^°,<. 
 
 » ■--i'i-'t'' " > ' 
 
 
 
 ■^ fl * - '^.- 
 
 
 't. 
 
 _t. V ^ , 
 
 <> * a » 
 
 
 ,>) 
 
 
 
 
 
 '^^ 
 
 
/ 
 
 9^ 
 
 4. ■- . 
 
 
 ,0 
 
 •n^ 
 
 O •• "^'i 
 
 <^-'% 
 
 ' fO 
 
 
 
 
 O • . 
 
 
 .^° . 
 
 
 
 
 -t- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • '■''' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .-' 
 
 i> V* 
 
 „ ^ 
 
 •f^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 "^j. 
 
 -^^ 
 
 0^ 
 
 "^-^x. 
 
 "^^ 
 
 
 
 ^■^ -"^ V"*;'!^'^:'" >^ "^, 
 
 
 b* 
 
 
 
 ^ "^ »-^ 
 
 o > 
 
 
 1 »'_'', -^ 
 
 V^' 
 
 
 
 <J>^ * » - " ' , V 
 
 .HO, 
 
 U A^ ' ^>%^^^ \, <?^ ^^> 
 
 V^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >^/?^' 
 
 Jv^V 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 ^J-'^.' 
 
 o 
 
 
 •" o 
 
 • ' \ 
 
 .^o 
 
 
 .N* 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 / 
 
 C- 
 
 
 ^o 
 
 * 
 
 0^ 
 
 ^'^ 
 
 
 0' 
 
 
 r-, v= 
 
 vO' 
 
 iii^ii.iiv 
 
Ub(c lllniversits ot Cbicago 
 
 FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER 
 
 A PRELIMINARY STUDY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 NEW MEXICO 
 
 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTIES OF THE GRADUATE 
 
 SCHOOLS OF ARTS, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE, IN CANDIDACY 
 
 FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 
 BY 
 
 MERTON LELAND MILLER 
 
 CHICAGO 
 XLbc Tllnlverslts of Cbicago iprcss 
 

ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Taos Valley, 5 ; discovery of Taos by the Spaniards, 6 ; houses 
 now occupied at Taos not those in use when discovered, 9 ; resistance 
 offered to the Spaniards, 10; linguistic relations of the Pueblos of 
 New Mexico, 11 ; origin of Taos people, 13; numbers of the Pueblo 
 Indians, 13; land tenure, 15; location of Taos, 16; irrigation, 17; 
 houses, 1 8 ; ovens, 20 ; produce and mode of agriculture, 2 1 ; plows, 2 2 ; 
 harvesting, 22 ; hunting, 23: work of the women, 23; kivas, form, use, 
 location, and number, 24; dress, 27; hair dressing, 30 ; civil organiza- 
 tion, 31 ; clans, 34 ; marriage, 35 ; mode of reckoning time, 35 ; seasons, 
 36; communal work, 36; communal hunts, 36; language, 37; personal 
 names, 38 ; people at Taos from other Pueblos, 38 ; religion, 39 ; 
 force of custom among Indians, 41 ; difficulties in learning Indian 
 traditions, 42 ; myths and traditions, 42. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 This brief account of the Pueblo of Taos is the result mainly of a 
 three-months' visit at the Pueblo in the summer of 1896. Now that a 
 few friends have been made there, it is hoped that at a later time a more 
 complete and thorough study may be made. 
 
 The repeated references to the Papers of the Archceological Institute 
 of America show how much I am indebted to the writings of Mr. A. F. 
 Bandelier. 
 
 In spelling the few native names which occur in this study and 
 which I have not seen mentioned before, I have followed the alphabet 
 given in Powell's Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages. 
 
 M. L. M. 
 
A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF 
 TAOS, NEW MEXICO. 
 
 One of the most attractive valleys in New Mexico is that of Taos. 
 It is situated in the center of the northern part of the territory, not 
 many miles from the Colorado line. Shut in by the Taos range of the 
 Rocky mountains on the east and by the mesas which border the Rio 
 Grande on the west, it is today, as it has been in the past, one of the 
 best watered, greenest, and most fertile valleys in the Southwest. The 
 one thing above all others needed in New Mexico is water. Taos 
 valley, while it has not an over-abundant supply, has enough to enable 
 the people to irrigate as much as they wish, except in unusually dry 
 seasons. The several streams which water the valley, the principal of 
 which are Lucerro, Pueblo, Taos, and Fernandez creeks, are rarely 
 entirely dry, unless the water is turned aside into the acequias, the 
 large irrigating ditches which run from every stream. Perhaps no 
 crops, excepting maize, the staple Indian product, could be raised 
 without irrigation. " Corn may grow on elevated table mountains or 
 plateaus that are hundreds, nay thousands, of feet above a spring or 
 brook." ' Under such circumstances the water must be economically 
 used, and often in midsummer, when the snow on the mountains has 
 melted, must be used continuously day and night, as the supply is not 
 large enough to permit many to irrigate at the same time. 
 
 The valley owes its fertility and attractiveness in large part to its 
 altitude and its location in the mountains, whose melting snows supply 
 the streams. Its elevation is over 7,000 feet. In the summer days, 
 when the sun shines, as it does during the greater part of the warmer 
 season, it is very hot, but the air is so dry that one does not seriously 
 feel the heat ; and as soon as the sun sets the air is very cool and 
 refreshing, often, after a very hot day, even chilly. 
 
 The report of the first geological survey of this region contains a 
 notice which is interesting because it helps to show how attractive 
 Taos valley has appeared to everyone who has seen it, not merely as 
 compared with other less favored parts of New Mexico, but when com- 
 
 ' Papers of the Archaological Institute of America, American Series, III, p. 156. 
 
 5 
 
6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 pared with other regions better supplied with water. " The Taos Basin 
 has, perhaps, a larger amount of tillable land in one compact body 
 than is to be found similarly situated in any other part of the area. 
 The soil is admirable, being derived from the Archaean and Carbonif- 
 erous with no small admixture of volcanic material ; while at but a 
 few inches below the surface is a tufaceous limestone, which cannot 
 fail to be a constant amendment to the soil. Water is supplied by 
 large streams — Pueblo, Ferdinand, and Frijole creeks. A population 
 of not far from 10,000 inhabits this basin, and yet a large part of the 
 land is still wild." ' 
 
 Mr. Poore, in his report, contained in a Census Bulletin on the 
 Pueblo Indians, says : " It would be difficult to find in the west, where 
 farming is dependent upon irrigation, a more desirable tract of land 
 than that owned by these Indians. The water, carried in subwater- 
 ways, or acequias, commands a large portion of the reservation.'"' 
 
 Eight or ten miles west of the valley flows the Rio Grande. As 
 one looks westward he sees only the low line of the mesas and many 
 miles farther, though it seems but few, the irregular outline of the dis- 
 tant ranges of the Rocky mountains. No sign of the Rio Grande flow- 
 ing between its cafion walls can be seen. Far to the south rise the 
 nearer, but still distant, heights of the Mora range, beyond which lies 
 the city of Santa Fe. To the north stretches the gently sloping mesa 
 as far as the eye can see, rising gradually toward the east and 
 merging into the foothills of the Taos range. This valley, which the 
 American and the Mexican find so attractive, the Indian had discov- 
 ered and occupied before the white man came. Toward its northern 
 end and close to the foothills on the eastern side, under the very 
 shadow of the towering Taos peak, the Spaniards, when they first 
 visited the country, found the Indian pueblo of Taos, or Te-uat-ha,^ as 
 it was called in the native idiom. Taos was then, as it is today, the 
 most northerly of the pueblos and has, perhaps, the best location. 
 
 The account of the first visit of the Spaniards to Taos, as given by 
 Castaneda, presents a difficulty which it may be well to state even if 
 
 ' " U. S. Geographical Survey West of looth Meridian," III, Supplement : Geology, 
 pp. 364-5. 
 
 * " Eleventh Census of the U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo Indiatzs of 
 Arizona and Pueblo Indians of JVew Mexico, p. 1 00. 
 
 'i Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 123. Bandelier states that the name Taos is 
 corrupted from the Tehua word Ta-ui, 77/ 1? Gilded Alan, p. 149, footnote. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 7 
 
 no light be thrown on the matter. In 1540 Coronado had set out 
 from Mexico for the north and particularly to search for the rich and 
 popular city of Quivira, of which he had heard. After he and his 
 company had reached Cibola (Zufii), Hernando d'Alvarado was sent 
 on ahead with twenty men to accompany certain Indians who had 
 come from villages to the east to see the strangers. Alvarado was to 
 return in eighty days. " Alvarado partit done avec eux. Cinq jours 
 apres ils arriverent a un village nomme Acuco, qui est construit sur un 
 rocher. Les habitants qui peuvent mettre sur pied environ deux cents 
 
 guerriers sont des brigands redoutes dans toute la province A 
 
 trois journees de la, Alvarado et les siens arriverent dans une province 
 
 que Ton nomme Tiguex A cinq journees de la, Alvarado arriva 
 
 a Cicuye, village tres-fortifie, et dont les maisons ont quatre etages.'" 
 
 When Don Tristan d'Arellano reached Cibola with the rest of the 
 army, Coronado ordered him to allow the army a rest of twenty days 
 and then to follow the road which he himself was about to take to 
 Tiguex. At Tiguex Coronado found Alvarado awaiting him. Later 
 they were joined by Arellano with the arm}'. Some time was spent 
 here till, finally, the people rose in revolt because of the excessive 
 demands made upon 'them by the soldiers. While the siege of Tiguex 
 was in progress, Coronado went on to Cicuye and from this latter point 
 set out on his long march to the northeast. When he had been on his 
 way for some days, provisions began to run short, so the army was sent 
 back under command of Arellano, and Coronado went on with only a 
 few men. 
 
 In July or late in June, 1 541, Arellano reached Tiguex on his return 
 march. He then "donna ordre au capitaine Francisco de Barrio-Nuevo 
 de remonter le fieuve avec quelques soldats, dans la direction du nord. 
 Cet officier visita deux provinces ; I'une se nommait Hemes, et renfer- 
 mait sept villages ; I'autre Yuque-Yunque." The inhabitants of Yuque- 
 Yunque " se retirerent dans les montagnes, ou ils en avaient quatre 
 autres fortifies, dans une situation tres-difficile : Ton ne pouvait y par- 
 
 venir avec les chevaux A vingt iieues plus loin, en remontant 
 
 la riviere, il y avait un grand et puissant village que Ton nommait 
 Braba, les notres lui donnerent le nom de Valladolid. II etait bati sur 
 les deux rives du fleuve, que Ton traversait sur les ponts construits en 
 madriers de pins, tres-bien equarris. L'on vit dans ce village les etuves 
 
 ' " Relation du Voyage de Cibola par Pedro de Castaiieda de Nagera." H. Ter- 
 naux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, pp. 69-71. 
 
8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 les plus grandes et les plus extraordinaires de tout le pays. Elles 
 etaient soutenues par douze pilliers, dont chacun avait deux brasses de 
 tour et deux toises de haut. Le capitaine Hernando d'Alvarado avait 
 deja visite ce village en allant a la decouverte de Cicuye. La contree 
 est fort elevee et tres-froide ; la riviere qui I'arrose est fort profonde et 
 rapide, et on n'y trouve pas de gue. De la, le capitaine Barrio-Nuevo 
 revint au camp, apres avoir laisse tout le pays parfaitement tran- 
 quille." ' 
 
 \\\ the identification of the villages mentioned in this account of 
 Castaneda there is some difference of opinion. Cibola, it is generally 
 agreed, is Zuiii. Acuco, it is also generally agreed, is Acoma. Tiguex 
 has been located by Mr. W. W. H. Davis on the Rio Puerco, which 
 joins the Rio Grande near the present town of La Joya." Mr. Simp- 
 son places it " on the Rio Grande, below the Rio Puerco, at the foot of 
 the Socorro mountains."^ Mr. Bandelier believes it was near the site 
 of the modern Bernalillo on the Rio Grande. Mr. Simpson and Mr- 
 Bandelier both place Cicuye at Pecos, while Mr. Davis places it on the 
 Rio Grande, "somewhere in the valley of the Guadalupe, and but a 
 few miles from its mouth. "•* Now, it will be noticed that Alvarado, in 
 his march from Cibola to Cicuye, traveled from Cibola to Acoma in 
 five days, from Acoma to Tiguex in three days, and from Tiguex to 
 Cicuye in five days more. But if Tiguex and Cicuye were at any one 
 of the places which have been suggested, and if the Braba mentioned 
 by Castaiieda we're situated where Taos is today, it is difficult to see how 
 Alvarado could have reached Cicuye in the time he did, if he went so 
 far north as Taos, which is over sixty miles in a direct line north of 
 Pecos. It is further hard to understand how he could have reached 
 Taos without having seen or heard of the Tehua pueblos of Tesuque, 
 Nambe, Pojuaque, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan. If 
 these identical villages did not exist then, there were, nevertheless, 
 Tehua Indians in the same general region. Again, the river which 
 waters Taos valley is referred to as very deep and rapid, and as 
 having no fords. In the whole valley today there is no stream 
 which will answer this description, nor is it easy to suppose that 
 
 ' H. Ternaux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, pp. 137-9. 
 
 * W. \V. H. Davis, The Spanish Conqtiest of New Mexico, p. 185, note I. 
 3 General Simpson, "Coronado's March," Smithsonian Report, 1869, p. 335. 
 '^Papers Arch. Inst, of Ainer., I, p. 17. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New 
 Mexico, p. 198, note i. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 9 
 
 the streams which now water the valley were once so deep that 
 they could not be forded. Today one can ford any of the streams 
 at almost any point on foot. The reference may be to the Rio Grande, 
 though it certainly does not water that part of the valley in which Taos 
 pueblo is situated. And yet Mr. Bandelier says of the identity of Braba 
 and Taos " it is unmistakable." ' Certainly the description of the village 
 as being built upon the two banks of a stream which one could cross 
 on bridges made of well-squared timbers is in exact accord with the 
 conditions at Taos today. I find no reference in Mr. Bandelier's reports 
 to Alvarado's visit to Taos, but Mr. Davis says, "Up to the point where 
 the army was left upon the plains, the Spaniards had passed through 
 the following provinces, which are given in the words of Castaneda." == 
 Then follows the list, which includes " Valladolid or Braba," and ends 
 with the statement, " Tiguex is the central point, and Valladolid the 
 last toward the North-east." 
 
 This question of location is apart from the other question, whether 
 the people are today living in the same buildings which the Spaniards 
 saw. Mr. Bandelier positively says: "With the exception of Acoma, 
 there is not a sipgle pueblo standing where it was at the time of Coro- 
 nado, or even sixty years later, when Juan de Ofiate accomplished the 
 peaceable reduction of the New Mexican village Indians." ^ 
 
 It is not particularly significant in this connection, but it may be 
 noted that at Taos, only a few rods east from the present houses, are 
 the ruins of older buildings. They are little more than a heap of 
 earth and loose stones, but one can occasionally find a very distinct 
 fragment of an old wall built of adobe bricks of a different form from 
 those now made by the Taos people. The people themselves say, and 
 it is undoubtedlv true, that in the old days adobe bricks were not made, 
 but a wall was built by laying one layer of mud on another, and simply 
 allowing time for each layer to dry. They further say that not long 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., I, p. 23, footnote. 
 
 ""The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, p. 221. 
 
 '^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 34. 
 
 I do not know what Mr. Bandelier's authority is for making- this statement, but, 
 in view of the well-known fact that the pueblo peoples have so often moved their 
 towns, it seems safe enough without evidence to the contrary to hold this view. I 
 notice that Mr. Prince says : " In several instances, as at Taos and in the western 
 pueblos, the people are now living in identically the same houses which were then (when 
 Columbus discovered America) occupied."'--L. B. Prince, Historical Sketches of New 
 Mexico, p. 31. 
 
lO STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 ago there were other ruins just across the little stream. So it may easily 
 be that these ruins, to which the people still point as their former 
 homes, situated with reference to the creek just as are the houses of 
 today, are what is left of the houses which the Spaniards saw. 
 
 Taos appears several times prominently in opposition to the Span- 
 iards. Possibly its position farther from Spanish influence, or the 
 necessit)' which the people were under of defending themselves from 
 their enemies, enabled it to maintain its independence more effectively 
 than the villages farther south. 
 
 Some time after 1650 a conspiracy was formed at Taos and spread 
 as far as Moqui. I quote from Bandelier : " Y despues de algun 
 tempo despacharon del pueblo deTaos dos gamuzas con algunas pin- 
 turas por los pueblos de la custodia, con sefiales de conjuracion a su 
 modo, para convocar la gente a nuevo alzamiento, y que dichas gamu- 
 zas pasaron hasta la provincia de Moqui donde no quisieron admitirlos, 
 y ceso el pacto por entonces.'" Although Po-pe, the instigator of 
 the great conspiracy of 1680, was an Indian of San Juan, he seems to 
 have made his plans at Taos and to have received much assistance 
 from the people there. Certain it is that they were among the last to 
 submit to de Vargas at the time of the reconquest in 1692. After de 
 Vargas had taken Santa Fe, he set out against some more distant vil- 
 lages. "The Indians of the Taos pueblo, who dwelt in a beautiful and 
 fertile valley some seventy-five miles to the North, continued to be 
 very hostile toward their brethren who were disposed to acknowledge 
 the authority of the Spaniards, and Vargas had been requested by 
 the Tanos, Teguas, and some of the Picoris Indians, to exterminate 
 them."^ Arrived at the pueblo, he found it deserted. The Indians 
 had fled to the mountains. They were, however, induced to return, 
 and quiet was restored. 
 
 Again in 1694 de Vargas was compelled to march on Taos. As 
 before he found the village deserted, and when the people refused to 
 return to their homes, he sacked the town. 
 
 The last time when the Taos people gave any trouble was at the 
 time of the Taos rebellion in 1847. The country was disturbed 
 owing to the relations between the United States and Mexico, and the 
 insurrection was brought about more by the Mexicans than by the 
 Indians themselves. The ruins of the church within which the Pueblo 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of A?ne7:, III, p. 139, footnote. 
 ' Davis, T/tt Spanish Conquest of AVw Mexico, p. 341. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 1 1 
 
 people made their last stand against the white people are still at Taos. 
 The Pueblo Indian has always shown himself brave and ready to fight 
 when occasion required, but peaceable and friendly toward those with 
 whom cordial relations existed. 
 
 The final word has yet to be said on the linguistic relations of the 
 Pueblos of New Mexico. Five groups may be recognized — Tiguas, 
 Tehuas, Queres, Jemez, and Zuni. Mr. Powell in his "Indian Lin- 
 guistic Families North of Mexico'" includes Tiguas, Tehuas, and 
 Jemez with the Tanos and Piros, the two latter of whom are extinct as 
 distinct tribes, as Tanoan, thus giving but three stock languages 
 among- the New Mexican Pueblos. 
 
 The Tehuas occupy a compact group of villages in the Rio Grande 
 valley — San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojuaque, and 
 Tesuque. The language spoken at these villages is not merely a series 
 of dialects of one language, but is one and the same language, under- 
 stood bv all the people of all the villages. Before the Tanos became 
 extinct as a tribe they lived about thirty miles south of the Tehuas,^ 
 and were the southern division of the same linguistic group. The 
 Oueres villages, Cochiti, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Sia, Santa Ana, 
 Laguna, and Acoma, while more scattered than those of the Tehuas, 
 are not separated from one another by villages of another stock lan- 
 guage. The Jemez and Zuni occupy today but a single pueblo each. 
 In distinction from these present relations, the position of the Tiguas 
 is peculiar ; there is a northern and a southern group. In the north 
 is Taos ; about fifteen miles south from it across the mountains lies 
 Picuris. These two villages are the homes of the northern Tiguas. 
 Nearly ninety miles southwest in a direct line is Sandia, and twenty-five 
 miles further south, Isleta, the two villages where the southern Tiguas 
 now live. Between these two groups are all the pueblos of the Tehuas 
 and certain of the Oueres. Another noticeable thing about the Tigua 
 pueblos is that the languages are not identical as are those of the 
 Tehua towns, but differ so much that the people do not recognize 
 them as being related to one another. An intelligent Taos Indian 
 said to me:* "When people tell you Picuris speak the same language 
 we do, that is not true." He, however, admitted the Picuris people 
 could understand them, although the Picuris language is not intelli- 
 gible to the Taos people. Of the Isleta language he said he could 
 
 '■ Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology. 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 125. 
 
12 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 sometimes understand a word or two, and he thought the language 
 would be easy for him to learn. In all probability practically the same 
 statements might be made with reference to Sandia. They indicate 
 simply that the separation of these four towns has been so long and 
 so complete as to allow the languages to diverge from each other 
 greatly, and this, too, in spite of the fact that Taos and Picuris are not 
 more than fifteen or twenty miles apart, while only twenty-five miles 
 separate Sandia and Isleta. It is true that the relations of towns, 
 even of those belonging to the same linguistic stock, have not always 
 been friendly, though their manners and customs have continued 
 similar. 
 
 Mr. Powell includes the Moqui Pueblo languages, excepting that 
 of Hano, in the Shoshonean family.' The connection of the New 
 Mexican Pueblo languages with any of the great linguistic families is 
 by no means so certain. In speaking of the Tanoan family, Mr. 
 Powell says: "Recent investigations of the dialect spoken at Taos 
 and some of the other pueblos of this group show a considerable body 
 of words having Shoshonean affinities, and it is by no means improb- 
 able that further research will result in proving the radical relation- 
 ship of these languages to the Shoshonean family. The analysis of 
 the language has not yet, however, proceeded far enough to warrant a 
 decided opinion."" Even if this relationship with the Shoshonean 
 be established, th6 Queres and the Zuni would still stand alone. Of 
 the relation between them Mr. Powell says the "conclusion that they 
 were entirely distinct has been fully substantiated." ^ If no connection 
 can be established for certain of these groups, then they are either 
 remnants of languages once more extensive, or cases of limited inde- 
 pendent development of language. 
 
 Language is one of the important guides to relationship. The 
 Indian himself can often tell you with confidence whence he came. 
 We should be glad if we could meet the same problem with the same 
 confidence. "To regard the Pueblos of today as anything else but a 
 mongrel breed, physically speaking, would be a grave mistake."^ They 
 have intermarried so long with the Navajos and Apaches, and to some 
 extent with the Utes and other roaming Indians, that they are no 
 longer of pure stock. This intermarrying has probably been much 
 
 'Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. no. 
 'Jbid.,^. 122. ^/bic/., pp. 138-9. 
 
 * Papers Arch. Inst, of Atner., Ill, p. 262. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS I3 
 
 more common since the coming of the Spaniards than before, so the 
 Pueblo people of three hundred and fifty years ago were of purer stock 
 than those of today. 
 
 As Mr. Gushing has shown ' the Zuhi to have come in part from 
 the south and in part from the north, and to have united to form one 
 people, so it may well be of the other village peoples that they are not 
 of one origin, but of several. With considerable regularity and per- 
 sistency the traditions of the Pueblo Indians, as well as those of some 
 Mexican tribes, refer to the north as their original home. To this fact 
 we must attach some significance. Northwesterly from the Pueblo 
 region are the ruins of the cliff and cave dwellers. . Mr. Gushing has 
 explained the underground position of the kivas at Zuni as the result 
 of years of life in the caves and cliffs, where lack of room necessitated 
 the building of these sleeping places for men outside of and below the 
 floor of the cave proper.^ If this explanation be correct, as it seems 
 to be, the argument must apply with equal force to other towns than 
 Zuiii. At Taos and at Picuris the kivas are mainly underground. 
 This fact argues as plainly as in the case of Zuni that a part at least 
 of the people were at one time living in the caves and cliffs of the canon 
 region northwest of their present homes. Not alone the physical type, 
 but also the language, and perhaps, too, the custom.s and traditions, of 
 the Pueblos have been to some extent modified by intermixture with 
 outside tribes. Traditions and customs, however, we should expect 
 to change least. 
 
 Reference will be made later more specifically to certain traditions 
 related by the Taos people concerning their early home, but I think 
 we may with safety hold to the idea that most of them came from the 
 cliff-dwelling region, and that, after living for a time in several places, 
 they settled in the valley where they now live some time previous to 
 the coming of the Spaniards. 
 
 The number of the Pueblo Indians at the time of their discovery 
 has been variously estimated. The largest estimate is that of Antonio de 
 Espejo, whose total figures for all the Pueblos would give about 250,000. 
 From this number the estimates run all the way down to 23,000. 
 Vetancurt gives the figures for the year 1660 at a little over 23, 000. ^ 
 
 •"Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths," Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of 
 Ethnology, p. 343. 
 ''Ibid., pp. 344-5- 
 i Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 121, footnote i. 
 
14 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 Bandelier says: "The villages of that time (first half of the sixteenth 
 century) were on an average much smaller than those of today 
 inhabited by Pueblo Indians, but there was a greater number of them. 
 The aggregate population of the pueblos in the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries did not exceed twenty-five thousand souls." ' Mr. 
 Gushing says: "At the time of the Spanish conquest the Pueblo 
 
 Indians numbered, all told, more than 30,000 The total 
 
 population of the modern towns is about 10,000."^ 
 
 Figures given in a Census Bulletin of the Eleventh Census show 
 that in 1864, when the first complete and reliable enumeration in 
 modern times wa3 made, the Pueblo people of New Mexico numbered 
 7,066; in 1890 there were 8,287.^ These figures show an increase in 26 
 vears of 1 7 per cent. If the population in 1S90 be compared with 
 the conservative estimate of 1660 (23,000), a loss of 64 per cent. 
 is shown. This falling off is to be explained by hostilities between 
 the j)ueblos, by raids of roving Indians, by epidemic diseases, and 
 perhaps by indirect effects due to contact with the whites. United 
 States Indian Agent John Ward in his report submitted in June, 
 1864, says: "The greater number of the Pueblos are evidently on 
 the increase, or at least .... the vear 1863 has proved very 
 prolific. Notwithstanding this, however, from all that can be learned 
 and from many vears of almost dailv intercourse with these people, 
 I am fully convinced that in the aggregate the pueblo population of 
 New Mexico is gradually but surelv decreasing." '■ This may have 
 been true when it was written, but does not seem to be the case in 
 more recent times, if the census reports may be relied upon. It has, 
 however, to be admitted that the Pueblo people are very suspicious of 
 government agents and of any white man who is inquiring into their 
 affairs; so they frequently give inaccurate and incomplete answers. 
 
 The population of Taos in 1864 the same bulletin gives as 361. 
 In 1890 it was 401. This is an increase of 11 per cent, in 26 years. 
 The distribution as regards sex, age, and occupation is shown as fol- 
 lows : males, 213 ; females, 188 ; under 6 years of age, 52 ; over 5 and to 
 1 8, inclusive, 114; over 18, 235; over 70, 1 1; heads of families, 96 ; owners 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, pp. 120-21. 
 Castaneda gives 71 pueblos. Today there are 26. 
 '^ Johnson'' s Encyclopedia, article " Pueblo Indians." 
 
 3 "Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo Indians of 
 Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 90. 
 ^ Ibid., p. 80. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 15 
 
 of houses, 96 ; farmers, 114; herders, 4 ; day laborers, 33.' With regard 
 to sex this is perhaps correct enough, but as many even of the young 
 men do not know their own ages, the numbers by ages cannot be 
 relied upon, nor is it likely that the other figures are more than 
 approximately correct. However, they give an idea of the numbers 
 of the children and the occupation of the people. 
 
 During the time I was at Taos, three months in the summer of 
 1896, two deaths occurred, both those of very young children, and a 
 few months after I left I learned of the death of a woman of about 50 
 years of age. During that same period of three months there were no 
 births. Of course no importance can be attached to observations 
 extending over so short a time. As nearly as I could learn from 
 Americans living at the county seat three miles from the pueblo, the 
 village has been just about holding its own during the last six years. 
 
 Land tenure among the Pueblo Indians, as with other sedentary 
 Indians, was tribal, for their social organization was tribal. Owner- 
 ship of land was the ownership of a range by a tribe. This range had 
 no well-defined limits. Between a given tribe and its nearest neighbor 
 there was often a debatable ground to which neither had undisputed 
 claim, but no definite line separated the two areas. The tribe fre- 
 quently moved within its own area. This continued for many years 
 after the Spaniards gained control of New Mexico. And the prevail - 
 ins: customs of land tenure were not interfered with bv the order of 
 the king of Spain, which, according to Mr. Bandelier, " laid the 
 foundation of the so-called Pueblo Grants of New Mexico."- In 
 another place it is stated : " The so-called Pueblo Grants are not grants, 
 they are limitations placed to the erratic tendencies of the sedentary, 
 or rather land-tilling aborigines. Previously the villages were moved 
 about within the range at will, and upon the slightest provocation." ^ 
 These orders were simply to say to the Indians that land outside the 
 limits laid down did not belong to them, and was not to be used by 
 them. It is practically these same grants which the Indians hold 
 todav. 
 
 Tribal ownership of land in its simplicity implies that an individ- 
 ual merely has the use of a certain amount of land, and that, when he 
 no longer uses it, it again becomes common property. But contact 
 
 "'Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo IntHans of 
 Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 92 
 
 "^ Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 202. '= Ibid., p. 155, footnote. 
 
1 6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 with other peoples is bringing changes in the custom of tribal owner- 
 ship. It is true Mr. Bandelier, in speaking of the individual owner of 
 land, says : " If he fails to cultivate it, or to have it cultivated for the 
 space of a year, the tract reverts to the commonalty, and is at the dis- 
 posal of the ne.xt applicant for tillable soil." ' I very much doubt if 
 this is still true at Taos. While I cannot speak positively about it, I 
 believe the Taos Indian may do what he pleases with his land, till it, 
 lease it, let it lie fallow, or sell it, so long as he does not sell it outside 
 the tribe. 
 
 The Pueblo of Taos today has a grant of twenty-seven and a half 
 square miles, or 17,360^^0 acres, according to the records of the Indian 
 agency at Santa Fe, and it is so stated in a bulletin of the last census. 
 But Captain Bullis, the Indian agent, informed me that years ago, when 
 the pueblo was often in danger of attack from other Indians, Mexicans 
 had been allowed to settle on the grant on condition that they would 
 assist in defending Taos against its enemies. They occupied about 
 one-half of the grant, and, as ten years' undisputed possession of land 
 in New Mexico gives title, the Indians, in reality, have today but one- 
 half the number of acres mentioned. The pueblo itself lies close to 
 the mountains, and a considerable portion of this land is mountainous. 
 That which lies along the creeks is excellent pasture land, but there 
 remains a great deal which can never be of any use except for mining. 
 The uncultivated land is today, as the whole area undoubtedly was at 
 one time, owned in common by the pueblo. The pasture lands in the 
 foothills, and the mesa land north and west of the village, still lie 
 open for the use of anyone in the pueblo. The only valuable piece of 
 land which is not owned individually, and which is near the village, is a 
 common pasture of twenty or more acres. It is so poorly fenced that 
 everyone who has horses, cattle, or burros, must take his turn watching 
 the stock to prevent their wandering out into the fields of grain. 
 
 At Taos, as everywhere else, some men are more prosperous than 
 others ; so the amounts of land owned vary greatly. The sections of 
 land are small, but one man often owns several pieces, separated from 
 one another by one or two miles. " The fields behind the town towards 
 the mountain are divided by scrub willow, wild plum, and blackberry 
 bushes, and seldom contain more than three or four acres."" A fence is 
 
 ' Papers Arch. Itist. of Amer., Ill, p. 272. 
 
 = " Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Aloqui Pueblo Indians of 
 Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 100. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS I? 
 
 not often s^en. There is a fence the greater part of the distance 
 around the common pasture, and there are, besides, a few pastures 
 belonging to certain families which are fenced. Sometimes a rude, 
 temporary fence is built along a roadway when growing crops are in 
 the fields near by. The boundaries between the plots of ground are 
 usually irrigation ditches, along which grow plum bushes and willows. 
 These are often very dense, and furnish a satisfactory and effectively 
 marked line. 
 
 Just east of the pueblo is a break in the mountain chain. Down 
 this gap comes Pueblo creek, the principal stream upon which the 
 people are dependent for their water. It would be hard to find in the 
 most favored parts of New England a more attractive place than is this 
 stream for several miles along its course above the pueblo. It is filled 
 with trout, shaded by willows, choke cherry, and cottonwood trees, and 
 bordered with underbrush. The trees end abruptly at the pueblo, and 
 where the stream flows through the town both banks are clear except 
 for a few low bushes. But just below the town the fringe of willows 
 begins again and extends for half a mile or more. The people believe 
 that if the trees above the town were cut down the water would dry up, 
 so no one is allowed to cut them. Very likely there is some ground for 
 this fear, though perhaps the Indians have not reached the real explana- 
 tion. At one time, many years ago, there were trees growing along 
 the banks within the town itself. One day a boy was lying asleep down 
 by the stream under the trees and was killed by marauding Indians, 
 who, sheltered bv the trees, had slipped into the heart of the town 
 unobserved. This was probably but one of many similar attacks. 
 Then, too, mv friend somewhat naively explained to me, they had to 
 clean up under the trees every spring. So they cut them down and 
 cleared up the banks. 
 
 About two miles above the village the first irrigation ditches branch 
 off from the creek. Three or four main ditches tap the stream on 
 each side, and these ramify into small channels until the whole of the 
 cultivated area is reached. There are other ditches to bring water 
 from Lucerro creek, which comes down from the mountains a short 
 distance north of Pueblo creek. One of the larger ditches was made 
 by the Indians years ago, under the direction of the priests, to carry 
 water to a mill about three miles away. It is still used, but now only 
 for irrigation. 
 
 Every Indian pueblo had to solve the problem of defense. Some- 
 
1 8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 times the solution was found on a high mesa, as at Acoma, or in a hol- 
 low square arrangement of the buildings, as at Tesuque, or in a wide, 
 open plain. The villages were often located n;ar some high mountain, 
 mesa, or cliff, to which the people could flee in time of danger. As 
 the Zuhi fled to To-yo-a-la-na, the Taos people several times aban- 
 doned their homes and took refuge in the foothills beneath the great 
 Taos peak, which they call Sul-hwa-tu-na.' 
 
 But at Taos there was no cliff on which to build ; there was no wide, 
 open plain. The Indians might have built their village as a hollow 
 square, but instead they built great, high houses and surrounded them 
 by a wall. This wall is now not more than four feet high, but it still sur- 
 rounds the original area of the village, and one may still see the loop- 
 holes which were left to shoot through at the enemy outside. The 
 original height of the wall was about eight feet. A walled pueblo 
 seems to have been unusual. Castaiieda speaks of a wall surrounding 
 Cicuye, which has been identified with Pecos. " Le village est envi- 
 ronne en outre d'une muraille de pierre assez basse."* 
 
 Of the high houses at Taos there are two, one on each side of the 
 creek which flows through the center of the town. "Taos and Zuni are 
 the only pueblos with four and five storied buildings, and the former 
 may be called the old-fashioned pueblo par excellence, with its two tall 
 houses sheltering the entire tribe of four hundred souls." ^ At one time, 
 without doubt, the two main houses did shelter the entire tribe, but 
 today small groups of buildings, one or two stories high, have been built 
 both within the old wall and outside. Today the people do not live in 
 as small a space as they once did. 
 
 These great houses were once communal, were owned by the peo- 
 ple in common. There are still memories of such a condition. 
 Today a single one of the many rooms, or two, or even three or four, 
 are owned by individuals, and pass down from father to son or daugh- 
 ter, but do not revert to the community. 
 
 The great houses are spoken of by some writers as six and seven, 
 and even as nine, stories in height. However high they may have 
 been once I do not know. Certain it is that today the North House 
 is five stories high, and the South House but four stories. The height 
 
 ' On a map issued with the reports of the " U. S. Geographical Survey West of looth 
 Meridian " the elevation of 'i'aos peak is given as 13,447 feet. 
 *H. Ternaux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, p. 177. 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 265. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 19 
 
 of the buildings could not be increased more than one story, if the 
 stepped form were retained, except, of course, by enlarging the base 
 of the pyramid, for the highest story of each of the houses has but 
 two or three rooms. 
 
 Mr. Lummis speaks of the houses as pyramids,' and so they appear, 
 irregular, and receding by four or five great steps to the top. The 
 ground floor covers a large area, according to Mr. Davis about three 
 or four hundred feet by one hundred and fifty for each building.* 
 The second storv recedes by the depth of one room, the third story 
 recedes again, and so on to the top story. Today, with few excep- 
 tions, entrance may be had to the rooms through doorways. Not long 
 ago the lowest storv at least had no doorways. Mr. Davis speaks as 
 if the upper tiers of rooms as well were without doorways,^ but it 
 seems more likely that all the rooms, excepting those of the first story, 
 always had openings in the side walls for the people to pass in and 
 out, though the doors themselves were of Spanish introduction. 
 Mr. Victor Mindeleff, in his Study of Pueblo Architecture, says : " In 
 ancient times the larger doorways of the upper terraces were probablv 
 never closed, except by means of blankets or rabbit-skin robes hung 
 over them in cold weather. Examples have been seen that seem to 
 have been constructed with this object in view, for a slight pole, of the 
 same kind as those used in the lintels, is built into the masonrv of the 
 jambs a few inches below the lintel proper." ■• Plainly, in his opinion, 
 there were doorwavs in the upper stories even in ancient times. 
 
 The onlv entrance to rooms in the first story was through a trap- 
 door in the roof. One had first to climb a ladder to the roof, and 
 then climb down another ladder into the room below. The terraced 
 form of the houses gave a landing in front of the rooms on every 
 floor, from which the people climbed to the rooms above. The lad- 
 ders are still in use and are convenient and simple enough. Even 
 though the houses are not the same which the Spaniards saw, thev 
 probablv present much the same appearance, except for the doors and 
 the chimneys which the Indians have learned from the Spaniards to 
 make. The chimneys are low and stumpv, built usuallv of adobe and 
 often capped with a broken pot. 
 
 ^ Land of Sunshine, Vol. VI, p. 141. ^ Lbid., p. 343, footnote. 
 
 ^ Davis, The Spanish Conquest of A^e7v Alexico, p. 343, footnote. 
 <" A Study of Pueblo Architecture in Tusayan and Cibola," Eighth Annual 
 Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 182. 
 
20 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 The windows of the Taos houses have not changed much since 
 ancient times. They are usually small holes, a foot square or less, left 
 in the wall near the ceiling and intended only to admit light. In sum- 
 mer they are uncovered and in winter are often closed up altogether. 
 I have never seen gypsum used for window panes, as it is at other 
 pueblos. A curious instance of the conservatism of the people is seen 
 in the fact that within the limits of the old wall the use of glass in 
 the windows is not allowed. Outside this wall in a few more modern 
 houses one sees a glass window or two. 
 
 The interior of a room at Taos is very simple. I recall one in 
 which a man, his wife, and two children were living. It was a room 
 about seventeen feet square and ten feet high. It was built but a few 
 years ago, and is unusually high, even for a modern room, for some 
 are so low that one can just stand upright ; in some of the older rooms 
 one is even compelled to stoop when standing. The entrance to this 
 room is on the north side near the northwest corner. In the middle 
 of the north side is the fireplace, where the family cooking is done. 
 A little three-legged, iron frame, used to hold pots over the fire, stands 
 in the fireplace. Near by, on the floor, are two wooden boxes, about 
 a foot square and four inches high, open at the bottom, and used for 
 stools. Against the walls on the east and south sides are rolled up 
 mattresses and blankets, ready to be spread out at night on untanned 
 oxhides, which lie upon the floor. In one corner is a small table; 
 near it a row of four or five shelves, on which are a few American 
 dishes, some pottery cooking vessels, a little coffee, oatmeal, corn, and 
 a few other things. In the middle of the west side is the metate, 
 which every house must have. It is a large stone about two and one- 
 half feet long by one and one-half wide, and set at an angle of about 
 thirty degrees with the floor. A box is built around it so that none of 
 the grain will be scattered as it is being ground. The whole is neatly 
 plastered about with adobe. Several slabs of stone for grinding lean 
 against the wall. A gun and a bow and arrows hanging from a peg, a 
 pair of deer antlers and some turkey wings on the wall, and a few 
 blankets thrown over a pole suspended from the ceiling, complete the 
 furnishings of this home. The metates are used to grind only a part 
 of the grain. The process is too laborious. It is much easier to load 
 the grain on a burro, take it to a Mexican mill, and pay a certain pro- 
 portion of it to have it ground. 
 
 Outside the houses in the open court of the pueblo, and in the 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 21 
 
 spaces between the houses, are many conical ovens built of adobe, and 
 varying from three to six feet in diameter. The Mexicans of the ter- 
 ritory use the same sort of ovens, and it appears as if the knowledge 
 of them came to the Indians from the Mexicans. The principal use 
 to which they are put today is to bake wheat bread, and wheat came 
 with the Mexicans. "No example of the dome-shaped oven of pre- 
 Columbian origin has been found among the pueblo ruins, although its 
 prototype probably existed in ancient times, possibly in the form of a 
 kiln for baking a fine quality of pottery formerly manufactured. 
 However, the cooking pit alone, developed to the point of the 
 pi-gummi oven of Tusayan, may have been the stem upon which the 
 foreign idea was engrafted." ' 
 
 Behind each of the great houses, just outside the village proper, 
 are several immense heaps of ashes and rubbish, the accumulation of 
 many years. 
 
 The principal crops of Taos are corn and wheat. Occasionally a 
 field of oats is seen, or a few beans and peas and melons. Considerable 
 quantities of squashes are also raised. Much of the corn and wheat is 
 sold at the stores three miles from the pueblo or traded for meat, 
 sugar, coffee, syrup, soap, cloth, or whatever else the Indian wants or 
 can buy. What game he can get, deer, turkeys, grouse, rabbits, and 
 doves, supplements his other supplies, though much less than it once 
 did, when game was plenty and methods of cultivation were much 
 more crude than now. 
 
 In summer the work of the men is, of course, mainly farming. But 
 the Indian farmer is not a very hard worker. At certain times, in 
 harvest time for example, or when he is irrigating, he has to work hard 
 and steadily, but ordinarily he works a part of the day and sits on the 
 housetop or goes to town for the rest of the day. When spring 
 comes and planting time is at hand, the land has first to be irrigated. 
 Two or three days later it is ready for the plow. By the hour I have 
 watched the planting of corn. Save for the figure of the Indian him- 
 self one would not know but that it was an American farmer at the 
 plow. Indian ponies, less often oxen, are used. Behind the one 
 following the plow comes an old man or a boy dropping the kernels 
 of corn which the next turning of the furrow will cover. After the 
 field is planted, the oxen are hitched to a long pole by rawhide traces 
 fastened to the yoke and to each end of the pole. An Indian steps 
 
 ' Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 164. See illustrations. 
 
2 2 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 on the pole and, holding on by the tails of the oxen, rides around the 
 field to level it off. When the corn is a few inches above the ground, 
 the field is trenched for irrigating. After this there is, of course, the 
 hoeing, hilling, and occasional irrigating. If the water is scarce, as it 
 is in July, one has to engage the use of it several days beforehand and 
 has to use it whenever it is assigned to him, whether it be day or night. 
 I have several times known an Indian to work in the field irrigating 
 all night after having worked all day, and sometimes even two nights 
 in succession. 
 
 Modern American plows are commonly used. I have, however, 
 seen at Taos two old .home-made plows. They consist simply of a 
 long straight pole, another short pole fastened to it at the proper angle, 
 well braced and shod with a small piece of iron. Such a plow, of 
 course, merely breaks up the soil and leaves a small trench ; it does not 
 turn a furrow. 
 
 The harvesting of wheat is a most laborious task. It is done 
 with a small sickle. A few stocks of grain are grasped in the left 
 hand, cut off with the sickle, and laid on the ground; then a few more, 
 and so on. Where the soil is poor and the wheat scattered and poorly 
 headed, the crop would seem to us hardly to repay the labor expended. 
 At San Ildefonso, where much of the soil is sandy, I saw the Indians 
 patiently harvesting such grain. But at Taos the wheat is vigorous 
 and well-headed, and yields a good crop. The threshing is an interest- 
 ing sight. A circle of tall poles is set up. Then the ground within 
 the circle and for a space outside is wet and packed hard by a flock 
 of sheep or goats. As the Taos Indians do not keep sheep and 
 goats, a Mexican is hired to come with a flock and drive them around 
 till the plot is hard almost as baked clay. A fence is then built and 
 the harvested grain heaped up within the inclosure. One or two 
 men stand on top of the pile to pitch down the grain into the circle 
 just outside, while others drive the sheep or the goats around and 
 around till the grain is threshed. Sometimes horses are used, but 
 sheep or goats are much preferred. It only remains then to remove the 
 straw and sweep up the wheat and the chaff from the hard floor. The 
 Mexicans thresh in the same way. It is from them undoubtedly that 
 the Indian learned how to thresh wheat, as it is from them he learned 
 how to cultivate it. 
 
 Besides farming the men have occasionally to build a new house or 
 to repair an old one, to go to the mill with grain, or to do some com- 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 23 
 
 munal work. A few of them hire out to Americans or Mexicans to 
 work in the field, to build a house, or to do other work. The pleasantest 
 Avork which the Indian has to do is to go hunting. It is true game 
 is not abundant, but sometimes two men will get eight or nine deer 
 in a ten-days' or two-weeks' trip. They find a double pleasure in the 
 deer hunt. They enjoy being away in the mountains free and alone, 
 perhaps because centuries past they led such a life much more than 
 now. And then, of course, they get the skins and the venison. The 
 skins they use to make leggings, moccasins, and sometimes shirts. In 
 winter they have little to do except hunt and bring wood from the 
 mountains. To get wood with the Indian means, not to cut down 
 trees and split them up, but to pick up small dry pieces, such as can 
 be easilv broken to a length suitable to being made into a pack for 
 a burro. This is the life of the male Indian — farming, hunting, 
 house-building, making skin clothing, bringing wood, and sitting 
 around. 
 
 The work of the woman is mainly in the house. She cooks, keeps 
 the house clean, does the washing, cares for the children, and makes 
 her own dresses. She has also to take care of the wheat and maize 
 after it has once been harvested. The wheat she winnows in the most 
 primitive wav. She then washes it all in the creek to get rid of the 
 chaff which remains after winnowing. This is done by partially filling 
 a coarse basket made of yucca blades with the wheat. The water is 
 allowed to run in through the basket, and the light chaff rises to the 
 surface and is carried away by the running water. The wheat is then 
 spread out in the sun and allowed to dry, after which it is carefully 
 picked over by hand to find the little pebbles and sticks which may 
 still be left. When all this is done, it is ready to be put in sacks and 
 loaded on a burro to be taken to the mill. Sometimes one sees a 
 woman driving the burros to the mill, but the men usually go. The 
 women do not work in the fields except occasionally hoeing the corn, 
 and this seems to be because they enjoy it rather than because it is at all 
 necessarv. A few women, however, widows and unmarried women, 
 carry on the lighter work of farming quite regularly. The care of 
 children, except when they are very young, is not great. They are 
 obedient and deferential to parents, grandparents, and even to uncles 
 and aunts. The little girls, even when not more than seven or eight 
 years old, take care of the younger children, while the parents are at 
 work. 
 
24 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 At Taos today there is no spinning or weaving done. Some pot- 
 tery is made, but it is of poor quality and is made only by a few old 
 women and poor families.' The best pottery they get from the Tehua 
 pueblos in exchange for wheat. The people say they used to make fine 
 decorated ware, having learned from the Zuni. 
 
 One of the most curious, and at the same time most characteristic, 
 features of an Indian pueblo is its kivas, or estufas, as they are more 
 commonly called. At Taos they are circular structures, built almost 
 wholly underground, and entered by a single opening in the roof. 
 There is no other opening in the room, save a small hole at one side 
 to secure a draft for the fire. These kivas have come to be used as 
 places for holding the civil, religious, and secret ceremonies of the 
 tribe, but they were originally the sleeping and lounging places of the 
 men, and could not be entered by the women except to carry food to 
 their husbands, sons, and brothers.^ 
 
 At most of the ruined towns and at most of the existing pueblos, 
 the kivas were nearly or entirely underground, and they are usually 
 circular. Eight ruined towns mentioned by General Simpson all had 
 circular kivas, the number at the different towns varying from one to 
 seven. 3 At Santa Clara today one, at least, of the kivas is above ground 
 and is square. I do not know how many others there may be nor 
 what their form and position are. At Picuris and at Nambe they may 
 also be seen above ground, but round. So there is now considerable 
 variation. There is, of course, variation in size, too, but they are usu- 
 ally high enough so that one can stand erect, and about twenty feet in 
 diameter. 
 
 For the subterranean position of these rooms Mr. Gushing has 
 offered the following explanation:" when the ancestors of these 
 people were living in the caves and cliffs, the women built the houses 
 and used them for the protection of themselves and their children. As 
 
 ' Mr. Stevenson says : " The Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, with rare 
 exceptions, manufacture earthenware vessels for domestic use. The Pueblo of Taos 
 may be mentioned as one of these exceptions." (Illustrated catalogue of the collec- 
 tions obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 1879. Second 
 Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 327.) This certainly is not true toda}'. 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 143 ; Voyage de Cibola, p. 170. 
 
 3 "Journal of a Military Reconnaissance from Santa Fe, N. M., to the Navajo 
 Country," Sen. Exec. Doc. 64, 31st Cong., 1850, ist Session, Vol. XIV, pp. 55 et seq. 
 
 *■ " Outlines of Zuiii Creation Myths," Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnol- 
 ogy, pp. 344 et seq. 
 
KIVA AT TAOS WITH PALISADE AROrND ENTRANCE 
 
 KIVA3 AT TAOS WITH SQUARE WALL AROUND ENTRANCES 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 25 
 
 the level space was small, the men built sleeping and lounging places 
 for themselves in the outer part of the cave, where the floor began to 
 slope to the valley below. The walls were built only high enough to 
 brino- the roof up to a level with the cave floor. Thus the double pur- 
 pose was accomplished of providing a common room for the men and 
 of increasing the floor space in the caves. When the people left their 
 cliff houses and came to live in the valleys, they continued to build 
 their houses and kivas in the same old way, though the necessity for so 
 doing had passed. The semicircular form of the villages to be seen in 
 several of the ruined towns has not persisted in any of the existing 
 pueblos, but the kivas are still usually subterranean or partially so. At 
 the time of the coming of the Spaniards the youths and men slept in 
 the kivas and spent only a part of the day time with their mothers, 
 wives, and children. The Spaniards taught them to live in families, 
 and one of the uses of the kivas was gone. They continue to be used 
 on occasions of dances and for council meetings of the chiefs and 
 other important gatherings of the men. Yet I have night after night 
 seen the governor at Taos meeting his council in a room which he 
 himself owned, and set apart for the purpose during the year he was 
 governor. It may be that this is done because it is more convenient, 
 or it may be that the governor and his council, since they have resulted 
 from Spanish influence, are of less dignity and so meet in a less cere- 
 monious way. 
 
 Another interesting thing about the kivas is their location. In the 
 ruined pueblos, and to some extent in the modern ones, they are 
 located outside the main mass of rooms, or at least outside of what con- 
 stituted the original village. In many of the present towns they are 
 found also in the open courts, or even within the great houses them- 
 selves. Of course, it may be that in these cases, too, the village has 
 grown around the kivas, which were once on the edge of the town. 
 
 At Taos there are seven kivas, four on the south side of the creek, 
 and three on the north side. Three of those on the south side are 
 outside the old town wall and a few rods away from it. The other one 
 and the three on the north side are within the wall. Bandelier says of 
 the kivas at Taos that they are "completely subterraneous.'" This is 
 not today strictly true. The side walls of several of them can be seen 
 for about a foot from the top. It may be that they were once entirely 
 subterraneous and that the earth has worn away from them, though, 
 
 ' Papers Arch. Inst, of Amcr., Ill, p. 268. 
 
2 6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 from the height of the roofs and from the general level of the ground 
 around, I am led to think the earth had been banked up around them 
 to give them the appearance of being wholly underground. This 
 holds true more particularly of the kivas within the town wall. 
 
 It has occurred to me that these kivas in the old area of the town 
 may be older than the three outside. There are two points which sug- 
 gest this. In the first place, one would not expect that the sleeping 
 rooms for men and youths would be built outside the inclosing wall 
 and so unnecessarily exposed to danger of attack. It seems much 
 more likely that they would be located near the edge of the town, in 
 the most dangerous place, but not needlessly exposed. This is the 
 position of the four kivas within the inclosing wall. In the second 
 place, the construction of the kivas inside the wall differs in one par- 
 ticular, at least, from that of those outside. The roofs of all of them 
 are flat, with the opening in the center. But those within the old town 
 limits have this opening surrounded by a circular palisade of wood 
 about seven or eight feet high. There is a narrow gap permitting one 
 to pass inside the palisade. The kivas outside the town wall have the 
 opening surrounded by a wall of adobe, a narrow gap being left as in 
 the case of the others. This wall is only about two feet high, and the 
 space inclosed, though of about the same size as that inclosed by the 
 palisades, is square. I inquired as to the reason for this difference of 
 construction, but was unable to find out anything about it. 
 
 I have been in but one of the kivas at Taos. One descends by a 
 ladder, the two poles of which extend high up into the air. The room 
 is just high enough for one to stand erect, and the ceiling is covered 
 with soot from the fire which is lighted in the fire-pit in the center of 
 the room on the occasion of any ceremony. One or two untanned ox 
 hides lie on the floor, and a big drum, the skin of which is buffalo hide. 
 I think the other kivas do not differ essentially from this one, save in 
 the external details already mentioned. 
 
 An interesting illustration of the old-time use of the kivas for men 
 and youths only came to my notice. A party of Taos men went with 
 a small company of Utes to Indian Territory. On the return, when 
 within a ride of a day or two of the pueblo, two men were sent ahead to 
 notify the people of their coming. But instead of coming into the 
 town they told the first person whom they saw to tell the war captain 
 that they had come, and went themselves into a kiva. The war cap- 
 tain then notified the men of the village, and as many of them as 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 27 
 
 wanted to went to the kiva where the messengers were. The messen- 
 gers were given cigarettes to smoke and told to tell only the truth. 
 They then told the story of the trip from the time of leaving the pueblo 
 till they came back. But the women could not come to hear the 
 account, but must hear about it afterwards. This, the people say, is 
 an old custom, and so it undoubtedly is. It seems as if the explana- 
 tion might be found in this : many years ago, when the kivas were the 
 sleeping places of the men, it was natural enough that the men should 
 go there on their return from a trip. Now, though the conditions 
 have changed, the old custom is kept up. 
 
 Of the number of kivas in a pueblo Mr. Bandelier says : "It is 
 probable that, as in Mexico, there were in each pueblo as many estufas 
 as there were clans.'" This may have been the case. It will not be 
 easy to learn definitely, as some of the clans have disappeared, and cer- 
 tain of the kivas may have fallen to ruins and all trace of them been 
 lost. The number of kivas at Taos at present does not agree with the 
 number of clans which Bandelier says existed there. He says there 
 were thirteen gentes, and gives the names of six. If these kivas were 
 built at different times, and if there is any connection between the 
 number of kivas and the number of clans, we seem to have evidence 
 of an increase at some time in the number of the Taos gentes. This 
 might easily be from division of gentes. It may be, too, that some- 
 where within the great houses are other kivas which the outsider knows 
 nothing of. 
 
 Speaking of Taos, Mr. Poore says, in one of the census bulletins : 
 "This is the most independent of the Pueblo tribes both in material 
 condition and in its attitude toward strangers." = This freedom from 
 outside influence is seen in the dress of the people. In many of the 
 pueblos one frequently sees men wearing old trousers, vests, and hats, 
 and American shoes. At Taos you may see one or two men wearing 
 shoes, but you will not see old American clothes worn. Their clothes 
 are made usually of American cloth, but, excepting, the shirts worn by 
 the men, are made in their own style. 
 
 The dress of the men consists of a common, American-made, colored 
 shirt, cotton or woolen, according to the time of year; a pair of leg- 
 gings made of cheap worsted goods, or of blue or white drilling or 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., III., p. 144. 
 
 = " Eleventh Census of U.S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqiii Pueblo Indians oj 
 Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. lOO. 
 
2 8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 duck. Each of these leggings is made of a single piece of cloth, sewed 
 together so that it will fit close to the leg and leave the edges of the 
 cloth free to a length varying from one inch to six inches, or even 
 more. The leggings come about half way up the thigh and are held 
 up by a string which is attached to a cord passing around the waist. 
 This same cord also supports the breech-clout, or G-string, as it is 
 more commonly called in New Mexico. This is simple a strip of cot- 
 ton cloth about six inches wide and varying in length. Sometimes it 
 is long enough to touch the ground, both in front and behind. The 
 moccasins, which are the common Indian moccasins, usually undeco- 
 rated except with diamond dyes, are made either of buckskin or of 
 leather taken from an old pair of American boots. The blanket which 
 is worn about the loins or carried thrown over the shoulder is of 
 American make usually. Occasionally leggings of buckskin are worn, 
 and still more rarely a buckskin shirt. They are valued highly and 
 are very durable, but since deer have become so scarce are not at all 
 common. A hat is almost never worn by a Taos Indian. My friend, 
 when we were going off for a week together, would give me his hat to 
 carry till we were some distance away from the village, and then he 
 would put it on. I suppose he wished to avoid the criticisms of the 
 other men. 
 
 The man's dress is inexpensive, simple, and comfortable. That of 
 the woman is equally so. At Taos women's dresses are made entirely of 
 American goods. The one garment which has sleeves is a loose under- 
 garment of white cotton cloth or some light print made like a night 
 gown. It is plain, except for a little ruffle about the neck and wrists. Of 
 these garments the women often have but one, so that, when it has to be 
 washed, she must go partly dressed. If it happens to be stolen, as was 
 that of one woman whom I knew, she must go without till she can 
 make another. Their other dresses, of which they have many, are 
 very simple, and are made of light and dark prints. Two strips of 
 cloth, long enough to make the dress large enough around, are sewed 
 together. The ends of this wide piece, except about one quarter of its 
 length at the top, is then sewed together. About three inches of the 
 upper end, near the open side, are sewed together, and the dress is done, 
 except sometimes for a small worsted tassel at the lower end of the 
 side seam. The little place at the upper end which is sewed together 
 rests upon the right shoulder and holds up the upper part of the 
 dress. The right arm passes through on one side of this little seam 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 29 
 
 and the head and left shoulder on the other. This, of course, leaves the 
 right arm and left shoulder and arm uncovered, except by the under- 
 garment. Several of these outer garments are worn at the same time. 
 All the women's dresses are of such a length that, if worn loose, 
 they would nearly reach the ground, but they are held up about the 
 waist by a belt so that they come just below the knees. The mak- 
 ing of these belts is a native Indian industry, though they are now 
 made at only a few pueblos. At Tesuque there are one or two men 
 who still make them, but most of them seem to come from Jemez and 
 other pueblos farther west. The weaving is close and firm, and the belts 
 are very durable. The patterns of many of them are very pretty, red, 
 green, and dark blue colors predominating. 
 
 The moccasins of the women are made of buckskin, sometimes of 
 goatskin, and are long enough to come up just below the knee, where 
 they are tied about the leg. The sole is of rawhide like those of the 
 men's moccasins. A wash of white earth, easily renewed when neces- 
 sary, is rubbed over the buckskin. The making of the moccasins is a 
 part of the work of the husbands and fathers, who take pride in having 
 their wives and daughters provided with strong, well-made pairs. 
 These moccasins give to the women a very neat and rather picturesque 
 appearance. The little girls wear the same sort of moccasins, but their 
 dresses are more simple. When outdoors the women usually wear a 
 shawl over the head. This is of American manufacture. 
 
 On dance days and other festival occasions the women wear much 
 finer dresses than those mentioned above. These holiday dresses are 
 of silk and velvet, and in place of a shawl a sort of cape of silk is worn 
 hanging from the shoulders. Many have a "best pair" of moccasins. 
 too. They are of buckskin, but are made differently from those worn 
 every day, consisting of two pieces to each moccasin. One is a very 
 low moccasin coming up just above the ankle; the other piece is a 
 long strip of buckskin which is wound about the leg up to the knee. 
 They look much firmer and smoother than the ordinary moccasins. 
 One or two silver rings, a bracelet or two, and a pair of earrings will 
 make up the woman's attire. 
 
 Before the introduction of American cloths the women used to 
 dress partly in skins and partly in cloth brought from the Moqui towns 
 and traded to the Taos people. These Moqui cloths are still made 
 and may be seen at some of the pueblos in the Rio Grande valley, 
 though they are no longer in use at Taos. 
 
3° ' STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 The women bang their hair and let it fall down over their eyes or 
 push it a little to one side. Behind, when hastily done up, it is in a 
 double T-shaped knot, bound with a mass of bright-colored woolen 
 yarn. When more care is given to it, it is arranged in two double T- 
 shaped knots, one on either side of the head just behind the ears, and 
 tied with yarn. A pad made of combings of their own hair is used as a 
 body for the knots when two are made. The men braid their hair in 
 two braids and let it hang on either side of the head in front of the 
 shoulders. Yarn, often bright-colored, is braided in and tied at the 
 ends. 
 
 I was not able to be at Taos on the great annual holiday, the day 
 of the patron saint, San Geronimo, the 30th of September. It was so 
 often referred to, however, that I learned something about it. One of 
 the great features of the day is the foot race. It is a relay race, the 
 runners starting at opposite ends of the course and each coming back 
 to the starting point, when another runner on each side starts at once. 
 The race is kept up until a runner on one side has overtaken one on 
 the other, one side having thus covered the length of the race course 
 more than the other. 
 
 One can readily see that if the sides are evenly matched the race is 
 likely to be a long, exhausting one, especially when run under the hot 
 New Mexican sun. 
 
 Only a breech-clout and one or two ornamental pieces of fur or 
 cloth are worn. The body is, however, rubbed with a wash of white 
 clay, which gives it a peculiar mottled appearance. 
 
 This race is run at Picuris just as it is at Taos, and it was at the 
 former pueblo that I saw it. There the grown men were so few that 
 some of the runners on each side were mere boys. After running for 
 several times they came in to the goal so nearly exhausted as to be 
 hardly able to run at all. 
 
 Not merely on San Geronimo day, but on everv saint's day, there is 
 a dance. Today the people do not enjoy this dancing as they once 
 did. Some men, when ordered by the war captain to dance, send their 
 wives instead, and thus escape the punishment which would otherwise 
 follow their failure to appear. The dances have been somewhat affected 
 superficially by Christian influence, but it is probable that within the 
 kivas, particularly in winter, the people dance in the old-time way, 
 even though the faith of many in the importance of it all be somewhat 
 shaken. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 31 
 
 As in all the other" pueblos, so at Taos, the civil organization has 
 undergone some changes during the last three hundred years. Of 
 course, it is bound up with the esoteric and religious life of the people. 
 
 An important and curious position is that of cacique, an officer 
 whose duties have to do for the part most with secret and religious cere- 
 monials. John Ward says, in speaking of the pueblos of New Mexico : 
 "The cacique evidently has more to do with the administration of 
 ancient rites than with any other business. The high regard, mingled 
 with respect and affection, which is invariably shown him places him 
 more in the position of an elder than any other we think of.'" I am 
 inclined to think the influence of the cacique has quite noticeably 
 diminished during the last few years. This certainly seems to be the 
 case at Taos. The present cacique is a middle-aged man, who secured 
 the office, partlv through the influence of Americans in the vicinity, at 
 the death of the former cacique a few years ago. There was another 
 man whom manv of the people favored, and this disaffected party now 
 say of the cacique that they " do not care for him." They have, too, no 
 very kind words for those who were influential in giving him his 
 office. The office is for life, but does not seem to be hereditary. 
 Bandelier says: "The caciqueship may be — I am not yet positive — 
 hereditarv in a certain gens; but if this is the case, I hold it to be so 
 only among the Tehuas, and not among the Queres."" From the fact 
 that there were at Taos two parties representing candidates for the 
 caciqueship one may infer that today at least there is no strict rule of 
 inheritance of the office, though, of course, it may be that among the 
 Tiguas, to whom the Taos people belong, it was hereditary in a gens, 
 as is suggested it was among the Tehuas. From actual investigation I 
 am unable to say what the duties of the cacique are, except the small 
 part which he plays in the election of governor and war captain ; this 
 will be mentioned later. The impression prevails among the white 
 people of the vicinity that the cacique is the keeper of the traditional, 
 mythical, and sacred lore of the tribe. In fact, it was because it was 
 thought the present officer would be more communicative in these 
 matters that he was supported for the position by the Americans. 
 
 Mr. Bandelier further says,^ in speaking of the Queres, that in 
 former times, and often today, a piece of land was tilled by the com- 
 
 ' " Eleventh Census of the U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqtii Pueblo Indians 
 of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of Netv Mexico, p. 81. 
 
 ^ Papers Arch. Inst, of Anier., Ill, p. 280. ^Ibid., Ill, p. 281. 
 
32 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 munity for the cacique. Besides he was exempt from communal work. 
 While I am not certain, I very much doubt if this is now true at Taos, 
 whether it may once have been or not. One fact which I learned 
 points to the conclusion that at one time a certain amount of com- 
 munal work was done for the cacique and suggests what his former 
 position may have been. At the top of the great house on the south 
 side was a room or two which belonged to an old woman. They fell 
 to ruins and were rebuilt by the community and given to the cacique to 
 occupy. It is there he is living today, but the rooms in all probability 
 remain the property of the community.' 
 
 The part of the government of the pueblo with which an outsider 
 first comes into contact is the governor. He is elected annually and 
 takes otifice on the first day of January. Although the Indians main- 
 tain that this was the custom before the coming of the Spaniards, there 
 can be no doubt that it is a change brought about bv Spanish influence. 
 The governor is elected by the chiefs and is the executive officer of 
 the village. His business is to settle quarrels which arise between 
 members of the tribe themselves, or between members of the tribe and 
 outsiders, to see that the irrigating ditches are kept in repair, and to 
 assign times to the men for the use of the water in irrigating. As the 
 Mexicans have the use of the water of the creek three days in the week, 
 they may often be seen at the governor's house talking with him about 
 some misunderstanding which has arisen. 
 
 The governor, with nine officers who are chosen to assist him, has 
 frequent meetings, often many nights in succession, to talk over mat- 
 ters. When any announcement is to be made to the people, he steps 
 out on the roof of his own house, or climbs to some high place on one 
 of the great houses, and gives his message in a voice loud enough to 
 be heard over the greater part of the village. It is this custom which 
 has led some to speak of the "town-crier,"^ and there is some reason for 
 the comparison. Son]etimes the announcement is that they must send 
 their children to school ; again, that they must come out in the morn- 
 ing and plant the corn in the priest's field, or, that they must not turn 
 
 ' On cacique see further, Papers Arch. hist, of Ainer., Ill, pp. 276-84. 
 
 ^" U. S. Geographical Survey West of lOOth Meridian," VII, Arc/neology, p. 483 : 
 " The town-crier goes out every morning at seven o'clock to chant this strain of words, 
 repeatin,?- it frequently, and another song is sung by him in the evening to close the 
 day's work." It is doubtful if these announcements which are so frequentlv made, 
 are in many cases to summon the people to work or to announce the close of the day's 
 labor. 
 
READY FOR IHE KKl.AY RACE, SAN (JKRoMMO DAY, 1 AO:. 
 
 A^^^: 
 
 
 
 p"*^ 
 
 t- 
 
 ■^ t,tr^ ^"^ -1 
 
 ■pirW 
 
 ^ 
 
 iROlP OF TAOS INDIANS 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 33 
 
 all the water from the creek into the irrigation ditches above the 
 pueblo, as the women are then obliged to go too far for water for 
 household uses. 
 
 A man may be governor for several years. One old chief, who 
 seems to be held in high esteem, and is one of the principal chiefs of 
 the village, has been governor six or seven years, not, however, con- 
 tinuously. By virtue of having once held the office a man becomes a 
 chief, at first one of the lesser chiefs, but he has a voice in the election 
 of the succeeding governors. 
 
 The war captain, whose office seems to be second in importance 
 to that of the governor, is also elected by the chiefs. He has a lieu- 
 tenant and nine officers, making a board of twelve in all. He has 
 charge of the dances which occur on festival days, and, assisted by his 
 officers, gives orders as to who shall dance ; if his orders are not 
 obeyed, the offender is arrested by the one of the officers whose special 
 duty it is, and given a public whipping. The war captain also has 
 charge of the communal meadow, and appoints each week those v/ho 
 are to watch the stock there and keep them from getting into the grain 
 fields. Only those who have stock, cattle, horses, or burros, in the 
 meadow are appointed to this duty. If some animal does get out into 
 a cultivated field, it is the war captain's duty to find out whose it is, 
 and to settle the fine to be paid by its owner to the owner of the field. 
 Further, he has to do with trips which are sometimes made to some 
 distant place, such as the trip to Indian Territory, mentioned above. 
 He decides whether the people shall go, and it is to him they report 
 on their return. His title, war captain, suggests what his duties may 
 have been at one time. In all probability in his hands lay the defense 
 of the town, but as there is no longer any occasion for defense, his 
 office appears to be of less importance than it once w^as. 
 
 In holding these various offices certain rules are observed. When 
 one is an officer of the war captain for the first time, he is the lowest 
 officer; the second time he is next to the lowest, and so on. After 
 being an officer of the war captain one must wait one year before he 
 can be an officer of the governor. 
 
 The important men of the town are the chiefs, their influence being 
 much greater than that of the governor, unless, of course, the governor 
 himself happens to be one of the principal chiefs. The importance of 
 the chief appears to depend in part on the number of times he has 
 been governor. Three chiefs, whose influence is greater than that of 
 
34 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 the Others, play an important part in the election of the village officers. 
 Two men are proposed by them for governor, and the other chiefs 
 vote for the one of the two whom they prefer. The cacique counts the 
 votes. If this really be the only part which the cacique plays in the 
 election, it is insignificant enough. Bandelier says that among the 
 Queres he chooses both the governor and the war captain,' and I sus- 
 pect that the fact that my informant at Taos belonged to the party 
 which was opposed to the present cacique led him to minimize his 
 importance as much as possible. 
 
 After the selection of the governor, the war captain is chosen in 
 the same way. The war captain's lieutenant is chosen from two of his 
 officers, designated by the three chiefs. The other officers, those of 
 the governor and of the war captain, are chosen by all the chiefs 
 together. Besides these duties, the chiefs have in their hands the 
 most important business of the tribe. Any trouble concerning the 
 land which sometimes arises with the Mexicans, or any business con- 
 nected with the United States government, that is, "big business," has 
 to be dealt with by the council of chiefs. This statement concerning 
 the officers and the chiefs was given to me by the son of one of the 
 three principal chiefs. 
 
 Of the clans at Taos I was able to learn scarcely anything. I 
 inquired several times of my friend there, but he always answered that 
 he did not know about any such thing. Later he told me that he had 
 asked his father, and his father had said to him: "You are around 
 with the chiefs all the time and would hear about such things if we had 
 them." I do not know whether he was absolutely ignorant of the 
 gens or was simply unwilling to tell. He did, however, say that many 
 years ago the Taos people numbered about i,ooo. Part of them were 
 living about one-eighth of a mile from the present pueblo, and were 
 known as ha-chi-ti-pipl, or stone-axe people. They did not enjoy 
 farming and so left the remainder of the people where they now are, 
 and themselves journeyed away to the east. Two or three generations 
 ago, when a party of Taos men were on a hunting trip 250 miles to 
 the east, they came across some people who talked their language. 
 They did not see the place where these people lived. It may be that 
 these were the stone-axe people. Those now living at Taos call them- 
 selves i-Tci-i-na-ma, or willow people. This term appears to apply to 
 all those in the pueblo, and not to any one division of them. Of 
 
 ^Papers Arch. hist, of Amer., Ill, pp. 283 and 285. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 35 
 
 course, it may be that one clan has absorbed the others, or that all but 
 one have died out or wandered away, so that but one of the original 
 number remains today. But it seems far more likely that the people 
 are exceedingly jealous in regard to this matter, and will not speak of 
 it to an outsider till he has fully gained their confidence. 
 
 Bandelier says' there were thirteen gentes at Taos; of these he 
 names the following six : the bead, water, axe, feather, sun, and knife 
 clans, but he plainly says that he cannot guarantee the accuracy of the 
 lists, so we should regard them as subject to correction.- 
 
 Neither was I able to learn whether marriage must be outside the 
 clan still. If the clans really have become reduced to one, there could, 
 of course, be no marrying outside the clan. The parents of a young 
 man appear to have a good deal to say as to whom he shall marry, 
 and, although some do marry against their father's and mother's 
 wishes, it is not a common thing. One young man whom I knew was 
 about to marry a girl of his own choosing, when he was induced by his 
 parents to marry another. It was easy to see in talking with him that 
 it was simply a matter of parental preference. He preferred one and 
 his parents the other, and he yielded. While he does not today 
 appear actually to regret his action, he does think often of his own 
 choice in the matter. 
 
 An interesting survival, apparently of the time when a man went to 
 live at the home of the woman whom he married, is to be found in one 
 of the Taos marriage customs. After marriage the man goes to live 
 with his wife at her home with her parents. The length of this stay 
 depends upon circumstances. Then the young man and his wife build 
 a new house or go to live in one which he already has. 
 
 The old method of reckoning time is interesting. It is not a 
 method which would have been equally accurate and convenient at all 
 of the New Mexican Pueblos because of their location. But as one 
 looks west from the pueblo at Taos, the outline of the mountains is 
 much broken ; the varied forms of the hills have suggested names such 
 as "pottery hill," "wolf's ear hill," " eyebrow hill," etc. Of course, 
 between the winter and the summer solstices the sun appears to have 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 273. 
 
 2 I hope some day to make a complete census of the Pueblo of Taos, as has been 
 done recently by Professor Starr for the Pueblo of Cochiti, including the Indian and 
 the Spanish name, and the clan of every individual. " A Study of a Census of the 
 Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico," Proc. Dav. Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. VII, pp. 33-44- 
 
36 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 moved every day a little farther north as it sets behind the hills. 
 Between the summer and winter solstices the sun seems to be retreat- 
 ing toward the south. The Indians had noticed the exact place in the 
 horizon where the sun set every day in the year, and they knew at just 
 what time the sun would reach a certain point. They thus had the 
 year exact — from the time when the sun reached its most southerly 
 point on the horizon to the time when it returned to it again. They 
 watched the sun set from a certain tree in the pueblo, because they had 
 noticed that the place of setting was different according to the place 
 from which it was observed. 
 
 They recognized four seasons : summer, called in the native idiom 
 "good time;" autumn, "ripe time;" winter, "still time;" spring, 
 " beginning time." This last refers, not to the growing grain and 
 the budding trees and bushes, but to the work of the people them- 
 selves. The summer months are May, June, and July ; the autumn, 
 August, September, and October ; the winter, November, December, 
 January, and February ; the spring, March and April. When one 
 compares the names given to the seasons with the months which cor- 
 respond to them, it is, I think, easy to see the reason for the differ- 
 ences between the Indian seasons and our own. One should remember 
 also that Taos is high up in the mountains and hence probably has a 
 long winter. 
 
 Undoubtedly in the old days the people did much more communal 
 work than now. Individualism was not developed to any marked 
 degree ; the communal idea was the most prominent one. The houses 
 and lands were common property, and, although a man had a few 
 things which he himself owned, almost everything belonged to the 
 tribe or to the clan. Although communal ownership and communal 
 activity has now almost wholly passed away, one may still see lingering 
 traces of it, as in the common meadow and in communal work. I have 
 mentioned the work done for the priest. The priest baptizes and mar- 
 ries the people and helps them die, and in return they cultivate a field 
 which is set apart for him. Wheat or corn, as he may wish, is planted, 
 irrigated, and harvested for him. This work is done by all the men, 
 called out by the governor as occasion requires. W^ood is also fur- 
 nished the priest. Every man brings a little to the governor's house, 
 and this is then loaded on burros and taken to the priest's house at the 
 American town of Taos. 
 
 Nothing remains of the old communal hunts, save an occasional 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 37 
 
 rabbit hunt. These occur on the days before saints' days, when, of 
 course, there will be a dance. A considerable number of the men and 
 older youths ride away to the mesa six or eight miles, armed with bows 
 and arrows, and sometimes with clubs. They drive the rabbits until they 
 have rounded them up in a small area, and then kill them with arrows 
 or with clubs. The rabbits are, I believe, cooked and given to the 
 dancers the next day in the kivas. 
 
 The irrigation ditches have to be repaired occasionally and, as they 
 are of use to all and belong to no one in particular, work on them is 
 done by all in common. 
 
 One of the best illustrations of Indian conservatism I have seen 
 was in connection with the old wall at Taos. The wall is now of no use, 
 and has weathered down so that it is very low ; yet, if a section of it 
 happens to fall or to be knocked over, after a time it will be repaired. 
 One day some of the men make the adobes ; a few days later others 
 come out and, assisted by the women who carry the mud for mortar, 
 rebuild the wall to its present average height. The only explanation 
 given me was that it is an old custom, and doubtless this is the main, if 
 not the only, reason for doing the work. There used to be a wall 
 about the pueblo, therefore there must still be one. 
 
 One form of punishment at Taos is to compel the offender to do a 
 certain amount of communal work. This is often the punishment for 
 a man who does not appear in the dance, when he has been ordered 
 by the war captain and his officers to do so. For offenders against 
 tribal law there is a house used as a jail. This was in bad condition 
 and has been lately repaired by the people. For a very serious offense, 
 such as murder, a man is now sent to the territorial penitentiary at 
 Santa Fe, but for lesser offenses the pueblo jail is used. One naan I 
 was told of who was kept in jail a week for refusing to live with his 
 wife after he had been ordered to do so. She had been unfaithful to 
 him, but after his week's confinement he consented to live with her 
 again. 
 
 The linguistic relations of Taos I have already indicated. The lan- 
 guage itself is rather soft and pretty, due in part to the many vowel 
 sounds, particularly at the ends of the words. It is spoken so slowly 
 and distinctly that one soon comes to understand a few of the words. 
 But the people are exceedingly jealous of an outsider learning their 
 language, and in order to gain a speaking knowledge of it, he would be 
 obliged to live with the people, and completely gain their confidence. 
 
38 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 My friend taught me a few words, but told me I was not to repeat 
 them to anyone, or even to let anyone know I had learned them. 
 Even these few words were taught me when we were alone, away from 
 the pueblo, in the mountains. 
 
 The first afternoon I was at Taos a small boy of about eight years 
 taught me the numerals up to twenty. He patiently repeated for me 
 word after word, until I had them thoroughly learned. During the 
 three months after that day I learned but one other word from him, 
 and then only in confirmation of one which had been given me by 
 another friend. He had, I suppose, been told by his parents that he 
 must not teach the language to white people. At Taos, as at many 
 other Indian pueblos, as among most Indians in fact, there is " a sort 
 of sacred language." " Some linguists think that these dialects are 
 archaic forms of the language, the memory of which was retained in 
 ceremonial observances; others maintain that they were simply affecta- 
 tions of expression and form a sort of slang, based on the everyday 
 language, and current among the initiated.'" Brinton is inclined to 
 the latter opinion. Whatever be the source of this " sacred language," 
 it is a very common thing. The Taos people, for example, have four 
 or five different words for many things, but not more than one or two 
 of these words are known to all the people. The others are known 
 only to those who belong to some particular society, or who have been 
 initiated into some special mysteries. 
 
 Every individual at Taos has two names ; first, his native Indian 
 name, which is a single personal name, and does not indicate the 
 family at all. Like other Indian names, they have definite meanings, 
 and are often picturesque. A small boy whom I knew bore the name 
 K'en-pi-oo-na — hare-track — because his father had noticed the track 
 of a hare on the snow, and it was very straight and pretty. One girl 
 was named Kw6"-fa-o — white, fleecy cloud — because such clouds are 
 pretty. No two people have the same name, nor after the death of 
 one is the name given again so long as it is remembered that the name 
 has been used. Everyone has, also, a Spanish name, both a Christian 
 name and a family name. It is by this name the Indian is known 
 •outside the village among whites and other Indians, though often it is 
 not known to everyone in the village, since in the pueblo the native 
 name alone is used. 
 
 Probably for hundreds of years men have occasionally gone from 
 
 ' D. G. Brinton, Avierican Hero Alyths, p. 26. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 39 
 
 their own native villages to live at others, where often their own, but 
 sometimes another, language was spoken. The cause of this was, in 
 many cases, some trouble at their own homes. From Isleta four men 
 in recent times have come to live at Taos, have been received and 
 allowed to adopt the customs of the people. They have married, and 
 have had in the four families three children, who are as much children 
 of the village as any others. A San Juan man, also, came and wished 
 especially to watch the stock in the meadow ; he, too, was welcomed, 
 married, and had two children. A very old Picuris man is living there, 
 and has been there since he was a boy. There were two brothers at 
 Picuris, both of whom were married, and one of whom had three 
 children. They had trouble with some other men in the village, so 
 one of them came up to Taos to ask the governor if they might come 
 there to live. The governor consulted his council, and consent was 
 given, so the brothers and their families came. This old Picuris 
 man was one of the three children, and later married a Taos woman. 
 These cases were told me by a friend at Taos, and simply illustrate 
 the occasional movements of these people from their own villages to 
 others, where the customs are more or less similar. 
 
 The social life of the Indian is so bound up with his esoteric and 
 religious life that one cannot be fully considered without the other. 
 But to speak of the religious life of the Indians, one must have lived 
 with them so long as to fully gain their confidence. For this a few 
 months are not sufficient. Mr. Gushing and Mr. Bandelier have shown 
 in considerable detail to what extent the Indians are Catholics. The 
 latter says : " The Pueblo Indians accepted the new faith voluntarily, 
 and to a certain extent honestly. They adopted it, however, from 
 their own peculiar standpoint, that is, they expected material benefits 
 from a creed that pretended to give them spiritual advantages. In 
 their conception, religion is but a rule of conduct controlling man 
 while alive, and on strict compliance with which his success in this 
 world depends. In short, the Pueblos looked upon Christianity as 
 upon another kind of magic, superior to the one which they practiced 
 themselves ; and they expected from the new creed greater protection 
 from their enemies, more abundant crops, less wind, and more rain, 
 than their own magic performances procured." ' And again : " It is vain 
 to deny that the southwestern village Indian is not (?) an idolater at 
 heart, but it is equally preposterous to assume that he is not a sincere 
 
 ^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 218. 
 
40 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 Catholic. Only he assigns to each belief a certain field of action, and 
 has minutely circumscribed each one." ' I am not so much inclined to 
 doubt that the village Indian is sincere as that he is a Catholic. If 
 one may judge at all from the attendance at mass, he will certainly 
 think that the hold of Catholicism at certain of the villages is weak. 
 I have many times at Taos watched the few who answer the call of the 
 little church bell on Sunday mornings. My friend said to me that 
 they had another religion besides the Catholic, and that they did not 
 care for the priest, and would not care if he should go away and not 
 come back. This is nothing new, but it is important because the 
 admission was made, for they always claim to be Catholics. Though 
 the priest baptizes and marries the people, the native rites are added 
 to the Catholic, otherwise the ceremony would not be complete. 
 
 There are some indications which lead one to think that the Pueblo 
 Indian wants only the opportunity to take off his new religion like an 
 outer garment, when beneath will appear the old, as it once was, worn 
 at one or two points, to be sure, by these three hundred and fifty years 
 of contact with the new creed, but still substantially the same. One 
 may see at Taos an image of the Virgin Mary carried about the fields 
 in the summer time to secure good crops. It is shaded by a rude 
 awning, and accompanied by a few Mexican and Indian women, and 
 some young men with rifles, which they occasionally fire off into the 
 air. It is plain enough, I think, that practices like this indicate no 
 adoption by the people of anything fundamental in the faith. 
 
 A little experience of my own rather curiously illustrates the 
 Indian's attitude toward religious matters. Hanging in one of the 
 houses at Taos was a small plate of hammered copper, on which was 
 cut a design of " our lady of Zapopan." I wished to have it, as it 
 seemed to have belonged to a printing press. At first it was promised 
 to me, but when I finally asked to have it, it appeared that the woman 
 to whom it really belonged had hidden it. She was afraid that if she 
 parted with it, some harm might come to her two little children. Both 
 she and her husband, who promised it to me, feared this, because they 
 had known a man who met with an accident because he had sold a 
 small image of a saint. After selling it, he had gone into town, 
 bought some whisky, and then rode his horse home at a breakneck 
 pace. The horse stumbled at a small bridge and broke his leg. This 
 was, of course, because he had sold the little figure. Naturally, then, 
 
 "^Papers Arch. hist, of Anier., Ill, p. 222. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 41 
 
 they might expect some harm to befall their own family, particularly 
 the helpless little ones, if they parted with the copper plate, and this, 
 not so much because it had a design of the Virgin on it, which was 
 sacred, as because of some power in it which would be offended. 
 
 On the whole, it seems to me that Mr. Cushing's view is the cor- 
 rect one, as he has outlined it in his study of "Zuni Creation Myths." 
 In one place he says: "The Zufii faith, as revealed in this sketch of 
 more than three hundred and fifty years of Spanish intercourse, is as 
 a drop of oil in water, surrounded and touched at every point, yet in 
 no place penetrated or changed inwardly by the flood of alien belief 
 
 that descended upon it He is slow to adopt from alien peoples 
 
 any but material suggestions, these even, strictly according as they 
 suit his ways of life ; and whatever he does adopt, or rather absorb and 
 assimilate, from the culture and lore of another people, neither 
 distorts nor obscures his native culture, neither discolors nor displaces 
 his original lore." ' Mrs. Stevenson, in writing of the Sia, says : " While 
 the religion of the Rio Grande Indians bears evidence of contact with 
 Catholicism, they are in fact as non-Catholic as before the Spanish 
 conquest."^ 
 
 It is not an easy thing to realize the face of tradition and custom. 
 We rarely think how many things we do because it is customary, 
 though the purpose which moved the makers of the custom is lacking 
 with us. But the most conservative civilized people in the world can 
 little appreciate the situation of men whose whole lives are dominated 
 by one long series of traditions and customs, as are those of the 
 Indians. They do many things simply because it is the custom, and 
 can give no better reason for doing them. These conservative forces 
 are growing slowly less in Indian life, as the people learn white 
 men's ways and come under American influence. But as the Indian 
 is only in the childhood of culture growth, he takes the forward steps 
 but slowly, as all who have traveled the same road before him have 
 
 done. 
 
 In the study of the traditional lore of the Pueblo people very little 
 satisfactory work has been done. The mention of Mr. Cushing's 
 name calls to mind the best illustration of such work. What he has 
 done among the Zuni should be done in every other pueblo, or, at 
 least, in every one of the four or five related groups of people. His 
 
 ' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 339- 
 2 Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 14- 
 
42 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 work, however, represents the labor of many years and of long resi- 
 dence at Zuni. 
 
 In the traditions of the Pueblo people it is interesting to notice 
 the resemblances which occur from one tribe to another, resemblances 
 which are, as we should expect, closer between the Pueblos themselves 
 than between them and outside peoples. The difficulty of learning 
 anything from the Indians, particularly of a mythical or religious 
 nature, is very great. It cannot be appreciated by one who has not 
 made the attempt. So experienced an ethnologist as Mr. Bandelier 
 says : " Notwithstanding a residence of over one year among the 
 Queres, I never succeeded in penetrating their secrets more than parti- 
 ally."' If one once takes a false step, adopts a wrong method in 
 dealing with them, his influence is gone. Bandelier speaks of Santo 
 Domingo having closed its doors to him. 
 
 At Taos I was hampered in my inquiries by a circumstance which 
 illustrates very well certain characteristics of the Indian. Some years 
 ago, about fifteen I believe, representatives of the government were at 
 Sia making investigations. Of course they had to ask many questions. 
 Some time after they went away there was much sickness in the pueblo, 
 and many people died. It occurred to the Sia people that the 
 presence of those white men, asking a lot of questions, was the cause 
 of all their trouble, so they sent men to the other pueblos to warn them 
 against white men who came to find out about their customs and 
 beliefs. These messengers were at Taos, and the people remem- 
 ber their warning well. If a Taos Indian is caught now teaching 
 the language or telling any of the traditions to a white man, he is 
 liable to a whipping and a fine. This accounts for the fact that I 
 could rarely learn anything from my friend when we were at the 
 pueblo, although when away in the mountains he became much more 
 open and communicative. 
 
 The few myths which I was able to learn are brief, but they are 
 outlines, and have some features which indicate connection with other 
 pueblo myths. 
 
 The people of Taos came original I3' from the north, where they 
 lived in what is now southern Colorado. After leaving this place 
 they lived for some time in northern New Mexico, and again some 
 miles east of their present home. But before living on the earth at 
 all, they had lived i)i a lake. When they came up from the lake, they 
 
 ' Papers Arch. lust, of Anier., Ill, p. 293. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 43 
 
 were wild, did not wear even the breech-clout, and began at once to 
 hunt the deer. While in their northern home they had many neighbors, 
 among them the Picuris, who lived just south of them. One day a 
 Picuris man was planting some white corn. He had some grains in 
 his hand and was showing them to a Taos man, when the latter hit his 
 hand from below and scattered the corn. From that time the two 
 peoples were enemies, and the Picuris moved away to the south. \\'e 
 note here agreement with other Pueblo myths in two points : first, that 
 the people came from the north, and, second, that they had not always 
 lived on the earth, and had not been created on it, but came up from 
 below. The Zuni myths, as given by Mr. Gushing, are very elaborate 
 in their account of the way in which the people escaped from the 
 lower world, the stages they reached, the guides they had, etc' 
 The Sia have a similar myth.' Among the Navajos there seems also 
 to be the same idea,^ though it very likely was borrowed from the 
 Pueblo people. 
 
 Before the people came from the north, the earth was soft ; even the 
 rocks were not hard, so that animals left tracks in them, which can be 
 seen in the hard rocks today. All the ground was covered with water. 
 
 This is simply the widespread tradition of a flood, which has been 
 explained as either local remembrance of actual floods, or as a con- 
 clusion arrived at from finding on high land shells of animals which 
 live in water, or from the evidence furnished by these tracts in the 
 rocks, which, to a primitive mind, must certainly be conclusive. A 
 tradition of a flood may also have arisen from the teachings of mis- 
 sionaries. These sources are obvious enough. John Fiske says : 
 "The numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless 
 arisen partly from reminiscences of actually occurring local inunda- 
 tions, and partly from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge 
 has been carried all over the world by Catholic and Protestant mis- 
 sionaries."" 
 
 When the foremost of the men of the Zuni first came forth, they 
 found the earth "wet and unstable." s The men had webbed feet 
 " like those of walkers in wet and soft places." ' Later, after Zuni-land 
 
 ' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau ot Ethnology, pp. 379-84. 
 ^^ Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 26-37. 
 
 3 Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 275. 
 
 4 John Fiske, Myths and Myth-Makers, p. 152. 
 
 5 Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 3^1- ''Ibid., p. 383. 
 
44 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 had been settled, a flood came from the swelling of the river and 
 buried houses and many men, and was stayed only when a youth priest 
 and maiden priestess had been sacrificed to the waters. ' The Sia 
 also refer to a great flood which " did not fall as rain, but came in as 
 rivers between the mesas, and continued flowing from all sides until 
 the people and all animals fled to the mesa.'"" Here, too, to stay the 
 waters a youth and maiden were cast " from the mesa top ; and imme- 
 diately the waters began to recede. "^ To another feature of this tra- 
 dition of a deluge at Taos reference will be made in connection with 
 the Taos culture-hero. 
 
 The hero was named Pi-an-ket-ta-chbl-la (Point hill green), a name 
 which was given him because he could at any time, even in winter, 
 make a hill green. This the people consider a very good name. 
 Pian-ket-ta-chol-la was born at the foot of a cedar tree about one 
 hundred and fifty miles north of Taos and west of the San Luis valley. 
 His mother, who was a Pueblo woman, had never known a man, but she 
 put some very fine pretty pebbles in her belt, and soon after this child 
 was born. When the people could not find out who the father of the 
 child was, they attempted to put him to death. But they did not succeed, 
 and as soon as he grew older he began to look very beautiful, " like Jesus 
 Christ," one of the men said to me. Now there was a time when the 
 Pueblo people did not know how to dance, to make their clothes, to 
 plant corn, beans, and calabashes. After Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la came, he 
 taught them all these things. He picked out some different-colored 
 stones, and from them he made corn, beans, and calabashes grow. 
 
 He also had the power to fly. One time he went up to find out 
 about the stars. He took off his moccasins and all his clothes except 
 the breech-clout. Many people came out to see him. He had an 
 eagle's tail fastened to his breech -clout behind, and on his arms above 
 the elbow wild turkey wings. When there was too much wind, he 
 could not go up; but on a quiet day he would go to the top of a house 
 and fly away. The people would watch him grow smaller and smaller, 
 till finally he became small as a fly, and then disappeared altogether. 
 He went up very high in the air, as high as from Taos to Santa Fe, 
 and got within a few feet of the stars. They are birds and have very 
 green legs and very bright breasts, like a humming bird; they have a 
 bill something like an eagle's, and very dark eyes. The twinkling of 
 
 ' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 429. 
 
 ^Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 35. 3 Hud., p. 57. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 45 
 
 the stars is simply the birds flying slowly. The shooting stars are 
 birds moving quickly from one place to another. When you cannot 
 see the stars, the birds have turned around, so that their bright breasts 
 can no longer be seen, and so they give no light. Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la 
 could not find out how the birds live, nor could he get near enough to 
 the sun and moon to find out about them. 
 
 But he could not only fly, he could also go down into the earth. 
 In summer time he could bring up ice and snow, and in winter he 
 could bring up green leaves. He could make rain come when he 
 wished. 
 
 At one time there were many people living on the earth, but much 
 hot water came and drowned them all. The whole earth, even the 
 rocks, became soft. This wise man made a big pile of cottonwood 
 bark and got inside the pile and so did not die. While the waters 
 thus covered the earth, Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la looked down into the earth 
 and saw it was all green there, so he made the water go down there. 
 He then came out from the pile of bark and took some foam from 
 the top of the water and made people. He took different-colored 
 stones and made maize and other seed. These the people planted, 
 and the next year the seed was distributed, and so they had crops 
 
 again. 
 
 Before the Pueblo people saw white men, negroes, and all other 
 people, this wise man had seen them and told the pueblo people about 
 them. Of the Americans he had said that some time a people would 
 come who made a noise with their shoes, like men walking on snow. 
 The Indian who told me this added, with confidence : "This is true, 
 because we see." He told them they would get fewer and fewer, and 
 by and by would all be white men, and then there would be no more ^ 
 Pueblo people. 
 
 One cannot wonder that the influence and presence of white people 
 is much disliked, especially when he considers that the birth of half- 
 breeds is but a step toward the extinction of the Pueblo people, 
 according to their own traditions. 
 
 Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la is still living in a lake somewhere to the north. 
 Onetime a noise, like the beating of a drum, such as is now used in their 
 dances, was heard in the lake. His tracks have been seen about there 
 too. " He is very old, but does not die." 
 
 Po-shai-yan-ne, the culture-hero of the Sia, was born of a virgin at 
 the Pueblo of Pecos. She became pregnant from eating two piiion 
 
46 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 nuts. At his birth she was much chagrined and cast him off, while he 
 was still very young. He lived as best he could until he reached man- 
 hood, when his magic power appeared. After a time he went to visit 
 all the pueblos. When he came to the Sia, they knew, him, because 
 they had heard of him. He stayed with them a while and taught 
 them to hunt, and then went on into Chihuahua, Mexico. Here 
 he was killed by rivals for the favor of a chief's daughter, to whom 
 he had been married, but the next day he appeared alive again, 
 and, though a second time put to death, by drowning, he rose again, and 
 
 the Sia say : " He still lives, and some time he will come to us 
 
 He may come today, tomorrow, or perhaps not in our lifetime."' 
 
 Just as we find the Taos culture-hero Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la making 
 people from the foam on the water, so the Sun-father of the Zufii 
 impregnated the Foam-cap so that she gave birth to the Beloved Twain, 
 who led men out from the world below to the world of light and life.' 
 The culture-hero of the Zuhi who corresponds most nearly, per- 
 haps, to these of Taos and of Sia was Pai-ya-tu-ma, " God of Dew 
 and the Dawn."^ He is not represented as having given grain to the 
 Zuhi by a single and simple act of creation, as did Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la 
 at Taos, but the people had much to do in the first ceremony which 
 gave them the staple Indian cereal. But after they had gone through ' 
 the long rites, "out from the East-land came Pai-ya-tu-ma" and 
 "touched the plants with the refreshing breath of his flute." ^ Then, as 
 the morning mists cleared away, he, too, disappeared, and was seen but 
 once again, when the people became dissatisfied with the way in which 
 the corn custom was observed. He was sought out. He came back 
 and instructed the people in the old custom, and then, "in the gray 
 mists of the morning, Pai-ya-tu-ma was hidden — and is seen no more 
 of men. "5 The Zufii " Po-shai-yan-k'ya, the wisest of wise men and 
 the foremost," both in his name and in his qualities, shows similarity to 
 the Sia hero Po-shai-yiin-ne, but in that part of the Zuiii myths which 
 Mr. Gushing has thus far published Pai-ya-tu-ma more closely resem- 
 bles the Sia god. 
 
 Before the Taos people were living where they now are, other 
 pueblo people lived in the valley. Traces of what are supposed to have 
 been their houses may still be seen. While these people were living 
 
 ' Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 59-67. 
 
 = Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 381. 
 
 ■^Ibid., p. 377. ^Ibid., p. 395. ^Ibid., p. 447. 
 
STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 47 
 
 here, there came a big man, tall as a pine tree, and killed manv of 
 them. Those who were left went away. This giant could drink out 
 of the Rio Grande by putting one foot on each side of the river, 
 stooping down and resting his hands on the banks, although the river 
 in the valley flows between high, steep walls. The track of his foot, 
 which was left in the rock before it hardened, is about three feet long 
 and one foot wide. This is up in the hills, not far from the pueblo, and 
 is said to be covered up now by rain wash. The giant had a boy who 
 used to go around with him, and he, too, left his track on a rock. That 
 of the man I have not seen, though I have no doubt there exists some- 
 thing which much resembles a man's track, whatever it may be. The 
 boy's track my friend promised to show me, so we went up to the hills 
 one day, carrying a small rope, that we might bring down a load of 
 wood, and so conceal the real purpose of our walk. The impression in 
 the rock appears to be that of a man's left foot. It is about a foot 
 long and four or five inches wide. After I had examined it, we scat- 
 tered sand over it, so that it would not appear that anyone had been 
 looking at it. The giant and the boy were at last killed by Pi-an-ket- 
 ta-chol-la. 
 
 The Sia, too, were troubled by giants. They were called the Skoyo 
 and were born of the Sia women while the men were away from them 
 for three years. They ate the people, catching them just as the coyote 
 catches his prey, then roasting them and eating them. A virgin became 
 by the Sun-father the mother of twin boys, Maasewe and U'yuuyewe. 
 One day they went to visit their father, the sun, and he gave them 
 bows and arrows and three sticks apiece. They then destroyed all the 
 giants who were eating the Sia people, and, finally, after performing 
 many great deeds, went back to the Sun-father. He sent them into 
 the Sandia mountains to live, and there they still live, for their foot- 
 prints are to be seen on the mountains.' 
 
 The twin boys in the Sia myth do a part of the work which was 
 done at Taos by the hero Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la. For the boys destroy 
 the giants and teach the people some things, such as organization of 
 the cult societies. But other things which were taught by Pi-an-ket- 
 ta-chol-la to the Taos people, Po-shai-yan-ne taught the Sia. 
 
 In the Navajo cosmogony, as given by Mr. Stevenson, are mentioned 
 two wonderful boys who went to visit their father, the sun. He gave 
 them bows, arrows, knives, good leggings, and even lightning. With 
 
 'Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 42-57- 
 
48 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 
 
 their weapons they then killed their enemies and went to live in the 
 mountains. Before leaving they taught the Navajo people songs and 
 prayers.' This closely resembles the Sia myth, and probably was bor- 
 rowed from the Pueblos. 
 
 Brinton mentions that among the Muyscason the Andean plateau 
 the knowledge of their various arts was " attributed to the instructions 
 of a wise stranger who dwelt among them many cycles before the 
 
 arrival of the Spaniards his footprints on the solid rock were 
 
 reverently pointed out long after the conquest."^ Here it is the culture- 
 hero whose tracks are seen in the rocks, and not those of the giants 
 who ate the people. This is not strange, as these tracks, which so 
 closely resemble the impression of a very large man's foot, might easily 
 be associated either with the culture-hero or with the evil being to whom 
 he is so often opposed. 
 
 It is evident that too little of the mythology of the Pueblos, 
 excepting Zuiii and Sia, has been collected to permit an attempt at 
 interpretation yet. I think there can be no doubt that there is at Taos 
 a rich store of mythical lore ; this which I have given is certainly the 
 merest beginning. 
 
 If we are to follow Mr. Brinton in his interpretation, we have in 
 these culture-hero stories simply sun myths. The wonderful man who 
 teaches the people how to plant, to hunt, and to do all kinds of work, 
 and who brings dry land out of the waters, is only the sun, which makes 
 everything grow, which dries up the waters, and is itself necessary to 
 man's existence. "The story of the virgin mother points, in America 
 as it did in the old world, to the notion of the dawn bringing forth 
 the sun." 3 The hero may go away or be conquered, but he is not 
 killed. So "the sun shall rise again in undiminished glory, and he 
 lives, though absent."" 
 
 I Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 280. 
 
 *D. G. Brinton, ^Wif;'?V«« Hero-Myths, pp. 220-21. 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 34. * Ibid., p. 30. 
 
 H32 75 5kQ 
 

 
 1^ ,'•«>- > 
 
 
 \> ^ ^ *>^' 
 
 '^^..^ : 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ /^^/z^^', ^ 
 
 ,-^o. 
 
 /^ ^-v. 
 
 .0 
 
 
 ... o ,0 
 
 o V y^. 
 
 
 ^^^ A^ ^>.''^^*?5^\0^ ^"--r^^A'* ^^*^^f^\G^" '^'"" 
 
 O 
 
 
 \--Tr,--\/ -c.^'^!^'/ \-^-\.*^ -°.;'-^-/ 
 
 ^Va. ^..^^^* /^%:, \./ ,^', \^ , \/ 
 
 0^ r:-j,^->^. /\.^J4:%'H^ 
 
 
 '^^ 
 
 
 ' -J^. /atS 
 
 

 
 
 ■•^-9'^^ 
 
 ^^" 
 
 ^ ^'M0S /^"^ ^'?i/ilM*^ ^ 
 
 \^ 
 
 
 -^' 
 
 #/ s^' 
 
 'o V 
 ^^■n^ 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 -fc « ' 
 
 .*'^ 
 
 \ 
 
 ' *^ \./ 
 
 0-7', '^^.-— -.— ,: <; O. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 0' 
 
 V ,s^^Av^■^<». 
 
 
 :^^''-.' 
 
 ,> 
 
 ) o "> -V o 
 
 5^. rv"- «''■'., /• 
 
 
 
 "-o 
 
 V ,y 
 
 .*.r 
 
 .^' 
 
 I* o 
 
 °X?1¥; .^^-V \ 
 
 ;v^R\F* ^ 
 
 ,-^^ / 
 
 -C'^u. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,-?v 
 
 
 ■V 
 
 ■3' % 
 
 V 4' 
 
 ♦ ~.<f'~\ • 
 
 ,'\'- 
 
 
 ;.-^i'A' i.i" * 
 
 % 
 
 .•^ 
 
 -^^0^ 
 
 "-0 
 
 
 0' 
 
 \<.-^' 
 
 ,^ 
 
 v/' 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 -*' 
 
 « 
 
 • •» C 
 
 >.>/? 
 
 •?:j^ ^ 
 
 ^°-v.. 
 
 
 
 (J.'' J, e - * , <^ 
 
 
 
 :^''^ ^l. 
 
 
 ^-^ ^^^ 
 
 ^ *'^V.^ .O'^ ^3.. ''^..^' A ''<^ "^''r^T"- 0^ 
 
 1<«J^ 
 
 '^^ N. MANCHESTER. 
 INDIANA 
 
 .»^" Ov - 1// «ks \W . Vv" 
 
 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 - » 
 
 •^bv^ 
 
 < o - i ' 
 
 
 .0 ■ % 
 
 ^p-^^