i d e i n to t h e acequ i as , th e
l arge i r r igat i ng d i tche s wh i ch run from every s t ream . Perhap s n o
crop s,excep t i ng mai ze
,t he s tap l e I nd i an p roduct , cou l d be rai s ed
wi th ou t i rr igat i o n . Corn may grow on e l evated tab l e m oun tai n s o r
p lateau s that are hundred s,nay thou sand s
,o f fee t above a spr i ng or
brook .
” Under such c i rcum stan ces th e water mu s t be econom i cal ly
u sed,and o ften i n m i dsummer
,when th e snow on the moun tai n s has
m e l ted , must be us ed con t i n uous ly day and n igh t , as th e supp ly i s no t
l arge en ough to p erm i t many t o i rr i gat e at the same t im e .
The val l ey owes i t s fer t i l i ty an d at t ract i ven es s i n l arge part to i t s
a l t i tude and i t s locat i on i n th e moun tai n s,whose me l t i ng sn ows supp ly
th e s t ream s . I t s e l evat i on i s over fee t . I n th e summer day s ,when the su n sh i n es , as i t d oes du r i ng th e greate r p ar t o f th e warmer
season , i t i s very ho t , bu t t he ai r i s s o dry that on e does no t s er i ou s ly
fee l th e h eat ; and as soon as th e sun se t s th e ai r i s very coo l an d
re fresh i ng , o ften ,aft er a very h o t day
,even ch i l ly .
Th e report o f the fi rs t geo l ogi cal su rvey o f th i s r eg i on con tai n s a
n ot i ce wh i ch i s i n tere s t i ng becau se i t h e lp s to . sh ow how at t ract i ve
Taos va l l ey has app eared to everyon e who has s een i t,not mere ly as
compared wi th oth er l e s s favored part s o f New Mex i co,bu t when com
P aper s of til e A r e/za’olog z
'
ea l [n stz'
lute of A rn er z'
ca , Am e rican S er i es, I I I , p . 1 56 .
6 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
pared wi th oth er regi on s bet t er supp l i ed wi th wat er . The Taos Bas i n
has , perhap s , a l arger amoun t o f t i l l ab l e l and i n on e compact body
than i s t o b e found s im i l ar ly s i tuated i n any oth er part o f th e are a .
The so i l i s adm i rab l e , be i ng der i ved from the Archaean and Car b on i f
e r ous wi th n o smal l adm i x tu re o f vo l can i c mater i a l ; wh i l e at bu t a
few i nches be l ow th e sur face i s a tu faceou s l im es ton e,whi ch canno t
fa i l t o be a con s tan t am endmen t to th e s o i l . Wate r i s supp l i ed by
l arge s t ream s Pueb l o, Fe rd i nand ,and F r i j o l e creeks . A popu l at i on
o f n ot far from i nhab i t s th i s bas i n,and yet a l arge part o f th e
l an d i s s t i l l w i l d .
” I
Mr . Poore , i n h i s report , con tai n ed i n a Cen su s Bu l l et i n on th e
Pueb l o I nd ian s , says “ I t wou l d be d i fficu l t t o fin d i n th e wes t,where
farm i ng i s d ep enden t up on i rr igat i on,a more des i rab l e t ract o f l an d
than that owned by thes e I nd i an s . The water,carr i ed i n subwat er
ways , or acequ ias , commands a l arge p ort i on of the reservat i on .
” 2
E igh t o r t en m i l es west of th e va l l ey flows the R io Grande . As
one l ooks wes tward he s ees on ly the l ow l i n e o f th e mesas an d many
m i l es farth er , though i t s eem s bu t few ,th e i rregu l ar ou t l i n e o f th e d i s
tan t ranges o f t he R ocky moun tai n s . No s ign o f th e R i o Grande flow
i ng between i t s canon wal l s can be seen . Far t o the sou th r i se t h e
n earer , bu t s t i l l d i s t an t , h e igh t s o f th e Mora range , beyond wh i ch l i e s
the c i ty o f San ta Fé . To the n orth s t ret ch es th e gen t ly s l op i ng mesa
as far as th e eye can see,r i s i ng gradual ly toward th e eas t
.
and
m erg i ng i n to th e foo t h i l l s o f the Taos range . Th i s val l ey,whi ch th e
Ameri can and th e Mex i can find so at t ract ive,th e I nd i an had d iscov
ered an d occup i ed before th e wh i te man came . Toward i t s n orthern
en d an d cl o se t o th e foo th i l l s on th e easte rn s i d e,under th e very
sh adow o f th e t oweri ng Taos p eak,th e Span i ards
,
“
when they fi rs t
v i s i ted the coun try , found the I nd i an pueb lo of Taos,or Te - uat - ha,
3 as
i t was ca l l ed i n the n at i ve i d i om . Taos was th en,as i t i s t oday
,t h e
mos t n orth er ly o f t he pueb l os an d has,perhap s
,th e bes t l ocat i on .
The accoun t o f th e fi rs t v i s i t of th e Span i ard s to Taos,as
_given by
Cas taneda , presen t s a d i fficu l ty wh i ch i t may be we l l t o s tat e even i f
U . S . Geograph ica l S urveyW est of 100th M e rid ian ,I I I
, S upp l em en t Geology ,
—5 .
2 E l even th Cen sus of th e U . S . , E x tra Cen sus B ul l e t in ,M oqu i P u eoio I n d ian s of
A r izon a an d P ueblo I n d ian s of N ew M ex ico, p. 100.
3 P aper s A r cn. I n st. of A nzer . , I I I , p . 1 23 . Ban de l ie r states that th e n ame T aos is
corrup ted from th e T ehua w ord T a - u i, T/ce Gi lded M an ,
p . 149, footnote .
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
n o l igh t be th rown on the mat te r . I n 1 540 Coron ado had se t ou t
from Mexi co for th e n o rth and part i cu l ar ly t o search for t he r i ch and
popu lar c i ty of Qu iv i ra , o f wh i ch h e h ad h eard . A fter h e and h i s
company had reached C ibo l a !Zun i!, Hernando d’
A lvarado was s en t
on ahead wi th twen ty men t o accompany certai n I n d i an s w ho had
com e from vi l l age s t o the eas t t o see t he s trangers . Alvarado was to
re tu rn i n e igh ty days . “ Al varado part i t d on c avec eux . Ci nq j ou rs
apres i l s ar r iver en t a um v i l l age n ommé Acuco , qu i es t con s t ru i t su r un
rocher . L es hab i tan t s qu i p euven t m et t re su r p i ed env i ron deu x cen t s
gue rr i e rs s on t de s br i gands redou té s dan s tou t e l a p rov i n ce . A
tro i s j ou rnées d e la,Alvarado et l e s s i en s ar r ivér en t dan s un e prov i n ce
que l ’on n omme T iguex A“
ci nq j ou rn ées d e la , Alvarado arr i va
a Cicuyé , v i l l age tres - for tifié , et don t l e s mai son s on t quat re
When Don Tr i s tan d ’
A r e l lan o reach ed C i bo l a wi th th e res t o f th e
army,Coronado ordered h im to al l ow th e army a res t of twen ty day s
and then to fo l low the road wh i ch h e h im se l f was abou t t o take t o
T iguex . At T iguex Coronado found Alvarad o awai t i ng h im . Later
t hey were j o i n ed by Are l l an o wi th th e army . Some t im e was sp en t
h ere t i l l , final ly,th e p eop l e rose i n revo l t becaus e o f th e excess i ve
demands m ade upon'
them by the s o l d i ers . Wh i l e th e s i ege o f T iguex
was i n p rogress,Coron ado wen t on to Cicuyé and from th i s l at t er p o i n t
s e t ou t on h i s l ong march t o th e northeas t . When he had been on h i s
way for s ome days,prov i s i on s began t o run short
,so th e army was sen t
back under comman d o f Are l lan o,and Coronad o wen t on wi th on ly a
few men .
I n Ju ly o r l ate i n Jun e, 1 54 1 , A re l l an o reached T iguex on h i s re tu rn
march . He then “ donna ord re au cap i ta i n e Fran c i sco d e Barr i o - Nuevo
d e rem on ter le fleuve avec que l qu es so l dats , dan s l a d i rect i on du n ord .
Cet officier v i s i ta d eux p rov i n ces l ’un e s e n ommai t H emes, et ren fer
mai t s ep t v i l l ages l ’au t re Y uque - Yunque . T he in hab itan ts of Y uque
Yunque se r etirer en t dan s l e s mon tagn es, ou i l s en avai en t quat re
au t re s for tifiés, dan s une s i tuat i on“
tr és- d i ffici le : l ’on n e pouvai t y par
ven i r avec l e s chevaux A vi ngt l i eu es p lu s l o i n,en remon tan t
l a r i v iere , i l y avai t un grand et pu i s san t v i l lage que l ’on n ommai t
B raba , l e s not res l u i don n er en t le nom de Val l ado l i d . I l é tai t ba t i su r
l es deu x r i ve s du fleuve , que l’on t raversai t su r les pon t s con s tru i t s e n
mad r i e rs de p i n s , t res - b i en équarr i s . L ’on v i t dan s ce v i l l age l e s é tu ves
Re lat ion du Voyage de C ib ola par P éd ro de Casta’
fi eda de N agera . H . T er
n au x - Com pan s, Voyag e de Cibola ,pp . 69
—7 1 .
8 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF m os
l e s p l u s grandes et l e s p l u s ex traord i n ai re s d e tou t le pay s . E l l e s
é ta i en t s ou tenues par douze p i l l i e r s , don t chacun avai t d eux brasses d e
t ou r et deux t o i ses de hau t . Le cap i tai n e H ernando d ’
A lvarado avai t
dej a v i s i t é ce vi l l age en al l an t a l a d écouverte d e C icuyé . L a con t ré e
es t fort é l evée et t res - fro i d e ; l a r i v iere qu i l’
ar rose es t for t p ro fond e et
rap i d e , et on n’
y t rouve pas d e gué . De la,le cap i ta i n e Barr io - Nuevo
rev i n t au camp , ap res avo i r l ai s sé t ou t le pays parfa i tem en t t ran
I n th e i d en t ificat i on of t h e v i l l ages m en t i on ed i n th i s accoun t o f
Cas taneda th ere i s som e d i fferen ce o f op i n i on . Cibo la,i t i s gen eral ly
agreed , i s Zun i . Acuco , i t i s a l so gen eral ly agreed , i s Acoma . T iguex
has been l ocated by Mr . W . W . H .
'
D avis on the R io Puerco , wh i ch
j o i n s th e R i o Grande n ear the p resen t town of L a Joya .
2 Mr . S imp
son p l aces it on th e R ioGrande,be l ow the R i o Puerco
,at t h e foo t o f
th e S ocorro moun ta i n s .
” 3 Mr . Bande l i e r be l i eves i t was n ear th e s i t e
o f th e modern Bernal i l l o on th e R i o Grande . Mr . S impson and M r
Bande l i er both p l ace Cicuyé at Peco s , wh i l e Mr . Dav i s p l aces i t on th e
R i o Grande ,“ somewhere i n th e val l ey o f th e Guadalupe
,and bu t a
few m i l e s from i t s m ou th .
” 4 N ow ,i t wi l l b e n oti ced that A lvarad o
,i n
h i s march from Cibo l a to C icuyé , t rave l ed from Cibo l a t o Acoma i n
five days , from Acoma to T iguex i n th ree day s , and from T iguex to
C icuyé i n five days more . Bu t i f T iguex and Cicuyé were at any on e
o f th e p l aces wh i ch have been sugges ted,an d i f th e Braba men t i oned
by Castaneda were s i tuated where Taos i s t oday,i t i s d i fficu l t t o see how
Alvarado cou l d have reached C icuyé i n the t i m e h e d id , i f h e wen t so
far n orth as Taos , wh i ch i s over s i x ty m i l e s i n a d i rect l i n e n orth o f
Pecos . I t i s further hard to unders tand h ow h e cou ld h ave reached
Taos w i th ou t hav i ng seen or h eard o f th e Tehua p ueb l os o f Tesuque,
Nambe, P ojuaque , San I l d e fon so , San ta C lara , and San Juan . I f
th ese i den t i cal v i l l ages d i d n ot ex i s t t h en,th ere were
,n ever th e l es s
,
Tehua I nd i an s i n th e same gen era l r eg i on . A gai n,t h e r i ve r wh i ch
wat ers Taos va l l ey i s re ferred t o as very deep and rap i d,and as
hav i ng n o ford s . I n th e who l e val l ey today th ere i s n o s t ream
wh i ch wi l l an swer th i s d escr i p t i on , n or i s i t easy to suppose that
H . T e rn aux - Com pan s, Voyag e de Cibola ,pp . 137
—9 .
2 W . W . H . D av is,T/ze Span is/z Conozcest of N ew M ex ico, p . 185 , n ote I .
3 Gen eral S impson ,
“Coron ado’
s M arch ,” Sm i thson ian R eport , 1869, p . 335 .
4P aper s A r c/c. I n st. of A men , I , p . 1 7 . D av is, Tb c Span ish Con qu est of N ew
M ex ico, p . 1 98 , n ot e I .
S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 9
t h e s t ream s wh i ch n ow water th e va l l ey were on ce s o deep that
t hey cou l d n o t be ford ed . Today one can ford any o f th e s treams
at a lm os t any p o i n t on foo t . The re fe rence may be t o th e R i o Grande,
though i t cer tai n ly does n ot wate r that par t o f th e val l ey i n wh i ch Taos
pueb l o i s s i tuated . And yet M r . Bande l i er says o f th e i d en t i ty o f Braba
and Taos “ i t i s u nmist akab l e .
” Certa i n ly th e descr i p t ion o f the vi l l age
as be i ng bu i l t u pon the tw o banks of a s t ream wh i ch on e cou l d cros s
on br i dges made of we l l - squared t imber s i s i n exact accord wi th th e
cond i t i on s at Taos t oday . I find no re fe rence i n Mr . Bande l i er’s report s
t o Alvarado ’s v i s i t to Taos , bu t M r . Davi s says ,“ Up t o th e po i n t where
th e army was l e ft upon th e p l ai n s , the Span i ard s had passed th rough
th e fo l l owi ng provi n ces,wh i ch are g iven i n th e word s o f Cas tan eda .
Then fo l l ows the l i s t,wh i ch i n cl udes “ Val l ad o l i d or B raba
,
” and en ds
wi th the s tatemen t,T iguex i s the cen t ra l po i n t , and Val l ado l i d th e
l as t t oward th e North - eas t . ”
Th i s ques t i on o f l ocat i on i s apart from the o th er ques t i on , whe th er
th e peop l e are today l i vi ng i n th e same bu i l d i ngs wh ich the Span i ard s
saw . Mr . Bande l i e r p os i t i ve l y s ay s : “ Wi th the excep t i on o f Acoma,
the re i s n o t a s ingl e pueb l o s tan d i ng where i t was at th e t im e o f Coro
nado , or even s i xty years l at er , when Juan de Ofiate accomp l i sh ed th e
peaceab l e reduct i on o f th e New Mex i can v i l l age I nd ian s .
” 3
I t i s n o t part icu l ar ly s ign ifican t i n th i s con nec t i on , bu t i t may be
noted that at Taos , on ly a few rods eas t from the presen t houses , are
th e ru i n s o f o l d er bu i l d i ngs . They are l i t t l e more than a heap o f
eart h and l oose s t ones,bu t on e can occas i on al ly find a very d i s t i n c t
fragmen t o f an o l d wal l bu i l t o f adobe bri ck s o f a d i fferen t fo rm from
those n ow made by the Taos p eop l e . The peop l e them se lve s say,and '
i t i s u ndoub ted ly t rue , that i n th e o l d days adobe br i cks were n o t made ,bu t a wal l w as bu i l t by l ay i ng on e l ayer ofmud on an o th er
,and s imp ly
al l owi ng t ime fo r each l ayer t o dry . They fu rth er say that n o t l ong
I P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of A men,I,p . 23 , footn ote .
2 T/ce Span is/z Con quest of N ew [l/ ex ico,p . 22 1 .
3P aper s A r cn. I n st. of A 7/cer .,I I I
,p . 34.
I do n ot know w hat M r . B an de l i e r’s authori ty is for m ak i ng th is statem en t , b ut,in v iew of the w e l l - kn ow n fact that the p ueb lo peopl es have so often moved th e i rtow n s, i t seems safe en ough w i thou t ev iden ce to th e con t rary to hold th is v iew . In ot ice that M r . P r in ce says :
“I n seve ral in stan ces, as
“
at T aos an d in the w est e rnpueb los, the peopl e are now l i v in g in iden t ical ly the sam e houses w h ich w e re then !w henCo l umb us d iscove red Am er ica! occup ied .
” — L . B . P r in ce , Histor ical S leetcnes of N ew
M ex ico,p . 3 1 .
I O S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
ago there were o ther ru i n s j u s t across the l i t t l e s t ream . So i t may eas i ly
be that these ru i n s, to wh i ch th e peop l e s t i l l p o i n t as th e i r former
homes,s i tuated wi th re ference to th e creek j u s t as are the houses o f
today,are w hat i s l e f t o f the hou se s wh i ch the Span i ard s saw .
Taos appears s evera l t im es p rom i nen t ly i n oppos i t ion t o the Span
l ard s . Poss i b ly i t s pos i t i on farth er from Span i sh i n fl u ence , o r t he
n ecess i ty wh i ch the peop l e were under o f de fend ing t hem se lve s from
the i r enem i e s,enab l ed i t t o mai n tai n i t s i ndependence m ore e ffect i ve ly
t han th e v i l l ages farther s ou th .
Some t ime afte r 1 6 50 a con sp i racy was form ed at Taos an d sp read
as far as Moqu i . I qu ot e from Bande l i e r “ Y despues de algun
t empo despacharon d el pu eb l o d e Taos dos gamuzas con algunas p i n
t u ras por l o s pueb los d e l a cu s tod i a , con s enal es de con ju rac ion a su
modo , para convocar l a gen te a nuevo al zam i en to , y que d i chas gamu
zas pasaron has ta l a p rov i n ci a d e Moqu i donde n o qu i s i eron adm i t i r l o s ,y ceso e l pacto p or en ton ces.
” I A l though Po -
pe , t he i n s t i gator o f
th e great con sp i racy of 1 680 ,was an Ind i an o f San Juan , h e seem s to
have made h i s p l an s at Taos and to have rece i ved much as s i s t ance
from the peop l e there . Certai n i t i s th at th ey were among the l as t t o
subm i t to de Vargas at th e t im e o f th e reconques t i n 1 69 2 . After d e
Vargas had taken San ta Fé,he set ou t agai n s t some more d i s tan t v i l
l ages . “The I nd i an s of th e Taos pueb lo,who dwe l t i n a beau t i fu l and
fert i l e va l l ey some seven ty - five m i l e s t o th e Nor th , con t i nued to be
ve ry hos t i l e t oward th e i r breth ren who were d i sp o sed to acknowl edge
th e au th ori ty o f the Span i ard s,and Vargas had been reques ted by
th e Tanos , Teguas , and som e o f the P icor is I nd i an s , t o ex term i n at e
them .
” 2 Arrived at th e pueb lo , h e found i t d esert ed . The I nd i an s
had fled to th e moun tai n s . They were,h owever
,i n duced t o re tu rn
,
and qu i e t was res t ored .
Again i n 1 694 d e Vargas was compel l ed to march on Taos . As
be fore he found the v i l l age deser ted, an d when the p eop l e refu sed t o
re tu rn to th e i r h omes,b e sacked the town .
The l as t t im e when the Taos peop l e gave any t roub l e was at the
t i me o f the Taos rebe l l i on i n 1 84 7 . The coun t ry was d i s tu rbed
owi ng to t he re lat ion s be tween th e Un i ted S tates an d Mex i co,and th e
i n surrect ion was brough t abou t m ore by the Mexi can s than by th e
I nd i an s them se lve s . The ru i n s o f the church wi th i n wh i ch the Pueb l o
P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A men ,I I I
, p . 1 39 , footnote .
2 D avi s,T/i e Span is/i Con qu est of N ew M ex ico, p. 341 .
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 1 1
peop l e made th e i r l as t s tand agai n s t th e wh i t e peop l e are s t i l l at Taos .
The Pueb l o I nd i an has a lways sh own h im s e l f brave and ready t o fight
when occas ion requ i red ,bu t p eaceab l e and fr i end ly t ow ard tho se wi th
whom cord i a l re l at ion s ex i s ted .
The final word has yet to be sai d on the l i ngu i s t ic re l at i on s o f the
Pueb l o s o f New Mex i co . F i ve group s may be recogn i zed — Tiguas ,T ehuas, Queres , Jem ez , and Zun i . Mr . Powe l l i n h i s “ I n d i an L i n
gu istic Fam i l i e s North o f Mexi co i nc l udes T i guas,T ehuas, and
J emez wi th th e Tanos and P i r os,t he two lat t e r o f whom are ext i nct a s
d i s t i nct t r i be s,as Tanoan , thu s g i v i ng bu t th ree s tock l anguages
among the New Mex i can Pueb los .
The T ehuas occupy a compact group o f v i l l ages i n th e R i o Grande
val l ey — San Juan,San ta C l ara
,San I l d e fon so
,Nambe
,Pojuaque , an d
Tesuque . The l anguage sp oken at th es e v i l l ages i s n o t m ere ly a ser i e s
o f d i a l ect s o f on e l anguage , bu t i s o n e an d the sam e language , under
s t ood by a l l th e peop l e of al l th e v i l l ages . Befo re th e Tano s becam e
ext i n ct as a tr ibe they l i ved about th i rty m i l es south o f t he T ehuas,2
and w ere the so u thern d iv i s i on o f th e same l i ngu i s t i c g roup . The
Queres v i l l ages , Coch i t i , San Fe l i p e , San to Dom ingo , S i a , San ta Ana ,Laguna
,and Acoma , wh i l e m ore s cat t ered than tho se o f th e T ehuas,
are n o t separated from one an other by v i l lages o f ano th er st ock l an
guage . The Jemez an d Zun i occupy today but a s ing l e pueb l o each .
I n d i s t i n ct i o n from these presen t re lat i on s,th e pos i t i on o f th e T iguas
i s pecu l i a r ; t here i s a n orth ern and a sou th ern group . I n th e n orth
i s Taos ; abou t fi fteen m i l e s s o u th from i t across t he moun ta i n s l i e s
P i cu r i s . These two v i l l ages are th e homes o f th e n orthern T i guas .
Nearly n i n e ty m i l es sou thwes t i n a d i rect l i n e i s Sand i a,and twen ty - five
m i le s fu rther sou th , I s l e ta , t h e two v i l l ages where th e southern T iguas
n ow l i ve . Between these tw o group s a re a l l t he pueb los o f th e T ehuas
and certai n o f the Queres . Another n o t i c eab l e th i ng abou t th e T igua
pueb l os i s that the l anguages are n ot i den t i ca l as are th ose o f the
Tehua town s , but d i ff er so much that th e peop le do n ot recogn i ze
them as being re l at ed to one an o th er . An in te l l i gen t Tao s I nd i an
sai d to me : “When peop l e te l l you P i cu ri s speak th e same l anguage
we do , t hat i s n o t t ru e . He,however , adm i t t ed the P i cur i s p eop l e
cou l d unders tan d th em,al th ough the P i cur i s l anguage i s n ot in te l l i
g ib le t o the Taos p eop l e . O f th e I s l e t a l anguage he sai d he cou l d
S even t h A n n ual R eport , B ureau of E thn o logy.
2 P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A men ,I I I
, p. 1 25 .
1 2 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
somet i mes unders tand a word or tw o , and h e th ough t t he l anguage
wou l d be easy for h im to l earn . I n al l p robab i l i ty p ract i cal ly th e sam e
st atem en ts m igh t be made wi th re ference t o Sand i a . They i n d i cat e
s imp ly that the separat i on of the se fou r town s h as been so long and
so comp l e te as to a l l ow th e l anguages to d i verge from each o th e r
great ly,and th i s
,t oo
,i n sp i t e o f th e fac t th at Taos and P i cu r i s are n o t
m ore than fi ft een or twen ty m i l es apart,wh i l e on ly t w en ty - five mi l e s
s eparate Sand i a and I s l e ta . I t i s t ru e that th e re l at i on s o f t own s ,even of thos e be l ongi ng to th e same l ingu i s t i c s tock , have n o t alway s.
been fr i end ly,t hough th e i r m anners and cu s tom s have con t i n ued
s im i l ar .
Mr . Powe l l i n c lu des th e Moqu i Pueb lo l anguages , excep t i ng that
o f Hano,i n the Shoshon ean fam i ly.
I The conn ec t i on of th e N ew
Mexi can Puebl o l anguages w i th any of th e great l i ngu i s t i c fam i l i e s i s
by n o mean s so certa i n . I n speak i ng o f th e Tan oan fam i ly , Mr .
Powe l l says : “ Recen t i nves t igat i on s o f th e d i al ect spoken at Taos
and som e of th e o th er pueb l os o f th i s group show a con s i de rab l e body
o f word s havi ng Shoshon ean affin i t i e s,and i t i s by n o mean s improb
ab l e t hat fur the r re s earch w i l l resu l t i n p rov i ng the rad i ca l re l at i on
sh i p of t he se l anguages t o the Shosh onean fam i ly . The analys i s o f
th e l anguage has n ot ye t,however
,proceed ed far en ough to warran t a
d ec i d ed op i n i on .
“ Even i f th i s re l at i on sh ip wi th the Shoshon ean
be es tab l i sh ed , the Queres an d th e Zufi i wou l d s t i l l s tan d al on e . Of
t he re lat ion between them Mr . Powe l l s ays th e “ con c lu s i on that th ey
were en t i re ly d i s t i n ct h as been fu l ly subs t an t i ated .
” 3 I f n o connect i on
can be es tab l i sh ed fo r certa i n o f th ese group s,t h en th ey are e i ther
remnan t s o f l anguages on ce more ex ten s i ve,or case s o f l i m i t ed i nde
penden t d eve l opmen t o f l anguage .
Language i s one o f the importan t gu i des t o re l at i o nsh i p . T he
I nd i an h im se l f can o ft en te l l y ou wi th con fidence whence he cam e .
We shou l d be g lad i f we cou l d m eet th e same prob l em wi th th e sam e
confidence .
“ To regard the!
Pueb l os o f today as any th i ng e l s e bu t a
m ongre l breed , phys i cal ly speak i ng , wou l d be a grave m i s take .
” 4 They
have i n te rmarri ed so l ong wi th th e Navaj os an d Apach es,and t o some
exten t wi th the Ute s an d o ther roam i ng I nd i an s,that th ey are n o
l onger o f pure s tock . Thi s i n t ermarry i ng has p robably been much
S even th A n n ual Re port , B ureau of E thnology, p . 1 10.
2 I b id. , p . 122 .3 I b id . , pp . 138
—9 .
4 P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of A mer I I I,p . 262 .
S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 1 3
more common s i nce th e com ing o f th e Span i ard s than be fo re , s o th e
Pueb l o p eop l e o f three hundred and fi fty years ago were of purer s tock
t han thos e o f today .
As Mr . Cush i ng has shown th e Zun i to have com e i n par t from
the sou th and i n par t from the n o rth,an d to h ave un i t ed t o fo rm on e
peop l e, so i t m ay we l l b e o f th e other v i l lage peop l e s that th ey are n ot
o f on e or i g i n,but o f severa l . Wi th con s i d erab l e regu l ar i ty an d per
s i s t en cy the t rad i t ion s o f th e Pu eb l o I nd i an s , as we l l as th o se o f som e
Mexi can tr i be s,re fer to th e nor th as the i r or i g i na l home . To th i s fact
we must at tach s ome s ign ifican ce . Northwes te r ly from the Pueb l o
reg i o n are th e ru i n s o f t h e c l i ff and cave dwe l l ers . Mr . Cu sh i ng has
exp l ai n ed the underground pos i t i on o f th e k ivas at Zun i as th e resu l t
o f years of l i fe i n the cave s and c l i ff s , where l ack o f room neces s i tat ed
t he bu i l d i ng o f th es e s l eep i ng p l aces fo r men ou t s i d e o f an d be low the
floor o f th e cave p roper . 2 I f th i s exp l an at i o n be correc t , as i t s eem s
t o be,t he argum en t mus t app ly w i th equa l fo rce to ot her t own s than
Zun i . At Taos and at P i cu r i s th e k i vas are mai n ly undergroun d .
Thi s fact argu es as p la i n ly as i n th e case o f Zun i t hat a p art at l eas t
o f th e p eop l e we re at one t im e l i v i ng i n th e cave s and c l i ff s o f th e canon
regi on n orthwes t o f the i r p resen t h omes . N ot al oneth e phy s i ca l type,bu t a l so th e l anguage
,and perh ap s
,t oo
,th e cu s tom s and t rad i t i on s
,o f
th e Pueb los have been t o some exten t mod ifi ed by i n te rm i x tu re w i th
ou t s i d e t r ibes . Trad i t i on s an d cu s tom s , however , we shou l d expec t
t o change l eas t .
R e fe rence wi l l be made lat e r mo re sp ecifica l ly t o cert a i n t rad i t i on s
re l ated by the Taos peop l e con cern i ng th e i r ear ly home,bu t I th i n k
we may wi th safe ty ho l d t o th e i d ea that m ost o f th em cam e from the
c l i ff - dwel l i ng reg i on,and that
,afte r l i v i ng for a t im e i n severa l p l ace s
,
t hey s et t l ed i n th e val l ey where th ey n ow l i ve s om e t i me prev i ou s t o
th e com i ng o f th e Span i ard s .
The number o f th e Pueb l o I nd i an s at the t im e of the i r d i s covery
has been var i ou s ly e s t im ated . The l argest es t im ate i s th at of A n ton io d e
E spej o , whos e to ta l figures fo r al l t he Pueb l os wou l d g ive abou t
F rom th i s n umber the es t i mate s run al l t he way down to
Vetan cur t g ives th e figures fo r the year 1 660 at a l i t t l e ove r
Out l in es of Zuni Creat ion M yths, T h i rteen th A n n ual Report,B ureau of
E thn ology, p . 343 .
2 M id ,pp . 344
—5 .
3 P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of A nzer I I I,p . 1 2 1 , footn ot e 1 .
I 4 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
Bande l i e r say s : The v i l l ages o f that t im e !fi r s t h a l f o f t h e s i xt een t hcen tu ry! were on an average much smal l e r than thos e o f t oday
i nhab i t ed by Pu ebl o I nd i an s,bu t th ere was a great er number o f th em .
The aggregat e popu l at i on o f th e pueb l os i n the s i x t een th an d s even
teen th cen tu r i es d i d n ot exceed twen ty - five th ou sand sou ls.
” I Mr .
Cush i ng says : “ At th e t i me o f th e Span i s h conques t th e Pueb l o
I n d ian s n umbered,al l t o l d , more than Th e to ta l
popu l at ion of th e modern town s i s abou t
F i gu re s g iven i n a Cen su s Bu l l e t i n o f th e E l even th Cen su s sh ow
t hat i n 1 8 6 4 , when th e fi rs t comp l e te and re l i ab l e enum erat i on i n
m odern t i me s w as made , th e Pueb l o peop le of New Mex i co n umbere d
i n 1 890 th ere were Th ese figu res sh ow an i ncrease i n 2 6
years of 1 7 per cen t . I f th e popu l at i on i n 1 890 be compared wi th
th e con servat ive e s t i mat e o f 1 660 a l os s o f 64 per cen t .
i s sh own . Th i s fal l i ng off i s t o b e exp l ai n ed by hos t i l i t i e s be tween
the pueb los , by rai d s o f rov i ng I nd i an s , by ep i dem i c d i s eas e s , an d
perhaps by i nd i rect e ff ect s du e to con tact wi th th e wh i t e s . Un i ted
S tat es In d i an Agen t John Ward i n h i s rep or t subm i t ted i n Jun e,
1 864 ,says : The greater n umber o f th e Pueb los are ev i d en t ly on
the i n crease , or at l eas t the year 1 86 3 has p roved very
p ro l i fic . No tw i th s tan di ng th i s , however , from al l th at can be l earned
and from many years o f alm os t dai ly i n t ercourse w i th th ese peop l e,
I am fu l ly convi nced that i n th e aggregat e th e pueb lo popu l at i on o f
New Mexi co i s gradual ly bu t sure ly d ecreas i ng .
” 4 Th i s may have
been t rue when i t was wr i t t en , bu t does n ot se em to be th e case i n
more recen t t im es,i f th e cen su s rep ort s may be re l i ed up on . I t has,
however , t o be adm i t ted that th e Pueb l o peop l e are very susp i c i ou s o f
governmen t agen ts an d o f any wh i t e man who i s i n qu i r i ng i n to t he i r
affai rs ; so th ey frequen t ly g ive i n accu rate and i n comp l et e an swers .
The popu l at i on of Taos i n 1 864 th e same bu l l e t i n g ive s as 3 6 1 .
I n 1 890 i t was 40 1 . Th i s i s an i n crease o f 1 1 per cen t . i n 2 6 years .
The d i s tr i bu t i on as regard s s ex , age , and occupat i on i s shown as fo l
l ows : mal es , 2 1 3 ; femal e s , 1 88 ; un der 6 years of age , 5 2 ; ove r 5 an d to1 8 , i n c l u s i ve , 1 1 4 ; over 1 8 , 2 3 5 ; over 70 ,
1 1 ; h ead s o f fam i l i e s , 96 ; own er s
I P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of Amen,I I I
,pp . 1 20—2 1 .
Castaneda gives 7 1 pueb los. T oday there are 26 .
2
j o/zn son’
s E n cycloped ia , a rt icl e P ueb lo In d ian s.
”
3 “ E l e ven th Ce n sus of U . S .,E x t ra Ce n sus B ul l e t in
, flq n i c eolo I n dian s ofA r izon a an d P u eblo I n dian s of N ew I ll ex ico, p . 90 .
4 1cm,p . 80.
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 1 5
o f hou se s, 96 farm ers , 1 1 4 ; h erders , 4 ; day l aborers , 3 3 .
I Wi th regard
to s ex th i s i s p erhap s correct e n ough , bu t as many even o f th e young
men do n o t kn ow the i r own ages,th e numbers by ages cann o t b e
re l i ed upon,n or i s i t l i ke ly th at th e o ther figu res are more than
app roximate ly correct . However , they gi ve an i dea o f th e numbers
o f th e ch i l d ren and the occupat i on o f th e peop l e .
Dur i ng the t ime I was at Taos , th ree mon th s i n th e summ er of
1 896 , two d eath s occurred ,bo th thos e o f very young ch i l d ren
, an d a
few mon th s after I l e ft I l earn ed o f th e d eath o f a woman o f abou t 5 0
years of age . Dur i ng that sam e peri o d o f th ree mon th s th ere were n o
b i rth s . O f cou rse n o i mp or tan ce can be at tach ed t o ob servat i on s
ext end i ng over so shor t a t im e . As n ear ly as I cou l d l earn from
Amer i can s l i v i ng at th e coun ty seat th ree m i l e s from th e pueb lo,th e
v i l lage has been j us t abou t ho l d i ng i t s own dur i ng th e l as t s i x years .
Lan d tenure among the Pueb l o I nd i an s , as w i th o th er seden tary
I n d i an s , was t r iba l , for th e i r soci a l o rgan i zat i o n was t r i b al . Owner
sh i p of l and was th e own ersh i p o f a range by a t r i b e . Thi s range had
n o we l l - defin ed l i m i t s . Between a given t r i be and i t s n eares t n e i ghbor
there was oft en a debatab l e groun d to wh i ch n e i th er had un d i spu ted
c laim , bu t n o d efin i t e l i n e separat ed th e two areas . The t r i be i r e
quen t ly moved wi th i n i t s own area . Thi s con t i nu ed for many years
afte r th e Span i ard s gai n ed con tro l o f New Mex i co . And th e p revai l
i ng cu s tom s of l an d t enure were n o t i n ter fered w i th by th e ord er of
t h e k in g of Spain , wh i ch , accord i ng t o M r . Bande l i er,
“ l ai d th e
foundat i on of th e so - ca l l ed Pueb lo Gran ts o f New Mex i co ! ” I n
ano ther p l ace i t i s s tated :“ The so - ca l l e d Pueb lo Gran t s are n ot gran ts
,
th ey are l im i tat i on s p l aced to th e errat i c t enden c i es of th e s eden tary,
or rath e r lan d ~ti l l ing abor ig i n es . Prev ious ly t he v i l l ages were moved
abou t w i th i n the range at w i l l,and upon the s l igh t es t p rovocat i on .
” 3
These o rders w ere s imp ly to say t o th e I nd i an s tha t l an d ou t s i d e th e
l im i t s l a i d down di d n o t be long to t h em,and was n o t to be u sed by
them . I t i s p ract i cal ly th ese sam e gran t s wh i ch th e I n di an s h o l d
t oday .
Triba l own ersh i p o f l an d i n i t s s imp l i c i ty imp l i es tha t an i nd iv i d
ual m ere ly has th e u se of a certa i n am oun t o f l and,and that
,when h e
no l onger u ses i t , i t aga i n becomes common prop erty . Bu t con tac t
E l e ven th Cen sus of U . S .,E x t ra Cen sus B ul l e t in ,
[Moqu i P n eolo I n d ian s ofA r izon a an d P u eblo I n d ian s of N ew M ex ico, p . 92
2 P aper s A r eli . I n st. of A nzer . ,I I I
,p . 202 .
3 1554 ,p . 1 55 , footn ote .
1 6 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
wi th other p eop l es i s br i ng i ng changes i n the cus tom o f t r i ba l owner
sh i p . I t i s t rue M r . Bandel i er , i n speak i ng o f t he i nd iv i dual owner o f
l and,says : I f he fai l s t o cu l t i vate i t , or t o have i t cu l t ivated for th e
space o f a year,th e t ract revert s t o th e commonal ty , and i s at th e d i s
p osa l of th e next app l i can t fo r t i l l ab l e s o i l . ” 1 I very much d oubt i f
t h i s i s s t i l l t ru e at Taos . Whi l e I can no t speak pos i t i ve ly abou t i t , I
be l i eve th e Taos I n d i an may do what he p l ease s wi th h i s l and , t i l l i t ,l ease i t
,l e t i t l i e fa l l ow
,o r se l l i t , so long as h e does n ot se l l i t ou t s i d e
th e t r i b e .
The Pueb l o o f Taos today has a gran t o f twen ty - s even and a hal f
square m i l es,or acre s
,accord i ng to the records o f the I nd i an
agen cy at San ta Fe, and i t i s s o s tat ed i n a bu l l e t i n o f the las t cen su s .
But Cap tain Bu l l i s,the I n d i an agen t
,i n form ed m e that years ago , when
th e pueb l o was oft en i n danger o f at tack from o th er I nd i an s , Mex i can s
had been al l owed to s et t l e on t h e gran t on con d i t i on that th ey wou l d
as s i s t i n d e fen d i ng Tao s aga i n s t i t s en em i es . They occup i ed abou t
one ~ha l f o f th e gran t , and ,a s ten years ’ und i spu t ed pos se s s i on o f l an d
i n New Mex i co g ives t i t l e , th e I n d ian s , i n real i ty , have today bu t on e
ha l f the number o f acre s men t i on ed . The pueb l o i t s e l f l i e s c l os e t o
th e moun tai n s , and a con s i d erab l e port i on o f th i s land i s m oun tai n ou s .
That w h i ch l i e s al ong the creek s i s exce l l en t pas tu re l an d , bu t th ere
remai n s a great dea l wh i ch can n eve r be o f any u se excep t for m i n i ng .
The uncu l t i vat ed l and i s t oday , as th e who l e area undoubted ly was at
on e t ime,owned i n common by the pueb l o . The pastu re lan d s i n th e
foo th i l l s,and the m esa l and n orth and west o f th e vi l l age
,s t i l l l i e
open for th e u s e o f anyon e i n the pueb l o . The on ly va luab l e p i ece o f
l and wh i ch i s n ot owned i nd iv i dual ly , and wh i ch i s n ear the v i l l age , i s a
common pastu re o f twen ty or m o re acres . I t i s so poorly fen ced that
everyon e who has h orses , cat t l e , or bu rros , must take h i s t u rn watch i ng
th e s tock t o preven t the i r wander i ng ou t i n to th e fie l d s o f grai n .
At Taos , as everywhere e l s e , s ome men are m ore p rosp erou s than
o th ers ; s o th e amoun t s o f l an d owned vary g reat ly . The sect i on s o f
l and are smal l , bu t one man o ft en own s severa l p i ece s , s eparat ed from
on e an othe r by on e or tw o m i l es . T he fi e ld s beh i nd th e town toward s
the moun tai n are d iv i d ed by scrub wi l l ow,wi l d p l um
,and b l ackbe rry
bush es , and se l dom con tai n more than th ree or four acres .
“ A fen ce i s
P aper s A r eli . I n st. of Amer . ,I I I
,p . 272 .
2 “ E l e ven th Cen sus of U . S . , E xt ra Cen sus B u l l e t in,M oqu i P u eO/o I n dian s of
A r i zon a a n d P iccolo I n d ian s of [Vew M ex ico,p . 100.
I 8 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA 05
t im es th e so l u t i on was found on a h igh mesa , as at Acoma , or i n a hol
l ow square arrangemen t of th e bu i l d i ngs,as at Tesuque
,or i n a wi d e ,
Open p l ai n . The vi l l ages were o ft en l ocated n ear som e h i gh m oun tai n ,mesa
,or c l i ff
,t o wh i ch th e peop l e cou l d fl ee i n t im e o f danger . As
th e Zun i fl ed t o To -
yo- a- l a - na , th e Taos p eop l e severa l t im es aban
don ed the i r homes and took re fuge i n the footh i l l s ben eath th e great
Taos peak,wh i ch they cal l Su l - hwa - tu - na .
!
Bu t at Taos there was n o c l i ff on wh i ch to bu i l d there was n o wi d e,
open p la i n . The I nd i an s m igh t have bu i l t t h e i r v i l l age as a ho l l ow
square,bu t i n s tead th ey bu i l t great
,h igh hou ses and su rrounded them
by a wal l . Th i s wal l i s n ow n o t m ore than four fee t h igh , bu t i t s t i l l su r
round s the or i g i n a l area of the v i l l age , an d on e may s t i l l se e the l oop
ho l e s wh i ch were l e ft t o sh oot th rough at th e en emy ou t s i d e . The
orig i n al h eigh t o f th e wal l was abou t e i gh t fee t . A wal l ed pueb l o
seem s to have been unu sual . Cas taneda speaks o f a wa l l su rround i ng
Cicuyé , wh i ch has been i d en t ified wi th Pecos .
“ L e v i l l age es t eny i
ron n é en out re d ’un e murai l l e d e p i erre assez basse .
” 2
O f t he h igh hous es at Taos th ere are two,on e on each s i d e of th e
creek wh i ch flows th rough th e cen ter o f th e town .
“ Taos and Zu il i ar e
the on ly pueb l o s wi th fou r and five s tor i ed bu i l d i ngs,and th e form er
may be cal l ed the o l d - fash i oned pueb l o par excel len ce,wi th i t s two ta l l
hou se s sh e l t er i ng th e en t i re t r ibe o f fou r hundred s ou l s . ” 3 At on e t i m e,
wi thou t doub t,th e two mai n houses d i d she l t er th e en t i re t r ibe , bu t
today smal l group s o f bu i l d i ngs , one or two sto ri es h igh , have been bu i l t
b o th wi th i n th e o l d wal l and out s ide . Today the p eop l e do n ot l i ve i n
as smal l a space as th ey once d i d .
These great h ou se s were on ce communal , were own ed by the peo
p l e i n common . There are s t i l l m emor i e s o f such a cond i t i on .
Today a s i ng le on e o f the many room s , or tw o , or even three or fou r ,are owned b y i n d i v i d ual s , and pas s down from fath er t o son or daugh
t er , bu t d o n o t revert to t he commun i ty .
The great h ou se s are sp oken o f by some wr i te rs as s i x an d seven ,
and even as n i n e , s tor i e s i n h e igh t . However h igh th ey may have
been once I do n ot know . Certai n i t i s that t oday th e North House
i s five s tor i e s h igh , an d th e Sou th House bu t fou r s tor i es . The he igh t
I On a map issued w i th th e reports of th e“U . S . Geograph ical SurveyW est of 100th
M er id ian th e e l e vat ion of T aos peak is given as fe e t .Q H . T e r n aux - Compan s, Voyag e de Ci ltola ,
p . 1 7 7 .
3 P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of A'
men,I I I
,p . 265 .
S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 1 9
o f th e bu i l d i ngs cou l d n ot be i n creased more than on e s t ory , i f th e
s tepped fo rm were ret ai n ed , excep t , o f cou rs e , by en l arg i ng th e bas e
o f th e pyram i d,for t he h igh es t s t ory o f each o f the h ou ses has bu t
two or th re e room s .
Mr . Lumm i s speak s o f th e houses as pyram idsfi and so th ey appear ,i rregu l ar
,an d reced i ng by fou r or five great s t ep s to th e t op . The
ground fl o o r cover s a l arge area , accord i ng t o Mr . Davi s abou t th ree
o r four hund red fee t by on e hund red an d fi fty for each bu i l d i ng !
The second s to ry recede s by th e d ep th o f on e room , the th i rd s t ory
recedes agai n,and so o n to th e top s t ory . Today , wi th few excep
t i on s,en t rance may be had t o th e rooms through doorways . Not l on g
ago th e l owes t s tory at l east had n o doorways . Mr . Dav i s speaks as
i f _the upper t i e rs o f rooms as we l l were w i th ou t doorways ,3 bu t i t
s eem s m ore l i ke l y th at al l the room s , excep t i ng th ose o f th e fi rs t s t ory,
always h ad open i ngs i n th e s i d e wal l s fo r th e p eop l e to pas s i n an d
ou t,t hough th e d oor s th em se l ve s were o f Span i s h i n troduct i on .
Mr . Vi ctor M in de le ff , i n h i s S tudy of P iccolo A r c/zitecticr e,say s : “ I n
anci en t t imes t he l arger doorways o f th e upper te rraces were probab ly
n eve r c l osed ,excep t by m ean s o f b l an ket s or rabb i t - s k i n robes hung
over th em i n co l d weath er . Examp l e s h ave been seen that s eem to
have been con s tructed wi th th i s obj ect i n v i ew for a s l igh t po l e,o f th e
same ki nd as th o s e u sed i n th e l i n t e l s , i s bu i l t i n t o th e mason ry o f th e
j ambs a few i nches be l ow the l i n t e l p rop er . ” 4 P lai n ly , i n h i s op i n i on ,
t here were doorways i n th e upper s tor i e s even i n anci en t t imes .
The on ly en t rance to rooms i n th e fi rs t s tory was t h rough a t rap
door i n th e roo f . On e had fi rs t t o c l i mb a l adde r t o the roo f , an d
then c l imb down another l adder i n t o th e room be l ow . The terracedfo rm o f th e hou ses gave a l and i ng i n fron t o f th e ro om s on every
fl oor,from wh i ch the peop l e c l imbed to th e rooms above . The lad
ders are s t i l l i n u se an d are conven i en t an d s i mp l e en ough . Even
th ough th e hou ses are n ot the sam e wh i ch th e Span i ard s saw,th ey
p robab ly p resen t much th e same appearan ce,excep t fo r th e doors an d
the ch imneys wh i ch th e I nd i an s have l earn ed from the Span i ard s tomake . The ch imney s are l ow and s tumpy
,bu i l t u sua l ly o f adobe and
o ften capped wi th a broken pot .
Lan d of Su n s/tin e, Vol . V I,p . 14 1 .
3 I b id .,p . 343 , footn ot e .
2 D av is, T/ze Span is/z Con quest of N ew I k/ex ico,p . 343 , footn ot e .
4 “ A S tudv of Pueb lo A rch i tec tu re in Tusayan an d C i b ola ,E i gh th A n n ua l“
R eport,B ureau of E thn ology, p . 182 .
2 0 S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
The wi ndows of the Tao s houses have n o t changed much s i n ce
anc i en t t im es . They are u sua l ly smal l ho l es , a foo t square o r l e s s , l e f t
i n the wa l l n ear the ce i l i ng and i n ten ded on ly t o adm i t l i ght . I n sum
mer th ey are uncovered and i n wi n te r are o ften c losed up al t ogeth er .
I have n ever seen gypsum used fo r wi ndow panes , as i t i s at o th er
pu eb l os . A cur iou s i n s tan ce o f th e conservat i sm of the peop l e i s s e en
i n th e fact that wi th i n th e l im i ts o f th e o l d wal l t he u s e o f g l as s i n
the wi ndows i s n o t a l l owed . Ou t s i d e t h i s wal l i n a few m ore m odern
h ouses on e s ees a g l ass wi ndow or two .
The i n ter ior of a room at Taos i s very s imp l e . I recal l on e i n
w h i ch a man,h i s wi fe
,and two ch i l d ren were l i v i ng . I t was a room
abou t seven teen fee t square and ten fee t h igh . I t was bu i l t bu t a few
years ago,and i s unu sual ly h igh
,even for a modern room , for some
are so l ow that on e can j u s t s tan d up righ t ; i n s ome o f the o l d er room s
on e i s even compe l l ed to s toop when s tan d i ng .
’
The en t rance t o th i s
room i s on th e nort h s i d e n ear th e n or thwes t co rn er . I n th e m id d l e
o f the n o rth s i d e i s t h e fi rep l ace , where th e fam i ly cooki ng i s don e .
A l i t t l e three - l egged,i ron frame
,u sed t o ho ld p ot s over th e fi re , s tan ds
i n the fi rep l ace . Near by,on th e floor
,are tw o wooden boxes , about
a foo t square an d four i n ches h igh , open at th e bot t om , and u sed for
s too l s . Agai n s t the wal l s on th e eas t and sou th s i des are ro l l ed up
mat tres se s an d b l an ke t s,ready to be spread ou t at n igh t on untann ed
oxh i des,whi ch l i e upon the floor . I n on e corn er i s a smal l t ab l e ;
n ear i t a row o f fou r o r five she lves,on wh i ch are a few Amer i can
d i sh es , s ome pot tery cook i ng vesse l s , a l i t t l e coffee , oatm ea l , corn , an d
a few o ther th i ngs . I n th e m i dd l e of t h e wes t s i de i s the metate !
,
whi ch every house mus t have . I t i s a l arge s t on e abou t two and on e
hal f fee t long by one and on e - hal f wi d e , and set at an ang l e o f abou t
th i r ty d egrees w i th th e fl oor . A box i s bu i l t around i t s o that n on e o f
t he grai n w i l l be scat t ered as i t i s b e i ng ground . The who l e i s n eat ly
p las t ered abou t wi th adobe . Severa l s l abs o f s t o ne for gr i n d i ng l ean
agai n s t th e wa l l . A gun and a bow and arrows hang i ng from a peg , a
pai r o f deer an t l e rs an d some turkey wi ngs on the wa l l,and a few
b lanke t s th rown over a po l e suspended from the ce i l i ng,comp l et e th e
furn i sh i ngs o f th i s h ome . The metates are u sed t o gr i n d on ly a part
o f the g rai n . The proces s i s t o o l abor i ou s . I t i s m uch eas i e r t o l oad
th e gra i n on a bu rro , t ake i t t o a M ex i can m i l l , and pay a certai n p ro
p ort i on o f i t t o have i t ground .
O uts i de th e houses i n the open court o f th e pueb l o,and i n th e
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 2 1
spaces between th e h ou ses,are many con i cal oven s bu i l t o f adobe , and
vary i ng from th ree t o s i x feet i n d i ameter . The Mex i can s o f th e t e r
r itory us e th e sam e sor t o f oven s , an d i t appears as i f th e knowl edge
o f them came to th e I n d i an s from the M ex i can s . The p r i n ci pa l u s e
to wh i ch th ey are pu t t oday i s t o bake wheat bread , an d wheat came
wi th th e Mex i can s .
“ No examp l e o f th e dom e - shap ed oven o f p re
Co lumb i an ori g i n has been found among th e pueb l o ru i n s , al t h ough i t s
p roto typ e p robab ly ex i s t ed i n an ci en t t imes , p os s i b ly i n th e form o f a
k i l n fo r bak ing a fine qual i ty of pot te ry former ly manu factu red .
However,th e cooki ng p i t a l on e
,deve l op ed to th e p o i n t o f th e
p i - gu’
mm i oven of Tusayan ,may have been th e s tern upon wh i ch th e
fore i gn i d ea was engraft ed .
” 1
Beh i nd each o f th e great h ou se s , j u s t ou t s i d e th e v i l l age proper ,are severa l immen se heaps o f ash es an d rubbi sh , th e accumu l at i on o f
many years .
The pri n ci pal crop s o f Taos are corn and wheat . O ccas i on a l ly a
fie ld o f oat s i s s een,o r a few bean s and peas and m e l on s . Con s i d erab l e
quan t i t i e s o f squashe s ar e al so ra i sed . Much o f t h e corn an d wh eat i s
so l d at th e st o res t hree m i l e s from the pueb lo or t raded fo r meat,
sugar,co ffee
,syrup
,soap
,c l o th
,or what eve r e l s e th e I n d i an wan t s o r
can buy . What game h e can get,deer
,tu rkey s , grou s e , rabb i t s , and
doves , supp l emen t s h i s o th e r supp l i e s , though much l e s s th an i t onced i d , when gam e was p l en ty and method s o f cu l t i vat i on were much
more crude than n ow .
I n summer th e wo rk o f th e m en i s , o f cours e , mai n ly farm i ng . Bu t
the I nd ian farm er i s n ot a very hard worker . At cer tai n t im es,i n
harvest t i m e for examp l e,o r wh en h e i s i rri gat i ng
,h e has to work hard
an d s tead i ly , bu t ord i nar i ly he work s a par t o f th e day and s i t s o n the
house t op or goes t o t own fo r th e re s t o f th e day . When sp r i ng
comes and p l an t i ng t im e i s at hand , th e l and has fi r s t t o be i rr i gat ed .
Two or th ree day s l ate r i t i s ready for th e p l ow . By th e hour I have
watched the p lan t i ng o f corn . Save fo r th e figu re o f th e In d i an h im
se l f on e wou l d n o t kn ow bu t th at i t was an Amer i can farm er at th e
p l ow . I nd i an pon i es , l e s s o ften oxen,are used . Beh i n d th e on e
fo l l owi ng the p l ow comes an o l d man or a boy dropp i ng th e kern e l s
o f corn wh i ch th e next turn i ng o f th e furrow wi l l cover . A fter the
fie l d i s p l an ted,th e oxen are h i tch ed to a l ong po l e by rawh i d e t race s
fas t ened to t he yoke an d to each end o f th e po l e . An I nd i an s tep s1 E i ghth A n n ua l R eport , B ureau of E t hn o logy,
p . 164 . Se e i l l ust rat ion s.
2 2 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
o n th e po l e and ,ho l d in g on by th e tai l s o f the oxen
,r i de s aroun d the
fi e l d to l eve l i t off . When the corn i s a few i nches above th e ground ,t he fi e l d i s t renched for i rrigat i ng . After th i s th ere i s
,o f cou rse , t h e
h oe i ng,h i l l i ng
,and occas ional i r r i gat i ng . I f t h e water i s s carce , as i t
i s i n J u ly,on e has t o engage th e u s e o f i t severa l days be forehan d and
has t o u se i t whenever i t i s as s ign ed t o h im , whether i t b e day or n igh t .
I have severa l t i m es kn own an I nd i an ! t o work i n th e fi e l d i r r i gat i ng
a l l n igh t after hav i ng worked al l d ay,and s omet im es even two n i gh t s
i n success ion .
Modern Amer i can p l ows are common ly u sed . I have , however ,s een at Taos two old ,
home - made p l ows . They con s i s t s im ply of a
long stra igh t p o l e,another short p o l e fas t en ed to i t at the proper ang l e ,
we l l b raced and sh od wi th a sma l l p i ece o f i ron . Such a p l ow , of
cours e,merely break s up th e so i l an d l eaves a smal l t rench ; i t doe s n ot
tu rn a fu rrow .
The harvest i ng o f wheat i s a m o st l abor i ou s task . I t i s d on e
w i th a smal l s i ck l e . A few stocks o f grai n are grasped i n th e l ef t
hand,cu t o ff w i th th e s i ck l e
,an d l a i d on the ground ; t hen a few more ,
and so on . Where th e so i l i s p oor and th e wheat scat te red an d poor ly
head ed,th e crop wou ld seem to u s hard ly t o repay the l abor expended .
At San I ld e fon so , where much o f the so i l i s sandy , I saw the I n d i an s
p at i en t ly harves t i ng such grai n . Bu t at Tao s th e wheat i s v igorou s
and we l l - headed,and y i e l d s a good crop . The thr eshin g is an i n teres t
i ng s igh t . A ci rc l e o f tal l p o l e s i s se t up . Then the ground wi th i n
t he c i rc l e an d fo r a space ou t s i d e i s we t an d packed hard by a fl ock
o f sheep or goats . As th e Taos I nd i an s do no t keep sheep and
goat s , a M ex i can i s h i red to come wi th a flock and dr ive th em aroun d
t i l l th e p lo t i s hard almos t as baked c l ay . A fen ce i s th en bu i l t an d
the harves ted grain h eaped up wi th i n th e i n c l o su re . On e or two
m en s tand on top of the p i l e t o p i t ch d own th e grai n i n to the ci rc l e
j u s t ou ts i de , wh i l e o thers dr i ve the sheep or th e goat s aroun d and
around t i l l th e grai n i s th resh ed . Somet im es h orse s are u sed,bu t
sh eep or goat s are much pre ferred . I t on ly remai n s th en to remove th e
s traw and sweep up the wheat an d th e chaff from the hard fl oor . The
Mex i can s th resh i n the s ame way . I t i s from them un doubted ly that
th e Ind i an l earned how t o th resh wheat,as i t i s from them h e l earn ed
how to cu l t i vate i t .
Bes i des farm i ng the men have occas i on al ly t o bu i l d a n ew house'
or
t o repai r an o ld on e , t o go to the m i l l w i th gra i n , o r to d o some com
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 2 3
mun al w ork . A few of t hem h i re ou t t o Amer ican s o r Mex i can s to
work i n the fie l d,to bu i ld a house , or to do oth er work . The p l easan tes t
work wh i ch th e I n d i an has t o do i s t o go hun t i ng . I t i s t rue game
i s n ot abundan t , bu t somet im es two men wi l l ge t e i gh t or n i n e deer
i n a t en - days ’ or tw o - w eeks ’ t r i p . They find a doub l e p l easure i n th e
deer hun t . They enj oy be i ng away i n th e moun ta i n s free an d al on e ,perhap s becau se cen tur i es p as t they l ed such a l i fe much m ore than
n ow . And then,o f cours e
,t h ey get th e sk i n s and th e ven i s on . The
sk i n s they u s e t o make l egg ings , moccas i n s , and som et im es sh i r t s . I n
w i n t er they have l i t t l e to do excep t hun t and bri ng wood from th e
moun ta i n s . To get wood wi th the I n d i an mean s , not t o cut d own
trees and Sp l i t them up,bu t to p i ck up smal l d ry p i eces , such as can
be eas i ly broken to a l ength su i tab l e t o be i ng made i n to a pack for
a bu rro . Th i s i s th e l i fe o f t h e m al e I n d i an farm in g , hun t i ng ,
house - bu i l d i ng,maki ng sk i n c l oth i ng
,br i ng ing wood , an d s i t t i ng
around .
The work of th e woman i s mai n ly i n th e hou se . Sh e cooks , keep s
th e house c l ean,does th e w ash i ng
,cares fo r th e ch i l d ren , an d makes
her own dre ss es . She has a l so t o take care o f th e wheat an d ma i z e
a fter i t h as on ce been harves ted . The wheat sh e wi n nows i n th e m os t
p r im i t i ve way . She th en washes i t a l l i n th e creek t o ge t r i d of th e
ch aff wh i ch remai n s aft er w innowin g . Thi s i s d on e by part i a l ly fi l l i ng
a coarse baske t made o f yucca b l ades wi th the wheat . Th e water i s
al lowed to run i n th rough the baske t , and the l i ght cha ff r i se s to th e
su r face and i s carr i ed away by the run n i ng wate r . The wheat i s t hen
sp read ou t i n th e sun an d al l owed to d ry , aft er wh i ch i t i s care fu l ly
p i cked over by hand t o find the l i t t l e p ebb l es an d s t i ck s wh i ch may
s t i l l b e l e ft . When al l t h i s i s d on e,i t i s r eady t o be pu t i n sack s and
l oaded on a burro to be taken to th e m i l l . Somet imes on e sees a
w oman dri v i ng th e burros t o th e m i l l , bu t th e men u sua l ly go . The
women do n ot work i n th e fie l d s excep t occas i on al ly hoe i n g th e corn ,
and th i s s e em s to b e becau s e they enj oy i t rath er than b ecau se i t i s at a l l
n eces sary . A few women , however , wi dow s an d unmarr i ed women ,
carry on the l i gh ter work o f farm in g qu i t e regu l ar ly . T he care o f
ch i l d ren,excep t wh en they are very young
,i s n o t great . They are
obed i en t an d deferen t i a l t o p aren ts,grandparen t s , and even t o un c l e s
an d aun ts . The l i t tl e g i r l s,even when n ot more than seven or e igh t
years old ,take care o f th e youn ger ch i l d ren ,
wh i l e th e paren ts are at
work .
2 4 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
At Taos t oday there i s n o sp i nn i ng or weav i ng don e . Some pot
te ry i s made , but i t i s o f p oor qua l i ty and i s made on ly by a few o ld
women an d poor fam i l i e s! The best pot t e ry they get from th e Tehu a
pueb l os i n exchange for wh eat . The peop l e say th ey u sed to m ake fine
d ecorated ware,h av i ng l earned from th e Zufi i .
On e o f th e most cu r i ou s,and at th e same t im e m os t character i s t i c ,
fe atu res of an Ind i an pueb l o i s i t s k i vas , or es tu fas , as th ey are more
common ly ca l l ed . At Taos th ey ar e ci rcu l ar s t ru ctu res , bu i l t almo s t
who l ly undergroun d,an d 'en tered by a s i ng l e Open i ng i n th e roof .
There i s n o o th er open i ng i n th e room save a smal l h o l e at on e s i d e
to secu re a d raft for th e fi re . These k i vas have come t o be u sed as
p l ace s fo r h o l d i ng th e civ i l , re l ig i ou s , and secre t cerem on i es o f th e
t r i be,bu t th ey were or i g i nal ly the s l eep i ng and l oung ing p laces o f th e
men,and cou l d n o t b e en tered by the women excep t to carry food t o
th e i r h usband s,sons
,and bro th ers !
At most o f th e ru i ned town s and at' most o f th e ex i s t i ng pueb l o s ,
t h e k i vas were n ear ly or en t i re ly underground , and they are u sua l ly
c i rcu l ar . E igh t ru i n ed town s m en t i on ed by Gen era l S imp son al l h ad
c i rcu l ar k i vas,th e number at th e d i ff eren t t own s vary i ng from on e t o
s even .
3 At San ta C lara t oday on e , at l eas t , o f th e k i vas i s above groun d
and i s square . I d o n ot know ho w many oth ers th ere m ay be n or
what th e i r form and pos i t i on are . At P i cu r i s an d at Nambe th ey may
al so be s een above ground , bu t roun d . So there i s n ow con s i d erab l e
var i at ion . There i s,o f course
,vari at i on i n s i z e
, too ,bu t t hey are u su
al ly h i gh en ough so that on e can s tan d erect,an d abou t twen ty fee t i n
d i ameter .
Fo r th e sub terran ean pos i t i on of th ese room s Mr . Cush i ng has
o ff ered th e fo l l owin g exp l anat i on 4 when the an cest o rs of these
p eop l e were l i v i ng i n th e caves and c l i ffs,t he women bu i l t t h e h ou ses
an d us ed them for th e p ro tect i on of th em se lve s an d thei r ch i l d ren . A s
1 M r . S te ven son says“T he Pueb lo t r ib es of N ew M ex ico an d A r i zon a,
w i th raree xcep t ion s, m an u factu re earthen w are vesse ls for domest ic use . T he P ueb lo of T aos
m ay b e m en t ion ed as on e of these e xcep t ion s.
”
!I l l ust rated catalogue of th e collect ion s ob tain ed from the In d ian s of N e w M e x ico an d A r i zon a in 1 879 . S econ dA n n ual R e port , B ureau of E thn o logy, p . T h is certai n ly is n ot t rue today.
2 P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A mer . ,I I I
,p . 143 Voyag e de Cibola ,
p . 1 70.
3 “ ]our n al of a M i l i tary R econ n a issan ce from San ta F é , N . M .,to the N avajo
Coun t ry,”Sen . E x ec . D oc . 64, 3 1 5 t Con g .
,1850, I st S ession ,
.Vol . X I V,pp . 5 5 et seq .
4 Ou t l in es of Zuni C reat ion M yths, T h i rte en th A n n ua l R eport , B ureau of E thn ology, PP 344 f f 5 30
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 2 5
th e l eve l space was sm al l , th e men bu i l t s l eep i ng and l oungi ng p l aces
fo r th em se lve s i n the ou ter part of th e cave,where the floor began t o
s l op e to th e val l ey be l ow . The wal l s were bu i l t on ly h i gh en ough to
br i ng th e roo f up to a l eve l wi th the cave fl oo r . Thus th e doub l e pu r
pos e was accomp l i sh ed of prov i d i ng a comm on room for th e m en an d
o f i n creas i n g th e fl oor space i n th e caves . When the peop l e l e ft the i r
c l i ff h ou se s an d came t o l i ve i n th e va l l ey s,th ey con t i nued to bu i l d
the i r h ou ses and k ivas i n th e sam e o ld way , t hough th e n ecess i ty for s o
do i ng had passed . The sem i c i rcu lar form of t h e v i l l age s to be seen i n
severa l o f th e ru i n ed towns has n ot pers i s t ed i n any of th e ex i s t i n g
pu eb l os,bu t th e k ivas are s t i l l u sua l ly sub terran ean or par t i a l ly so . At
the t im e o f th e com i ng o f th e Span i ard s th e y ou th s an d men s l ep t i n
the _ kivas and sp en t on ly a par t o f th e day t im e wi th the i r m others ,wives
,an d ch i l d ren . The Span i ard s taugh t th em to l i ve i n fam i l i e s ,
and one o f th e use s o f th e k ivas was gon e . They con t i nu e to be u sed
on occas i on s o f dances and for counc i l m eet i ngs o f th e ch i e fs an d
oth er importan t gath eri ngs o f th e men . Yet I have n igh t a ft er n i gh t
seen th e govern or at Taos m eet i n g h i s counc i l i n a room wh i ch h e
h imse l f owned , and se t apar t for th e purp os e d uri ng th e year h e was
govern or . I t m ay be that th i s i s d on e becau se i t i s m ore conven i en t,
or i t m ay be that the govern or and h i s counc i l , s in ce they have resu l t ed
from Span i sh i n fl uence,are o f l es s d i gn i ty an d s o meet i n a l es s cere
mon ious way
Another i n te res t i ng th i ng abou t th e k ivas i s th e i r l ocat ion . I n th e
ru i n ed pueb los , an d t o some exten t in th e modern on es,th ey are
located out s i de the mai n mass of rooms,or at l eas t ou ts i d e o f what con
s t i tu ted the or i g i n a l v i l lage . I n many o f th e p resen t t own s th ey ar e
foun d al so i n the open court s,or even wi th i n th e great h ou se s them
se lves . O f course , i t m ay be tha t i n the s e case s , to o , the v i l l age h as
grown around the k ivas , wh i ch w ere on ce on the edge o f th e t own .
At Taos th ere are seven k i vas , fou r on th e sou th s i d e of th e creek ,and th ree on the n orth s i d e . Three o f tho se on th e sou th s i de are
out s i d e the o ld town wal l an d a few rods away from i t . The o th er on e
and th e th ree on th e n orth s i de are w i th i n th e wa l l . Bande l i er s ays o f
th e k i vas at Taos th at they are “ comp le te ly sub ter ran eous.
” I Th i s i s
n o t t oday s tr i c t ly t ru e . The s i d e wa l l s o f s evera l o f th em can be seen
fo r about a foo t from the t op . I t may be th at th ey were on ce en t i re ly
subterran eou s and that th e ear th h as WOr n away from them ,t hough
,
P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A in er . , I I I , p . 268 .
2 6 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
from the he igh t o f th e roo fs and from the gen eral l eve l o f the groun d
around,I am l ed to th i nk the earth had been ban ked up around them
to g ive them the appearance o f be i ng who l ly underground . Th i s
h o ld s t ru e m ore par t i cu l ar ly o f th e k i vas w i th i n th e t own wal l .
I t has occu rred to m e that these k i vas i n th e o l d area o f the town
may be o l der than the th ree ou ts i d e . There are two po i n ts wh i ch sug
ges t th i s . I n th e fi rs t p l ace,one wou ld not expect that the s l eep i ng
room s for men and you th s wou ld b e bu i l t ou ts i de th e i n c los i ng wa l l
an d so unneces sari ly exp osed t o dange r o f at tack . I t s eem s much
m ore l i ke ly tha t they wou l d b e l ocat ed near the edge o f the town , i n
th e most dangerou s p lace , bu t n o t n eed l ess ly expos ed . Thi s i s th e
p osi t i o n o f t he four k i vas w i th i n th e_i n c los i ng wal l . I n t he second
p l ace,th e con st ruc t ion o f th e k ivas i n s i d e th e wal l d i ffers i n on e par
ticular,at l eas t
,from that o f those“
ou t s i de . The roofs o f al l o f th em
are flat,wi th th e Open i ng i n th e cen t er . Bu t those wi th i n th e o ld t own
l im i t s have th i s Open i ng surrounded by a c i rcu l ar p al i sade o f wood
abou t seven or e ight fee t h igh . There i s a n arrow gap perm i t t i ng on e
t o pas s i n s i d e th e pal i s ad e . The k ivas ou t s i d e th e town wal l have th e
open ing su rrounded by a wal l of adobe,a narrow gap be i ng l e ft as i n
th e case o f th e o th ers . Thi s wal l i s on ly about two feet h igh , an d th e
Space i n c l o sed , t h ough of abou t the same si ze as that i n c l o sed by th e
pal i s ades , i s square . I i n qu i red as t o th e reason for th i s d i ffe rence o f
const ruct i on,but was unab l e t o find ou t anyth ing abou t i t .
I have been i n bu t one o f th e k ivas at Taos . On e d escend s by a
l adder , the two po l es o f wh i ch exten d h i gh up in to the a i r . The room
i s j u s t h igh en ough for on e to s tand erect,and th e ce i l i ng i s covered
wi th soot from t he fi re wh i ch i s l igh ted i n t he fi r e - p i t i n t he cen ter o f
the room on th e occas i on o f any ceremony . One or two un tanned ox
h i des l i e on t he fl oor , and a b ig drum , t h e sk i n o f wh i ch i s bu ffa l o h i d e .
I th i n k th e oth er k i vas d o n ot d i ff e r es s en t i a l ly from th i s on e,save i n
th e ext ern al d etai l s a l ready m en t i oned .
An in te r estin g i l lustr ation o f the old - t i me u se o f th e k ivas for men
and youth s on ly came to my n o t i ce . A party o f Taos men wen t w i th
a smal l company of Utes to I nd i an Terr i tory . On the re turn,when
wi th i n a r id e o f a day or two o f the pueb lo ,two men were sen t ahead to
no t i fy th e peop l e of th e i r com i ng . Bu t i n s t ead o f com ing i n to th e
t own they to l d th e fi rs t p erson whom they saw to te l l th e war cap tai n
th at they had come , and wen t th em se lve s i n to a k i va . The war cap
tai n th en not i fied the men o f th e v i l lage,and as many of th em as
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 2 7
wan ted t o wen t to th e k i va where th e messengers were . The messen
gers were g iven ci gare t t e s t o smoke and to l d t o t e l l on ly th e t ru th .
They then to l d th e s to ry of t he t r i p from th e t im e o f l eav i ng th e pueb l o
t i l l they came back . But the women cou l d no t come to h ear th e
accoun t , bu t must h ear abou t i t aft erward s . Th i s,th e p eop l e say , i s
an o l d cu s tom , an d so i t u ndoub ted ly i s . I t s eem s as i f th e exp l an a
t i on m igh t be foun d i n th i s many years ago,when th e k i vas were th e
sl eep i ng p laces o f th e men , i t was natu ra l enough that t he men shou l d
go th ere on th ei r re turn from a tr i p . Now,t hough the cond i t i on s
have changed,th e o l d cu s tom i s kep t up .
O f t he n umber o f k ivas i n a pueb l o Mr . Bande l i e r says : “ I t i s
p robab l e that , as i n Mex i co , th ere were i n each pueb lo as many es tu fas
as th ere were c l an s . Th i s may have been th e case . I t w i l l n o t be
easy t o l earn defin i t e ly,as som e o f the c l an s have d i sapp ea r ed
,an d ce r
tai n o f t he k i vas may have fa l l en to ru i n s and al l t race o f them been
l os t . The number o f k i vas a t Taos at p resen t does n ot agree w i th t he
number of cl an s wh i ch Bande l i e r say s ex i s ted there . He says there
were t h i r teen gen tes,an d g ives th e n ames o f s i x . I f these k ivas were
bu i l t at d i fferen t t i mes , and i f t h ere i s any conn ec t i on between th e
n umber o f k i vas and the number of c l an s , we seem to have ev i d en ce
o f an i n creas e at s om e t im e i n th e number o f the Taos gen te s . Th i s
m igh t eas i ly be from d iv ision of gen te s . I t m ay be, too ,
t hat som e
where w i th i n the great h ou se s are oth e r k i vas wh i ch the ou t s i d er kn ows
no th i ng of .
Speaki ng o f Taos , Mr . Poore s ays , i n on e o f the cen su s bu l l e t i n s
Th i s i s t h e mos t i n dep enden t o f th e Pueb l o t r i bes bo th i n m ateri a l
cond i t i on an d in i t s at t i t ud e toward s trangers .
” 2 Th i s freedom from
ou ts i d e i n fl uen ce i s s een i n th e d res s o f th e peop l e . I n many o f th e
pueb l os on e frequen t ly see s m en wear i ng o ld t rou sers , ves t s , and hat s ,and Amer i can sh oes . At Taos you may see one o r two men weari ng
shoes,bu t you wi l l n ot s ee o l d Ameri can c lo t he s worn . Thei r c l o th es
are made u sual ly o f Amer i can c lo th , bu t , excep t i ng. the sh i r t s worn by
the men,are made i n th e i r own s ty l e .
The dres s of th e men con s i s t s o f a common,Ameri can - made
,co lored
sh i r t , co t ton or woo l en,accord i ng to t he t im e o f year ; a pai r o f l eg
g i ngs made o f ch eap wors t ed goods , or o f b l u e or wh i te d r i l l i ng or
I P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A men ,I I I . , p . 144.
2 “ E l e ven th Cen sus of U . S .,E x t ra Cen sus B ul l e t in ,
I lq n i P iccolo I n dian s 0]
A r izon a an d P cceolo I n dian s of N ew M ex ico, p . 100.
2 8 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
duck . Each o f these l egg i ngs i s made o f a s i ng l e p i ece of c l o th , sewed
t ogeth er so that i t wi l l fi t c l o se t o th e l eg and l eave th e edges o f th e
c l o th free t o a l ength vary i ng from on e i nch t o s i x i nches , or even
m ore . The l eggi ngs come abou t hal f way up th e th igh and are he l d
up by a s t r i ng wh i ch i s at tached to a cord pas s i ng aroun d th e wai s t .
Thi s same cord al s o support s th e breech - cl ou t , or G - s t r ing , as i t i s
mo re common ly cal l ed i n New Mexi co . Thi s i s s imp l e a s tr i p o f cot
t on cl o th abou t s i x i n ches w i d e and vary i ng i n l ength . Somet imes i t
i s long enough to touch th e ground ,bo t h i n fron t an d beh i n d . The
moccas i n s . wh i ch are the common I nd i an moccas i n s , u sua l ly un deco
rated excep t wi th d i am on d dyes , are made e i th er o f bucksk i n or o f
l eathe r tak en from an o l d pai r o f Ameri can boots . The b l anke t wh i ch
i s wo rn abou t th e lo i n s or carr i ed th rown over th e shou l der i s o f
Amer i can make u su al ly . O ccas i on al ly l eggi ngs o f bucksk i n are worn ,and s t i l l m ore rare ly a bucksk i n sh i r t . They are val u ed h igh ly an d
are very durab l e,bu t s i n ce deer have becom e so s carce are n ot at a l l
common . A hat i s a lmo s t n ever worn by a Taos I nd i an . My fri en d,
when we were go i ng o ff fo r a week t oge th er,wou l d g ive m e h i s hat t o
carry t i l l we were some d i s tan ce away from th e v i l l age , an d then h e
wou l d pu t i t on . I s upp os e h e w i sh ed to avo i d the cr i t i c i sm s o f th e
o the r m en .
The man ’s d ress i s i n expen s i ve,s i mp l e , an d com for tab l e . That of
th e woman i s equal ly s o . At Taos women ’s dre s se s are made en t i re ly of
Amer i can goods . The on e garmen t wh i ch h as s l eeves i s a l oose under
garmen t o f wh i te co t ton c lot h o r s ome l igh t pr i n t made l i ke a n igh t
gown . I t i s p l ai n , excep t fo r a l i t t l e ru ffle abou t th e n eck an d wr i s t s . O f
t he se garmen ts th e women o ften h ave bu t one,s o tha t
,when i t has t o be
washed , sh e mu st go part ly d ressed . I f i t h app en s to be s t o l en,as was
that o f on e woman whom I kn ew , s he mus t go wi th ou t t i l l sh e can
make ano the r . The i r oth er d re ss es , of wh i ch th ey have many , are
very s imp l e , and are made of l i gh t an d dark pri n ts . Two s tri p s o f
c l o th , l ong enough to make th e d ress l arge en ough around , are sewed
togeth er . The end s of th i s w i de p i ece , excep t abou t one quarte r o f i t s
l ength at the t op , i s th en sewed together . Abou t th ree i nches o f th e
upper end , near th e open s i d e , are sewed t ogethe r , and th e d res s i s d on e ,excep t somet im es for a smal l wors ted tasse l at th e l ower en d o f th e
s i d e seam . The l i t t l e p l ace at the upper en d wh i ch i s sewed t oge ther
re s t s upon the r igh t shou ld er and ho l d s up th e upper part o f th e
d res s . The r igh t arm passe s th rough on one s i d e o f th i s l i t t l e s eam
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 29
and the head and l eft shou l de r on th e othe r . Th i s , o f cou rse , l eaves the
ri gh t arm and l e f t sh ou l der and arm un covered , excep t by the under
garmen t . Several o f th es e ou te r garmen t s are worn at th e same t im e .
A l l th e women ’s d resse s are o f such a l ength that,i f worn loose ,
they w ou l d n ear ly reach th e ground , bu t th ey are he ld up abou t th e
wai s t by a be l t s o that they come j u s t be low the kn ees . The mak
i ng of th e se be l t s i s a nat i ve I nd i an i n du s try , though th ey are n ow
made at on ly a few pueb l os . At Tesuqu e th ere are on e o r tw o men
who st i l l m ake t hem , bu t m os t of th em seem to come from Jemez an d
o ther pueb l os far ther west . The weavi ng i s c l o se and fi rm,and th e be l t s
are very d urab l e . The pat te rn s o f many o f them are very p ret ty,red
,
green,and dark b lue co lor s p red om i nat i n g .
The moccas i n s o f th e women are made o f buck sk i n,somet im es o f
goat sk i n,and are l ong en ough t o come up j u s t be low the knee
,w her e
they are t i ed abou t the l eg . The so l e i s o f rawh i de l i ke those o f th e
m en ’s m occas in s . A wash of wh i t e earth , eas i ly renewed when n eces
sary,i s rubbed over th e bucksk i n . The mak in g of the moccas i n s i s a
par t o f th e work o f the hu sband s and fathers,who take p r i d e i n hav i ng
th e i r w ives an d daughters p rov i d ed wi th s trong , we l l - made pai rs .
These moccas i n s g ive t o th e women a very neat an d rath er p i c tu resque
appearan ce . The l i t t l e g i r l s wear th e same sor t o f moccas i n s,bu t the i r
d res se s are m ore s imp l e . When ou tdoors th e women usual ly wear a
shawl over th e h ead . Thi s i s of Ameri can manu factu re .
On dan ce days and o ther fe s t iva l occas ion s the w omen wear much
finer d res se s than th ose men t i on ed above . These ho l i day d resses are
of s i l k an d ve lve t , and i n p l ace o f a shaw l a sort o f cape o f s i l k i s worn
hang i ng from the shou l de rs . Many have a “ bes t pai r ” o f m occas i n s ,
too . They are of bucksk i n , bu t ar e mad e d i ff e ren t ly from thos e w orn
every day,con s i s t i ng o f two p i ece s to each m occas i n . On e i s a very
l ow moccas i n comi ng up j u s t above th e ank l e ; the oth er p i ece i s a
long str i p o f bucksk i n wh i ch i s wound abou t th e l eg up to t h e kn ee .
They l ook much fi rm er and smoo th er than th e ord i n ary moccas i n s .
On e o r tw o s i lve r r i ngs , a brace l e t or two , an d a pai r o f earr i ngs wi l l
make up the woman ’s at t i re .
Before th e i n t roduct i on o f Ameri can c lo th s th e women u sed to
d res s part ly i n sk i n s and part ly i n clo th brough t from the Moqu i tow n s
an d traded t o th e Taos peop l e . These Moqu i c loth s are s t i l l made
and may be s een at some o f the pueb l o s i n th e R i o Grande va l l ey ,t hough they are n o longer i n u se at Taos .
30 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
The women bang thei r ha i r an d l e t i t fal l down over th e i r eyes or
push i t a l i t t l e t o on e s i d e . Beh i nd,when hast i ly done up , i t i s i n a
d oubl e T - shaped kn ot,bound wi th a mas s o f br igh t - co l ored woo len
yarn . When more care i s g i ven to i t, i t i s arranged i n two doub l e T
shaped kno t s,one on e i th er s i d e o f the head j u s t beh i n d the ears , and
t i ed wi th yarn . A pad mad e o f comb i ngs o f the i r own hai r i s u sed as a
body fo r the knots when two are made . The men brai d the i r h ai r i n
tw o brai d s and l e t i t h ang on ei th er Si d e o f th e head i n fron t o f th e
sh ou l ders . Yarn,o ften br igh t - co l ored
,i s b rai d ed i n and t i ed at th e
end s .
I was n o t ab l e to be at Tao s on th e great annual h o l i day , t h e day
of th e patron sai n t , San Geron imo , t h e 3oth o f S ep tember . I t was so
oft en re ferred t o,however
,that I l earn ed someth i ng abou t i t . One o f
th e great featu res o f th e day i s th e foo t race . I t i s a re lay race , t h e
ru n ners s tart i ng at oppos i t e end s o f th e cou rs e and each com i ng back
to th e s tart i ng po i n t,when an other run ner on each s i de s tar -ts at once .
The race i s kep t up un t i l a runn er on on e s i d e has overtaken on e on
the o th er,on e s i d e hav i ng thu s covered the l eng th o f th e race cours e
more than th e o t h er
On e can read i ly se e that i f t he s i de s are even ly m atched th e race i s
l ike ly t o be a l ong , exhau s t i ng on e , esp ec i al ly when ru n under th e ho t
New Mex i can sun .
On ly a b r eech - c l ou t and on e or two o rnam en ta l p i ece s o f fur o r
c loth are worn . The body i s,however
,rubbed wi th a wash o f wh i t e
c l ay,wh i ch gives i t a p ecu l i ar m ott l ed appearance .
Th i s race i s run at P i cur i s j u s t as i t i s at Taos,an d i t was at th e
form er pueb lo that I saw i t . There th e grown men were so few that
s ome o f th e runn ers on each s id e were mere boys . After run n i ng fo r
severa l t im es they came i n t o th e goal so n ear ly exhaus ted as to be
hard ly ab l e to run at a l l .
No t mere ly on San Geron im o day,bu t on eve ry sai n t ’s day
,th ere i s
a dan ce . Today the people do no t enj oy th i s dan c i ng as th ey once
d i d . Some men , when ordered by the war cap ta i n t o dance , s end th e i r
w ives i n s t ead , and thu s e scape th e pun i shm en t wh ich wou ld o therwi se
fo l l ow the i r fai l u re t o appear . The dances h ave been s omewhat a ffect ed
supe rfic i a l ly by Ch ri s t i an i nfluence , bu t i t i s p robab l e that w i th i n th e
k ivas , part i cu l ar ly i n wi n te r , th e peop l e dance i n th e o l d - t im e way,
even though the fai th o f many i n th e i mportan ce of i t a l l b e somewhat
shaken .
3 2 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
mun i ty fo r th e caci qu e . Bes i d es h e was ex emp t from commun al work .
Wh i l e I am n ot certai n,I very much doub t i f th i s i s n ow tru e at Taos ,
whe ther i t may once h ave been or n ot . On e fac t wh i ch I l earned
po i n t s t o th e con c lu s i on that at on e t im e a certa i n am oun t o f com
mun al work was don e for th e caci que and sugges t s what h i s fo rm er
pos i t ion may have been . At th e t op'
o f th e great h ou se on th e s ou th
s i d e was a room or two wh i ch be l onged t o an o l d woman . They fe l l
to ru i n s and were rebu i l t by th e commun i ty and g iven to th e cac i que to
occupy . I t i s t h ere he i s l i v i ng today , bu t the room s i n al l p robab i l i ty
rem ai n th e p roperty o f th e commun ity.
I
The part o f t h e governmen t o f th e pueb l o wi th wh i ch an ou ts i d er
fi rs t comes i n to con tac t i s the govern or . He i s e l ected an nual ly and
takes office on th e fi rs t day of January . Al th ough the I nd i an s mai n
ta i n that th i s was t h e cu s tom be fore the com ing o f t h e Span i ard s , th e re
can be n o d oubt that i t i s a change brough t abou t by Span i sh i n fl u en ce .
The governor i s e l ec ted by the ch i efs and i s th e execu t i ve o fficer o f
th e v i l l age . H i s bus i n es s i s t o se t t l e quarre l s wh i ch ar i se be tween
members o f th e tr i be th emse lve s , or between m embers o f the t r i be an d
ou ts i ders,t o see that the i rr igat i ng d i tch es are kep t i n repai r
,and t o
as s i gn t imes t o th e men for th e u se o f th e water i n i rr i gat i ng . As th e
Mex i can s have the u se o f the wat er o f th e creek th ree days i n th e week ,th ey may o ften be seen at the govern or’s house t al k i ng wi th h im abou t
some m i sund e rs tand i ng whi ch has ar i sen .
The governor,wi th n i n e o fficer s who are chosen t o as s i s t h im
,has
frequen t m ee t i ngs,o ften many n igh t s i n su ccess i on , t o ta l k over mat
t e rs . When any annou ncemen t i s t o be made t o th e p eop l e , h e st ep s
ou t on th e roo f of h i s own house,or c l imbs t o som e h igh p l ace on on e
o f the great h ou ses,and g ives h i s m es sage i n a vo i ce l oud en ough t o
be h eard over the greate r part o f th e v i l l age . I t i s th i s cu s tom whi ch
has l ed some t o speak o f th e town - cr i er,
” 2 and there i s som e reason for
t he compari s on . Somet i mes th e ann ouncemen t i s that t hey mus t sen d
the i r ch i l d ren to schoo l ; agai n , that th ey mus t com e ou t i n th e m orn
i ng and p l an t th e corn i n th e p r i es t ’s fi e l d,or
,t hat th ey mu st n o t tu rn
I On cac ique see furthe r, P aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A mer . ,I I I
,pp . 2 76
—84.
U . S . Geograph ical S urvey W est of 100th M e r id ian ,V I I
,A r c/i ce o/ogy ,
p . 483“T he tow n - cr i e r goes out eve rymorn in g at seven o
’clock to chan t th is st ra in of w ords,
repeat ing i t f requen t ly, and anoth e r son g is sun g b y him in th e even in g to c lose th eday
’
s w ork . I t is doub t fu l i f these an n oun cem en ts w h ich ar e so frequen t ly made ,are in m any cases to summon the peopl e to w ork or to an n oun ce the c lose of the day
’
s
lab or .
READY FOR T H E RELAY RACE , SA N GERON IM O D A Y , TAOS
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 3 3
a l l t h e wate r from the creek i n t o the i rr i gat i on d i tch es above th e
pu eb lo , as th e women are th en ob l i ged to go t o o far fo r wat er forh ouseho l d u ses .
A man may be govern or for s eve ra l years . On e o l d ch i e f,who
se em s t o b e he l d i n h igh es t eem , and i s on e of th e pr i n ci pa l ch i e fs o f
t he v i l l age , has been govern o r s i x or s even years,n ot
,h ow eve r
, con
tin uously. By v i rt ue o f hav i ng once he l d the o ffice a man becomes a
ch i e f , at fi rs t on e o f the l e ss e r ch i e fs,bu t h e has a vo ice i n the e l ect ion
of th e su cceed i ng govern ors .
The war cap tai n , whose o ffice seem s to be secon d i n importance
to th at o f th e governor , i s a l s o e l ected by the ch i e fs . He has a l i en
t en an t an d n in e o fficers , maki ng a board of twe lve i n a l l . He has
c harge o f th e dan ces wh i ch occu r on fe s t i va l day s,and
,ass i s t ed by h i s
o fficers , gi ves o rders as to who shal l dance ; i f h i s o rders are n o t
obeyed , t he o ffen der i s arres t ed by th e on e o f th e o fficers whose sp eci al
du ty i t i s , and gi ven a pub l i c wh i pp i ng . The war cap tai n al so has
charge o f th e communal m ead ow . an d appo i n t s each week thos e wh o
are to watch the s tock th ere and keep them from get t i ng i n t o th e gra i n
fi e l d s .
!
On ly th ose who have s tock , cat t l e , horses , or burros , i n th e
meadow are appo i n t ed t o th i s du ty . I f s ome an ima l does ge t ou t i n to
a cu l t i vated fie l d,i t i s th e war cap tai n ’s du ty to find ou t whose i t i s
,
an d to s e t t l e t he fine t o b e pai d by i t s owner to th e owner of t h e fie l d .
Fu rthe r , h e has t o do wi th tr i p s wh i ch are somet im es made to some
d i s tan t p l ace,such as th e t r i p to I nd i an Terr i t o ry
,men t i on ed above .
He d ec i d es whethe r th e p eop l e sha l l go , and i t i s t o h im th ey repor t
on the i r re tu rn . Hi s t i t l e,war cap ta i n
,sugges t s w hat h i s du t i es may
have been at on e t i m e . I n al l p robab i l i ty i n h i s hands l ay th e de fen se
o f th e t own,bu t as there i s n o l onger any occas i on for d efen se , h i s
o ffice appears to be o f l es s i mportan ce than i t on ce was .
I n ho l d i ng these var i ou s o ffices cer ta i n ru l e s are observed . When
on e i s an officer o f th e war cap tai n fo r th e fi rs t t im e , h e i s th e l owes t
o ffi cer ; t he second t im e he i s n ex t t o th e l owes t , and so on . Afte r
be i ng an officer o f the war cap tai n on e mus t wai t one year be fore h e
can be an o fficer o f th e govern or .
The impor tan t m en o f the town are the ch i e fs , th e i r i n fl u en ce be i ng
much greater than th at o f th e governo r , un le s s , o f cours e , t he govern or
h im se l f happ en s to be on e o f th e p ri n ci pa l ch i e fs . The importance o f
t h e ch i e f app ears t o dep end i n part o n th e number o f t i m es h e has
been govern or . Three ch i e fs,w hose i n fluence i s greate r than that o f
34 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
t h e o th ers,p l ay an importan t part i n th e e l ect i on o f th e vi l l age o fficers .
Two men are p roposed by them for govern o r,an d the o th er ch i e f s
vo t e for th e on e o f th e two whom they pre fer . The cac i que coun t s t h e
vote s . I f th i s rea l ly b e th e on ly part wh i ch the caci qu e p l ays i n th e
e l ect ion , i t i s i n s ign i fican t enough . Bandel i e r says that among th e
Queres h e choose s both the gove rn or an d th e war cap tai n,
1 an d I su s
pect t hat th e fac t that my i n forman t at Taos be l onged to the party
w h i ch was opp osed to the p resen t cac i qu e l ed h im t o m in im i z e h i s
i mportan ce as much as p oss i b l e .
After the se l ec t i on o f th e govern or,th e war cap tai n i s ch osen i n
th e same way . The war cap t a i n ’s l i eu tenan t i s ch osen from two o f h i s
officers , des i gnated by th e th ree ch i e fs . T he\
other o fficers , th ose o f
the governor an d o f th e war cap tai n,are chosen by al l the ch i e fs
toge ther . Bes i d es these du t i es , t h e ch i e fs have i n the i r hands th e
mos t importan t bu s i n es s of th e tr ibe . Any t roub l e con cern i ng th e
l and wh i ch s omet imes ari s es wi th th e Mex i can s,or any bus i n es s con
n ected wi th th e Un i t ed S ta t es governm en t , t hat i s ,“ b ig bus i n ess
,
” has
to b e deal t wi th by the counc i l o f ch i e fs . Th i s s tat emen t concern i ng
th e o fficers an d the ch i e fs was g iven t o me by the s on o f on e of t h e
th ree p r i n ci pa l ch i e fs .
O f the c l an s at Taos I was ab l e t o l earn scarce ly anyth i ng . I
i n qu i red severa l t im e s o f my fri en d th ere,bu t he a lways an swered that
h e d i d no t know abou t any such th i ng . L ater h e t o l d m e that h e had
asked h i s fath er,and h i s fathe r had sai d t o h im You are around
wi th th e ch i e fs al l th e t im e and wou l d h ear abou t such th i ngs i f we had
th em . I d o n o t kn ow whether h e was abso l u te ly i gn oran t o f th e
gen s o r was s imp ly unwi l l i ng t o te l l . He d i d,however
,say that many
year s ago th e Taos peop l e numbered abou t Part o f th em were
l i v i ng about on e - ei gh th o f a m i l e from the p resen t pueb l o,and were
kn own as ha - chi - ti -
pipl , or s t on e - axe peop l e . They d i d n o t en j oy
farm i ng and so l e ft th e remai n der of t he peop l e where t hey n ow are ,and themse lve s j ou rn eyed away t o th e eas t . Two o r th ree gen erati on s
ago , when a party o f Tao s men were on a hun t i ng tr i p 2 50 m i l e s t o
t he eas t , they came acros s s ome peop l e who ta l ked th e i r l anguage .
They d i d n ot s ee th e p l ace where th ese peop l e l i ved . I t m ay be that
t hese were th e s t on e - axe peop l e . Those n ow l i v i ng at Tao s cal l th em
se l ve s - Ta - i - n a - ma,or wi l l ow peop l e . Th i s t erm app ears t o app ly to
a l l thos e i n th e pueb l o,and n ot t o any on e d i vi s i on o f th em . O f
xP aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A nzer . , I I I , pp . 283 and 285 .
3
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 3 5
cours e , i t may be th at on e c l an h as absorbed th e o th ers , or t hat a l l bu t
on e have d i ed ou t or wandered away, so that bu t on e o f the ori g i n a l
n umber remai n s t oday . Bu t i t s eem s far more l i ke ly that th e peop l e
are exceed i ng ly j eal ou s i n regard t o th i s mat te r,an d wi l l n o t speak of
i t t o an outs i d er t i l l h e has fu l ly gai n ed th e i r con fiden ce .
Bande l i er saysI t here were th i r teen gen tes at Taos ; o f th ese h e
name s th e fo l l owi ng s i x : the bead,water
,axe
,feathe r
,s un
,and kn i fe
c l an s , bu t he p l ai n ly says that h e cannot guaran tee t h e accu racy o f th e
l i s t s , s o we shou l d regard th em’
as subj ect to correct i on !
Nei th er was I ab l e t o l earn wheth er marr i age mus t be ou ts i d e the
c l an s t i l l . I f th e c l an s real ly have become reduced to on e , th ere cou l d ,o f course , b e n o marry i ng ou t s i d e the c l an . Th e paren ts o f a young
man appear to have a good deal t o say as to whom he shal l marry
and , al though some do marry agai n st th e i r fath er’s an d mother ’s
wi shes , i t i s n o t a common th i ng . One young man whom I knew was
abou t t o marry a gi r l o f h i s own choos i ng , when h e was i nduced by h i s
paren t s t o marry an other . I t was easy to see i n ta l k i ng wi th h im that
i t was s imp ly a mat te r o f paren tal p reference . He pre ferred on e an d
h i s paren t s th e o th er,an d h e y i e l d ed . Whi l e he does n ot t oday
appear actua l ly t o regre t h i s act i on , h e does th i n k o ften o f h i s own
cho i ce i n t he m at t er .
An i n tere s t i ng su rv i va l,apparen t ly Of the t ime when a man wen t t o
l i ve at the hom e o f th e woman whom he mar r ied ,is t o be foun d i n on e
o f the Taos marr i age cu s tom s . After marr i age the man goes t o l i ve
wi th h i s w i fe at h er h ome wi th her paren ts . The l ength o f th i s s tay
depend s upon ci rcum stances . Then th e young man and h i s wi fe bu i l d
a n ew hou se or go t o l i ve i n on e wh i ch h e al ready has .
The o l d method o f reckon i ng t i m e i s i n teres ti ng . I t i s n o t a
me thod wh ich wou l d have been equal ly accu rate and conven i en t at al l
o f the New Mex i can Pueb l os because o f the i r l ocat i on . Bu t as on e
l ook s wes t from th e pueb l o at Taos , th e ou t l i n e o f th e moun tai n s i s
much broken th e var i ed form s o f th e h i l l s have sugges ted names such
as “ pot tery h i l l ,” “ wo l f’s ear h i l l
,
” “ eyebrow h i l l , e tc . O f cou rs e ,between th e wi n te r and th e summer so l s t i ces the sun appears t o have
xP aper s A r eli . I n st. of A rn er . ,I I I , p . 2 73 .
2 I hope som e day to make a compl e te cen sus of the P ueb lo of T aos, as has b eendon e recen t ly b y P rofessor S t arr for the P ueb lo of Co
'
ch i t i , in cl ud in g the In d ian an d
the Span ish n ame , an d the clan of e very in d iv idua l .“A S tudy of a Cen sus of the
P ueb lo of Coch i t i , N ew M e x ico,
”P roc. D av . A cad . N at. Sci . , Vol . VI I , pp . 33
—44.
3 6 S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
moved eve ry day a l i t t l e farth er n or th as i t s e t s beh i nd th e h i l l s .
Between th e summer an d wi n t er so l s t i ce s th e sun seem s t o be retreat
i ng toward th e sou th . The I nd i an s had n o t i ced t he exact p l ace i n th e
hor i z on where th e su n s e t every day i n th e year,and they kn ew at j u s t
what t im e the su n wou ld reach a certa i n po i n t . !They thu s had th e
year exact — from the t i me when the sun reached i t s m os t s ou ther ly
po i n t on the hor i z on t o th e t im e wh en i t re tu rn ed t o i t agai n . They
watched the sun s et from a cer tai n t ree i n th e pueb l o , becaus e th ey had
no t i ced that the p lace o f se t t i ng was d i ff eren t accord i n g to the p lace
from wh i ch i t was observed .
They recogn i zed fou r seas on s summer,cal l ed i n the n at iv e i d i om
good t im e ; au tumn,
“ r i pe t im e wi n ter,s t i l l t i m e ;
” Sp ri ng ,beg i nn i ng t ime .
” Th i s l as t re fers,n ot t o the grow i ng grai n an d
the budd i ng trees and bushes,bu t to t he work of t he p eop l e th em
se l ves . The summer mon th s are May,Jun e
,an d Ju ly ; th e au tumn ,
Augu s t , Sep t ember , an d O ctober ; th e wi n ter , November , December ,January
,and February ; t he spr in g ,
March and A pr i l . When on e
compares th e n ames g iven t o the season s w i th th e m on th s wh i ch cor
resp on d t o them,i t i s , I t h i n k , easy to see th e reason fo r th e d i ffe r
en ces between th e I nd i an season s and“
our own . One shou l d remember
a l so that Taos i s h igh up i n th e m oun tai n s an d hence p robab ly has a
long wi n t er .
Undoub ted ly i n th e o l d days th e p eop le d i d much m ore communal
work than n ow . I nd iv i dua l i sm was n o t deve l oped t o any marked
degree ; t he communal i d ea was th e mos t p rom i n en t on e . The houses
and l an ds were common property,and
,al th ough a man had a few
th i ngs wh i ch h e h im se l f owned,a lm ost every th i ng be l onged to t h e
t r i be or t o th e c l an . Al th ough communal ownersh i p an d communal
act i v i ty has n ow alm os t who l ly pas sed away,on e may st i l l s e e l i nge ri ng
t races o f i t,as i n th e common meadow and i n communal work . I have
m en t ioned th e work d on e fo r th e p r i es t . The pri es t bap t i z es and mar
r i e s th e peop l e an d he l p s th em d i e , and i n re tu rn t h ey cu l t i vat e a fie l d
wh i ch i s s e t apart fo r h i m . Wheat o r corn , as he may wi sh , i s p l an ted ,i rr i gated
,and harves ted fo r h im . Th i s work i s d on e by al l the men
,
ca l l ed ou t by the govern or as occas i on requ i re s . Wood i s a l s o fur
n ished th e p r i es t . Every man bri ngs a l i t t l e t o th e govern or’s h ou s e
,
and th i s i s th en l oad ed on burro s and taken t o th e pr i est ’s house at th e
Ameri can town o f Taos .
Noth i ng remai n s o f th e o l d communal h un t s,save an occas i ona l
7
3 8 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
M y fr i en d taught m e a few word s , bu t t o l d me I was n ot t o repeat
th em t o anyon e , Or even t o l e t anyon e kn ow I had l earn ed them .
Even the se few word s were taugh t me when we were al on e , away from
the pueb lo , i n th e m oun ta i n s .
The fi rs t aft ern oon I was at Taos a smal l boy o f abou t e i gh t years
t augh t m e th e num era l s up to twen ty . He pat i en t ly repeated fo r me
word after word,un t i l I h ad them thorough ly l earn ed . Duri ng the
t h ree mon th s after that day I l earn ed bu t one o ther word from h im,
an d t h en on ly i n confi rmat ion o f on e wh i ch had been g iven m e by
ano ther fr i en d . He had,I suppose
,been t o l d by h i s paren t s th at he
mus t n ot teach th e l anguage to wh i te peop l e . At Tao s,as a t many
o ther I nd ian pueb los , as among mos t I nd ian s i n fact , there i s“ a sort
o f sacred language .
” Some l i ngu i s t s t h i n k that these d i a l ect s are
archa i c form s of the l anguage,t he memory of whi ch was retai n ed i n
ceremon i a l Observan ces ; o the rs mai n tai n that they were s imp ly aff ecta
t i on s o f exp ress i o n an d form a sort o f s l ang,based on t h e everyday
l anguage,and curren t among the in itiated .
” I B ri n ton i s i n c l i n ed t o
the l at ter op i n i on . Whateve r be the sou rce of th i s sacred l anguage,
”
i t i s a very. common th i ng . The Tao s peop l e,for examp le
,have fou r
o r five d i fferen t words for many th i ngs,bu t n o t m ore than on e or two
o f these wo rd s are known to al l th e peop l e . The o th ers are kn own
on ly to thos e wh o be l ong to som e part i cu l ar soci e ty,o r who have been
i n i t i at ed i n to some speci a l myste ri es.
Every i nd iv i dua l a t Taos has two n ames ; fi rs t,h i s n at i ve I nd ian
name,wh i ch i s a s i ng l e person a l n ame , and doe s n ot i nd i cate the
fam i ly at a l l . L i ke o ther I nd i an names,th ey have defin i t e m ean i ngs
,
an d are often p i ctu re sque . A smal l boy whom I knew bore the n ame
K’
en - p i - oo - na — hare - t rack — becaus e h i s fath er had no t i ced the t rack
o f a h are on the sn ow ,an d i t was very st raigh t and p re tty . On e gi r l
was named Kw O“- fa- o — wh i te , fieecy c l oud — because such c l ouds are
p ret ty . No two peop l e have th e sam e n ame,n or afte r the death o f
on e i s the name g iven agai n s o l ong as i t i s rem embered that the n ame
has been u s ed . Everyone has,al s o
,a Span i sh name
,both a Chri s t i an
name and a fam i ly name . I t i s by th i s n ame the I nd i an i s kn own
o u ts ide th e v i l l age among wh i te s and oth er I nd i an s , though o ft en i t i s
n o t known to eve ryon e'
in t h e v i l l age , s i n ce i n t he pueb l o the n at i ve
n ame al on e i s u sed .
Probab ly for hundred s of years men have occas i onal ly gone from
D . G . B rin ton , Amer ican Her o M ytns, p . 26 .
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 39
the i r own nat i ve v i l l ages t o l i ve at o thers,where o ft en the i r ow n
,but
s omet imes another , l anguage was spoken . The cau se o f th i s was , i n
many case s , s ome troub le at th e i r own homes . F rom I s l e ta four men
i n recen t t imes have come t o l ive at Taos,have been rece i ved and
a l l owed to adopt the cu s toms o f the peop l e . They have marri ed,and
have had i n th e fou r fam i l i e s th ree ch i l d ren,who are as much ch i l d ren
of the v i l l age as any'
other s. A San Juan man,al so ,
came and wi shed
especi a l ly t o watch the s tock i n th e meadow ; he , too , was we lcomed ,
marr i ed,and had two ch i l d ren . A very o l d Pi cu r i s man i s l i v i ng th ere ,
an d has been th ere s i n ce he was a boy . There were tw o brothers at
P i cu r i s,both of whom were marr i ed , an d on e o f whom had th ree
ch i l d ren . They had t roub l e wi th s ome other men i n th e vi l l age , so
on e o f th em came up t o Taos t o ask th e governor i f t h ey m igh t come
th ere t o.
l i ve . The governor con su l ted h i s counci l , and con sen t was
g iven,s o the b ro thers and the i r fam i l i es came . Th i s o ld Pi cur i s
m an was on e o f th e three ch i l d ren,and l at er marr i ed a Taos w oman .
These case s were to l d m e by a fr i en d at Taos , an d s imp ly i l l u s t rate
th e occas i on al movem en t s o f th ese p eop le from the i r own v i l l age s t o
o thers,where th e cu stom s are more or l e ss s im i l ar .
The soci a l l i fe of th e I nd i an i s so bou nd up wi th h is esote ri c an d
re l i g i ou s l i fe th at on e canno t be fu l ly con s i d ered w i th ou t th e o th e r .
Bu t t o speak o f th e re l i g ious l i fe of th e I nd i an s , on e mus t have l i ved
w i th them so l ong as t o fu l ly gai n the i r con fidence . For th i s a few
mon th s are n o t su fficien t . Mr . Cush i ng and Mr . Bande l i e r have shown
i n cons i derab l e detai l t o what extent th e I n d ian s are Cathol i cs . The
l atte r says The Pueb l o I nd i an s accep ted the n ew fa i th vo lu n tar i ly ,and t o a certai n ext en t h on es t ly . They adopted i t , however , from
thei r own pecu l i ar s tandpo i n t,th at i s , they expected mater i al b en efi t s
from a creed th at p re tended t o g ive th em sp i r i tu a l advan tages . I n
the i r con cep t i on,re l i g i on i s bu t a ru l e o f conduc t con t ro l l i ng man
wh i l e a l i ve,and on S t r i ct comp l i ance wi th wh i ch h i s success i n th i s
wor l d depen d s.I n shor t , th e Pueb los l ooked upon Chr i s t i an i ty as
upon ano the r k i n d of magi c , super ior t o the on e wh i ch they p ract i ced
th em se lve s ; and they expect ed from the n ew creed great er p rotect i on
from the i r en em i es,more abundan t crops , l e s s w i nd , an d more rai n ,
t han the i r ow n magi c performances p rocu red .
” And agai n I t i s vai n
to deny that th e s ou thw es t ern v i l l age I nd i an i s n ot !P! an i do l ater ath eart
,bu t i t i s equal ly prep os terou s t o assume that he i s n o t a s i n cere
xP aper s A r c/i . I n st. of A nzer . , I I I , p . 2 18 .
40 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
Catho l i c . On ly he as s i gn s to each be l i e f a cer tai n fi e l d o f act i on , an d
has m i nu te ly ci rcumscr i bed each on e .
” I I am n ot s o much i n c l i n ed t o
d oubt that th e v i l l age I n d i an i s s i n cere as that he i s a Cath o l i c . I f
on e may j udge at a l l from the at t en dan ce at mas s,he wi l l ce rt ai n ly
th i n k that th e h o l d of Catho l i c i sm at cer ta i n of th e v i l l ages i s weak .
I have many t i m es at Taos watch ed th e few who an swer th e ca l l o f th e
l i t t l e church be l l o n Sunday morn i ngs . My fr i en d sai d t o m e that
th ey had an o ther re l i g i on bes i d es th e Cath o l i c,and that th ey d i d n o t
care for th e p r i es t , and wou l d n ot care i f h e sh ou l d go away an d n ot
com e back . Th i s i s n o th i ng n ew , bu t i t i s importan t becau se th e
adm i ss i on was made,for they alway s c l ai m t o be Cath o l i cs . Though
th e p ri e s t bap t i z es and marr i e s th e peop l e,th e n at i ve r i t e s are add ed
to th e Catho l i c,o therwi se th e ceremony wou ld n o t be comp l et e .
There are some i n d i cat ion s wh i ch l ead on e t o th i n k that th e Pueb l o
I n d i an wan t s on ly th e Opportun i ty to take off h i s n ew re l i g i on l i ke an
out er garm en t,when ben eath w i l l app ear th e o l d
,as i t on ce was , worn
at on e or two po i n t s,t o b e sure
,by th ese t h ree hundred and fi fty years
of con tact wi th th e n ew creed , bu t s t i l l subs tan t i a l ly th e sam e . On e
may see at Tao s an image o f the Vi rg i n M ary car r i ed abou t th e fi e l d s
i n th e summer t ime t o secure good crop s . I t i s shaded by a rude
awn i ng , an d accompan i ed by a few Mex i can and I nd i an wom en , and
s ome young men wi th r i fl es , wh i ch th ey occas i on al ly fi re off i n to th e
ai r . I t i s p l ai n en ough ,I th i n k
,t h at p ract i ce s l i k e th i s i nd i cate n o
adop t i on by th e p eop l e o f any th i ng fu ndam en tal i n th e fai th .
A l i t t l e exper i ence o f my own rath er cu r i ou s ly i l l u s trat e s th e
I n d i an ’s at t i tud e toward re l i g i ou s mat ters . Hangi ng i n on e o f the
houses at Taos was a smal l p l ate o f hammered copper , On wh i ch was
cu t a d es i g n o f “ ou r l ady o f Z apopan .
” I wi sh ed to have i t , as i t
s e emed t o have be l onged t o a p rint i ng p res s . At fi r s t i t was p rom i sed
t o m e , bu t when I final ly asked to h ave i t , i t appeared that th e woman
t o whom i t rea l ly be l onged had h idden i t . She was afrai d that i f sh e“
parted w i th i t,som e h arm m igh t com e to h er two l i t t l e ch i l d ren . Both
she and h er hu sband , who prom i sed i t t o m e , feared th i s , becaus e th ey
had kn own a man who m et w i th an acc i d en t becau se he had so l d a
smal l image o f a sai n t . After se l l i n g i t , h e had gone i n t o t own ,bought some wh i sky
,and th en rode h i s h orse h om e at a b reakn eck
pace . The hors e s tumbl ed at a smal l br i dg e and broke h i s l eg . Thi s
was,o f course
, Oecaase he had so l d th e l i t t l e figure . Natu ral ly,t h en
,
I P aper s A r c/1 . I n st. of A nzer . , I I I , p . 222 .
S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 4 I
th ey m igh t exp ect some harm to be fal l th e i r ow n fam i ly,part i cu l arly
th e h e lp l e ss l i t t l e on es , i f th ey parted wi th t he copper p l ate , and th i s ,n ot
'
so much becau se i t h ad a des i gn o f the V i rgi n on i t,wh i ch was
sacred , as becau se o f some power i n i t wh i ch wou l d be o ffended .
O n th e who l e , i t seem s t o me th at Mr . Cush i ng ’s v i ew i s th e cor
rect one , as he has ou t l i n ed i t i n h i s s t udy o f Zun i C reat ion Myths .
”
I n on e p l ace h e says “ The Zun i fa i th,as revea l ed i n th i s sk etch o f
m ore than th ree hundred and fi fty years o f Span i sh i n tercou rse,i s as
a d rop o f o i l i n wate r , su rrounded and touched at every po i n t , yet i n
n o p l ace pen et rated or changed i nward ly by the flood o f a l i en be l i e f
t hat descen ded up on i t He i s s l ow to adopt from al i en peop l es
any bu t mater i a l sugges t ion s , thes e even , s t r i ct ly accord i n g as th ey
su i t h i s ways o f l i fe ; and whatever he does adopt , or rather abso rb an d
ass im i l at e,from the cu l tu re and lore o f anoth er peop l e , nei ther
d i s to rt s n or obscu re s h i s nat i ve cu l tu re , ne i ther d i sco l o rs n o r d i sp l aces
h i s ori g i n a l lore .
” I Mrs . Steven son ,i n wr i t i ng o f th e S i a
,says : “Whi l e
the re l ig i on o f t he R i o Gran de I nd i an s bears ev i dence o f con tact wi th
Cath o l i c i sm,th ey are i n fact as n on - Catho l i c as be fore the Span i sh
conques t . ” 2
I t i s n o t an easy th i ng to real i z e the face o f t rad i t i on and cu s tom .
We rare ly th i n k how many th i ngs we d o becau se i t i s cu s t omary ,t h ough the purp os e wh i ch moved the makers o f the cu s tom i s l acki ng
wi th u s . Bu t th e mos t con servat ive c i vi l i zed peop l e i n th e wor l d can
l i t t l e app rec i at e th e S i tu at i on o f men whose wh o l e l ives are dom in ated
by on e long ser i e s o f t rad i t i on s and cu stoms , as are those o f th e
I n d i an s . They do many t h in gs s imp ly because i t i s th e cu s tom ,an d
can g ive n o b e t t er reason for do i ng them . These con servat iv e forces
are growi ng s lowly l es s i n I n d i an l i fe , as the peop l e l earn wh i t e
m en ’s ways and come under Ameri can i n fluence . But as th e I n d ian
i s on ly i n th e ch i l dhood o f cu l tu re growth , h e takes th e forward s tep s
bu t s l ow ly,as al l who have t rave l ed the same road be fore h im have
don e .
I n th e s tu dy o f th e t rad i t i on al l ore of th e Pueb l o peop le very l i t t l e
sat i s factory work has been don e . The men t i on of Mr . Cush i ng’
s
name cal l s to min d th e bes t i l l u s t rat ion of such work . What h e has
don e among the Zun i sh ou l d be don e in every othe r pueb lo , or , at
l eas t,i n every on e o f the fou r or five re lat ed group s o f peopl e . Hi s
1 T h i rte en th A n n ua l Report , B ureau of E thn ology, p . 339 .
2 E l even th A n n ual R eport , B ureau of E thn ology, p . 14 .
4 2 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
work , however , rep resen ts the l abor o f many years an d o f l on g res i
d ence at Zufi i .
I n th e t rad i t i on s o f th e Pueb l o p eop l e i t i s i n t ere st i ng t o n ot i ce
the resemb lances wh i ch occu r from one t r i be to an o th er,resemb lances
wh i ch are , as we shou l d expect , c l ose r between th e Pueb los th em se lve s
than be tween them and ou t s i d e peop l e s . The d i fficu l ty o f l earn i ng
anyth i ng from th e I nd i an s,part i cu l ar ly o f a myth i ca l o r re l i g iou s
nature,i s very great . I t can n o t be appreci ated by on e w ho has n o t
made the att emp t . S o exper i en ced an ethn o l og i s t as M r . Bande l i e r
says : “ Notwi th s tan d i ng a re s i d en ce o f over one year among th e
Queres,I n ever succeeded i n pen et rat i ng the i r s ecret s m ore than part i
a l ly . I i one on ce takes a fal s e s t ep,adop ts a wrong method i n
deal i ng wi th th em,h i s i n fluen ce i s gon e . Bande l i e r sp eaks o f San to
Dom ingo hav i ng c l osed i t s d oors t o h im .
At Tao s I was hampered i n my i nqu i r i e s by a ci rcum s tan ce wh i ch
i l l u s t rates very we l l cer tai n characte ri s t i c s o f t h e I nd i an . S ome years
ago ,abou t fi ft een I be l i ev e
,rep re sen tat i ve s o f th e governmen t wer e at
S i a mak ing i nves t igat ion s . O f cou rse th ey had to ask many qu es t i on s .
Some t im e a fte r t h ey wen t away t here was much s i ckn ess i n th e pueb l o ,and many peop l e d i ed . I t occu rred to th e S i a peop l e that the
presen ce o f thos e wh i t e men , ask i ng a l o t o f qu es t ion s , was th e cause
of a l l t he i r t roub l e,s o t h ey s en t men t o the oth er pueb l os t o warn th em
agai n s t wh i t e m en!
w ho cam e to find ou t abou t th e i r cu s toms and
be l i e fs . These m essengers were at Taos,and th e peop l e rem em
ber th e i r warn i ng we l l . I f a Tao s I nd i an i s caugh t n ow teach i ng
th e l anguage or t e l l i ng any o f th e t rad i t i on s to a wh i t e man,h e i s
l i ab l e to a wh i pp i ng and a fin e . Thi s accoun t s fo r t he fact th at I
cou l d rare ly l earn anyth i ng from my fr i en d when we were at th e
pueb l o,al though when away i n the moun tai n s he became much m ore
Open and commum cative .
The few myths wh i ch I was ab l e t o l earn are bri e f,bu t they are
o u t l i n es,an d have some featu res wh i ch i n d i cate con n ect ion wi th oth er
7 7 1
pueb l o myth s .
The peop l e o f Taos came or ig in al ly'
fr om th e n orth,where they
l i ved i n what i s n ow sou thern Co lo rad o . After l eav i ng th i s p lace
th ey l i ved for some t ime i n n orth ern N ew Mexi co , and agai n s om e
m i l e s eas t o f the i r p re sen t home . But be fore l iv i ng on the earth at
a l l,th ey had l i ved in a lak e . When th ey cam e up from the lake
,they
I P aper s A r c/z. I n st. of A nzer . , I I I , p. 293 .
S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 43
w ere wi l d , d i d n o t wear even th e breech - c l ou t,and began at once to
hun t th e deer . Whi l e i n the i r northern home th ey had many ne ighbors,
among th em the Pi cu r i s , who l ived j us t s ou th o f them . One day a
P i cu ris man was p lan t i ng s ome whi t e corn . He had some gra i n s i n
h i s hand and was showi ng them to a Taos man,when th e lat ter h i t h i s
hand from be l ow and scat t ered the corn . From that t ime th e tw o
p eop le s were en em i e s , and the Pi cu ri s moved away to the sou th . We
note here agreemen t wi th oth er Pueb l o myth s i n tw o po i n t s : fi rs t,that
th e p eop l e came from the n orth , and , s econd ,that th ey had n o t a lways
l i ved on the ear th , and had n ot been created on i t , bu t came up from
be l ow . The Z un i myth s , as g iven by Mr . Cush ing ,are very e laborate
i n th e i r accoun t o f th e way i n wh i ch the peop l e escaped from th e
l ower wor ld , t h e s tages they reached ,t he gu i des they had
,etc .
’
The S i a have a s im i l ar myth ! Among the Navaj o s th ere seems al s o
t o be th e sam e i dea ,3 th ough i t very l i ke ly was borrowed from the
Pueb l o p eop l e .
Befo re t he peop l e came from the n orth,th e earth was so ft ; even th e
rocks were n ot hard . s o that an imal s l e ft t racks i n t hem ,wh i ch can be
s een i n th e hard rocks today . Al l th e ground was covered wi th wat er .
Thi s i s s imp ly th e wi desp read t rad i t i on of a fl ood,whi ch has been
exp l ai n ed as e i ther l oca l rem embrance o f actua l flood s,or as a con
c lusion arr i ved at from find ing on h igh l an d she l l s o f an ima l s wh i ch
l i ve i n wat er,or from the ev i d ence furn i shed by these t ract s i n th e
rocks,w h i ch
,t o a p rim i t i ve m i nd , must certai n ly be conc lu s i ve . A
t rad i t i on of a flood may al s o have ar i s en from th e teach i ngs o f m i s
sion ar ies. These sources are obv i ou s enough . John F i sk e says“ The numerou s myth s o f an a l l - des troy i ng de l uge have doubt l es s
ar i sen part ly from rem i n i scences of actual ly occu rr i ng l ocal i nunda
t i on s,an d part ly from the fact that the Scr i p tu ra l accoun t o f a de luge
h as been carr i ed a l l over th e wor l d by Cath o l i c and Pro t es tan t m i s
sion ar ies.
” 4
When th e foremos t o f t he men o f the Zun i fi rs t cam e forth , th ey
found the ear th “ wet and un s tab l e .
” 5 The men had webbed fee t
l ike tho se o f wa lke rs i n wet and so ft p laces .
” 6 Lat er , aft er Zun i - l and
T h i rte en th A n n ual R eport , B ureau ot E thn ology, pp . 379—84.
2 E l even th A n n ua l R eport , B ureau of E thno logy, pp . 26—37 .
3 E igh th A n n ua l Report , B ureau of E thn ology, p . 27 5 .
4 ]ohn F iske , I IIyt/zs an d Myt/z-M aker s, p . 1 5 2 .
5 T h i rtee n th A n n ua l R eport , B ureau of E thnology, p . 38 1 .
6 M id ,p . 383 .
44 S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
had been se t t l ed , a flood came from th e swel l i ng of th e r iver an d
bu ri ed hou ses an d many men,and was s tayed on ly when a you th pr i es t
an d mai d en p r i es t es s had been sacr i ficed t o th e waters . 1 The S i-a
al s o r e fe r t o a great flood wh ich d i d n ot fa l l as rai n,bu t cam e i n as
r i ver s between th e mesas , an d con t i n ued fl owi ng from al l s i de s un t i l
t he peop l e and a l l an im al s fl ed to th e m esa .
” 2 Here , to o , t o s tay th e
waters a you th an d mai den were cas t “ from the m esa t op and imme
d iate ly th e waters began to reced e .
” 3 To an oth e r featu re o f th i s t ra
d i t i o n o f a d e luge at Taos re fe ren ce wi l l b e m ade i n conn ect i on w i th
t he Taos cu l tu re - hero .
The hero was n amed P i - ah - ket- ta - chOl - la !Po i n t h i l l green!, a n amewh i ch Was given h i m becau se h e cou l d at any t im e , even i n wi n te r ,make a h i l l green . Th i s th e peopl e con si der a very good n am e .
Pi - an - két- ta - chO’
l - la'
was b orn at th e foot o f a cedar tr eefi
ab out on e
hun dred and fi fty m i l e s n or th o f Tao s and west of th e San Lu i s val l ey .
H i s mothe r,w ho w as a Pueb l o woman , had never kn own a man , bu t sh e
pu t some very fin e p ret ty pebb l e s i n h er be l t,an d s oon after th i s ch i l d
was born . When the peop l e cou l d no t fin d ou t who th e father o f th e
ch i l d was,th ey at tempted t o pu t h im t o d eath . Bu t t h ey d i d no t succeed ,
and as soon as he grew o lde r he began to l o ok very beau t i fu l , l i ke J e su s
Chri s t ,” on e o f th e m en sa i d t o me . Now th ere was a t i m e when the
Pueb l o peop l e d i d n ot kn ow how to dance , t o make the i r c l o thes , t o
p l an t corn,bean s
,and cal abashes . A f ter P i - an - két- ta - chOl - la came , h e
taugh t th em al l these th i ngs . He p i cked ou t s om e d i ff eren t - co lored
s ton es,an d from t hem he made co rn
,bean s
,and cal abashes grow .
He al so had the p ower t o fly . One t im e h e wen t up to find ou t
abou t th e s tars . He took o ff h i s moccas i n s and al l h i s c l o thes excep t
th e b reech - c l ou t . Many peop l e cam e ou t to s ee h i m . He had an
eag l e ’s ta i l fas ten ed to h i s br eech - cl ou t beh i nd,an d on h i s arm s above
th e e lbow wi l d turkey wi ngs . When there was too much wi nd,h e
cou l d n o t go up ; bu t on a qu i e t day he wou l d go to th e t op o f a house
and fly away . The peop l e wou l d watch h i m grow smal l e r an d smal l er,
t i l l final ly h e becam e smal l as a fly,an d then d i sappeared al toge ther .
He wen t up very h igh i n the ai r , as h i gh as from Taos to San ta F 6 ,an d got wi th i n a few fee t o f th e st ars . They are b i rd s an d have very
green l egs and ve ry br igh t b reas t s,l i ke a hummi n g b i rd ; th ey have a
b i l l s om e th i ng l i k e an eag l e’s , and very dark eyes . The twi nk l i ng of
I T h i rte en t h A n n ua l R eport , B ureau of E thn o logy, p . 429.
2 E l eve n th A n n ual Re port,B ureau of E thn ology, p . 35 .
3 I l n'
d .
,p . 5 7 .
46 S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
nut s . At h i s b i r th she was much chagr i n ed and cas t h im o ff,wh i l e h e
was s t i l l ve ry young . He l ived as b es t h e cou l d un t i l h e reached man
hood , when h i s magi c p ower appeared .
' After a t im e he wen t t o v i s i t
a l l th e pueb l os . When he came t o th e S i a,th ey kn ew h im
,becau s e
they had heard o f h im . He s tayed wi th th em a wh i l e an d taugh t
th em to hun t,an d then wen t on i n to Ch ih uahua
,Mex i co . Here
h e was k i l l ed by r i va l s for t he favor o f a ch i e f ’s daugh ter , to whom
he had been marr i ed,but th e n ext day he appeared al ive agai n
,
and , t h ough a s econd t ime pu t t o d eath , by drown i ng , he ros e agai n , and
the S i a say : H e s t i l l l i ves,and som e t ime h e w i l l come t o u s
H e may com e today,tom orrow
,or perhap s no t i n our l i fe t im e .
Jus t as we fin d th e Tao s cu l ture - hero P i - an - ket - té - chOI - la mak i ng
peop l e from the foam on the wat er,s o th e Sun - father o f th e Zuni
i mpregnated the Foam - cap s o that sh e gave b i rth to th e Be l oved Twai n
who l ed m en ou t from the wor l d be l ow to th e wor l d o f l igh t an d l i fe .
The cu l tu re - hero o f th e Zuni who corre sponds mos t n ear ly,per
hap s , t o th ese o f Taos and o f S i a was Pai - ya- t u - ma,
“ God of Dew
an d th e D awn .
” 3 He i s n o t rep resen ted as hav i ng gi ven grai n t o th e
Zun i by a s i ng l e and s imp l e act o f creat i on,as d i d P i - an - ket - ta - chOl - l
’
a
at Taos,bu t th e p eop l e had much t o d o i n th e fi rs t cerem ony wh i ch
gave them the s tap l e I nd i an cerea l . Bu t aft e r t hey had gon e th rough
the l ong r i t e s,
“ ou t from the East—l and cam e Pai - ya- tu - ma ” and“ touched the p lan t s wi th the re fre sh i ng breath o f h i s flute .
” 4 Then , as
th e morn ing m i s t s c l eared away,he
,t o o
,d i sappeared , and was seen bu t
on ce agai n,when the p eop l e became d i ssat i sfied wi t h th e way i n wh i ch
th e corn cu s t om was observed . He was sough t ou t . He cam e back
an d i n s t ructed th e p e op l e i n th e o l d cu s tom ,and then ,
“ i n th e gray
m i s t s o f t h e morn i ng,Pai - ya - tu - ma was h i dd en — and i s s een n o more
o f m en .
” 5 The Zun i Po - sha i - yan - k !ya,t he wi ses t o f w i s e m en and
the forem ost , bo th i n h i s n ame an d i n h i s qua l i t i e s , sh ows s im i l ar i ty to
th e S i a hero Po - sha i - yan - n e , bu t i n that p ar t o f th e Zun i myth s wh i ch
Mr . Cush i ng has t hu s far pub l i shed Pa i - ya- tu - ma more c l os e ly re sem
b l e s the S i a god .
Before th e Taos peop l e were l i v i ng where th ey n ow are , oth er
p ueb lo peop l e l i ved i n th e val l ey . Traces o f what are supp osed t o have
been th ei r hou se s may s t i l l b e s een .
! Whi l e th es e peop l e were l i v i ng
I E l e ven t h A n n ual Re port , B ureau of E thn ology, pp . 59—6 7 .
2 T hi rteen th A n n ual R eport , B ureau of E thn ology, p . 38 1 .
3 I b id . ,p . 377 .
4 I b id .,p . 395 .
5 I b id . , p . 447 .
S T UD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS 4 7
h ere , there came a bi g man , t a l l as a p i n e t ree , and k i l l ed m any o f
them . Those who were l e ft wen t away . Thi s g i an t cou l d d r i n k out
o f th e R i o Grande by pu t t i ng on e foo t on each s i d e o f the r i ver,
s to op i ng down and res t i ng h i s hand s on th e banks,al though the rive r
i n the va l l ey flows between h igh,s t eep wal l s . The track o f h i s foot
,
wh i ch was l e f t i n th e rock be fore i t h arden ed,i s abou t th ree feet l ong
an d on e foo t w i d e . Th i s i s up i n the h i l l s,n ot far from the pueb lo , an d
i s s ai d to be covered up n ow by ra i n wash . The gi an t had a b oy who
u sed to go aroun d wi th h im , and he , too ,l e ft h i s t rack on a rock . That
o f th e man I have n o t seen , th ough I have no d oubt there ex i s t s s ome
th i ng wh i ch much resembl es a man’
s t rack,whatever i t may be . The
boy ’s t rack my fr i en d promi sed t o sh ow me,so we wen t up to th e h i l l s
on e day , carry i ng a smal l rop e , that we m igh t b r i ng down a load o f
wood,and so con cea l th e rea l p u rpos e o f ou r wal k . The impress ion i n
th e rock appears t o b e that of a man ’s l e f t foo t . I t i s abou t a foo t
long and fou r o r five i n ches w id e . After I had exam i ned i t,we scat
ter ed san d over i t , s o that i t wou l d n o t appear that anyone had been
look ing at i t . The g i an t and the boy were at l as t k i l l ed by Pi - an - ket
tZi - chOl - la .
The S i a,t oo
,were t roub l ed by gi an t s . They were cal l ed the Skoyo
an d were born o f the S i a women wh i l e th e men were away fromthemfo r th ree years . They ate th e p eop l e , catch i ng t hem j us t as th e coyote
catches h i s p rey,th en roas t i ng them an d eat i ng them . A vi rg i n became
by th e Sun - father th e mother o f twi n boys , M aasew e and U’
yuuyew e .
On e dayt hey wen t to v i s i t the i r father , th e su n , and he gave th embows an d arrows and th ree s t i cks ap i ece . They then des t royed al l the
g i an t s who were eat i ng th e S i a peop l e , and , final ly , aft er per fo rm i ng
many great deed s,wen t back to t h e Sun - fath er . He sen t them i n to
th e Sand i a mou n tai n s t o l ive , and there th ey s t i l l l i ve , for the i r foo t
pr i n t s are t o b e s een on the moun tain s.
I
The twin boys i n th e S i a myth do a part o f the work w h i ch was
don e at Taos by th e hero P i - an - két - ta - chOl - la . F or the boys des troy
the gi an t s and teach th e peop l e some th i ngs , su ch as organ i zat i on o f
th e cu l t soci e t i e s . But o ther th i ngs wh i ch were taugh t by Pi - an - két
té - chOl - l a t o th e Taos p eop l e , Po - shai—yan - n e t augh t th e S i a .
I n th e Navaj o cosm ogony, as gi ven by Mr . S t even son , are men t ioned
two wonderfu l b oy s who wen t to v i s i t the i r fath er , th e sun . He gave
th em bows,ar rows
,kn ives
,good l egg ings , an d even l igh tn i ng . Wi th
1 E l even th A n n ual R epor t , B ureau of E thn ology , pp . 42—5 7 .
48 S TUD Y OF TH E P UE B LO OF TA OS
t he i r weapon s th ey th en k i l l ed th e i r en em i es and wen t to l i ve i n the
moun tai n s . Before l eav i ng th ey taught th e Navaj o peop l e s ongs an d
praye r s.
I Th i s c l o se ly re semb l es t he S i a myth,and probab ly was bor
rowed from the Pueb l os .
Br i n ton men t i on s that among the M uyscason th e Andean p l ateau
th e kn o w l edge o f the i r var i ous ar t s was at t r ibu ted to th e i n s truc t i on s
o f a wi se s t ranger who dwe l t among them many cyc l es b e fore th e
arr i va l o f th e Span i ard s h i s foo tp r i n t s on th e so l i d rock were
reve ren t ly po i n t ed ou t l ong aft er th e conques t . ” 2 Here i t i s th e cu l tu re
hero whose t racks are seen i n th e rocks,and not t hose o f th e g i an t s
who ate the peop l e . Th i s i s n o t s t range , as these t racks , wh i ch s o
c l os e ly resemb l e th e i mpres s i on o f a ve ry l arge man ’s foo t,m igh t eas i ly
be ass oci ated e i the r wi th th e cu l tu re - hero or w i th the ev i l be i ng t o w hom
he i s s o o f t en opposed .
I t i s ev i d en t that t o o l i t t l e o f th e myth o logy o f the Pueb l os ,excep t i ng Zun i and S i a
,has been co l l e ct ed t o p erm i t an at temp t at
i n terp retat i on ye t . I th i n k t here can be n o doubt that th ere i s at Taos
a r i ch s tore of myth i ca l l o re ; t h i s wh i ch I have g i ven i s certa i n ly the
m eres t beg in n i ng .
I f we are t o fo l l ow Mr . Bri n ton i n h i s i n t erp re tat i on,we have i n
t hes e cu l ture - hero s to r i es s i mp ly sun myths . The wonder fu l man wh o
t eache s th e peop l e how to p l an t,t o hun t , an d to d o al l k i n ds o f work ,
an d who bri ngs d ry l and ou t o f the waters,i s on ly th e sun
,wh i ch makes
ev eryth i ng grow,wh i ch dr i es up th e waters
,and i s i t s e l f n ecessary to
man ’s e xi s ten ce .
“ The s tory o f the v i rg i n mo t her po i n t s , i n Amer i ca
as i t d i d i n th e o l d w or l d,t o t he not i on of th e d awn bri ng i ng for th
th e sun .
” 3 The hero may go away or be conquered,bu t he i s n o t
k i l l ed . So “ th e su n shal l r i s e agai n i n un d im i n i shed g l ory,an d h e
l i v es,though absen t . ” 4
1 E ighth A n n ual R eport , B ureau of E thn o logy, p . 280.
2 D . G. B r in ton ,Amer ican Her o-M yt/zs, pp. 220—2 1 .
3 I Oid . , p . 34.4 I b id . , p . 30.
