diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 8112.txt | 12733 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 8112.zip | bin | 0 -> 251292 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 12749 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8112.txt b/8112.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddd87d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/8112.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12733 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Houses and House-Life of the American +Aborigines, by Lewis H. Morgan + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines + +Author: Lewis H. Morgan + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8112] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 15, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSES OF ABORIGENES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Robert Prince, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY + +VOLUME IV + + + + +HOUSES AND HOUSE-LIFE OF THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES + +BY LEWIS H. MORGAN + + + + +PREFACE. + +The following work substantially formed the Fifth Part of the +original manuscript of "Ancient Society," under the title "Growth of +the Idea of House Architecture." As the manuscript exceeded the +limits of a single volume, this portion (Part V) was removed, and +having then no intention to publish it separately, the greater part +of it found its way into print in detached articles. A summary was +given to Johnson's New Universal Cyclopedia in the article on the +"Architecture of the American Aborigines." The chapter on the +"Houses of the Aztecs" formed the basis of the article entitled +"Montezuma's Dinner," published in the North American Review, in +April, 1876. Another chapter, that on the "Houses of the Mound +Builders," was published in the same Review in July, 1876. Finally, +the present year, at the request of the executive committee of the +"Archaeological Institute of America," at Cambridge, I prepared from +the same materials an article entitled "A Study of the Houses and +House Life of the Indian Tribes," with a scheme for the exploration +of the ruins in New Mexico, Arizona, the San Juan region, Yucatan, +and Central America. + +With some additions and reductions the facts are now presented in +their original form, and as they will now have a wider distribution +than the articles named have had, they will be new to most of my +readers. The facts and suggestions made will also have the advantage +of being presented in their proper connection. Thus additional +strength is given to the argument as a whole. All the forms of this +architecture sprang from a common mind, and exhibit, as a consequence, +different stages of development of the same conceptions, operating +upon similar necessities. They also represent these several +conditions of Indian life with reasonable completeness. Their houses +will be seen to form one system of works, from the Long House of the +Iroquois to the Joint Tenement houses of adobe and of stone in New +Mexico, Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala, with such diversities as +the different degrees of advancement of these several tribes would +naturally produce. Studied as one system, springing from a common +experience, and similar wants, and under institutions of the same +general character, they are seen to indicate a plan of life at once +novel, original, and distinctive. + +The principal fact, which all these structures alike show, from the +smallest to the greatest, is that the family through these stages of +progress was too weak an organization to face alone the struggle of +life, and sought a shelter for itself in large households composed +of several families. The house for a single family was exceptional +throughout aboriginal America, while the house large enough to +accommodate several families was the rule. Moreover, they were +occupied as joint tenement houses. There was also a tendency to form +these households on the principle of gentile kin, the mothers with +their children being of the same gens or clan. + +If we enter upon the great problem of Indian life with a +determination to make it intelligible, their house life and domestic +institutions must furnish the key to its explanation. These pages +are designed as a commencement of that work. It is a fruitful, and, +at present, but partially explored field. We have been singularly +inattentive to the plan of domestic life revealed by the houses of +the aboriginal period. Time and the influences of civilization have +told heavily upon their mode of life until it has become so far +modified, and in many cases entirely overthrown, that it must be +taken up as a new investigation upon the general facts which remain. +At the epoch of European discovery it was in full vitality in North +and South America; but the opportunities of studying its principles +and its results were neglected. As a scheme of life under +established institutions, it was a remarkable display of the +condition of mankind in two well marked ethnical periods, namely, +the Older Period and the Middle Period of barbarism, the first being +represented by the Iroquois and the second by the Aztecs, or ancient +Mexicans. In no part of the earth were these two conditions of human +progress so well represented as by the American Indian tribes. A +knowledge of the culture and of the state of the arts of life in +these periods is indispensable to a definite conception of the +stages of human progress. From the laws which govern this progress, +from the uniformity of their operation, and from the necessary +limitations of the principle of intelligence, we may conclude that +our own remote ancestors passed through a similar experience and +possessed very similar institutions. In studying the condition of +the Indian tribes in these periods we may recover some portion of +the lost history of our own race. This consideration lends incentive +to the investigation. + +The first chapter is a condensation of four in "Ancient Society," +namely, those on the gens, phratry, tribe, and confederacy of tribes. +As they formed a necessary part of that work, they become equally +necessary to this. A knowledge of these organizations is +indispensable to an understanding of the house life of the aborigines. +These organizations form the basis of American ethnology. Although +the discussion falls short of a complete explanation of their +character and of their prevalence, it will give the reader a general +idea of the organization of society among them. + +We are too apt to look upon the condition of savage and of barbarous +tribes as standing on the same plane with respect to advancement. +They should be carefully distinguished as dissimilar conditions of +progress. Moreover, savagery shows stages of culture and of progress, +and the same is true of barbarism. It will greatly facilitate the +study of the facts relating to these two conditions, through which +mankind have passed in their progress to civilization, to +discriminate between ethnical periods, or stages of culture both in +savagery and in barbarism. The progress of mankind from their +primitive condition to civilization has been marked and eventful. +Each great stage of progress is connected, more or less directly, +with some important invention or discovery which materially +influenced human progress, and inaugurated an improved condition. +For these reasons the period of savagery has been divided into three +subperiods, and that of barbarism also into three, the latter of +which are chiefly important in their relation to the condition of +the Indian tribes. The Older Period of barbarism, which commences +with the introduction of the art of pottery, and the Middle Period, +which commences with the use of adobe brick in the construction of +houses, and with the cultivation of maize and plants by irrigation, +mark two very different and very dissimilar conditions of life. The +larger portion of the Indian tribes fall within one or the other of +these periods. A small portion were in the Older Period of savagery, +and none had reached the Later Period of barbarism, which +immediately precedes civilization. In treating of the condition of +the several tribes they will be assigned to the particular period to +which they severally belong under this classification. + +I regret to add that I have not been able, from failing health, to +give to this manuscript the continuous thought which a work of any +kind should receive from its author. But I could not resist the +invitation of my friend Major J. W. Powell, the Director of the +Bureau of Ethnology, to put these chapters together as well as I +might be able, that they might be published by that Bureau. As it +will undoubtedly be my last work, I part with it under some +solicitude for the reason named; but submit it cheerfully to the +indulgence of my readers. + +I am greatly indebted to my friend Mr. J. C. Pilling, of the same +Bureau, for his friendly labor and care in correcting the proof +sheets, and for supervising the illustrations. Such favors are very +imperfectly repaid by an author's thanks. + +The late William W. Ely, M. D., LL. D., was, for a period of more +than twenty-five years, my cherished friend and literary adviser, +and to him I am indebted for many valuable suggestions, and for +constant encouragement in my labors. The dedication of this volume +to his memory is but a partial expression of my admiration of his +beautiful character, and of my appreciation of his friendship. + +LEWIS H. MORGAN + +ROCHESTER, N. Y., June, 1881 + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION. + +The Gens: organized upon kin; rights, privileges, and obligations of +its members--The Phratry: its character and functions--The Tribe: +its composition and attributes--The Confederacy of Tribes: its nature, +character and functions. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY AND ITS GENERAL PRACTICE. + +Indian tribes in three dissimilar conditions--Savage tribes-- +Partially horticultural tribes--Village Indians--Usages and customs +affecting their house life--The law of hospitality practiced by the +Iroquois; by the Algonkin tribes of lower Virginia; by the Delawares +and Munsees; by the tribes of the Missouri, of the Valley of the +Columbia; by the Dakota tribes of the Mississippi, by the Algonkin +tribes of Wisconsin; by the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks; by the +Village Indians of New Mexico, of Mexico, of Central America; by the +tribes of Venezuela; by the Peruvians--Universality of the usage--It +implies communism in living in large households. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +COMMUNISM IN LIVING. + +A law of their condition--Large households among Indian tribes-- +Communism in living in the household--Long Houses of the Iroquois-- +Several families in a house--Communism in household--Long Houses of +Virginia Indians--Clustered cabins of the Creeks--Communism in the +cluster--Hunting bands on the plains--The capture a common stock-- +Fishing bands on the Columbia--The capture a common stock--Large +households in tribes of the Colombia--Communism in the household-- +Mandan houses--Contained several families--Houses of the Sauks the +same--Village Indians of New Mexico--Mayas of Yucatan--Their present +communism in living--Large households of Indians of Cuba, of +Venezuela, of Carthagena, of Peru. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +USAGES AND CUSTOMS WITH RESPECT TO LAND AND FOOD. + +Tribal domain owned by the tribe in common--Possessory right in +individuals and families to such land as they cultivated--Government +compensation for Indian lands paid to tribe; for improvements to +individuals--Apartments of a house and possessory rights to lands +went to gentile heirs--Tenure of land among sedentary Village +Indians at Taos, Jemex, and Zunyi--Among Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans, +as presented by Mr. Bandelier; in Peru--The usage of having but one +prepared meal each day, a dinner--Rule among Northern tribes--A +breakfast as well as a dinner claimed for the Mexicans--Separation +at meals, the men eating first, and by themselves, and the women and +children afterwards. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HOUSES OF INDIAN TRIBES NORTH OF NEW MEXICO. + +Houses of Indian tribes must be considered as parts of a common +system of construction--A common principle runs through all its forms; +that of adaptation to communism in living within the household--It +explains this architecture--Communal houses of tribes in savagery; +in California; in the valley of the Yukon; in the valley of the +Columbia--Communal house of tribes in the lower status of barbarism-- +Ojibwa lodge--Dakota skin tent--Long houses of Virginia Indians; of +Nyach tribe on Long Island; of Seneca-Iroquois; of Onondaga-Iroquois-- +Dirt Lodge of Mandans and Minnetarees--Thatched houses of Maricopas +and Mohaves of the Colorado; of the Pimas of the Gila--What a +comparison shows. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO. + +Improved character of houses--The defensive principle incorporated +in their plan of the Houses--Their joint tenement character--Two or +more stories high--Improved apparel, pottery, and fabrics--Pueblo of +Santo Domingo; of adobe bricks--Built in terraced town--Ground story +closed--Terraces reached by ladders--Rooms entered through +trap-doors in ceilings--Pueblo of Zunyi--Ceiling--Water-jars and +hand mill--Moki pueblo--Room in same--Ceiling like that at Zunyi-- +Pueblo of Taos--Estufas for holding councils--Size of adobes--Of +doorways--Window-openings and trap-doorways--Present governmental +organization--Room in pueblo--Fire-places and chimneys of modern +introduction--Present ownership and inheritance of property--Village +Indians have declined since their discovery--Sun worship--The +Montezuma religion--Seclusion from religious motives. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER +AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. + +Pueblos in stone--The best structures in New Mexico--Ruins in the +valley of the Chaco--Exploration of Lieut. J. H. Simpson in 1849; of +William H. Jackson in 1877--Map of valley--Ground plans--Pueblo +Pintado and Weje-gi--Constructed of tabular pieces of sandstone-- +Estufas and their uses--Pueblos Una Vida and Hungo Pavie--Restoration +of Hungo Pavie--Pueblo of Chettro-Kettle--Room in same--Form of +ceiling--Pueblo Bonito--Room in same--Restoration of Pueblo--Pueblo +del Arroyo--Pueblo Penyasca Blanca--Seven large pueblos and two +smaller ones--Pueblo Alto without the valley on table land on the +north side--Probably the "Seven Cities of Cibola" of Coronado's +Expedition--Reasons for supposition--The pueblos constructed +gradually--Remarkable appearance of the valley when inhabited. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HOUSES IN RUINS OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER +AND ITS TRIBUTARIES--(Continued.) + +Ruins of stone pueblo on Animas River--Ground plan--Each room faced +with stone, showing natural faces--Constructed like those in Chaco-- +Adobe mortar--Its composition and efficiency--Lime unknown in New +Mexico--Gypsum mortar probably used in New Mexico and Central America-- +Cedar poles used as lintels--Cedar beams used as joists--Estufas; +neither fire-places nor chimneys--The House a fortress--Second stone +pueblo--Six other pueblos in ruins near--The Montezuma Valley--Nine +pueblos in ruins in a cluster--Diagram--Ruins of stone pueblos near +Ute Mountain--Outline of plan--Round tower of stone with three +concentric walls--Incorporated in pueblo--Another round tower--With +two concentric walls--Stands isolated--Other ruins--San Juan +district as an original centre of this Indian culture-- +Mound-Builders probable emigrants from this region--Historical +tribes of Mexico emigrants from same--Indian migrations--Made under +control of physical causes. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HOUSES OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. + +Area of their occupation--Their condition that of Village Indians-- +Probably immigrants from New Mexico--Character of their earthworks-- +Embankments enclosing squares--Probable sites of their houses-- +Adapted, as elevated platforms, to Long Houses--High bank works-- +Capacity of embankments--Conjectural restoration of the pueblo-- +Other embankments--Their probable uses--Artificial clay beds under +grave-mounds--Probably used for cremation of chiefs--Probable +numbers of the Mound Builders--Failure of attempt to transplant this +type of village life to the Ohio Valley--Their withdrawal probably +voluntary. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HOUSES OF THE AZTECS OR ANCIENT MEXICANS. + +First accounts of Pueblo of Mexico--Their extravagance--Later +American exaggerations--Kings and emperors made out of sachems and +war-chiefs--Ancient society awakens curiosity and wonder--Aztec +government a confederacy of three Indian tribes--Pueblo of Mexico in +an artificial lake--Joint-tenement houses--Several families in each +house--Houses in Cuba and Central America--Aztec houses not fully +explored--Similar to those in New Mexico--Communism in living +probable--Cortez in Pueblo of Mexico--His quarters--Explanation of +Diaz--Of Herrera--Of Bandolier--House occupied by Montezuma--A +communal house--Montezuma's dinner--According to Diaz--to Cortez--to +Herrera--To H. H. Bancroft--Excessive exaggerations--Dinner in +common by a communal household--Bandelier's "Social Organization and +Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans." + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +RUINS OF HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF YUCATAN +AND CENTRAL AMERICA. + +Pueblos in Yucatan and Central America--Their situation--Their house +architecture--Highest type of aboriginal architecture--Pueblos were +occupied when discovered--Uxmal houses erected on pyramidal +elevations--Governor's house--Character of its architecture--House +of the Nuns--Triangular ceiling of stone--Absence of chimneys--No +cooking done within the house--Their communal plan evidently +joint-tenement houses--Present communism of Mayas--Presumtively +inherited from their ancestors--Ruins of Zayi--The closed house-- +Apartments constructed over a core of masonry--Palenque--Mr. +Stephens' misconception of these ruins--Whether the post and lintel +of stone were used as principles of construction--Plan of all these +houses communal--Also fortresses--Palenque Indians flat-heads-- +American ethnography--General conclusions. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +FRONTISPIECE. Zunyi Water Carrier. + +Fig. 1. Earth Lodges of the Sacramento Valley + +Fig. 2. Gallinomero Thatched Lodge + +Fig. 3. Matdu Lodge in the high Sierra + +Fig. 4. Yukuta Tule Lodges + +Fig. 5. Kutchin Lodge + +Fig. 6. Ground-plan of Necrohokioo + +Fig. 7. Frame of Ojibwa Wig-e-wam + +Fig. 8. Dakota Woka-yo, or Skin Tent + +Fig. 9. Village of Pomeiock + +Fig. 10. Village of Secotan + +Fig. 11. Interior of House of Virginia Indians + +Fig. 12. Ho-de-no-sote of the Seneca-Iroquois + +Fig. 13. Ground-plan of Seneca-Iroquois Long-House + +Fig. 14. Bartram's ground-plan and cross-section of Onondaga +Long-House. + +Fig. 15. Palisaded Onondaga Village + +Fig. 16. Mandan Village Plot + +Fig. 17. Ground-plan of Mandan House + +Fig. 18. Cross-section of Mandan House + +Fig. 19. Mandan House + +Fig. 20. Mandan Drying-Scaffold + +Fig. 21. Mandan Ladder + +Fig. 22. Pueblo of Santo Domingo + +Fig. 23. Pueblo of Zunyi + +Fig. 24. Room in Zunyi House + +Fig. 25. Pueblo of Wolpi + +Fig. 26. Room in Moki House + +Fig. 27. North Pueblo of Taos + +Fig. 28. Room in Pueblo of Taos + +Fig. 29. Map of a portion of Chaco Canyon + +Fig. 30. Ground-plans of Pueblos Pintada and Wejegi + +Fig. 31. Ground-plans of Pueblos of Una Vida and Hungo Pavie + +Fig. 32. Restoration of Pueblo Hungo Pavie + +Fig. 33. Ground-plan of Pueblo Chettro Kettle + +Fig. 34. Interior of a Room in Pueblo Chettro Kettle + +Fig. 35. Ground-plan of Pueblo Bonito + +Fig. 36. Room in Pueblo Bonito + +Fig. 37. Restoration of Pueblo Bonito + +Fig. 38. Ground-plan of Pueblo del Arroyo + +Fig. 39. Ground-plan of Pueblo Peuasca Blanca + +Fig. 40. Ground-plan of the Pueblo on Animas River + +Fig. 41. Stone from Doorway + +Fig. 41a. A finished block of Sandstone (for comparison with Fig. 41) + +Fig. 42. Section of Cedar Lintel + +Fig. 43. Outline of Stone Pueblo on Animas River + +Fig. 44. Pueblos at commencement of McElmo Canyon + +Fig. 45. Outline plan of Stone Pueblo near base of Ute Mountain + +Fig. 46. Ground-plan of High Bank Pueblo + +Fig. 47. Restoration of High Bank Pueblo + +Fig. 48. Ground-plan and sections of house, High Bank Pueblo + +Fig. 49. Mound with artificial clay basin + +Fig. 50. Side elevation of Pyramidal Platform of Governor's House + +Fig. 51. Governor's House at Uxmal + +Fig. 52. Ground-plan of Governor's House, Uxmal + +Fig. 53. Ground-plan of the House of the Nuns + +Fig. 54. Section of room in House of the Nuns + +Fig. 55. Ground-plan of Zayi + +Fig. 56. Cross-section through one apartment + + + + + +HOUSES AND HOUSE-LIFE OF THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION. + + +In a previous work I have considered the organization of the +American aborigines in gentes, phratries, and tribes, with the +functions of each in their social system. From the importance of +this organization to a right understanding of their social and +governmental life, a recapitulation of the principal features of +each member of the organic series is necessary in this connection. +[Footnote: "Ancient Society" or "Researches in the Lines of Human +Progress from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization." Henry +Holt & Co. 1877.] + +The gentile organization opens to us one of the oldest and most +widely-prevalent institutions of mankind. It furnished the nearly +universal plan of government of ancient society, Asiatic, European, +African, American, and Australian. It was the instrumentality by +means of which society was organized and held together. Commencing +in savagery, and continuing through the three subperiods of barbarism, +it remained until the establishment of political society, which did +not occur until after civilization had Commenced. The Grecian gens, +phratry, and tribe, the Roman gens, curia, and tribe find their +analogues in the gens, phratry, and tribe of the American aborigines. +In like manner the Irish sept, the Scottish clan, the phratra of the +Albanians, and the Sanskrit ganas, without extending the comparison +further, are the same as the American Indian gens, which has usually +been called a clan. As far as our knowledge extends, this +organization runs through the entire ancient world upon all the +continents, and it was brought down to the historical period by such +tribes as attained to civilization. Nor is this all. Gentile society +wherever found is the same in structural organization and in +principles of action; but changing from lower to higher forms with +the progressive advancement of the people. These changes give the +history of development of the same original conceptions. + + + +THE GENS. + +Gens, [Greek: genos], and gattas in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit have +alike the primary signification of kin. They contain the same +element as gigno, [Greek: gignouas], and ganaman, in the same +languages, signifying to beget; thus implying in each an immediate +common descent of the members of a gens. A gens, therefore, is a +body of consanguinei descended from the same common ancestor, +distinguished by a gentile name, and bound together by affinities of +blood. It includes a moiety only of such descendants. Where descent +is in the female line, as it was universally in the archaic period, +the gens is composed of a supposed female ancestor and her children, +together with the children of her female descendants, through females, +in perpetuity; and where descent is in the male line--into which it +was changed after the appearance of property in masses--of a +supposed male ancestor and his children, together with the children +of his male descendants, through males, in perpetuity. The family +name among ourselves is a survival of the gentile name, with descent +in the male line, and passing in the same manner. The modern family, +as expressed by its name, is an unorganized gens, with the bond of +kin broken, and its members as widely dispersed as the family name +is found. + +Among the nations named, the gens indicated a social organization of +a remarkable character, which had prevailed from an antiquity so +remote that its origin was lost in the obscurity of far distant ages. +It was also the unit of organization of a social and governmental +system, the fundamental basis of ancient society. This organization +was not confined to the Latin, Grecian, and Sanskrit speaking tribes, +with whom it became such a conspicuous institution. It has been +found in other branches of the Aryan family of nations, in the +Semitic, Uralian and Turanian families, among the tribes of Africa +and Australia, and of the American aborigines. + +The gens has passed through successive stages of development in its +transition from its archaic to its final form with the progress of +mankind. These changes were limited in the main to two, firstly, +changing descent from the female line, which was the archaic rule, +as among the Iroquois, to the male line, which was the final rule, +as among the Grecian and Roman gentes; and, secondly, changing the +inheritance of the property of a deceased member of the gens from +his gentiles, who took it in the archaic period, first to his +agnatic kindred, and finally to his children. These changes, slight +as they may seem, indicate very great changes of condition as well +as a large degree of progressive development. + +The gentile organization, originating in the period of savagery, +enduring through the three subperiods of barbarism, finally gave way, +among the more advanced tribes, when they attained civilization--the +requirements of which it was unable to meet. Among the Greeks and +Romans political society supervened upon gentile society, but not +until civilization had commenced. The township (and its equivalent, +the city ward), with its fixed property, and the inhabitants it +contained, organized as a body politic, became the unit and the +basis of a new and radically different system of government. After +political society was instituted this ancient and time-honored +organization, with the phratry and tribe developed from it, +gradually yielded up their existence. It was under gentile +institutions that barbarism was won by some of the tribes of mankind +while in savagery, and that civilization was won by the descendants +of some of the same tribes while in barbarism. Gentile institutions +carried a portion of mankind from savagery to civilization. + +This organization may be successfully studied both in its living and +in its historical forms in a large number of tribes and races. In +such an investigation it is preferable to commence with the gens in +its archaic form I shall commence, therefore, with the gens as it +now exists among the American aborigines, where it is found in its +archaic form, and among whom its theoretical constitution and +practical workings can be investigated more successfully than in the +historical gentes of the Greeks and Romans. In fact, to understand +fully the gentes of the latter nations a knowledge of the functions +and of the rights, privileges, and obligations of the members of the +American Indian gens is imperatively necessary. + +In American ethnography tribe and clan have been used in the place +of gens as equivalent terms from not perceiving the universality of +the latter. In previous works, and following my predecessors, I have +so used them. A comparison of the Indian clan with the gens of the +Greeks and Romans reveals at once their identity in structure and +functions. It also extends to the phratry and tribe. If the identity +of these several organizations can be shown, of which there can be +no doubt, there is a manifest propriety in returning to the Latin +and Grecian terminologies, which are full and precise as well as +historical. + +The plan of government of the American aborigines commenced with the +gens and ended with the confederacy, the latter being the highest +point to which their governmental institutions attained. It gave for +the organic series: first, the gens, a body of consanguinei having a +common gentile name; second, the phratry, an assemblage of related +gentes united in a higher association for certain common objects; +third, the tribe, an assemblage of gentes, usually organized in +phratries, all the members of which spoke the same dialect; and +fourth, a confederacy of tribes, the members of which respectively +spoke dialects of the same stock language. It resulted in a gentile +society (societas) as distinguished from a political society or +state (civitas). The difference between the two is wide and +fundamental. There was neither a political society, nor a citizen, +nor a state, nor any civilization in America when it was discovered. +One entire ethnical period intervened between the highest American +Indian tribes and the beginning of civilization, as that term is +properly understood. + +The gens, though a very ancient social organization founded upon kin, +does not include all the descendants of a common ancestor. It was +for the reason that when the gens came in marriage between single +pairs was unknown, and descent through males could not be traced +with certainty. Kindred were linked together chiefly through the +bond of their maternity In the ancient gens descent was limited to +the female line. It embraced all such persons as traced their +descent from a supposed common female ancestor, through females, the +evidence of the fact being the possession of a common gentile name. +It would include this ancestor and her children, the children of her +daughters, and the children of her female descendants, through +females, in perpetuity, while the children of her sons and the +children of her male descendants, through males, would belong to +other gentes, namely, those of their respective mothers. Such was +the gens in its archaic form, when the paternity of children was not +certainly ascertainable, and when their maternity afforded the only +certain criterion of descents. + +This state of descents which can be traced back to the Middle Status +of savagery, as among the Australians, remained among the American +aborigines through the Upper Status of savagery, and into and +through the Lower Status of barbarism, with occasional exceptions. +In the Middle Status of barbarism the Indian tribes began to change +descent from the female line to the male, as die syndyasmian family +of the period began to assume monogamian characteristics. In the +Upper Status of barbarism descent had become changed to the male +line among the Grecian tribes, with the exception of the Lycians, +and among the Italian tribes, with the exception of the Etruscans. +Between the two extremes, represented by the two rules of descent, +three entire ethnical periods intervene, covering many thousands of +years. + +As intermarriage in the gens was prohibited, it withdrew its members +from the evils of consanguine marriages, and thus tended to increase +the vigor of the stock. The gens came into being upon three +principal conceptions, namely, the bond of kin, a pure lineage +through descent in the female line, and non-intermarriage in the gens. +When the idea of a gens was developed, it would naturally have taken +the form of gentes in pairs, because the children of the males were +excluded, and because it was equally necessary to organize both +classes of descendants. With two gentes started into being +simultaneously the whole result would have been attained, since the +males and females of one gens would marry the females and males of +the other, and the children, following the gentes of their +respective mothers, would be divided between them. Resting on the +bond of kin as its cohesive principal the gens afforded to each +individual member that personal protection which no other existing +power could give. + +After enumerating the rights, privileges, and obligations of its +members, it will be necessary to follow the gens in its organic +relations to a phratry tribe and confederacy, in order to find the +uses to which it was applied, the privileges which it conferred, and +the principles which it fostered. The gentes of the Iroquois will be +taken as the standard exemplification of this institution in the +Ganowaman family. They had carried their scheme of government from +the gens to the confederacy, making it complete in each of its parts, +and an excellent illustration of the capabilities of the gentile +organization in its archaic form. + +When discovered the Iroquois were in the Lower Status of barbarism, +and well advanced in the arts of life pertaining to this condition. +They manufactured nets, twine, and rope from filaments of bark, wove +belts and burden straps, with warp and woof from the same materials, +they manufactured earthen vessels and pipes from clay mixed with +silicious materials and hardened by fire, some of which were +ornamented with rude medallions, they cultivated maize, beans, +squashes, and tobacco in garden beds, and made unleavened bread from +pounded maize, which they boiled in earthen vessels, [Footnote: +These loaves or cakes were about six inches in diameter and an inch +thick] they tanned skins into leather, with which they manufactured +kilts leggins, and moccasins, they used the bow and arrow and +war-club as their principal weapons, used flint-stone and bone +implements, wore skin garments, and were expert hunters and +fishermen They constructed long joint tenement houses large enough +to accommodate five, ten, and twenty families, and each household +practiced communism in living, but they were unacquainted with the +use of stone or adobe brick in house architecture, and with the use +of the native metals. In mental capacity and in general advancement +they were the representative branch of the Indian family north of +New Mexico General F A. Walker has sketched their military career in +two paragraphs "The career of the Iroquois was simply terrific. They +were the scourge of God upon the continent." [Footnote: North +American Review April No. 1873 p. 360 Note.] From lapse of time the +Iroquois tribes have come to differ slightly in the number and in +the names of their respective gentes, the largest number being eight, +as follows: + + + Seneca Cayuga Onondaga Oneida Mohawks Tuscarora + 1 Wolf Wolf Wolf Wolf Wolf Gray Wolf + 2 Bear Bear Bear Bear Bear Bear + 3 Turtle Turtle Turtle Turtle Turtle Great Turtle + 4 Beaver Beaver Beaver Beaver + 5 Deer Deer Deer Yellow Wolf + 6 Snipe Snipe Snipe Snipe + 7 Heron Eel Eel Eel + 8 Hawk Hawk Ball Little Turtle + + +These changes show that certain gentes in some of the tribes have +become extinct through the vicissitudes of time, and that others +have been formed by the segmentation of over full gentes. + +With a knowledge of the rights, privileges, and obligations of the +members of a gens, its capabilities as the unit of a social and +governmental system will be more fully understood, as well as the +manner in which it entered into the higher organizations of the +phratry tribe, and confederacy. + +The gens is individualized by the following rights, privileges, and +obligations conferred and imposed upon its members, and which made +up the jus gentilicium: + + + I The right of electing its sachem and chiefs + + II The right of deposing its sachem and chiefs + + III The obligation not to marry in the gens + + IV Mutual rights of inheritance of the property of deceased +members + + V Reciprocal obligations of help, defense, and redress of +injuries + + VI The right of bestowing names upon its members + + VII The right of adopting strangers into the gens + + VIII Common religious rites + + IX A common burial place. + + X A council of the gens + + +These functions and attributes gave vitality as well as +individuality to the organization and protected the personal rights +of its members. Such were the rights, privileges, and obligations of +the members of an Iroquois gens; and such were those of the members +of the gentes of the Indian tribes generally, as far as the +investigation has been carried. + +For a detailed exposition of these characteristics the reader is +referred to Ancient Society, pp. 72-85. + +All the members of an Iroquois gens were personally free, and they +were bound to defend each other's freedom; they were equal in +privileges and in personal rights, the sachem and chiefs claiming no +superiority; and they were a brotherhood bound together by the ties +of kin. Liberty, equality, and fraternity, though never formulated, +were cardinal principles of the gens. These facts are material, +because the gens was the unit of a social and governmental system, +the foundation upon which Indian society was organized. A structure +composed of such units would of necessity bear the impress of their +character, for as the unit so the compound. It serves to explain +that sense of independence and personal dignity universally an +attribute of Indian character. + +Thus substantial and important in the social system was the gens as +it anciently existed among the American aborigines, and as it still +exists in full vitality in many Indian tribes. It was the basis of +the phratry, of the tribe, and of the confederacy of tribes. + +At the epoch of European discovery the American Indian tribes +generally were organized in gentes, with descent in the female line. +In some tribes, as among the Dakotas, the gentes had fallen out; in +others, as among the Ojibwas, the Omahas, and the Mayas of Yucatan, +descent had been changed from the female to the male line. +Throughout aboriginal America the gens took its name from some +animal or inanimate object and never from a person. In this early +condition of society the individuality of persons was lost in the +gens. It is at least presumable that the gentes of the Grecian and +Latin tribes were so named at some anterior period; but when they +first came under historical notice they were named after persons. In +some of the tribes, as the Moki Village Indians of Arizona, the +members of the gens claimed their descent from the animal whose name +they bore--their remote ancestors having been transformed by the +Great Spirit from the animal into the human form. The Crane gens of +the Ojibwas have a similar legend. In some tribes the members of a +gens will not eat the animal whose name they bear, in which they are +doubtless influenced by this consideration. + +With respect to the number of persons in a gens, it varied with the +number of the gentes, and with the prosperity or decadence of the +tribe. Three thousand Senecas divided equally among eight gentes +would give an average of three hundred and seventy-five persons to a +gens. Fifteen thousand Ojibwas divided equally among twenty-three +gentes would give six hundred and fifty persons to a gens. The +Cherokees would average more than a thousand to a gens. In the +present condition of the principal Indian tribes the number of +persons in each gens would range from one hundred to a thousand. + +One of the oldest and most widely prevalent institutions of mankind, +the gentes have been closely identified with human progress upon +which they have exercised a powerful influence. They have been found +in tribes in the Status of savagery, in the Lower, in the Middle, +and in the Upper Status of barbarism on different continents, and in +full vitality in the Grecian and Latin tribes after civilization had +commenced. Every family of mankind, except the Polynesian, seems to +have come under the gentile organization, and to have been indebted +to it for preservation and for the means of progress. It finds its +only parallel in length of duration in systems of consanguinity, +which, springing up at a still earlier period, have remained to the +present time, although the marriage usages in which they originated +have long since disappeared. + +From its early institution, and from its maintenance through such +immense stretches of time, the peculiar adaptation of the gentile +organization to mankind, while in a savage and in a barbarous state, +must be regarded as abundantly demonstrated. + + + +THE PHRATRY. + +The phratry (phratria) is a brotherhood, as the term imports, and a +natural growth from the organization into gentes. It is an organic +union or association of two or more gentes of the same tribe for +certain common objects. These gentes were usually such as had been +formed by the segmentation of an original gens. + +The phratry existed in a large number of the tribes of the American +aborigines, where it is seen to arise by natural growth, and to +stand as the second member of the organic series, as among the +Grecian and Latin tribes. It did not possess original governmental +functions, as the gens tribe and confederacy possessed them but it +was endowed with certain useful powers in the social system, from +the necessity for some organization larger than a gens and smaller +than a tribe and especially when the tribe was large. The same +institution in essential features and in character, it presents the +organization in its archaic form and with its archaic functions. A +knowledge of the Indian phratry is necessary to an intelligent +understanding of the Grecian and the Roman. + +The eight gentes of the Seneca Iroquois tribe were reintegrated in +two phratries as follows: + + + First Phratry + Gentes--1 Bear 2 Wolf 3 Beaver 4 Turtle + Second Phratry + Gentes--5 Deer 6 Snipe 7 Heron 8 Hawk + + +Each phratry (De da non da a yoh) is a brotherhood as this term also +imports. The gentes in the same phratry are brother gentes to each +other and cousin gentes to those of the other phratry. They are +equal in grade, character, and privileges. It is a common practice +of the Senecas to call the gentes of their own phratry brother +gentes and those of the other phratry their cousin gentes, when they +mention them in their relation to the phratries. Originally marriage +was not allowed between the members of the same phratry but the +members of either could marry into any gens of the other. This +prohibition tends to show that the gentes of each phratry were +subdivisions of an original gens and therefore the prohibition +against marrying into a person's own gens had followed to its +subdivisions. This restriction however was long since removed except +with respect to the gens of the individual. A tradition of the +Senecas affirms that the Bear and the Deer were the original gentes, +of which the others were subdivisions. It is thus seen that the +phratry had a natural foundation in the kinship of the gentes of +which it was composed. After their subdivision from increase of +numbers there was a natural tendency to their reunion in a higher +organization for objects common to them all. The same gentes are not +constant in a phratry indefinitely, as appears from the composition +of the phratries in the remaining Iroquois tribes. Transfers of +particular gentes from one phratry to the other must have occurred +when the equilibrium in their respective numbers was disturbed. It +is important to know the simple manner in which this organization +springs up, and the facility with which it is managed as a part of +the social system of ancient society. With the increase of numbers +in a gens, followed by local separation of its members, segmentation +occurred, and the seceding portion adopted a new gentile name. But a +tradition of their former unity would remain and become the basis of +their reorganization in a phratry. + +From the differences in the composition of the phratries in the +several tribes it seems probable that the phratries are modified in +their gentes at intervals of time to meet changes of condition. Some +gentes prosper and increase in numbers, while others, through +calamities, decline, and others become extinct; so that transfers of +gentes from one phratry to another were found necessary to preserve +some degree of equality in the number of phrators in each. The +phratric organization has existed among the Iroquois from time +immemorial. It is probably older than the confederacy which was +established more than four centuries ago. The amount of difference +in their composition, as to the gentes they contain, represents the +vicissitudes through which each tribe has passed in the interval. In +any view of the matter it is small, tending to illustrate the +permanence of the phratry as well as the gens. + +The Iroquois tribes had a total of thirty-eight gentes, and in four +of the tribes a total of eight phratries. + +The phratry among the Iroquois was partly for social and partly for +religious objects. Its functions and uses can be best shown by +practical illustrations. We begin with the lowest, with games, which +were of common occurrence at tribal and confederate councils. In the +ball game, for example, among the Senecas, they play by phratries, +one against the other, and they bet against each other upon the +result of the game. Each phratry puts forward its best players, +usually from six to ten on a side, and the members of each phratry +assemble together, but upon opposite sides of the field in which the +game is played. Before it commences, articles of personal property +are hazarded upon the result by members of the opposite phratries. +These are deposited with keepers to abide the event. The game is +played with spirit and enthusiasm, and is an exciting spectacle. The +members of each phratry, from their opposite stations, watch the +game with eagerness, and cheer their respective players at every +successful turn of the game. [Footnote: League of the Iroquois, p. +294.] + +Again, when a murder had been committed it was usual for the gens of +the murdered person to meet in council, and, after ascertaining the +facts, to take measures for avenging the deed. The gens of the +criminal also held a council, and endeavored to effect an adjustment +or condonation of the crime with the gens of the murdered person; +but it often happened that the gens of the criminal called upon the +other gentes of their phratry, when the slayer and the slain +belonged to opposite phratries, to unite with them to obtain a +condonation of the crime. In such a case the phratry held a council, +and then addressed itself to the other phratry, to which it sent a +delegation with a belt of white wampum asking for a council of the +phratry and for an adjustment of the crime. They offered reparation +to the family and gens of the murdered person in expressions of +regret and in presents of value. Negotiations were continued between +the two councils until an affirmative or a negative conclusion was +reached. The influence of a phratry composed of several gentes would +be greater than that of a single gens; and by calling into action +the opposite phratry the probability of a condonation would be +increased, especially if there were extenuating circumstances. We +may thus see how naturally the Grecian phratry, prior to civilization, +assumed the principal though not exclusive management of cases of +murder, and also of the purification of the murderer if he escaped +punishment, and after the institution of political society with what +propriety the phratry assumed the duty of prosecuting the murderer +in the courts of justice. + +At the funerals of persons of recognized importance in the tribe the +phratric organization manifested itself in a conspicuous manner The +phrators of the decedent in a body were the mourners, and the +members of the opposite phratry conducted the ceremonies. At the +funeral of Handsome Lake (Ga-ne-o-di'-yo), one of the eight Seneca +sachems (which occurred some years ago), there was an assemblage of +sachems and chiefs to the number of twenty-seven, and a large +concourse of members of both phratries The customary address to the +dead body, and the other addresses before the removal of the body, +were made by members of the opposite phratry After the addresses +were concluded the body was borne to the grave by persons selected +from the last named phratry, followed, first, by the sachems and +chiefs, then by the family and gens of the decedent, next by his +remaining phrators, and last by the members of the opposite phratry +After the body had been deposited in the grave the sachems and +chiefs formed in a circle around it for the purpose of filling it +with earth. Each in turn, commencing with the senior in years, cast +in three shovelfuls, a typical number in their religious system, of +which the first had relation to the Great Spirit, the second to the +Sun, and the third to Mother Earth When the grave was filled the +senior sachem, by a figure of speech, deposited "the horns" of the +departed sachem, emblematic of his office, upon the top of the grave +over his head, there to remain until his successor was installed In +that subsequent ceremony "the horns" were said to be taken from the +grave of the deceased ruler and placed upon the head of his +successor The social and religious functions of the phratry, and its +naturalness in the organic system of ancient society, are rendered +apparent by this single usage. + +The phratry was also directly concerned in the election of sachems +and chiefs of the several gentes, upon which they had a negative as +well as a confirmative vote After the gens of a deceased sachem had +elected his successor, or had elected a chief of the second grade, +it was necessary, as elsewhere stated, that their choice should be +accepted and confirmed by each phratry It was expected that the +gentes of the same phratry would confirm the choice almost as a +matter of course, but the opposite phratry also must acquiesce, and +from this source opposition sometimes appeared A council of each +phratry was held and pronounced upon the question of acceptance or +rejection. If the nomination made was accepted by both it became +complete, but if either refused it was thereby set aside and a new +election was made by the gens. When the choice made by the gens had +been accepted by the phratries it was still necessary, as before +stated, that the new sachem, or the new chief, should be invested by +the council of the confederacy, which alone had power to invest with +office. + +The phratry was without governmental functions in the strict sense +of the phrase, these being confined to the gens tribe and confederacy; +but it entered into their social affairs with large administrative +powers, and would have concerned itself more and more with their +religious affairs as the condition of the people advanced. Unlike +the Grecian phratry and the Roman curia, it had no official head. +There was no chief of the phratry as such, and no religious +functionaries belonging to it as distinguished from the gene and +tribe. The phratric institution among the Iroquois was in its +rudimentary archaic form; but it grew into life by natural and +inevitable development, and remained permanent because it met +necessary wants Every institution of mankind which attained +permanence will be found linked with a perpetual want. With the gens +tribe and confederacy in existence the presence of the phratry was +substantially assured. It required time, however, and further +experience to manifest all the uses to which it might be made +subservient. + +Among the Village Indians of Mexico and Central America the phratry +must have existed, reasoning upon general principles, and have been +a more fully developed and influential organization than among the +Iroquois Unfortunately mere glimpses at such an institution are all +that can be found in the teeming narratives of the Spanish writers +within the first century after the Spanish conquest. The four +"lineages" of the Tlascalans who occupied the four quarters of the +pueblo of Tlascalan were, in all probability, so many phratries. They +were sufficiently numerous for four tribes, but as they occupied the +same pueblo and spoke the same dialect the phratric organization was +apparently a necessity. Each lineage or phratry, so to call it, had +a distinct military organization, a peculiar costume and banner, and +its head war-chief (Teuctli), who was its general military commander. +They went forth to battle by phratries. The organization of a +military force by phratries and by tribes was not unknown to the +Homeric Greeks Thus, Nestor advised Agamemnon to "separate the +troops by phratries and by tribes, so that phratry may support +phratry and tribe" [Footnote: Illiad] + +Under gentile institutions of the most advanced type the principle +of kin became to a considerable extent the basis of the army +organization. The Aztecs, in like manner occupied the pueblo of +Mexico in four distinct divisions, the people of each of which were +more nearly related to each other than to the people of the other +divisions. They were separate lineages, like the Tlas-calan, and it +seems highly probable were four phratries, separately organized as +such They were distinguished from each--other by costumes and +standards, and went out to war as separate divisions. Their +geographical areas were called the four quarters of Mexico. + +With respect to the prevalence of this organization among the Indian +tribes in the Lower Status of barbarism the subject has been but +slightly investigated. It is probable that it was general in the +principal tribes from the natural manner in which it springs up as a +necessary member of the organic series, and from the uses, other +than governmental, to which it was adapted. + +In some of the tribes the phratries stand out prominently upon the +face of their organization. Thus the Chocta gentes are united in two +phratries which must be mentioned first in order to show the +relation of the gentes to each other. The first phratry is called +"Divided People," and contains four gentes. The second is called +"Beloved People" and also contains four gentes. This separation of +the people into two divisions by gentes created two phratries. Some +knowledge of the functions of these phratries is of course desirable, +but without it, the fact of their existence is established by the +divisions themselves. The evolution of a confederacy from a pair of +gentes--for less than two are never found in any tribe--may be +deduced theoretically from the known facts of Indian experience. +Thus the gens increases in the number of its members and divides +into two these again subdivide and in time reunite in two or more +phratries. These phratries form a tribe and its members speak the +same dialect. In course of time this tribe falls into several by the +process of segmentation, which in turn reunite in a confederacy. +Such a confederacy is a growth, through the tribe and phratry, from +a pair of gentes. + +The Chickasas are organized in two phratries, of which one contains +four and the other eight gentes, as follows: + +I. Panther Phratry. + +Gentes. Wild Cat 2. Bird. 3. Fish. 4. Deer. + +II. Spanish Phratry. + +Gentes--5. Raccoon. 6. Spanish. 7. Royal. 8. Hush-ko'-ni. 9. +Squirrel 10. Alligator. 11 Wolf. 12. Blackbird. + +A very complete illustration of the manner in which phratries are +formed by natural growth through the subdivision of gentes is +presented by the organization of the Mohegan tribe. It had three +original gentes, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Turkey. + +Each of these subdivided, and the subdivisions became independent +gentes; but they retained the names of the original gentes as their +respective phratric names In other words, the subdivisions of each +gens reorganized in a phratry. It proves conclusively the natural +process by which in course of time a gens breaks up into several, +and these remain united in a phratric organization, which is +expressed by assuming a phratric name. They are as follows: + +I. Wolf Phratry + +Gentes. 1. Wolf 2. Bear 3. Dog. 4 Opossum. + +II. Turtle Phratry + +Gentes--5 Little Turtle. 6. Mud Turtle. 7. Great Turtle + 8. Yellow Eel. + +III. Turkey Phratry + +Gentes--9. Turkey 10. Crane 11. Chicken 12. + +It is thus seen that the original Wolf gens divided into four gentes, +the Turtle into four, and the Turkey into three. Each new gens took +a new name, the original retaining its own, which became by +seniority that of the phratry. It is rare among the American Indian +tribes to find such plain evidence of the segmentation of gentes in +their external organization, followed by the formation into +phratries of their respective subdivisions. It shows also that the +phratry is founded upon the kinship of the gentes. As a rule, the +name of the original gens out of which others had formed is not known; +but in each of these cases it remains as the name of the phratry. +Since the latter, like the Grecian, was a social and religious +rather than a governmental organization, it is externally less +conspicuous than a gens or tribe, which were essential to the +government of society. The name of but one of the twelve Athenian +phratries has come down to us in history. Those of the Iroquois had +no name but that of a brotherhood. + +The phratry also appears among the Thlinkits of the Northwest coast +upon the surface of their organization into gentes. They have two +phratries, as follows: + +I. Wolf Phratry. + +Gentes. 1. Bear 2. Eagle. 3. Dolphin. 4. Shark. 5. Alca. + +II. Raven Phratry. + +Gentes. 6. Frog. 7. Goose. 8. Sea-lion. 9. Owl. 10. Salmon. + +Intermarriage in the phratry is prohibited, which shows of itself +that the gentes of each phratry were derived from an original gens. +The members of any gens in the Wolf phratry could marry into any +gens of the opposite phratry, and vice versa. + +From the foregoing facts the existence of the phratry is established +in several linguistic stocks of the American aborigines. Its +presence in the tribes named raises a presumption of its general +prevalence in the Ganowanian family. Among the Village Indians, +where the numbers in a gens and tribe were greater, it would +necessarily have been more important, and consequently more fully +developed. As an institution it was still in its archaic form, but +it possessed the essential elements of the Grecian and the Roman. + + + +THE TRIBE. + + +It is difficult to describe an Indian tribe by the affirmative +elements of its composition. Nevertheless it is clearly marked, and +is the ultimate organization of the great body of the American +aborigines. The large number of independent tribes into which they +had fallen by the natural process of segmentation is the striking +characteristic of their condition. Each tribe was individualized by +a name, by a separate dialect, by a supreme government, and by the +possession of a territory which it occupied and defended as its own. +The tribes were as numerous as the dialects, for separation did not +become complete until dialectical variation had commenced. Indian +tribes, therefore, are natural growths through the separation of the +same people in the area of their occupation, followed by divergence +of speech, segmentation, and independence. + +The exclusive possession of a dialect and of a territory has led to +the application of the term nation to many Indian tribes, +notwithstanding the fewness of the people in each. Tribe and nation, +however, are not strict equivalents. A nation does not arise, under +gentile institutions, until the tribes united under the same +government have coalesced into one people, as the four Athenian +tribes coalesced in Attica, three Dorian tribes at Sparta, and three +Latin and Sabine tribes at Rome. Federation requires independent +tribes in separate territorial areas; but coalescence unites them by +a higher process in the same area, although the tendency to local +separation by gentes and by tribes would continue. The confederacy +is the nearest analogue of the nation, but not strictly equivalent. +Where the gentile organization exists, the organic series gives all +the terms which are needed for a correct description. + +An Indian tribe is composed of several gentes, developed from two or +more, all the members of which are intermingled by marriage, and all +of whom speak the same dialect. To a stranger the tribe is visible, +and not the gens. The instances are extremely rare, among the +American aborigines, in which the tribe embraced peoples speaking +different dialects. When such cases are found it has resulted from +the union of a weaker with a stronger tribe speaking a closely +related dialect, as the union of the Missouris with the Otoet, after +the overthrow of the former. The fact that the great body of the +aborigines were found in independent tribes illustrates the slow and +difficult growth of the idea of government under gentile institutions. +A small portion only had attained to the ultimate stage known Among +them, that of a confederacy of tribes speaking dialects of the same +stock language. A coalescence of tribes into a nation had not +occurred in any case in any part of America. + +A constant tendency to disintegration, which has proved such a +hindrance to progress among savage and barbarous tribes, existed in +the elements of the gentile organization. It was aggravated by a +further tendency to divergence of speech, which was inseparable from +their social state and the large areas of their occupation. An oral +language, although remarkably persistent in its vocables, and still +more persistent in its grammatical forms, is incapable of permanence. +Separation of the people in area was followed in time by variation +in speech; and this, in turn, led to separation in interests and +ultimate independence. It was not the work of a brief period, but of +centuries of time, aggregating finally into thousands of years; and +the multiplication of the languages and dialects of the different +families of North and South America probably required for their +formation the time measured by three ethnical periods. + +New tribes, as well as new gentes, were constantly forming by +natural growth, and the process was sensibly accelerated by the +great expanse of the American continent. The method was simple. In +the first place there would occur a gradual outflow of people from +some overstocked geographical center, which possessed superior +advantages in the means of subsistence. Continued from year to year, +a considerable population would thus be developed at a distance from +the original seat of the tribe In course of time the emigrants would +become distinct in interests, strangers in feeling, and, last of all, +divergent in speech. Separation and independence would follow, +although their territories were contiguous. A new tribe was thus +created. This is a concise statement of the manner in which the +tribes of the American aborigines were formed, but the statement +must be taken as general. Repeating itself from age to age in newly +acquired as well as in old areas, it must be regarded as a natural +as well as inevitable result of the gentile organization, united +with the necessities of their condition. When increased numbers +pressed upon the means of subsistence, the surplus removed to a new +seat, where they established themselves with facility, because the +government was perfect in every gens, and in any number of gentes +united in a band. Among the Village Indians the same thing repeated +itself in a slightly different manner. When a village became +overcrowded with numbers, a colony went up or down on the same +stream and commenced a new village. Repeated at intervals of time, +several such villages would appear, each independent of the other +and a self-governing body, but united in a league or confederacy for +mutual protection. Dialectic variation would finally spring up, and +thus complete their growth into tribes. + +The manner in which tribes are evolved from each other can be shown +directly by examples. The fact of separation can be derived in part +from tradition, in part from the possession by each of a number of +the same gentes, and deduced in part from the relations of their +dialects. Tribes formed by the subdivisions of an original tribe +would possess a number of gentes in common, and speak dialects of +the same language. After several centuries of separation they would +still have a number of the same gentes. Thus the Hurons, now Wyandots, +have six gentes of the same name with six of the gentes of the +Seneca-Iroquois, after at least four hundred years of separation. +The Potawattamies have eight gentes of the same name with eight +among the Ojibwas, while the former have six, and the latter fourteen, +which are different, showing that new gentes have been formed in +each tribe by segmentation since their separation. A still older +offshoot from the Ojibwas, or from the common parent tribe of both, +the Miamis, have but three gentes in common with the former, namely, +the Wolf, the Loon, and the Eagle. The minute social history of the +tribes of the Ganowanian family is locked up in the life and growth +of the gentes. If investigation is ever turned strongly in this +direction, the gentes themselves would become reliable guides, in +respect to the order of separation from each other of the tribes of +the same stock. + +This process of subdivision has been operating among the American +aborigines for thousands of years, until several hundred tribes have +been developed from about seventy stocks as existing in as many +families of language. Their experience, probably was but a +repetition of that of the tribes of Asia, Europe, and Africa when +they were in corresponding conditions. + +From the preceding observations it is apparent that an American +Indian tribe is a very simple as well as humble organization. It +required but a few hundred, and, at most, a few thousand people to +form a tribe and place it in a respectable position in the +Ganowanian family. + +It remains to present the functions and attributes of an Indian tribe, +which are contained in the following propositions: + +I The possession of a territory and a name + +II The exclusive possession of a dialect + +III The right to invest sachems and chiefs elected by the gentes. + +IV The right to depose these sachems and chiefs + +V The possession of a religious faith and worship + +VI A supreme government consisting of a council of chiefs + +VII A head-chief of the tribe in some instances + +For a discussion of these characteristics of a tribe, reference is +made to Ancient Society, pp. 113-118. + +The growth of the idea of government commenced with the organization +into gentes in savagery. It reveals three great stages of +progressive development between its commencement and the institution +of political society after civilization had been attained. The first +stage was the government of a tribe by a council of chiefs elected +by the gentes. It may be called a government of one power, namely +the council. It prevailed generally among tribes in the Lower Status +of barbarism. The second stage was a government co-ordinated between +a council of chiefs and a general military commander, one +representing the civil and the other the military functions. This +second form began to manifest itself in the Lower Status of +barbarism after confederacies were formed, and it became definite in +the Middle Status. The office of general, or principal military +commander, was the germ of that of a chief executive magistrate, the +king, the emperor, and the president. It may be called a government +of two powers, namely, the council of chiefs and the general. The +third stage was the government of a people or nation by a council of +chiefs an assembly of the people, and a general military commander. +It appeared among the tribes who had attained to the Upper Status of +barbarism, such, for example, as the Homeric Greeks and the Italian +tribes of the period of Romulus. A Large increase in the number of +people united in a nation, their establishment in walled cities, and +the creation of wealth in lands and in flocks and herds, brought in +the assembly of the people as an instrument of government. The +council of chiefs, which still remained, found it necessary, no doubt, +through popular constraint, to submit the most important public +measures to an assembly of the people for acceptance or rejection; +whence the popular assembly. This assembly did not originate measures. +It was its function to adopt or reject, and its action was final. +From its first appearance it became a permanent power in the +government. The council no longer passed important public measures, +but became a preconsidering council, with power to originate and +mature public acts to which the assembly alone could give validity. +It may be called a government of three powers, namely, the +preconsidering council, the assembly of the people, and the general. +This remained until the institution of political society, when, for +example, among the Athenians, the council of chiefs became the senate, +and the assembly of the people the ecclesia or popular assembly. The +same organizations have come down to modern times in the two houses +of Parliament, of Congress, and of legislatures. In like manner the +office of general military commander, as before stated, was the germ +of the office of the modern chief executive magistrate. + +Recurring to the tribe, it was limited in the numbers of the people, +feeble in strength, and poor in resources; but yet a completely +organized society. It illustrates the condition of mankind in the +Lower Status of barbarism. In the Middle Status there was a sensible +increase of numbers in a tribe, and an improved condition, but with +a continuance of gentile society without essential change. Political +society was still impossible from want of advancement. The gentes +organized into tribes remained as before, but confederacies must +have been more frequent. In some areas, as in the Valley of Mexico, +large numbers were developed under a common government, with +improvements in the arts of life, but no evidence exists of the +overthrow among them of gentile society and the substitution of +political. It is impossible to found a political society or a state +upon gentes. A state must rest upon territory and not upon persons, +upon the township as the unit of a political system, and not upon +the gens, which is the unit of a social system. It required time and +a vast experience, beyond that of the American Indian tribes, as a +preparation for such a fundamental change of systems. It also +required men of the mental stature of the Greeks and Romans, and +with the experience derived from a long chain of ancestors, to +devise and gradually introduce that new plan of government under +which civilized nations are living at the present time. + + + +THE CONFEDERACY OF TRIBES + + +A tendency to confederate for mutual defense would very naturally +exist among kindred and contiguous tribes. When the advantages of a +union had been appreciated by actual experience, the organization, +at first a league, would gradually cement into a federal unity. The +state of perpetual warfare in which they lived would quicken this +natural tendency into action among such tribes as were sufficiently +advanced in intelligence and in the arts of life to perceive its +benefits. It would be simply a growth from a lower into a higher +organization by an extension of the principle which united the +gentes in a tribe. + +As might have been expected, several confederacies existed in +different parts of North America when discovered, some of which were +quite remarkable in plan and structure. Among the number may be +mentioned the Iroquois Confederacy of five independent tribes, the +Creek Confederacy of six, the Ottawa Confederacy of three, the +Dakota League of the "Seven Council Fires," the Moki Confederacy in +New Mexico of Seven Pueblos, and the Aztec Confederacy of three +tribes in the Valley of Mexico. It is probable that the Village +Indians in other parts of Mexico, in Central and in South America +were quite generally organized in confederacies consisting of two or +more kindred tribes. Progress necessarily took this direction from +the nature of their institutions and from the law governing their +development. Nevertheless the formation of a confederacy out of such +materials and with such unstable geographical relations was a +difficult undertaking. It was easiest of achievement by the Village +Indians from the nearness to each other of their pueblos and from +the smallness of their areas; but it was accomplished in occasional +instances by tribes in the Lower Status of barbarism, and notably by +the Iroquois. Wherever a confederacy was formed it would of itself +evince the superior intelligence of the people. + +The two highest examples of Indian confederacies in North America +were those of the Iroquois and of the Aztecs. From their +acknowledged superiority as military powers, and from their +geographical positions, these confederacies in both cases produced +remarkable results. Our knowledge of the structure and principles of +the former is definite and complete, while of the latter it is far +from satisfactory. The Aztec Confederacy has been handled in such a +manner historically as to leave it doubtful whether it was simply a +league of three kindred tribes, offensive and defensive, or a +systematic confederacy like that of the Iroquois. That which is true +of the latter was probably in a general sense true of the former, so +that a knowledge of one will tend to elucidate the other. + +The conditions under which confederacies spring into being and the +principles on which they are formed are remarkably simple. They grow +naturally with time out of pre-existing elements. Where one tribe +had divided into several, and these subdivisions occupied +independent but contiguous territories, the confederacy reintegrated +them in a higher organization on the basis of the common gentes they +possessed and of the affiliated dialects they spoke. The sentiment +of kin embodied in the gens, the common lineage of the gentes, and +their dialects, still mutually intelligible, yielded the material +elements for a confederation. The confederacy, therefore, had the +gentes for its basis and center, and stock language for its +circumference. No one has been found that reached beyond the bounds +of the dialects of a common language. If this natural barrier had +been crossed it would have forced heterogeneous elements into the +organization. Cases have occurred where the remains of a tribe, not +cognate in speech, as the Natchez, [Footnote: They were admitted +into the Creek Confederacy after their overthrow by the French.] +have been admitted into an existing confederacy, but this exception +would not invalidate the general proposition. It was impossible for +an Indian power to arise upon the American continent through a +confederacy of tribes organized in gentes, and advance to a general +supremacy, unless their numbers were developed from their own stock. +The multitude of stock languages is a standing explanation of the +failure. There was no possible way of becoming connected on equal +terms with a confederacy excepting through membership in a gens and +tribe and a common speech. + +The Iroquois have furnished an excellent illustration of the manner +in which a confederacy is formed by natural growth assisted by +skillful legislation. Originally emigrants from beyond the +Mississippi, and possibly a branch of the Dakota stock, they first +made their way to the valley of the St. Lawrence and settled +themselves near Montreal. Forced to leave this region by the +hostility of surrounding tribes, they sought the central region of +New York. Coasting the eastern shore of Lake Ontario in canoes, for +their numbers were small, they made their first settlement at the +mouth of the Oswego River, where, according to their traditions, +they remained for a long period of time. They were then in at least +three distinct tribes, the Mohawks, the Onondagas, and the Senecas. +One tribe subsequently established themselves at the head of the +Canandaigua Lake and became the Senecas. Another tribe occupied the +Onondaga Valley and became the Onondagas. The third passed eastward +and settled first at Oneida, near the site of Utica, from which +place the main portion removed to the Mohawk Valley and became the +Mohawks. Those who remained became the Oneidas. A portion of the +Onondagas or Senecas settled along the eastern shore of the Cayuga +Lake and became the Cayugas. New York, before its occupation by the +Iroquois, seems to have been a part of the area of the Algonkin +tribes. According to Iroquois traditions, they displaced its +anterior inhabitants as they gradually extended their settlements +eastward to the Hudson and westward to the Genesee. Their traditions +further declare that a long period of time elapsed after their +settlement in New York before the confederacy was formed, during +which they made common cause against their enemies, and thus +experienced the advantages of the federal principle both for +aggression and defense. They resided in villages, which were usually +surrounded with stockades, and subsisted upon fish and game and the +products of a limited horticulture. In numbers they did not at any +time exceed 20,000 souls, if they ever reached that number. +Precarious subsistence and incessant warfare repressed numbers in +all the aboriginal tribes, including the Village Indians as well. +The Iroquois were enshrouded in the great forests which then +overspread New York, against which they had no power to contend. +They were first discovered A. D. 1608. About 1675 they attained +their culminating point, when their dominion reached over an area +remarkably large, covering the greater parts of New York, +Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and portions of Canada north of Lake Ontario. +[Footnote: About 1651-1655 they expelled their kindred tribes, the +Eries, from the region between the Genesee River and Lake Erie, and +shortly afterwards the Neutral Nations from the Niagara River, and +thus came into possession of the remainder of New York, with the +exception of the Lower Hudson and Long Island.] + +At the time of their discovery they were the highest representatives +of the red race north of New Mexico in intelligence and advancement, +though perhaps inferior to some of the Gulf tribes in the arts of +life. In the extent and quality of their mental endowments they must +be ranked among the highest Indians in America. There are over six +thousand Iroquois in New York, besides scattered bands in other +parts of the United States, and a still larger number in Canada; +thus illustrating the efficiency as well as persistency of the arts +of barbarous life in sustaining existence. It is, moreover, now +ascertained that they are slowly increasing. + +When the confederacy was formed, about A. D. 1400-1450, the +conditions previously named were present. [Footnote: The Iroquois +claimed that it had existed from one hundred and fifty to two +hundred years when they first saw Europeans. The generations of +sachems in the history by David Cusick (a Tuscarora) would make it +more ancient. Schoolcraft's History, Condition and Prospects of the +Indian Tribes, 5, p. 631.] + +The Iroquois were in five independent tribes, occupied territories +contiguous to each other, and spoke dialects of the same language +which were mutually intelligible. Beside these facts, certain gentes +were common in the several tribes, as has been shown. In their +relations to each other, as separated parts of the same gens, these +common gentes afforded a natural and enduring basis for a confederacy. +With these elements existing, the formation of a confederacy became +a question of intelligence and skill. Other tribes in large numbers +were standing in precisely the same relations in different parts of +the continent without confederating. The fact that the Iroquois +tribes accomplished the work affords evidence of their superior +capacity. Moreover, as the confederacy was the ultimate stage of +organization among the American aborigines, its existence would be +expected in the most intelligent tribes only. + +It is affirmed by the Iroquois that the confederacy was formed by a +council of wise men and chiefs of the five tribes which met for that +purpose on the north shore of Onondaga Lake, near the site of +Syracuse; and that before its session was concluded the organization +was perfected and set in immediate operation. At their periodical +councils for raising up sachems they still explain its origin as the +result of one protracted effort of legislation. It was probably a +consequence of a previous alliance for mutual defense, the +advantages of which they had perceived and which they sought to +render permanent. + +The origin of the plan is ascribed to a mythical, or, at least, +traditionary person, Ha-yo-went-ha, the Hiawatha of Longfellow's +celebrated poem, who was present at this council and the central +person in its management. In his communications with the council he +used a wise man of the Onondagas, Da-ga-no-we'-da, as an interpreter +and speaker to expound the structure and principles of the proposed +confederacy. The same tradition further declares that when the work +was accomplished Ha-yo-went-ha miraculously disappeared in a white +canoe, which arose with him in the air and bore him out of their +sight. Other prodigies, according to this tradition, attended and +signalized the formation of the confederacy, which is still +celebrated among them as a masterpiece of Indian wisdom. Such in +truth it was; and it will remain in history as a monument of their +genius in developing gentile institutions. It will also be +remembered as an illustration of what tribes of mankind have been +able to accomplish in the art of government while in the Lower +Status of barbarism, and under the disadvantages this condition +implies. + +Which of the two persona was the founder of the confederacy it is +difficult to determine. The silent Ha-yo-went'-ha was, not unlikely, +a real person of Iroquois lineage, but tradition has enveloped his +character so completely in the supernatural that he loses his place +among them as one of their number. If Hiawatha were a real person, +Da-ga-no-we'-da must hold a subordinate place; but if a mythical +person invoked for the occasion, then to the latter belongs the +credit of planning the confederacy. [Footnote: My friend Horatio Hale, +the eminent philologist, came, as he informed me, to this conclusion] + +The Iroquois affirm that the confederacy, as formed by this council, +with its powers, functions, and mode of administration, has come +down to them through many generations to the present time with +scarcely a change in its internal organization. When the Tuscaroras +were subsequently admitted, their sachems were allowed by courtesy +to sit as equals in the general council, but the original number of +sachems was not increased, and in strictness those of the Tuscaroras +formed no part of the ruling body. + +The general features of the Iroquois Confederacy may be summarized +in the following propositions: + +I. The Confederacy was a union of Five Tribes, composed of common +gentes, under one government on the basis of equality; each Tribe +remaining independent in all matters pertaining to local +self-government. + +II. It created a General Council of Sachems, who were limited in +number, equal in rank and authority, and invested with supreme +powers over all matters pertaining to the Confederacy. + +III. Fifty Sachemships were created and named in perpetuity in +certain gentes of the several Tribes; with power in these gentes to +fill vacancies, as often as they occurred, by election from among +their respective members, and with the further power to depose from +office for cause; but the right to invest these Sachems with office +was reserved to the General Council. + +IV. The Sachems of the Confederacy were also Sachems in their +respective Tribes, and with the Chiefs of these Tribes formed the +Council of each, which was supreme over all matters pertaining to +the Tribe exclusively. + +V. Unanimity in the Council of the Confederacy was made essential to +every public act. + +VI. In the General Council the Sachems voted by Tribes, which gave +to each Tribe a negative upon the others. + +VII. The Council of each Tribe had power to convene the General +Council; but the latter had no power to convene itself. + +VIII. The General Council was open to the orators of the people for +the discussion of public questions; but the Council alone decided. + +IX. The Confederacy had no chief Executive Magistrate or official +head. + +X. Experiencing the necessity for a General Military Commander, they +created the office in a dual form, that one might neutralize the +other. The two principal War-chiefs created were made equal in powers. + +These several propositions will be considered and illustrated, but +without following the precise form or order in which they are stated. + +At the institution of the confederacy fifty permanent sachemships +were created and named, and made perpetual in the gentes to which +they were assigned. With the exception of two, which were filled but +once, they have been held by as many different persons in succession +as generations have passed away between that time and the present. +The name of each sachemship is also the personal name of each sachem +while he holds the office each one in succession taking the name of +his predecessor. These sachems, when in session, formed the council +of the confederacy in which the legislative, executive, and judicial +powers were vested, although such a discrimination of functions had +not come to be made. To secure order in the succession, the several +gentes in which these offices were made hereditary were empowered to +elect successors from among their respective members when vacancies +occurred as elsewhere explained. As a further measure of protection +to their own body, each sachem, after his election and its +confirmation, was invested with his office by a council of the +confederacy. When thus installed his name was "taken away" and that +of the sachemship was bestowed upon him. By this name he was +afterwards known among them. They were all upon equality in rank +authority, and privileges. + +These sachemships were distributed unequally among the five tribes; +but without giving to either a preponderance of power; and unequally +among the gentes of the last three tribes. The Mohawks had nine +sachems, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cayugas ten, +and the Senecas eight. This was the number at first, and it has +remained the number to the present time. A table of these sachemships, +founded at the institution of the Confederacy with the names which +have been borne by their sachems in succession from its formation to +the present time, is subjoined, with their names in the Seneca +dialect, and their arrangement in classes to facilitate the +attainment of unanimity in council. In foot-notes will be found the +signification of these names, and the gentes to which they belonged: +[Footnote: These names signify as follows:] + + Table of sachemships of the Iroquois. + + MOHAWKS. + + One. + 1. Da-go-e'-o-ge. [Footnote: "Neutral," or "The Shield."] + 2. Ho-yo-went'-ha. [Footnote: "Man who Combs."] + 3. Da-go-no-we'-do. [Footnote: "Inexhaustible."] + + Two. + 4. So-o-e-wo'-ah. [Footnote: "Small Speech."] + 5. Da-yo'-ho-go. [Footnote: "At the Forks."] + 6. O-o-o'-go-wo. [Footnote: "At the Great River."] + + Three. + 7. Da-an-no-go'-e-neh. [Footnote: "Dragging His Horns."] + 8. So-da'-go-e-wo-deh. [Footnote: "Even Tempered."] + 9. Hos-do-weh'-se-ont-ho. [Footnote: "Hanging up Rattles." + Thee sachems in class One belonged to + the Turtle gens, in class Two to the Wolf gens, and in + class Three to the Bear gens.] + + ONEDIAS. + + One. + 1. Ho-dos'-ho-the. [Footnote: "A man bearing a Burden."] + 2. Ga-no-gweh'-yo-do. [Footnote: "A Man covered in Cat-tail Down."] + 3. Da-yo-ho'-gwen-da. [Footnote: "Opening through the Woods."] + + Two. + 4. So-no-sase'. [Footnote: "A Long String."] + 5. To-no-o-ge-o. [Footnote: "A Man with a Headache."] + 6. Ho-de-o-dun-nent'-ho. [Footnote: "Swallowing Himself."] + + Three. + 7. Da-wo-do'-o-do-yo. [Footnote: "Place of the Echo."] + 8. Go-ne-o-dus'-ha-yeh. [Footnote: "War-clubs on the Ground."] + 9. Ho-wus'-ho-da-o. [Footnote: "A man Steaming Himself." + The sachems in the first class belong to Wolf gens, + in the second the Turtle gens, and in the third to + the Bear gens.] + + ONONDAGAS. + + One. + 1. To-do-do'-ho. [Footnote: "Tangled," Bear gens.] + 2. To-nes'-sa-ah. + 3. Da-ot'-ga-dose. [Footnote: "On the Watch," + Bear gens. This sachem and the one before him were + hereditary councillors of the To-do-do'-ho, who + held the most illustrious sachemship.] + + Two. + 4. Go-neo-do'-je-wake. [Footnote: "Bitter Body," Snipe gens.] + 5. Ah-wo'-ga-yat. [Footnote: Turtle gens.] + 6. Da-o-yat'-gwo-e. [Footnote: Not ascertained.] + + Three. + 7. Ho-no-we-ne-to. [Footnote: This sachem was hereditary + keeper of the wampum; Wolf gens.] + + Four. + 8. Go-we-ne'-san-do. [Footnote: Deer gens] + 9. Ho-e'-ho. [Footnote: Deer gens] + 10. Ho-yo-ne-o'-ne. [Footnote: Turtle gens] + 11. Sa-do'-kwo-seh. [Footnote: Bear gens] + + Five. + 12. So-go-ga-ho'. [Footnote: "Having a Glimpse," Deer gens.] + 13. Ho-sa-ho'-do. [Footnote: "Large Mouth," Turtle gens.] + 14. Sko-no'-wun-de. [Footnote: "Over the Creek" Turtle gens.] + + CAYUGAS. + + One. + 1. Da-go'-ne-yo. [Footnote: "Man Frightened," Deer gens.] + 2. Da-je-no'-do-web-o. [Footnote: Heron gens.] + 3. Go-do-gwa-sa. [Footnote: Bear gens.] + 4. So-yo-wase. [Footnote: Bear gens.] + 5. Ho-de-os'yo-no. [Footnote: Turtle gens.] + + Two. + 6. Da-yo-o-yo'go. [Footnote: Not ascertained.] + 7. Jote-ho-weh'-ko. [Footnote: "Very Cold," Turtle gens.] + 8. De-o-wate'-ho. [Footnote: Heron gens.] + + Three. + 9. To-do-e-ho'. [Footnote: Snipe gens.] + 10. Des-go'-heh. [Footnote: Snipe gens.] + + SENECAS. + + One. + 1. Ga-ne-o-di'-yo. [Footnote: "Handsome Lake," Turtle gens.] + 2. So-do-go'-o-yase. [Footnote: "Level Heavens," Snipe gens.] + + Two. + 3. Go-no-gi'-e. [Footnote: Turtle gens.] + 4. So-geh'-jo-wo. [Footnote: "Great Forehead." Hawk gens.] + + Three. + 5. So-de-a-no'-wus. [Footnote: "Assistant," Bear gens.] + 6. Nis-ho-ne-a'-nent. [Footnote: "Falling Day," Snipe gens.] + + Four. + 7. Go-no-go-e-do'-we. [Footnote: "Hair Burned Off." Snipe gens.] + 8. Do-ne-ho-go'-weh. [Footnote: "Open Door," Wolf gens.] + +Two of these sachemships have been filled but once since their +creation. Ho-yo-went'-ho and Da-go-no-we'-da consented to take the +office among the Mohawk sachems, and to leave their names in the +list upon condition that after their demise the two should remain +thereafter vacant. They were installed upon these terms, and the +stipulation has been observed to the present day. At all councils +for the investiture of sachems their names are still called with the +others as a tribute of respect to their memory. The general council, +therefore, consisted of but forty-eight members. + +Each sachem had an assistant sachem, who was elected by the gens of +his principal from among its members, and who was installed with the +same forms and ceremonies. He was styled an "aid." It was his duty +to stand behind his superior on all occasions of ceremony, to act as +his messenger, and in general to be subject to his directions. It +gave to the aid the office of chief and rendered probable his +election as the successor of his principal after the decease of the +latter. In their figurative language these aids of the sachems were +styled "Braces in the Long House," which symbolized the confederacy. + +The names bestowed upon the original sachems became the names of +their respective successors in perpetuity. For example, upon the +demise of Go-ne-o-di'-yo, one of the eight Seneca sachems, his +successor would be elected by the Turtle gens in which this +sachemship was hereditary, and when raised up by the general council +he would receive this name, in place of his own, as a part of the +ceremony. On several different occasions I have attended their +councils for raising up sachems both at the Onondaga and Seneca +reservations, and witnessed the ceremonies herein referred to. +Although but a shadow of the old confederacy now remains, it is +fully organized with its complement of sachems and aids, with the +exception of the Mohawk tribe, which removed to Canada about 1775. +Whenever vacancies occur their places are filled, and a general +council is convened to install the new sachems and their aids. The +present Iroquois are also perfectly familiar with the structure and +principles of the ancient confederacy. + +For all purposes of tribal government the five tribes were +independent of each other. Their territories were separated by fixed +boundary lines, and their tribal interests were distinct. The eight +Seneca sachems, in conjunction with the other Seneca chiefs, formed +the council of the tribe by which its affairs were administered, +leaving to each of the other tribes the same control over their +separate interests. As an organization the tribe was neither +weakened nor impaired by the confederate compact. Each was in +vigorous life within its appropriate sphere, presenting some analogy +to our own States within an embracing Republic. It is worthy of +remembrance that the Iroquois commended to our forefathers a union +of the colonies similar to their own as early as 1755. They saw in +the common interests and common speech of the several colonies the +elements for a confederation, which was as far as their vision was +able to penetrate. + +The tribes occupied positions of entire equality in the confederacy +in rights, privileges, and obligations. Such special immunities as +were granted to one or another indicate no intention to establish an +unequal compact or to concede unequal privileges. There were organic +provisions apparently investing particular tribes with superior power; +as, for example, the Onondagas were allowed fourteen sachems and the +Senecas but eight; and a larger body of sachems would naturally +exercise a stronger influence in council than a smaller. But in this +case it gave no additional power, because the sachems of each tribe +had an equal voice in forming a decision, and a negative upon the +others. When in council they agreed by tribes, and unanimity in +opinion was essential to every public act. The Onondagas were made +"Keepers of the Wampum," and "Keepers of the Council Brand," the +Mohawks "Receivers of Tribute" from subjugated tribes, and the +Senecas "Keepers of the Door" of the Long House. These and some +other similar provisions were made for the common advantage. + +The cohesive principle of the confederacy did not spring exclusively +from the benefits of an alliance for mutual protection, but had a +deeper foundation in the bond of kin. The confederacy rested upon +the tribes ostensibly, but primarily upon common gentes. All the +members of the same gens, whether Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, +Cayugas, or Senecas, were brothers and sisters to each other in +virtue of their descent from the same common ancestor, and they +recognized each other as such with the fullest cordiality. When they +met, the first inquiry was the name of each other's gens, and next +the immediate pedigree of their respective sachems; after which they +were usually able to find, under their peculiar system of +consanguinity the relationship in which they stood to each other. +[Footnote: The children of brothers are themselves brothers and +sisters to each other; the children of the latter were also brothers +and sisters, and so downwards indefinitely. The children and +descendants of sisters are the same. The children of a brother and +sister are cousins; the children of the latter are cousins, and so +downwards indefinitely. A knowledge of the relationships to each +other of the members of the same gens is never lost.] + +Three of the gentes--namely, the Wolf, Bear, and Turtle--were common +to the five tribes; these and three others were common to three +tribes. In effect, the Wolf gens, through the division of an +original tribe into five, was now in five divisions, one of which +was in each tribe. It was the same with the Bear and the Turtle +gentes. The Deer, Snipe, and Hawk gentes were common to the Senecas, +Cayugas, and Onondagas. Between the separated parts of each gens, +although its members spoke different dialects of the same language, +there existed a fraternal connection which linked the nations +together with indissoluble bonds. When the Mohawk of the Wolf gens +recognized an Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, or Seneca of the same gens +as a brother, and when the members of the other divided gentes did +the same, the relationship was not ideal, but a fact founded upon +consanguinity, and upon faith in an assured lineage older than their +dialects and coeval with their unity as one people. In the +estimation of an Iroquois every member of his gens, in whatever tribe, +was as certainly a kinsman as an own brother. This cross +relationship between persons of the same gens in the different +tribes is still preserved and recognized among them in all its +original force. It explains the tenacity with which the fragments of +the old confederacy still cling together. If either of the five +tribes had seceded from the confederacy it would have severed the +bond of kin, although this would have been felt but slightly. But +had they fallen into collision it would have turned the gens of the +Wolf against their gentile kindred, Bear against Bear; in a word, +brother against brother. The history of the Iroquois demonstrates +the reality as well as persistency of the bond kin, and the fidelity +with which it was respected. During the long period through which +the confederacy endured they never fell into anarchy nor ruptured +the organization. + +The "Long House" (Ho-de'-no-sote) was made the symbol of the +confederacy, and they styled themselves the "People of the Long House" +(Ho-e'-no-sau-nee). [Footnote: The Long House was not peculiar to +the Iroquois, but used by many other tribes, as the Powhattan +Indians of Virginia, the Nyacks of Long Island, and other tribes.] + +This was the name, and the only name, with which they distinguished +themselves. The confederacy produced a gentile society more complex +than that of a single tribe, but it was still distinctively a +gentile society. It was, however, a stage of progress in the +direction of a nation, for nationality is reached under gentile +institutions. Coalescence is the last stage in this process. The +four Athenian tribes coalesced in Attica into a nation by the +intermingling of the tribes in the same area, and by the gradual +disappearance of geographical lines between them. The tribal names +and organizations remained in full vitality as before, but without +the basis of an independent territory. When political society was +instituted on the basis of the deme or township, and all the +residents of the deme became a body politic, irrespective of their +gens or tribe, the coalescence became complete. + +The coalescence of the Latin and Sabrae gentes into the Roman people +and nation was a result of the same processes. In all alike the gens, +phratry and tribe were the first three stages of organization. The +confederacy followed as the fourth. But it does not appear, either +among the Grecian or Latin tribes in the Later Period of barbarism, +that it became more than a loose league for offensive and defensive +purposes. Of the nature and details of organization of the Grecian +and Latin confederacies our knowledge is limited and imperfect, +because the facts are buried in the obscurity of the traditionary +period. The process of coalescence arises later than the confederacy +in gentile society; but it was a necessary as well as a vital stage +of progress by means of which the nation, the state, and political +society were at last attained. Among the Iroquois tribes it had not +manifested itself. + +The valley of Onondaga, as the seat of the central tribe, and the +place where the Council Brand was supposed to be perpetually burning, +was the usual though not the exclusive place for holding the +councils of the confederacy. In ancient times it was summoned to +convene in the autumn of each year but public exigencies often +rendered its meetings more frequent. Each tribe had power to summon +the council, and to appoint the time and place of meeting at the +council house of either tribe, when circumstances rendered a change +from the usual place at Onondaga desirable. But the council had no +power to convene itself. + +Originally the principal object of the council was to raise up +sachems to fill vacancies in the ranks of the ruling body occasioned +by death or deposition; but it transacted all other business which +concerned the common welfare. In course of time, as they multiplied +in numbers and their intercourse with foreign tribes became more +extended, the council fell into three distinct kinds, which may be +distinguished as Civil, Mourning, and Religious. The first declared +war and made peace, sent and received embassies, entered into +treaties with foreign tribes, regulated the affairs of subjugated +tribes, and took all needful measures to promote the general welfare. +The second raised up sachems and invested them with office. It +received the name of Mourning Council because the first of its +ceremonies was the lament for the deceased ruler whose vacant place +was to be filled. The third was held for the observance of a general +religious festival. It was made an occasion for the confederated +tribes to unite under the auspices of a general council in the +observance of common religions rites; but as the Mourning Council +was attended with many of the same ceremonies it came in time to +answer for both. It is now the only council they hold, as the civil +powers of the confederacy terminated with the supremacy over them of +the state. + +When the sachems met in council at the time and place appointed, and +the usual reception ceremony had been performed, they arranged +themselves in two divisions and seated themselves upon opposite +sides of the council-fire. Upon one side were the Mohawk, Onondaga, +and Seneca sachems. The tribes they represented were, when in council, +brother tribes to each other and father tribes to the other two. In +like manner their sachems were brothers to each other and fathers to +those opposite. They constituted a phratry of tribes and of sachems, +by an extension of the principle which united gentes in a phratry. +On the opposite side of the fire were the Oneida and Cayuga and at a +later day the Tuscarora sachems. The tribes they represented were +brother tribes to each other and son tribes to the opposite three. +Their sachems also were brothers to each other, and sons of those in +the opposite division. They formed a second tribal phratry. As the +Oneidas were a subdivision of the Mohawks, and the Cayugas a +subdivision of the Onondagas or Senecas, they were in reality junior +tribes; whence their relation of seniors and juniors, and the +application of the phratric principle. When the tribes are named in +council the Mohawks, by precedence, are mentioned first. Their +tribal epithet was "The Shield" (Da-go-e-o'-do). The Onondagas came +next, under the epithet of "Name-Bearer" (Ho-de-san-no'-ge-to), +because they had been appointed to select and name the fifty +original sachems. Next in the order of precedence were the Senecas, +under the epithet of "Door-Keeper" (Ho-nan-ne-ho'-ont). They were +made perpetual keepers of the western door of the Long House. The +Oneidas, under the epithet of "Great Tree" (Ne-ar'-de-on dar'-go-war), +and the Cayugas, under that of "Great Pipe" (So-nus'-ho-gwar-to-war), +were named fourth and fifth. The Tuscaroras, who came late into the +confederacy, were named last, and had no distinguishing epithet. +Forms, such as these, were more important in ancient society than we +would be apt to suppose. + +Unanimity among the sachems was required upon all public questions, +and essential to the validity of every public act. It was a +fundamental law of the confederacy. They adopted a method for +ascertaining the opinions of the members of the council which +dispensed with the necessity of casting votes. Moreover, they were +entirely unacquainted with the principle of majorities and +minorities in the action of councils. They voted in council by tribes, +and the sachems of each tribe were required to be of one mind to +form a decision. Recognizing unanimity as a necessary principle, the +founders of the confederacy divided the sachems of each tribe into +classes as a means for its attainment. This will be seen by +consulting the table (supra, p 30). No sachem was allowed to express +an opinion in council in the nature of a vote until he had first +agreed with the sachem or sachems of his class upon the opinion to +be expressed, and had been appointed to act as speaker for the class. +Thus the eight Seneca sachems being in four classes, could have but +four opinions, and the ten Cayuga sachems, being in the same number +of classes, could have but four. In this manner the sachems in each +class were first brought to unanimity among themselves. A +cross-consultation was then held between the four sachems appointed +to speak for the four classes; and when they had agreed they +designated one of their number to express their resulting opinion, +which was the answer of their tribe. When the sachems of the several +tribes had, by this ingenious method, become of one mind separately, +it remained to compare their several opinions, and if they agreed +the decision of the council was made. If they failed of agreement +the measure was defeated and the council was at an end. The five +persons appointed to express the decision of the five tribes may +possibly explain the appointment and the functions of the six +electors, so called, in the Aztec confederacy. + +By this method of gaining assent the equality and independence of +the several tribes were recognized and preserved. If any sachem was +obdurate or unreasonable, influences were brought to bear upon him, +through the preponderating sentiment, which he could not well resist, +so that it seldom happened that inconvenience or detriment resulted +from their adherence to the rule. Whenever all efforts to procure +unanimity had failed, the whole matter was laid aside because +further action had become impossible. + +Under a confederacy of tribes the office of general, "Great War +Soldier," (Hos-go-o-geh'-da-go-wo), makes its first appearance. +Cases would now arise when the several tribes in their confederate +capacity would be engaged in war, and the necessity for a +general commander to direct the movements of the united bands +would be felt. The introduction of this office as a permanent +feature in the government was a great event in the history of human +progress. It was the beginning of a differentiation of the military +from the civil power, which, when completed, changed essentially the +external manifestation of the government; but even in later stages +of progress, when the military spirit predominated, the essential +character of the government was not changed. Gentilism arrested +usurpation. With the rise of the office of general, the government +was gradually changed from a government of one power into a +government of two powers. The functions of government became, in +course of time, co-ordinated between the two. This new office was +the germ of that of a chief executive magistrate for out of the +general came the king, the emperor, and the president, as elsewhere +suggested. The office sprang from the military necessities of +society and had a logical development. + +When the Iroquois confederacy was formed, or soon after that event +two permanent war-chiefships were created and named, and both were +assigned to the Seneca tribe. One of them (Ta-wan'-ne-ars, +signifying needle-breaker) was made hereditary in the Wolf, and the +other (So-no'-so-wo, signifying great oyster shell) in the Turtle +gens. The reason assigned for giving them both to the Senecas was +the greater danger of attack at the west end of their territories. +They were elected in the same manner as the sachems, were raised up +by a general council, and were equal in rank and power. Another +account states that they were created later. They discovered +immediately after the confederacy was formed that the structure of +the Long House was incomplete, because there were no officers to +execute the military commands of the confederacy. A council was +convened to remedy the omission, which established the two perpetual +war-chiefs named. As general commanders they had charge of the +military affairs of the confederacy and the command of its joint +forces when united in a general expedition. Governor Blacksnake, +recently deceased, held the office first named, thus showing that +the succession has been regularly maintained. The creation of two +principal war-chiefs instead of one, and with equal powers, argues a +subtle and calculating policy to prevent the domination of a single +man even in their military affairs. They did without experience +precisely as the Romans did in creating two consuls instead of one, +after they had abolished the office of rex. Two consuls would +balance the military power between them, and prevent either from +becoming supreme. Among the Iroquois this office never became +influential. + +In Indian ethnography the subjects of primary importance are the gens, +phratry, tribe, and confederacy. They exhibit the organization of +society. Next to these are the tenure and functions of the office of +sachem and chief, the functions of the council of chiefs, and the +tenure and functions of the office of principal war-chief. When +these are ascertained the structure and principles of their +governmental system will be known. A knowledge of their usages and +customs, of their arts and inventions, and of their plan of life +will then fill out the picture. In the work of American +investigators too little attention has been given to the former. +They still afford a rich field in which much information may be +gathered. Our knowledge, which is now general, should be made minute +and comparative. The Indian tribes in the Lower and in the Middle +Status of barbarism represent two of the great stages of progress +from savagery to civilization. Our own remote forefathers passed +through the same conditions, one after the other, and possessed, +there can scarcely be a doubt, the same, or very similar institutions, +with many of the same usages and customs. However little we may be +interested in the American Indians personally, their experience +touches us more nearly, as an exemplification of the experience of +our own ancestors. Our primary institutions root themselves in a +prior gentile society in which the gens, phratry, and tribe were the +organic series, and in which the council of chiefs was the +instrument of government. The phenomena of their ancient society +must have presented many points in common with that of the Iroquois +and other Indian tribes. This view of the matter lends an additional +interest to the study of comparative institutions of mankind. + +The Iroquois confederacy is an excellent exemplification of a +gentile society under this form of organization. It seems to realize +all the capabilities of gentile institutions in the Lower Status of +barbarism, leaving an opportunity for further development, but no +subsequent plan of government until the institutions of political +society, founded upon territory and upon property, with the +establishment of which the gentile organization would be overthrown. +The intermediate stages were transitional, remaining military +democracies to the end, except where tyrannies founded upon +usurpation were temporarily established in their places. The +confederacy of the Iroquois was essentially democratic, because it +was composed of gentes each of which was organized upon the common +principles of democracy, not of the highest but of the primitive type; +and because the tribes reserved the right of local self-government. +They conquered other tribes and held them in subjection, as for +example the Delawares; but the latter remained under the government +of their own chiefs, and added nothing to the strength of the +confederacy. It was impossible in this state of society to unite +tribes under one government who spoke different languages, or to +hold conquered tribes under tribute with any benefit but the tribute. + +This exposition of the Iroquois confederacy is far from exhaustive +of the facts, but it has been carried far enough to answer my +present object. The Iroquois were a vigorous and intelligent people, +with a brain approaching in volume the Aryan average. Eloquent in +oratory, vindictive in war, and indomitable in perseverance, they +have gained a place in history. If their military achievements are +dreary with the atrocities of savage warfare, they have illustrated +some of the highest virtues of mankind in their relations with each +other. The confederacy which they organized must be regarded as a +remarkable production of wisdom and sagacity. One of its avowed +objects was peace--to remove the cause of strife by uniting their +tribes under one government, and then extending it by incorporating +other tribes of the same name and lineage. They urged the Eries and +the Neutral Nation to become members of the confederacy, and for +their refusal expelled them from their borders. Such an insight into +the highest objects of government is creditable to their intelligence. +Their numbers were small, but they counted in their ranks a large +number of able men. This proves the high grade of the stock. + +[Footnote: For the prevalence of the organization into gentes or +clans among the Indian tribes, see Ancient Society, ch. vi. Since +the publication of that work the same organization has been found by +Mr. Bandelier by personal exploration among the Pueblo tribes in New +Mexico, who speak the Queris language, among whom his work thus far +has been confined. Descent is in the female line. The same +indefatigable student has found very satisfactory evidence of the +same organization among the ancient Mexicans. (See article on +"The Social Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient +Mexicans," Peabody Museum, Twelfth Annual Report, p. 576.) He has +also found additional evidence of the same organization among the +Sedentary Tribes in Central America. It seems highly probable that +this organization was anciently universal among the tribes in the +Ganowanian family.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY AND ITS GENERAL PRACTICE. + + +When America was discovered in its several parts the Indian tribes +were found in dissimilar conditions. The least advanced tribes were +without the art of pottery, and without horticulture, and were, +therefore, in savagery. But in the arts of life they were advanced +as far as is implied by its Upper Status, which found them in +possession of the bow and arrow. Such were the tribes in the Valley +of the Columbia, in the Hudson Bay Territory, in parts of Canada, +California, and Mexico, and some of the coast tribes of South America. +The use of pottery, and the cultivation of maize and plants, were +unknown among them. They depended for subsistence upon fish, bread, +roots, and game. The second class were intermediate between them and +the Village Indians. They subsisted upon fish and game and the +products of a limited horticulture, and were in the Lower Status of +barbarism. Such were the Iroquois, the New England and Virginia +Indians, the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws, the Shawnees, Miamis, +Mandans, Minmtarees, and other tribes of the United States east of +the Missouri River, together with certain tribes of Mexico and South +America in the same condition of advancement. Many of them lived in +villages, some of which were stockaded, but village life was not as +distinctive and common among them as it was among the most advanced +tribes. The third class were the Village Indians proper, who +depended almost exclusively upon horticulture for subsistence, +cultivating maize and plants by irrigation. They constructed joint +tenement houses of adobe bricks and of stone, usually more than one +story high. Such were the tribes of New Mexico, Mexico, Central +America, and upon the plateau of the Andes. These tribes were in the +Middle Status of barbarism. + +The weapons, arts, usages, and customs, inventions, architecture, +institutions, and form of government of all alike bear the impress +of a common mind, and reveal, in their wide range, the successive +stages of development of the same original conceptions. Our first +mistake consisted in overrating the degree of advancement of the +Village Indians, in comparison with that of the other tribes; our +second in underrating that of the latter; from which resulted a third, +that of separating one from the other, and regarding them as +different races. The evidence of their unity of origin has now +accumulated to such a degree as to leave no reasonable doubt upon +the question. The first two classes of tribes always held the +preponderating power, at least in North America, and furnished the +migrating bands which replenished the ranks of the Village Indians, +as well as the continent, with inhabitants. It remained for the +Village Indians to invent the process of smelting iron ore to attain +to the Upper Status of barbarism, and, beyond that, to invent a +phonetic alphabet to reach the first stage of civilization. One +entire ethnical period intervened between the highest class of +Indians and the beginning of civilization. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote relocated to chapter end.] + +It seems singular that the Village Indians, who first became +possessed of maize, the great American cereal, and of the art of +cultivation, did not rise to supremacy over the continent. With +their increased numbers and more stable subsistence they might have +been expected to extend their power and spread their migrating bands +over the most valuable areas to the gradual displacement of the +ruder tribes. But in this respect they signally failed. The means of +sustaining life among the latter were remarkably persistent. The +higher culture of the Village Indians, such as it was, did not +enable them to advance, either in their weapons or in the art of war, +beyond the more barbarous tribes, except as a superior house +architecture tended to render their villages and their habitations +impregnable to Indian assault. Moreover, in the art of government +they had not been able to rise above gentile institutions and +establish political society. This fact demonstrates the +impossibility of privileged classes and of potentates, under their +institutions, with power to enforce the labor of the people for the +erection of palaces for their use, and explains the absence of such +structures. + +Horticulture and other domestic arts spread from the Village Indians +to the tribes in the Lower Status of barbarism, and thus advanced +them materially in their onward progress toward the higher condition +of the Village Indians. Numerous tribes were thus raised out of +savagery into barbarism by appropriating the arts of life of tribes +above them. This process has been a constant phenomenon in the +history of the human race. It is well illustrated in America, where +the Red Race, one in origin and possessed of homogeneous institutions, +were in three different ethnical conditions or stages of culture. + +There are certain usages and customs of the Indian tribes generally +which tend to explain their plan of life--their large households, +their houses, and their house architecture. They deserve a careful +consideration and even further investigation beyond the bounds of +our present knowledge. The influence of American civilization has +very generally broken up their old plan of life, and introduced a +new one more analogous to our own. It has been much the same in +Spanish America. The old usages and customs, in the particulars +about to be stated, have now so far disappeared in their pure forms +that their recovery is not free from difficulty. Those to be +considered are the following: + +I. The law of hospitality. + +II. Communism in living. + +III. The ownership of lands in common. + +IV. The practice of having but one prepared meal each day--a dinner. + +V. Their separation at meals, the men eating first and by themselves, +and the women and children afterwards. + +The discussion will be confined to the period of European discovery +and to later periods while these practices remained. The object will +be to show that these usages and customs existed among them when +America was discovered in its several parts, and that they remained +in practice for some time after these several periods. + + + +THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY. + +Among the Iroquois hospitality was an established usage. If a man +entered an Indian house in any of their villages, whether a villager, +a tribesman, or a stranger, it was the duty of the women therein to +set food before him. An omission to do this would have been a +discourtesy amounting to an affront. If hungry, he ate; if not hungry, +courtesy required that he should taste the food and thank the giver. +This would be repeated at every house he entered, and at whatever +hour in the day. As a custom it was upheld by a rigorous public +sentiment. The same hospitality was extended to strangers from their +own and from other tribes. Upon the advent of the European race +among them it was also extended to them. This characteristic of +barbarous society, wherein food was the principal concern of life, +is a remarkable fact. The law of hospitality, as administered by the +American aborigines, tended to the final equalization of subsistence. +Hunger and destitution could not exist at one end of an Indian +village or in one section of an encampment while plenty prevailed +elsewhere in the same village or encampment. It reveals a plan of +life among them at the period of European discovery which has not +been sufficiently considered. + +A singular illustration of the powerful influence of the custom upon +the Indian mind came to my notice some years ago at the Seneca +Reservation in New York. A Seneca chief, well to do in the world, +with farm lands and domestic animals which afforded him a +comfortable subsistence, had lost his wife by death, and his daughter, +educated in the usages of civilized life, took the position of +housekeeper. The old man, referring to the ancient custom, requested +his daughter to keep the usual food constantly prepared ready to +offer to any person who entered their house, saying that he did not +wish to see this custom of their forefathers laid aside. Their +changed condition, and particularly the adoption of the regular +meals of civilized society, for the time of which the visitor might +reasonably be expected to wait, did not in his mind outweigh the +sanctity of the custom. [Footnote: William Parker was the chief named, +a noble specimen of a Seneca Iroquois.] + +In July, 1743, John Bartram made a journey from Philadelphia to +Onondaga to attend, with Conrad Weisar, a council of the Onondaga, +Mohawk, Oneida, and Cayuga chiefs. At Shamokin he quartered with a +trader who had an Indian wife, and at a village of the Delawares. +"As soon as we alighted," he remarks, "they showed us where to lay +our luggage, and then brought us a bowl of boiled squashes, cold. +This I then thought poor entertainment, but before I came back I had +learned not to despise good Indian food. This hospitality is +agreeable to the honest simplicity of ancient times, and is so +persistently adhered to that not only what is already dressed is +immediately set before a traveler, but the most pressing business is +postponed to prepare the best they can get for him, keeping it as a +maxim that he must always be hungry. Of this we found the good +effects in the flesh and bread they got ready for us." [Footnote: +Bartram's Observations, &c, London edition, 1751, p. 16.] We have +here a perfect illustration among the Delawares of the Iroquois rule +to set food before a person when he first entered the house. +Although they had in this case nothing better than boiled squash to +offer, it was done immediately, after which they commenced preparing +a more substantial repast. Delaware and Iroquois usages were the same. + +The council at Onondaga lasted two days, at the close of which they +had each day a dinner in common. "This council [first day] was +followed by a feast. After four o'clock we all dined together upon +four great kettles of Indian-corn soup, which we emptied, and then +every chief retired to his home.... The conference [second day] held +till three, after which we dined. The repast consisted of three +great kettles of Indian-corn soup, or thin hominy, with dried eels +and other fish boiled in it, and one kettle full of young squashes +and their flowers boiled in water, and a little meal mixed. This +dish was but weak food. Last of all was served a great bowl-full of +Indian dumplings made of new soft corn cut or scraped off the ear, +with the addition of some boiled beans, lapped well in Indian-corn +leaves. This is good hearty provision." [Footnote: Bartram's +Journal p. 59.] + +"Again," he remarks, "we prepared for setting forward, and many of +the chiefs came once more to make their farewells. Some of them +brought us provisions for our journey. We shook hands again and set +out at nine." [Footnote: ib. p. 63] + +One of the earliest notices of the hospitality of the Indian tribes +of the United States was by the expedition of Philip Amidas and +Arthur Barlow, under the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh, which +visited the Algonkin tribes of North Carolina in the summer of 1584. +They landed at the Island of Wocoken, off Albemarle Sound, when +"there came down from all parts great store of people," whose chief +was Granganimeo. "He was very just of his promises, for oft we +trusted him, and would come within his day to keep his word. He sent +us commonly every day a brace of ducks, conies, hares, and fish, +sometimes melons, walnuts, cucumbers, pease, and divers roots.... +After this acquaintance, myself, with seven more, went thirty miles +into the river Occam, that runneth toward the city Skicoack, and the +evening following we came to an isle called Roanoak, from the harbor +where we entered seven leagues: At the north end were nine houses, +builded with cedar, fortified round with sharp trees [palisaded] and +the entrance like a turnpike [turnspit]. When we came towards it, +the wife of Granganimeo came running out to meet us (her husband was +absent) commanding her people to draw our boat ashore for beating on +the billows. Others she appointed to carry us on their backs aland, +others to bring our oars into the house for stealing. When we came +into the other room (for there were five in the house) she caused us +to sit down by a great fire; and after took off our clothes and +washed them, of some our stockins, and some our feet in warm water, +and she herself took much pains to see all things well ordered and +to provide us victuals. After we had thus dried ourselves she +brought us into an inner room, where she sat on the board standing +along the house, somewhat like frumenty, sodden venison and roasted +fish; in like manner melons raw, boiled roots, and fruits of divers +kinds. Their drink is commonly water boiled with ginger, sometimes +with sassafras, and wholesome herbs.... A more kind, loving people +cannot be. Beyond this isle is the main land, and the great river +Occam, on which standeth a town called Pomeiok." [Footnote: Smith's +History of Virginia, &c. Reprint from London edition of 1627. +Richmond edition, 1819, i, 83, 84. Amidas and Barlow's account is +also in Hakluyt's Coll. of Voyages, iii, 301-7.] + +This is about the first, if not the first, English picture we have +of Indian life and of English and Indian intercourse in America. It +is highly creditable to both parties; to the Indians for their +unaffected kindness and hospitality, and to the English for their +appreciation of both, and for the absence of any act of injustice. +At the same time it was simply an application by the natives of +their rules of hospitality among themselves to their foreign visitors, +and not a new thing in their experience. + +In the narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto to Florida in +1539, by a gentleman of Elvas, there are references to the customs +of the Indian tribes of South Carolina, the Cherokees, Choctas, and +Chickasas, and of some of the tribes west of the Mississippi, whom +the expedition visited one after another. They are brief and +incomplete, but sufficiently indicate the point we are attempting to +illustrate. It was a hostile rather than a friendly visitation, and +the naturally free hospitality of the natives was frequently checked +and turned into enmity, but many instances of friendly intercourse +are mentioned in this narrative. "The fourth of April the governor +passed by a town called Altamaca, and the tenth of the month he came +to Ocute. The cacique sent him two thousand Indians with a present, +to wit, many conies and partridges, bread of maize, two hens and +many dogs." [Footnote: Historical Collections of Louisiana, part ii. +A Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando de Soto into Florida, by a +Gentleman of Elvas, p. 139.] + +Again: "Two leagues before he came to Chiaha, there met him fifteen +Indians loaded with maize which the cacique had sent; and they told +him on his behalf that he waited his coming with twenty barns full +of it." [Footnote: 3 ib. p. 147.] "At Cora the chief commanded his +Indians to void their houses, wherein the governor and his men were +lodged. There was in the barns and in the fields great store of +maize and French beans. The country was greatly inhabited with many +great towns and many sown fields which reached from one to the other". +[Footnote: ib. p 152.] + +After crossing the Mississippi, of which De Soto was the first +discoverer, he "rested in Pacaha forty days, in all which time the +two caciques served him with great store of fish, mantles, and skins, +and strove who should do him greatest service". [Footnote: ib. p. +175.] + +The justly celebrated Moravian missionary, John Heckewelder, obtained, +through a long experience, an intimate acquaintance with the manners +and customs of the Indian tribes. He was engaged in direct +missionary labor, among the Delawares and Munsees chiefly, for +fifteen years (1771-1786) on the Muskingum and Cuyahoga in Ohio, +where, besides the Delawares and Munsees, he came in contact with +Tuscaroras and other tribes of Iroquois lineage. He was conversant +with the usages and customs of the Indian tribes of Pennsylvania and +New York. His general knowledge justifies the title of his work, +"History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, who once +inhabited Pennsylvania and the neighboring States," and gives the +highest credibility to his statements. + +In discussing the general character of the Indians, he remarks as +follows: "They think that he [the Great Spirit] made the earth and +all that it contains for the common good of mankind; when he stocked +the country that he gave them with plenty of game, it was not for +the benefit of a few, but of all. Everything was given in common to +the sons of men. Whatever liveth on the land, whatsoever groweth out +of the earth, and all that is in the rivers and waters flowing +through the same, was given jointly to all, and ever one is entitled +to his share. From this principle hospitality flows as from its +source. With them it is not a virtue, but a strict duty; hence they +are never in search of excuses to avoid giving, but freely supply +their neighbors' wants from the stock prepared for their own use. +They give and are hospitable to all without exception, and will +always share with each other and often with the stranger to the last +morsel. They rather would lie down themselves on an empty stomach +than have it laid to their charge that they had neglected their duty +by not satisfying the wants of the stranger, the sick, or the needy. +The stranger has a claim to their hospitality, partly on account of +his being at a distance from his family and friends, and partly +because he has honored them with his visit and ought to leave them +with a good impression on his mind; the sick and the poor because +they have a right to be helped out of the common stock, for if the +meat they have been served with was taken from the woods it was +common to all before the hunter took it; if corn or vegetables, it +had grown out of the common ground, yet not by the power of man, but +by that of the Great Spirit." [Footnote: Heckewelder, Indian Nations, +Philadelphia ed., 1876, p. 101] + +This is a clear and definite statement of the principle of +hospitality as it was observed by the Indian tribes at the epoch of +their discovery, with the Indians' reasons on which the obligations +rested. We recognize in this law of hospitality a conspicuous virtue +of mankind in barbarism. + +Lewis and Clarke refer to the usages of the tribes of the Missouri, +which were precisely the same as those of the Iroquois. "It is the +custom of all the nations on the Missouri," they remark, "to offer +every white man food and refreshments when he first enters their +tents". [Footnote: Travels, etc., London edition, 1814, p. 649.] + +This was simply applying their rules of hospitality among themselves +to their white visitors. + +About 1837-1838 George Catlin wintered at the Mandan Village, on the +Upper Missouri. He was an accurate and intelligent observer, and his +work on the "Manners and Customs of the North American Indians" is a +valuable contribution to American ethnography. The principal Mandan +village, which then contained fifty houses and fifteen hundred people, +was surrounded with a palisade. It was well situated for game, but +they did not depend exclusively upon this source of subsistence. +They cultivated maize, squashes, pumpkins, and tobacco in garden beds, +and gathered wild berries and a species of turnip on the prairies. +"Buffalo meat, however," says Mr. Catlin, "is the great staple and +staff of life in this country, and seldom, if ever, fails to afford +them an abundant means of subsistence." + + * * * * * + +"During the summer and fall months they use the meat fresh, and cook +it in a great variety of ways--by roasting, broiling, boiling, +stewing, smoking, &c., and, by boiling the ribs and joints with the +marrow in them, make a delicious soup, which is universally used and +in vast quantities. The Mandans, I find, have no regular or stated +times for their meals, but generally eat about twice in the +twenty-four hours. The pot is always boiling over the fire, and any +one who is hungry, either from the household or from any other part +of the village, has a right to order it taken off and to fall too, +eating as he pleases. Such is an unvarying custom among the North +American Indians, and I very much doubt whether the civilized world +have in their institutions any system which can properly be called +more humane and charitable. Every man, woman, or child in Indian +communities is allowed to enter any one's lodge, and even that of +the chief of the nation, and eat when they are hungry, provided +misfortune or necessity has drawn them to it. Even so can the +poorest and most worthless drone of the nation, if he is too lazy to +hunt or to supply himself; he can walk into any lodge, and every one +will share with him as long as there is anything to eat. He, however, +who thus begs when he is able to hunt, pays dear for his meat, for +he is stigmatized with the disgraceful epithet of poltroon and beggar." +[Footnote: Manners and Customs of the North American Indians, +Hazard's edition, 1857, i, 200.] Mr. Catlin puts the case rather +strongly when he turns the free hospitality of the household into a +right of the guest to entertainment independently of their consent. +It serves to show that the provisions of the household, which as he +elsewhere states, consisted of from twenty to forty persons, were +used in common, and that each household shared their provisions in +the exercise of hospitality with any inhabitant of the village who +came to the house hungry, and with strangers from other tribes as +well. Moreover, he speaks of this hospitality as universal amongst +the Indian tribes. It is an important statement, because few men in +the early period of intercourse with the western tribes have +traveled so extensively among them. + +The tribes of the Columbia Valley lived upon fish, bread-roots, and +game. Food was abundant at certain seasons, but there were times of +scarcity even in this favored area. Whatever provisions they had +were shared freely with each other, with guests, and with strangers. +Lewis and Clarke, in 1804-1806, visited in their celebrated +expedition the tribes of the Missouri and of the Valley of the +Columbia. They experienced the same generous hospitality whenever +the Indians possessed any food to offer, and their account is the +first we have at all special of these numerous tribes. Frequent +references are made to their hospitality. The Nez Perces "set before +them a small piece of buffalo meat, some dried salmon, berries, and +several kinds of roots. Among these last is one which is round and +much like an onion in appearance and sweet to the taste. It is +called quamash, and is eaten either in its natural state or boiled +into a kind of soup or made into a cake, which is then called pasheco. +After the long abstinence, this was a sumptuous treat; and we +returned the kindness of the people by a few small presents, and +then went on in company with one of the chiefs to a second village, +in the same plain at a distance of two miles. Here the party was +treated with great kindness and passed the night." [Footnote: Travels, +etc., p. 330.] + +Of another tribe they remark, "As we approached the village most of +the women, though apprised of our being expected, fled with their +children into the neighboring woods. The men, however, received us +without any apprehension, and gave us a plentiful supply of +provisions. The plains were now crowded with Indians who came to see +the persons of the whites, and the strange things they brought with +them; but as our guide was perfectly a stranger to their language we +could converse by signs only." [Footnote: Travels, etc., p. 334.] + +The Indians of the Columbia, unlike the tribes previously named, +boiled their food in wooden vessels, or in ground cavities lined +with skins, by means of heated stones. They were ignorant of pottery. +"On entering one of their houses he [Captain Clarke] found it +crowded with men, women, and children, who immediately provided a +mat for him to sit on, and one of the party undertook to prepare +something to eat. He began by bringing in a piece of pine wood that +had drifted down the river, which he split into small pieces with a +wedge made of the elk's horn by means of a mallet of stone curiously +carved. The pieces were then laid on the fire, and several round +stones placed upon them. One of the squaws now brought a bucket of +water, in which was a large salmon about half dried, and as the +stones became heated they were put into the bucket till the salmon +was sufficiently boiled for use. It was then taken out, put on a +platter of rushes neatly made, and laid before Captain Clarke, and +another was boiled for each of his men." [Footnote: Travels, p. 353.] + +One or two additional cases of which a large number are mentioned by +these authors will sufficiently illustrate the practice of +hospitality of these tribes and its universality. They went to a +village of seven houses of the Chilluckittequaw tube and to the +house of the chief. "He received us kindly," they remark, "and set +before us pounded fish, filberts, nuts, the berries of the sacacommis, +and white bread made of roots.... The village is a part of the same +nation with the village we passed above, the language of the two +being the same, and their houses of similar form and materials, and +calculated to contain about thirty souls. The inhabitants were +unusually hospitable and good humored." [Footnote: Travels, etc., +p. 375-376.] + +While among the Shoshones, and before arriving at the Columbia they +"reached an Indian lodge of brush inhabited by seven families of the +Shoshones. They behaved with great civility, and gave the whole +party as much boiled salmon as they could eat, and added a present +of several dried salmon and a considerable quantity of chokechinies;" +[Footnote: ib. p. 288.] and Captain Lewis remarks of the same people, +that "an Indian invited him into his bower, and gave him a small +morsel of boiled antelope, and a piece of fresh salmon roasted. This +was the first salmon he had seen, and perfectly satisfied him that +he was now on the waters of the Pacific." [Footnote: ib. p. 268.] + +Thus far among the tribes we find a literal repetition of the rule +of hospitality as practiced by the Iroquois. Mr. Dall, speaking of +the Aleuts, says, "hospitality was one of their prominent traits," +[Footnote: On the Remains of Later Prehistoric Man, Alaska Ter. +Smithsonian Cont., No. 318, p. 3. Travels, etc., Phila. ed., 1796, +p. 171.] and Powers, of the Pomo Indians of California remarks, that +"they would always divide the last morsel of dried salmon with +genuine savage thriftlessness," and of the Mi-oal'-a-wa-gun, that, +"like all California Indians they are very hospitable." [Footnote: +Powell's Contributions to North American Ethnology, Power's Tribes +of California, vol. iii. p. 153.] + +Father Marquette and Lieutenant Joliet, who first discovered the +Upper Mississippi in 1673, had friendly intercourse with some of the +tribes on its eastern bank, and were hospitably entertained by them. +"The council being over, we were invited to a feast, which consisted +of four dishes. The first was a dish of sagamite--that is, some +Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned with grease--the master of +ceremonies holding a spoonful of it, which he put thrice into my +mouth and then did the like to M. Joliet. The second dish consisted +of three fish, whereof he took a piece, and having taken out the +bones and blown upon it to cool it, he put it into my mouth. The +third dish was a large dog, which they had killed on purpose, but +understanding that we did not eat this animal they sent it away. The +fourth was a piece of buffalo meat, of which they put the fattest +pieces into our mouths." [Footnote: Historical Collections of +Louisiana. part ii. An Account of the Discovery of some New +Countries and Nations of North America in 1673, by Pere Marquette +and Sieur Joliet, p. 287.] + +Lower down the river, below the mouth of the Ohio, they fell in with +another tribe, of whom they speak as follows. "We therefore +disembarked and went to their village. They entertained us with +buffalo and bear's meat and white plums, which were excellent. We +observed they had guns, knives, axes, shovels, glass beads, and +bottles in which they put their powder. They wear their hair long as +the Iroquois, and their women are dressed as the Hurons." +[Footnote: ib,. p. 293] + +In 1766 Jonathan Carver visited the Dakota tribes of the Mississippi, +the Sauks and Foxes, and Winnebagos of Wisconsin, and the Ojibwas of +Upper Michigan. He speaks generally of the hospitality of these +tribes as follows: "No people are more hospitable, kind, and free +than the Indians. They will readily share with any of their own +tribe the last part of their provisions, and even with those +of a different nation, if they chance to come in when they are +eating. Though they do not keep one common stock, yet that +community of goods which is so prevalent among them, and their +generous disposition, render it nearly of the same effect." +[Footnote: Carver's Travels, etc. Phila. ed. 1796, p. 171.] + +The "community of goods, which is so prevalent among them," is +explained by their large households formed of related families, who +shared their provisions in common. The "seven families of Shoshones" +in one house, and also the houses "crowded with men, women, and +children," mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, are fair samples of Indian +households in the early period. + +We turn again to the southern tribes of the United States, the +Cherokees, Choctas, Chickasas, and Confederated Creek tribes. James +Adair, whose work was published in 1775, remarks generally upon +their usages in the following language. "They are so hospitable, +kind-hearted, and free, that they would share with those of their +own tribe the last part of their own provisions, even to a single +ear of corn; and to others, if they called when they were eating; +for they have no stated meal time. An open generous temper is a +standing virtue among them; to be narrow-hearted, especially to +those in want, or to any of their own family, is accounted a great +crime, and to reflect scandal on the rest of the tribe. Such +wretched misers they brand with bad characters.... The Cherokee +Indians have a pointed proverbial expression to the same effect-- +simtaweh ne wara, the great hawk is at home. However, it is a very +rare thing to find any of them of a narrow temper; and though they +do not keep one promiscuous common stock, yet it is to the very same +effect; for every one has his own family or tribe; and when one of +them is speaking, either of the individuals or habitations of any of +his tribe, he says, 'he is of my house,' or 'it is my house'.... +When the Indians are traveling in their own country, they inquire +for a house of their own tribe [gens]; and if there be any, they go +to it, and are kindly received, though they never saw the persons +before--they eat, drink, and regale themselves with as much freedom +as at their own table, which is the solid ground covered with a +bear-skin.... Every town has a state-house or synedrion, as the +Jewish sanhedrim, where, almost every night, the head men convene +about public business; or the town's people to feast, sing, dance, +and rejoice in the divine presence, as will fully be described +hereafter. And if a stranger calls there, he is treated with the +greatest civility and hearty kindness--he is sure to find plenty of +their simple home fare, and a large cane-bed covered with the +softened skins of bears or buffaloes to sleep on. But, when his +lineage is known to the people (by a stated custom, they are slow in +greeting one another), his relations, if he has any there, address +him in a familiar way, invite him home, and treat him as a kinsman." +[Footnote: History of the American Indians, London ed., 1775, p. 17.] + +All these tribes were organized in gentes or clans, and the gentes +of each tribe were usually reintegrated in two or more phratries. It +is the gens to which Mr. Adair refers when he speaks of the +"family," "relations," and "lineage." We find among them the same +rule of hospitality, substantially, as prevailed among the Iroquois. + +It is a reasonable conclusion, therefore, that among all the tribes, +north of New Mexico, the law of hospitality, as practiced by the +Iroquois, was universally recognized; and that in all Indian +villages and encampments without distinction the hungry were fed +through the open hospitality of those who possessed a surplus. +Notwithstanding this generous custom, it is well known that the +Northern Indians were often fearfully pressed for the means of +subsistence during a portion of each year. A bad season for their +limited productions, and the absence of accumulated stores, not +unfrequently engendered famine over large districts. From the +severity of the struggle for subsistence, it is not surprising that +immense areas were entirely uninhabited, that other large areas were +thinly peopled, and that dense population nowhere existed. + +Among the Village Indians of New Mexico the same hospitality is now +extended to Americans visiting their pueblos, and which +presumptively is simply a reflection of their usage among themselves +and toward other tribes. In 1852 Dr. Tenbroeck, assistant surgeon +United States Army, accompanied his command to the Moki pueblos. In +his journal he remarks: "Between eleven and twelve to-day we arrived +at the first towns of Moki. All the inhabitants turned out, crowding +the streets and house-tops to have a view of the white men. All the +old men pressed forward to shake hands with us, and we were most +hospitably received and conducted to the governor's house, where we +were at once feasted upon guavas and a leg of mutton broiled upon +the coals. After the feast we smoked with them, and they then said +that we should move our camp in, and that they would give us a room +and plenty of wood for the men, and sell us corn for the animals." +[Footnote: Schoolcraft's History, Condition, and Prospects of the +Indian Tribes, iv. 81.] + +In 1858 Lieut. Joseph C. Ives was at the Moki Pueblo of Mooskahneh +[Mi-shong-i-ni-vi]. "The town is nearly square," he remarks, +"and surrounded by a stone wall fifteen feet high, the top of which +forms a landing extending around the whole. Flights of stone steps +lead from the first to a second landing, upon which the doors of the +houses open. Mounting the stairway opposite to the ladder, the chief +crossed to the nearest door and ushered us into a low apartment, +from which two or three others opened towards the interior of the +dwelling. Our host courteously asked us to be seated upon some skins +spread along the floor against the wall and presently his wife +brought in a vase of water and a tray filled with a singular +substance that looked more like sheets of thin blue wrapping paper +rolled up into bundles than anything else that I have ever seen. I +learned afterwards that it was made of corn meal, ground very fine, +made into a gruel, and poured over a heated stone to be baked. When +dry it has a surface slightly polished like paper. The sheets are +folded and rolled together, and form the staple article of food with +the Moki Indians. As the dish was intended for our entertainment, +and looked clean, we all partook of it. It had a delicate +fresh-bread flavor, and was not at all unpalatable, particularly +when eaten with salt." [Footnote: Report upon Colorado River of the +West, Lieut. Ives, p. 121.] + +Lieutenant-Colonel (now General) Emory visited the Pima villages on +the Gila River in 1846. "I rode leisurely in the rear through the +thatched huts of the Pimas. Each abode consisted of a dome-shaped +wicker-work about six feet high, and from twenty to fifty feet in +diameter, thatched with straw or cornstalks. In front is usually a +large arbor, on top of which is piled the cotton on the pod for +drying. In the houses were stowed watermelons, pumpkins, beans, corn, +and wheat, the three last articles generally in large baskets. +Sometimes the corn was in baskets, covered with earth, and placed on +the tops of the domes. A few chickens and dogs were seen, but no +other domestic animals except horses, mules, and oxen.... Several +acquaintances formed in our camp yesterday, were recognized, and +they received me cordially, made signs to dismount, and when I did +so offered watermelons and pinole. Pinole is the heart of Indian corn, +baked, ground up, and mixed with sugar. When dissolved in water it +affords a delicious beverage; it quenches thirst, and is very +nutritious.... The population of the Pimas and Maricopas together is +estimated variously at from three to ten thousand. The first is +evidently too low. This peaceful and industrious race are in +possession of a beautiful and fertile basin. Living remote from the +civilized world they are seldom visited by whites, and then only by +those in distress, to whom they generously furnish horses and food." +[Footnote: Military Reconnaissance in New Mexico, pp. 85, 86.] + +In this case and in those stated by Lieutenant Ives and Dr. +Tenbroeck we find a repetition of the Iroquois rule to set food +before the guest when he first enters the house. + +With respect to the Village Indians of Mexico, Central and South +America, our information is, in the main, limited to the hospitality +extended to the Spaniards; but it is sufficient to show that it was +a part of their plan of life, and, as it must be supposed, a +repetition of their usages in respect to each other. In every part +of America that they visited, the Spaniards, although often in +numbers as a military force, were assigned quarters in Indian houses, +emptied of their inhabitants for that purpose, and freely supplied +with provisions. Thus at Zempoala "the lord came out, attended by +ancient men, two persons of note supporting him by the arms, because +it was the custom among them to come out in that manner when one +great man received another. This meeting was with much courtesy and +abundance of compliments, and people were already appointed to find +the Spaniards quarters and furnish provisions" [Footnote: Herrera's +History of America, ii, 212.] + +When near Tlascala the Tlascallans "sent three hundred turkeys, two +hundred baskets of cakes of teutli, which they call tamales, being +about two hundred arrobas; that is, fifty hundred weight of bread, +which was an extraordinary supply for the Spaniards, considering the +distress they were in;" and when at Tlascala, Cortes and his men +"were generously treated, and supplied with all necessaries." +[Footnote: ib., ii. 261, 279.] + +"They entered Cholula and went to a house where they lodged +altogether, and their Indians with them, although upon their guard, +being for the present plentifully supplied with provisions." +[Footnote: ib., ii, 311] + +Although the Spaniards numbered about four hundred, and their allied +Indians about a thousand, they found accommodations in a single +joint tenement house of the Aboriginal American model. Attention is +called to this fact, because we shall find the Village Indians, as a +rule, living in large houses, each containing many apartments, and +accommodating five hundred or more persons. The household of several +families of the northern Indians reappears in the southern tribes in +a much greater household of a hundred or more families in a single +joint tenement house, but not unlikely broken up into several +household groups. The pueblo consisted sometimes of one, sometimes +of two or three, and sometimes of a greater number of such houses. +The plan of life within these houses is not well understood, but it +can still be seen in New Mexico, and it is to be hoped it will +attract investigation. + +Speaking of the Maya Indians of Yucatan, Herrera remarks that +"they are still generous and free-hearted, so that they will make +everybody eat that comes into their houses, which is everywhere +practiced in traveling." [Footnote: Herrera's History of America, +iv, 117.] + +This is a fair statement of the Iroquois law of hospitality found +among the Mayas, practiced among themselves and towards strangers +from other tribes. When Grijalva, about 1517, discovered the Tabasco +River, he held friendly intercourse with some of the tribes of +Yucatan. "They immediately sent thirty Indians loaded with roasted +fish, hens, several sorts of fruit, and bread made of Indian wheat." +[Footnote: ib., ii, 126] + +When Cortes, in 1525, made his celebrated expedition to Honduras, he +passed near the pueblo of Palenque and near that of Copan without +being aware of either, and visited the shore of Lake Peten. +"Being well received in the city of Apoxpalan, Cortes and all the +Spaniards, with their horses, were quartered in one house, the +Mexicans being dispersed into others, and all of them plentifully +supplied with provisions during their stay." [Footnote: ib., iii, 359.] + +They numbered one hundred and fifty Spanish horse and several +hundred Aztecs. It was at this place, according to Herrera, that +Quatemozin, who accompanied Cortes as a prisoner, was barbarously +executed by his command. [Footnote: ib., iii, 361.] Cortes next +visited an island in Lake Peten, where he was sumptuously +entertained by Canec, the chief of the tribe, where they "sat down +to dinner in stately manner, and Canec ordered fowls, fish cakes, +honey, and fruit." [Footnote: ib., iii, 362.] + +In South America the same account of the hospitality of the Indian +tribes is given by the early explorers. About the year 1500 +Christopher Guerra made a voyage to the coast of Venezuela: +"They came to an anchor before a town called Curiana, where the +Indians entreated them to go ashore, but the Spaniards being no more +than thirty-three in all durst not venture.... At length, being +convinced of their sincerity, the Spaniards went ashore, and being +courteously entertained, staid there twenty days. They plentifully +supplied them for food with venison, rabbits, geese, ducks, parrots, +fish, bread made of maize or Indian wheat, and other things, and +brought them all the game they would ask for.... They perceived +that they kept markets or fairs, and that they made use of jars, +pitchers, pots, dishes, and porringers, besides other vessels of +several shapes." [Footnote: Herrera's Hist. America, iv, 248.] + +Pizarro found the same custom among the Peruvians and other tribes +of the coast. At the time of his first visit to the coast of Peru he +found a female chief by whom he was entertained. "The lady came out +to meet them with a great retinue, in good order, holding green +boughs and ears of Indian wheat, having made an arbor where were +seats for the Spaniards, and for the Indians at some distance. They +gave them to eat fish and flesh dressed in several ways, much fruit, +and such bread and liquor as the country afforded." [Footnote: ib., +i, 229.] + +When on the coast of Tumbez, and before landing, "ten or twelve +floats were immediately sent out with a plenty of provisions, fruits, +pots of water, and of chica, which is their liquor, as also a lamb." +[Footnote: ib., iv, 3.] + +After entering Peru, on his second visit to the coast, "Atahuallpa's +messengers came and presented the governor with ten of their sheep +from the Inca, and some other things of small value, telling him +very courteously that Atahuallpa had commanded them to inquire what +day he intended to be at Caxamalca, that he might have provisions on +the way." [Footnote: ib., iii, 399.] + + * * * * * + +"The next day more messengers came from Atahuallpa with provisions, +which he received with thanks.". [Footnote: ib., iv, 244.] + +The native historian, Garcilasso de la Viga, remarks: "Nor were the +Incas, among their other charities, forgetful of the conveniences +for travelers, but in all the great roads built houses or inns for +them, which they called corpahuaci, where they were provided with +victuals and other necessaries for their journeys out of the royal +stores; and in case any traveler fell sick on the way, he was there +attended and care taken of him in a better manner perhaps than at +his own home." [Footnote: Royal Commentaries of Peru, Lond. ed., 1688; +Recent Trans., p 145.] + +These illustrations, which might be multiplied, are sufficient to +show the universality of the practice of hospitality among the +Indian tribes of America at the epoch of European discovery. Among +all these forms, as stated by different observers, the substance of +the Iroquois law of hospitality is plainly found, namely: If a man +entered an Indian house, whether a villager, a tribesman, or a +stranger, and at whatever hour of the day, it was the duty of the +women of the house to set food before him. An omission to do this +would have been a discourtesy amounting to an affront. If hungry, he +ate, if not hungry, courtesy required that he should taste the food +and thank the giver. It is seen to have been a usage running through +three ethnic conditions of the Indian race, becoming stronger as the +means of subsistence increased in variety and amount, and attaining +its highest development among the Village Indians in the Middle +Status of barbarism. It was an active, well-established custom of +Indian society, practiced among themselves and among strangers from +other tribes, and very naturally extended to Europeans when they +made their first appearance among them. Considering the number of +the Spaniards often in military companies, and another fact which +the aborigines were quick to notice, namely, that a white man +consumed and wasted five times as much as an Indian required, their +hospitality in many cases must have been grievously overtaxed. +[Footnote: "The appetite of the Spaniards appeared to the American +inhabitants voracious; and they affirmed that one Spaniard devoured +more food in a day than was sufficient for ten Americans."-- +(Robertson's History of America, Lond. ed., 1856, i, p. 72.)] + +Attention has been called to this law of hospitality, and to its +universality, for two reasons: firstly, because it implies the +existence of common stores, which supplied the means for its practice; +and secondly, because, wherever found, it implies communistic living +in large households. It must be evident that this hospitality could +not have been habitually practiced by the Iroquois and other +northern tribes, and much less by the Village Indians of Mexico, +Central and South America, with such uniformity, if the custom in +each case had depended upon the voluntary contributions of single +families. In that event it would have failed oftener than it would +have succeeded. The law of hospitality, as administered by the +American aborigines, indicates a plan of life among them which has +not been carefully studied, nor have its effects been fully +appreciated. Its explanation must be sought in the ownership of +lands in common, the distribution of their products to households +consisting of a number of families, and the practice of communism in +living in the household. Common stores for large households, and +possibly for the village, with which to maintain village hospitality, +are necessary to explain the custom. It could have been maintained +on such a basis, and it is difficult to see how it could have been +maintained on any other. The common and substantially universal +practice of this custom, among the American Indian Tribes, at the +period of their discovery, among whom the procurement of subsistence +was their vital need, must be regarded as evidence of a generous +disposition, and as exhibiting a trait of character highly +creditable to the race. + +[Relocated Footnote: PROPOSED ETHNIC OR CULTURE PERIODS. + + PERIOD OF SAVAGERY. PERIOD OF BARBARISM. + Subperiods. Conditions. Subperiods. Conditions. +Older Period ..... Lower Status Older Period .... Lower Status +Middle Period .... Middle Status Middle Period ... Middle Status +Later Period ..... Upper Status Later Period .... Upper Status. + + PERIOD OF CIVILIZATION + + RECAPITULATION + +OLDER PERIOD OF SAVAGERY.--From the infancy of the human race +to the knowledge of fire and the acquisition of fish subsistence. + +MIDDLE PERIOD.--From the acquisition of a fish subsistence to +the invention of the bow and arrow. + +LATER PERIOD.--From the invention of the bow and arrow to the +invention of the art of pottery. + +OLDER PERIOD OF BARBARISM.--From a knowledge of pottery to the +domestication of animals in the eastern hemisphere, and in the +western to the cultivation of maize and plants by irrigation. + +MIDDLE PERIOD.--From the domestication of animals, &c., to the +invention of the process of smelting iron ore. + +LATER PERIOD.--From the knowledge of iron to the invention of a +phonetic alphabet, or the use of hieroglyphs upon stone as an +equivalent. + +CIVILIZATION.--From the invention of a phonetic alphabet and +the use of letters in literary composition to the present time.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +COMMUNISM IN LIVING. + + +We are now to consider the remaining usages and customs named in the +last chapter. + + +THEIR COMMUNISM IN LIVING. + +Communism in living had its origin in the necessities of the family, +which, prior to the Later Period of barbarism, was too weak an +organization to face alone the struggle of life. In savagery and in +the Older and the Middle Period of barbarism the family was in the +syndyasmian or pairing form into which it had passed from a previous +lower form. [Footnote: Ancient Society, p. 459.] + +Wherever the gentile organization prevailed, several families, +related by kin, united as a rule in a common household and made a +common stock of the provisions acquired by fishing and hunting, and +by the cultivation of maize and plants. They erected joint tenement +houses large enough to accommodate several families, so that, +instead of a single family in the exclusive occupation of a single +house, large households as a rule existed in all parts of America in +the aboriginal period. This community of provisions was limited to +the household; but a final equalization of the means of subsistence +was in some measure affected by the law of hospitality. To a very +great extent communism in living was a necessary result of the +condition of the Indian tribes. It entered into their plan of life +and determined the character of their houses. In effect it was a +union of effort to procure subsistence, which was the vital and +commanding concern of life. The desire for individual accumulation +had not been aroused in their minds to any sensible extent. It is +made evident by a comparison of the conditions of barbarous tribes +on different continents that communism has widely prevailed among +them, and that the influence of this ancient practice had not +entirely disappeared among the more advanced tribes when +civilization finally appeared. The common meal-bin of the ancient +and the common tables of the later Greeks seem to be survivals of an +older communism in living. This practice, though never investigated +as a specialty, may be shown by the known customs of a number of +Indian tribes, and may be confirmed by an examination of the plans +of their houses. + +Our first illustration will be taken from the usages of the Iroquois. +In their villages they constructed houses, consisting of frames of +poles covered with bark, thirty, fifty, eighty, and a hundred feet +in length, with a passage-way through the center, a door at each end, +and with the interior partitioned off at intervals of about seven +feet. Each apartment or stall thus formed was open for its entire +width upon the passage-way. These houses would accommodate five, ten, +and twenty families, according to the number of apartments, one +being usually allotted to a family. Each household was made up on +the principle of kin. The married women, usually sisters, own or +collateral, were of the same gens or clan, the symbol or totem of +which was often painted upon the house, while their husbands and +the wives of their sons belong to several other gentes. The +children were of the gens of their mother. While husband and +wife belonged to different gentes, the preponderating number +in each household would be of the same gens, namely, that of +their mothers. As a rule the sons brought home their wives, and +in some cases the husbands of the daughters were admitted to +the maternal house. Thus each household was composed of a +mixture of persons of different gentes; but this would not +prevent the numerical ascendency of the particular gens to +whom the house belonged. In a village of one hundred and twenty +houses, as the Seneca village of Tiotohatton described by +Mr. Greenbalgh i n 1677, there would be several such houses +belonging to each gens. It presented a general picture of Indian +life in all parts of America at the epoch of European discovery. +[Footnote: Documentary History of New York, i, 13.] + +Whatever was gained by any member of the household on hunting or +fishing expeditions, or was raised by cultivation, was made a common +stock. Within the house they lived from common stores. Each house +had several fires, usually one for each four apartments, which was +placed in the middle of the passage-way and without a chimney. Every +household was organized under a matron who supervised its domestic +economy. After the single daily meal was cooked at the several fires +the matron was summoned, and it was her duty to divide the food, +from the kettle, to the several families according to their +respective needs. What remained was placed in the custody of another +person until it was required by the matron. The Iroquois lived in +houses of this description as late as A. D. 1700, and in occasional +instances a hundred years later. An elderly Seneca woman informed +the writer, thirty years ago, that when she was a girl she lived in +one of these joint tenement houses (called by them long-houses), +which contained eight families and two fires, and that her mother +and her grandmother, in their day, had acted as matrons over one of +these large households. [Footnote: The late Mrs. William Parker, of +Tonawanda.] + +This mere glimpse at the ancient Iroquois plan of life, now entirely +passed away, and of which remembrance is nearly lost, is highly +suggestive. It shows that their domestic economy was not without +method, and it displays the care and management of woman, low down +in barbarism, for husbanding their resources and for improving their +condition. A knowledge of these houses, and how to build them, is +not even yet lost among the Senecas. Some years ago Mr. William +Parker, a Seneca chief, constructed for the writer a model of one of +these long-houses, showing in detail its external and internal +mechanism. + +The late Rev. Ashur Wright, DD., for many years a missionary among +the Senecas, and familiar with their language and customs, wrote to +the author in 1873 on the subject of these households, as follows: +"As to their family system, when occupying the old long-houses, it +is probable that some one clan predominated, the women taking in +husbands, however, from the other clans; and sometimes, for a novelty, +some of their sons bringing in their young wives until they felt +brave enough to leave their mothers. Usually, the female portion +ruled the house, and were doubtless clannish enough about it. The +stores were in common; but woe to the luckless husband or lover who +was too shiftless to do his share of the providing. No matter how +many children or whatever goods he might have in the house, he might +at any time be ordered to pick up his blanket and budge; and after +such orders it would not be healthful for him to attempt to disobey; +the house would be too hot for him; and unless saved by the +intercession of some aunt or grandmother he must retreat to his own +clan, or as was often done, go and start a new matrimonial alliance +in some other. The women wore the great power among the clans, as +everywhere else. They did not hesitate, when occasion required, to +'knock off the horns,' as it was technically called, from the head +of a chief and send him back to the ranks of the warriors. The +original nomination of the chiefs also always rested with them." + +The mother-right and gyneocracy among the Iroquois here plainly +indicated is not overdrawn. The mothers and their children, as we +have seen, were of the same gens, and to them the house belonged. It +was a gentile house. In case of the death of father or mother, the +apartments they occupied could not be detached from the kinship, but +remained to its members. The position of the mother was eminently +favorable to her influence in the household, and tended to +strengthen the maternal bond. We may see in this an ancient phase of +human life which has had a wide prevalence in the tribes of +mankind, Asiatic, European, African, American, and Australian. Not +until after civilization had begun among the Greeks, and gentile +society was superseded by political society, was the influence +of this old order of society overthrown. It left behind, at least +among the Grecian tribes, deep traces of its previous existence. + +[Footnote: These statements illustrate the gyneocracy and +mother-right among the ancient Grecian tribes discussed by Bachofen +in "Das Mutterrecht." The phenomena discovered by Bachofen owes +its origin, probably, to descent in the female line, and to the +junction of several families in one house, on the principle of kin, +as among the Iroquois.] + +Among the Iroquois, those who formed a household and cultivated +gardens gathered the harvest and stored it in their dwelling as a +common stock. There was more or less of individual ownership of +these products, and of their possession by different families. For +example, the corn, after stripping back the husk, was braided by the +husk in bunches and hung up in the different apartments; but when +one family had exhausted its supply, their wants were supplied by +other families so long as any remained. Each hunting and fishing +party made a common stock of the capture, of which the surplus, on +their return, was divided among the several families of each +household, and, having been cured, was reserved for winter use The +village did not make a common stock of their provisions, and thus +offer a bounty to imprudence It was confined to the household But +the principle of hospitality then came in to relieve the +consequences of destitution We can speak with some confidence of the +ancient usages and customs of the Iroquois; and when any usage is +found among them in a definite and positive form, it renders +probable the existence of the same usage in other tribes in the same +condition, because their necessities were the same. + +In the History of Virginia, by Capt. John Smith, the houses of the +Powhatan Indians are partially described, and are found to be much +the same as those of the Iroquois We have already quoted from this +work the description of a house on Roanoke Island containing five +chambers. Speaking of the houses in the vicinity of James River in +1606-1608, he remarks, "Their houses are built like our arbors, of +small young sprigs bowed and tied, and so close covered with mats, +or the bark of trees, very handsomely, that notwithstanding either +wind, rain, or weather, they are as warm as stoves but very smoky, +yet at the top of the house there is a hole made for the smoke to go +into right over the fire. Against the fire they lie on little +hurdles of reeds covered with a mat, borne from the ground a foot +and more by a hurdle of wood On these, round about the house, they +lie, heads and points, one by the other, against the fire, some +covered with mats, some with skins, and some stark naked lie on the +ground, from six to twenty in a house.... In some places are from +two to fifty of these houses together, or but little separated by +groves of trees." [Footnote: Smith's History of Virginia, Richmond +ed., 1819, i, 130] + +The noticeable fact in this statement is the number of persons in +the house, which shows a household consisting of several families +Their communism in living may be inferred Elsewhere he speaks of +"houses built after their manner, some thirty, some forty yards long," +and speaking of one of the houses of Powhatan he says, "This house +is fifty or sixty yards in length," and again, at Pamunk, "A great +fire was made in a long-house, a mat was spread on one side as on +the other, and on one side they caused him to sit." [Footnote: 5, +Ib, 1, 142, 143; Smith's Hist. Va., Richmond ed., 1819, i, 160.] + +We here find among the Virginia Indians at the epoch of their +discovery long-houses very similar to the long-houses of the Iroquois, +with the same evidence of a large household. It may safely be taken +as a rule that every Indian household in the aboriginal period, +whether large or small, lived from common stores. + +Mr. Caleb Swan, who visited the Creek Indians of Georgia in 1790, +found the people living in small houses or cabins, but in clusters, +each cluster being occupied by a part of a gens or clan. He remarks +that "the smallest of their towns have from ten to forty houses, and +some of the largest from fifty to two hundred, that are tolerably +compact. These houses stand in clusters of four, five, six, +seven, and eight together.... Each cluster of houses contains +a clan or family of relations who eat and live in common." +[Footnote: Schoolcraft's Hist. Cond. and Pros. of Indian Tribes, +vol. v. 262.] + +Here the fact of several families uniting on the principle of kin, +living in a cluster of houses, and practicing communism, is +expressly stated. + +James Adair, writing still earlier of the southern Indians of the +United States generally, remarks in a passage before quoted, as +follows: "I have observed, with much inward satisfaction, the +community of goods that prevailed among them.... And though they do +not keep one promiscuous common stock, yet it is to the very same +effect, for every one has his own family or tribe, and when any one +is speaking either of the individuals or habitations of his own +tribe, he says, 'He is of my house,' or, 'It is my house.'" +[Footnote: History of the American Indians, p. 17.] + +It is singular that this industrious investigator did not notice, +what is now known to be the fact, that all these tribes were +organized in gentes and phratries. It would have rendered his +observations upon their usages and customs more definite. Elsewhere +he remarks further that "formerly the Indian law obliged every town +to work together in one body, in sewing or planting their crops, +though their fields were divided by proper marks, and their harvest +is gathered separately. The Cherokees and Muscogees [Creeks] still +observe that old custom, which is very necessary for such idle people." +[Footnote: ib., p. 430.] + +They cultivated, like the Iroquois, three kinds of maize, an +"early variety," the "hominy corn," and the "bread corn," also beans, +squashes, pumpkins, and tobacco. [Footnote: History of the American +Indians, p. 430] Chestnuts, a tuberous root something like the +potato but gathered in the marshes, berries, fish, and game, entered +into their subsistence. Like the Iroquois, they made unleavened +bread of maize flour, which was boiled in earthen vessels, in the +form of cakes, about six inches in diameter and an inch thick. +[Footnote: ib. pp. 406, 408.] Among the tribes of the plains, who +subsist almost exclusively upon animal food, their usages in the +hunt indicate the same tendency to communism in food. The Blackfeet, +during the buffalo hunt, follow the herds on horseback in large +parties, composed of men, women, and children. When the active +pursuit of the herd commences, the hunters leave the dead animals in +the track of the chase to be appropriated by the first persons who +come up behind. This method of distribution is continued until all +are supplied. All the Indian tribes who hunt upon the plains, with +the exception of the half-blood Crees, observe the same custom of +making a common stock of the capture. It tended to equalize, at the +outset, the means of subsistence obtained. They cut the beef into +strings, and either dried it in the air or in the smoke of a fire. +Some of the tribes made a part of the capture into pemmican, which +consists of dried and pulverized meat mixed with melted buffalo fat, +which is baled in the hide of the animal. + +During the fishing season in the Columbia River, where fish are more +abundant than in any other river on the earth, all the members of +the tribe encamp together, and make a common stock of the fish +obtained. They are divided each day according to the number of women, +giving to each an equal share. At the Kootenay Falls, for example, +they are taken by spearing, and in huge baskets submerged in the +water below the falls. The salmon, during the spring run, weigh from +six to forty pounds, and are taken in the greatest abundance, three +thousand a day not being an unusual number. Father De Smet, the late +Oregon missionary, informed the writer, in 1862, that he once spent +several days with the Kootenays at these falls, and that the share +which fell to him, as one of the party, loaded, when dried, thirty +pack mules. The fish are split open, scarified, and dried on +scaffolds, after which they are packed in baskets and then removed +to their villages. This custom makes a general distribution of the +capture, and leaves each household in possession of its share. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote relocated to chapter end.] + +Their communism in living is involved in the size of the household, +which ranged from ten to forty persons. "The houses of the Sokulks +are made of large mats of rushes, and are generally of a square or +oblong form, varying in length from fifteen to sixty feet; the top +is covered with mats, leaving a space of twelve or fifteen inches, +the whole length of the house, for the purpose of admitting the +light and suffering the smoke to pass through; the roof is nearly +flat ... and the house is not divided into apartments, the fire +being in the middle of the large room, and immediately under the +hole in the roof.... On entering one of these houses he [Captain +Clarke] found it crowded with men, women, and children, who +immediately provided a mat for him to sit on, and one of the party +immediately undertook to prepare something to eat." [Footnote: Lewis +and Clarke's Travels, pp. 351-353.] + +Again: "He landed before five houses close to each other, but no one +appeared, and the doors, which were of mats, were closed. He went +towards one of them with a pipe in his hand, and pushing aside the +mat entered the lodge, where he found thirty-two persons, chiefly +men and women, with a few children, all in the greatest consternation." +[Footnote: ib., p. 357.] And again: "This village being part of the +same nation with the village we passed above, the language of the +two being the same, and their houses being of the same form and +materials, and calculated to contain about thirty souls." +[Footnote: ib., p. 376.] + +In enumerating the people Lewis and Clarke often state the number of +inhabitants with the number of houses, thus: + +"The Killamucks, who number fifty houses and a thousand souls." + +"The Chilts, who ... are estimated at seven hundred souls and +thirty-eight houses." + +"The Clamoitomish, of twelve houses and two hundred and sixty souls." + +"The Potoashees, of ten houses and two hundred souls." + +"The Pailsk, of ten houses and two hundred souls." + +"The Quinults, of sixty houses and one thousand souls." + +[Footnote: Lewis and Clarke's Travels, pp. 426-428.] + +Speaking generally of the usages and customs of the tribes of the +"Columbia plains," they make the following statements: "Their large +houses usually contain several families, consisting of the parents, +their sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren, among whom the +provisions are common, and whose harmony is scarcely ever +interrupted by disputes. Although polygamy is permitted by their +customs, very few have more than a single wife, and she is brought +immediately after the marriage into the husband's family, where she +resides until increasing numbers oblige them to seek another house. +In this state the old man is not considered the head of the family, +since the active duties, as well as the responsibility, fall on some +of the younger members. As these families gradually expand into bands, +or tribes, or nations, the paternal authority is represented by the +chief of each association. This chieftain, however, is not hereditary." +[Footnote: ib., p. 443.] Here we find among the Columbian tribes, as +elsewhere, communism in living, but restricted to large households +composed of several families. + +A writer in Harper's Magazine, speaking of the Aleutians, remarks: +"When first discovered this people were living in large yurts, or +dirt houses, partially underground ... having the entrances through +a hole in the top or centre, going in and out on a rude ladder. +Several of these ancient yurts were very large, as shown by the ruins, +being from thirty to eighty yards long and twenty to forty in width.... +In these large yurts the primitive Aleuts lived by fifties and +hundreds for the double object of protection and warmth." +[Footnote: Harper's Magazine, vol. 55, p. 806.] + +Whether these tribes at this time were organized in gentes and +phratries is not known. At the time of the Wilkes expedition +(1838-1842) the gentile organization did not exist among them; +neither does it now exist; but it is still found among the tribes +of the Northwest Coast, and among the Indian tribes generally. The +composition of the household, as here described, is precisely like +the household of the Iroquois prior to A.D. 1700. + +The Mandan village contained at the time of Catlin's visit (1832), +as elsewhere stated, about fifty houses and about fifteen hundred +people. "These cabins are so spacious," Catlin remarks, "that they +hold from twenty to forty persons--a family and all their connections.... +From the great numbers of the inmates in these lodges they are +necessarily very spacious, and the number of beds considerable. It +is no uncommon thing to see these lodges fifty feet in diameter +inside (which is an immense room), with a row of these curtained +beds extending quite around their sides, being some ten or twelve of +them, placed four or five feet apart, and the space between them +occupied by a large post, fixed quite firmly in the ground, and six +or seven feet high, with large wooden pegs or bolts in it, on which +are hung or grouped, with a wild and startling taste, the arms and +armor of the respective proprietors." [Footnote: North American +Indians, Philadelphia ed., 1857, i, 139.] + +The household, according to the custom of the Indians, was a large +one. The number of inhabitants divided among the number of houses +would give an average of thirty persons to each house. It is evident +from several statements of Catlin before given that the household +practiced communism in living, and that it was formed of related +families, on the principle of gentile kin, as among the Iroquois. +Elsewhere he intimates that the Mandans kept a public store or +granary as a refuge for the whole community in a time of scarcity. +[Footnote: ib., i, 210.] + +In like manner Carver, speaking generally of the usages and customs +of the Dakota tribes and of the tribes of Wisconsin, remarks that +"they will readily share with any of their own tribe the last part +of their provisions, and even with those of a different nation, if +they chance to come in when they are eating. Though they do not keep +one common store, yet that community of goods which is so prevalent +among them, and their generous disposition, render it nearly of the +same effect." [Footnote: Travels, etc, p. 171.] + +What this author seems to state is that community of goods existed +in the household, and that it was lengthened out to the tribe by the +law of hospitality. Elsewhere, speaking of the large village of the +Sauks, he says: "This is the largest Indian town I ever saw. It +contains about ninety houses, each large enough for several families." +[Footnote: Travels, etc., Phila. ed. 1796, p. 29.] + +In a previous chapter (supra p. 49.) Heckewelder's observations upon +hospitality among the Delawares and Munsees, implying the principle +of communism, have been given. He remarks further that "there is +nothing in an Indian's house or family without its particular owner. +Every individual knows what belongs to him, from the horse or cow +down to the dog, cat, kitten, and little chicken.... For a litter of +kittens or a brood of chickens there are often as many different +owners as there are individual animals. In purchasing a hen with her +brood one frequently has to deal for it with several children. Thus, +while the principle of community of goods prevails in the State, the +rights of property are acknowledged among the members of the family. +This is attended with a very good effect, for by this means every +living creature is properly taken care of." [Footnote: Indian Nations, +p. 158.] + +I do not understand what Heckewelder means by the remark that +"the principle of community of goods prevails in the state," unless +it be that the rule of hospitality was so all-pervading that it was +tantamount to a community of goods, while individual property was +everywhere recognized until it was freely surrendered. This may be +the just view of the result of their communism and hospitality, but +it is a higher one than I have been able to take. + +The household of the Mandans consisting of from twenty to forty +persons, the households of the Columbian tribes of about the same +number, the Shoshone household of seven families, the households of +the Sauks, of the Iroquois, and of the Creeks each composed of +several families, are fair types of the households of the Northern +Indians at the epoch of their discovery. The fact is also +established that these tribes constructed as a rule large joint +tenement houses, each of which was occupied by a large household +composed of several families, among whom provisions were in common, +and who practiced communism in living in the household. + +Among the Village Indians of New Mexico a more advanced form of +house architecture appears, and their joint tenement character is +even more pronounced. They live in large houses, two, three, and +four stories high, constructed of adobe brick, and of stone imbedded +in adobe mortar, and containing fifty, a hundred, two hundred, and +in some cases five hundred apartments in a house. They are built in +the terraced form, with fireplaces and chimneys added since their +discovery, the first story closed up solid, and is entered by ladders, +which ascend to the platform-roof of the first story. These houses +are fortresses, and were erected as strongholds to resist the +attacks of the more barbarous tribes by whom they were perpetually +assailed. Each house was probably occupied by a number of household +groups, whose apartments were doubtless separated from each other by +partition walls. In a subsequent chapter the character of these +houses will be more fully shown. + +Our knowledge of the plan of life in these houses in the aboriginal +period is still very imperfect. They still practice the old +hospitality, own their lands in common, but with allotments to +individuals and to families, and are governed by a cacique or sachem +and certain other officers annually elected. An American missionary +to the Laguna Village Indians, Rev. Samuel Gorman, in an address +before the Historical Society of New Mexico in 1869, remarks as +follows: "They generally marry very young, and the son-in-law +becomes the servant of the father-in-law, and very often they all +live together in one family for years, even if there be several +sons-in-law; and this clannish mode of living is often, if not +generally, a fruitful source of evil among this people. Their women +generally have control over the granary, and they are more provident +than their Spanish neighbors about the future. Ordinarily they try +to have one year's provisions on hand. It is only when they have two +years of scarcity succeeding each other that pueblos as a community +suffer hunger." [Footnote: Address, p. 14.] + +The usages of these Indians have doubtless modified in the last two +hundred years under Spanish influence; they have decreased in numbers, +and the family group is probably smaller than formerly. But it is +not too late to recover the aboriginal plan of life among them if +the subject were intelligently investigated. It is to be hoped that +some one will undertake this work. + +The Spanish writers do not mention the practice of communism in +living as existing among the Village Indians of Mexico or Central +America. They are barren of practical information concerning their +mode of life; but we have the same picture of large households +composed of several families, whose communism in the household may +reasonably be inferred. + +We have also the striking illustration of "Montezuma's Dinner," +hereafter to be noticed, which was plainly a dinner in common by a +communal household. Beside these facts we have the ownership of +lands in common by communities of persons. Moreover, the ruins of +ancient houses in Central and South America, and in parts of Mexico, +show very plainly their joint tenement character. From the plans of +these houses the communism of the people by households may be +deduced theoretically with reasonable certainty. + +Yucatan, when discovered, was occupied by a number of tribes of Maya +Indians. The Maya language spread beyond the limits of Yucatan. This +region, with Chiapas, Guatemala, and a part of Honduras, contained +and still contains evidence, in the ruins of ancient structures, of +a higher advancement in the arts of life than any other part of +North America. The present Maya Indians of Yucatan are the +descendants of the people who occupied the country at the period of +the Spanish conquest, and who occupied the massive stone houses now +in ruins, from which they were forced by Spanish oppression. + +We have a notable illustration of communism in living among the +present Maya Indians, as late as the year 1840, through the work of +John L Stephens. At Nohcacab, a few miles east of the ruins of Uxmal, +Mr. Stephens, having occasion to employ laborers, went to a +settlement of Maya Indians, of whom he gives the following account: +"Their community consists of a hundred labradores, or working men; +their lands are held and wrought in common, and the products are +shared by all. Their food is prepared at one hut, and every family +sends for its portion, which explains a singular spectacle we had +seen on our arrival, a procession of women and children, each +carrying an earthen bowl containing a quantity of smoking hot broth, +all coming down the same road, and disappearing among the different +huts. Every member belonging to the community, down to the smallest +pappoose, contributing in turn a hog. From our ignorance of the +language, and the number of other and more pressing matters claiming +our attention, we could not learn all the details of their internal +economy, but it seemed to approximate that improved state of +association which is sometimes heard of among us; and as theirs has +existed for an unknown length of time, and can no longer be +considered merely experimental, Owen on Fourier might perhaps take +lessons from them with advantage." [Footnote: Incidents of Travel in +Yucatan, ii, 14.] + +A hundred working men indicate a total of five hundred persons, who +were then depending for their daily food upon a single fire, the +provisions being supplied from common stores, and divided from the +caldron. It is, not unlikely, a truthful picture of the mode of life +of their forefathers in the "House of the Nuns," and in the +"Governor's House" at Uxmal, at the epoch of the Spanish conquest. + +It is well known that Spanish adventurers captured these pueblos, +one after the other, and attempted to enforce the labor of the +Indians for personal ends, and that the Indians abandoned their +pueblos and retreated into the inaccessible forests to escape +enslavement, after which their houses of stone fell into decay, the +ruins of which, and all there ever was of them, still remain in all +parts of these countries. + +It is hardly supposable that the communism here described by Mr. +Stephens was a new thing to the Mayas; but far more probable that it +was a part of their ancient mode of life, to which these ruined +houses were eminently adapted. The subject of the adaptation of the +old pueblo houses in Yucatan and Central America to communism in +living will be elsewhere considered. + +When Columbus first landed on the island of Cuba, he sent two men +into the interior, who reported that "they traveled twenty-two +leagues, and found a village of fifty houses, built like those +before spoken of, and they contained about one thousand persons, +because a whole generation lived in a house; and the prime men came +out to meet them, led them by the arms, and lodged them in one of +these new houses, causing them to sit down on seats ... and they +gave them boiled roots to eat, which tasted like chestnuts." +[Footnote: Herrera, i, 55.] + +One of the first expeditions which touched the main land on the +coast of Venezuela in South America found much larger houses than +these last described. "The houses they dwelt in were common to all, +and so spacious that they contained one hundred and sixty persons, +strongly built, though covered with palm-tree leaves, and shaped +like a bell." [Footnote: ib., 216.] + +Herrera further remarks of the same tribe, that "they observed no +law or rule in matrimony, but took as many wives as they would, and +they as many husbands, quitting one another at pleasure, without +reckoning any wrong done on either part. There was no such thing as +jealousy among them, all living as best pleased them, without taking +offense at one another." [Footnote: ib., i, 216.] + +This shows communism in husbands as well as wives, and rendered +communism in food a necessity of their condition. Elsewhere the same +author speaks of the habitations of the tribes on the coast of +Carthagena. "Their houses were like long arbors, with several +apartments, and they had no beds but hammocks." [Footnote: ib., 348.] +Many similar statements are scattered through his work. + +Among the more advanced tribes of Peru the lands were divided, and +allotted to different uses; one part was for the support of the +government, another for the support of religion, and another for +the support of individuals. The first two parts were cultivated by +the people under established regulations, and the crops were placed +in public storehouses. This is the statement of Garcilasso. +[Footnote: Royal Com. l. c., pp. 154, 157.] + +Herrera, however, says generally that the people lived from common +stores. "The Spaniards drawing near to Caxamalca begun to have a +view of the Inca army lying near the bottom of a mountain.... They +were pleased to see the beauty of the fields, most regularly +cultivated, for it was an ancient law among these people that all +should be fed from common stores, and none should touch the standing +corn." [Footnote: Herrera, iv, 249.] The discrepancy between Herrera +and Garcilasso may perhaps be explained by the reservation of the +crops grown on lands set apart for the government and for religion. + +The reason for presenting the foregoing observations of different +authors concerning the households, the houses, and the practice of +communism in food, has been to show, firstly, that the household of +the Indian tribes was a large one, composed of several families; +secondly, that their houses were constructed to accommodate several +families; and thirdly, that the household practiced communism in +living. These are the material facts, and they have been +sufficiently illustrated. The single family of civilized society +live from common stores, yet it is not communism; but where several +families coalesce in one common household and make a common stock of +their provisions, and this is found to be a general rule in entire +tribes, it is a form of communism important to be noticed. It is +seen to belong to a society in a low stage of development, where it +springs from the necessities of their condition. These usages and +customs exhibit their plan of life, and reveal the wide difference +between their condition and that of civilized society; between the +Indian family, without individuality, and the highly individualized +family of civilization. + +[Relocated Footnote: Alfred W. Howitt, F. G. S., Bariusdale, +Australia, mentions, in a letter to the author, the following +singular custom of an Australian tribe concerning the distribution +of food in the family group: + +A man catches seven river eels; they are divided thus (it is +supposed that his family consists only of these named): + +1st eel. Front half himself; hind half his wife. + +2d eel. Front half his wife's mother; hind half his wife's sister. + +3d eel. Front half his elder sons; hind half his younger sons. + +4th eel. Front half his elder daughters; hind half his younger +daughters. + +5th eel. Front half his brother's sons; hind half his brother's +daughters. + +6th eel. One whole eel to his married daughter's husband. + +7th eel. One whole eel to his married daughter. + +This custom may be supposed to show the ordinary household group, +and the order of their relative nearness to Ego. It foots up himself +and wife, wife's mother and sister, his sons and daughters, his +brother's sons and daughters, and his daughter's husband. It implies +also other members of the household, who are obliged to take care of +themselves: viz. his brothers and sisters.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +USAGES AND CUSTOMS WITH RESPECT TO LANDS AND TO FOOD + + +THE OWNERSHIP OF LANDS IN COMMON. + + +Among the Iroquois the tribal domain was held and owned by the tribe +in common. Individual ownership, with the right to sell and convey +in fee-simple to any other person, was entirely unknown among them. +It required the experience and development of the two succeeding +ethnical periods to bring mankind to such a knowledge of property in +land as its individual ownership with the power of alienation in +fee-simple implies. No person in Indian life could obtain the +absolute title to land, since it was vested by custom in the tribe +as one body; and they had no conception of what is implied by a +legal title in severalty with power to sell and convey the fee. But +he could reduce unoccupied land to possession by cultivation, and so +long as he thus used it he had a possessory right to its enjoyment +which would be recognized and respected by his tribe. Gardens +planting-lots, apartments in a long-house, and, at a later day, +orchards of fruit were thus held by persons and by families. Such +possessory right was all that was needed for their full enjoyment +and for the protection of their interest in them. A person might +transfer or donate his rights to other persons of the same tribe, +and they also passed by inherence, under established customs, to his +gentile kin. This was substantially the Indian system in respect to +the ownership of lands and apartments in houses among the Indian +tribes within the areas of the United States and British America in +the Lower Status of barbarism. In later times, when the State or +National Government acquired Indian lands and made compensation +therefor, payment for the lands went to the tribe, and for +improvements to the individual who had the possessory right. At the +Tonawanda Reservation of the Seneca-Iroquois, a portion of the lands +are divided into separate farms, which are fenced and occupied in +severalty, while the remainder are owned by the tribe in common. +When a young man marries and has no land on which to subsist, the +chiefs may allot him a portion of these reserved lands. The title to +all these lands, occupied and unoccupied, remains in the tribe in +common. Individuals may sell or rent their possessory rights to each +other, or rent them to a white man. No white man can now acquire a +title from an Indian to Indian lands in any part of the United States. +A person could transfer his possessions to another, but apartments +in a house must remain to his gentile kindred. In the time of James +II the right to acquire lands was vested in the Crown exclusively as +a royal prerogative, to which prerogative our State and National +Governments succeeded. + +The same usages prevail on the Tuscarora Reservation, near the +Niagara River, where this Iroquois tribe owns in common about 8,000 +acres of fine agricultural land in one body. A part of this +reservation has long been parceled out to individuals in small farms, +fenced, and cultivated by the possessors. The remainder is +unparceled and under the control of the chiefs. The people are +allowed to remove from the wood-land of the reserve the dead wood +and litter but are not permitted to touch the standing timber. When +a young man marries, if he has no land the chiefs allot him forty +acres to cultivate for his subsistence; but, before giving him +possession, the lot is first open to all the tribe to cut off the +timber for fire-wood. Thus the double object is gained of supplying +the people with fire-wood and of clearing the land for cultivation +for the new family. These possessory rights pass by inheritance to +the recognized heirs. A person may transfer or rent his possession +to another person; he may rent to a white man, but in no case can he +sell to a white man. + +And here I may be allowed a brief digression, to notice a recent +opinion of the late Secretary of the Interior, Hon. Carl Schurz, +shared in to some extent by the National Government, in relation to +the division of our Indian reservations into lots or tracts, and +their conveyance in severalty to the Indians themselves, with power +of alienation to white men after a short period, say twenty-five +years. It is to be hoped that this policy will never be adopted by +any National Administration, as it is fraught with nothing but +mischief to the Indian tribes. The Indian is still, as he always has +been, and will remain for many years to come, entirely incapable of +meeting the white man, with safety to himself, in the field of trade +and of resisting the arts and inducements which would be brought to +bear upon him. He is incapable of steadily attaching that value to +the ownership of land which its importance deserves, or of knowing +how far the best interests of himself and family are involved in its +continued possession. The result of individual Indian ownership, +with power to sell, would unquestionably be, that in a very short +time he would divest himself of every foot of land and fall into +poverty. The case of the Shawnee tribe of Kansas affords a perfect +illustration of this pernicious policy. The Shawnees were removed to +Kansas under the Jackson policy, so called, and occupied a splendid +reservation on the Kansas River, where they were told they were to +make their home forever. But after a few years of undisturbed +possession, our people, in the natural flow of population, reached +Kansas, where they found the Shawnees in possession of the best part +of what has since been the State of Kansas. Our people at once +wanted these Indian lands, and they determined to root out the +Shawnees in the interest of civilization and progress. They +accomplished this result in the most speedy and scientific manner, +using as their proposed lever this identical plan since adopted by +Mr. Schurz. First, the government was induced to re-purchase a part +of the reservation on the ground that they had more land than they +needed for cultivation; and, secondly, the government induced the +Indians to have the remainder divided up into farms and conveyed to +heads of families in severalty, with power of alienation. In 1859, +when this scheme was being worked out, I visited Kansas, and found +the Shawnee's cultivating and improving their farms, some of which +embraced a thousand acres, and owning them, too, like other farmers. +When next in Kansas, ten years later, the work was done. There was +not a Shawnee in Kansas, but American farmers were in possession of +all these lands. It was this individual ownership with power to sell +that had done the work. + +In managing the affairs of our Indian tribes, we must apply a little +common sense to their condition. In their brains they are in the +same stage of growth and development with our remote forefathers +when they learned to domesticate animals, and, came to rely upon a +meat and milk subsistence. The next condition of advancement at +which the Indian would naturally reach is the pastoral, the raising +of flocks and herds of domestic animals. The Indian has taught +himself to raise the horse in herds, and some of the tribes raise +sheep and goats. A few of them raise cattle. If the government could +assist them in this until they were started, they would soon become +expert herdsmen; would make a proper use of the unoccupied prairie +area in the interior of the continent as well as of the reservations, +and would become prosperous and abundant in their resources. + +Among the sedentary Village Indians of New Mexico, who were in the +Middle Status of barbarism, the land system is much the same in +principle, but with special usages adapted to a more advanced +condition. At Taos, the pueblo lands are held under a Spanish grant +of 1689, covering four Spanish square leagues. This grant was +afterward confirmed, as I am informed by David J. Miller, esq., of +the surveyor-general's office at Santa Fe, by letters patent of the +United States. It is, of course, to the Taos Indians in common as a +tribe, and without the power of alienation except among themselves. +These lands have been allotted from time to time to individuals, and +held in severalty for cultivation; but these allotments, so to call +them, are verbal, and the rights of persons to their possession are +settled and adjusted by the chiefs in case of disputes. Mr. Miller +wrote me from Taos, under date of December 5, 1877, that "A +land-owner cannot, under any circumstance, sell to any but a Pueblo +Indian, and one of this (Taos) pueblo. If he should do so he would +be banished the pueblo, and the sale be treated as void." There is +an instance now in this pueblo of a San Juan Indian man married here, +but he is not allowed to acquire land in the pueblo premises. His +wife has lands which he cultivates. A piece of land belonging to a +man may or may not be utilized by him, but it is recognized and +treated as his in fee until he sell it or dies. If a lad grows up +and marries, and his father or father-in-law has no land to give him, +he may purchase in the pueblo, or the pueblo may assign him land, +whereby the title in fee as private property remains in him until he +sells or dies. When he dies it is divided equally among widow and +children. If the children are small, his brother or other relatives +cultivate the land for them until they can do it for themselves; but +the right of property is in the children. When a piece of land is +sold it is done in the presence of witnesses, if it is so desired. +Oftener the sale and transfer are made by and between the parties +themselves. No documents are used. This is so in all the pueblos. +The rules and customs in the sale and delivery of rooms in a house +and of personal property, such as animals, are the same. There is no +preference, as to males or females, in the descent of property +rights and titles. There is a corn-field at each pueblo, cultivated +by all in common, and when grain is scarce the poor take from this +store after it is housed. It is in the charge of, and at the +disposal of, the cacique (called the governor). Land cannot be sold +to an alien; but an Indian coming from another pueblo to live at +this may acquire land to subsist upon, though such immigration is +rare. It is not allowed at any of the pueblos that a white person +acquire property therein. An Indian woman is not allowed to marry a +Mexican and live at the pueblo. A piece of land held and recognized +as belonging to a person is his property, whether he utilizes it or +not, and he may sell or donate it absolutely at his will to persons +within the community. + +"At Jemes and Zia (other pueblos in New Mexico), when a woman dies +her property goes into the control of her husband; if a widow, it +descends to her children; if she has no children, it goes to her +brothers and sisters equally; and if none survive her, then to her +nearest relatives; if she has no relatives, then to such friends as +attend her in her last illness. It never reverts to the pueblo, +which as a corporate community owns no land." + +What Mr. Miller refers to as property rights and titles, and +ownership in fee of land, is sufficiently explained by the +possessory right found among the Northern tribes. The limitations +upon its alienation to an Indian from another pueblo or to a white +man, not to lay any stress upon the absence of written conveyances +of titles made possible by Spanish and American intercourse, show +quite plainly that their ideas respecting the ownership of the +ultimate title to land, with power to alienate in fee, were entirely +below this conception of property in land. The more important ends +of individual ownership were obtained through the possessory right, +while the ultimate title remained in the tribe for the protection of +all. That the pueblo now owns no land, as Mr. Miller states, must +be understood to mean that all the lands of the original grant have +been parcelled out. The further statement of Mr. Miller, that if a +father dies his land is divided between his widow and children, and +that if a mother dies, leaving no husband, her land is divided +equally between her sons and daughters, is important, because it +shows an inheritance by the children from both father and mother, a +total departure from the principles of gentile inheritance. While +visiting the Taos pueblo in the summer of 1878 I was unable to find +among them the gentile organization, and from lack of sufficient +time could not inquire into their rules of descent and inheritance. + +My friend, Mr. Ad. F. Bandelier, now recognized as our most eminent +scholar in Spanish American history, has recently investigated the +subject of the tenure of lands among the ancient Mexicans with great +thoroughness of research. The results are contained in an essay +published in the Eleventh Annual Report of the Peabody Museum of +Archaeology and Ethnology, p. 385 (Cambridge, 1878). It gives me +great pleasure to incorporate verbatim in this chapter, and with his +permission, so much of this essay as relates to the kinds or classes +of land recognized among them, the manner in which they were held, +and his general conclusions. + +In the pueblo of Mexico (Tenochtitlan), he remarks, "Four quarters +had been formed by the localizing of four relationships composing +them respectively, and it is expressly stated that each one might +build in its quarter (barrio) as it liked." [Footnote: Duran (Cap V p. +42), Acosta (Lib. VII, cap. VII, p. 467), Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. II, +cap. XI, p. 61).] + +The term for these relationships, in the Nahuatl tongue, and used +among all the tribes speaking it was 'calpulli.' It is also used to +designate a great hall or house and we may therefore infer that, +originally at least, all the members of one kinship dwelt under one +common roof. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 1 relocated to chapter end.] + +The ground thus occupied by the 'calpulli' was NOT, as Torquemada +admits, assigned to it by a higher power; the tribal government +itself held NO DOMAIN which it might apportion among subdivisions or +to individuals, either gratuitously or on condition of certain +prestations, or barter against a consideration. [Footnote: The +division into "quarters" is everywhere represented as resulting from +common consent. But nowhere is it stated that the tribal government +or authority assigned locations to any of its fractions. This is +only attributed to the chiefs, on the supposition that they, +although elective, were still hereditary monarchs.] + +The tribal territory was distributed, at the time of its occupancy, +into possessory rights held by the KINDRED GROUPS AS SUCH, by common +and tacit consent, as resulting naturally from their organization +and state of culture. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 2 relocated to chapter end.] + +The patches of solid ground, on which these 'quarters' settled, were +gradually built over with dwellings, first made out of canes and +reeds, and latterly, as their means increased, of turf, 'adobe', and +light stone. These houses were of large size, since it is stated +that even at the time of the conquest 'there were seldom less than +two, four, and six dwellers in one house; thus there were infinite +people (in the pueblo) since, as there was no other way of providing +for them, many aggregated together as they might please.' Communal +living, as the idea of the 'calpulli' implies, seems, therefore, to +have prevailed among the Mexicans as late as the period of their +greatest power. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 3 relocated to chapter end.] + +"The soil built over by each 'calpulli' probably remained for some +time the only solid expanse held by the Mexicans. Gradually, however, +the necessity was felt for an increase of this soil. Remaining +unmolested 'in the midst of canes and reeds,' their numbers had +augmented, and for residence as well as for food a greater area was +needed. Fishing and hunting no longer satisfied a people whose +original propensities were horticultural; they aspired to cultivate +the soil as they had once been accustomed to, and after the manner +of the kindred tribes surrounding them. For this purpose they began +throwing up little artificial garden beds, 'chinampas,' on which +they planted Indian corn and perhaps some other vegetables. Such +plots are still found as 'floating gardens,' in the vicinity of the +present city of Mexico and they are described as follows by a +traveler of this century: + +"They are artificial gardens about fifty or sixty yards long, and +not more than four or five wide. They are separated by ditches of +three or four yards, and are made by taking the soil from the +intervening ditch and throwing it on the chinampa, by which means +the ground is raised generally about a yard, and thus forms a small +fertile garden, covered with the finest culinary vegetables, fruits, +and flowers...." + +"Each consanguine relationship thus gradually surrounded the surface +on which it dwelt with a number of garden plots sufficient to the +wants of its members. The aggregate area thereof, including the +abodes, formed the 'calpullalli'--soil of the 'calpulli'--and was +held by it as a unit; the single tracts, however, being tilled and +used for the benefit of the single families. The mode of tenure of +land among the Mexicans at that period was therefore very simple. +The tribe claimed its territory, 'altephetlalli,' an undefined +expanse over which it might extend--the 'calpules,' however, held +and possessed within that territory such portions of it as were +productive; each 'calpulli' being sovereign within its limits, and +assigning to its individual members for their use the minor tracts +into which the soil was parcelled in consequence of their mode of +cultivation. If, therefore, the terms 'altepetlalli' and +'calpulalli' are occasionally regarded as identical, it is because +the former indicates the occupancy, the latter the distribution of +the soil. We thus recognize in the calpulli, or kindred group, the +unit of tenure of whatever soil the Mexicans deemed worthy of +definite possession. Further on we shall investigate how far +individuals, as members of this communal unit, participated in the +aggregate tenure." [Footnote: Alonzo de Zurita (p. 51). +Ixtlilxochitl ("Hist. des Chichim," cap. XXXV, p. 242). Torquemada +(Lib. XIV, cap. VII, p. 545). Bustamante ("Tezcoco en los ultimos +Tiempos de sus antiguas Reyes" p 232).] + +"In the course of time, as the population further increased, +segmentation occurred within the four original 'quarters,' new +'calpulli' being formed." + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 4 relocated to chapter end.] + +For governmental purposes this segmentation produced a new result by +leaving, more particularly in military affairs, the first four +clusters as great subdivisions. [Footnote: "Art of War, etc.," pp. +115 and 120.] + +But these, as soon as they had disaggregated, ceased to be any +longer units of territorial possession, their original areas being +held thereafter by the 'minor quarters' (as Herrera, for instance, +calls them), who exercised, each one within its limits, the same +sovereignty which the original 'calpulli' formerly held over the +whole. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 5 relocated to chapter end.] + +A further consequence of this disaggregation was (by removing the +tribal council farther from the calpules) the necessity for an +official building, exclusively devoted to the business of the whole +tribe alone. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 6 relocated to chapter end.] + +This building was the 'teepan' called, even by Torquemada, 'house of +the community'; it was, therefore, since the council of chiefs was +the highest authority in the government, the 'council house' proper. +It was erected near the center of the 'pueblo,' and fronting the +open space reserved for public celebrations. But, whereas formerly +occasional, gradually merging into regular, meetings of the chiefs +were sufficient, constant daily attendance at the 'teepan' became +required, even to such an extent that a permanent residence of the +head-chief there resulted from it and was one of the duties of the +office. Consequently the 'tlacatecuhtli, his family, and such +assistants as he needed (like runners), dwelt at the 'official house.' +But this occupancy was in no manner connected with a possessory +right by the occupant, whose family relinquished the abode as soon +as the time of office expired through death of its incumbent. The +'teepan' was occupied by the head war-chiefs only as long as they +exercised the functions of that office. [Footnote: Nearly every +author who attempts to describe minutely the "chief-house" (teepan) +mentions it as containing great halls (council-rooms). See the +description of the teepan of Tezcuco by Ixtlilxochitl ("Hist. des +Chichimbuques," cap. XXXVI, p. 247)] + +"Of those tracts whose products were exclusively applied to the +governmental needs of the pueblo or tribe itself (taken as an +independent unit) there were, as we have already seen, two +particular classes: + +"The first was the 'teepan-tlalli,' land of the house of the +community, whose crops were applied to the sustenance of such as +employed themselves in the construction, ornamentation, and repairs +of the public house. Of these there were sometimes several within +the tribal area. They were tilled in common by special families who +resided on them, using the crops in compensation for the work they +performed on the official buildings. + +"The second class was called 'tlatoca-tlalli,' land of the speakers. +Of these there was but one tract in each tribe, which was to be +'four hundred of their measures long on each side, each measure +being equal to three Castilian rods." + +[Footnote: Ixtlilxochitl ("Hist. des Chichim," cap. XXXV, p. 242). +Vedia (Lib. III, cap. VI, p. 195). "This had to be four hundred of +their measures in square ('encuadro,' each side long), each one of +these being equal to three Castilian rods".... See "Art of War" +(p. 944, note 183). "The rod" (vara) is equal to 2.78209 feet +English (Guyot).] + +The crops raised on such went exclusively to the requirements of the +household at the 'teepan,' comprising the head-chief and his family +with the assistants. The tract was worked in turn by the other +members of the tribe, and it remained always public ground, reserved +for the same purposes. [Footnote: Veytia (Lib. III, cap. VI, p. 195). +It is superfluous to revert to the erroneous impression that the +chiefs might dispose of it.] + +Both of these kinds were often comprised in one, and it is even not +improbable that the first one may have been but a variety of the +general tribute-lands devoted to the benefit of the conquering +confederates. Still the evidence on this point is too indefinite to +warrant such an assumption. + +While the crops raised on the 'teepan-tlalli,' as well as on the +'tlatoca-tlalli,' were consumed exclusively by the official houses +and households of the tribe, the soil itself which produced these +crops was neither claimed nor possessed by the chiefs themselves or +their descendants. It was simply, as far as its products were +concerned, official soil. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 7 relocated to chapter end.] + +The establishing and maintaining of these areal subdivisions was +very simple with the tribes of the mainland, since they all +possessed ample territories for their wants and for the requirements +of their organizations. Their soil formed a contiguous unit. It was +not so, however, with the Mexicans proper. With all their industry +in adding artificial sod to the patch on which they had originally +settled, the solid surface was eventually much too small for their +numbers, and they themselves put an efficient stop to further growth +thereof by converting, as we have seen elsewhere, for the purpose of +defence, their marshy surroundings into water-sheets, through the +construction of extensive causeways. [Footnote: "Art of War" (pp. +150 and 151). L. H. Morgan ("Ancient Society," Part II, cap. VII, pp. +190 and 191)]. + +While the remnants of the original 'teepantlalli' and of the +'tlatocatlalli' still remained visible in the gardens, represented +to us as purely ornamental, which dotted the pueblo of Mexico, the +substantial elements wherewith to fulfill a purpose for which they +were no longer adequate had, in course of time, to be drawn from the +mainland. But it was not feasible, from the nature of tribal +condition, to extend thither by colonization. The soil was held +there by other tribes, whom the Mexicans might well overpower and +render tributary, but whom they could not incorporate, since the +kinships composing these tribes could not be fused with their own. +Outposts, however, were established on the shores, at the outlets of +the dykes, at Tepeyacac on the north, at Iztapalapan, Mexicaltzinco, +and at Huitzilopocheo to the south, but these were only military +positions, and beyond them the territory proper of the Mexicans +never extended. + +[Footnote: Humboldt ("Essai politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne," Vol. +II, Lib. III, cap. VIII, p. 50): Nearly all the old authors describe +the pueblo buildings as surrounded by pleasure-grounds or ornamental +gardens. It is very striking that, the pueblo having been founded in +1325, and nearly a century having been spent in adding sufficient +artificial soil to the originally small solid expanse settled, the +Mexicans could have been ready so soon to establish purely +decorative parks within an area, every inch of which was valuable to +them for subsistence alone!] + +[Footnote: The Mexican tribe proper clustered extensively within the +pueblo of Tenuchtitlan. The settlements at Iztapalapan, +Huntzilopocheo, and Mexicaltzinco were but military stations-- +outworks, guarding the issues of the causeways to the South. +Tepeyacac (Guadalupe Hidalgo) was a similar position--unimportant as +to population--in the north. Chapultepec was a sacred spot, not +inhabited by any number of people and only held by the Mexicans for +burial purposes, and on account of the springs furnishing fresh +water to their pueblo.] + +Tribute, therefore, had to furnish the means for sustaining their +governmental requirements in the matter of food, and the tribute +lands had to be distributed and divided, so as to correspond +minutely to the details of their home organization. For this reason +we see, after the overthrow of the Tecpanecas, lands assigned +apparently to the head war-chiefs, to the military chiefs of the +quarters, 'from which to derive some revenue for their maintenance +and that of their children.' [Footnote: Tezozomoc (Cap. XV, p. 24)1] + +These tracts were but 'official tracts,' and they were apart from +those reserved for the special use of the kinships. The latter may +have furnished that general tribute which, although given nominally +to the head war-chief, still was 'for all the Mexicans in common.' + +The various classes of lands which we have mentioned were, as far as +their tenure is concerned, included in the 'calpulalli' or lands of +the kinships. Since the kin, or 'calpulli,' was the unit of +governmental organization, it also was the unit of landed tenure. +Clavigero says: 'The lands called altepetlalli, that is, those who +belonged to the communities of the towns and villages, were divided +into as many parts as there were quarters in a town, and each +quarter held its own for itself, and without the least connection +with the rest. Such lands could in no manner be alienated.' +[Footnote: "Storia del Messico" (Lib. VII, cap. XVI).] These +'quarters' were the 'calpulli'; hence it follows that the +consanguine groups held the altepetlalli or soil of the tribe. + +"We have, therefore, in Mexico the identical mode of the tenure of +lands which Polo de Ondogardo had noted in Peru and reported to the +King of Spain, as follows.... 'Although the crops and other produce +of these lands were devoted to the tribute, the land itself belonged +to the people themselves. Hence a thing will be apparent which has +not hitherto been properly understood. When any one wants land, it +is considered sufficient if it can be shown that it belonged to the +Inca or to the sun. But in this the Indians are treated with great +injustice; for in those days they paid the tribute, and the land was +theirs." + +[Footnote: "Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yncas, +translated from the original Spanish manuscripts, and edited by +Clement R. Markham." Publication of the "Hackluyt Society," 1873. +"Report of Polo de Ondegardo," who was "Regidor" of Cuzco in 1560, +and a very important authority (see Prescott, "History of the +Conquest of Peru," note to Book I, cap. V). Confirmed by Garcia +("El Origen de los Indios," Lib. IV, cap, XVI, p. 162).] ... + +"The expanse held and occupied by the calpulli, and therefore called +'calpulalli' was possessed by the kin in joint tenure. It could +neither be alienated nor sold; in fact, there is no trace of barter +or sale of land previous to the conquest." + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 8 relocated to chapter end.] + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 9 relocated to chapter end.] + +If, however, any calpulli weakened, through loss of numbers from any +cause whatever, it might farm out its area to another similar group, +deriving subsistence from the rent. + +[Footnote: Zurita (p. 93): "In case of need it was permitted to farm +out the lands of a calpulli to the inhabitants of another quarter." +Herrera (Dec. III, lib. IV, cap, XV, p. 134): "They could be rented +out to another lineage."] + +If the kinship died out, and its lands therefore became vacant, then +they were either added to those of another whose share was not +adequate for its wants or they were distributed among all the +remaining calpulli.' [Footnote: Zurita (p. 52): "When a family dies +out, its lands revert to the calpulli, and the chief distributes +them among such members of the quarter as are most in need of it."] + +The calpulli was a democratic organization. Its business lay in the +hands of elective chiefs--'old men' promoted to that dignity, as we +intend to prove in a subsequent paper, for their merits and +experience, and after severe religious ordeals. These chiefs formed +the council of the kin or quarter, but their authority was not +absolute, since on all important occasions a general meeting of the +kindred was convened. [Footnote: Zurita (pp. 60, 61, 62). Ramirez de +Fuenleal ("Letter," etc., Ternaux-Compaus, p. 249).] + +The council in turn selected an executive, the 'calpullec' or +'chinancallec,' who in war officiated as 'achcacauhtin' or +'teachcauhtin' (elder brother). + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 10 relocated to chapter end.] + +This office was for life or during good behavior. [Footnote: Zurita +(pp. 60 and 61). Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. IV, cap. XV, p. 125): +"I le elegian entre si y tenian por maior."] + +It was one of his duties to keep a reckoning of the soil of the +calpulli, or 'calpulalli,' together with a record of its members, +and of the areas assigned to each family, and to note also whatever +changes occurred in their distribution. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 11 relocated to chapter end.] + +Such changes, if unimportant, might be made by him; more important +ones, or contested cases, had to be referred to the council of the +kinship, which in turn often appealed to a gathering of the entire +quarter. [Footnote: Zurita "Rapport," etc., pp. 56 and 62. We quote +him in preference, since no other author known to us has been so +detailed.] + +The 'calpulalli' was divided into lots or arable beds, 'tlalmilli'. + +[Footnote: "Tlalmilli: tierras, a heredades de particulares, que +estan juntas en alguna vega" (Molina, Part IIa, p. 124).] These were +assigned each to one of the married males of the kinship, to be +worked by him for his use and that of his family. If one of these +lots remained unimproved for the term of two consecutive years, it +fell back to the quarter for redistribution. The same occurred if +the family enjoying its possession removed from the calpulli. But it +does not appear that the cultivation had always to be performed by +the holders of the tract themselves. The fact of improvement under +the name of a certain tenant was only required to insure this +tenant's rights. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 12 relocated to chapter end.] + +Therefore the chiefs and their families, although they could not, +from the nature of their duties, till the land themselves, still +could remain entitled to their share of 'tlalmilpa' as members of +the calpulli. Such tracts were cultivated by others for their use. +They were called by the specific name of 'pillali' (lands of the +chiefs or of the children, from 'piltontli,' boy, or 'piltzintli', +child), and those who cultivated them carried the appellation of +'tlalmaitl'--hands of the soil. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 13 relocated to chapter end.] + +The 'tlalmilpa,' whether held by chiefs or by ordinary members of +the kin ('macehuales'), were, therefore, the only tracts of land +possessed for use by individuals in ancient Mexico. They were so far +distinguished from the 'tecpantlalli' and 'tlatocatlalli' in their +mode of tenure as, whereas the latter two were dependent from a +certain office, the incumbent of which changed at each election, the +'tlalmilli' was assigned to a certain family, and its possession, +therefore, connected with customs of inheritance. + +Being thus led to investigate the customs of Inheritance of the +ancient Mexicans, we have to premise here, that the personal effects +of a deceased can be but slightly considered. The rule was, in +general, that whatever a man held descended to his offspring. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 14 relocated to chapter end.] + +Among most of the northern Indians a large cluster participated. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 15 relocated to chapter end.] + +In conformity with the organization of society based upon kin, when +in the first stage of its development, the kindred group inherited, +and the common ancestor of this kin being considered a female, it +follows that if a man died, not his children, still less his wife, +but his mother's descendants, that is, his brothers, sisters, in +fact the entire consanguine relationship from which he derived on +his mother's side, were his heirs. [Footnote: "Ancient Society" +(Part II, cap. II, p. 75; Part IV, cap. I, pp. 528, 530, 531, 536, +and 537).] Such may have been the case even among the Muysca of New +Granada. + +[Footnote: Gomara ("Historia de las Indios," Vedia I, p. 201). +Garcia ("Origen de los Indios," Lib. IV, cap. 23, p. 247). +Piedrahita (Parte 1, Lib. I, cap. 5, p. 27). Joaquin Acosta +("Compredio historico del Descumbrimiento y Colonisazion de la +Nueva-Granada," Cap. XI, p. 201). Ternaux-Compans ("L'ancien +Cundinamarca," pp. 21 and 38).] + +It was different, however, in Mexico, where we meet with traces of a +decided progress. Not only had descent been changed to the male line, +[Footnote: Motolinia (Trat. II, cap. V, p. 120). Gomara (p. 434). +Clavigero (Lib. VII, cap XIII). Zurita (pp. 12 and 43).] but +heirship was limited, to the exclusion of the kin and of the agnates +themselves, to the children of the male sex. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 16 relocated to chapter end.] + +Whatever personal effects a father left, which were not offered up +in sacrifice at the ceremonies of his funeral, they were distributed +among his male offsprings, and if there were none, they went to his +brothers. Females held nothing whatever, beyond their wearing +apparel and some few ornaments for personal use. + +[Footnote: Motolinia (Trat. II, cap. V, p. 120). Torquemada (Lib. +XIII, cap. XLII to XLVIII, pp. 515 to 529). Acosta (Lib. V, cap. VIII, +pp. 320, 321, and 322). Gomara (pp. 436 and 437, Vedra, I). Mendieta +(Lib. II, cap. XL, pp. 162 and 163). Clavigero (Lib. VI, cap. XXXIX). +"They burnt the clothes, arrows, and a portion of household +utensils ... "] + +The 'tlalmilli' itself, at the demise of a father, went to his +oldest son, with the obligation to improve it for the benefit of the +entire family until the other children had been disposed of by +marriage. + +[Footnote: Gomara ("Conq. de Mejico", p. 434): "It is customary +among tributary classes that the oldest son shall inherit the +father's property, real and personal, and shall maintain and support +all the brothers and nephews, provided they do what he commands +them. The reason why they do not partition the estates is in order +not to decrease it through such a partition...." Simancas M. S. S. +("Recueil," etc., etc., p. 224): "Relative to the calpulalli ... the +sons mostly inherited."] + +But the other males could apply to the chief of the calpulli for a +'tlalmilli' of their own; the females went with their husbands. +Single blessedness, among the Mexicans, appears to have occurred +only in case of religious vows, and in which case they fell back for +subsistence upon the part allotted to worship, or in case of great +infirmities, for which the calpulli provided. + +[Footnote: Zurita (p. 55): "He who has no land applies to the chief +of the tribe (calpulli), who, upon the advice of the other old men, +assigns to him a tract suitable for his wants, and corresponding to +his abilities and to his strength." Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. IV, cap. +XV, p. 135).] + +[Footnote: Such unmarried females were the "nuns" frequently +mentioned by the old writers. We shall have occasion to investigate +the point in our paper on "The ancient Mexican priesthood." As +attendants to worship, they participated in the tributes furnished +towards it by each calpulli, of which we have spoken.] + +No mention is made of the widow participating in the products of the +'tlalmilli,' still it is presumable that she was one of those whom +the oldest son had to support. There are indications that the widow +could remarry, in which case her husband, of course, provided for her. + +"The customs of Inheritance, as above reported, were the same with +chiefs as well as with the ordinary members of the tribe. Of the +personal effects very little remained, since the higher the office +was which the deceased had held, the more display was made at his +cremation, and consequently the more of his dresses, weapons, and +ornaments were burnt with the body. Of lands, the chiefs only held +each their 'tlalmilli' in the usual way, as members of their kin, +whereas the other 'official' lots went to the new incumbents of the +offices. It should always be borne in mind that none of these +offices were hereditary themselves. Still, a certain 'right of +succession' is generally admitted as having existed. Thus, with the +Tezcucans, the office of head war-chief might pass from father to son, +at Mexico from brother to brother, and from uncle to nephew." +[Footnote: Zurita (p. 12). Gomara (Vedia I, p. 434). Torquemada +(Lib. IX, cap. IV, p. 177; Lib. XI, cap. 27, p. 356, etc. etc.).] + +[Footnote: This fact is too amply proven to need special references. +We reserve it for final discussion in our proposed paper on the +chiefs of the Mexicans, and the duties, powers and functions of +their office.] + +This might, eventually, have tended to perpetuate the office in the +family, and with it also the possession of certain lands, attached +to that officer's functions and duties. But it is quite certain too +that this stage of development had not yet been reached by any of +the tribes of Mexico at the time of its conquest by the Spaniards. +The principal idea had not yet been developed, namely, that of the +domain, which, in eastern countries at least, gradually segregated +into individually hereditary tenures and ownerships. + +"Out of the scanty remains thus left of certain features of +aboriginal life in ancient Mexico, as well as out of the conflicting +statements about that country's early history, we have now attempted +to reconstruct the conceptions of the Mexican aborigines about +tenure of lands, as well as their manner of distribution thereof. +Our inquiries seem to justify the following conclusions: + +"1. The notion of abstract ownership of the soil, either by a nation +or state, or by the head of its government, or by individuals, was +unknown to the ancient Mexicans. + +"2. Definite possessory right was vested in the kinships composing +the tribe; but the idea of sale, barter, or conveyance or alienation +of such by the kin had not been conceived. + +"3. Individuals, whatever might be their position or office, without +any exception, held but the right to use certain defined lots for +their sustenance, which right, although hereditary in the male line, +was nevertheless limited to the conditions of residence within the +area held by the kin, and of cultivation either by or in the name of +him to whom the said lots were assigned. + +"4. No possessory rights to land were attached to any office or +chieftaincy. As members of a kin, each chief had the use of a +certain lot, which he could rent or farm to others, for his benefit. + +"5. For the requirements of tribal business, and of the governmental +features of the kinships (public hospitality included), certain +tracts were set apart as official lands, out of which the official +households were supplied and sustained; but these lands and their +products were totally independent from the persons or families of +the chiefs themselves. + +"6. Conquest of any tribe by the Mexicans was not followed by an +annexation of that tribe's territory, nor by an apportionment of its +soil among the conquerors. Tribute was exacted, and, for the purpose +of raising that tribute (in part), special tracts were set off; the +crops of which were gathered for the storehouses of Mexico. + +"7. Consequently, as our previous investigations (of the warlike +institutions and customs of the ancient Mexicans) have disproved the +generally received notion of a military despotism prevailing among +them, so the results of his review of Tenure and distribution of +lands tend to establish 'that the principle and institution of +feudality did not exist in aboriginal Mexico.'" + +Among the Peruvians their land system was probably much the same as +among the ancient Mexicans. But according to Garcilapo de la Vega, +they had carried their system with respect to lands a little farther. +Their lands, he remarks, were "divided into three parts and applied +to different uses. The first was for the Sun, his priests and +ministers; the second was for the King, and for the support and +maintenance of his governors and officers.... And the third was for +the natives and sojourners of the provinces, which was divided +equally according to the needs which each family required." +[Footnote: Royal Commentaries of Peru, Lond. ed., 1688. Rycaut, +trans., p. 154.] + +While these several statements may not present the exact case in all +respects in Peru, Mexico, or among the Northern Indian tribes, they +sufficiently indicate the ownership of land by communities of persons, +larger or smaller, with a system of tillage that points to large +households. Neither the Peruvians, nor the Aztecs, nor any Indian +tribe had attained to a knowledge of the ownership of land in +severalty in fee simple at the period of their discovery. This +knowledge belongs to the period of civilization. There is not the +slightest probability that any Indian, whether Iroquois, Mexican, or +Peruvian, owned a foot of land that he could call his own, with +power to sell and convey the same in fee simple to whomsoever he +pleased. + +THE CUSTOM OF HAVING BUT ONE PREPARED MEAL EACH DAY--A DINNER--AND +THEIR SEPARATION AT MEALS, THE MEN EATING FIRST AND THE WOMEN AND +CHILDREN AFTERWARDS. + +This was the usage among the Indian tribes in the Lower Status of +barbarism. In the Middle Status there seems to have been more method +and regularity of life, but no change in their customs with respect +to food, so marked in character that we are forced to recognize a +new plan of domestic life among them. The Iroquois had but one +cooked meal each day. It was as much as their resources and +organization for housekeeping could furnish, and was as much as they +needed. It was prepared and served usually before the noon-day hour, +ten or eleven o'clock, and may be called a dinner. At this time the +principal cooking for the day was done. After its division at the +kettle, among the members of the household, it was served warm to +each person in earthen or wooden bowls. They had neither tables, nor +chairs, nor plates, in our sense, nor any room in the nature of a +kitchen or a dining room, but ate each by himself, sitting or +standing, and where most convenient to the person. They also +separated as to the time of eating, the men eating first and by +themselves, and the women and children afterwards and by themselves. +That which remained was reserved for any member of the household +when hungry. Towards evening the women cooked hominy, the maize +having been pounded into bits the size of a kernel of rice, which +was boiled and put aside to be used cold as a lunch in the morning +or evening, and for the entertainment of visitors. They had neither +a formal breakfast nor a supper. Each person, when hungry, ate of +whatever food the house contained. They were moderate eaters. This +is a fair picture of Indian life in general in America, when +discovered. After intercourse commenced with whites, the Iroquois +gradually began to adopt our mode of life but very slowly. One of +the difficulties was to change the old usage and accustom themselves +to eat together. It came in by degrees, first with the breaking up +of the old plan of living together in numbers in the old long-houses, +and with the substitution of single houses for each family, which +ended communism and living in the large household, and substituted +the subsistence of a single family through individual effort. After +many years came the use of the table and chairs among the more +advanced families of the Iroquois tribes. There are still upon the +Iroquois reservations in this State many log homes or cabins with +but a single room on the ground floor and a loft above, with neither +a table or chair in their scanty furniture. A portion of them still +live very much in the old style, with perhaps two regular meals +daily instead of one. That they have made this much of change in the +course of two centuries must be accounted remarkable, for they have +been compelled, so to speak, to jump one entire ethnical period, +without the experience or training of so many intervening generations, +and without the brain-growth such a change of the plan of domestic +life implies, when reached through natural individual experience. +There is a tradition still current among the Seneca-Iroquois, if the +memory of so recent an occurrence may be called traditional, that +when the proposition that man and wife should eat together, which +was so contrary to immemorial usage, was first determined in the +affirmative, it was formally agreed that man and wife should sit +down together at the same dish and eat with the same ladle, the man +eating first and then the woman, and so alternately until the meal +was finished. + +The testimony of such writers as have noticed the house-life of the +Indian tribes is not uniform in respect to the number of meals a day. +Thus Catlin remarks, "As I have before observed these men (the +Mandans) generally eat but twice a day, and many times not more than +once, and these meals are light and simple.... The North American +Indians, taking them in the aggregate, even when they have an +abundance to subsist on, eat less than any civilized population of +equal numbers that I have ever traveled among." [Footnote: North +American Indians, Philadelphia ed., 1857, i, 203.] + +And Heckewelder, speaking of the Delawares and other tribes, says: +"They commonly make two meals every day, which they say is enough. +If any one should feel hungry between meal-times, there is generally +something in the house ready for him." + +[Footnote: Indian Nations, 193.] Adair contents himself with stating +of the Chocta and Cherokee tribes that "they have no stated meal time." + +[Footnote: History of the American Indian, Lond. ed., 1775, p. 17.] + +There was doubtless some variation in different localities, and even +in the same household; but as a general rule, from what is known of +their mode of life, one prepared meal each day expresses very nearly +all the people in this condition of society can do for the +sustenance of mankind. + +Although the sedentary Village Indians were one ethnical period in +advance of the Northern Indians, there can be but little doubt that +their mode of life in this respect was substantially the same. Among +the Aztecs or ancient Mexicans a dinner was provided about midday, +but we have no satisfactory account of a breakfast or a supper +habitually and regularly prepared. Civilization, with its +diversified industries, its multiplied products, and its monogamian +family, affords a breakfast and supper in addition to a dinner. It +is doubtful whether they are older than civilization; and even if +they can be definitely traced backward into the older period of +barbarism, there is little probability of their being found in the +Middle period. Clavigero attempts to invest the Aztecs with a +breakfast, but he was unable to find any evidence of a supper. +"After a few hours of labor in the morning," he observes, "they took +their breakfast, which was most commonly atolli, a gruel of maize, +and their dinner after midday; but among all the historians we can +find no mention of their supper." [Footnote: History of Mexico, ii, +262.] + +The "gruel of maize" here mentioned as forming usually the Aztec +breakfast suggests the "hominy of the Iroquois," which, like it, was +not unlikely kept constantly prepared in every Mexican house as a +lunch for the hungry. Two meals each day are mentioned by other +Spanish authors, but as the Aztecs, as well as the tribes in Yucatan +and Central America, were ignorant of the use of tables and chairs +in eating their food, divided their food from the kettle, placing +the dinner of each person usually in a separate bowl, and separated +at their meals, the men eating first and by themselves, and the +women and children afterwards, this similarity of usage renders it +probable they were not far removed from the Iroquois in respect to +the time and manner of taking their food. Montezuma's dinner, +witnessed by Bernal-Diaz and others, and elaborately described by a +number of authors, shows that the Aztecs had a smoking hot dinner +each day, prepared regularly, and on a scale adequate to a large +household; that the dinner of each person was placed in one bowl, +and all these bowls to the number of several hundred were brought in +and set down together upon the floor of one room, where they were +taken up one by one by the male members of the household, and the +contents eaten sitting down upon the floor or standing in the open +court, as best suited them. The breakfast that preceded it, and the +supper that follows, are not mentioned, from which we infer that +there was neither a breakfast nor a supper for these inquisitive +observers to see. Neither is the subsequent dinner of the women and +children of the household mentioned, from which it may be inferred +that as the men ate their dinner first in a particular hall by +themselves, the women and children took their dinner later in +another hall, not seen by the Spaniards. + +In the accounts of Montezuma's dinner a cook-house or kitchen is +mentioned, in which the dinner for the large household of the +"Tecpan" or "official house," so fully explained above by Mr. +Bandelier, was prepared. This kitchen, and the use of another room, +where the bowls containing the dinner of each person separately were +set down on the floor in a mass by themselves--an incipient +dining-room--make their first appearance in the Middle Status of +barbarism. But, as will be noticed, they are but rude realizations +of the kitchen and dining-room of civilized man. The pueblo houses +in Yucatan and Chiapas, now in ruins, are without chimneys, from +which it may be inferred that no cooking was done within them. At +Uxmal we recognize in the Governor's House, the Tecpan or +official-house, and in the House of the Nuns, and other structures +which formed the pueblo, the joint-tenement houses in which the body +of the tribe resided. If the truth of the matter is ever ascertained, +it will probably be found that the dinner for each household group, +consisting of several families, was prepared in a common cook-house +outside of the main structure, and that it was divided at the kettle +to the individuals of each household. + +The separation of the sexes at their meals has been sufficiently +referred to among the Iroquois. Robertson states the usage as general. +"They must approach their lords with reverence; they must regard +them as more exalted beings, and are not permitted to eat in their +presence." [Footnote: History of America, New York ed., 1856, 178.] + +Catlin the same: "These women, however, although graceful and civil, +and ever so beautiful, or ever so hungry, are not allowed to sit in +the same group with the men while at their meals. So far as I have +yet traveled in the Indian country, I have never seen an Indian +woman eating with her husband. Men form the first group at the +banquet, and women and children and dogs all come together at the +next." [Footnote: North American Indians, i, 202.] And Adair +"for the men feast by themselves and the women eat the remains." +[Footnote: History of the American Indians, p. 140.] + +Herrera remarks that "the woman of Yucatan are rather larger than +the Spanish and generally have good faces ... but they would +formerly be drunk at their festivals, though they did eat apart." +[Footnote: History of America, iv, 175.] And Sahagun, speaking +of the ceremony of baptism among the Aztecs, observes that "to +the women, who ate apart, they did not give cacao to drink." +[Footnote: Historia General, lib. iv, 36] + +With these general references to the universality of the practice on +the part of the men of eating first, and leaving the women and +children to come afterwards, according to the manners of barbarism, +we leave the subject. + +[Relocated Footnote 1: Torquemada (Lib. II, cap. LXVIII, p. 194) +"Estaba de ordinario, recogido en una grande Sala (el calpul)." +(Lib. III, cap. XXVII, p. 305. Lib. IV, cap. XIX, p. 396) (que asi +llaman las Salas grandes de Comunidad, o de Cabildo). We find, under +the corrupted name of "galpon," the "calpulli" in Nicaragua among +the Niquirans, which speak a dialect of the Mexican (Nahuatl) +language. See E. G. Squier ("Nicaragua," Vol. II, p. 342). "The +council-houses were called grepons, surrounded by broad corridors +called galpons, beneath which the arms were kept, protected by +a guard of young men". Mr. Squier evidently bases upon Oviedo +("Hist. general," Lib. XLII, cap. III, p. 52). "Esta casa de cabildo +llaman galpon...." It is another evidence in favor of our statements, +that the kinship formed the original unit of the tribe, and at the +same time a hint that, as in New Mexico, originally, an entire kin +inhabited a single large house. See Molina's Vocab. (p. 11).] + +[Relocated Footnote 2: There is no evidence of any tribute or +prestation due by the quarters to the tribe. The custom always +remained, that the "calpulli" was sovereign within its limits. See +Alonzo de Zunta ("Rapport sur les differentes classes de chefs +de la Nouvelle-Espagne," pp. 51-65). Besides, Ixtlilxochitl says: +("Hist. des Chichim," cap. XXXV, p. 242), "Other fields were called +Calpolalli or Altepetlalli." Now calpulalli (from "calpulli," +quarter or kinship, and "tlalli," soil), means soil of the kin, +and altepetalli ("altepetl," tribe), soil of the tribe. Clavigero +even says that the lands called "altepetlalli," belonging to the +communities "of the towns and villages, were divided into so many +parts as there were quarters in the town, each quarter having its own, +without the least connection with the other." (Lib. VII, cap. XIV.) +This indicates plainly that the kinships held the soil, whereas the +tribe occupied the territorial expanse. The domain, either as +pertaining to a "lord," or to a "state", was unknown among the +Indians in general. Even among the Peruvians, who were more advanced +than the Mexicans in that respect, there was no domain of the tribe.] + +[Relocated Footnote 3: See Torquemada (Lib. II, cap. XI, and Lib. III, +cap. XXII). Duran (cap. V). The quotation is from Herrera (Dec. II, +Lib. VII, cap. XIII, p. 190), and is confirmed by Torquemada (Lib. +III, cap. XXIII, p. 291), and especially by Gomara ("Conquista de +Mejico," p. 443. Vedia, I.) "Many married people ('muchos casados') +live in one house, either on account of the brothers and relations +being together, as they do not divide their grounds ('heredades'), +or on account of the limited space of the pueblos; although the +pueblos are large, and even the houses." Peter Martyr of Angleria +("De Novo Orbe," translated by Richard Eden and Michael Lok, London, +1612, Dec. V, cap. X, p. 228), says: "But the common houses +themselves as high as a mannes Girdle, were also built of stone, by +reason of the swelling of the lake through the flood, or washing +float of the Ryvers falling into it. Upon those greate foundations, +they builded the reste of the house, with Bricke dryed, or burned in +the sunne, intermingled with Beames of Tymber, and the common houses +have but one floore or planchin." We are forcibly reminded here +of the houses of Itza on Lake Peten, which were found in 1695. +("Hist. de la Conq. de los Itzaex," Lib. VIII, cap. XII, p. 494.) +"It was all filled with houses, some with stone walls more than one +rod high, and higher up of wood, and the roofs of straw, and some +only of wood and straw. There lived in them all the Inhabitants of +the Island brutally together, one relationship occupying a single +house." See also the highly valuable Introduction to the second +Dialogue of Cervantes-Salazar ("Mexico in 1554") by my excellent +friend Sr. Icazbalceta (pp. 73 and 74).] + +[Relocated Footnote 4: This successive formation of new "calpulli" is +nowhere explicitly stated, but it is implied by the passage of Duran +which we have already quoted (Cap. V, p. 42). It also results from +their military organization as described in the "Art of War" (p. 115). +With the increase of population, the original kinships necessarily +disaggregated further, as we have seen it to have occurred among the +Quiche (see "Popul-Vuh," quoted in our note 7), forming smaller +groups of consanguinei. After the successful war against the +Tecpanecas, of which we shall speak hereafter, we find at least +twenty chiefs, representing as many kins (Duran, cap. XI, p. 97), +besides three more, adopted then from those of Culhuscan (Id., pp. +98 and 99). This indicates an increase.] + +[Relocated Footnote 5: Torquemada (Lib. III, cap. XXIV, p. 295): +"I confess it to be truth that this city of Mexico is divided into +four principal quarters, each one of which contains others, smaller +ones, included, and all, in common as well as in particular, have +their commanders and leaders...." Zurita ("Rapport," p. 58-64). +That the smaller subdivisions were those who held the soil, and not +the four original groups, must be inferred from the fact that the +ground was attached to the calpulli. Says Zurita (p. 51), "They +(the lands) do not belong to each inhabitant of the village, but to +the calpulli, which possesses them in common." On the other hand, +Torquemada states (Lib. XIV, cap. VII, p. 545), "That in each pueblo, +according to the number of people, there should be (were) clusters +('parcialidades') of diverse people and families.... These clusters +were distributed by calpules, which are quarters ('barrios'), and it +happened that one of the aforesaid clusters sometimes contained three, +four, and more calpules, according to the population of the place +('pueblo') or tribe." The same author further affirms: "These +quarters and streets were all assorted and leveled with so much +accuracy that those of one quarter or street could not take a palm +of land from those of another, and the same was with the streets, +their lots running (being scattered) all over the pueblo." +Consequently there were no communal lands allotted to the four great +quarters of Mexico as such, but each one of the kinships (calpules) +held its part of the original aggregate. Compare Gomara (Vedia, Vol. +I, "Conq. de Mejico," p. 434: "Among tributaries it is a custom, etc., +etc." Also p. 440). Clavigero (Lib. VII, cap. XIV): "Each quarter +has its own tract, without the least connection with the others."] + +[Relocated Footnote 6: Compare Duran (Cap XI, p. 87). Acosta (Lib. +VII, cap, XXXI, p. 470). It appears as if the "teepan" had not been +constructed previous to the middle of the 14th century, the meetings +of the tribe being previously called together by priests, and +probably in the open space around the main house of worship. The +fact of the priests calling the public meetings is proved by Duran +(Cap. IV, p. 42). Acosta (Lib. VII, cap. VII, p. 468). Veytia +(Lib. II, cap. XVIII, pp. 156,159. Cap. XXI, p. 186). Acosta first +mentions "unos palacios, aunque harto pobres." (Lib. VII, cap. 8, +p. 470), on the occasion of the election of the first regular +"tlacatecuhtli:" Acamapichtli--Torquemada says (Lib. XII, cap. XXII, +p. 290) that they lived in miserable huts of reeds and straw, +erected around the open space where the altar or place of worship +of Huitzilopochtli was built. The public building was certainly +their latest kind of construction.] + +[Relocated Footnote 7: "Patronomial Estates" are mentioned +frequently, but the point is, where are they to be found? +Neither the "teepan-tlalli" nor the "tlatoca-tlalli," still +less the "calpulalli," show any trace of individual ownership. +"Eredad" (heirloom) is called indiscriminately "milli" and +"cuemitl" (Molina, Parte Ia, p. 57). The latter is also rendered +as "tierra labrada, o camellon" (Molina, Parte IIa, p. 26). It +thus reminds us of the "chinamitl" or garden-bed (as the name +"camellon" also implies), and reduces it to the proportion of +an ordinary cultivated lot among the others contained within the +area of the calpulli. It is also called "tlalli," but that is +the general name for soil or ground. "Tierras o eredades de +particulares, juntas an alguna vega," is called "tlalmilli". +This decomposes into "tlalli" soil and "milli." But "vega" +signifies a fertile tract or field, and thus we have again +the conception of communal lands, divided into lots improved by +particular families, as the idea of communal tenure necessarily +implies.] + +[Relocated Footnote 8: Zurita ("Rapport," etc., etc., p. 50): +"The chiefs of the second class are yet called calpullec in the +singular and chinancallec in the plural." (This is evidently +incorrect, since the words 'calpulli' and 'chinancalli' can easily +be distinguished from each other.) "'Chinancalli', however after +Molina means 'cercado de seto' (Parte IIa, p. 21), or an inclosed +area, and if we connect it with the old original 'chinamitl' we are +forcibly carried back to the early times, when the Mexicans but +dwelt on a few flakes of more or less solid ground. This is an +additional evidence in favor of the views we have taken of the +growth of landed tenure among the Mexican tribe. We must never +forget that the term is 'Nahuatl,' and as such recognized by all the +other tribes, outside of the Mexicans proper. The interpretation as +'family' in the Quiche tongue of Guatemala, which we have already +mentioned, turns up here as of further importance; that is: chiefs +of an old race or family, from the word calpulli or chinancalli, +which is the same, and signifies a quarter (barrio), inhabited by a +family known, or of old origin, which possesses since long time a +territory whose limits are known, and whose members are of the same +lineage." + +"The calpullis, families or quarters, are very common in each +province. Among the lands which were given to the chefs of the +second class there were also calpullis. These lands are the property +of the people in general ('de la masse du peuple') from the time the +Indians reached this land. Each family or tribe received a portion +of the soil for perpetual enjoyment. They also had the name of +calpulli, and until now this property has been respected. They do +not belong to each inhabitant of the village in particular, but to +the calpulli, which possesses them in common." Don Ramirez de +Fuenleal, letter dated Mexico, 3 Nov., 1532 ("Recueil de pieces," +etc, Ternaux-Compans, p. 253): "There are very few people in the +villages which have lands of their own ... the lands are held in +common and cultivated in common." Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. IV, cap. XV, +p. 135) confirms, in a condensed form, the statement of Zurita, +"and they are not private lands of each one, but held in common." +Torquemada (Lib. XIV, cap. VII, p. 545.) Veytia (Lib. III, cap. VI, +p. 196). "Finally, there were other tracts of lands in each tribe, +called calpulalli, which is land of the calpules (barrios), which +also were worked in common." Oviedo (Lib. XXXII, cap. LI, pp. 536 and +537). Clavigero (Lib. VII, cap. XIV). Bustamante ("Tezcoco," etc., +Parte IIIa, cap. V. p. 232).] + +[Relocated Footnote 9: Zurita (p. 52): "He who obtained them from the +sovereign has not the right to dispose of them." Herrera (Dec. III, +Lib. IV, cap. XV, p. 135): "He who possessed them could not alienate +them, although he enjoyed their use for his lifetime." Torquemada +(Lib. XIV, cap. VII, p. 545): "Disputes about lands are frequently +mentioned, but they refer to the enjoyment and possession, and not +the transfer of the land." Baron Humboldt ("Unes des Cordilleres et +monuments indigenes des peuples de l'Amerique", Vol. I, Tab. V) +reproduces a Mexican painting representing a litigation about land. +But this painting was made subsequent to the Conquest, as the fact +that the parties contending are Indians and Spaniards sufficiently +asserts. Occasional mention is made that certain lands "could be sold." +All such tracts, however, like the "pallali", have been shown by us +to be held in communal tenure of the soil, there enjoyment alone +being given to individuals and their families.] + +[Relocated Footnote 10: Zurita (p. 60): "The calpulli have a chief +taken necessarily from among the tribe; he must be one of the +principal inhabitants, an able man who can assist and defend the +people. The election takes place among them.... The office of this +chief is not hereditary; when any one dies, they elect in his place +the most respected old man.... If the deceased has left a son who is +able the choice falls upon him, and a relative of the former +incumbent is always preferred." (Id., pp. 50 and 222). Simancas +M. S. S. ("De l'ordre de succession," etc., "Recucil," p. 225): As +to the mode of regulating the jurisdiction and election of the +alcaldes and regidors of the villages, "they nominated men of note +who had the title of achcatanlitin.... There were no other elections +of officers...." ('Art of War,' etc. pp. 119 and 120).] + +[Relocated Footnote 11: Zurita (pp. 61 and 62): "This chief has +charge of the lands of the calpulli. It is his duty to defend their +possession. He keeps paintings showing the tracts, the names of +their holders, the situation, the limits, the number of men tilling +them, the wealth of private individuals, the designations of each as +are vacant, of others that belong to the Spaniards, the date of +donation, to whom and by whom they were given. These paintings he +constantly renews, according to the changes occurring, and in this +they are very skillful." It is singular that Motolinia, in his +"Epistola proemial" ("Col. de Doc."; Icazbalceta, Vol. I, p. 5), +among the five "books of paintings" which he says the Mexicans had, +makes no mention of the above. Neither does he notice it in his +letter dated Cholala, 27 Aug., 1554 ("Recueil de pieces," etc., +Teruaux-Compans).] + +[Relocated Footnote 12: Each family, represented by its male head, +obtained a certain tract or lot for cultivation and use, Zurita +(p. 55). "The party (member of the calpulli, because no member of +another one had the right to settle within the area of it--see Id., +p. 53), who has no lands applies to the chief of the calpulli, who, +upon the advice of the other old men, assigns to him such as +corresponds to his ability and wants. These lands go to his +heirs...." (id., p. 56). "The proprietor who did not cultivate +during two years, either through his own fault or through +negligence, without just cause ... he was called upon to improve +them, and if he failed to do so they were given to another the +following year." Bustamante (Tezcoco, etc., Parte IIIa, p. 190, +cap I): "The fact that any holder of a 'tlalmilli' might rent out +his share, if he himself was occupied in a line precluding him from +actual work on it, results from the lands of the 'calpulli' being +represented alternately treated as communal and again as private +lands. Besides, it is said of the traders who, from the nature of +their occupation, were mostly absent, that they were also members +and participants of a 'calpulli'" (Zurita, p. 223. Sahagun, Lib. +VIII, cap. III, p. 349). Now, as every Mexican belonged to a kinship, +which held lands after the plan exposed above, it follows that such +as were not able to work themselves, on account of their performing +other duties subservient to the interests of the community still +preserved their tracts by having others to work them for their +benefit. It was not the right of tenancy which authorizes the +improvement, but the fact of improvement for a certain purpose and +benefit, which secured the possession or tenancy.] + +[Relocated Footnote 13: From "tlalli" soil, and "maitl" hand. Hands +of the soil. Molma (Parte IIa, p. 124) has: "tlalmaitl"--"labrador, y +ganyan." This name is given in distinction of the "macehuales" or +people working the soil in general. The tlalmaites are identical +with the "mayeques." (See Zurita, p. 224): "tlalmaites or mayeques, +which signifies tillers of the soil of others...." He distinguishes +them plainly from the 'teccallec,' which are the 'tecpanpouhque' or +"tecpantlaca" formerly mentioned as attending to a class official +lands (p. 221, Zurita). Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. IV, cap. XVII, p. 138): +"These mayeques could not go from one tract to another, neither +leave those which they cultivated, and raised. They paid tribute to +nobody else but the master of the land." This tends to show that +there existed not an established obligation, a serfdom, but a +voluntary contract, that the "tlalmaites" were not serfs, but simply +renters.] + +[Relocated Footnote 14: Motolinia (Tratado II, cap. V, p. 120): +"But they left their houses and lands to their children" ... Gomara +(p. 434): "Es costumbre de pecheros que el hijo mayor herede al +padre en toda la hacienda raiz y mueble, y que tenga y mantenga +todos los hermanos y sobrinos, con tal que haganellos lo que el les +mandare." Clavigero (Lib. VII, cap. XIII): "In Mexico, and nearly +the entire realm, the royal family excepted as already told, the +sons succeeded to the father's rights; and if there were no sons, +then the brothers, and the brothers' sons inherited." Bustamante +("Tezcoco," etc., p. 219): In all these cases, Bustamante only +speaks of chiefs; but the quotations from Motolinia and Gomara +directly apply to the people in general.] + +[Relocated Footnote 15: Mr. L. H. Morgan has investigated the custom +of inheritance, not only among the northern Indians, but also among +the pueblo Indians of New Mexico. He establishes the fact, that the +"kinship" or "gens," which we may justly consider as the unit of +organization in American aboriginal society, participated in the +property of the deceased. He proves it among the Iroquois ("Ancient +Society," Part II, cap. II, pp. 75 and 76). Wyandottes, Id., cap. VII, +p. 153. Missouri-tribes, p. 155. Winnebagoes, p 157. Mandans, p 158. +Minnitarees, p. 159. Creeks, p. 161. Choctas, p. 162. Chickasas, p. +163. Ojibwas, p. 167; also Potowattomies and Crees, Miamis, p. 168. +Shawnees, p. 169. Sauks, Foxes and Menominies, p. 170. Delawares, p. +172. Munsees and Mohegans, p. 173. Finally, the pueblo Indians of +New Mexico are shown to have, if not the identical at least a +similar mode of inheritance. It would be easy to secure further +evidence, from South America also.] + +[Relocated Footnote 16: Letter of Motolinia and Diego d'Olarte, to +Don Luis de Velasco, Cholula, 27 Aug., 1554 ("Recueil," etc., etc., p. +407): "The daughters did not inherit; it was the principal, wife's +son" ... "Besides, nearly every author designates but a son, or sons, +as the heirs. There is no mention made of daughters at all. In +Tlaxcallan, it is also expressly mentioned that the daughters did +not inherit" (Torquemada, Lib. XI, cap. XXII, p. 348). In general, +the position of woman in ancient Mexico was a very inferior one, and +but little above that which it occupies among Indians in general. +(Compare the description of Gomara, p. 440, Vedia I, with those of +Sahagun. Lib. X, cap. I, p. 1; cap. XIII, pp. 30, 31, 32, and 33. +The fact is generally conceded). H. H. Bancroft "Native Races," Vol. +II, cap. VI, p. 224, etc.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HOUSES OF INDIAN TRIBES NORTH OF NEW MEXICO. + + +The growth of the idea of house architecture in general is a subject +more comprehensive than the scope of this volume. But there is one +phase of this growth, illustrating as it does the condition of +society and of the family in savagery and in barbarism, to which +attention will be invited. It is found in the domestic architecture +of the American aborigines, considered as a whole, and as parts of +one system. As a system it stands related to the institutions, usages, +and customs presented in the previous chapters. There is not only +abundant evidence in the collective architecture of the Indian +tribes of the gradual development of this great faculty or aptitude +of the human mind among them, through three ethnical periods, but +the structures themselves, or a knowledge of them, remain for +comparison with each other. A comparison will show that they belong +to a common indigenous system of architecture. There is a common +principle running through all this architecture, from the hut of the +savage to the commodious joint-tenement house of the Village Indians +of Mexico and Central America, which will contribute to its +elucidation. + +The indigenous architecture of the Village Indians has given to them, +more than aught else, their position in the estimation of mankind. +The facts of their social condition in other respects, which, +unfortunately, are obscure, have been much less instrumental in +fixing their status than existing architectural remains. The Indian +edifices in Mexico and Central America of the period of the Conquest +may well excite surprise and even admiration; from their palatial +extent, from the material used in their construction, and from the +character of their ornamentation, they are highly creditable to +their skill in architecture. But a false interpretation has, from +the first, been put upon this architecture, as I think can be shown, +and inferences with respect to the social condition and the degree +of advancement of these tribes have been constantly drawn from it +both fallacious and deceptive, when the plain truth would have been +more creditable to the aborigines. It will be my object to give an +interpretation of this architecture in harmony with the usages and +customs of the Indian tribes. The houses of the different tribes, in +ground-plan and mechanism, will be considered and compared, in order +to show wherein they represent one system. + +A common principle, as before stated, runs through all this +architecture, from the "long-house" of the Iroquois to the "pueblo +houses" of New Mexico, and to the so-called "palace" at Palenqne, +and the "House of the Nuns" at Uxmal. It is the principle of +adaptation to communism in living, restricted in the first instance +to household groups, and extended finally to all the inhabitants of +a village or encampment by the law of hospitality. Hunger and +destitution were not known at one end of an Indian village while +abundance prevailed at the other. Joint-tenement houses, each +occupied by one large household, as among the Iroquois, or by +several household groups, as in Yucatan, were the natural and +inevitable result of their usages and customs. Communism in living +and the law of hospitality, it seems probable, accompanied all the +phases of Indian life in savagery and in barbarism. These and other +facts of their social condition embodied themselves in their +architecture, and will contribute to its elucidation. + +The house architecture of the Northern tribes is of little importance, +in itself considered; but, as an outcome of their social condition +and for comparison with that of the Southern Village Indians, it is +highly important. An attempt will be made to show, firstly, that the +known communism in living of the former tribes entered into and +determined the character of their houses, which are communal; and, +secondly, that wherever the structures of the latter class are +obviously communal, the practice of communism in living at the +period of discovery may be inferred from the structures themselves, +although many of them are now in ruins, and the people who +constructed them have disappeared. Some evidence, however, of the +communism of the Village Indians has been presented. + + +COMMUNAL HOUSES OF TRIBES IN SAVAGERY. + +Mr. Stephen Powers, in his recent and instructive work on the +"California Tribes," enumerates seven varieties of the lodge +constructed by these tribes, adapted to the different climates of +the State. One form was adapted to the raw and foggy climate of the +California coast, constructed of redwood poles over an excavated pit, +another to the snow-belt of the Coast Range and of the Sierras; +another to the high ranges of the Sierras; another to the warm coast +valleys; another, limited to a small area, constructed of interlaced +willow poles, the interstices being open; another to the woodless +plains of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, dome-shaped and +covered with earth; and another to the hot and nearly rainless +region of the Kern and Tulare valleys, made of tule. Four of these +varieties are given below, the illustrations being taken from his +work. [Footnote: Powell's Geographical Survey, &c., of the Rocky +Mountain Region, Contributions to American Ethnology, vol. iii, +Powers' Tribes of California, p. 436.] + +"In making a wigwam, they excavated about two feet, banked up the +earth enough to keep out the water, and threw the remainder on the +roof dome-shaped. With the Lolsel the bride often remains in the +father's house, and her husband comes to live with her, whereupon +half the purchase money is returned. Thus there will be two or three +families in one lodge. They are very clannish, especially the +mountain tribes, and family influence is all potent." [Footnote: ib., +p. 221.] + +Elsewhere he remarks upon this form of house as follows: "On the +great woodless plains of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, the savages +naturally had recourse to earth for a material. The round, +domed-shaped, earth-covered lodge is considered the characteristic +one of California; and probably two-thirds of its immense aboriginal +population lived in dwellings of this description. The doorway is +sometimes directly on top, sometimes on the ground, at one side. I +have never been able to ascertain whether the amount of rain-fall of +any given locality had any influence in determining the place of the +door." [Footnote: ib., p. 437.] + +This mode of entrance reappears in the more artistic house of the +Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, where the rooms are entered by means +of a trap-door in the roof, the descent being made by a ladder. The +"immense aboriginal population" of California, claimed by Mr. Powers, +is too strong a statement. + +"This wigwam is in the shape of the capital letter L, made up of +slats leaning up to a ridge-pole and heavily thatched. All along the +middle of it the different families or generations have their fires, +while they sleep next the walls, lying on the ground, underneath +rabbit-skins and other less elegant robes, and amid a filthy cluster +of baskets, dogs, and all the wretched trumpery dear to the +aboriginal heart. There are three narrow holes for dens, one at +either end and one at the elbow." This is Mr. Powers' fifth variety +of the lodge. [Footnote: Powers' Tribes of Cal., p. 284.] + +"In the very highest region of Sierra, where the snow falls to such +an enormous depth that the fire would be blotted out and the whole +open side snowed up, the dwelling retains substantially the same +form and materials, but the fire is taken into the middle of it, and +one side of it (generally the east one) slopes down more nearly +horizontal than the other, and terminates in a curved way about +three feet high and twice as long." Half a dozen such houses make an +Indian village, with the addition of a "dome-shaped assembly or +dance house" in the middle space. "One or more acorn-granaries of +wicker-work stand around each lodge, much like hogsheads in shape +and size, either on the ground or mounted on posts as high as one's +head, full of acorns and capped with thatch." [Footnote: Powers' +Tribes of Cal., p. 284.] + +In Southern California, where the climate is both dry and hot, the +natives constructed a wigwam entirely different from those found in +other parts of the State. "In the Yokut nation," Mr. Powers remarks, +"there appears to be more political solidarity, more capacity in the +petty tribes of being grouped into large and coherent masses than is +common in the State. This is particularly true of those living on +the plains, who display in their encampments a military precision +and regularity which are remarkable. Every village consists of a +single row of wigwams, conical or wedge-shaped, generally made of +tule, and just enough hollowed out within so that the inmates may +sleep with the head higher than the feet, all in perfect alignment, +and with a continuous awning of brushwood stretching along in front. +In one end-wigwam lives the village captain; on the other the shaman +of si-se'-ro. In the mountains there is some approach to this martial +array, but it is universal on the plains." [Footnote: Powers' Tribes +of Cal., p. 370.] + +As a rule these houses were occupied by more families than one, as +is shown by the same author. In the northern part of the State +"the Tatu wigwams do not differ essentially from those of the vicinal +tribes. They are constructed of stout willow wicker-work, dome-shaped, +and thatched with grass. Sometimes they are very large and oblong, +with sleeping-room for thirty or forty persons." [Footnote: ib., p. +139.] + +The Yo-kai'-a inhabit a section of the north-west part of the State. +"Their style of lodge is the same which prevails generally along +Russian River, a huge frame-work of willow poles covered with thatch, +and resembling a large flattish haystack. Though still preserving +the same style and materials, since they have adopted from the +Americans the use of boards they have learned to construct all +around the wall of the wigwam a series of little state rooms, if I +may so call them, which are snugly boarded up and furnished with +bunks inside. This enables every family in these immense patriarchal +lodges to disrobe and retire with some regard to decency, which +could not be done in the one common room of the old style wigwam." +[Footnote: ib., p. 163.] + +Again: "The Se-nel, together with three other petty tribes, mere +villages, occupy that broad expanse of Russian River Valley on one +side of which now stands the American village of Senel. Among them +we find unmistakably developed that patriarchal system which appears +to prevail all along Russian River. They construct immense +dome-shaped or oblong lodges of willow poles an inch or two in +diameter, woven in square lattice-work, securely lashed and thatched. +In each one of these live several families, sometimes twenty or +thirty persons, including all who are blood relations. Each wigwam, +therefore, is a pueblo, a law unto itself; and yet these lodges are +grouped in villages, some of which formerly contained hundreds of +inhabitants." [Footnote: ib., p. 168.] + +I cannot find that Mr. Powers mentions the practice of communism in +these households, but the fact seems probable. Their usages in the +matter of hospitality are much the same as in the other tribes. +Their principal food was salmon, acorn-flour bread, game, kamas, and +berries. They were, without pottery, cooked in ground ovens, and +also in water-tight baskets by means of heated stones. + +A brief reference may be made to the skin lodge of the Kutchin or +Louchoux of the Yukon and Peel Rivers. + +[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Kutchin Lodge.] + +This simple structure, the ground plan and elevation of which were +taken from the Smithsonian Report, is thus described by Mr. +Strachan Jones: [Footnote: Report for 1866, p. 321.] "Deer-skins are +dressed with the hair on, and sewed together, forming two large rolls, +which are stretched over a frame of bent poles. The lodge is nearly +elliptical, about twelve or thirteen feet in diameter and six feet +high, very similar to a tea-cup turned over. The door is about four +feet high, and is simply a deer-skin fastened above and hanging down. +The hole to allow the smoke to escape is about four feet in diameter. +Snow is heaped up outside the edges of the lodge and pine brush +spread on the ground inside, the snow having been previously +shoveled off with snow-shoes. The fire is made in the middle of the +lodge, and one or more families, as the case may be, live on each +side of the fire, every one having his or her particular place." +[Footnote: ib., p. 322.] He further remarks that "they have no +pottery," and that they boil water "by means of stones heated red +hot and thrown into the kettle." [Footnote: ib., p. 321.] + +The principal fact to be noticed is that the lodge is comparted into +stalls open on the central space, in the midst of which is the +fire-pit, evidently for the accommodation of more families than one. +This arrangement of the interior will reappear in numerous other +cases. The Kutchin must be classed as savages, although near the +close of that condition. + +The tribes of the valley of the Columbia lived more or less in +villages, but, like the tribes of California, were without +horticulture and without pottery. But they found an abundant +subsistence in the shell-fish of the coast, and in the myriads of +fish in the Columbia and its tributaries. They also subsisted upon +kamash and other bread roots of the prairies, which they cooked in +ground ovens, and upon berries and game. They were expert boatmen +and fishermen, manufactured water-tight baskets, implements of wood, +stone, and bone, and used the bow and arrow. As another quite +remarkable fact, they used plank in their houses, made by splitting +logs with stone and elk-horn chisels. Like the Kutchin, they were in +the Upper Status of savagery. + +When Lewis and Clarke visited the Columbia River district (1805-1806) +they found the Indian tribes living in houses of the plainest +communal type, and some of them approaching in ground dimensions and +in the number of their occupants the pueblo houses in New Mexico. +They speak of a house of the Chopunish (Nez Perces) as follows: +"This village of Tumachemootool is in fact only a single house one +hundred and fifty feet long, built after the Chopunish fashion, with +sticks, straw and dried grass. It contains twenty-four fires, about +double that number of families, and might perhaps muster a hundred +fighting men." [Footnote: Travels, etc., l. c., p. 548.] + +This would give five hundred people in a single house. The number of +fires probably indicates the number of groups practicing communism +in living among themselves, though for aught we know it may have +been general in the entire household. + +[Illustration: Fig. 6--Ground plan of Ncerchokioo.] + +Another great house, Ncerchokioo, is thus described: "This large +building is two hundred and twenty-six feet in front, entirely above +ground, and may be considered a single house, because the whole is +under one roof, otherwise it would seem more like a range of +buildings, as it is divided into seven distinct apartments, each +thirty feet square, by means of broad boards set up on end from the +floor to the roof. The apartments are separated from each other by a +passage or alley four feet wide, extending through the whole depth +of the house, and the only entrance is from the alley through a +small hole about twenty inches wide and not more than three feet high. +The roof is formed of rafters and round poles laid on horizontally. +The whole is covered with a double roof of bark of white cedar." +[Footnote: Lewis and Clarke's Travels, p. 503.] + +The apartments, as in the previous case of the fires, may be +supposed to indicate the number of groups into which the great +household was subdivided for the practice of communism. + +Elsewhere, speaking of the houses of the Clahclellahs, they remark: +"These houses are uncommonly large; one of them measured one hundred +and sixty by forty feet, and the frames are constructed in the usual +manner.... Most of the houses are built of boards and covered with +bark, though some of the more inferior kind are constructed wholly +of cedar bark, kept smooth and flat by small splinters fixed +crosswise through the bark, at the distance of twelve or fourteen +inches apart." [Footnote: ib., p. 515.] + +The houses of the coast tribes (Clatsops and Chinooks) are also +described. "The houses in this neighborhood are all large wooden +buildings, ranging in length from twenty to sixty feet, and from +fourteen to twenty in width. They are constructed in the following +manner: two posts of split timber or more, agreeable to the number +of partitions, are sunk in the ground, above which they rise to the +height of fourteen or eighteen feet. They are hollowed at the top, +so as to receive the end of a round beam or pole (ridge-pole) +stretching from one to the other, and forming the upper point of the +roof for the whole extent of the building. On each side of this +range is placed another, which forms the eaves of the house, and is +about five feet high; and as the building is often sunk to the depth +of four or five feet, the eaves come very near the surface of the +earth. Smaller pieces of timber are now extended by pairs, in the +form of rafters, from the lower to the upper beams, where they are +attached at both ends with cords of cedar bark. On these rafters two +or three ranges of small poles are placed horizontally, and secured +in the same way with strings of cedar bark. The sides are now made, +with a range of white boards, sunk a small distance into the ground, +with upper ends projecting above the poles at the eaves.... The +gable end and partitions are formed in the same way.... The roof is +than covered with a double range of thin boards, except an aperture +of two or three feet in the center, for the smoke to pass through. +The entrance is by a small hole, cut out of the boards, and just +large enough to admit the body. The very largest houses only are +divided by partitions, for though three or four families reside in +the same room, there is quite space enough for all of them. In the +center of each room is a space six or eight feet square, sunk to the +depth of twelve inches below the rest of the floor, and inclosed by +four pieces of square timber. Here they make the fire, for which +purpose pine bark is generally preferred. Around the fireplace mats +are placed, and serve as seats during the day, and very frequently +as beds at night. There is, however, a more permanent bed made by +fixing, in two or sometimes three sides of the room, posts reaching +from the roof to the ground, and at the distance of four feet from +the wall. From these posts to the wall itself, one or two ranges of +boards are placed so as to form shelves, in which they either sleep +or there stow away their various articles of merchandise." +[Footnote: Lewis and Clarke's Travels, p. 431.] + +These explorers found the houses of the Indian tribes throughout the +Columbia Valley occupied by several families, the smallest of them +containing from twenty to forty persons, and the largest five hundred. +The presence of large households is fully shown as the rule in their +house-life. The practice of communism by the household, as stated by +these authors, has already (supra, p. 71) been presented. This +tendency to aggregation in groups, for subsistence and for mutual +protection, reveals the weakness of the single family in the +presence of the hardships of life. Communism in living was very +plainly a necessity of their condition. + +In a recent description (1869) of the modern houses of the Makah +Indians of Cape Flattery, Washington Territory, by Mr. James G. Swan, +the old usage which led to joint-tenement houses still asserts itself. +Speaking of the manner of building these houses in detail, he +remarks that "they are designed to accommodate several families, and +are of various dimensions; some of them being sixty feet long by +thirty wide, and from ten to fifteen feet high." The houses were +made of split boards on a frame of timber. [Footnote: Smithsonian +Contributions to Knowledge, No. 220, p. 5.] + + +COMMUNAL HOUSES OF TRIBES IN LOWER STATUS OF BARBARISM. + +[Illustration: Fig. 7--Frame of Ojibwa Wig-e-wam.] + +Among the Indian tribes in the Lower Status of barbarism some +diversity existed in the plans of the lodge and house. Fig. 7, which +is taken from Schoolcraft's work on the Indian tribes, shows the +frame of an Ojibwa cabin or lodge of the best class, as it may still +be seen on the south shore of Lake Superior. Its mechanism is +sufficiently shown by the frame of elastic poles exhibited by the +figure. It is covered with bark, usually canoe birch, taken off in +large pieces and attached with splints. Its size on the ground +varied from ten to sixteen feet, and its height from six to ten. +Twigs of spruce or hemlock were strewn around the border of the +lodge on the ground floor, upon which blankets and skins were spread +for beds. The fire-pit was in the center of the floor, over which, +in the center of the roof, was an opening for the exit of the smoke. +Such a lodge would accommodate, in the aboriginal plan of living, +two and sometimes three married pairs with their children. Several +such lodges were usually found in a cluster, and the several +households consisted of related families, the principal portion +being of the same gens or clan. I am not able to state whether or +not the households thus united by the bond of kin practiced +communism in living in ancient times, but it seems probable. Carver, +who visited an Ojibwa village in Wisconsin in 1767, makes it appear +that each house was occupied by several families. "This town," he +remarks, "contains about forty houses, and can send out upwards of a +hundred warriors, many of whom are fine young men." This would give, +by the usual rule of computation, five hundred persons, and an +average of twelve persons to a house. [Footnote: Travels, etc., p. 65.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 8--Dakota wii-ka-yo, or Skin Tent.] + +When first discovered the Dakotas lived in houses constructed with a +frame of poles and covered with bark, each of which was large enough +for several families. They dwelt principally in villages in their +original area on the head-waters of the Mississippi, the present +State of Minnesota. Forced upon the plains by an advancing white +population, but after they had become possessed of horses, they +invented a skin tent eminently adapted to their present nomadic +condition. It is superior to any other in use among the American +aborigines from its roominess, its portable character, and the +facility with which it can be erected and struck. The frame consists +of thirteen poles from fifteen to eighteen feet in length, which, +after being tied together at the small ends, are raised upright with +a twist so as to cross the poles above the fastening. They are then +drawn apart at the large ends and adjusted upon the ground in the +rim of a circle usually ten feet in diameter. A number of untanned +and tanned buffalo skins, stitched together in a form adjustable to +the frame, are drawn around it and lashed together, as shown in the +figure. The lower edges are secured to the ground with tent-pins. At +the top there is an extra skin adjusted as a collar, so as to be +open on the windward side to facilitate the exit of the smoke. A low +opening is left for a doorway, which is covered with an extra skin +used as a drop. The fire-pit and arrangements for beds are the same +as in the Ojibwa lodge, grass being used in the place of spruce or +hemlock twigs. When the tent is struck, the poles are attached to a +horse, half on each side, like thills, secured to the horse's neck +at one end, and the other dragging on the ground. The skin-covering +and other camp-equipage are packed upon other horses and even upon +their dogs, and are thus transported from place to place on the +plains. This tent is so well adapted to their mode of life that it +has spread far and wide among the Indian tribes of the prairie region. +I have seen it in use among seven or eight Dakota sub-tribes, among +the Iowas, Otoes, and Pawnees, and among the Black-feet, Crows, +Assiniboines, and Crees. In 1878 I saw it in use among the Utes of +Colorado. A collection of fifty of these tents, which would +accommodate five hundred persons, make a picturesque appearance. +Under the name of the "Sibley tent" it is now in use, with some +modifications of plan, in the United States Army, for service on the +plains. + +[Illustration: Fig. 9--Village of Pomeiock.] + +Sir Richard Grenville's expedition in 1585 visited the south part of +the original colony of Virginia, now included in North Carolina. +They landed at Roanoke Island, and also ascended a section of +Albemarle Sound as far as the villages of Pomeiock and Secotan. An +artist, John Wyth, before mentioned, was a member of this expedition, +and we are indebted to him for a number of valuable sketches--the +two villages named among the number, of which copies are given, +together with representations of the people and of their industrial +arts. The description of Pomeiock is as follows: "The towns in +Virginia are very like those of Florida, not, however, so well and +firmly built, and are enclosed by a circular palisade with a narrow +entrance. In the town of Pomeiock, the buildings are mostly those of +the chiefs and men of rank. On one side is the Temple (council-house) +(A) of a circular shape, apart from the rest, and covered with mats +on every side, without windows, and receiving no light except +through the entrance. The residence of their chief (B) is +constructed of poles fixed in the ground, bound together and covered +with mats, which are thrown off at pleasure, to admit as much light +and air as they may require. Some are covered with the boughs of +trees. The natives, as represented in the plate, are indulging in +their sports. When the spring or pond is at a distance from the town, +they dig a ditch from it that supplies them with water." [Footnote: +Wyth's Sketches of Virginia, first published by De Bry, 1690, +Langly's ed., 1841, Plate 21.] + +The village consisted of seventeen joint-tenement houses and a +council-house, arranged around a central open space, and surrounded +with a palisade. Here the Algonkin lodge, unlike that of the Ojibwas, +is a long, round-roofed house, apparently from fifty to eighty feet +in length, covered with movable matting in the place of bark, and +large enough to accommodate several families. The suggestion of this +author, that "the buildings were mostly those of chiefs and men of +rank," embodies the precise error which has repeated itself from +first to last with respect to the houses of American aborigines. +Because the houses at Pomeiock were large, they were the residences +of chiefs; and because the House of the Nuns at Uxmal was of +palatial extent, it was the exclusive residence of an Indian +potentate--conclusions opposed to the whole theory of Indian life +and institutions. Indian chiefs, the continent over, were housed +with the people, and no better, as a rule, than the poorest of them. + +"Some of their towns," says the same author, "are not enclosed with +a palisade and are much more pleasant; Secotan, for example, here +drawn from nature. The houses are more scattered and a greater +degree of comfort and cultivation is observable, with gardens in +which tobacco (E) is cultivated, woods filled with deer, and fields +of corn. In the fields they erect a stage (F), in which a sentry is +stationed to guard against the depredations of birds and thieves. +Their corn they plant in rows (H), for it grows so large, with thick +stalk and broad leaves, that one plant would stint the other and it +would never arrive at maturity. They have also a curious place +(C) where they convene with their neighbors at their feasts, as more +fully shown on Plate 20, and from which they go to the feast (D). On +the opposite side is their place of prayer (B), and near to it the +sepulchre of their chiefs (A).... They have gardens for melons +(I), and a place (K) where they build their sacred fires. At a +little distance from the town is the pond (L) from which they obtain +their water." [Footnote: Sketches, etc., of Virginia, description of +Plate 22.] + +The houses of the Powhatan Indians of Virginia proper, as described +by Captain John Smith, were precisely like those of Pomeiock and +Secotan. A part of the interior of the house in which Smith was +received by Powhatan as a prisoner is engraved upon his map of +Virginia, of which the following is a copy: + +[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Interior of House of Virginia Indians. + With caption: + POWHATAN + Held this state & fashion when Capt. Smith + was delivered to him prisoner + 1607] + +"Their houses are built," Smith remarks, "like our arbors, of small +young sprigs, bowed and tied, and so close covered with mats, or the +bark of trees, very handsomely, that notwithstanding either wind, +rain, or weather, they are as warm as stoves, but very smoky; yet, +at the top of the house there is a hole made for the smoke to go +into right over the fire. Against the fire they lie on little +hurdles of reeds covered with a mat, borne from the ground a +foot or more by a hurdle of wood. On these, round about the +house, they lie, heads and points, one by the other against +the fire, some covered with mats, some with skins, and some +stark naked lie on the ground, from six to twenty in a house." +[Footnote: History of Virginia, i, 130.] + +The engraving is probably an improvement upon the original house in +the symmetry of the structure, but it is doubtless a truthful +representation of its mechanism. It seems likely that a double set +of upright poles were used, one upon the outside and one on the +inside, between which the mattings of canes or willows were secured, +as the houses at Pomeiock and Secotan are ribbed externally at +internals of about eight feet, showing four, five, and six sections. +Each house, on this hypothesis, would be from twenty-four to +forty-eight feet long. A reference (supra, p. 67) has been made to +the size of the houses of the Virginia Indians, from which their +communistic character may be inferred. + +In the "Journal of a Voyage to New York," in 1679-1680, by Jasper +Dankers and Peter Sluyter, edited and translated by Hon. Henry C. +Murphy, there is a careful description of a house of the Nyack +Indians of Long Island, an Algonkin tribe, affiliated linguistically +with the Virginia Indians. The Nyack house corresponds very closely +with those last named. "We went from hence to her habitation," these +authors remark, "where we found the whole troop together, consisting +of seven or eight families, and twenty or twenty-two persons, I +should think. Their house was low and long, about sixty feet long +and fourteen or fifteen feet wide. The bottom was earth; the sides +and roof were made of reed and the bark of chestnut trees; the posts +or columns were limbs of trees stuck in the ground, and all fastened +together. The top or ridge of the roof was open about half a foot +wide, from one end to the other, in order to let the smoke escape, +in the place of a chimney. On the sides or walls of the house, the +roof was so low that you could hardly stand under it. The entrance, +or doors, which were at both ends, were so small and low that they +had to stoop down and squeeze themselves to get through them. The +doors were made of reed or flat bark. In the whole building there +was no lime, stone, iron, or lead. They build their fires in the +middle of the floor, according to the number of families which live +in it, so that from one end to the other each of them boils its own +pot, and eats when it likes, not only the families by themselves, +but each Indian alone, according as he is hungry, at all hours, +morning, noon, and night. By each fire are the cooking utensils, +consisting of a pot, a bowl or calabash, and a spoon, also made of a +calabash. These are all that relate to cooking. They lie upon mats +with their feet towards the fire, on each side of it. They do not +sit much upon anything raised up, but, for the most part, sit on the +ground or squat on their ankles. Their other household articles +consist of a calabash of water, out of which they drink, a small +basket in which to carry and keep their maize and small beans, and a +knife.... All who live in one house are generally of one stock or +descent, as father and mother with their offspring. Their bread is +maize pounded on a block by a stone, but not fine. This is mixed +with water and made into a cake, which they bake under the hot ashes. +They gave us a small piece when we entered, and although the grains +were not ripe, and it was half baked and coarse grains, we +nevertheless had to eat it, or, at least, not throw it away before +them, which they would have regarded as a great sin or a great +affront." [Footnote: Journal, etc., p. 124.] + +There is nothing in these statements forbidding the supposition that +the household described practiced communism in living. The +composition of the household shows that it was formed on the +principle of gentle kin, while the several families cooked at the +different fires, which was the usual practice in the different tribes; +the stores were probably common, and the household under a matron. +It will be noticed also that they gave him maize bread when he first +entered the house. He little supposed that it was in obedience to a +law or usage universal in the Indian family. + +[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Ho-de'-no-sote of the Seneca-Iroquois.] + +During the greater part of the year the Iroquois resided in villages. +The size of the village was estimated by the number of the houses, +and the size of the house by the number of fires it contained. One +of the largest of the Seneca-Iroquois villages, situated at Mendon, +near Rochester, N. Y. is thus described by Mr. Greenbalgh, who +visited it in 1677: "Tiotohatton is on the brink or edge of a hill, +has not much cleared ground, is near the river Tiotohatton [outlet +of Honeoye Lake], which signifies bending. It lies to the westward +of Canagora (Canandaigua) about thirty miles, contains about 120 +houses, being the largest of all the houses we saw, the ordinary +being fifty to sixty feet long, with twelve and thirteen fires in +one house. They have a good store of corn growing to the northward +of the town". [Footnote: Documentary History of New York, vol i. p 13.] + +The "long-house" of the Iroquois, from which they called themselves, +as one confederated people, Ho-de'-no-sau-nee (People of the +Long-House), was from fifty to eighty and sometimes one hundred feet +long. It consisted of a strong frame of upright poles set in the +ground, which were strengthened with horizontal poles attached with +withes, and surmounted with a triangular, and in some cases with a +round roof. It was covered over, both sides and roof, with large +strips of elm bark tied to the frame with strings or splints. An +external frame of poles for the sides and of rafters for the roof +were then adjusted to hold the bark shingles between them, the two +frames being tied together. + +[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Ground-plan of Seneca-Iroquois Long-House.] + +The interior of the house was comparted at intervals of six or eight +feet, leaving each chamber entirely open like a stall upon the +passage way which passed through the center of the house from end to +end. At each end was a doorway cohered with suspended skins. Between +each four apartments, two on a side, was a fire-pit in the center of +the hall, used in common by their occupants. Thus a house with five +fires would contain twenty apartments and accommodate twenty families, +unless some apartments were reserved for storage. They were warm, +roomy, and tidily-kept habitations. Raised bunks were constructed +around the walls of each apartment for beds. From the roof-poles +were suspended their strings of corn in the ear, braided by the husks, +also strings of dried squashes and pumpkins. Spaces were contrived +here and there to store away their accumulations of provisions. Each +house, as a rule was occupied by related families, the mothers and +their children belonging to the same gens, while their husbands and +the fathers of these children belonged to other gentes; consequently +the gens or clan of the mother largely predominated in the household. +Whatever was taken in the hunt or raised by cultivation by any +member of the household, as has elsewhere been stated, was for the +common benefit. Provisions were made a common stock within the +household. + +Here was communism in living carried out in practical life, but +limited to the household, and an expression of the principle in the +plan of the house itself. Having found it in one stock as well +developed as the Iroquois, a presumption of its universality in the +Indian family at once arises, because it was a law of their condition. +Evidence of its general prevalence has elsewhere been presented. + +In a previous chapter the usages of the Iroquois in regard to eating +have been given. It came practically to one cooked meal each day. +The separate fires in each house were for convenience in cooking, +all the stores in the house being common. The plan of life within +them was studied and economical. This is shown by the presence of a +matron in each household, who made a division of the food from the +kettle to each family according to their needs, and reserved what +remained for future disposal. It shows system and organization in +their long-houses, with a careful supervision of their stores, and +forethought as well as equity in the management and distribution of +their food. In these households, formed on the principle of kin, was +laid the foundation for that "mother power" which was even more +conspicuous in the tribes of the Old World, and which Professor +Bachofen was the first to discuss under the name of gyneocracy and +mother-right. [Footnote: Das Mutterrecht, Stuttgart, 1861.] + +Since the mothers who dwelt together were usually sisters, own or +collateral, and of the same gens, and since their children were also +of the gens of their mother, the preponderating number in the +household would be of gentile kin. The right and the influence of +the mother were protected and strengthened through the maternal as +well as the gentile bond. The husbands were in the minority as to +kindred. In case of separation it was the husband and not the wife +who left the house. But this influence of the woman did not reach +outward to the affairs of the gens phratry, or tribe, but seems to +have commenced and ended with the household. This view is quite +consistent with the life of patient drudgery and of general +subordination to the husband which the Iroquois wife cheerfully +accepted as the portion of her sex. Among the Grecian tribes descent +had been changed to the male line at the commencement of the +historical period. It thus reversed the position of the wife and +mother in the household: she was of a different gens from her +children, as well as her husband; and under monogamy was now +isolated from her gentile kindred, living in the separate and +exclusive house of her husband. Her new condition tended to subvert +and destroy that power and influence which descent in the female +line and the joint-tenement houses had created. It is, therefore, +the more surprising that so many traces of this anterior condition +should have remained in the Grecian and other tribes which Professor +Bachofen has pointed out, since gyneocracy and mother-right, as +discussed by him, must have originated among these tribes when under +the gentile organization, and with descent in the female line. + +The "Joint Undivided Family" of the Hindus at the present time, +"joint in food, worship, and estate," brought to our notice by Sir +Henry Maine, [Footnote: Early History of Institutions, Holt's ed., pp. +100 and 106.] is a similar but probably more numerous household +than that of the Iroquois. As soon as special investigation is made, +joint-tenement houses and communism in living are found to be +persistent features of barbarous life in the Old World as well as +the New, but limited to the household. Strabo informs us that the +Gauls lived in great houses, constructed of planks and wicker, with +dome roofs covered with heavy thatch. [Footnote: Lib. iv, c. 4, s. 3.] +Wherever such houses existed there is at least a presumption that +they were occupied by several families, who formed a single +household and practiced communism. + +The Iroquois long-houses disappeared before the commencement of the +present century. Very little is now remembered by the Indians +themselves of their form and mechanism, or of the plan of life +within them. Some knowledge of these houses remains among that class +of Indians who are curious about their ancient customs. It has +passed into the traditionary form, and is limited to a few +particulars. A complete understanding of the mode of life in these +long-houses will not, probably, ever be recovered. In 1743 Mr. John +Bartram attended a council at Onondaga, and kept a journal, +afterwards published, in which he inserted a ground plan of the +long-house in which they were quartered. It is the first ground plan +of one of these houses ever published, so far as the author is aware, +and the only one prior to the appearance of Johnson's Cyclopaedia in +1875. + +[Illustration: Fig. 14--Bartram's ground-plan and cross-section of +Onondaga Long-House, in 1743.] + +It should be noted that in 1696 Count Frontenac invaded Onondaga +with a large French and Indian force, and that the Onondagas +destroyed their principal village and retired. "The cabins of the +Indians," says the relator, "and the triple palisade which encircled +their fort were found entirely burnt." [Footnote: Documentary +History of New York, p. 332.] + +The new village visited by Mr. Bartram was probably quite near the +site of the old. He says, "The town in its present state is about +two or three miles long, yet the scattered cabins on both sides of +the water are not above forty in number; many of them hold two +families, but all stand single, so that the whole town is a strange +mixture of cabins, interspersed with great patches of high grass, +bushes and shrubs, some of peas, corn, and squashes.... We alighted +at the council-house, where the chiefs were already assembled to +receive us, which they did with a grave, cheerful complaisance +according to their custom. They showed us where to lay our luggage, +and repose ourselves during our stay with them, which was in the two +end apartments of this large house. The Indians that came with us +were placed over against us. This cabin is about eighty feet long +and seventeen broad, the common passage six feet wide, and the +apartments on each side five feet, raised a foot above the passage +by a long sapling hewed square, and fitted with joists that go from +it to the back of the house. On these joists they lay large pieces +of bark, and on extraordinary occasions spread mats made of rushes, +which favor we had. On these floors they set or lye down every one +as he will. The apartments are divided from each other by boards or +bark six or seven feet long from the lower floor to the upper, on +which they put their lumber. When they have eaten their hominy, as +they set in each apartment before the fire, they can put the bowl +over head, having not above five foot to reach. They set on the +floor sometimes at each end, but mostly at one. They have a shed to +put their wood into in the winter, or in the summer to set, converse +or play, that has a door to the south. All the sides and roof of the +cabin is made of bark, bound fast to poles set in the ground, and +bent round on the top, or set aflat for the roof as we set our +rafters; over each fire-place they leave a hole to let out the smoke, +which in rainy weather they cover with a piece of bark, and this +they can easily reach with a pole to push it on one side or quite +over the hole. After this manner are most of their cabins built." +[Footnote: Observations, etc.; Travels to Onondaga, Lond. ed., 1751, +pp. 40, 41] + +The end section shows a round roof, as in the houses of the Virginia +Indians, and the ground plan agrees in all respects with the old +long-houses of the Seneca-Iroquois as described by them to the +author before he had seen Mr. Bartram's plan. + +In the Documentary History of New York (vol. iii, p. 14) there is a +remarkable picture of the principal village of the Onondagas which +was visited or rather attacked by Champlain in 1615. The location of +this village was not established until 1877, when General John S. +Clarke, of Auburn, by means of Champlain's map and sketch of the +village, and his relation of the particulars of the expedition, +found the site of the village in the town of Fenner, some miles +northeast of the Onondaga Valley. + +It was situated upon the edge of a natural pond, covering ten acres +of land, and between a small brook which emptied into the pond on +the left and the outlet of the pond which passed it on the right. +The space covered by the village site was about six acres of land, +strongly fortified by a series of palisades. Champlain states in his +relation that "their village was enclosed with strong quadruple +palisades of large timber, thirty feet high, interlocked the one +with the other, with an interval of not more than half a foot +between them, with galleries in the form of parapets, defended with +double pieces of timber, proof against our arquebuses, and on one +side they had a pond with a never-failing supply of water, from +which proceeded a number of gutters which they had laid along the +intermediate space, throwing the water without, and rendering it +effectual inside for the purpose of extinguishing the fire. Such was +their mode of fortification and defence, which was much stronger +than the villages of the Attigouatuans (Hurons) and others." +[Footnote: Doc. Hist. New York, iii, 14.] + +Although Champlain attacked this place with fire-arms, then first +heard by the Onondagas, and by means of a rude tower of his invention, +and with a considerable force of French and Indians, he was unable +to capture it, and retired. The use of water, with gutters to flood +the ground upon an outer palisade when attacked with fire, as +imperfectly shown in the engraving, was certainly ingenious. General +Clarke has investigated the defensive works of the Iroquois, and it +is to be hoped that he will soon give the results to the public. + +Knowing, as we now do, that the space inclosed within the palisades +was about six acres of land, the houses are not only seen to be log +houses, but arranged or constructed side by side in blocks, and the +whole thrown together in the form of a square, with an open space in +the center. The houses seem to be in threes and fours, and even sixes, +side by side, and from sixty to one hundred feet in length; but if +this conclusion is fairly warranted by the engraving, it might well +be that each house was separated from its neighbor by a narrow open +space or lane. It is the only representation I have ever seen of a +palisaded village of the Iroquois of the period of their discovery. +It covered about fifty-four acres of land. + +The Mandans and Minnetarees of the Upper Missouri constructed a +timber-framed house, superior in design and in mechanical execution +to those of the Indians north of New Mexico. In 1862 I saw the +remains of the old Mandan village shortly after its abandonment by +the Arickarees, its last occupants. The houses, nearly all of which +were of the same model, were falling into decay--for the village was +then deserted of inhabitants, but some of them were still perfect, +and the plan of their structure easily made out. The above +ground-plan of the village was taken from the work of Prince +Maximilian, and the remaining illustrations are from sketches and +measurements of the author. It was situated upon a bluff on the west +side of the Missouri, and at a bend in the river which formed an +obtuse angle, and covered about six acres of land. The village was +surrounded with a stockade made of timbers set vertically in the +ground, and about ten feet high, but then in a dilapidated state. + +[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Mandan Village Plot.] + +The houses were circular in external form, the walls being about +five feet high, and sloping inward and upward from the ground, upon +which rested an inclined roof, both the exterior wall and the roof +being plastered over with earth a foot and a half thick. For this +reason they have usually been called "dirt lodges." + +[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Ground-plan of a Mandan House.] + +These houses are about forty feet in diameter, with the floor sunk a +foot or more below the surface of the ground, six feet high on the +inside at the line of the wall and from twelve to fifteen feet high +at the center. Twelve posts, six or eight inches in diameter, are +set in the ground, at equal distances, in the circumference of a +circle, and rising about six feet above the level of the floor. +String-pieces resting in forks cut in the ends of these posts, form +a polygon at the base and also upon the ground floor. Against these +an equal number of braces are sunk in the ground about four feet +distant, which slanting upward, are adjusted by means of depressions +cut in the ends, so as to hold both the posts and the stringers +firmly in their places. Slabs of wood are then set in the spaces +between the braces at the same inclination, and resting against the +stringers, which when completed surrounded the lodge with a wooden +wall. Four round posts, each six or eight inches in diameter, are +set in the ground near the center of the floor, in the angles of a +square, ten feet apart, and rising from ten to fifteen feet above +the ground floor. These again are connected by stringers resting in +forks at their tops, upon which and the external wall the rafters +rest. + +[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Cross-section of House.] + +The engraving exhibits a cross-section, as described. Poles three or +four inches in diameter are placed as rafters from the external wall +to the string-pieces above the central parts, and near enough +together to give the requisite strength to support thee earth +covering placed upon the roof. These poles were first covered over +with willow matting, upon which prairie grass was overspread, and +over all a deep covering of earth. An opening was left in the center, +about four feet in diameter, for the exit of the smoke and for the +admission of light. The interior was spacious and tolerably well +lighted, although the opening in the roof and a single doorway were +the only apertures through which light could penetrate. There was +but one entrance, protected by what has been called the Eskimo +doorway; that is, by a passage some five feet wide, ten or twelve +feet long, and about six feet high, constructed with split timbers, +roofed with poles, and covered with earth. Buffalo-robes suspended +at the outer and inner entrances supplied the place of doors. Each +house was comparted by screens of willow matting or unhaired skins +suspended from the rafters, with spaces between for storage. These +slightly-constructed apartments opened towards the central fire like +stalls, thus defining an open central area around the fire-pit, +which was the gathering place of the inmates of the lodge. This +fire-pit was about five feet in diameter, a foot deep, and encircled +with flat stones set up edgewise. A hard, smooth, earthen floor +completed the interior. Such a lodge would accommodate five or six +families, embracing thirty or forty persons. It was a communal house, +in accordance with the usages and institutions of the American +aborigines, and growing naturally out of their mode of life. I +counted forty-eight houses, winch would average forty feet in +diameter, all constructed upon this plan besides several rectangular +log houses of later erection and of the American type. + +[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Mandan house.] + +These houses, of which a representation is given in Fig. 19, were +thickly studded together to economize the space within the stockade, +so that in walking through the village you passed along some +circular foot-paths. There was no street, and it was impossible to +see in any direction except for short distances. In the center there +was an open space, where their religious rites and festivals were +observed. [Footnote: The war post, which stood in the center, and a +number of stone and bone implements I brought away with me, as +mementoes of the place. They are now in my collection.] + +Not the least interesting fact connected with these creditable +structures was the quantity of materials required for their erection +and the amount of labor required for their transportation for long +distances down the river, and to fashion them, with the aid of fire +and stone implements, into such comfortable dwellings. The trees are +here confined to the bottom lands between the banks of the river, +the river being bordered for miles by open prairies, and the trees +growing in patches at long distances apart. To cut the timber +without metallic implements, and to transport it without animal power, +indicate a degree of persevering industry highly creditable to a +people who, at this stage of progress, are averse to labor on the +part of the males. Habitual male industry makes its first appearance +in the next or the Middle Status of barbarism. The men here did the +heavy work. + +In the spaces between the lodges were their drying-scaffolds (Fig. 20), +one for each lodge, which were nearly as conspicuous in the distance +as the houses themselves. They were about twenty feet long, twelve +feet wide, and seven feet high to the flooring, made of posts set +upright, with cross-pieces resting in forks. Other poles were then +placed longitudinally, upon which was a flooring of willow mats. +These scaffolds, mounted with ladders (Fig. 21), were used for +drying their skins, and also their maize, meat, and vegetables. + +[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Drying scaffold.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 21.--Mandan ladder.] + +The Indians knew the use of the ladder, and some of them made an +excellent article before the discovery of America. When Coronado +visited and captured the seven so-called cities of Cibola in +1540-1542, he found the people living in seven or eight large +joint-tenement houses, each capable of holding about a thousand +persons. These houses were without entrances from the ground, but +they mounted to the first terrace by means of ladders, and so to +each successive story above. "The ladders which they have for their +houses," Coronado says in his relation, "are all in a manner movable +and portable as ours be." [Footnote: Hakluyt, Coll. of Voyages, +London ed., 1812, vol. 5, p. 498.] + +The ladders at the Mandan village were made of two limbs growing +nearly parallel and severed below the junction, as shown in the +figure, and set with the forked end upon the ground, and the ends +against the scaffold. Depressions were sunk in the rails to receive +the rounds, which were secured by rawhide strings. They were usually +from ten to twelve feet long, and one or two at each scaffold. + +Situated thus picturesquely on a bluff, at an angle of the river, +with houses of this peculiar model and with such an array of +scaffolds rising up among them, the village was strikingly +conspicuous for some distance both above and below on the river, and +presented a remarkable appearance. + +Afterwards, at the present Minnetaree and Mandan village about +sixty-five miles above on the east side of the Missouri, and also at +the new Arickaree village on the west side, and quite near it, I had +an opportunity to see houses precisely similar to those described in +actual occupation by the Indians, with their interior arrangements +and their mode of life. + +A reference, at least, should be made to the Maricopas and Mohaves +of the Lower Colorado River, who, although village Indians of the +pueblo type, still live in ordinary communal houses of the northern +type, which are thus described by General Emory: "They (the Maricopas) +occupy thatched cottages thirty or forty feet in diameter, made of +twigs of cottonwood trees, interwoven with straw of wheat, cornstalks, +and cane." [Footnote: Notes, &c., New Mexico, p. 132. See also +Bartlet's Personal Narrative, p. 230.] + +Those occupied by the Mohaves, as described by Captain Sitgreave, +are similar in character. [Footnote: Expedition, &c., Zunyi and +Colorado, p. 19.] + +The Pimas of the Gila River, on the contrary, claim that their +ancestors erected houses of adobe brick, and cultivated by irrigation. +They point to the remains of ancient structures and of old acequias +in the valley of the Gila, as Captain Crossman informs us, as +the works of their forefathers. But now their condition is very +similar to that of the Mohaves. The last-named writer remarks that +"generally several married couples with their children live in one hut." +[Footnote: Smithsonian Report for 1871, p. 415.] + +The first two tribes, although their antecedent history is little +known, seem to be in a transitional stage from the Lower to the +Middle Status of barbarism, having passed into the horticultural and +sedentary condition without being far enough advanced to imitate +their near neighbors in the use of adobe brick and of stone in their +houses. They seem to be existing examples of that ever-recurring +advancement of ruder tribes in past ages, through which the Village +Indians of the pueblo type were constantly replenished from the more +barbarous tribes. The present Taos Indians are another example. + +It is made reasonably plain, I think, from the facts stated, that in +the Upper Status of savagery, and also in the Lower Status of +barbarism, the Indian household was formed of a number of families +of gentile kin; that they practiced communism in living in the +household, and that this principle found expression in their house +architecture and predetermined its character. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO. + + +We are next to consider the houses and mode of life of the Sedentary +Village Indians, among whom architecture exhibits a higher +development, with the use of durable materials, and with the +defensive principle superadded to that of adaptation to communism in +living. It will not be difficult to discover and follow this latter +principle, as one of the chief characteristics of this architecture +in the pueblo houses in New Mexico, and in the region of the San +Juan River, and afterwards in those of Mexico and Central America. +Throughout all these regions there was one connected system of house +architecture, as there was substantially one mode of life. + +In New Mexico, going southward, the Indians, at the epoch of +discovery, were not in a new dress and in an improved condition. +They had advanced out of the Lower and into the Middle Status of +barbarism; the houses in which they dwelt were of adobe brick or of +stone, two, three, four, and sometimes five and six stories in height, +and containing from fifty to five hundred apartments. They +cultivated maize and plants by means of irrigating canals. The water +was drawn from a running stream, taken at a point above the pueblo +and carried down and through a series of garden beds. They wore +mantles of cotton, as well as garments of skin. + +[Footnote: "They have no cotton-wool growing, because the country is +cold, yet they wear mantles thereof, as your honor may see by the +show thereof; and true it is, that there was found in their houses +certain yarn made of cotton-wool."--Coronado's Relation, Hakluyt's +Coll. of Voyages, London ed., 1600, iii, p. 377.] + +[Footnote: "Their garments were of cotton and deer skins, and the +attire, both of men and women, was after the manner of Indians of +Mexico.... Both men and women wore shoes and boots, with good soles +of neat's leather--a thing never seen in any part of the Indies."-- +Voyages to New Mexico, by Friar Augustin Rueyz, a Franciscan, in 1581, +and Antonio de Espejo in 1583. Explorations for Railroad Route, &c., +Report Indian Tribes, vol. iii, p. 114.] + +The present Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are in the main their +descendants. They live, some of them, in the same identical houses +their forefathers occupied at the time of Coronado's expedition to +New Mexico in 1541-1542, as at Acoma, Jemez, and Taos, and although +their plan and mode of life have changed in some respects in the +interval, it is not unlikely that they remain to this day a fair +sample of the life of the Village Indians from Zunyi to Cuzco as it +existed in the sixteenth century. + +The Indians north of New Mexico did not construct their houses more +than one story high, or of more durable materials than a frame of +poles or of timber covered with matting or bark, or coated over with +earth. A stockade around their houses was their principal protection. +In New Mexico, going southward, are met for the first time houses +constructed with several stories. Sun-dried brick must have come +into use earlier than stone. The practice of the ceramic art would +suggest the brick sooner or later. At all events, what are supposed +to be the oldest remains of architecture in New Mexico, such as the +Casas Grandes of the Gila and Salinas rivers, are of adobe brick. +They also used cobble-stone with adobe mortar, and finally thin +pieces of tabular sandstone, prepared by fracture, which made a +solid and durable stone wall. Some of the existing pueblo houses in +New Mexico are as old as the expedition of Coronado (1540-1542). +Others, constructed since that event, and now occupied, are of the +aboriginal model. There are at present about twenty of these pueblos +in New Mexico, inhabited by about 7, 000 Village Indians, the +descendants of those found there by Coronado. They are still living +substantially under their ancient organization and usages. Besides +these, there are seven pueblos of the Mokis, near the Little Colorado, +occupied by about 3,000 Indians, who have remained undisturbed to +the present time, except by Roman Catholic missionaries, and among +whom the entire theory of life of the Sedentary Village Indians may +yet be obtained. These Village Indians represent at the present +moment the type of life found from Zunyi to Cuzco at the epoch of +the Discovery, and, while they are not the highest, they are no +unfit representatives of the entire class. + +The Yucatan and Central American Indians were, in their architecture, +in advance of the remaining aborigines of North America. Next to them, +probably, were the Aztecs, and some few tribes southward. Holding +the third position, though not far behind, were the Village Indians +of New Mexico. All alike they depended upon horticulture for +subsistence, and cultivated by irrigation; cotton being superadded +to the maize, beans, squashes, and tobacco, cultivated by the +northern tribes. Their houses, with those previously described, +represent together an original indigenous architecture, which, with +its diversities, sprang out of their necessities. Its fundamental +communal type, I repeat, is found not less clearly in the houses +about to be described, and in the so-called palace at Palenque, than +in the long-house of the Iroquois. An examination of the plan of the +structures in Mexico, New Mexico, and Central America will tend to +establish the truth of this proposition. + +New Mexico is a poor country for civilized man, but quite well +adapted to Sedentary Indians, who cultivate about one acre out of +every hundred thousand. This region, and the San Juan, immediately +north of it, possessed a number of narrow fertile valleys, +containing together, possibly, 50,000 inhabitants, and it is +occupied now by their descendants (excepting the San Juan) in manner +and form as it was then. Each pueblo consisted either of a single +great house, or of three or four such houses grouped together; and +what is more significant, the New Mexican pueblo is a fair type of +those now found in ruins in Yucatan, Chiapas, Guatemala, and Honduras, +in general plan and in situation. All the people lived together in +these great houses on terms of equality, for their institutions were +essentially democratical. Common tenements for common Indians around +these structures were not found there by Coronado in 1541, neither +have any been found there since. There is not the slightest ground +for supposing that any such tenements ever existed around those in +Yucatan and Central America. Every structure was in the nature of a +fortress, showing the insecurity in which they lived. + +Since the year 1846, the date of the conquest of New Mexico, a +number of military reconnaissances, under the direction of the War +Department, have been made in various parts of the Territory. The +army officers in change devoted their chief attention to the +physical geography and resources of the regions traversed; but, +incidentally, they investigated the pueblos in ruins, and the +present condition of the Pueblo Indians. The admirable manner in +which they have executed the work is shown by the series of reports +issued from time to time by the government. More recently, the +Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, under Prof. F. +V. Hayden, geologist in charge, and also the Geographical and +Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, Maj. J. W. Powell, +geologist in charge, have furnished a large amount of additional +information concerning the ruins on the San Juan and its tributaries, +the Cliff Houses on the Mancos River and elsewhere, and the Moki +Pueblos. Valuable as this information is to us, it falls short of a +full exposition of these several subjects. + +At the time of Coronado's expedition to capture the Seven Cities of +Cibola, so called in the relations of the period, the aborigines of +New Mexico manufactured earthen vessels of large size and excellent +workmanship, wove cotton fabrics with spun thread, cultivated +irrigated gardens, were armed with the bow, arrow, and shield, wore +deer-skins and buffalo robes and also cotton mantles as external +garments, and had domesticated the wild turkey. + +[Footnote: "We found here Guinea cocks [turkeys], but few. The +Indians tell me in all these seven cities that they eat them not, +but that they keep them only for their feathers. I believe them not, +for they are excellent good, and greater than those of Mexico."-- +Coronado Rel., Hakluyt, iii, 377.] + +"They had hardly provisions enough for themselves," remarks +Jaramillo of the Cibolans, "and what they had consisted of maize, +beans, and squashes." [Footnote: Relation of Capt. Juan Jaramillo, +Coll. Terneaux-Compans, ix, 369.] + +"What was true of the Cibolans in this respect was doubtless true of +the Sedentary Indians in general. Each pueblo was an independent +organization under a council of chiefs, except as several contiguous +pueblos, speaking dialects of the same language, were confederated +for mutual protection, of which the seven Cibolan pueblos, situated +probably in the valley of the Rio Chaco, within an extent of twelve +miles, afford a fair example." The degree of their advancement is +more conspicuously shown in their house architecture. + +The present Village Indians of New Mexico, or at least some of them, +still manufacture earthen vessels, and spin and weave cotton fabrics +in the aboriginal manner, and live in houses of the ancient model. +Some of them, as the Mokis and Lagunas, are organized in gentes, and +governed by a council of chiefs, each village being independent and +self-governing. They observe the same law of hospitality universally +practiced by the Northern Indians. Upon this subject, Mr. David J. +Miller, of Santa Fe, writes as follows to the author: "A visitor to +one of their houses is invariably tendered its hospitality in the +form of food placed before him. A failure to tender it is deemed a +grave breach of hospitality and an insult; and a declension to +partake of it would be regarded as a breach of etiquette. As among us, +they have their rich and their poor, and the former give to the +latter cheerfully and in due plenty." Here we find a nearly exact +repetition of the Iroquois and Mandan rules of hospitality before +given. Whether or not they formerly practiced communism in household +groups, I am not informed. Their houses are adapted to this mode of +life, as will presently be shown; and upon that fact and their stage +of social advancement, the deduction of the practice must for the +present rest. + + * * * * * + +JOINT TENEMENT HOUSES OF VILLAGE INDIANS IN NEW MEXICO. + +Santo Domingo is composed of several structures of adobe brick +grouped together, as shown in the engraving, Fig 22. Each is about +two hundred feet long, with two parallel rows of apartments on the +ground, of which the front row is carried up one story, and the back +two; the flat roof of the first story forming a terrace in front of +the second. The first story is closed up solid for defensive reasons, +with the exception of small window openings. The first terrace is +reached by means of ladders from the ground; the rooms in the first +story are entered through trap-doors in the floors, and in the +second through doors opening upon the terrace, and also through +trap-doors through the floors which form the roof. These structures +are typical of all the aboriginal houses in New Mexico. They show +two principal features: first, the terraced form of architecture, +common also in Mexico, with the house tops as the social gathering +places of the inmates; and, second, a closed ground story for safety. +Every house, therefore, is a fortress. Lieutenant Abert remarks upon +one of the houses of this pueblo, of which he gives an elevation, +that "the upper story is narrower than the one below, so that there +is a platform or landing along the whole length of the building. To +enter, you ascend to the platform by means of ladders that could +easily be removed; and, as there is a parapet wall extending along +the platform, these houses could be converted into formidable forts." +[Footnote: Ex. Doc. No. 41, 1st session 30th Congress, 1848, p. 462.] + +The number of apartments in each house is not stated. The different +houses at that time were inhabited by eight hundred Indians. +Chimneys now appear above the roofs, the fire-place being at the +angle of the chamber in front. These were evidently of later +introduction. The defensive element, so prominent in this +architecture, was not so much to protect the Village Indians from +each other, as from the attacks of migrating bands flowing down upon +them from the North. The pueblos now in ruins throughout the +original area of New Mexico, and for some distance north of it, +testify to the perpetual struggle of the former to maintain their +ground, as well as prove the insecurity in which they lived. It +could be shown that the second and additional stories were suggested +by the defensive principle. + +Zunyi, Fig. 23, is the largest occupied pueblo in New Mexico at the +present time. It probably once contained five thousand inhabitants, +but in 1851 the number was reduced to fifteen hundred. The village +consists of several structures, most of them accessible to each from +their roof terraces. They are constructed of adobe brick, and of +stone embedded in adobe mortar, and plastered over. + +In the summer of 1879, Mr. James Stevenson, in charge of the field +parties under Major Powell, made an extended visit to Zunyi and the +neighboring pueblos, for the purpose of making collections of their +implements, utensils, etc., during which time the photographs from +which the accompanying illustrations of the pueblos were made. His +wife accompanied him, and she has furnished us the following +description of that pueblo: + +"Zunyi is situated in Western New Mexico, being built upon a knoll +covering about fifteen acres, and some forty feet above the right +bank of the river of the same name. + +"Their extreme exclusiveness has preserved to the Zunyians their +strong individuality, and kept their language pure. According to +Major Powell's classification, their speech forms one of four +linguistic stocks to which may be traced all the pueblo dialects of +the southwest. In all the large area which was once thickly dotted +with settlements, only thirty-one remain, and these are scattered +hundreds of miles apart from Taos, in Northern New Mexico to Islet, +in Western Texas. Among these remnants of great native tribes, the +Zunyians may claim perhaps the highest position, whether we regard +simply their agricultural and pastoral pursuits, or consider their +whole social and political organization. + +"The town of Zunyi is built in the most curious style. It resembles +a great beehive, with the houses piled one upon another in a +succession of terraces, the roof of one forming the floor or yard of +the next above, and so on, until in some cases five tiers of +dwellings are successively erected, though no one of them is over +two stories high. These structures are of stone and 'adobe'. They +are clustered around two plazas, or open squares, with several +streets and three covered ways through the town. + +"The upper houses of Zunyi are reached by ladders from the outside. +The lower tiers have doors on the ground plan, while the entrances +to the others are from the terraces. There is a second entrance +through hatchways in the roof, and thence by ladders down into the +rooms below. In many of the pueblos there are no doors whatever on +the ground floor, but the Zunyians assert that their lowermost +houses have always been provided with such openings. In times of +threatened attack the ladders were either drawn up or their rungs +were removed, and the lower doors were securely fastened in some of +the many ingenious ways these people have of barring the entrances +to their dwellings. The houses have small windows, in which mica was +originally used, and is still employed to some extent; but the +Zunyians prize glass highly, and secure it, whenever practicable, at +almost any cost. A dwelling of average capacity has four or five +rooms, though in some there are as many as eight. Some of the larger +apartments are paved with flagging, but the floors are usually +plastered with clay, like the walls. Both are kept in constant +repair by the women, who mix a reddish-brown earth with water to the +proper consistency and then spread it by hand, always laying it in +semicircles. It dries smooth and even, and looks well. In working +this plaster the squaw keeps her mouth filled with water, which is +applied with all the dexterity with which a Chinese laundry-man +sprinkles clothes. The women appear to delight in this work, which +they consider their special prerogative, and would feel that their +rights were infringed upon were men to do it. In building, the men +lay the stone foundations and set in place the huge logs that serve +as beams to support the roof, the spaces between these rafters being +filled with willow-brush; though some of the wealthier Zunyians use +instead shingles made by the carpenters of the village. The women +then finish the structure. The ceilings of all the older houses are +low; but Zunyi architecture has improved and the modern style gives +plenty of room, with doors through which one may pass without +stooping. The inner walls are usually whitened. For this purpose a +kind of white clay is dissolved in boiling water and applied by hand. +A glove of undressed goat-skin is worn, the hand being dipped in the +hot liquid and then passed repeatedly over the wall. + +"In Zunyi, as elsewhere, riches and official position confer +importance upon their possessors. The wealthy class live in the +lower houses, those of moderate means next above, while the poorer +families have to be content with the uppermost stories. Naturally +no one will climb into the garret who has the means of securing +more convenient apartments, under the huge system of 'French +flats', which is the way of living in Zunyi. Still there is +little or no social distinction in the rude civilization, the whole +population of the town living almost as one family. The Alcalde, or +Lieutenant-Governor, furnishes an exception to the general rule, as +his official duties require him to occupy the highest house of all, +from the top of which he announces each morning to the people the +orders of the Governor, and makes such other proclamation as may be +required of him. + +"Each family has one room, generally the largest in the house, where +they work, eat, and sleep together. In this room the wardrobe of the +family hangs upon a log suspended beneath the rafters, only the more +valued robes, such as those worn in the dance, being wrapped and +carefully stored away in another apartment. Work of all kinds goes +on in this large room, including the cookery, which is done in a +fire-place on the long side, made by a projection at right angles +with the wall, with a mantel-piece on which rests the base of the +chimney. Another fire-place in a second room is from six to eight +feet in width, and above this is a ledge shaped somewhat like a +Chinese awning. A highly-polished slab, fifteen or twenty inches in +size, is raised a foot above the hearth. Coals are heaped beneath +this slab, and upon it the Waiavi is baked. This delicious kind of +bread is made of meal ground finely and spread in a thin batter upon +the stone with the naked hand. It is as thin as a wafer, and these +crisp, gauzy sheets, when cooked, are piled in layers and then +folded or rolled. Light bread, which is made only at feast times, is +baked in adobe ovens outside the house. When not in use for this +purpose the ovens make convenient kennels for the dogs and +play-houses for the children. Neatness is not one of the +characteristics of the Zunyians. In the late autumn and winter +months the women do little else than make bread, often in fanciful +shapes, for the feasts and dances which continually occur. A sweet +drink, not at all intoxicating, is made from the sprouted wheat. The +men use tobacco, procured from white traders, in the form of +cigarettes from corn-husks; but this is a luxury in which the women +do not indulge. + +"The Pueblo mills are among the most interesting things about the +town. These mills, which are fastened to the floor a few feet from +the wall, are rectangular in shape, and divided into a number of +compartments, each about twenty inches wide and deep, the whole +series ranging from five to ten feet in length, according to the +number of divisions. The walls are made of sandstone. In each +compartment a flat grinding stone is firmly set, inclining at an +angle of forty-five degrees. These slabs are of different degrees of +smoothness, graduated successively from coarse to fine. The squaws, +who alone work at the mills, kneel before them and bend over them as +a laundress does over the wash-tub, holding in their hands long +stones of volcanic lava, which they rub up and down the slanting +slabs, stopping at intervals to place the grain between the stones. +As the grinding proceeds the grist is passed from one compartment to +the next until, in passing through the series, it becomes of the +desired fineness. This tedious and laborious method has been +practiced without improvement from time immemorial, and in some of +the arts the Zunyians have actually retrograded." + +The living-rooms are about twelve by eighteen feet and about nine +feet high, with plastered walls and an earthen floor, and usually a +single window opening for light. To form a durable ceiling round +timbers about six inches in diameter are placed three or four feet +apart from the outer to the inner wall. Upon these, poles are placed +transversely in juxtaposition. A deep covering of adobe mortar is +placed upon them, forming the roof terrace in front, and the floor +of the apartments above in the receding second story. Water-jars of +their own manufacture, of fine workmanship, and holding several +gallons, closely woven osier baskets of their own make, and blankets +of cotton and wool, woven by their own hand-looms, are among the +objects seen in these apartments. They are neatly kept, roomy and +comfortable, and differ in no respect from those in use at the +period of the conquest, as will elsewhere be shown. The mesa +elevation upon which the old town of Zunyi was situated is seen in +the background of the engraving, Fig. 23. + +It should be noticed that this architecture, and the necessities +that gave it birth, led to a change in the mode of life from the +open ground to the terraces or flat roofs of these great houses. +When not engaged in tillage, the terraces were the gathering and +living places of the people. During the greater part of the year +they lived practically in the open air, to which the climate was +adapted, and upon their housetops, first for safety and afterwards +from habit. + +Elevations of the principal pueblos of New Mexico have from time to +time been published. They agree in general plan, but show +considerable diversity in details. Rude but massive structures, they +accommodated all the people of the village in security within their +walls. + +The Moki Pueblos are supposed to be the towns of Tusayan, visited by +a detachment of Coronado's expedition in 1541. Since the acquisition +of New Mexico they have been rarely visited, because of their +isolation and distance from American settlements. + +The accompanying illustration of Wolpi, Fig. 25, one of these pueblos, +is from a photograph taken by Major Powell's party. + +In 1858 Lieut. Joseph C. Ives, in command of the Colorado Exploring +Expedition, visited the Moki Pueblos, near the Little Colorado. They +are seven in number, situated upon mesa elevations within an extent +of ten miles, difficult of access, and constructed of stone. +Mi-shong'-i-ni'-vi, the first one entered, is thus described. After +ascending the rugged sides of the mesa by a flight of stone steps, +Lieutenant Ives remarks: "We came upon a level summit, and had the +walls of the pueblo on one side and an extensive and beautiful view +upon the other. Without giving us time to admire the scene, the +Indians led us to a ladder planted against the front face of the +pueblo. The town is nearly square, and surrounded by a stone wall +fifteen feet high, the top of which forms a landing extending around +the whole. Flights of stone steps led from the first to a second +landing, upon which the doors of the houses open. Mounting the +stairway opposite to the ladder, the chief crossed to the nearest +door and ushered us into a low apartment, from which two or three +others opened towards the interior of the dwelling. Our host +courteously asked us to be seated upon some skins spread along the +floor against the wall, and presently his wife brought in a vase of +water and a tray filled with a singular substance (tortillas), that +looked more like a sheet of thin blue wrapping paper than anything +else I had ever seen. I learned afterwards that it was made from +corn meal, ground very fine, made into a gruel, and poured over a +heated stone to be baked. When dry it has a surface slightly polished, +like paper. The sheets are folded and rolled together, and form the +staple article of food of the Moki Indians. As the dish was intended +for our entertainment, and looked clean, we all partook of it. It +has a delicate fresh-bread flavor, and was not at all unpalatable, +particularly when eaten with salt.... The room was fifteen feet by +ten; the walls were made of adobes; the partitions of substantial +beams; the floors laid with clay. In one corner were a fire-place +and chimney. Everything was clean and tidy. Skins, bows and arrows, +quivers, antlers, blankets, articles of clothing and ornament were +hanging upon the walls or arranged upon the shelves. At the other +end was a trough divided into compartments, in each of which was a +sloping stone slab, two or three feet square, for grinding corn upon. +In a recess of an inner room was piled a goodly store of corn in the +ear.... Another inner room appeared to be a sleeping apartment, but +this being occupied by females we did not enter, though the Indians +seemed to be pleased rather than otherwise at the curiosity evinced +during the close inspection of their dwelling and furniture.... Then +we went out upon the landing, and by another flight of steps +ascended to the roof, where we beheld a magnificent panorama.... We +learned that there were seven towns.... Each pueblo is built around +a rectangular court, in which we suppose are the springs that +furnish the supply to the reservoirs. The exterior walls, which are +of stone, have no openings, and would have to be scaled or battered +down before access could be gained to the interior. The successive +stories are set back, one behind the other. The lower rooms are +reached through trap-doors from the first landing. The houses are +three rooms deep, and open upon the interior court. The arrangement +is as strong and compact as could well be devised but as the court +is common, and the landings are separated by no partitions, it +involves a certain community of residence." [Footnote: Colorado +Exploring Expedition, p. 121.] + +This account leaves a doubt whether the stones receded from the +inclosed court outward or from the exterior inward. Lieutenant Ives +does not state that he passed through the building into the court +and ascended to the first platform from within, and yet the +remainder of the description seems to imply that he did, and that +the structure occupied but three sides of the court, since he states +that "the houses are three rooms deep and open upon the interior +court." The structure was three stories high. + +[Illustration: Fig. 26.--Room in Moki House.] + +The above engraving was prepared for an article by Maj. Powell, on +these Indians. Two rooms are shown together, apparently by leaving +out the wooden partition which separated them, showing an extent of +at least thirty feet. The large earthen water-jars are interesting +specimens of Moki pottery. At one side is the hand mill for grinding +maize. The walls are ornamented with bows, quivers, and the floor +with water-jars, as described by Lieutenant Ives. + +In places on the sides of the bluffs at this and other pueblos, +Lieutenant Ives observed gardens cultivated by irrigation. "Between +the two," he remarks, "the faces of the bluff have been ingeniously +converted into terraces. These were faced with neat masonry, and +contained gardens, each surrounded with a raised edge so as to +retain water upon the surface. Pipes from the reservoirs permitted +them at any time to be irrigated." [Footnote: Colorado Exploring +Expedition, p. 120.] + +Fig. 27 shows one of two large adobe structures constituting the +pueblo of Taos, in New Mexico. It is from a photograph taken by the +expedition under Major Powell. It is situated upon Taos Creek, at +the western base of the Sierra Madre Range, which forms the eastern +border of the broad valley of the Rio Grande, into which the Taos +stream runs. It is an old and irregular building, and is supposed to +be the Braba of Coronado's expedition. [Footnote: Relation of +Castenada, Coll. H. Ternaeux-Compans. ix, 138. Trans. of American +Ethnological Society.] + +Some ruins still remain, quite near, of a still older pueblo, whose +inhabitants, the Taos Indians affirm, they conquered and dispossessed. +The two structures stand about twenty-five rods apart, on opposite +sides of the stream, and facing each other. That upon the north side, +represented in the above engraving, is about two hundred and fifty +feet long, one hundred and thirty feet deep, and five stories high; +that upon the south side is shorter and deeper, and six stories high. +The present population of the pueblo, about four hundred, are +divided between the two houses, and they are a thrifty, industrious, +and intelligent people. Upon the east side is a long adobe wall, +connecting the two buildings, or rather protecting the open space +between them. A corresponding wall, doubtless, closed the space on +the opposite side, thus forming a large court between the buildings, +but, if so, it has now disappeared. The creek is bordered on both +sides with ample fields or gardens, which are irrigated by canals, +drawing water from the stream. The adobe is of a yellowish-brown +color, and the two structures make a striking appearance as they are +approached. Fire-places and chimneys have been added to the +principal room of each family; but it is evident that they are modern, +and that the suggestion came from Spanish sources. They are +constructed in the corner of the room. The first story is built up +solid, and those above recede in the terraced form. Ladders planted +against the walls show the manner in which the several stories are +reached, and, with a few exceptions, the rooms are entered through +trap-doors by means of ladders. Children and even dogs run up and +down these ladders with great freedom. The lower rooms are used for +storage and granaries, and the upper for living rooms; the families +in the rooms above owning and controlling the rooms below. The +pueblo has its chiefs. + +The measurements of the two edifices were furnished to the writer in +1864 by Mr. John Ward, at that time a government Indian agent, by +the procurement of Dr. M. Steck, superintendent of Indian affairs in +New Mexico. Among further particulars given by Mr. Ward are the +following: "The thickness of the walls of these houses depends +entirely upon the size of the adobe and the way in which it is laid +upon the wall; that is, whether lengthwise or crosswise. There is no +particular standard for the size of the adobes. On the buildings in +question the adobes on the upper stories are laid lengthwise, and +will average about ten inches in width, which gives the thickness of +the walls. On the first story or ground rooms the adobes are in most +places laid crosswise, thus making the thickness of these walls just +the length of the adobe, which averages about twenty inches. The +width of an adobe is usually one-half its length, and the thickness +will average about four inches. The floors and roofs are coated with +mud mortar from four to six inches thick, which is laid on and +smoothed over with the hand. This work is usually performed by women. +When the right kind of earth can be obtained the floor can be made +very hard and smooth, and will last a very long time without needing +repairs. The walls both inside and out are coated in the same manner. +On the inside, however, more care is taken to make the walls as even +and smooth as possible, after which they are whitewashed with gesso +or gypsum." + +Several rooms on the ground floor were measured by Mr. Ward and +found to be, in feet, 14 by 18, 20 by 22, and 24 by 27, with a +height of ceiling averaging from 7 to 8 feet. In the second story +they measured, in feet, 14 by 23, 12 by 20, and 15 by 20, with a +height of ceiling varying from 7 to 7 1/2 feet. The rooms in the +third, fourth, and fifth stories were found to diminish in size with +each story. There is probably a mistake here, as the main +longitudinal partition walls must have been carried up upon each +other from bottom to top. A few of the doorways were measured and +found to range from 2 1/2 feet wide by 4 1/2 feet high and 2 1/3 +feet wide by 4 10/12 feet high. The scuttles or trap-doors in the +floors, through which they descended into these rooms by means of +ladders, were 3 feet by 2 1/2, 3 feet by 2, and 1 feet 10 inches by +2 1/2 feet, and the window openings through the walls were, in +inches, 14 by 14, 8 by 16, 16 by 20, and 18 by 18. + +Mr. Ward then proceeds: "No room has more than two windows; very few +have more than one. The back rooms usually have one or more round +holes made through the walls from six to eight inches in diameter +These openings furnish the apartments with a scanty supply of light +and air The first story or the ground rooms are usually without +doors or windows, the only entrance being through the scuttle-holes +or doors in the roof, which are within the rooms comprising the +story immediately above. These basement rooms are used for +store-rooms. Those in the upper stories are the rooms mostly +inhabited. Those located in the front part of the building receive +their light through the doors and windows before described. The back +rooms have no other light than that which goes in through the +scuttle-holes and the partition walls leading from the front rooms, +that is, where a room is so situated as to have both. Others again +have no other light than that which enters through the holes already +described. Such rooms are always gloomy. Some families have as many +as four or five rooms, one of which is set apart for cooking, and is +furnished with a large fire-place for the purpose. Those who have +only two or three rooms usually cook and sleep in the same apartment, +and in such cases they cook in the usual fireplace, which stands in +one corner of the room. No perceptible addition has been made to +either of the buildings for many years, and it is evident that after +the death or removal of their owners they were entirely neglected. +Those in good condition are still occupied. From the best +information attainable the original buildings were not erected all +at one time, but were added to from time to time by additional rooms, +including the second, third, and more stories. There are no regular +terraces, the roof of the rooms below answering that purpose. Thus +it is that no entire circuit can be made around any one of these +stories, the only thing that can be called a terrace being the +narrow space left in front of some of the rooms from the roofs of +the lower rooms." + +Mr. Ward seems to object to the word "terrace" in defining the +platform left in front of each story as a means of access to its +apartments and to the successive stories. It was used by the early +Spanish writers to explain the same peculiarity found in many of the +great houses in the pueblo of Mexico and elsewhere over Mexico, the +roofs being flat and the stories receding from each other. While +this platform is not in strictness a terrace, the term expresses +this architectural feature with sufficient clearness. The two +structures at Taos are large enough to accommodate five hundred +persons in each, the inmates living in the Indian fashion. They were +occupied in 1864 by three hundred and sixty-one Taos Indians. + +"Each terrace is reached," remarks Mr. Miller before mentioned, +speaking of the pueblos in general, "by a wooden ladder, first from +the ground and afterward from the one below; and ingress and egress +to and from the rooms below is on the inside in the room above +through trap-doors and upon ladders. It is wonderful to see with +what agility the Indian children and the dogs run up and down these +ladders. Nowhere is there any side communication between the rooms +in the great building, and but one family occupy each series of +rooms situated one above the other." This last statement is too +broadly made, as we have seen that Mr. Ward has given the +measurements of doors through partition walls. Such doors will also +be shown in a subsequent engraving. But there is no doubt of the +fact that the number of lateral rooms communicating with each other +was small, and that the families or groups, if such existed, united +in a communal household, were separated from each other by solid +partition walls, a fact which will reappear in the house-architecture +of Yucatan. + +In 1877, David J. Miller, esq, of Santa Fe, visited the Taos Pueblo +at my request, to make some further investigations. He reports to me +the following facts: The government is composed of the following +persons, all of whom, except the first, are elected annually. 1. A +cacique or principal sachem. 2. A governor or alcalde. 3. A +lieutenant-governor. 4. A war captain, and a lieutenant war captain. +5. Six fiscals of policemen. "The cacique," Mr. Miller says, +"has the general control of all officers in the performance of their +duties, transacts the business of the pueblo with the surrounding +whites, Indian agents, etc., and imposes reprimands or severer +punishments upon delinquents. He is keeper of the archives of the +pueblo; for example, he has in his keeping the United States patent +for the tract of four square leagues on which the pueblo stands, +which was based upon the Spanish grant of 1689; also deeds of other +purchased lands adjoining the pueblo. He holds his office for life. +At his death, the people elect his successor. The cacique may, +before his death, name his successor, but the nomination must be +ratified by the people represented by their principal men assembled +in the estufa. In this cacique may be recognized the sachem of the +northern tribes, whose duties were purely of a civil character. +Mr. Miller does not define the duties of the governor. They were +probably judicial, and included an oversight of the property rights +of the people in their cultivated lands, and in rooms or sections of +the pueblo houses." + +"The lieutenant-governor," he remarks, "is the sheriff to receive +and execute orders. The war captain has twelve subordinates under +his command to police the pueblo, and supervise the public grounds, +such as grazing lands, the cemetery, estufas, &c. The lieutenant war +captain executes the orders of his principal, and officiates for him +during his absence, or in case of his disability. The six fiscals +are a kind of town police. It is their duty to see that the +catechism (Catholic) is taught in the pueblo, and learned by the +children, and generally to keep order and execute the municipal +regulations of the pueblo under the direction of the governor, who +is charged with the duty of seeing to their execution." + +"The regular time for meeting in the estufa is the last day of +December, annually, for the election of officers for the ensuing year. +The cacique, governor, and principal men nominate candidates, and +the election decides. There may also be a fourth nomination of +candidates, that is, by the people. In the election, all adult males +vote; the officers first, and then the general public. The officers +elected are at the present time sworn in by the United States +Territorial officials." + +In this simple government we have a fair sample, in substance and in +spirit, of the ancient government of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. +Some modification of the old system may be detected in the +limitation of officers below the grade of cacique to one year. From +what is known of the other pueblos in New Mexico, that of Taos is a +fair example of all of them in governmental organization at the +present time. They are, and always were, essentially republican, +which is in entire harmony with Indian institutions. I may repeat +here what I have ventured to assert on previous occasions, that the +whole theory of governmental and domestic life among the Village +Indians of America from Zunyi to Cuzco can still be found in New +Mexico. + +The representation of a room in this pueblo, Fig. 28, is from a +sketch by Mr. Galbraith, who accompanied Major Powell's party to New +Mexico. + +What Mr. Miller refers to as "property rights and titles" and +"ownership in fee" of land, is sufficiently explained by the +possessory right which is found among the northern Indian tribes. +The limitations upon its alienation to an Indian from another pueblo, +or to a white man, not to lay any stress upon the absence of written +titles or conveyances of land which have been made possible by +Spanish and American intercourse, show very plainly that their ideas +respecting the ownership of the absolute title to land, with power +to alienate to whomsoever the person pleased, were entirely above +their conception of property and its uses. All the ends of +individual ownership and of inheritance were obtained through a mere +right of possession, while the ultimate title remained in the tribe. +According to the statement of Mr. Miller, if the father dies, his +land is divided between his widow and children, and if a woman, her +land is divided equally between her sons and daughters. This is an +important statement, because, assuming its correctness, it shows +inheritance of children from both father and mother, a total +departure from the principles of gentile inheritance. In 1878 I +visited the Taos pueblo. I could not find among them the gens or clan, +[Footnote: Mr. Baudelier has since ascertained that they are +organized in gentes.] and from lack of time did not inquire into +their property regulations or rules of inheritance. The dozen large +ovens I saw while there near the ends or in front of the two +buildings, each of which was equal to the wants of more than one +family, were adopted from the Spanish. They not unlikely had some +connection with the old principle of communism. + +It will prove a very difficult undertaking to ascertain the old mode +of life three hundred and fifty years ago in New Mexico, Mexico, and +Central America, as it was then in full vitality, a natural +outgrowth of Indian institutions. The experiment to recover this +lost condition of Indian society has not been tried. The people have +been environed with civilization during the latter portion of this +period, and have been more or less affected by it from the beginning. +Their further growth and development was arrested by the advent of +European civilization, which blighted their more feeble culture. +Since their discovery they have steadily declined in numbers, and +they show no signs of recovery from the shock produced by their +subjugation. Among the northern tribes, who were one Ethnical Period +below the Pueblo Indians, their social organization and their mode +of life have changed materially under similar influences since the +period of discovery. The family has fallen more into the strictly +monogamian form, each occupying a separate house; communism in +living in large households has disappeared, the organization into +gentes has in many cases fallen out or been rudely extinguished by +external influences; and their religious usages have yielded. We +must expect to find similar and even greater changes among the +Village Indians of New Mexico. The white race were upon them in +Mexico and New Mexico a hundred years earlier than upon the Indian +tribes of the United States. But, as if to stimulate investigation +into their ancient mode of life, some of these tribes have continued +through all these years to live in the same identical houses +occupied by their forefathers in 1540 at Acoma, Jemez, and Taos. +These pueblos were contemporary with the pueblo of Mexico captured +by Cortez in 1520. The present inhabitants are likely to have +retained some part of the old plan of life, or some traditionary +knowledge of what it was. They must retain some of the usages and +customs with respect to the ownership and inheritance of sections of +these houses, and of the limitations upon the power of sale that +they should not pass out of the kinship. The same also with respect +to sections of the village garden. All the facts with respect to +their ancient usages and mode of life should be ascertained, so far +as it is now possible to do so from the present inhabitants of these +pueblos. The information thus given will serve a useful purpose in +explaining the pueblos in ruins In Yucatan and Central America, as +well as on the San Juan, the Chaco, and the Gila. + +At the time of their discovery the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico +generally worshiped the sun as their principal divinity. Although +under constraint they became nominally Roman Catholic, they still +retain, in fact, their old religious beliefs. Mr. Miller has sent me +some information upon this subject concerning the pueblos of Taos, +Jemez, and Zia. + +"Before the Spaniards forced their religion upon the people, the +pueblo of Taos had the Sun for their God, and worshiped the Sun as +such. They had periodical assemblages of the authorities and the +people in the estufas for offering prayers to the Sun, to supplicate +him to repeat his diurnal visits, and to continue to make the maize, +beans, and squashes grow for the sustenance of the people. 'The Sun +and God,' said the governor (Mirabal) to me, 'are the same. We +believe really in the Sun as our God, but we profess to believe in +the God and Christ of the Catholic Church and of the Bible. When we +die, we go to God in Heaven. I do not know whether Heaven is in the +Sun, or the Sun is Heaven. The Spaniards required us to believe in +their God, and we were compelled to adopt their God, their church, +and their doctrines, willing or unwilling. We do not know that under +the American Government we may exercise any religion we choose, and +that the National Government and the church government are wholly +disconnected. We have very great respect and reverence for the Sun. +We fear that the Sun will punish us now, or at some future time, if +we do evil. The modern pueblos have the Sun religion really, but +they profess the Christian religion, of which they know nothing but +what the Catholic religion teaches. They always believed that +Montezuma would come again as the messiah of the pueblo. The +Catholic religion has been so long outwardly practiced by the people +that it could not now, they think, be easily laid aside, and the old +Sun religion be established, because it is looked upon as +established by the law of the land, and therefore necessarily +practiced. Nevertheless, the Indians will always follow and practice, +as they do, both religions. If,' said the governor, 'one Indian here +at this pueblo were to declare that he intended to renounce and +abandon the religion of his fathers (the worship of the Sun) and +adopt the Christian religion as his only faith, and another Indian +were to declare that he intended to repudiate the Christian religion +and adopt and practice only the Sun religion, the former would be +expelled the pueblo, and his property would be confiscated, but the +other would be allowed to remain with all his rights.' + +"There are three old men in the pueblo whose duty it is to impart +the traditions of the people to the rising generation. These +traditions are communicated to the young men according to their ages +and capacities to receive and appreciate them. The Taos Indians have +a tradition that they came from the north; that they found other +Indians at this place (Taos) living also in a pueblo; that these +they ejected after much fighting, and took and have continued to +occupy their place. How long ago this was they cannot say, but it +must have been a long time ago. The Indians driven away lived here +in a pueblo, as the Taos Indians now do." + +Mr. Miller also communicates a conversation had with Juan Jose, a +native of Zia, and Jose Miguel, a native of Pecos, but then (December, +1877) a resident of the pueblo of Jemez, which he wrote down at the +time, as follows: "Before the Spaniards came, the religion of Jemez, +Pecos and Zia, and the other pueblos, was the Montezuma religion. A +principal feature of this religion was the celebration of Dances at +the pueblo. In it, God was the sun. Seh-un-yuh was the land the +Pueblo Indians came from, and to it they went when dead. This +country (Seh-un-yuh) was at Great Salt Lake. They cannot say whether +this lake was the place where the Mormons now live, but it was to +the north. Under this great lake there was a big Indian Pueblo, and +it is there yet. [Footnote: The Iroquois have a similar tradition of +the ancient existence of an Indian village under Otsego Lake in New +York.] The Indian dances were had only when prescribed by the cacique. +The Pueblo Indians now have two religions, that of Montezuma, and +the Roman Catholic. The Sun, Moon, and Stars were Gods, of which the +greatest and most potent was the Sun; but greater than he was +Montezuma. In time of drought, or actual or threatened calamity, the +Pueblo Indians prayed to Montezuma, and also to the Sun, Moon, and +Stars. The old religion (that of Montezuma) is believed in all the +New Mexican pueblos. They practice the Catholic religion ostensibly; +but in their consciences and in reality the old religion is that of +the pueblos. The tenets of the old religion are preserved by +tradition, which the old men communicate to the young in the estufas. +At church worship the Pueblo Indians pray to God, and also to +Montezuma and the Sun; but at the dances they pray to Montezuma and +the Sun only. During an actual or threatened calamity the dances are +called by the cacique. They have two Gods; the God of the Pueblos, +and the God of the Christians. Montezuma is the God of the Pueblo." + +This account of the Sun worship of the Taos Indians, in which is +intermingled that of Montezuma, and the further account of the +worship of Montezuma at the pueblos of Zia and Jemez, with the +recognition of the worship of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, are both +interesting and suggestive. It is probable that Sun worship is the +older of the two, while that of Montezuma, as a later growth, +remained concurrent with the other in all the New Mexican pueblos +without superseding it. In this supernatural person, known to them +as Montezuma, who was once among them in bodily human form, and who +left them with a promise that he would return again at a future day, +may be recognized the Hiawatha of Longfellow's poem, the +Ha-yo-went'-ha of the Iroquois. It is in each case a ramification of +a widespread legend in the tribes of the American aborigines, of a +personal human being, with supernatural powers, an instructor of the +arts of life; an example of the highest virtues, beneficent, wise, +and immortal. + +"They have," remarks Mr. Miller, "one curious custom which has +always been observed in the pueblo. It is for some one (sometimes +several simultaneously) to seclude themselves entirely from the +outer world, abstaining absolutely from all personal communication +with others, and devoting themselves solely to prayer for the pueblo +and its inhabitants. This seclusion lasts eighteen months, during +which they are furnished daily, by a confidential messenger, with a +little food, just enough to preserve life, and during which time +they may not even inquire about their wives or children or be told +anything of them though the messenger may know that some of them are +sick or have died. The food the recluse is permitted to use is corn, +beans, squashes, and buffalo and deer meat; that is, such food as +was used before the coming of the Spaniards. This religious +seclusion is in honor of the Sun. It is one of the rites of the +ancient religion of the Pueblo, preserved and practiced now. One of +the old men I talked with said that he had himself the previous year +emerged from this hermitage; three others were now in, they having +retired to exile in February, 1877, and will emerge in August, 1878, +then to learn the news of the previous year and a half." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +RUINS OF HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER +AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. + + +The finest structures of the Village Indians in New Mexico, and +northward of its present boundary line, are found on the San Juan +and its tributaries, unoccupied and in ruins. Even the regions in +which they are principally situated are not now occupied by this +class of Indians, but are roamed over by wild tribes of the Apaches +and the Utes. The most conspicuous cluster of these ruined and +deserted pueblos are in the canyon or valley of the Rio Chaco, which +stream is an affluent of the San Juan, a tributary of the Colorado. +Similar ruins of stone pueblos are also found in the valley of the +Animas River, and also in the region of the Ute Mountain in +Southwestern Colorado. Ruins of clusters of small single houses +built of cobble-stone and adobe mortar, and of large pueblos of the +same material, are to be seen in the La Plata Valley, and in the +Montezuma Valley, west of the Mancos River. On the Mancos River are +a large number of cliff houses of stone, and also round towers of +stone, of which the uses are not at present known. Cliff houses are +also found on the Dolores River. Other ruins are found in the canyon +of the Rio de Chelly. + +The supposition is reasonable that the Village Indians north of +Mexico had attained their highest culture and development where +these stone structures are found. They are similar in style and plan +to the present occupied pueblos in New Mexico, but superior in +construction, as stone is superior to adobe or to cobble-stone and +adobe mortar. They are also equal, if not superior, in size and in +the extent of their accommodations, to any Indian pueblos ever +constructed in North America. This fact gives additional interest to +these ruins, which are here to be considered. + +Two separate explorations and reports upon the Chaco ruins have been +made. The first was by Lieut. J. H. Simpson, who examined them in +1849 and first brought them to notice, and the second was a +re-examination by William H. Jackson in 1877. He was connected with +Prof. F. V. Hayden's Geological and Geographical Survey of the +Territories, and his report is in that of Professor Hayden, +published in 1878, p. 411. + +The canyon of the Chaco, which commences about one hundred and ten +miles northwest from Santo Domingo, on the Rio Grande, is quite +remarkable. It has enough of the characteristics of the canyon to +justify the application of this peculiar term. But it differs from +the great canyons in the lowness of the bordering walls and in the +great breadth of the space between. Neither Simpson nor Jackson +describe the canyon or valley with as much particularity as could be +desired, but Mr. Jackson has furnished a map, Fig. 29, showing the +course of the stream with the walls of the canyon shaded in, and +with the breaks or gullies through these walls reduced to a scale. +This shows that the level plain between the encompassing walls +ranges from half a mile to a mile in places. The walls of the canyon +are composed of friable sandstone, and are usually vertical. Their +height is not given with precision. The engraving also shows the +outline forms and comparative size of the several structures, with +specimens of three varieties of masonry used in the walls. No. 2 +shows an alternation of courses of stone from four to six inches +thick and from eight to twelve inches long, with intervening courses +of several thin stones. The same alternation of courses reappears in +the pueblos in ruins on the Animas River, about sixty miles north. +The canyon commences very much like the McElmo Canyon in +Southwestern Colorado, whose vertical walls are at first about three +feet high, with a level space between from three hundred to five +hundred feet in width; its walls rising slowly as you descend. +Without a present running stream, and bordered with open prairie land, +it makes a novel appearance to the eye. Lieutenant Simpson remarks +that after leaving the pueblo Pintado, which is above the +commencement of the canyon, "two miles over a slightly rolling +country, our general course still being to the northwest, brought us +to the commencement of the Canyon de Chaco, its width here being +about two hundred yards. Friable sandstone rocks, massive above, +stratified below, constitute its enclosing walls." [Footnote: +Lieutenant Simpson's Report, p. 77.] + +And Mr. Jackson, who entered it from the same point, remarks that +"two miles from the river we descended into the canyon of the Chaco. +It is here only about fifty feet in depth, with vertical walls of +yellowish gray sandstone." [Footnote: Hayden's Report, p. 436.] + +At a point twelve miles down, at the Pueblo Una Vida, he remarks +that "the canyon is here about five hundred yards wide, and is +perfectly level from one side to the other." + +[Footnote: ib., p. 437.] Farther down the walls of the canyon rise +about a hundred feet, as appears in the restorations of the Pueblo +Bonito and of the Pueblo of Hungo Pavie. Whether the canyon is +accessible or not from the table-land above over against the several +pueblos, by means of the arroyos which break through the walls and +enter the canyon, does not appear from these reports; but it seems +probable, Mr. Jackson says, that near the Pueblo Bonito he ascended +to the top of the bluff by means of a stairway partly cut in the +face of the rock. [Footnote: ib., p. 448.] + +Lieutenant Simpson, in his report, has furnished ground plans of +five of these structures with measurements. Mr. Jackson has +furnished eleven ground plans with measurements, two of which are +without the canyon. They agree substantially, but we shall follow +Mr. Jackson, as his are the most complete. The following engravings, +with two or three exceptions, are taken from his report. The +remainder are from Lieutenant Simpson's report. + +The great edifices on the Chaco are all constructed of the same +materials, and upon the same general plan, but they differ in ground +dimensions, in the number of rows of apartments, and, consequently, +in the number of stories. They contained from one hundred to six +hundred apartments each, and would severally accommodate from five +hundred to four thousand persons, living in the fashion of Indians. +Speaking of the Pueblo of Pintado, Lieutenant Simpson remarks as +follows: "Forming one structure, and built of tabular pieces of hard, +fine-grained, compact, gray sandstone (a material entirely unknown +in the present architecture of New Mexico), to which the atmosphere +has imparted a reddish tinge, the layers or beds being not thicker +than three inches, and sometimes as thin as one-fourth of an inch, +it discovers in the masonry a combination of science and art which +can only be referred to a higher stage of civilization and +refinement than is discoverable in the works of Mexicans or Pueblos +of the present day. Indeed, so beautifully diminutive and true are +the details of the structure as to cause it at a little distance to +have all the appearance of a magnificent piece of mosaic work." + +"In the outer face of the buildings there are no signs of mortar, +the intervals between the beds being chinked with stones of the +minutest thinness. The filling and backing are done in rubble masonry, +the mortar presenting no indications of the presence of lime. The +thickness of the main wall at base is within an inch or two of three +feet; higher up, it is less, diminishing every story by retreating +jogs on the inside, from bottom to top. Its elevation at its present +highest point is between twenty-five and thirty feet, the series of +floor beams indicating that there must have been originally three +stories. The ground plan, including the court, in exterior +development is about 403 feet. On the ground-floor, exclusive of the +out-buildings, are fifty-four apartments, some of them as small as +five feet square, and the largest about twelve by six feet. These +rooms communicate with each other by very small doors, some of them +as contracted as two and a half by two and a half feet; and in the +case of the inner suite, the doors communicating with the interior +court are as small as three and a half by two feet. The principal +rooms, or those most in use, were, on account of their having large +doors and windows, most probably those of the second story. The +system of flooring seems to have been large transverse unhewn beams, +six inches in diameter, laid transversely from wall to wall, and +then a number of smaller ones, about three inches in diameter, laid +longitudinally upon them. What was placed upon these does not appear, +but most probably it was brush, bark, or slabs, covered with a layer +of mud-mortar. The beams show no signs of the saw or axe; on the +contrary, they appear to have been hacked off by means of some very +imperfect instrument. On the west face of the structure, the windows, +which are only in the second story, are three feet two inches by two +feet two inches. On the north side they are only in the second and +third stories, and are as small as fourteen by fourteen inches. At +different points about the premises were three circular apartments +sunk in the ground, the walls being of masonry. These apartments the +Pueblo Indians called estufas, or places where the people held their +political and religions meetings." [Footnote: Simpson's Report, p. 76.] + +The main building, Fig. 30, is two hundred and thirty-eight feet long, +and the wing one hundred and seventy-four feet. It seems probable, +from the symmetrical character of most of these structures, that the +original plan contemplated an extension of the main building, the +addition of another wing, to be followed by the connection of the +wings with a wall, thus closing the court. These buildings were not +all completed at once, but were extended and increased in the number +of stories from generation to generation, as the people increased in +numbers and prosperity. The plan upon which these houses were +erected favored such extension. The great size of some of these +structures can only be explained by the hypothesis of growth through +long periods of time. The stone for building this pueblo was found +quite near. Mr. Jackson remarks that "on the side of the bluff +facing the valley is an outcrop of a yellowish-gray sandstone, +showing in some places a seam of from twelve to eighteen inches in +thickness, where the rock breaks into thin slate-like layers. It was +from this stratum that most of the material in the walls was obtained." +[Footnote: Jackson's Report, p. 433.] He further remarks concerning +the estufas: "In the northwest angle of the court are two circular +rooms, or estufas, the best preserved one of which is built into the +main building and forms a portion of it, while the other stands +outside, but in juxtaposition, and is evidently a later and less +perfect addition. They are each twenty-five feet in diameter. The +inside walls are perfectly cylindrical, and in the case of the inner +one are in good preservation for a height of about five feet.... +There are no side apertures, so that light and access was probably +obtained through the roof. These estufas, which figure so +prominently in these ruins and in fact in all the ancient ruins +extending southward from the basin of the Rio San Juan, are so +identical in their structure, position, and evident uses with the +similar ones in the pueblos now inhabited, that they indisputably +connect one with the other, and show this region to have been +covered at one time with a numerous population, of which the present +inhabitants of the pueblos of Moki and of New Mexico are either the +remnants or the descendants.... Beneath the ground plan [in Fig. 30] +is a section through a restoration of the pueblo from north to south, +showing the manner in which the stories were probably terraced from +the interior of the court outward. There is no positive evidence in +any of these ruins that they were thus built, but this arrangement +naturally suggests itself as being the only way in which light and +ease of access to the inner rooms could be readily obtained. It is +also quite certain from the character of the standing walls that +they were not terraced symmetrically but irregularly, after the +manner of the present pueblos. There is every reason to believe that +the first story was, in every case, reached from the outside by +ladders, the succeeding stories being also approached from the +outside, either by ladders or by stone stairways, after the manner +of the Moqui pueblos. There is no positive evidence to sustain any +conjecture upon this point, as in every ruin the upper stories are +so entirely dismantled that no indications of any sort of stairway +have ever been found. The ground-floor was divided into smaller +apartments than the second floor, many of the rooms, as shown in the +plan, being in the lower story divided into two or three. It would +be impossible to say how high this story had been, as the floor is +covered to a considerable extent with stones from the fallen walls. +The second floor was ten feet between joists, and the third somewhat +less, about seven feet, as near as we could judge from below. It is +probable that there was a fourth story, but there is now very little +evidence of it. Not a vestige of the vigas or other floor-timbers +now remain. Some of the lintels over the doors or windows, composed +of sticks of wood from one to two inches in thickness, laid close +together, are now in fair preservation." [Footnote: Jackson's Report, +p. 434.] + +Twelve miles down the canyon from the Pueblo Pintado, are the ruins +of the Pueblo Wege-gi, Fig. 30. The main building is two hundred and +twenty-four feet, and the length of each wing is one hundred and +twenty feet, measured on the outside, but which would include the +depth of the main building. It is remarkably symmetrical. The rooms, +Mr. Jackson says, are small, the largest being eight by fourteen feet, +and the smallest eight feet square, and the estufas are each thirty +feet in diameter. It is built like the last pueblo "of small tabular +pieces of sandstone, arranged with beautiful effect of regularity +and finish." + +The Pueblo of Una Vida, Fig. 31, seems to have been in process of +construction, and designed, when completed, to have been one of the +largest in the valley. The main building is two hundred and fifty +feet in length, and the wing two hundred feet. It requires for its +completion a considerable extension of the main building, and the +addition of another wing. If this supposition is tenable, it serves +to show that these great houses were of slow construction, by the +process of addition and extension from time to time, with the +increase of the people in numbers. Upon this theory of construction, +the first row of the main building on the court side would first be +completed one story high, and covered with a flat roof; after which, +by adding one parallel wall with partition walls at intervals, as +many more apartments would be obtained; and by a third and fourth +parallel wall, with partitions, twice as many more. The second row +was carried up two stories, the third three, and the fourth four; +the successive stories receding from the court side in the form of +great steps or terraces, one above the other. The wings would be +commenced and completed in the same manner. Further than this, it +seems evident, from the present condition of the structure, that the +main building was to be considerably extended, with a second wing +like the first to fill out the original design and produce a +symmetrical edifice. If these inferences are warranted, the +interesting conclusion is reached that these Indian architects +commenced their great houses upon a definite plan, which was to be +realized in its completeness after years and perhaps generations had +passed away. Like the pueblo last named, it is built of tabular +pieces of sandstone, and is two miles and a half lower down in the +canyon. + +The highest portions of the wall still standing in this pueblo are +fifteen feet in height, twenty-five feet in Wege-gi, and thirty feet +in Hungo Pavie. + +The Pueblo of Hungo Pavie or Crooked Nose, Fig. 31, is situated one +mile further down in the canyon, upon the north side, and quite near +the bordering walls. In exterior development, including the court, +it is eight hundred and seventy-two feet, of which the back wall +measures three hundred, and the side walls or wings one hundred and +forty-four feet each. It is of medium size, but symmetrical, and +larger than any single aboriginal structure in Central America in +ground dimensions. There are seventy-three apartments in the first +story, some of which are unusually large, being about thirteen by +eighteen feet, and with fifty-three rooms in the second story, and +twenty-nine in the third, contain an aggregate of one hundred and +fifty-five rooms. It would accommodate from eight hundred to one +thousand Indians. + +To complete the representation of the architectural design of these +"great houses of stone," the annexed elevation is given, Fig. 32. It +is a restoration of the Pueblo of Hungo Pavie, made by Mr. Kern, who +accompanied General Simpson as draughtsman, and copied from his +engraving. The walls of the canyon are seen in the background of +engraving. We may recognize in this edifice, as it seems to the +author, a very satisfactory reproduction of the so-called palaces of +Montezuma, which, like this, were constructed on three sides of a +court which opened on a street or causeway, and in the terraced form. +From the light which this architecture throws upon that of the Aztecs, +which was contemporary, it appears extremely probable that these +famous palaces, considered as exclusive residences of an Indian +potentate, are purely fictitious; and that, on the contrary, they +were neither more nor less than great communal or joint-tenement +houses of the aboriginal American model, and with common Indians +crowding all their apartments. From what is now known of the +necessary constitution of society among the Village Indians, it +scarcely admits of a doubt that the great house in which he lived +was occupied on equal terms by many other families in common with +his own, all the individuals of which were joint proprietors of the +establishment which their own hands had constructed. + +Two miles further down, and upon the north side of the canyon, near +the bluff, are the ruins of the Pueblo of Chettro Kettle, or the +Rain Pueblo, Fig. 33. The main building and the wings face the court, +from which alone they are entered, and from which the several +stories recede outward. Including the court, this great edifice has +an exterior development of one thousand three hundred feet. The +exterior wall of the main building measures four hundred and +fifty-two feet in length, and the longest of the wings two hundred +and twenty feet. These measurements are according to General Simpson. + +From these measurements some impression may be formed of the extent +of the accommodations such an edifice would afford, especially in +Indian life, where a married pair and their children are found in a +smaller space than one of these apartments supplied. The plan shows +one hundred and seventy-five apartments in the ground story; one +hundred and thirty-four in the second; one hundred and thirteen in +the third; sixty in the fourth, and twenty-four in the fifth--making +an aggregate of five hundred and six apartments. It is not probable +that the several stories were carried up symmetrically, which would +involve a diminution of some of the rooms in the upper stories. This +pueblo is constructed of the same materials as those before named. +"The circular estufas," Lieutenant Simpson remarks, "of which there +are six in number, have a greater depth than any we have seen, and +differ from them also in exhibiting more stories, one of them +certainly showing two, and possibly three, the lowest one appearing +to be almost covered up with debris." + +This room, Fig. 34, is described by Lieutenant Simpson, but at the +time of Mr. Jackson's visit he was unable to find it. "In the +northwest corner of the ruins," Lieutenant Simpson remarks, +"we found a room in an almost perfect state of preservation.... This +room is fourteen by seven and a half feet in plan, and ten feet in +elevation. It has an outside doorway, three and a half feet high by +two and a quarter wide, and one at its west end, leading into the +adjoining room, two feet wide, and at present, on account of rubbish, +only two and a half feet high. The stone walls still have their +plaster upon them in a tolerable state of preservation. In the south +wall is a recess or niche, three feet two inches high by four feet +five inches wide by four deep. Its position and size naturally +suggested the idea that it might have been a fire-place, but if so, +the smoke must have returned to the room, as there was no chimney +outlet for it. In addition to this large recess, there were three +smaller ones in the same wall. The ceiling showed two main beams, +laid transversely; on these, longitudinally, were a number of +smaller ones in juxtaposition, the ends being tied together by a +species of wooden fibre, and the interstices chinked in with small +stones; on these, again, transversely, in close contact, was a kind +of lathing of the odor and appearance of cedar, all in a good state +of preservation." [Footnote: Lieutenant Simpson's Report, p. 63.] + +When in its original condition, this fine pueblo must have made a +very striking appearance. + +Immediately under the walls of the canyon, and about a quarter of a +mile below the last pueblo, are the ruins of the still-greater +Pueblo Bonito, Fig. 35. This edifice is, in some respects, the most +interesting of the series as well as the best preserved in certain +portions. Its exterior development, including the court, is one +thousand three hundred feet. Its corners are rounded, and the east +wing, now the most ruinous part of the structure, appears to have +had row upon row of apartments added, until nearly one-third of the +area of the court was covered. "Its present elevation," General +Simpson observes, "shows that it had at least four stories of +apartments. The number of rooms on the ground floor is one hundred +and thirty-nine. In this enumeration, however, are not included the +apartments which are not distinguishable in the eastern portion of +the pueblo, and which would swell the number to about two hundred. +There, then, having been at least four stories of rooms ... there +must be a reduction ... of one range of rooms for every story after +the first, which would increase the number to six hundred and +forty-one." [Footnote: Simpson's Report, p. 81.] + +No single edifice of equal accommodations, it may be here repeated, +has ever been found in any part of North America. It would +accommodate three thousand Indians. + +One of the best of its rooms is shown in the engraving, Fig. 36. It +will compare, not unfavorably, with any of equal size to be found at +Palenque or Uxmal, although, from the want of a vaulted ceiling, not +equal in artistic design. The nice mechanical adjustment of the +masonry and the finish of the ceiling are highly creditable to the +taste and skill of the builders. "It is walled up," says Simpson, +"with alternate beds of large and small stones, the regularity of +the combination producing a very pleasant effect. The ceiling of +this room is also more tasteful than any we have seen, the +transverse beams being smaller and more numerous, and the +longitudinal pieces, which rest upon them, only about an inch in +diameter, and beautifully regular These latter have somewhat the +appearance of barked willow. The room has a doorway at each end, and +one at the side, each of them leading into adjacent apartments. The +light is let in by a window two feet by eight inches on the north +side." [Footnote: Simpson's Report, p. 81.] + +Mr. Jackson's study of the ruins enabled him to produce a restoration, +which is given in his report, and of whose plate Fig. 37 is a copy. +It is an interesting work, considered as a restoration, which can +only claim to be an approximation. It will be noticed that three +passage-ways were left open into the court, although the ground plan +shows but one. In the Yucatan edifices, as the House of the Nuns at +Uxmal, there is usually an arched gateway through the center of the +building facing the court. The court was also open at each of the +four angles, which, however, might have been protected by palisades +in time of danger. The walls of the canyon are seen in the +background of the engraving. + +Of this pueblo, Mr. Jackson remarks that "three hundred yards below +are the ruins of the Pueblo del Arroyo, Fig. 38, so named probably +because it is on the verge of the deep arroyo which traverses the +middle of the canyon." This was given only a passing glance by +Simpson, but it well repays more careful inspection. It is of the +rectangular form, but with the open space or court facing a few +degrees north of east. The west wall is two hundred and sixty-eight +feet long, and the two wings one hundred and twenty-five and one +hundred and thirty-five feet, respectively; their ends connected by +a narrow and low semi-circular wall. The wings are the most +massively-built and best-preserved portion of the whole building, +that portion which lies between them and back of the court being +much more ruinous and dissimilar in many respects. The walls, of the +south wing, which are in the first story, very heavy and massive, +are still standing to the height of the third story. Many, of the +vigas are still in place, and are large and perfectly smooth and +straight undressed logs of pine, averaging ten inches in thickness; +none of the smaller beams or other wood-work now remains. There is +one estufa thirty-seven feet in diameter in this wing. In the north +wing the walls are standing somewhat higher, but do not indicate +more than three stories, though there was probably another. The +vigas of the second floor project through the wall for a distance of +about five feet along its whole northern face, the same as in the +Pueblo Hungo Pavie. There are two estufas; one near the east end of +the wing, which is twenty-seven feet in diameter, was three stories +in height. The floor-beams are removed, but the remains show this +plainly. The interior is nearly filled up, but it was originally +over twenty-five feet in depth. The ruins of the other estufa are +insignificant compared with this, and it probably consisted of but +one low room. Facing the center of the court are remains of what +were three circular rooms. At the end of the wings, outside of the +building, are faint outlines of other circular apartments or +inclosures, shown by dotted lines on the plan. In the central +portion of the ruin, between the two wings, some rooms have been +preserved entire. I crawled down into one of these through a small +hole in the covering, and found its walls to consist of delicate +masonry, thinly plastered and whitewashed. The ceiling was formed in +the usual manner, fine willow brush supporting the earthen floor +above, instead of the lath-like sticks or thin boards that were used +in the exceptional cases noted. + +Two miles below the Pueblo del Arroyo are the ruins of the Pueblo of +Penyasca Blanca, Fig. 39. "This is the largest pueblo in plan we +have seen," Lieutenant Simpson remarks, "and differs from others in +the arrangement of the stones composing its walls. The walls of the +other pueblos were all of one uniform character in the several beds +composing it; but in this there is a regular alternation of large +and small stones, which are about one foot in length and one-half a +foot in thickness, form but a single bed, and then, alternating with +these, are three or four beds of very small stones, each about an +inch in thickness. The general plan of the structure also differs +from the others in approximating the form of the circle. The number +of the rooms at present discoverable upon the first floor is one +hundred and twelve: and the existing walls show that there have been +at least three stories of apartments. The number of circular estufas +we counted was seven." [Footnote: Simpson's Report, p. 64.] + +"In point of size," Mr. Jackson remarks, "the rooms of this ruin +will average larger than in most of the others; the twenty-eight +rooms, as they appear on the outer circumference, average twenty +feet in length from wall to wall inside. The smallest, which are +only ten feet wide, are at the two ends. The width of the rooms of +each tier appears to have been constant throughout the length of the +whole ruin. The dimensions given in these drawings are, in nearly +every case, of those apartments which constitute the second story, +as it is in those that there is the least obscuration of the walls. + +"In most of the ruins the first floor is almost entirely filled up +with debris, but when the ruins can be followed they show that this +floor is generally divided into much smaller apartments, two or +three occurring sometimes in place of each one above them. The +eastern half of the ellipse, as above said, consists of a single +continuous line of small apartments, with a uniform width of +thirteen feet inside and an average length of twenty feet. By a +curious coincidence the same number of rooms are in this row as in +the outer tier of the main building. The walls of the central +portion for a distance of about two hundred feet are in fair +preservation, standing in places six to eight feet in height, the +dividing walls showing apertures leading from one room to another. +They are built of stones uniform in size, averaging six by nine by +three and a half inches. Mortar was used between the stones instead +of the small plates of stone. At both ends, for a distance of some +two hundred feet from the point of juncture with the main building, +the walls are entirely leveled, but enough remains to show the +dimensions of each apartment. Twenty yards from the south end of the +building are the ruins of a great circular room fifty feet in +diameter, with some portions of its interior wall in such +preservation that its character is readily discernible." [Footnote: +Hayden's Tenth Annual Report, 1878, p. 446.] + +Without the canyon, upon the mesa, and about half a mile back of the +bluff, upon the north side, are the ruins of the Pueblo Alto, +constructed of stone on three sides of a court, like those before +described. The main building is three hundred feet long, and one +wing is two hundred feet measured externally from the back end of +the main building, the other wing is one hundred and seventy feet +measured the same way. This wing is but two rooms deep, while the +main building and the other wing are each three rooms deep. It has +six estufas, with remains of a convex wall, connecting the two wings, +and inclosing the court. These estufas, like those in the other +pueblos, suggest the probability that they were places for holding +the councils of the gentes and phratries. + +This great ruin, with two others of smaller size, shown in Fig. 38 +as No. 8 and No. 9, of which the first is one hundred and +thirty-five feet long and one hundred feet deep, and the other +seventy-eight by sixty-three feet, both of stone, complete the list +of ruins in the canyon. The pueblo of Pintado, is, however, at the +upper end, and without the canyon, and the Pueblo Alto, not yet +described, is not in the canyon, but on the bluff. It is a +remarkable display of ancient edifices; the most remarkable in New +Mexico. With the bordering walls of the canyon, rising vertically, +in places, one hundred feet high, it presented long vistas in either +direction, with natural and inclosing walls. Shut in from all view +of the table lands at the summit of these walls, this valley, at the +time its great houses were occupied, must have presented a very +striking picture of human life as it existed in the Middle Period of +Barbarism. The greater part of the valley must have been covered +with garden beds, from which the people derived their principal +support, as the mesa lands without the canyon were too dry for +cultivation. It no doubt presented an interesting picture of +industrious and contented life, with a corresponding advancement in +the arts of this period. There is still some uncertainty concerning +the time when these pueblos were last occupied, and the fate of +their inhabitants. There are a number of circumstances tending to +show that they were the "Seven Cities of Cibola," against which the +expedition of Coronado was directed in 1540-1542. There are seven +pueblos in ruins in the canyon, without reckoning Nos. 8 and 9, the +smallest in the valley. Some of the facts which point to these +pueblos as the Towns of Cibola may here be noted. + +In his Relation to the Viceroy, which is dated from the province of +Cibola, August 3, 1540, Coronado describes his conquest and +intimates his disappointment in the following language: + +"It remaineth now to certify your Honor of the seven cities, and of +the kingdoms and provinces whereof the Father Provincial made report +unto your Lordship. And, to be brief, I can assure your Honor he +said the truth in nothing that he reported, but all was quite +contrary, saving only the names of the cities, and great houses of +stone, for although they be not wrought with turqueses, nor with lime, +nor bricks, yet they are very excellent good houses, of three, or +four, or five lofts high, wherein are good lodging and fair chambers, +with ladders instead of stairs, and certain cellars under the ground, +very good and paved, which are made for winter,--they are in manner +like stoves; and the ladders which they have for their houses are in +a manner moveable and portable, which are taken away and set down +when they please; and they are made of two pieces of wood, with +their steps, as ours be. The seven cities are seven small towns, all +made with these kind of houses that I speak of; and they stand all +within four leagues together, and they are all called the Kingdom of +Cibola, and every one of them have their particular name, and none +of them is called Cibola, but all together they are called Cibola. +And this town, which I call a city, I have named Granada, as well +because it is somewhat like unto it, as also in remembrance of your +Lordship. In this town where I now remain there may be some two +hundred houses, all compassed with walls; and, I think, that, with +the rest of the houses which are not so walled, they may be together +five hundred. There is another town near this, which is one of the +seven, and it is somewhat bigger than this, and another of the same +bigness that this is of, and the four are somewhat less; and I send +them all painted unto your Lordship with the voyage. And the +parchment wherein the picture is was found here with other parchments. +The people of this town seem unto me of a reasonable stature, and +witty, yet they seem not to be such as they should be, of that +judgment and wit to build these houses in such sort as they are.... +They travel eight days' journey unto certain plains lying towards +the North Sea. In this country there are certain skins, well dressed; +and they dress them and paint them where they kill their oxen +[buffalo]; for so they say themselves." [Footnote: Hakluyt, vol iii, +p. 377.] + +On the fourth day after the capture of Cibola, Coronado further says: +"They set in order all their goods and substance, their women and +children, and fled to the hills, leaving their towns as it were +abandoned, wherein remained very few of them." [Footnote: ib., vol. +iii, p. 379.] + +It will be observed that the phrases "great houses of stone," and +"good houses of three, or four, or five lofts high," not only +describe the pueblo on the Chaco in apt language, but there are no +other pueblos in New Mexico, exclusively of stone, of which we have +knowledge, except those of the Mokis, in the Canyon de Chelly, on +the Animas River, and elsewhere in Southwestern Colorado. There is +an apparent difficulty in the narrative, in the reference made to +the number of houses; but it is evident, I think, that Coronado +meant apartments or sections, treating each great house as a block +of houses, and expressing a doubt of their "judgment and wit to +build these houses in such sort as they are." If any doubt remained, +it is entirely removed by the fact that all the pueblo houses in New +Mexico, whether occupied or in ruins, are great edifices constructed +like these on the communal principle, and that two hundred such +houses grouped in one town were an utter impossibility. + +Jaramillo, who wrote his Relation some time after the return of the +expedition, remarks, "that all the water-courses that we fell in with, +whether brook or river, as far as that of Cibola, and I believe for +one or two days' journey beyond, flow in the direction of the South +Sea [the Pacific]; farther on they take the direction of the North +Sea [the Atlantic]". [Footnote: Col. H. Ternaux-Compans, vol. ix, p. +370.] + +This tends to show that Cibola was situated on a tributary of the +Colorado, which gathers all the waters of New Mexico west of the Rio +Grande and north of the Gila, and also that it was situated quite +near the dividing ridge. It is but ten miles from the Canyon de +Torrejon, on the Puerco, a tributary of the Rio Grande, to the +commencement of the Rio de Chaco, an affluent of the San Juan, and +but twenty-three miles to the Pueblo Pintado. In this respect the +sites of the ruins on the Chaco are in close agreement with the +description of the situations of the towns of Cibola. Castanyada, +after speaking of the seven villages, and the character of the houses, +remarks that "the valley is very narrow, between precipitous +mountains" ["C'est une vallee tres-etroite entre des montagues +escarpees"], [Footnote: Castenyada Relation, Ternaux-Compans, ix, p. +164.] which, in the light of Coronado's declaration, that "the +country is all plain, and on no side mountains," may perhaps have +reference to the encompassing walls of the canyon. This language, +literally interpreted, does not describe this canyon, neither is +there any valley in New Mexico, occupied by pueblos, which answers +this description. + +Upon the evidence contained in these several narratives, and with +our present knowledge of New Mexico, the sites of the seven towns of +Cibola cannot be determined with certainty. It is a question of +probabilities; and those which seem the strongest in favor of the +ruins on the Chaco are the following: Firstly, they are superior, +architecturally, to any pueblos in New Mexico, now existing or in +ruins, and agree in number and in proximity to each other, with the +towns of Cibola as described. Secondly, they are upon an affluent of +the San Juan, and within "one or two days' journey" of the waters +which flow into the Gulf of Mexico; in other words, they are near +the summit of the watershed of the two oceans, where Jaramillo +distinctly states Cibola was situated. Thirdly, they are within +eight days of the buffalo ranges, the nearest of which are upon the +northeastern confines of New Mexico. Cibola was said to be thus +situated. Moreover, the name Cibola implies the buffalo country. We +are also told by Friar Marcos that the Indians south of the Gila +trafficked with the Cibolans for ox-hides, which he found them +wearing. Zunyi, the only known place, showing a probability that it +was one of the seven towns, is too far distant from the buffalo +ranges to answer to this portion of the narrative. Lastly, the +evidence, collectively, favors a far northern as well as far eastern +position for Cibola. The people of Cibola knew nothing of either +ocean. This could hardly have been true of the people of Zunyi with +respect to the Pacific, or at least the Gulf of California. Coronado +himself was in doubt as to which sea was nearest, and seems to have +been conscious of the widening of the continent upon both sides of +him. Assuming that the pueblos on the Chaco were inhabited in 1540, +they were the finest structures then in New Mexico. Coronado +captured all the villages on the Rio Grande, and probably sent a +detachment to the Moki Pueblos, and remained two years in the country. +It seems impossible, therefore, that he should have failed to find +the pueblos on the Chaco; and they answer his description better +than any other pueblos in New Mexico. + +With respect to the manner of constructing these houses, it was +probably done, as elsewhere remarked, from time to time, and from +generation to generation. Like a feudal castle, each house was a +growth by additions from small beginnings, made as exigencies +required. When one of these houses, after attaining a sufficient size, +became overcrowded with inhabitants, it is probable that a strong +colony, "like the swarm from the parent hive, moved out, and +commenced a new house, above or below, in the same valley." This +would be repeated, as the people prospered, until several pueblos +grew up within an extent of twelve or fifteen miles, as in the +valley of the Chaco. When the capabilities of the valley were +becoming overtaxed for their joint subsistence, the colonists would +seek more distant homes. At the period of the highest prosperity of +these pueblos, the valley of the Chaco must have possessed +remarkable advantages for subsistence. The plain between the walls +of the canyon was between half a mile and a mile in width near the +several pueblos, but the amount of water now passing through it is +small. In July, according to Lieutenant Simpson, the running stream +was eight feet wide and a foot and a half deep at one of the pueblos; +while Mr. Jackson found no running water and the valley entirely dry +in the month of May, with the exception of pools of water in places +and a reservoir of pure water in the rocks at the top of the bluff. +The condition of the region is shown by these two statements. During +the rainy season in the summer, which is also the season of the +growing crops, there is an abundance of water; while in the dry +season it is confined to springs, pools and reservoirs. From the +number of pueblos in the valley, indicating a population of several +thousand, the gardens within it must have yielded a large amount of +subsistence; the climate being favorable to its growth and ripening. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +RUINS OF HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER +AND ITS TRIBUTARIES--CONTINUED. + + +About sixty miles north of the pueblos on the Chaco, and in the +valley of the Animas River, is a cluster of stone pueblos, very +similar to the former. These I visited in 1878. The valley is broad +at this point, and for some miles above and below to its mouth. At +the time of our visit (July 22) the river was a broad stream, +carrying a large volume of water. We followed down the river from +the point of its rise in the dividing range, where it was a mere +brook, nearly the whole distance through Silverton to Animas City. +The constant accession of mountain streams, and the rapid descent of +its bed, soon changed it into a noisy and dashing stream. About +twenty miles above Animas City we were compelled to ascend to the +top of the bordering mountains to avoid the narrow canyon below, +which was impassable; and in descending from Animas City to visit +these pueblos we crossed over to the La Plata Valley, and after +passing through this valley we recrossed to the Animas Valley to +avoid similar canyons also impassable. The supply of water for +irrigation at the pueblo was abundant. [Footnote: The engravings of +Figs. 40, 41 and 41a were kindly loaned by Mr. F. W. Putnam of the +Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass.] + +The pueblo of which the ground plan is shown, Fig. 40, is one of +four situated within the extent of one mile on the west side of the +Animas River in New Mexico, about twelve miles above its mouth. +Besides these four, there are five other smaller ruins of inferior +structures within the same area. This pueblo was five or perhaps six +stories high, consisting of a main building three hundred and +sixty-eight feet long, and two wings two hundred and seventy feet +long, measured along the external wall on the right and left sides, +and one hundred and ninety-nine feet measured along the inside from +the end back to the main building. + +[Illustration: Fig. 40--Ground plan of Pueblo on Animas River, N. +M.] + +A fourth structure crosses from the end of one wing to the end of +the other, thus inclosing an open court. It was of the width of one +and perhaps two rows of apartments, and slightly convex outward, +which enlarged somewhat the size of the court. The main building and +the wings were built in the so-called terraced form; that is to say, +the first row of apartments in the main building and in each wing on +the court side were but one story high. The second row back of these +were carried up two stories high, the third row three stories, and +so on to the number of five stories for the main building and four +for each wing. The external wall rose forty or fifty feet where the +structure was five stories high and but ten feet on the court side, +including a low parapet wall, where the structure was but one story +high. There was no entrance to these great structures in the ground +story. After getting admission within the court, they ascended to +the roof of the first row of apartments by means of ladders, and in +the same way, by ladders, to each successive story. As the second +story receded from the first, the third from the second, and so on, +each successive story made a great step ten feet high. The +apartments were entered through trap-doors in the roof of each story, +the descent being by ladders inside. In some places, without doubt, +the upper stories were entered by doorways from the roof of the +story in front. + +The two wings are a mass of ruins. Pit-holes along the summit show +the forms of the rooms, with plain traces of the original walls here +and there, and excavations, made by curious settlers, have opened a +number of rooms in the ground story of one of the wings. These we +entered and measured. Some of the rooms were faced with stone, i.e., +we found a stone wall regularly laid up, like the one in the main +building, as will elsewhere be shown. Some of the walls in these +rooms were of cobblestone and adobe; others were of stone with +natural faces and cobblestone intermixed. We saw no wall of adobe +brick alone. The fallen walls formed a mass about twelve feet deep +over the site of the wings, being the deepest on the outside and +thinning out on the court side. + +The mass of material used in the construction of these edifices was +very great and surprises the beholder. It is explained in part by +the thickness of the walls. We measured a number of them. They were +two feet four inches, two feet six inches, two feet nine inches, +three feet, and in rare cases three feet six inches thick. None +measured less than two feet. + +The main building was originally the best constructed part of the +edifice, it may be supposed, because a part of it now remains +standing. The walls of the first story, of some part of the second, +and, in some places, of a part of the third story, forming the +second row of apartments from the outside, are still standing, and +rise about twenty five feet from the ground. The measurements of the +second row of apartments, as shown in the diagram were from the +standing walls, and were made in the second story. + +The first or basement story is filled up with the rubbish of the +fallen walls, ceilings, and floors, in the second row of apartments +named. In some cases they are full above the line of the original +ceilings; in others nearly up to them. The main ceiling beams were +of yellow cedar from eight to twelve inches in diameter, usually +three and four in number, and were placed across the narrow way of +the room. Stubs of these beams still remain in the walls parallel +with the court. Just above the line of these beams in the other two +walls were the ends of a row of poles about four inches in diameter, +which passed transversely across the cedar beams Stubs of these poles, +broken off short at the line of the walls, still remain in place. +Upon these poles were originally thin pieces of split cedar limbs, +and then the floor of adobe mortar, four or five inches thick. We +thus get the position and height of the floor of the first and +second stories, which were about nine feet six inches for the ground +story, and nine feet for the second story. + +The external wall of the main building has fallen the entire length +of the structure. As these ruins are resorted to by the few settlers +in the valley as a stone quarry to obtain stone for foundations to +their houses and barns, and for stoning up their wells, the loose +material is being gradually removed, and when the standing walls are +more convenient to take they will be removed also. One farmer told +me he thought that one quarter of the accessible material of this +and the adjacent stone pueblo had already been removed. It is to be +hoped that the number of these settlers inclined to Vandalism will +not increase. + +A part of the partition walls which connected the outside wall with +the next parallel wall is still standing where the wall last named +rises above the second story. They stand out for three or four feet +like buttresses against the wall, and show that the masonry of the +parallel and transverse walls was articulated, that the partition +walls were continuous from front to rear, and that the walls of the +several stories rested upon each other. All this is seen by a bare +inspection of the walls as they now stand. + +The masonry itself is the chief matter of interest in these +structures. Every room in the main building was faced with stone on +the four sides, having an adobe floor and a wooden ceiling. Each +room had, as far as walls now remain to show, two doorways through +the walls parallel with the court, and four openings about twelve +inches square, two on the side of each doorway, near the ceiling. +These openings were for light and ventilation. In a limited sense it +may be said that the stones were dressed, and also that they were +laid in courses, but, in the high and strict meaning of these terms, +neither is true. The stones used were small and of different sizes. +Sometimes they were nearly square, from six to eight inches on a side; +sometimes a foot long by six inches wide. The latter is the size of +the stones used at Uxmal and Chichen Itza, according to Norman. In +some cases longer and thicker stones were used without any attempt +to square the ends. In some instances thin pieces of stone were +employed with parallel faces. In all cases the stone was a sandstone, +now of a reddish brown color. It is the prevailing stone in the +bluffs of the Animas River, and of all the rivers parallel with it +running into the San Juan, as far as personal observation enabled me +to judge. It is a soft rather than a hard stone, usually of a buff +color when first quarried, and some of it has decayed in the using. +The wasted and weatherworn appearance of some of these stones would +otherwise indicate a very great age for the structure. With stone of +the size used a good face can be formed by simple fracture, and a +joint sufficiently close may be made by a few strokes with a stone +maul. If finer work was aimed at, it must have been accomplished by +rubbing the stones to a face. But this work is sufficiently +explained by the former processes. In the row of apartments and +stories named, both faces of each wall were of stone, so that all of +the apartments were of stone on the inside. They were fair walls, +both in masonry and workmanship, and creditable to the builders. +There was an attempt to lay up these walls in courses of uniform +thickness, but each course differing from the one above and below it. +The attempt was only partially successful. They did not hesitate to +break in upon the regularity of the courses. Some of the standing +walls are now sprung; but most of them are straight, and fairly +vertical, the adobe mortar being sound and the bond unbroken. + +The Indian had a string from time immemorial. With it he could +strike a circle, and lay out the four sides of a quadrangular +structure with tolerable correctness. It is not too much to assume +that with a string and sinker attached the Village Indian had the +plumb-line, and could prove his wall as well as we can. At all events, +the eye still proves the general correctness of their work. + +The adobe mortar of the Pueblo Indians is something more than mud +mortar, although far below a mortar of lime and sand. Adobe is a +kind of finely pulverized clay with a bond of considerable strength +by mechanical cohesion. In Southern Colorado, in Arizona, and New +Mexico, there are immense tracts covered with what is called adobe +soil. It varies somewhat in the degree of its excellence. The kind +of which they make their pottery has the largest per cent of alumina, +and its presence is indicated by the salt weed which grows in this +particular soil. This kind also makes the best adobe mortar. The +Indians use it freely in laying their walls, as freely as our masons +use lime mortar; and although it never acquires the hardness of +cement, it disintegrates slowly. The mortar in these walls is still +sound, so that it requires some effort of strength to loosen a stone +from the wall and remove it. But this adobe mortar is adapted only +to the dry climate of Southern Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, +where the precipitation is less than five inches per annum. The +rains and frosts of a northern climate would speedily destroy it. To +the presence of this adobe soil, found in such abundance in the +regions named, and to the sandstone of the bluffs, where masses are +often found in fragments, we must attribute the great progress made +by these Indians in house-building. + +The exclusive presence of this adobe mortar in all New Mexican +structures of the aboriginal period shows that the tribes of New +Mexico were then ignorant of a mortar of lime and sand. And here a +digression may be allowed to consider whether a cement of this grade +was known to the aborigines. Theoretically, the use of a mortar +composed of quick-lime and sand, which gives a cement chemically +united, would not be expected of the Indian tribes either in North +or South America. There is no sufficient proof that they ever +produced a cement of this high grade. It requires a kiln, +artificially constructed, and a concentrated heat to burn limestone +into lime, supposing they had learned that lime could be thus +obtained, and some knowledge of the properties of quick-lime before +they reached the idea of a true cement. The Spanish writers +generally speak of walls of lime and stone, thus implying a mortar +of lime and sand. Thus, Bernal Diaz speaks of the great temple in +the Pueblo of Mexico as surrounded "with double enclosures built of +stone and lime." + +[Footnote: The True History of the Conquest of Mexico, Keatinge's +Translation, Salem ed., 1803, vol. i, p. 208.] Clavigero remarks +that "the houses of lords and people of circumstances were built of +stone and lime." [Footnote: History of Mexico, Cullen's Trans., Phila. +ed., 1817, vol. ii, p. 232.] + +Again, "the ignorant Mr. De Pauw denies that the Mexicans had either +the knowledge or made use of lime; but it is evident from the +testimony of all the historians of Mexico, by tribute rolls, and +above all from the ancient buildings still remaining, that all these +nations made the same use of lime as all the Europeans do." [Footnote: +ib., vol. ii, p. 237.] + +In like manner, Herrera, speaking of Zempoala, near Vera Cruz, +remarks that the Spaniards, entering the town, found "the houses +[were] built of lime and stone;" [Footnote: History of America, +Stevens' Trans., London ed., 1725, vol ii, p. 266.] and again, +speaking of the houses in Yucatan, he remarks that "at the place +where the encounter happened, there were three houses built of lime +and stone." [Footnote: ib., p. 112.] + +These several statements can hardly be said to prove the fact of the +use of a mortar of lime and sand. Mr. John L. Stephens, in speaking +of the ruins at Palenque, is more explicit: "The building was +constructed of stone, with a mortar of lime and sand, and the whole +front was covered with stucco, and painted." [Footnote: Central +America, Chiapas and Yucatan, vol. ii, p. 310.] + +The back wall of the governor's house at Uxmal is nine feet thick +through its length of two hundred and seventy feet. In this wall, by +means of crowbars, "the Indians made a hole six and seven feet deep, +but throughout the wall was solid and consisted of large stones +imbedded in mortar, almost as hard as rock." [Footnote: ib., vol. i, +p. 178.] + +At the ruins of Zayi, there was one row of ten apartments, two +hundred and twenty feet long, called the Casas Cerrada, or closed +house, because the core over which the triangular ceiling was +constructed had not been removed when the house was abandoned, of +which Stephens says, "We found ourselves in apartments finished with +the walls and ceilings like the others, but filled up (except so far +as they had been emptied by the Indians) with solid masses of mortar +and stones." [Footnote: Central American, Chiapas and Yucatan, vol. +ii, p. 23.] + +Norman, speaking of the ruins of the House of the Cacique at Chichen, +remarks, "that the wall is made of large and uniformly square blocks +of limestone set in mortar, which appears to be as durable as the +stone itself." [Footnote: Rambles in Yucatan, p. 120.] + +Elsewhere, speaking of the ruins of Yucatan generally, he observes, +"the stones are cut in parallelopipeds of about twelve inches in +length and six in breadth, the interstices filled up of the same +materials of which the terraces are composed." [Footnote: ib. p. 127] + +That these tribes used mortar of some kind in their stone walls +cannot be doubted, but these several statements do not prove the use +of quick-lime, which is the main question. Mr. Stephens' statement +satisfied me until I saw the New Mexican pueblos. These show that a +very efficient mortar can be had without the use of lime. The +Indians of Mexico and the coast tribes near Vera Cruz plastered +their houses externally with gypsum, which made them a brilliant +white, and the stucco used upon the inner walls of houses in Chiapas +and Yucatan was not unlikely made of gypsum. This mineral is +abundant as well as easily treated. From it comes plaster of Paris, +and from it may have come in some form the bond which held the +mortar together, to the strength of which Mr. Stephens refers. + +The neatness and general correctness of the masonry is now best seen +in the doorways. In the standing walls of the second story, and of +the first, where occasionally uncovered, there are to be seen two +doorways in each room, as before stated, running in all cases across +the building from the court side toward the external wall, and never +in the direction of its length. These doorways measured some three +feet two inches in height by two feet six inches in width, and +others three feet four inches by two feet seven inches. + +The stone used in these doorways are rather smaller than those in +other parts of the wall, but prepared in the same manner. + +I brought away two of these stones, taken from the standing walls of +the main building, as samples of the character of the work with +respect to size and dressing. Fig. 41 represents one of them, +engraved from a photograph. It measures eight inches in its greatest +length by six inches in its greatest width, and it is two and +three-quarter inches in thickness. + +[Illustration: Fig. 41.--Stone from doorway.] + +The upper and lower faces of the stone are substantially but not +exactly, parallel. It also shows one angle, which is substantially, +but not exactly a right angle and it was so adjusted that the long +edge was on the doorway and short one in the wall of a chamber or +apartment, with the right angle at the corner between them. This +stone was evidently prepared by fracture, probably with a stone maul, +and the regularity of the breakage was doubtless partly due to skill +and partly to accident. It shows no marks of the chisel or the drove, +or of having been rubbed, and where the square is applied to the +sides or angles the rudeness of the stone is perfectly apparent. + +Fig. 41a represents a sandstone cut by American skilled workmen in +the form of a brick, and it is intended to show by comparison the +great difference between the dressed stone of the civilized man and +the ruder stone of the mason in the condition of barbarism. The +comparison shows that no instruments of exactness were used in the +stone work of the pueblo, and that exactness was not attempted. But +the accuracy of a practiced eye and hand, such as their methods +afforded, was reached, and this was all they attempted. With stones +as rude as that shown in the figure, a fair and even respectable +stone wall may be laid. The art of architecture in stone is of slow +and difficult growth. Stone prepared by fracture with a stone hammer +precedes dressed stone, which requires metallic implements. In like +manner mud mortar or adobe mortar precedes a mortar of lime and sand. +The Village Indians of America were working their way experimentally, +and step by step, in the art of house-building, as all mankind have +been obliged to do, each race for itself; and the structures the +Village Indians have raised in various parts of America, imperfect +as they are by contrast, are highly creditable to their intelligence. + +Stone lintels were not used for these doorways, as stones three feet +long would have been required. No stones of half that length are to +be seen in any of the walls. They had, however, the idea of a stone +lintel, for they used them in this structure over the foot-square +openings for light and air. We found a stone lintel over an opening +eighteen inches wide in a cliff house on the Mancos River. This was +so firmly imbedded that we found its removal impossible. They used +for a lintel six round cedar cross-pieces, Fig. 42, each about four +inches in diameter and now perfectly sound. + +[Illustration: Fig. 42.--Section of Cedar Lintel.] + +In some of these doorways we noticed a peculiar feature. On the side +toward the external wall, one and sometimes two of these wooden +lintels were placed, four and sometimes six inches lower than the +remainder, so that on entering from the outside room into the second +room, the top of the doorway rose higher as the room was entered. A +necessity was experienced to save the head from bumps, and the +wonder is that it did not occur to them to raise the doorways to the +height of the body. As the doorways were always open, no doors being +used, it may well be that larger openings would have created +stronger currents of air through the building than they wished. The +ends of these lintels were hacked off by stone implements of some +kind. + +The peculiar arrangement of the doorways tends to show that this +great house was divided into sections by the partition walls +extending from the court to the exterior wall; and that the rooms +above were connected with those below by means of trap-doors and +ladders. If this supposition be well founded, the five rooms on the +ground floor; from the court back; communicated with each other by +doorways. The four in the second story communicated with each other +in the same manner, and with those below through trap-doors in the +floors. The three rooms in the third story communicated with each +other by doorways, and with those below as before. The same would be +true of the two rooms of the fourth story. It seems probable that +the connected rooms were occupied by a group of related families. + +We afterwards found the same thing nearly exemplified in the present +occupied Pueblo of Taos, in New Mexico. We found that the families +lived in the second and upper stories, and used the rooms below them +for storage and for granaries. Each family had two, four, and six +rooms, and those who held the upper rooms held those below. + +In the south wing before mentioned, several rooms on the ground +floor are still perfect, with the ceilings in place upholding the +rubbish above. The openings or trap-doorways of two of these rooms +are still perfect, but the ladders are gone. The rooms had been +opened, us elsewhere stated, by late explorers. One of these +trap-doors measured sixteen by seventeen inches, and the other +sixteen inches square. Each was formed in the floor by pieces of +wood put together. The work was neatly done. These rooms were +smaller than the rooms above. Some were as narrow as four feet six +inches, others six feet, showing that one room had been divided into +two. The basement rooms were probably occupied for storage +exclusively, whence their division. They were dark, except as light +entered through the trap-doorway from above. + +The structure connecting the wings and bounding the court was +evidently a single or double row of apartments. This is shown by the +amount of fallen material, which is larger than a wall would require, +and from pits or depressions which plainly marked the outline of +apartments. + +There are two circular estufas in the main building, one +twenty-three feet and the other twenty-eight feet in diameter. A +part of the wall of the first estufa is still standing. It is of +stone, mostly of blocks about five inches square, and laid in courses, +with considerable regularity. The work is equal to the best masonry +in the edifice. In the open court, and near the outer structure, +bounding it in front, is another estufa of great size, sixty-three +and a half feet in diameter. These estufas, which are used as places +of council, and for the performance of their religious rites, are +still found at all the present occupied pueblos in New Mexico. There +are six at Taos, three at each house, and they are partly sunk in +the ground by an excavation. They are entered through a trap-doorway +in the roof, the descent being by a ladder. + +Outside the front wall closing the court, and about thirty feet +distance therefrom, are the remains of a low wall crossing the +entire front and extending beyond it. The end structures were about +sixty-five feet long by forty feet wide, while at the center was a +smaller structure, fifty-four feet long by eighteen wide. All its +parts were connected. It was evidently erected for defensive purposes; +but it is impossible to make out its character from the remains. One +wing is several feet longer than the other, and the wall on the +court side is about twenty feet longer than the opposite exterior +wall, thus showing that they used no exact measurements. + +There were no fire-places with chimneys in this structure. There are +none in the ruins in Yucatan and Central America. It is a fair +inference, therefore, that chimneys were entirely unknown to the +aborigines at the time of their discovery. They have since that time +been adopted into the old pueblo houses from American or Spanish +sources. They are placed in one corner of the room. We saw recently +at Taos two chimneys and two fire-places in one and the same room, +one for cooking and the other for a fire to warm the room; proof +conclusive that they were not to the chimney born. They were in an +apartment of one of the principal chiefs. + +In a number of rooms are recesses like niches left in the wall, +about two feet six inches wide and high, and about eighteen inches +deep. These furnished places to set household articles in, in the +place of a mantel or shelf. We afterwards saw niches precisely +similar at Taos, and thus used. + +It remains to consider the number of rooms or apartments contained +in this great edifice. It is plain that it was built in the terraced +form, the second story set back from the first, the third from the +second, and so on to the last, which was a single row of apartments, +on the top somewhere, but not necessarily on the back side. Pueblos +were not entirely uniform in this respect The edifice at Taos +recedes in front and rear and even upon the sides. This may have +been built in the same way, but it can neither be proved nor +disproved from the ruins. The number of apartments would not vary +much whether the upper stories were symmetrically or irregularly +formed. If symmetrical, the main building contained two hundred and +sixty apartments, and each wing seventy, making the computation for +the latter by area and from the number of depression still +discernible, thus making an aggregate of four hundred rooms. + +The house was a fortress, proving the insecurity in which the people +lived. It was also a joint tenement house of the aboriginal American +model, indicating a plan of life not well understood. It may +indicate an ancient communism in living, practiced by large +households formed on the principle of kin. In such a case the +communism was limited to the household as a part of a kinship. + +Those familiar with the remains of Indian Pueblos in ruins will +recognize at once the resemblance between this pueblo and the stone +pueblos in ruins on the Rio Chaco, in New Mexico, about sixty miles +distant from these ruins, particularly the one called Hungo Pavie, +so fully described by General J. H. Simpson. There is one particular +in which the masonry agrees, viz., in the use of courses of thin +stones, about half an inch in thickness, sometimes three together, +and sometimes five and six. These courses are carried along the wall +from one side to the other, but often broken in upon. The effect is +quite pretty. These stones measure six inches in length by one-half +an inch in thickness. General Simpson found the same courses of thin +stones, and even thinner, in the Chaco ruins, and comments upon the +pleasing effect they produced. + +This edifice was a credit to the skill and industry of the men among +the Village Indians; for the men, and not the women, were the +architects and the masons, although the women undoubtedly assisted +in doing the work. Women brought stone and adobe and cedar, and made +adobe mortar, without a doubt, as they still do. One of the hopeful +features in their advancement was the beginning of the reversal of +the old usage which put all labor upon the women. It is now the rule +among the Village Indians for the men to assume the heavy work, +which was doubtless the case when this pueblo was constructed. They +cultivated maize, beans, and squashes, in garden beds, and irrigated +them with water drawn from the river by means of a canal, and passed +in several smaller streams through their gardens. The men now engage +in the work of cultivation. This is a sure sign of progress. + +Off the south wing of the building, and without it, are the remains +of an additional building, large enough for twenty or thirty rooms +on the ground, some part of which were, doubtless, carried up two or +more stories high; but it is a mass of indistinct ruins, about which +little can be said except that some of the rooms were unusually large. +This may have been the first building constructed, and the one +occupied while the stone pueblo was being built. + +[Illustration: Fig. 43.--Outline of a Stone Pueblo on Animus River.] + +This outline plan is submitted with some hesitation, because the +sketch from which it is taken was made in haste, and with no +expectation of using it. It is but an approximation. Near the pueblo +last described, and about five hundred feet northeasterly therefrom, +is another pueblo in two sections, Fig. 43, with a space about +fifteen feet wide between them. They may have been, and probably were, +connected and inhabited as one structure. Some of the walls are +still standing, and a number of the rooms in the ground story are +well preserved, the ceilings still remaining in place. Although the +structure is chiefly of stone like the last, some of the walls are +of cobblestone and adobe mortar. The largest section seems to have +had an open court in the center in the form of a parallelogram. This +feature increased the difficulty of understanding the original form +of the house and the arrangement of the rooms. The walls of the first, +of parts of the second, and occasionally of parts of the third story, +are still standing in places. Many of the rooms are small, as the +measurements of the following rooms in the second story of the +smallest building of the two will show: + +3 feet 4 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, 4 feet by 8 feet 4 inches, 4 feet +7 inches by 14 feet 2 inches, 6 feet 5 inches by 14 feet 9 inches, +7 feet 3 inches by 16 feet 9 inches, 6 feet 4 inches by 11 feet 7 +inches, 7 feet 3 inches by 7 feet 5 inches, 8 feet 7 inches by 15 +feet. Height of rooms, 8 feet. The rooms were faced with stone laid +up in the main in courses. They were small, from four to eight +inches square, and the walls from two to three feet in thickness. +Adobe mortar was used abundantly in the inner part of the wall, but +not showing on the face at the joints, the stones being laid +together as closely as the natural surfaces of the stone would permit, +and without mortar near the edge. This feature was also +characteristic of the walls of the pueblo first described. + +Mr. Bandelier made to me recently the important suggestion that as +far as any progress or improvement in this architecture, in style or +character, can be discerned, it seems to have been from smaller to +larger rooms, followed by a reduction of the size of the house in +ground dimensions. The last is more particularly illustrated by the +houses in Yucatan, where single rooms are found, in rare cases, +sixty feet long, but where the size of the house in ground +dimensions is much smaller than of those in New Mexico. It was in +consequence of an examination of some very old pueblo ruins in New +Mexico, east of the Rio Grande, near Santo Domingo. There the pueblo +was more like a cluster of cells than of rooms, as many of them were +but four or five feet square, contrasting strongly with the present +inhabited pueblos. The same fact may be seen at Taos. It was +mentioned (p. 144) that the Taos Indians many years ago conquered +and dispossessed the former occupants of a pueblo at this place, +and that some remains of the old pueblo were still standing. In +1878 I visited one of the ground-rooms in the old structure still +standing, and entirely alone. It was about five feet by six in +ground-dimensions, and was then occupied by a solitary Taos Indian, +a sort of hermit, as his place of residence. A bunk across one side +furnished him both a bed and a seat, and the remaining room was +scarcely sufficient to turn around in, but it gave him all the home +he had, and, doubtless, all the room he needed. Another room, a few +feet distant, also a part of the old pueblo, was still standing. +These rooms were of adobe, and were about six feet high. As the +Indian gained in experience and knowledge in the use and +construction of the joint-tenement houses, improvements would +gradually manifest themselves. It is important to find and trace +this progress, as we have every reason to believe that it is one +system of architecture throughout North America at least, with a +connection of all its forms. + +Along the curving or westerly side of the first building, and along +the northerly side, there are cedar beams projecting about four feet +from the wall in the second story on the line of the ceiling. They +are about four inches in diameter. Their object is not apparent. + +In one of the basement rooms of the second building are a series of +pictographs upon a plastered wall. Our limited time would not permit +a sketch. + +Midway between the pueblo, Fig. 40, and the one now being considered +is a circular ruin three hundred and thirty feet in circuit, which +seems to have consisted of two concentric rows of apartments around +an inclosed estufa. It was built of cobblestone and adobe mortar. +Pit-holes indicate the form and plan of the inclosing rooms, but the +ruin is too indistinct to form a clear idea of its structure. A +removal of the loose material would probably disclose the original +ground plan. + +A few hundred feet north are the ruins of four other structures of +cobblestone and adobe quite near each other. They were, without doubt, +pueblo houses, but they are now a mass of undistinguishable ruins, +and, from present appearance, were probably ruins, when the stone +pueblos were inhabited. The river here runs nearer the western +border of the valley than the eastern, and quite near the pueblo +last noticed, but from this point it bears toward the east side of +the valley. + +About a mile in a direction a little south of east and near the +river are the ruins of two other large pueblos, of which the lower +one is one thousand and forty feet in circuit, and the one above +four hundred and fifty-two feet. Both are built of sandstone and +cobblestone and adobe mortar. No part of the walls are standing +above the rubbish; but they were apparently contemporary with the +stone pueblos. The first stands upon the brink of the river, which +is now cutting away its foundations, thus proving that it was +insecurely located. The mass of fallen material is very great, +showing an apparent depth of at least fifteen feet. Some of the +basement rooms in each of these pueblos are probably still entire, +judging from the great mass of material over them. Great pit-holes +indicate the position of chambers and inclosing-walls. The largest +of the two pueblos is 300 feet in depth. In one place, where some +excavation has been done, the corner of a basement room is in sight. +All these ruins ought to be re-examined, and so far excavated as to +recover complete ground plans. + +Near the mouth of the river are said to be still other ruins, and +still others on the east side of the river, which we had no time to +examine. + +The valley of the Animas River is here broad and beautiful, about +three miles wide. The river passes nearly through the center of the +valley. The cliff, on the east side of the level plain, is bold and +mountainous, rising from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet high, +while on the west side the valley is bordered with the mesa +formation in two benches, one rising back of the other, and both as +level as a floor, with the highlands forming the divide between the +Animas and La Plata Rivers in the distance. + +From the number and size of the houses, there was probably a +population of at least five thousand persons at this settlement, +living by horticulture. It is not now known by what tribe of Indians +these pueblos were inhabited or constructed. + +These pueblos, newly constructed and in their best condition, must +have presented a commanding appearance. From the materials used in +their construction, from their palatial size and unique design, and +from the cultivated gardens by which they were doubtless surrounded, +they were calculated to impress the beholder very favorably with the +degree of culture to which the people had attained. It is a singular +fact that none of the occupied pueblos in New Mexico at the present +time are equal in materials or in construction with those found in +ruins. It tends to show a decadence of art among them since the +period of European discovery. + +Westward of the Animas, the La Plata, and the Mancos Rivers, which +run southwesterly into the San Juan, is the Montezuma Valley, a +broad and level plain, so named by General Heffernan, of Animas City. +It is about fifty miles in length, and apparently ten miles wide at +the ranch of Mr. Henry L. Mitchell, which is situated at the +commencement of the McElmo Canyon. + +[Illustration: Fig. 44.--Pueblos at commencement of McElmo Canyon.] + +It stretches southward thirty-six miles to the San Juan. In this +valley, which has no flowing stream through it at present (and there +is no certainty that it ever had), and which is without water, +except in springs and pools, and has but a slight rainfall during +the year, Mr. Mitchell was successfully cultivating, at the time of +our visit, wheat, oats, maize, and the garden vegetables. The valley +is uninhabited, except by the family of Mr. Mitchell, and a solitary +man living four miles westward. Their nearest neighbors are on the +Mancos River, twenty-five miles distant. The bluffs bordering the +eastern side of the valley rise boldly about fifteen hundred feet, +with table lands above, while on the west the valley is bordered +with mountains. About ten miles southwest of Mr. Mitchell's ranch +the Ute Mountain rises out of the plain, and from this point appears +as a solitary and detached mountain. The McElmo Canyon passes along +its north and westerly sides, while the main valley passes southward +along its eastern base. This high and noble mountain is situated in +the southwest corner of Colorado, near the intersection of the +boundary lines of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. It is a +conspicuous object from the La Plata Valley. The Montezuma Valley +possesses features of remarkable natural beauty. + +Near Mr. Mitchell's ranch, and within a space of less than a mile +square are the ruins of nine pueblo houses of moderate size. They +are built of sandstone intermixed with cobblestone and adobe mortar. +They are now in a very ruinous condition, without standing walls in +any part of them above the rubbish. The largest of the number is +marked No. 1 in the plan Fig. 44, of which the outline of the +original structure is still discernible. It is ninety-four feet in +length and forty-seven feet in depth, and shows the remains of a +stone wall in front inclosing a small court about fifteen feet wide. +The mass of material over some parts of this structure is ten or +twelve feet deep. There are, no doubt, rooms with a portion of the +walls still standing covered with rubbish, the removal of which +would reveal a considerable portion of the original ground-plan. + +A short distance below the pueblos last named is another cluster of +the same number of pueblos, and much in the same condition; and upon +rising ground near the foot of the bluff, on the east side of the +valley, there are, as Mr. Mitchell informed me, the ruins of several +pueblos of stone. He also informed me that similar ruins were to be +found here and there in the valley to the San Juan. Four miles +westerly, near the ranch of Mr. Shirt, are the ruins of another +large stone pueblo, together with an Indian cemetery, where each +grave is marked by a border of flat stones set level with the ground +in the form of a parallelogram eight feet by four feet. Near the +cluster of nine pueblos shown in the figure are found strewn on the +ground numerous fragments of pottery of high grade in the +ornamentation, and small arrow-heads of flint, quartz, and +chalcedony delicately formed, and small knife-blades with convex and +serrated edges in considerable numbers. + +[Illustration: Fig. 45.--Outline plan of a stone pueblo near the +base of Ute Mountain.] + +This is an immense ruin with small portions of the walls still +standing, particularly of the round tower of stone of three +concentric walls, incorporated in the structure, and a few chambers +in the north end of the main building. The round tower is still +standing nearly to the height of the first story. In its present +condition it was impossible to make a ground-plan showing the +several chambers, or to determine with certainty which side was the +front of the structure, assuming that it was constructed in the +terraced form. It is situated upon a vertical bluff of yellowish +sandstone rock about twenty feet high and about four miles below +Mr. Mitchell's ranch in the direction of the Ute Mountain and near +its northeastern base. The bluff is broken through to the bottom in +one place about twenty feet wide. Here there are some evidences that +a spring of water was inclosed in a reservoir by means of masonry. +The building is in two sections, separated by this break, of which +the main one is five hundred and ten feet long, and the smallest one +hundred and twenty feet, forming a nearly continuous front. They +stand back ten or fifteen feet from the verge of the bluff, and are +built of tabular pieces of sandstone and adobe mortar. Numerous +pit-holes in each structure indicate the chambers and the line of +the inclosing walls. The removal of the loose material would +doubtless disclose the ground-plan, but it would involve immense +labor. With the Ute Mountain rising majestically in the background, +and the broad valley in front, the situation of the pueblo is +remarkably fine. + +The Round Tower is the most singular feature in this structure. +While it resembles the ordinary estufa, common to all these +structures, it differs from them in having three concentric walls. +No doorways are visible in the portion still standing, consequently +it must have been entered through the roof, in which respect it +agrees with the ordinary estufa. The inner chamber is about twenty +feet in diameter, and the spaces between the encircling walls are +about two feet each; the walls are about two feet in thickness, and +were laid up mainly with stones about four inches square, and, for +the most part, in courses. There is a similar round tower, having +but two concentric walls, at the head of the McElmo Canyon, and near +the ranch of Mr. Mitchell. It is shown in Fig. 44, and stands +entirely isolated. The diameter of the tower is thirty-four feet, of +which the inner chamber is twenty-three feet; the space between the +two walls is about six feet, and the thickness of the walls about +two feet six inches. It is laid up in the same manner as the one +last named, with stones about the same size, and the walls still +standing are about five feet in height. Partition walls divide the +outer space, one of which measured twenty inches in thickness. + +Several hundred feet from the pueblo last named, further down the +valley, is another pueblo of large extent, and in a very ruined +condition. + +A mile or more below the ranch of Mr. Mitchell, in the bordering +walls of the McElmo Canyon, are two cliff houses. The walls of the +bluff are here about twenty feet high, with large cavities formed in +them here and there. These houses, each of which consists of but two +or three small chambers, are built of stone, and stand but a few +feet above the bottom of the canyon. They are narrow, and not very +high, as the cavity in the rock is not very deep. Corrals for some +kind of domestic animals are found by the side of these houses in +the same hollows in the rock. This is proved by a mass of excrement, +about a foot in depth, still there, whether of the goat or sheep +cannot be stated, but this fact shows that they were inhabited +subsequent to the period of European discovery, although they may +have been built and used before. The canyon, at this point, is from +three hundred to five hundred feet wide. + +I wish to call attention again to the San Juan district, to its +numerous ruins, and to its importance as an early seat of Village +Indian life. These ruins and those of a similar character in the +valley of the Chaco, together with numerous remains of structures of +sandstone, of cobblestone, and adobe in the San Juan Valley, in the +Pine River Valley, in the La Plata Valley, in the Animas River Valley, +in the Montezuma Valley, on the Hovenweep, and on the Rio Dolores, +suggest the probability that the remarkable area within the drainage +of the San Juan River and its tributaries has held a prominent place +in the first and most ancient development of Village Indian life in +America. The evidence of Indian occupation and cultivation +throughout the greater part of this area is sufficient to suggest +the hypothesis that the Indian here first attained to the condition +of the Middle Status of barbarism, and sent forth the migrating +bands who carried this advanced culture to the Mississippi Valley, +to Mexico, and Central America, and not unlikely to South America as +well. + +Indian migrations are gradual outflows from an overstocked area, +followed by organization into independent tribes, and continuing +through centuries of time, until the ethnic life of each tribe is +expended, or a successful establishment is finally gained in a new +and perhaps far distant land. They planted gardens and constructed +houses as they advanced from district to district, and removed as +circumstances prompted a change of location. + +Since the cultivation of maize and plants precedes or is synchronous +with this stage of development, it leads to the supposition that +maize must have been indigenous in this region, and that it was here +first brought under cultivation. There are some facts that seem to +favor this hypothesis. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote relocated to chapter end.] + +At present I wish to call attention to such existing evidence as +points to the San Juan district as the anterior home of a number of +historic Indian tribes. + +1. The Mound-Builders. Although these tribes had disappeared at the +epoch of European discovery, and cannot be classed with any known +Indian stock, their condition as horticultural tribes, their +knowledge of some of the native metals, and the high character of +their stone implements and pottery place them in the clans of +Village Indians. The nearest region from which they could have been +derived is New Mexico. There is no reason for referring them to the +San Juan region more than to the nearer country of the Rio Grande, +unless it should appear probable that the inhabitants of the latter +valley were themselves migrants from the same region. But there are +good reasons for deriving the Mound-Builders from the Village +Indians in some part of New Mexico. + +2. The Mexican Tribes. The seven principal tribes of Mexico, called +collectively the Nahuatlacs, spoke dialects of the same language, +and all alike had a tradition that their ancestors came from the +north, and that the separate tribes came into Mexico at long +intervals apart. They arrived in the following order as to time: 1, +Sochomilcos; 2, Chalcas; 3, Tepanecans; 4, Tescucans; 5, Tlatluicans; +6, Tlascalans; 7, Aztecs or Mexicans. They settled in different +parts of Mexico. The Cholulans, Tepeacas, and Huexatsincos spoke +dialects of the Nahuatlac language, and were severally subdivisions +of one or the other preceding tribes. They had the same tradition of +a northern origin. These several tribes were among the most +prominent in Mexico at the period of Spanish discovery. Some of the +tribes of Yucatan and Central America also had similar traditions of +an original migration of their ancestors from the north. + +Acosta, who visited Mexico in 1585, and whose work was published at +Seville in 1589, states the order of the migration of the Mexican +tribes as above given, and further says that they "come from other +far countries which lie toward the north, where now they have +discovered a kingdom they call New Mexico. There are two provinces +in this country, the one called Aztlan, which is to say, a place of +Herons [Cranes], and the other Teculhuacan, which signifies a land +of such whose grandfathers were divine. The Navatalcas [Nahuatlacs] +point their beginning and first territory in the figure of a cave, +and say they came forth of seven caves to come and people the land +of Mexico." [Footnote: The Natural and Moral History of the East and +West Indies, London ed., 1604, Grimstone's Trans., pp. 497, 504.] +The same tradition substantially, is given by Herrera, [Footnote: +General History of America, London ed., 1725, Stevens's Trans. III, +188.] and also by Clavigero. + +[Footnote: History of Mexico, Cullen's Trans., 1, 119.] + +If by the word Aztlan was intended "place of Cranes", and on the +supposition that these tribes migrated from the San Juan region, the +reasons for the designation are justified. The Sandhill Crane +(Grus Canadensis) is one of the largest and most conspicuous of +American birds, and is still found from the British Possessions to +New Mexico, and winters in the latter. I saw a pair of these great +birds in 1878, in the valley of the Animas River. Dr. Cones remarks +that "thousands of Sandhill Cranes repair each year to the Colorado +River Valley, flock succeeding flock along the course of the great +stream from their arrival in September until their departure the +following spring. Taller than the Wood Ibises or the largest Herons +with which they are associated, the stately birds stand in the +foreground of the scenery of the valley.... Such ponderous bodies +moving with slowly-beating wings give a great idea of momentum from +mere weight, a force of motion without swiftness; for they plod +along heavily, seeming to need every inch of their ample wings to +sustain themselves." [Footnote: Birds of the Northwest, 1874, p. 534.] + +It is an Indian trait to mark localities by some conspicuous feature +or fact, and the selection of the Sandhill Crane to indicate their +home country would have accorded with Indian usages. + +Again, Herrera, who presents the current traditions, observes, that +"these peoples painted their original in the manner of a cave, and +said they came out of seven caves to people the country of Mexico.... +After the six above mentioned races departed from their country, and +settled in New Spain, where they were much increased, the seventh +race being the Mexican nation, a warlike and polite people, who +adoring their god Vitsilpuztli, he commanded them to leave their own +country, promising them they should rule over other races in a +plentiful country, and much wealth." [Footnote: History of America, +iii, p. 188, 190.] + +It is worthy of remark that the cave dwellings or cliff houses are +in the San Juan district, the most of them being on the Mancos River, +and on the western portion of the San Juan. These traditions may in +fact refer to these cave dwellings as the original homes of their +ancestors, and at the same time without precluding the supposition +that they also constructed and inhabited some of the pueblo +structures now in ruins in other parts of the same area. All the +early accounts concur in representing the Aztecs or Mexicans, when +they first arrived in Mexico, as subsisting by the cultivation of +maize and plants, as constructing houses of stone, and with a +religious system which recognized personal gods. These statements +are probably true. They had attained to the statue of Village Indians. +This again renders New Mexico their probable original home as the +only area in the north where ruins of structures of tribes so far +advanced have been found. + +The San Juan district is remarkably situated in its geographical +relations. This river, rising in the crests of the high mountains +forming the water-shed or divide between the Atlantic and Pacific, +flows southward until it enters the table-land formation, through +which it flows in a southwesterly and then northwesterly direction, +making a long, sweeping curve in New Mexico and Arizona, after which +it runs westerly to its confluence with the Colorado. It receives +from the north the following tributaries, rising like itself in the +high mountains, the Piedra, Pine River (Los Pinos), the Animas, the +La Plata, the Mancos, the McElmo, now dry, and the Hovenweep and +Montezuma creeks, now nearly dry. Its southern tributaries are the +Navajo, Chaco, and De Chelly. + +With such evidences of ancient occupation, here and elsewhere in the +San Juan country, we are led to the conclusion that the Village +Indians increased and multiplied in this area, and that at some +early period there was here a remarkable display of this form of +Indian life, and of house architecture in the nature of fortresses, +which must have made itself felt in distant parts of the continent. +On the hypothesis that the valley of the Columbia was the seed-land +of the Ganowanian family, where they depended chiefly upon a fish +subsistence, we have in the San Juan country a second center and +initial point of migrations founded upon farinaceous subsistence. +That the struggle of the Village Indians to resist the ever +continuous streams of migration flowing southward along the mountain +chains has been a hard one through many centuries of time, is proved +by the many ruins of abandoned or conquered pueblos which still mark +their settlements in so many places. At the present moment there is +not a Village Indian in the San Juan district. It is entirely +deserted of this class of inhabitants. + +That the original ancestors of the principal historic tribes of +Mexico once inhabited the San Juan country is extremely probable. +That the ancestors of the principal tribes of Yucatan and Central +America owe their remote origin to the same region is equally +probable. And that the Mound Builders came originally from the same +country, is, with our present knowledge, at least a reasonable +conclusion. + +Indian migrations have occurred under the influence, almost +exclusively, of physical causes, operating in a uniform manner. +These migrations, involving the entire period of the existence here +of the inhabitants of both American continents, will be found to +have a common and connected history. A study of all the facts may +yet lead to an elucidation and explanation of these migrations with +some degree of certainty. The hypothesis that the valley of the +Columbia River was the seed-land of the Ganowanian family holds the +best chance of solving the great problem of the origin and +distribution of the Indian tribes. + +[Relocated Footnote: Where maize was indigenous is unknown, except +that it was somewhere upon the American continent. It is the only +cereal America has given to the world. At the period of European +discovery, it was found cultivated and a staple article of food in a +large part of North America and in parts of South America. There +were also found beans, squashes, and tobacco, with the addition in +some areas of peppers, tomatoes, cocoa and cotton. The problem of +the place of the origin of maize is probably insoluble, but +speculations are legitimate and such are all I have to offer. + +The fecundity of plant-life in the Rocky Mountains is remarkable, +particularly on the southern slopes, where they subside into the mesa, +or table-land formation, north of the San Juan River. The +continental divide is in the eastern margin of the region. The first +suggestion I wish to make is that all cereals and cultivated plants +must have originated in the great continental mountains of the two +hemispheres, and have propagated themselves along the water courses +of the mountain valleys down to the plains traversed by the great +rivers formed by these mountain tributaries. All the cereals belong +to the family of the Grasses (Gramineae), and each of them, doubtless, +is the last of a series of antecedent forms. + +I saw rye, barley and oats growing wild by self-propagation in the +mountain valleys of Colorado the present season; and also the wild +pea, whose stunted seeds had the taste of the cultivated pea. Turnips, +onions, tomatoes, and hops are found growing wild in the Pine River +Valley, and the pie-plant or rhubarb is said to grow luxuriantly in +the Elk Mountain valleys. I also saw wild flax and the gourd growing +by self-propagation in the valley of the Animas. Currants, +gooseberries, raspberries, and strawberries are found in the +mountain valleys in numerous places, together with flowering plants +of many species and varieties. Tiny forms of flowering plants are to +be seen above patches of snow in places where the snow had recently +melted. This fecundity of plant-life from ten to twelve thousand +feet above sea level, and the relation of these mountain tributaries +to the San Juan, which runs from east to west, not remotely from the +base of these mountains, in such a manner as to invite and receive +into its lap, so to express it, the vegetable wealth developed in +these mountain chains, are facts that force themselves upon the +attention of the observer. + +The altitude of the San Juan Valley ranges from seven thousand feet +at Pagosa Springs to five thousand nine hundred and seventy feet at +the mouth of the Animas, and diminishing to four thousand four +hundred and forty-six feet near the point where it empties into the +Colorado (Hayden's Atlas of Colorado, Sheet 111). The altitude at +Conejos is seven thousand eight hundred and eighty feet (ib.,) which +is about as great an elevation as admits of the successful +cultivation of maize. I noticed in a field of maize growing at +Conejos that the stalk grew only about three feet high, and that the +ear grew out of it but six inches from the ground. Specimens of the +ear we obtained showed that it was about five inches long, with the +kernel small and flinty. The ear is in four colors, white, red, +yellow, and black, each being one or the other of these colors. In a +few cases two colors were intermixed in the same ear. It seemed +probable that this the primitive maize of the American aborigines, +from which all other varieties have been developed. A few cobs which +we found at a cliff house on the Mancos River corresponded with the +Conejos ear in size, and were probably the same variety. Afterwards +at Taos I found the same ear in white, red, yellow, and black; the +staple maize now cultivated at this pueblo, but much larger. I +brought away several fine ears saved for seed. One black ear +measured twelve inches in length, with twelve rows of kernels, while +the white variety, both at Conejos and Taos, had each fourteen rows. + +Finally, a dry country, neither excessively hot nor moist, like the +San Juan region, would seem to be most favorable for the development +and self-propagation of maize as well as plants until man appeared +for their domestication. These are but speculations, but if they +should prompt further investigations concerning the place of +nativity of this wonderful cereal, which has been such an important +factor in the advancement of the Indian family, and which is also +destined to prove such a support to our own, these suggestions will +have not been made in vain.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HOUSES OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. + + +The general view of the house-life and houses of the Indian tribes +thus far presented will tend to strengthen the hypothesis about to +be stated concerning the earth-works of the Mound-Builders. Apart +from the explanation that the long-houses of the Northern Tribes and +the joint-tenement house of the Sedentary Indians are capable of +affording, they are wholly inexplicable. The Mound-Builders worked +native copper, cultivated maize and plants, manufactured pottery and +stone implements of higher grade than the tribes of the Lower Status +of barbarism; and they raised earth-works of great magnitude, +superior to any works of the former tribes. They fairly belong to +the class of Sedentary Village Indians, though not in all respects +of an equal grade of culture and development. Their embankments, +which inclosed a rectangular space, were in all probability, the +foundations upon which they erected their houses. It is proposed to +consider these embankments under this hypothesis. + +Under the name of Mound-Builders certain unknown tribes of the +American aborigines are recognized, who formerly inhabited as their +chief area the valley of the Ohio and its tributary streams. Traces +of their occupation have been found in other places, from the Gulf +of Mexico to Lakes Erie and Superior, and from the Alleghanies to +the Mississippi, and in some localities west of this river. + +Without entering upon a discussion of these works, this chapter will +be confined to four principal questions: + +I. The house-life of the American aborigines, in the usages of which +the Mound-Builders were necessarily involved. + +II. The probable center from which the Mound-Builders emigrated into +these areas. + +III. The uses for which their principal earth-works were designed, +with a conjectural restoration of one of their pueblos; and, + +IV. The probable numbers of the people. + +The Mound-Builders have disappeared, or, at least, have fallen out +of human knowledge, leaving these works and their fabrics as the +only evidence of their existence. Consequently the proposed questions, +excepting the first, are incapable of specific answers; but they are +not beyond the reach of approximate solutions. The mystery in which +these tribes are enshrouded, and the unique character of their +earth-works, will lead to deceptive inferences, unless facts and +principles are carefully considered and rigorously applied, and such +deductions only are made as they will fairly warrant. It is easy to +magnify the significance of these remains and to form extravagant +conclusions concerning them; but neither will advance the truth. +They represent a status of human advancement forming a connecting +link in the progressive development of man. If, then, the nature of +their arts, and more especially the character of their institutions, +can be determined with reasonable certainty, the true position of +the Mound-Builders can be assigned to them in the scale of human +progress, and what was possible and what impossible on their part +can be known. + +THE HOUSE-LIFE OF THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES, IN THE USAGES OF WHICH +THE MOUND-BUILDERS WERE NECESSARILY INVOLVED. + +It will be assumed that the tribes who constructed the earth-works +of the Ohio Valley were American Indians. No other supposition is +tenable. The implements and utensils found in the mounds indicate +very plainly that they had attained to the Middle Status of barbarism. +They do not fully answer the tests of this condition, since they +neither cultivated by irrigation, so far as is known, nor +constructed houses of adobe bricks or of stone; but, in addition to +the earth-works to be considered, they mined native copper and +wrought it into implements and utensils--acts performed by none of +the tribes in the Lower Status of barbarism; and they depended +chiefly upon horticulture for subsistence. They had also carried the +art of pottery to the ornamental stage, and manufactured textile +fabrics of cotton or flax, remains of which have been found wrapped +around copper chisels. These facts, with others that will appear, +justify their recognition as in the same status with the Village +Indians of New and Old Mexico and Central America. They occupied +areas free from lakes as a rule, and, therefore, the poorest for a +fish subsistence. This shows of itself that their chief reliance was +upon horticulture. The principal places where their villages were +situated were unoccupied areas at the epoch of European discovery, +because unadapted to tribes in the Loner Status of barbarism, who +depended upon fish and game as well as upon maize and plants. + +A knowledge of the general character of the houses of the American +aborigines will enable us to infer what must have been the general +character of those of the Mound-Builders. This, again, was +influenced by the condition of the family. Among the Indian tribes, +in whatever stage of advancement, the family was found in the +pairing form, with separation at the option of either party. It was +founded upon marriage between single pairs, but it fell below the +monogamian family of civilized society. In their condition it was +too weak an organization to face alone the struggle of life, and it +sought shelter in large households, formed on the basis of kin, with +communism in living as an incident of their plan of life. While +exceptional cases of single families living by themselves existed +among all the tribes, it did not break the general rule of large +households, and the practice in them of communism in living. These +usages entered into and determined the character of their house +architecture. In all parts of North and South America, at the period +of European discovery, were found communal of joint-tenement houses, +from those large enough to accommodate five, ten, and twenty families, +to those large enough for fifty, a hundred, and in some cases two +hundred or more, families. These houses differed among themselves in +their plan and structure as well as size; but a common principle ran +through them which was revealed by their adaptation to communistic +uses. They reflect their condition and their plan of life with such +singular distinctness as to afford practical hints concerning the +houses of the Mound-Builders. + +THE PROBABLE CENTER FROM WHICH THE MOUND-BUILDERS EMIGRATED INTO +THESE AREAS. + +It is well known that the highest type of Village Indian life was +found in Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala, and that the standard +declines with the advance of the type northward into Mexico and New +Mexico, thus tending to show that it was best adapted to a warm +climate; but it does not follow that we must look to these distant +regions for the original home of the Mound-Builders. The nearest +point from which they could have been derived was New Mexico, and +that is rendered the probable point from physical considerations, +and still more from their greater nearness in condition to the +Village Indians of New Mexico, below whom they must be ranked. The +migrations of the American Indian tribes were gradual movements +under the operation of physical causes, occupying long periods of +time and with slow progress. There is no reason for supposing, in +any number of cases, that they were deliberate migrations with a +definite destination. With maize, beans, and squashes (the staples +of an established horticulture), the Village Indians were +independent of fish and game as primary means of subsistence, and +with the former they possessed superior resources for migrating over +the wide expanses of open prairies between New Mexico and the +Mississippi. The movement of the tribes who constructed the +earth-works in question can be explained as a natural spread of +Village Indians from the valley of the Rio Grande, on the San Juan, +to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and thence northward to the +valley of the Ohio, which was both easy and feasible. Its successful +extension for any considerable distance north of the gulf was +rendered improbable, by reason of the increasing severity of the +climate. There are some reasons for supposing that climate delayed +the movement for centuries, and finally defeated the attempt to +transplant permanently even the New Mexican type of village life +into a northern temperature so much lower during the greater part of +the year. + +A number of archeologists, who have considered the question of the +probable anterior home of the Mound-Builders, are inclined to derive +them from Central America. The ground for this opinion seems to be +the fact that horticulture must have originated in a semi-tropical +region, where this type of village life was first developed, and, +therefore, that all the forms of this life were derived from thence. +It would be a mistake, as it seems to the writer, to adopt the track +of horticulture as that of Indian migration. In its first spread +horticulture would be more apt to return upon the line of the latter +than wait to be carried, by actual migrations, with the people. +Moreover it is unnecessary to invoke such an argument, for the +reason that New Mexico had been for ages the seat of horticultural +and Village Indians, and was necessarily occupied by them long +before the country east of the Mississippi. Every presumption is in +favor of their derivation from New Mexico as their immediate +anterior home, where they were accustomed to snow and to a moderate +degree of cold. + +[Footnote: At a recent meeting of the National Academy of Science at +Washington, where this subject was presented, Prof. O. C. Marsh +remarked, in confirmation of this suggestion, that "in a series of +comparisons of Indian skulls, he had been struck with the similarity +between those of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and of the +Mound-Builders. As the shape of the Mound-Builder's skull is very +peculiar, the coincidence is a very striking one."] + +THE USES FOR WHICH THEIR PRINCIPAL EARTHWORKS WERE DESIGNED, WITH A +CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF ONE OF THEIR PUEBLOS. + +A brief reference to the character and extent of these works is +necessary as a means of understanding their uses. The authors of the +volume "The Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" remark, in +their preface, that "the ancient inclosures and groups of works +personally examined and surveyed are upwards of one hundred.... +About two hundred mounds of all forms and sizes, and occupying every +variety of position, have also been excavated." [Footnote: +Smithsonian Cont. to Knowledge, Preface, XXXIV.] Out of ninety-five +earthworks, exclusive of mounds, figured and described in this +valuable memoir, and which probably mark the sites of Indian villages, +forty-seven are of the same type and may unhesitatingly be assigned +to the Mound-Builders; fourteen are groups of emblematical earthworks, +mostly in Wisconsin, and may also be assigned to them; but the +remaining thirty-four are very inferior as well as different in +character. They are not above the works of the Indians in the Lower +Status of barbarism, and, therefore, do not probably belong to the +Village Indians who constructed the works in the Scioto Valley. If +to those first named are added the emblematical earth-works figured +and described by Lapham, [Footnote: Smithsonian Cont. to Knowledge, +Vol. V.] and a few other works not known to Squier and Davis, and +since described by other persons, there are something more than one +hundred works, large and small, indicating the sites of Indian +villages, of which perhaps three quarters were occupied at the same +time. The conical mounds raised over Indian graves, which are +numerous, are not included. [Footnote: When a calamity befalls an +Indian settlement it is usually abandoned.] + +"A large, perhaps the larger portion of these works," observe the +same authors, "are regular in outline, the square and circle +predominating.... The regular works are almost invariably erected on +level river terraces.... The square and the circle often occur in +combination, frequently connecting with each other.... Most of the +circular works are small, varying from two hundred and fifty to +three hundred feet in diameter, while others are a mile or more in +circuit." [Footnote: Smithsonian Cont. to Knowledge, I, pp. 6 and 8.] + +These embankments are, for the most part, slight, varying from two +feet to six, eight, ten, and twelve feet in height, with a broad base, +caused by the washing down of the banks in the course of centuries. +These facts are shown by numerous cross-sections furnished with the +ground-plans by the authors. But the circular embankments are +usually about half as high as the rectangular. + +Some idea of the size of Indian villages, and of their nearness to +each other, is necessary to form an impression of their plan of life +and mode of settlement. The illustrations should be drawn from the +Village Indians, to which class the Mound-Builders undoubtedly +belonged. Not knowing the use of wells, they established their +settlements on the margins of rivers and small streams, which +afforded alluvial land for cultivation, and often within a few miles +of each other. In the valley of the Rio Chaco, in New Mexico, there +were several pueblos within an extent of twelve miles, each +consisting of a single joint-tenement house, constructed usually +upon three sides of a court; and westward of the Chaco Valley were, +and still are, the seven Moki pueblos, within an extent of +twenty-five miles. At the present time, in the valley of the Rio +Grande, a single pueblo house, accommodating five hundred persons +makes an Indian village. Two or three such houses as at Taos and +Santo Domingo form a large pueblo and a group of several such houses +as at Zunyi a pueblo of the largest size which once contained +perhaps five thousand persons, now reduced to fifteen hundred. There +are no reasons for supposing that any pueblo in Yucatan or Central +America contained as high a number as ten thousand inhabitants at +the period of the Spanish conquest, although these countries were +extremely favorable for an increase of Indian population. Their +villages were numerous and small. Castanyada, who accompanied the +expedition of Coronado to New Mexico in 1540-1542, estimated the +population of the seventy villages visited by detachments and +situated between the Colorado River Zunyi and the Arkansas at twenty +thousand men which would give a total population in this wide area +of a hundred thousand Indians. + +There were seven villages each of Cibola, Tusayan, Quivira, and Hemes, +and twelve of Tiguex; it would give an average of about fourteen +hundred and fifty persons to each village. In all probability these +are fair samples as to the number of inhabitants of the villages of +the Mound Builders with exceptional cases as the village on the site +of Marietta in Ohio where there may have been five thousand if an +impression may be formed from the extent of the earth works occupied +in the manner hereafter suggested. Where several villages were found +near each other on the same stream as in New Mexico, the people +usually spoke the same dialect, which tends to show that those in +each group were colonists from one original village. The earth works +of the Mound Builders must be regarded as the sites of their villages. +The question then recurs for what purpose did they raise these +embankments at an expenditure of so much labor? The must have lived +somewhere in upon or around them. No answer has been given to this +question and no serious attempt has been made to explain their uses. +They have been called defensive enclosures but it is not supposable +that they lived in houses within the embankments for this would turn +the places into slaughter pens in case of in attack. Some of them +have been called sacred enclosures but this goes for nothing apart +from some knowledge of their uses. They were constructed for a +practical intelligent purpose and that purpose must be sought in the +needs and mode of life of the Mound-Builders as Village Indians; and +it should be expressed in the works themselves. If a sensible use for +these embankments can be found, its acceptance will relieve us from +the delusive inferences which are certain to be drawn from them so +long as they are allowed to remain in the category of the mysteries. + +It is proposed to submit a conjectural explanation of the objects +and uses of the principal embankments, and to advocate its +acceptance on the ground of inherent probability. It will be founded +on the assumption that the Mound-Builders were horticultural Village +Indians who had immigrated from beyond the Mississippi; that as such +they had been accustomed, to live in houses of adobe bricks, like +those found in New Mexico; that they had become habituated to living +upon their roof terraces as elevated platforms, and in large +households; and that their houses were in the nature of fortresses, +in consequence of the insecurity in which they lived. Further than +this, that before they emigrated to the valley of the Ohio they were +accustomed to snow, and to a moderate degree of winter cold; wore +skin garments, and possibly woven mantles of cotton, as the Cibolans +of New Mexico did at the time of Coronado's expedition. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote relocated to chapter end.] + +The food of the New Mexicans, at this time, consisted of maize, beans, +and squashes, and a limited amount of game, which was doubtless the +food of the Mound-Builders. Captain Juan Jaramillo, who accompanied +the same expedition, remarks in his relation that the Cibolans +"had hardly provisions enough for themselves; what they had +consisted of maize, beans, and squashes (maiz, des haricots, et des +courges).... The Indians clothe themselves with deer skins, very +well prepared. They have also buffalo-skins tanned, in which they +wrap themselves." [Footnote: Coll. Ternaux-Compans, ix, 369.] + +Although several centuries earlier in time, the Mound-Builders, with +habits of life similar to those of the Cibolans, in 1540, would +understand, besides horticulture, the use of adobe bricks, and the +art of constructing long joint-tenement houses, closed up in the +first story for defensive reasons, and built in the terraced form two, +three, and four stories high, the ascent to the roof of the first +story being made by ladders. + +If, then, a tribe of Village Indians, with such habits and experience, +emigrated centuries ago in search of new homes, and in course of +time they, or their descendants, reached the Scioto Valley, in Ohio, +they would find it impossible to construct houses of adobe bricks +able to resist the rains and frosts of that climate, even if they +found adobe soil. Some modification of their house architecture +would be forced upon them through climatic reasons. They might have +used stone, if possessed of sufficient skill to quarry it and +construct walls of stone; but they did not produce such houses. Or +they might have fallen back upon a house of inferior grade, located +upon the level ground, such as the timber-framed houses of the +Minnitarees and Mandans, in which case there would have been no +necessity for the embankments in question. Or, they might have +raised these embankments of earth, inclosing rectangles or squares, +and constructed long houses upon them, which, it is submitted, is +precisely what they did. Such houses would agree in general +character and in plan, and in the uses to which they were adapted, +with those of the aborigines found in all parts of America. + +The elevated platform of earth as a house-site is an element in +Indian architecture which reappears in a conspicuous manner in the +solid pyramidal platforms upon which the great stone structures in +Yucatan and Central America were erected, and which sprang from the +defensive and the communal principles in living. This latter +principle required large houses for the accommodation of a number of +families in the Lower Status of barbarism, and large enough in some +cases, when the people were in the Middle Status, to accommodate an +entire tribe. When adobe bricks were used the house was usually a +single structure, three or four rooms deep and three or four stories +high, constructed in a block, and in the nature of a fortress. The +ground story was little used, except for storage, and they lived, +practically, upon the roof terraces. When the use of stone came in, +the structure often consisted of a main building four or five +hundred feet long, and two wings two and three hundred feet in length, +inclosing three sides of an open court, the fourth side being +protected by a low stone wall. Such were the pueblos now in ruins +upon the Rio Chaco in New Mexico. + +In the highest form of this architecture in Yucatan and Chiapas, the +pyramidal elevation appears faced with dry stone walls. The +buildings upon its summit were often in the form of a quadrangle, +with an open court in the center; but the buildings were generally +disconnected at the four angles, as in the House of the Nuns at Uxmal. +All of these forms are parts of one system of indigenous architecture; +and the several parts are susceptible of articulation in a series +representing a progressive development of a common thought, that of +joint residence, with the practice of communism in living in large +groups in the same house, or in one group consisting of the entire +household. + +Let us, then, inquire whether the principal embankments of the +Mound-Builders were adapted, as raised platforms of earth, for the +sites of long houses constructed on the communistic principle, and +in the general style of the houses of the American aborigines. + +In the valley of the Scioto, in Ohio, and within an extent of twelve +miles, were found the remains of seven villages of the Mound-Builders, +four upon the east and three upon the west side of the river. They +are among the best of their works, and furnish fair examples of the +whole. One of the number, the High Bank Pueblo, is shown in +ground-plan in the engraving, Fig. 46. It is the only one in which +the inclosure is octagonal instead of square. The remains of each of +the seven consist principally of embankments like railway grades +several feet high and correspondingly broad at the base, inclosing a +square or slightly irregular area, the embankment on each of the +four sides being about a thousand feet long, with an opening or +gateway in the middle and at the four angles of the square. Attached +to or quite near to five of the seven are large circular inclosures, +each formed by a similar though lower embankment of earth and +inclosing a space somewhat larger than the squares. The respective +heights of the embankments, forming four of the rectangles, are +given at four, six, ten, and twelve feet; and of three of the +circular embankments, at five and six feet, respectively. + +The embankments inclosing the squares were probably the site of +their houses; since, as the highest, and because they are straight, +they were best adapted to the purpose. The situations of these +pueblos at short distances from each other on the same stream +accords with the usages of the Village Indians of New and Old Mexico +and Central America in locating their villages. These pueblos were +probably occupied by Mound-Builders of the same tribe, and were not +unlikely under a common government, consisting of a council of chiefs. +It is probable, also, that they were constructed, one after the other, +by colonists from an original village. + +In the engraving, Fig. 46, the form and relations of the embankments +are shown, with cross-sections indicating their elevation and +present ground-dimensions. It was taken from the work of Squier and +Davis. [Footnote: Smith Con., vol. i, p1. xvi.] + +These authors remark that "the principal work consists of an octagon +and circle, the former measuring nine hundred and fifty feet, the +latter ten hundred and fifty feet in diameter.... The walls of the +octagon are very bold, and, where they have been least subject to +cultivation, are now between eleven and twelve feet in height by +about fifty feet base. The wall of the circle is much less, nowhere +measuring over four or five feet in altitude. In all these respects, +as in the absence of a ditch and the presence of the two small +circles, this work resembles the Hopeton Works." [Footnote: ib., p. +50.] + +Of the latter, which is nine miles above on the Scioto, they remark +that "the walls of the rectangular work are composed of a clayey +loam twelve feet high by fifty feet base.... They resemble the heavy +grading of a railway, and are broad enough on the top to admit of +the passage of a coach." [Footnote: ib., p. 51.] + +It will be noticed that the octagonal work shown in the engraving +consists of seven distinct embankments. Six of these are about four +hundred and fifty feet long, and the remaining one, which once +consisted of two equal sections, as shown by the mound to face an +original opening in the center, now forms one continuous embankment +facing one side of the inclosed area. If these embankments were +reformed, with the materials washed down and now spread over a base +of fifty feet, with sloping sides and a level summit, they would +form new embankments thirty-seven feet wide at base, ten feet high, +and with a summit platform twenty-two feet wide. If a surface +coating of clay were used, the sides could be made steeper and the +summit platform broader. On embankments thus reformed out of their +original materials respectable as well as sufficient sites would be +provided for long joint-tenement houses, comparted into chambers +like stalls opening upon a central passage way through the structure +from end to end, as in the long-houses of the Iroquois. Such +embankments were strikingly adapted to houses of the aboriginal +American model, the characteristic feature of which was sufficient +length to afford a number of apartments. This feature became more +marked in the houses of the Village Indians, among whom houses three +hundred, four hundred, and even five hundred feet in length have +been found, as elsewhere stated. + +These embankments answered as a substitute for the first story of +the house constructed of adobe bricks, which was usually from ten to +twelve feet high, and closed up solid on the ground, externally. The +gateways entering the square were protected, it may be supposed, +with palisades of round timber set in the ground, each row of stakes +commencing at the opposite ends of the embankments and contracting +after passing each other to a narrow opening on the inside, which +might be permanently closed. Indian tribes in a lower condition than +the Mound-Builders were familiar with palisades. The inclosed square +was thus completely protected by the long-houses standing upon these +embankments and the gateways guarding the several entrances. The +pueblo, externally, would present continuous ramparts of earth ten +feet high, around an inclosed area, surmounted with timber-framed +houses with walls sloping like the embankments, and coated with +earth mixed with clay and gravel, rising ten or twelve feet above +their summits; the two forming a sloping wall of earth twenty feet +high. It seems extremely probable, for the reasons stated, that they +raised these embankments as foundations, and planted their +long-houses upon them, thus uniting the defensive principle with +that of communism in living. Such houses would harmonize with the +general plan of life of the American aborigines, and with the +general type of their house architecture. + +It is not necessary to know the exact form or internal plan of these +houses in order to establish this hypothesis. It is sufficient to +show that these embankments as restored were not only adapted, but +admirably adapted, to joint-tenement houses of the aboriginal +American type. The restoration, Fig. 47, was drawn by my friend +James G. Cutler, esq., of Rochester, architect, in accordance with +the foregoing suggestions. It shows not only the feasibility of +occupying these embankments with long houses, but also that each +pueblo was designed by the Mound-Builders to be a fortress, able to +resist assault with the appliances of Indian warfare. From the +defensive character of the great houses of the Village Indian in +general, this feature might have been expected to appear in the +houses of the Mound-Builders. + +In this restoration the houses are nearly triangular and of simple +construction. Indians much ruder than they are supposed to have been, +as the Minnitarees and Mandans, walled their houses with slabs of +wood standing on a slope, and roofed them at a lower angle, covering +both the sloping external walls and the roof with a "concrete of +tough clay and gravel," a foot or more thick. Long triangular houses +of the width of the summit of these embankments, with their doorways +opening upon the square, and with the interior comparted in the form +of stalls upon each side of a central passage way, would realize, +with the inclosed court, some of the features and nearly all the +advantages of the New Mexican pueblo houses. Occupying to the edge +of the embankments, these of the Mound-Builders could not be +successfully assailed from without either by Indian weapons or by +fire; and within, their apartments would be as secure and capacious +as those of the Village Indians in general at the period of their +discovery. The inclosed court, which is of unusual size, is one of +the remarkable features of the plan. It afforded a protected place +for the villagers and a place of recreation for their children, as +well as room for their drying-scaffolds, of which Mr. Cutler has +introduced a number of the Minnetaree and Mandan model, and for +gardens if they chose to use a part of the area for that purpose. +They would also require room for a large accumulation of fuel for +winter use. The only assailable points are the gateways, of which +the embankments show seven. These undoubtedly were protected by rows +of round timber set in the ground, and passing each other in such a +manner as to leave a narrow opening, with a mound back of each, upon +which archers could stand and shoot their arrows over the heads of +those between them and the gateway in front. Such at least is the +object which the presence of the mound in each case suggests. + +In the engraving, Fig. 48, there is a ground plan of a section of +one of the long-houses resting upon the restored embankment. It +shows eight apartments upon opposite sides of the central passage, +each nine feet wide by six feet deep, and surrounded by raised bunks +used both for seats and beds. The passage is eight feet wide and +runs through the house from end to end, with fire-pits in the center +for each four apartments. In interior plan it is an exact transcript +of the long-house of the Iroquois, and therefore adapted to the +joint habitation of a large number of related families, and to the +practice of communism. + +Another section shows the embankment below the line A-B, which, as +stated, is ten feet high upon a base thirty-seven feet wide, and +with a summit platform twenty-two feet wide, which forms the floor +of the house. Above this is a cross-section of the structure. Round +posts six inches in diameter are set in the ground upon the lines of +the central passage, defining also the several stalls. These posts, +which rise eight feet above the level of the floor and are forked at +the top, support string-pieces which run the length of the house. +Against these, planks of split timber are placed so as to form a +sloping external wall, and these are covered with clay and gravel a +foot or more thick. A simpler method would be the use of poles set +close together and sunk in the ground, afterwards coated in the same +manner. Cross-pieces of round timber rest upon the stringers over +each pair of posts. The roof over the central passage is formed +independently of poles bracing against each other at the center from +opposite sides. This is also covered with concrete or mud mortar. +Openings through the roof are left over the fire-pits for the exit +of the smoke. The principle of construction adopted is that employed +in the dirt lodges of the Minnitarees and Mandans of the Upper +Missouri. As thus restored, this pueblo of the Mound-Builders is not +superior in the mechanism of the houses to those of the tribes named. +[Footnote: There are some reasons for supposing that the Minnitarees +are descendants of the Mound Builders.] + +An elevation of a portion of one of the houses, on the court side, +is also furnished, showing the embankment with a ladder resting upon +it used as steps, and which could be taken up at night; also one of +the doors by which the house was entered. + +It is not necessary, as before suggested, that the actual form and +structure of the houses of the Mound-Builders should be shown to +establish the hypothesis that these embankments were the veritable +sites of their houses. If it is made evident that the summit +platforms of these embankments, when reformed from their own +materials, would afford practicable sites for houses, which when +constructed would have been comfortable dwellings adapted to the +climate and to Indian life in the Middle Status of barbarism, this +is all that can be required. The restoration of this pueblo +establishes the affirmative of this proposition, with the superadded +confirmation of that defensive character which marks all the house +architecture of the Village Indians in New and Old Mexico and +Central America. + +With their undoubted advancement beyond the Iroquois and Minnitarees, +the Mound-Builders may have constructed better houses upon these +platform elevations than the plans indicate. No remains of adobes +have been found in connection with these embankments, and nothing to +indicate that walls of such brick had ever been raised upon them. +The disintegrated mass would have shown itself in the form of the +embankment after the lapse of many centuries. On the contrary, they +were found in the precise form they would have assumed, under +atmospheric influences, after structures of the kind described had +perished, and the embankments had been abandoned for centuries. + +These embankments, therefore, require triangular houses of the kind +described, and long-houses, as well, covering their entire length. +But the interior plan might have been different, for example, the +passage way might have been along the exterior wall, and the stalls +or apartments on the court side, and but half as many in number, and, +instead of one continuous house in the interior, four hundred and +fifty feet in length, it might have been divided into several, +separated from each other by cross partitions. The plan of life, +however, which we are justified in ascribing to them, from known +usages of Indian tribes in a similar condition of advancement, would +lead us to expect large households formed on the basis of kin, with +the practice of communism in living in each household, whether large +or small. There is a direct connection in principle between the +platform elevations inclosing a large square on which the High Bank +Pueblo was constructed, and the pyramidal platforms in Yucatan, +smaller in diameter but higher in elevation, upon which were erected +the most artistic houses constructed by the American aborigines. In +the latter cases the central area rises to the common level of the +embankments upon which the houses were constructed. The former has +the security gained by a house-site above the level of the +surrounding ground; and it represents about all the advance made by +the Village Indians in the art of war above the tribes in a lower +condition of barbarism. They placed their houses and homes in a +position unassailable by the methods of Indian warfare. + +There is some diversity, as would be expected, in the size of the +squares inclosed by these embankments. They range from four hundred +and fifty to seventeen hundred feet, the majority measuring between +eight hundred and fifty and a thousand feet. Gateways are usually +found at the four angles and at the center of each side. A +comparison of the dimensions of twenty of these squares, figured in +the "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," gives for the +average nine hundred and thirty-seven feet. The aggregate length of +the embankments shown in Fig. 46 is three thousand six hundred feet, +which, at an average of ten feet for each apartment, would give +three hundred and sixty upon each side of the passage way, or seven +hundred and twenty in all. From this number should be deducted such +as were used for storage, for doorways, and for public uses. +Allowing two apartments for each family of five persons, the High +Bank Pueblo would have accommodated from fifteen hundred to two +thousand persons, living in the fashion of Indians, which is about +the number of an average pueblo of the Village Indians. This result +may be strengthened by comparing houses of existing Indian tribes. +The Seneca-Iroquois village of Tiotohatton, two centuries ago, was +estimated at a hundred and twenty houses. Taking the number at one +hundred, with an average length of fifty feet, and it would give a +lineal length of house-room of five thousand feet. It was the +largest of the Seneca, and the largest of the Iroquois villages, and +contained about two thousand inhabitants. A similar result is +obtained by another comparison. The aggregate length of the +apartments in the pueblo of Chettro Kettle, in New Mexico, now in +ruins, including those in the several stories, is four thousand +seven hundred feet. It contained probably about the same number of +inhabitants. + +The foregoing explanation of the uses of these embankments rests +upon the defensive principle in the house architecture of the +Village Indians, and upon a state of the family requiring joint +tenement houses communistic in character. To both of these +requirements this conjectural restoration of one of the pueblos of +the Mound-Builders responds in a remarkable manner. In the +diversified forms of the houses of the Village Indians, in all parts +of America, the defensive principle is a constant feature. Among the +Mound-Builders a rampart of earth ten feet high around a village +would afford no protection, but surmounted with long-houses, the +walls of which rose continuous with the embankments, the strength of +these walls, though of timber coated with earth, would render a +rampart thus surmounted and doubled in height a formidable barrier +against Indian assault. The second principle, that of communism in +living in joint-tenement houses, which is impressed not less clearly +upon the houses of the Village Indians in general than upon the +supposed houses of the Mound-Builders, harmonized completely with +the first. From the two together sprang the house architecture of +the American aborigines, with its diversities of form, and they seem +sufficient for its interpretation. The Mound-Builders in their new +area east of the Mississippi finding it impossible to construct +joint tenement houses of adobe bricks to which they had been +accustomed substituted solid embankments of earth in the place of +the first story closed up on the ground and erected triangular +houses upon them covered with earth. When circumstances compelled a +change of plan, the second is not a violent departure from the first. +There is a natural connection between them. Finally, it is deemed +quite sufficient to sustain the interpretation given that these +embankments were eminently adapted to the uses indicated, and that +the pueblo as restored, and with its inclosed court, would have +afforded to its inhabitants pleasant, protected and attractive homes. + +With respect to the large circular inclosures, adjacent to and +communicating with the squares, it is not necessary that we should +know their object. The one attached to the High Bank Pueblo contains +twenty acres of land, and doubtless subserved some useful purpose in +their plan of life. The first suggestion which presents itself is, +that as a substitute for a fence it surrounded the garden of the +village in which they cultivated their maize, beans, squashes, and +tobacco. At the Minnetaree village a similar inclosure may now be +seen by the side of the village surrounding their cultivated land, +consisting partly of hedge and partly of stakes, the open prairie +stretching out beyond. We cannot know all the necessities that +attended their mode of life; although houses, gardens, food, and +raiment were among those which must have existed. + +There is another class of circular embankments, about two hundred +and fifty feet in diameter, connected with each other in some cases +by long and low parallel embankments, as may be seen in Fig 46. +Undoubtedly they were for some useful purpose, which may or may not +be divined correctly, but a knowledge of which is not necessary to +our hypothesis respecting the principal embankments. It may be +suggested as probable that the Mound-Builders were organized in +gentes, phratries, and tribes. If this were the case, the phratries +would need separate places for holding their councils and for +performing their religious observances. These ring embankments +suggest the circular estufas found in connection with the New +Mexican pueblos, two, four, and sometimes five at one pueblo. The +circles were adapted to open-air councils, after the fashion of the +American Indian tribes. As there are two of these connected with +each other, and two not connected, it is not improbable that the +Mound-Builders at this village were organized in two and perhaps +four phratries, and that they performed their religious ceremonies +and public business in these open estufas. + +[Footnote: The solid rectangular platforms found at Marietta, Ohio, +and at several places in the Gulf region, are analogous to those in +Yucatan. They are an advance upon the ring inclosures, and were +probably designed for religious uses. That the Mound Builders were +at one time accustomed to adobe brick is proven by their presence at +Seltzertown, in the State of Mississippi, forming a part of the wall +of a mound. (See Foster's Pre-Historic Races of the U.S., p. 112.)] + +Practice of Cremation.--Among other works are the conical mounds, +which are numerous, found in or near circular embankments. They vary +in height from five to ten and twenty feet; with one, the Grave +Creek Mound, seventy feet high. They are classified by Squier and +Davis, who surveyed and examined them, into "Mounds of Sacrifice," +"Mounds of Sepulture," and "Mounds of Observation." The first kind +only in which the so-called altars are found will be noticed. + +At the center of each of the mounds of this class, and on the ground +level there was found a bed of clay artificially formed into a +shallow basin and then hardened by fire These basins have been +termed "altars" by Squier and Davis in their work on the "Ancient +Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." Mr. Squier remarks in a resume +of this work published separately that "some are round others +elliptical and others square or parallelograms.... The usual +dimensions are from five to eight feet." [Footnote: Trans. Am Eth Soc] + +[Illustration: FIG 49--Mound Artificial Clay Basin] + +At Mound City on the Scioto River there is a group of twenty six +mounds in one inclosure an engraving of one of which taken from +Mr. Squier's paper is shown in Fig 49. It is seven feet high by +fifty five feet base and contained the artificial clay basin in +question. 'F' is the basin which is round, and measures from c to d +nine feet, and from a to e five feet. The height from b to e is +twenty inches, and the dip of the curve a to e is nine inches. +"The body of the altar," Mr. Squier remarks, "is burned throughout, +though in a greater degree within the basin where it was so hard as +to resist the blow of a heavy hatchet, the instrument rebounding as +if struck upon a rock. The basin, or hollow of the altar, was filled +up even full with dry ashes, intermingled with which were some +fragments of pottery.... One of the vases, taken in fragments from +the mound, has been very nearly restored. The sketch B presents its +outlines and the character of its ornaments. Its height is six, and +its greatest diameter eight inches.... Above the deposit of ashes, +and covering the entire basin, was a layer of silvery or opaque mica +in sheets overlapping each other, and immediately over the center of +the basin was heaped a quantity of human bones, probably the amount +of a single skeleton, in fragments. The position of these is +indicated by O in the section. The layer of mica and calcined bones, +it should be remarked to prevent misapprehension, was peculiar to +this individual mound, and not found in any other of the class." +[Footnote: Observations, etc, Trans Am Eth Soc ii p 161] Calcined +bones, however, were found in three out of some twenty mounds of +this class examined. [Footnote: Ane Monte pp. 157, 159] + +The question now recurs, what was the use of the basin of clay, and +what the object of the mound itself? The terms "altars" and +"mounds of sacrifice," employed in describing them, imply that human +sacrifices were offered on these "altars," "upon which glowed the +sacrificial fires." [Footnote: Ib, p. 15] + +There is no propriety, I respectfully submit, in the use of either +of these terms, or in the conclusions they would force us to adopt +Human sacrifices were unknown in the Lower Status of barbarism; but +they were introduced in the Middle Status, when the first organized +priesthood, distinguished by their apparel, appears. In parts of +Mexico, and, it is claimed, in parts of Central America, these +atrocious rites were performed, but they were unknown in New Mexico, +and, without better evidence than these miscalled altars afford, +they cannot be fastened upon the Mound-Builders. Moreover, these +clay beds were not adapted to the barbarous work. Wherever human +sacrifices are known to have occurred among the American aborigines, +the place was an elevated mound platform, in the nature of a temple, +as the Teocalli of Mexico, and the raised altar or sacrificial stone +stood before the idol in whose worship the rites were performed. +There is neither a temple nor an idol, but a hollow bed of clay +covered by a mound raised in honor over the ashes of a deceased chief, +for assuredly such a mound would not have been raised over the ashes +of a victim. Indians never exchanged prisoners of war. Adoption or +burning at the stake was the alternative of capture; but no mound +was ever raised over the burned remains. Human sacrifices seem to +have originated in an attempt to utilize the predetermined death of +prisoners of war in the service of the gods, until slavery finally +offered a profitable substitute, in the Upper Status of barbarism. + +Another use suggests itself for this artificial basin more in +accordance with Indian usages and customs, namely, that cremation of +the body of a deceased chief was performed upon it, after which the +mound in question was raised over his ashes in accordance with +Indian custom. + +Cremation was practiced by the Village Indians only among the +American aborigines. It was not general even among them, burial in +the ground being the common usage; but it was more or less general +in the case of chiefs. The mode of cremation varied in different +areas, but the full particulars are not given in any instance. In +Nicaragua the body of a deceased chief of the highest grade was +wrapped in clothes and suspended by ropes before a fire until the +body was baked to dryness; then, after keeping it a year, it was +taken to the market-place, where they burned it, believing that the +smoke went "to the place where the dead man's soul was." [Footnote: +Herrera's Hist. America, ii, 133.] From this or some similar conceit +the practice of cremation probably originated. + + +THE PROBABLE NUMBERS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. + +There are no reasons for supposing, from the number of their +villages, that the Mound-Builders were a numerous people. My friend, +Prof. Charles Whittlesey, in a discussion of the rate of increase +of the human race, estimates them at 500,000. [Footnote: Trans. +Am. Ass. for the Adv. of Science, 1873, p. 320.] + +With thanks for the moderateness of the estimate, one-third of that +number would have been more satisfactory. Dense populations, an +expression sometimes applied to the Mound-Builders, have never +existed without either flocks and herds, or field agriculture with +the use of the plow. In some favored areas, where the facilities for +irrigation were unusual, a considerable population has been +developed upon horticulture; but no traces of irrigating canals have +been found in connection with the works of the Mound-Builders. +Furthermore, it was unnecessary in their areas. Transplanted from a +comparatively mild to a cold climate, they must have found the +struggle for existence intensified. Like the Cibolans in 1540, it +was doubtless at all times equally true of them, that "they had +barely provisions enough for themselves." And yet there is no cereal +equal to maize in the rich reward it returns even for poor +cultivation. It grows in the hill, can be eaten green as well as ripe, +and is hardy and prolific. At the same time, while it can be made +the basis of human subsistence, it is not sufficient of itself for +the maintenance of vigorous, healthful life. Vegetables and game +were requisite to complete the supply of food. The difficulties in +the way of production set a limit to their numbers. These also +explain the small number of their settlements in the large areas +over which they spread. Although they found native copper on the +south shore of Lake Superior, and beat it into chisels and a species +of pointed spade, the number of copper tools found is small, much +too small to lead to the supposition that it sensibly influenced +their cultivation. A pick pointed with a stone chisel, a spade of +wood, and a triangular piece of flint set in a wooden handle and +used as a knife, were as perfect implements as they were able to +command. Horticulture practiced thus rudely was necessarily of +limited productiveness. + +The idea has been advanced that "the condition of society among the +Mound-Builders was not that of freemen, or, in other words, that the +state possessed absolute power over the lives and fortunes of its +subjects." [Footnote: Foster's Pre-historic Races, etc., p. 386.] + +It is a sufficient answer to this remarkable passage that a people +unable to dig a well or build a dry stone wall must have been unable +to establish political society, which was necessary to the existence +of a state. + +From the absence of all traditionary knowledge of the Mound-Builders +among the tribes found east of the Mississippi, an inference arises +that the period of their occupation was ancient. Their withdrawal +was probably gradual, and completed before the advent of the +ancestors of the present tribes, or simultaneous with their arrival. +It seems more likely that their retirement from the country was +voluntary than that they were expelled by an influx of wild tribes. +If their expulsion had been the result of a protracted warfare, all +remembrance of so remarkable an event would scarcely have been lost +among the tribes by whom they were displaced. A warm climate was +necessary for the successful maintenance of the highest form of +Village Indian life. In the struggle for existence in this cold +climate Indian arts and ingenuity must have been taxed quite as +heavily to provide clothing as food. It is therefore not improbable +that the attempt to transplant the New Mexican type of village life +into the valley of the Ohio proved a failure, and that after great +efforts, continued through centuries of time, it was finally +abandoned by their withdrawal, first into the gulf region through +which they entered, and, lastly, from the country altogether. + +The Tlascalans practiced cremation, but it was generally limited to +the chiefs. [Footnote: Herrera's Hist. America, ii, 302.] It was the +same among the Aztecs. "Others were burnt and the ashes buried in +the temples, but they were all interred with whatever things of +value they possessed." [Footnote: ib., iii, 220.] The Mayas of +Yucatan came nearer the Romans in the practice, for they preserved +the ashes in earthen vessels. "The dead were much lamented," remarks +Herrera, "in silence by day and with dismal shrieks by night.... +filling their mouths with ground wheat [maize] that they might not +want food in the other world.... The bodies of their lords were +burnt and their ashes put into large vessels, over which temples +were built. Some made wooden statues of their parents, and leaving +an hollow in the necks of them, put in their ashes and kept them +among their idols with great veneration." [Footnote: ib., iv, 175.] +In New Mexico cremation is occasionally practiced at the present time. + +That the Mound-Builders should have had this custom, in view of its +prevalence among the Village Indians, would afford no cause of +surprise. I think we may, not without reason, recognize in this +artificial basin of clay a cremation bed, upon which the body was +placed in a sitting posture, covered with fuel, and then burned--in +some cases partially, and in others until every vestige of the body +had been burned to ashes--after which, or even before the burning, a +mound was raised over them as a mark of honor and respect. These +mounds have yielded a large number of copper and stone implements, +pipes, fragments of water jars, and other articles usually entombed +with the remains of the dead. It seems to have been their method of +cremation; and it must be admitted to be quite as respectable as any +known form of this strange practice of a large portion of the human +race. + +[Relocated Footnote: "The snow and cold are wont to be great," +Coronado remarks in his relation, "for so say the inhabitants of the +country; and it is very likely so to be, both in respect of the +manner of the country and of the fashion of their houses, and their +furs and other things, which the people have to defend them from cold.... +They have no cotton-wool growing, because the country is cold, yet +they wear mantles thereof, as your honor may see by the show thereof; +and true it is that there was found in their houses certain yarn +made of cotton-wool.... In this country there are certain skins, +well dressed, and they dress them and paint them when they kill +their oxen [buffaloes], for so they say themselves."--Hakluyt's Coll. +of Voyages, Lond. ed., 1600, iii, 377.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HOUSES OF THE AZTECS OR ANCIENT MEXICANS. + + +The first accounts of the pueblo of Mexico created a powerful +sensation in Europe. In the West India Islands the Spanish +discoverers found small Indian tribes under the government of chiefs, +but on the continent, in the Valley of Mexico, they found a +confederacy of three Indian tribes under a more advanced but similar +government. In the midst of the valley was a large pueblo, the +largest in America, surrounded with water, approached by causeways; +in fine, a water-girt fortress impregnable to Indian assault. This +pueblo presented to the Spanish adventurers the extraordinary +spectacle of an Indian society lying two ethnical periods back of +European society, but with a government and plan of life at once +intelligent, orderly, and complete. There was aroused an insatiable +curiosity for additional particulars, which has continued for three +centuries, and which has called into existence a larger number of +works than were ever before written upon any people of the same +number and of the same importance. + +The Spanish adventurers who captured the pueblo of Mexico saw a king +in Montezuma, lords in Aztec chiefs, and a palace in the large +joint-tenement house occupied, Indian fashion, by Montezuma and his +fellow-householders. It was, perhaps, an unavoidable self-deception +at the time, because they knew nothing of the Aztec social system. +Unfortunately it inaugurated American aboriginal history upon a +misconception of Indian life which has remained substantially +unquestioned until recently. The first eye-witnesses gave the +keynote to this history by introducing Montezuma as a king, +occupying a palace of great extent crowded with retainers, and +situated in the midst of a grand and populous city, over which, and +much beside, he was reputed master. But king and kingdom were in +time found too common to express all the glory and splendor the +imagination was beginning to conceive of Aztec society; and emperor +and empire gradually superseded the more humble conception of the +conquerors. [Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 1 relocated to +chapter end.] + +A psychological fact, which deserves a moment's notice, is revealed +by these works, written as they were with a desire for the truth and +without intending to deceive. These writers ought to have known that +every Indian tribe in America was an organized society, with +definite institutions, usages, and customs, which, when ascertained, +would have perfectly explained its government, the social relations +of the people, and their plan of life. Indian society could be +explained as completely and understood as perfectly as the civilized +society of Europe or America by finding its exact organization. This, +strange to say, was never attempted, or at least never accomplished, +by any one of these numerous and voluminous writers. To every author, +from Cortes and Bernal Diaz to Brasseur de Bourbourg and Hubert H. +Bancroft, Indian society was an unfathomable mystery, and their +works have left it a mystery still. Ignorant of its structure and +principles, and unable to comprehend its peculiarities, they invoked +the imagination to supply whatever was necessary to fill out the +picture. When the reason, from want of facts, is unable to +understand and therefore unable to explain the structure of a given +society, imagination walks bravely in and fearlessly rears its +glittering fabric to the skies. Thus in this case, we have a grand +historical romance, strung upon the conquest of Mexico as upon a +thread; the acts of the Spaniards, the pueblo of Mexico, and its +capture, are historical, while the descriptions of Indian society +and government are imaginary and delusive. These picturesque tales +have been read with wonder and admiration, as they successively +appeared, for three hundred and fifty years; though shown to be +romances, they will continue to be read as Robinson Crusoe is read, +not because they are true, but because they are pleasing. The +psychological revelation is the eager, undefinable interest aroused +by any picture of ancient society. It is felt by every stranger when +he first walks the streets of Pompeii, and, standing within the +walls of its roofless houses, strives to picture to himself the life +and the society which flourished there eighteen hundred years ago. +In Mexico the Spaniards found an organized society several thousand +years further back of their own than Pompeian society, in its arts, +institutions, and state of advancement. It was this revelation of a +phase of the ancient life of mankind which possessed and still +possesses such power to kindle the imagination and inspire enthusiasm. +It caught the imagination and overcame the critical judgment of +Prescott, our most charming writer; it ravaged the sprightly brain +of Brasseur de Bourbourg, and it carried up in a whirlwind our +author at the Golden Gate. + +The commendation these works have received from critical journals +reveals with painful distinctness the fact that we have no science +of American ethnology. Such a science, resting as it must upon +verified facts, and dealing with the institutions, arts and +inventions, usages and customs, languages, religious beliefs, and +plan of government of the Indian tribes, would, were it fairly +established, command as well as deserve the respect of the American +people. With the exception of an amateur here and there, American +scholars have not been willing to devote themselves to so vast a work. +It may be truly said at this moment that the structure and +principles of Indian society are but partially known, and that the +American Indian himself is still an enigma among us. The question is +still before us as a nation whether we will undertake the work of +furnishing to the world a scientific exposition of Indian society, +or leave it as it now appears, crude, unmeaning, unintelligible, a +chaos of contradictions and puerile absurdities. With a field of +unequaled richness and of vast extent, with the same Red Race in all +the stages of advancement indicated by three great ethnical periods, +namely the Status of savagery, the Lower Status of barbarism, and +the Middle Status of barbarism, [Footnote: See ante, page 43, note, +for a definition of proposed ethnical or culture periods, and +Ancient Society, chapter 1, "Ethnical Periods."] more persons ought +to be found willing to work upon this material for the credit of +American scholarship. It will be necessary for them to do as +Herodotus did in Asia and Africa, to visit the native tribes at +their villages and encampments, and study their institutions as +living organisms, their condition, and their plan of life. When this +has been done from the region of the Arctic Sea to Patagonia, Indian +society will become intelligible, because its structure and +principles will be understood. It exhibits three distinct phases, +each with a culture peculiar to itself, lying back of civilization, +and back of the Upper Status of barbarism, having very little in +common with European society of three hundred years ago, and very +little in common with American society of to-day. Its institutions, +inventions, and customs find no analogues in those of civilized +nations, and cannot be explained in terms adapted to such a society. +Our later investigators are doing their work more and more on the +plan of direct visitation, and I make no doubt a science of American +ethnology will yet come into existence among us and rise high in +public estimation from the important results it will rapidly achieve. +Precisely what is now needed is the ascertainment and scientific +treatment of this material. + +After so general a condemnation of Spanish and American writers, so +far as they represent Aztec society and government, some facts and +some reasons ought to be presented to justify the charge. +Recognizing the obligation, I propose to question the credibility of +so much of the second volume of "The Native Races" and of so much of +other Spanish histories as relate to two subjects--the character of +the house in which Montezuma resided, which is styled a palace; and +the account of the celebrated dinner of Montezuma, which is +represented as the daily banquet of an imperial potentate. Neither +subject, considered in itself, is of much importance; but if the +accounts in these two particulars are found to be fictitious and +delusive, a breach will be made in a vital section of the fabric of +Aztec romance, now the most deadly encumbrance upon American +ethnology. + +It may be premised that there is a strong probability, from what is +known of Indian life and society, that the house in which Montezuma +lived was a joint-tenement house of the aboriginal American model, +owned by a large number of related families, and occupied by them in +common as joint proprietors; that the dinner in question was the +usual single daily meal of a communal household, prepared in a +common cook-house from common stores, and divided, Indian fashion, +from the kettle; and that all the Spaniards found in Mexico was a +simple confederacy of three Indian tribes, the counterpart of which +was found in all parts of America. + +It may be premised further that the Spanish adventures who thronged +to the New World after its discovery found the same race of Red +Indians in the West India Islands, in Central and South America, in +Florida, and in Mexico. + +[Footnote: "But among all the other inhabitants of America there is +such a striking similitude in the form of their bodies, and the +qualities of their minds, that notwithstanding the diversities +occasioned by the influence of climate, or unequal progress in +improvement, we must pronounce them to be descended from one source."-- +Robertson's History of America, Law's ed., p. 69.] + +In their mode of life and means of subsistence, in their weapons, +arts, usages, and customs, in their institutions, and in their +mental and physical characteristics, they were the same people in +different stages of advancement. No distinction of race was observed, +and none in fact existed. They were broken up into numerous +independent tribes, each under the government of a council of chiefs. +Among the more advanced tribes, confederacies existed, which +represented the highest stage their governmental institutions had +attained. In some of them, as in the Aztec confederacy, they had a +principal war-chief, elected for life or during good behavior, who +was the general commander of the military bands. His powers were +those of a general, and necessarily arbitrary when in the field. +Behind this war-chief--noticed, it is true, by Spanish writers, but +without explaining or even ascertaining its functions--was the +council of chiefs, "the great council without whose authority," +Acosta remarks, Montezuma "might not do anything of importance". +[Footnote: The Natural and Moral History of the East and West Indies, +Lond. ed., 1604, Grimstone's Trans., p. 485.] + +The civil and military powers of the government were in a certain +sense coordinated between the council of chiefs and the military +commander. The government of the Aztec confederacy was essentially +democratic, because its organization and institutions were so. If a +more special designation is needed, it will be sufficient to +describe it as a military democracy. + +The Spaniards who overran Mexico and Peru gave a very different +interpretation of these two organizations. Having found, as they +supposed, two absolute monarchies with feudal characteristics, the +history of American Indian institutions was cast in this mold. The +chief attention of Europeans in the sixteenth century was directed +to these two governments, to which the affairs of the numerous +remaining tribes and confederacies were made subordinate. Subsequent +history has run in the same grooves for more than three centuries, +striving diligently to confirm that of which confirmation was +impossible. The generalization was perhaps proper enough, that if +the institutions of the Aztecs and Peruvians, such well-advanced +Indian tribes, culminated in monarchy, those of the Indian tribes +generally were essentially monarchical, and therefore those of +Mexico and Peru should represent the institutions of the Red Race. + +It may be premised, finally, that the histories of Spanish America +may be trusted in whatever relates to the acts of the Spaniards, and +to the acts and personal characteristics of the Indians; in whatever +relates to their weapons, implements, and utensils, fabrics, food, +and raiment, and things of a similar character. But in whatever +relates to Indian society and government, their social relations and +plan of life, they are nearly worthless, because they learned +nothing and knew nothing of either. We are at full liberty to reject +them in these respects, and commence anew; using any facts they may +contain which harmonize with what is known of Indian society. It was +a calamity to the entire Red Race that the achievements of the +Village Indians of Mexico and Central America, in the development of +their institutions, should have suffered a shipwreck so nearly total. +The only remedy for the evil done them is to recover, if possible, a +knowledge of their institutions, which alone can place them in their +proper position in the history of mankind. + +In order to understand so simple an event in Indian life as +Montezuma's dinner, it is necessary to know certain usages and +customs, and even certain institutions of the Indian tribes generally, +which had a direct bearing upon the dinner of every Indian in +America at the epoch of the Spanish conquest. Although it may seem +strange to the reader, it requires a knowledge of several classes of +facts to comprehend this dinner, such as: 1. The organization in +gentes, phratries, and tribes. 2. The ownership of lands in common. 3. +The law of hospitality. 4. The practice of communism in living. 5. +The communal character of their houses. 6. Their custom of having +but one prepared meal each day, a dinner. 7. Their separation at +meals, the men eating first, and the women and children afterwards. +These several topics have been considered in previous chapters. + +Not a vestige of the ancient pueblo of Mexico (Tenochtitlan) remains +to assist us to a knowledge of its architecture. Its structures, +which were useless to a people of European habits, were speedily +destroyed to make room for a city adapted to the wants of a +civilized race. We must seek for its characteristics in contemporary +Indian houses which still remain in ruins, and in such of the early +descriptions as have come down to us, and then leave the subject +with but little accurate knowledge. Its situation, partly on dry +land and partly in the waters of a shallow artificial pond formed by +causeways and dikes, led to the formation of streets and squares, +which were unusual in Indian pueblos, and gave to it a remarkable +appearance. "There were three sorts of broad and spacious streets," +Herrera remarks; "one sort all water with bridges, another all earth, +and a third of earth and water, there being a space to walk along on +land and the rest for canoes to pass, so that most of the streets +had walks on the sides and water in the middle". [Footnote: History +of America, ii, 361.] + +Many of the houses were large, far beyond the supposable wants of a +single Indian family. They were constructed of adobe brick and of +stone, and plastered over in both cases with gypsum, which made them +a brilliant white; and some were constructed of a red porous stone. +In cutting and dressing this stone flint implements were used. +[Footnote: Clavigero, ii, 238.] + +The fact that the houses were plastered externally leads us to infer +that they had not learned to dress stone and lay them in courses. It +is not certainly established that they had learned the use of a +mortar of lime and sand. In the final attack and capture, it is said +that Cortes, in the course of seventeen days, destroyed and leveled +three-quarters of the pueblo, which demonstrates the flimsy +character of the masonry. Some of the houses were constructed on +three sides of a court, like those on the Rio Chaco in New Mexico, +others probably surrounded an open court or quadrangle, like the +House of the Nuns at Uxmal; but this is not clearly shown. The best +houses were usually two stories high, an upper and lower floor being +mentioned. The second story receded from the first, probably in the +terraced form. Clavigero remarks that "the houses of the lords and +people of circumstance were built of stone and lime. They consisted +of two floors, having halls, large court-yards, and the chambers +fitly disposed; the roofs were flat and terraced; the walls were so +well whitened, polished, and shining that they appeared to the +Spaniards when at a distance to have been silver. The pavement or +floor was plaster, perfectly level, plain, and smooth.... The large +houses of the capital had in general two entrances, the principal +one to the street, the other to the canal. They had no wooden doors +to their houses." [Footnote: History of Mexico, ii, 232.] + +The house was entered through doorways from the street, or from the +court, on the ground-floor. Not a house in Mexico is mentioned by +any of the early writers as occupied by a single family. They were +evidently joint-tenement houses of the aboriginal American model, +each occupied by a number of families ranging from five and ten to +one hundred, and perhaps in some cases two hundred families in a +house. + +Before considering the house architecture of the Aztecs, it remains +to notice, briefly, the general character of the houses of the +Village Indians within the areas of Spanish visitation. They were +joint-tenement houses, usually, of the American model, adapted to +communism in living, like those previously described, and will aid +us to understand the houses of the pueblo of Mexico. + +Herrera, speaking of the natives of Cuba, remarks that "they had +caciques and towns of two hundred houses, with several families in +each of them, as was usual in Hispaniola". [Footnote: ib., ii, 15.] + +The Cubans were below the Sedentary Indians. In Yucatan, the houses +of the Mayas, and of the tribes of Guatemala, Chiapas, and Honduras, +remain in ruins to speak for themselves, and will form the subject +of the ensuing chapter. On the march to Mexico, Cortez and his men, +"being come down into the plain, took up their quarters in a country +house that had many apartments." [Footnote: ib., ii, 320.] + +"At Iztapalapa he was entertained in a house that had large courts, +upper and lower floors and very delightful gardens. The walls were +of stone, the timber work well wrought, there were many and spacious +rooms, hung with cotton hangings extraordinary rich in their way." +[Footnote: "History of America", 325.] + +His accommodations in the pueblo of Mexico will elsewhere be noticed. +After the capture of the pueblo Alvaredo was sent southward with two +hundred foot and forty horse to the province of Tututlepec on the +Pacific. "When he arrived the lord of Tututlepec offered to quarter +the Spaniards in his palace which was very magnificent." + +"In 1525 Cortez made his celebrated march to Guatemala with one +hundred and fifty horse, the same number of foot, and three hundred +Indians. Being well received in the city of Apoxpalan, Cortez and +all the Spaniards with their horses were quartered in one house, the +Mexicans being dispersed into others, and all of them plentifully +supplied with provisions during their stay. The first 'palace' +described by Herrera was discovered by Balboa somewhere in the +present Costa Rica, and Comagre has gone into history as its +proprietor. This palace was more remarkable and better built than +any that had been yet seen on the islands or the little that was +then known of the continent, being one hundred and fifty paces in +length and eighty in breadth founded on very large posts inclosed by +a stone wall with timber intermixed at the top and hollow spaces so +beautifully wrought that the Spaniards were amazed at the sight of +it and could not express the manner and curiosity of it. There were +in it several chambers and apartments and one that was like a +buttery and full of such provisions as the country afforded, as bread, +venison, swine's flesh, &c. There was another large room like a +cellar full of earthen vessel containing several sorts of white and +red liquors made of Indian wheat etc. The noticeable fact in this +description is the two chambers containing provisions and stores for +the household which was undoubtedly the case with all of those named. +Zempoala near Vera Cruz is described as a very large town with +stately buildings of good timber work and every house had a garden +with water so that it looked like a terrestrial paradise.... The +scouts advancing on horseback came to the great square and courts +where the prime houses were, which having been lately new plastered +over, were very light, the Indians being extraordinary expert at +that work", [Footnote: History of America, ii, 211.] and further +states that "the houses were built of 'lime and stone'." + +These pueblos were generally small, consisting of three or four +large joint-tenement houses, with other houses smaller in size, the +different grades of houses representing the relative thrift and +prosperity of the several groups by whom they were owned and occupied. +It is doubtful whether there was a single pueblo in North America, +with the exception of Tlascala, Cholula, Tezcuco, and Mexico, which +contained ten thousand inhabitants. There is no occasion to apply +the term "city" to any of them. None of the Spanish descriptions +enable us to realize the exact form and structure of these houses, +or their relations to each other in forming a pueblo. But for the +pueblos, occupied or in ruins, in New Mexico, and the more +remarkable pueblos in ruins in Yucatan and Central America, we would +know very little concerning the house architecture of the Sedentary +Village Indians. It is evident from the citations made that the +largest of these joint-tenement houses would accommodate from five +hundred to a thousand or more people, living in the fashion of +Indians; and that the courts were probably quadrangles, formed by +constructing the building on three sides of an inclosed space, as in +the New Mexican pueblos, or upon the four sides, as in the House of +the Nuns, at Uxmal. + +The writers on the conquest have failed to describe the Aztec house +in such a manner that it can be fairly comprehended. They have also +failed to explain the mode of life within it. But it can safely be +said that most of these houses were large, far beyond any supposable +wants of a single Indian family; that they were constructed, when on +dry land, of adobe brick, and when in the water, of stone imbedded +in some kind of mortar, and plastered over in both cases with gypsum, +which made them a brilliant white. Some also were constructed of a +red porous stone. Some of these houses were built on three sides of +a court, like those on the Chaco, but the court opened on a street +or causeway. Others not unlikely surrounded an open court or +quadrangle, which must have been entered through a gateway; but this +is not clearly shown. The large houses were probably two stories high; +an upper and a lower floor are mentioned in some cases, but rarely a +third. + +Communism in living in large households, the communism being +confined to the household, was probably the rule of life among the +ancient Mexicans at the time of the Conquest. + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 2 relocated to chapter end.] + +Two of the houses in Mexico were more particularly noted by the +soldiers of Cortes than others--that in which they were quartered, +and that in which Montezuma lived. Neither can be said to have been +described. I shall confine myself to these two structures. + +Cortes made his first entry into Mexico in November, 1519, with four +hundred and fifty Spaniards, according to Bernal Diaz, [Footnote: +Diaz Conquest of Mex., ed. 1803, Keatinge's Trans., i, 181, 189. +Herrera says, 300, ii, 327.] accompanied by a thousand Tlaxcallan +allies. They were lodged in a vacant palace of Montezuma's late +father, Diaz naively remarks, observing that "the whole of this +palace was very light, airy, clean, and pleasant, the entry being +through a great court." [Footnote: Diaz, I, 191.] Cortes, after +describing his reception, informs us that Montezuma "returned along +the street in the order already described, until he reached a very +large and splendid palace in which we were to be quartered. He then +took me by the hand and led me into a spacious saloon, in front of +which was a court through which we had entered." [Footnote: +Dispatches of Cortes, Folsom's Trans., p. 86.] + +So much for the statements of two eye-witnesses. Herrera gathered +some additional particulars. He states that "they came to a very +large court, which was the wardrobe of the idols, and had been the +house of Axayacatzin, Montezuma's father.... Being lodged in so +large a house, that, though it seems incredible, contained so many +capacious rooms, with bedchambers, that one hundred and fifty +Spaniards could all lie single. It was also worth observing that +though the house was so big, every part of it to the last corner was +very clean, neat, matted, and hung with hangings of cotton and +feather work of several colors, and had beds and mats with pavilions +over them. No man of whatsoever quality having any other sort of bed, +no other being used." [Footnote: History of America, ii, 330.] In +the tidiness of these rooms we gain some evidence of the character +of Aztec women. + +Joint-tenement houses, and the mode of life they indicate, were at +this time unknown in Europe. They belonged to a more ancient +condition of society. It is not surprising, therefore, that the +Spaniards, astonished at their magnitude, should have styled them +palaces, and having been received with a great array by Montezuma, +as the general commander of the Aztec forces, should have regarded +him as a king, since monarchical government was the form with which +they were chiefly acquainted. Suffice it then, to say that one of +the great houses of the Aztecs was large enough to accommodate +Cortes and his fourteen hundred and fifty men including Indian +allies as they had previously been accommodated in one Cholulan +house and elsewhere, on the way to Mexico. From New Mexico to the +Isthmus of Panama there was scarcely a principal village in which an +equal number could not have found accommodations in a single house. +When it is found to be unnecessary to call it a palace in order to +account for its size, we are led to the conclusion that an ordinary +Aztec house was emptied of its inhabitants to make room for their +unwelcome visitors. After their reception, Aztec hospitality +supplied them with provisions. Mr. Bandelier has, in the article +above referred to, explained this house in a very satisfactory +manner as "the tecpan, or official house of the tribe." He says: +"The house where the Spaniards were quartered was the 'tecpan,' or +official house of the tribe, vacated by the official household for +that purpose." In sallying forth to greet the newcomers at the dike, +"Wrathy chief (Montezuma) acted simply as the representative of the +tribal hospitality, extending unusual courtesies to unusual, +mysterious, and therefore dreaded guests. Leaving these in +possession of the 'tecpan,' he retired to another of the large +communal buildings surrounding the central square, where the +official business was, meanwhile, transacted. His return to the +Spanish quarters, even if compulsory, had less in it to strike the +natives than is commonly believed. It was a re-installation in old +quarters, and therefore the 'Tlatocan (Council of Chiefs) itself +felt no hesitancy in meeting there again, until the real nature of +the dangerous visitors was ascertained, when the council gradually +withdrew from the snare, leaving the unfortunate 'chief of men' in +Spanish hands." [Footnote: 12 Annual Report of Peabody Museum, p. +680.] + +We are next to consider the second so-called palace, that in which +Montezuma lived, and the dinner of Montezuma which these soldiers +witnessed, and which has gone into history as a part of the evidence +that a monarchy of the feudal type existed in Mexico. They had but +little time to make their observations, for this imaginary kingdom +perished almost immediately, and the people, in the main, dispersed. +The so-called palace of Montezuma is not described by Diaz, for the +reason, probably, that there was nothing to distinguish it from a +number of similar structures in the pueblo. Neither is it described +by Cortes or the Anonymous Conqueror; Cortes merely remarking +generally that "within the city his palaces were so wonderful that +it is hardly possible to describe their beauty and extent; I can +only say that in Spain there is nothing equal to them." [Footnote: +Despatches, p. 121.] + +Gothic cathedrals were then standing in Spain, the Alhambra in +Grenada, and, without doubt, public and private buildings of dressed +stone laid in courses. While the comparison was mendacious, we can +understand the desire of the conqueror to magnify his exploits. +Herrera, who came later and had additional resources, remarks that +the palace in which Montezuma resided "had twenty gates, all of them +to the square or market-place, and the principal streets, and three +spacious courts, and in one of them a very large fountain.... There +were many halls one hundred feet in length, and rooms of twenty-five +and thirty, and one hundred baths. The timber-work was small, +without nails, but very fine and strong, which the Spaniards much +admired. The walls were of marble, jasper, porphyry, a black sort of +stone with red veins like blood, white stone, and another sort that +is transparent. The roofs were of wood, well wrought and carved.... +The rooms were painted and matted, and many of them had rich +hangings of cotton and coney wool, or of feather-work. The beds were +not answerable to the grandeur of the house and furniture, being +poor and wretched, consisting of blankets upon mats or on hay.... +Few men lie in this palace, but there were one thousand women in it, +and some say three thousand, which is reckoned most likely.... +Montezuma took to himself the ladies that were the daughters of +great men, being many in number." [Footnote: History of America, ii, +345.] + +The external walls of the houses were covered with plaster. From the +description it seems probable that in the interior of the large +rooms the natural faces of the stone in the walls were seen here and +there, some of the red porous stone, some of marble, and some +resembling porphyry, for it is not supposable that they could cut +this stone with flint implements. Large stones used on the inner +faces of the walls might have been left uncovered, and thus have +presented the mottled appearance mentioned. The Aztecs had no +structures comparable with those of Yucatan. Their architecture +resembles that of New Mexico wherever its features distinctly appear +upon evidence that can be trusted. The best rooms found in the +latter region are of thin pieces of sandstone prepared by fracture +and laid up with a uniform face. Herrera had no occasion to speak of +the use of marble and porphyry in the walls of this house in such a +vague manner and upon more vague information. The reference to the +thousand or more women as forming the harem of Montezuma is a gross +libel. + +Mr. Hubert H. Bancroft, the last of the long line of writers who +have treated the affairs of the Aztecs, has put the finishing touch +to this picture in the following language: "The principal palace of +the king of Mexico was an irregular pile of low buildings enormous +in extent, constructed of huge blocks of tetzontli, a kind of porous +stone common to that country, cemented with mortar. The arrangement +of the buildings was such that they enclosed three great plazas or +public squares, in one of which a beautiful fountain incessantly +played. Twenty great doors opened on the squares and on the streets, +and over these was sculptured in stone the coat-of-arms of the king +of Mexico, an eagle griping in his talons a jaguar. In the interior +were many halls, and one in particular is said by a writer who +accompanied Cortes, known as the Anonymous Conqueror, to have been +of sufficient extent to contain three thousand men.... In addition +to these were more than one hundred smaller rooms, and the same +number of marble baths.... The walls and floors of halls and +apartments were many of them faced with polished slabs of marble, +jasper, obsidian, and white tecali; lofty columns of the same fine +stones supported marble balconies and porticos, every inch and +corner of which was filled with wondrous ornamental carving, or held +a grinning, grotesquely sculptured head. The beams and casings were +of cedar, cypress, and other valuable woods profusely carved and put +together without nails.... Superb mats of most exquisite finish were +spread upon the marble floors; the tapestry that draped the walls +and the curtains that hung before the windows were made of a fabric +most wonderful for its delicate texture, elegant designs, and +brilliant colors; through the halls and corridors a thousand golden +censers, in which burned precious spices and perfumes, diffused a +subtle odor." [Footnote: Native Races of the Pacific States, ii, 160.] + +Upon this rhapsody it will be sufficient to remark that halls were +entirely unknown in Indian architecture. Neither a hall, as that +term is used by us, has ever been seen in an Indian house, nor has +one been found in the ruins of any Indian structure. An external +corridor has occasionally been found in ruins of houses in Central +America. The great doors open on the squares and streets; Aztec +window-curtains of delicate texture, marble baths and porticos, and +floors of polished slabs of marble, as figments of a troubled +imagination, recall the glowing description of the great kingdom of +the Sandwich Islands--with its king, its cabinet ministers, its +parliament, its army and navy, which Mark Twain has fitly +characterized as "an attempt to navigate a sardine dish with Great +Eastern machinery"; and it suggested also the Indian chief +humorously mentioned by Irving as generously "decked out in cocked +hat and military coat, in contrast with his breech clout and +leathern leggins, being grand officer at top and ragged Indian at +bottom." [Footnote: Bonneville, p. 34.] Whatever may be said by +credulous and enthusiastic authors to decorate this Indian pueblo, +its houses and its breech-cloth people, cannot conceal the "ragged +Indian" therein by dressing him in a European costume. + +On the seventh day after the entry into Mexico, Montezuma was +induced by intimidation to leave the house in which he lived and +take up his quarters with Cortes, where he was held a prisoner until +his death, which occurred a few weeks later. Whatever was seen of +his mode of life in his usual place of residence was practically +limited to the five days between the coming of the Spaniards and his +capture. Our knowledge of the facts is in the main derived from what +these soldiers reported upon slight and imperfect means of +observation. Bernal Diaz and Cortes have left us an extraordinary +description, not of his residence, but of his daily life, and more +particularly of the dinner, which will now be considered. It is +worth the attempt to take up the pictures of these and succeeding +authors, and see whether the real truth of the matter cannot be +elicited from their own statements. There was undoubtedly a basis of +facts underneath them, because without such a basis the +superstructure could not have been created. + +It may with reason be supposed that the Spaniards found Montezuma, +with his gentile kindred, in a large joint-tenement house, +containing perhaps fifty or a hundred families united in a communal +household. The dinner they witnessed was the single daily meal of +this household, prepared in a common cook-house from common stores, +and divided at the kettle. The dinner of each person was placed in +an earthen bowl, with which in his hand an Indian needed neither +chair nor table, and, moreover, had neither the one nor the other. +The men ate first, and by themselves, Indian fashion; and the women, +of whom only a few were seen, afterwards and by themselves. On this +hypothesis the dinner in question is susceptible of a satisfactory +explanation. + +It has been shown that each Aztec community of persons owned lands +in common, from which they derived their support. Their mode of +tillage and of distribution of the products, whatever it may have +been, would have returned to each family or household, large or small, +its rightful share. Communism in living in large households composed +of related families springs naturally from such a soil. It may be +considered a law of their condition, and, plainly enough, the most +economical mode of life they could adopt until the idea of property +had been sufficiently developed in their minds to lead to the +division of lands among individuals with ownership in fee, and power +of alienation. Their social system, which tended to unite kindred +families in a common household, their ownership of lands in common, +and their ownership, as a group, of a joint-tenement house, which +would necessarily follow, would not admit a right in persons to sell, +and thus to introduce strangers into the ownership of such lands or +such houses. Lands and houses were owned and held under a common +system which entered into their plan of life. The idea of property +was forming in their minds, but it was still in that immature state +which pertains to the Middle Status of barbarism. They had no money, +but traded by barter of commodities; very little personal property, +and scarcely anything of value to Europeans. They were still a +breech-cloth people, wearing this rag of barbarism as the +unmistakable evidence of their condition; and the family was in the +syndyasmian or pairing form, with separation at any moment at the +option of either party. It was the weakness of the family, its +inability to face alone the struggle of life, which led to the +construction of joint-tenement houses throughout North and South +America by the Indian tribes; and it was the gentile organization +which led them to fill these houses, on the principle of kin, with +related families. + +In a pueblo as large as that of Mexico, which was the largest found +in America, and may possibly have contained thirty thousand +inhabitants, there must have been a number of large communal houses +of different sizes, from those that were called palaces, because of +their size, to those filled by a few families. Degrees of prosperity +are shown in barbarous as well as in civilized life in the quarters +of the people. Herrera states that the houses of the poorer sort of +people were "small, low, and mean," but that, "as small as the +houses were, they commonly contained two, four, and six families." +[Footnote: History of America, ii, 360.] + +Wherever a household is found in Indian life, be the married pairs +composing it few or many, that household practiced communism in +living. In the largest of these houses it would not follow +necessarily that all its inmates lived from common stores, because +they might form several household groups in the same house; but in +the large household of which Montezuma was a member, it is plain +that it was fed from common stores prepared in a common cook-house, +and divided from the kettle, in earthen bowls, each containing the +dinner of a single person. Montezuma was supposed to be absolute +master of Mexico, and what they saw at this dinner was interpreted +with exclusive reference to him as the central figure. The result is +remarkably grotesque. It was their own self-deception, without any +assistance from the Aztecs. The accounts given by Diaz and Cortes, +and which subsequent writers have built upon with glowing enthusiasm +and free additions, is simply the gossip of a camp of soldiers +suddenly cast into an earlier form of society, which the Village +Indians of America, of all mankind, then best represented. That they +could understand it was not to have been expected. Accustomed to +monarchy and to privileged classes, the principal Aztec war-chief +seemed to them quite naturally a king, and sachems and chiefs +followed in their vision as princes and lords. But that they should +have remained in history as such for three centuries is an amusing +commentary upon the value of historical writings in general. + +The dinner of Montezuma, witnessed within the five days named by the +Spanish soldiers, comes down to us with a slender proportion of +reliable facts. The accounts of Bernal Diaz and of Cortes form the +basis of all subsequent descriptions [Footnote: The Anonymous +Conqueror does not notice it.]. Montezuma was the central figure +around whom all the others are made to move. A number of men, as +Diaz states, were to be seen in the house and in the courts, going +to and fro; a part of whom were thought to be chiefs in attendance +upon Montezuma, and the remainder were supposed to be guards. Better +proof of the use of guards is needed than the suggestion of Diaz. It +implies a knowledge of military discipline unknown by Indian tribes. +It was noticed that Indians went barefooted into the presence of +Montezuma, which was interpreted as an act of servility and deference, +although bare feet must have been the rule rather than the exception +in Tenochtitlan. Diaz further informs us that "his cooks had upwards +of thirty different ways of dressing meats, and they had earthen +vessels so contrived as to keep them always hot. For the table of +Montezuma himself above three hundred dishes were dressed, and for +his guards above a thousand. Before dinner Montezuma would go out +and inspect the preparations, and his officers would point out to +him which were the best, and explain of what birds and flesh they +were composed, and of these he would eat.... Montezuma was seated on +a low throne or chair at a table proportionate to the height of his +seat. The table was covered with white cloth and napkins, and four +beautiful women presented him with water for his hands in vessels +which they called xicales, with other vessels under them like plates +to catch the water; they also presented him with towels. Then two +other women brought him small cakes of bread, and when the king +began to eat, a large screen of wood-gilt was placed before him, so +that people should not during that time see him. The women having +retired to a little distance, four ancient lords stood by the throne, +to whom Montezuma from time to time spoke or addressed questions, +and as a matter of particular favor gave to each of them a plate of +that which he was eating.... This was served on earthenware of +Cholula, red and black.... I observed a number of jars, about fifty, +brought in filled with foaming chocolate, of which he took some +which the women presented to him. During the time Montezuma was at +dinner, two very beautiful women were busily employed making small +cakes, with eggs and other things mixed therein. These were +delicately white, and when made they presented them to him on plates +covered with napkins. Also another kind of bread was brought to him +in long loaves, and plates of cakes resembling wafers. After he had +dined they presented to him three little canes, highly ornamented, +containing liquid amber mixed with an herb they call tobacco; and +when he had sufficiently viewed the singers, dancers, and buffoons, +he took a little of the smoke of one of these canes and then laid +himself down to sleep; and thus his principal meal concluded. After +this was over, all his guards and domestics sat down to dinner, and +as near as I can judge, above a thousand plates of these eatables +that I have mentioned were laid before them, with vessels of foaming +chocolate, and fruit in immense quantity. For his women and various +inferior servants, his establishment was a prodigious expense, and +we were astonished, amid such a profusion, at the vast regularity +that prevailed." [Footnote: History of the Conquest of Mexico, i, +198-202.] Diaz wrote his history more than thirty years after the +conquest (he says he was writing it in 1568), [Footnote: ib., ii, +423.] which may serve to excuse him for implying the use of +veritable chairs and a table where neither existed, and for +describing the remainder as sitting down to dinner. Tezozomoc, who +is followed by Herrera, says the table of Montezuma consisted of two +skins. How they were fastened together and supported does not appear. + +The statements in the Despatches of Cortes, as they now appear, are +an improvement upon Diaz, the pitch being on a higher key. He +remarks that Montezuma "was served in the following manner: Every day, +as soon as it was light, six hundred nobles and men of rank were in +attendance at the palace, who either sat or walked about in the +halls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but +without entering the apartment where his person was. The servants +and attendants of these nobles remained in the courtyards, of which +there were two or three of great extent, and in the adjoining street, +which was also very spacious. They all remained in attendance from +morning till night; and when his meals were served, the nobles were +likewise served with equal profusion, and their servants and +secretaries also had their allowance. Daily his larder and +wine-cellar were open to all who wished to eat or drink. The meals +were served by three or four hundred youths, who brought in an +infinite number of dishes; indeed, whenever he dined or supped the +table was loaded with every kind of flesh, fish, fruits and +vegetables that the country produced. As the climate is cold, they +put a chafing-dish with live coals under every plate and dish, to +keep them warm. The meals were served in a large hall in which +Montezuma was accustomed to eat, and the dishes quite filled the room, +which was covered with mats and kept very clean. He sat on a small +cushion, curiously wrought of leather. During the meal there were +present, at a little distance from him, five or six elderly caciques, +to whom he presented some of the food. And there was constantly in +attendance one of the servants, who arranged and handed the dishes, +and who received from others whatever was wanted for the supply of +the table. Both at the beginning and end of every meal, they +furnished water for the hands, and the napkins used on these +occasions were never used a second time, and this was the case also +with the plates and dishes, which were not brought again, but new +ones in place of them; it was the same with the chafing-dishes." +[Footnote: Despatches of Cortes, Folsom's Trans, p. 123] + +Since cursive writing was unknown among the Aztecs, the presence of +these secretaries is an amusing feature in the account. The +wine-cellar also is remarkable for two reasons; firstly, because the +level of the streets and courts was but four feet above the level of +the water, which made cellars impossible; and, secondly, because the +Aztecs had no knowledge of wine. An acid beer (pulque), made by +fermenting the juice of the maguey, was a common beverage of the +Aztecs, but it is hardly supposable that even this was used at dinner. +It will he noticed that according to this account the dinner was +served to all at the same time, Montezuma and several chiefs eating +at one end of the room, but no mention is made of the manner in +which the remainder ate. The six hundred men (or less) who remained +about the house and courts during the day, we may well suppose, were, +with their families, joint residents and joint proprietors with +Montezuma of the establishment. Two or three structures are mingled +in these descriptions, which were probably entirely distinct in +their uses. + +Herrera gathered up the subsequent growth of the story, which +undoubtedly made a great sensation in Europe as a part of the +picture of life in the New World; and embellished it from sheer +delight in a marvelous tale. The few facts stated by Bernal Diaz, +expressing the interpretation of the Spanish soldiers, were fruitful +seeds planted three hundred years ago, which the imaginations of +enthusiastic authors have developed into a glowing and picturesque +narrative. The principal part of Herrera'a account runs as follows: +"Montezuma did always eat alone, and so great a quantity of meat was +served up to his table, such great variety, and so richly dressed, +that there was sufficient for all the prime men of his household. +His table was a cushion, or two pieces of colored leather; instead +of a chair, a little low stool, made of one piece, the seat hollowed +out, carved and painted in the best manner that could be; the +table-cloth, napkins, and towels of very fine cotton as white as snow, +and never served any more than once, being the fees of the proper +officers. The meat was brought in by four hundred pages, all +gentlemen, sons of lords, and set down together in a hall; the king +went thither, and with a rod, or his hand, pointed to what he liked, +and then the sewer set it upon the chafing-dishes that it might not +be cold; and this he never failed to do, unless the steward at any +time very much recommended to him some particular dishes. Before he +sat down, twenty of the most beautiful women came and brought him +water to wash his hands, and when seated the sewer did shut a wooded +rail that divided the room, lest the nobility that went to see him +dine should encumber the table, and he alone set on and took off the +dishes, for the pages neither came near nor spoke a word. Strict +silence was observed, none daring to speak unless it was some jester, +or the person of whom he asked a question. The sewer was always upon +his knees and barefooted, attending him without lifting up his eyes. +No man with shoes on was to come into the room upon pain of death. +The sewer also gave him drink in a cup of several shapes, sometimes +of gold, and sometimes of silver, sometimes of gourd, and sometimes +of the shells of fishes." [Footnote: Solis, thinking a cocoanut shell +altogether too plain, embellishes the shell with jewels: "He had +cups of gold, and salvers of the same; and sometimes he drank out of +cocoas and natural shells very richly set with jewels."--History of +the Conquest of Mexico, Lond., ed. 1738, Townshend's Trans., I, 417.] + +"Six ancient lords attended at a distance, to whom he gave some +dishes of what he liked best, which they did eat there with much +respect. He had always music of flutes, reeds, horns, shells, +kettle-drums, and other instruments, nothing agreeable to the ears +of the Spaniards.... There were always at dinner dwarfs, crooked and +other deformed persons, to provoke laughter, and they did eat of +what was left at the further end of the hall, with the jesters and +buffoons. What remained was given to three thousand Indians, that +were constantly upon guard in the courts and squares, and therefore +there were always three thousand dishes of meat and as many cups of +liquor; the larder and cellar were never shut, by reason of their +continual carrying in and out. In the kitchen they dressed all sorts +of meat that were sold in the market, being a prodigious quantity, +besides what was brought in by hunters, tenants, and tributaries. +The dishes and all utensils were all of good earthenware, and served +the king but once. He had abundance of vessels of gold and silver, +yet made no use of them, because they should not serve twice." +[Footnote: History of America, ii, 336.] Further on, and out of its +place, Herrera gives us what seems to have been a call of the +scattered household to dinner. "When it was dinner-time," he remarks, +"eight or ten men whistled very loud, beating the kettle-drums hard, +as it were to warn those that were to dance after dinner; then the +dancers came, who, to entertain their great sovereign, were all to +be men of quality, clad as richly as they could, with costly +mantles, white, red, green, yellow, and some of several colors." +[Footnote: ib., 443.] + +The four women of Diaz who brought water to Montezuma have now +increased to twenty; but, as the Spanish writers claimed a wide +latitude in the matter of numbers, fivefold is not, perhaps, +unreasonable, especially as it did not occur to Herrera that Diaz may, +at the outset, have quadrupled the actual number. The "three or four +hundred youths" who brought in the dinner, according to Cortes, +settle down under Herrera to "four hundred pages, all gentlemen, +sons of lords"; and here we must recognize the discrimination of the +historian in that he found the highest number stated by Cortes fully +adequate to the occasion. Two other things may be noticed: shoes +have disappeared from all Indian feet in the face of a terrific +penalty, and three thousand hungry Indians stand in peaceful quietude, +while their dinner grows cold upon the floor, as Montezuma eats +alone in solitary grandeur. No American Indian could be made to +comprehend this picture. It lacks the realism of Indian life, and +embodies an amount of puerility of which the Indian nature is not +susceptible. Europeans and Americans may rise to the height of the +occasion because their mental range is wider, and their imaginations +have fed more deeply upon nursery tales. Diaz had contented himself +with saying that Montezuma "had two hundred of his nobility on guard +in apartments adjoining his own," [Footnote: History of the Conquest +of Mexico, I, 198.] in whom may be recognized his fellow-householders; +but Cortes generously increased the number to "six hundred nobles +and men of rank," who appeared at daylight and remained in +attendance during the day. Neither number, however, was quite +sufficient to meet the conceptions of the historiographer of Spain, +and accordingly three thousand, all guards, were adopted by Herrera +as a suitable number to give eclat to Montezuma's dinner. If any man +conversant with Indian character could show by what instrumentality +five hundred Indians could be kept together twelve hours in +attendance upon any human being from a sense of duty, he would add +something to our knowledge of the Red Race; and could he prove +further that they had actually waited, in the presence of as many +earthen bowls, smoking with their several dinners, while their +war-chief in the same room was making his repast alone, the verifier +would thereby endow the Indian character with an element of +forbearance he has never since been known to display. The block of +wood hollowed out for a stool or seat may be accepted, for it savors +of the simplicity of Indian art. That the Aztecs had napkins of +coarse texture, woven by hand, is probable; as also that they were +white, because cotton is white. + +Imagination might easily expand a napkin into a table-cloth, +provided a table existed to spread it upon; but in this case, +without duly considering the relation between the two, the +table-cloth has been created, but the table refuses to appear. The +napkin business, therefore, seems to have been slightly overdone. +Finally, the call of the scattered household to dinner by +kettle-drums and whistling savors too strongly of Indian ways and +usages to be diverted into a summons to the dancers, as Herrera +suggests. This Aztec dinner-call, on a scale commensurate with a +large communal household, would have been lost to history but for +the special use discerned in it to decorate a tale. It recognizes +the loitering habits of an Aztec household, and perhaps the +irregularity of the dinner-hour. + +Passing over the descriptions of Sahagun, Clavigero, and Prescott, +who have kindled into enthusiasm over this dinner of Montezuma, +Mr. Hubert H. Bancroft shall be allowed to furnish us with the very +latest version. "Every day," he remarks, "from sunrise until sunset +the antechambers of Montezuma's palace in Mexico were occupied by +six hundred noblemen and gentlemen, who passed their time lounging +about and discussing the gossip of the day in low tones, for it was +considered disrespectful to speak loudly or make any noise within +the palace limits. They were provided with apartments in the palace, +and took their meals from what remained of the superabundance of the +royal table, as did after them their own servants, of whom each +person of quality was entitled to from one to thirty according to +his rank. These retainers, numbering two or three thousand, filled +several outer courts during the day. The king took his meals alone +in one of the largest halls of the palace.... He was seated upon a +low leather cushion, upon which were thrown various soft skins, and +his table was of a similar description, except that it was larger +and rather higher, and was covered with white cotton cloths of the +finest texture. The dinner-service was of the finest ware of Cholula, +and many of the goblets were of gold and silver, or fashioned with +beautiful shells. He is said to have possessed a complete service of +solid gold, but as it was considered below a king's dignity to use +anything at table twice, Montezuma, with all his extravagance, was +obliged to keep this costly dinner-set in the temple. The bill of +fare comprised everything edible of fish, flesh, and fowl that could +be procured in the empire or imported beyond it. Relays of couriers +were employed in bringing delicacies from afar.... There were +cunning cooks among the Aztecs, and at these extravagant meals there +was almost as much variety in the cookery as in the matter cooked. +Sahagun gives a most formidable list of roast, stewed, and broiled +dishes, of meat, fish, and poultry, seasoned with many kinds of herbs, +of which, however, that most frequently mentioned is chile. He +further describes many kinds of bread, all bearing a more or less +close resemblance to the Mexican tortilla ... then tamales of all +kinds, and many other curious messes, such as frog spawn and stewed +ants, cooked with chile.... Each dish was kept warm on a +chafing-dish placed under it. Writers do not agree as to the exact +quantity of food served up at each meal, but it must have been +immense, since the lowest number of dishes given is three hundred +and the highest three thousand. They were brought into the hall by +four hundred pages of noble birth, who placed their burdens upon the +matted floor and retired noiselessly. The king then pointed out such +viands as he wished to partake of, or left the selection to his +steward, who doubtless took pains to study the likes and dislikes of +the royal palate. The steward was a functionary of the highest rank +and importance; he alone was privileged to place the designated +delicacies before the king upon the table; he appears to have done +duty both as royal carver and cup-bearer; and, according to +Torquemada, to have done it barefooted and on his knees. [Footnote: +The 'cup-bearer' agrees reasonably well with the 'window-curtains.'] +Everything being in readiness, a number of the most beautiful of the +king's women entered, bearing water in round vessels called Xicales, +for the king to wash his hands in, and towels that he might dry them, +other vessels being placed upon the ground to catch the drippings. +Two other women at the same time brought him some small loaves of a +very delicate kind of bread, made of the finest maize flour, beaten +up with eggs. This done, a wooden screen, carved and gilt, was +placed before him that no one might see him while eating. There were +always present five or six aged lords, who stood near the royal +chair barefooted and with bowed heads. To these, as a special mark +of favor, the king occasionally sent a choice morsel from his own +plate. During the meal the monarch amused himself by watching the +performances of his jugglers and tumblers, whose marvellous feats of +strength and dexterity I shall describe in another place; at other +times there was dancing, accompanied by singing and music.... The +more solid food was followed by pastry, sweetmeats, and a +magnificent dessert of fruit. The only beverage drank was chocolate, +of which about fifty jars were provided; it was taken with a spoon, +finely wrought of gold or shell, from a goblet of the same material. +Having finished his dinner, the king again washed his hands in water +brought to him, as before, by the women. After this, several painted +and gilt pipes were brought, from which he inhaled, through his +mouth or nose, as best suited him, the smoke of a mixture of liquid +amber and an herb called tobacco. This siesta over, he devoted +himself to business, and proceeded to give audience to foreign +ambassadors or deputations from cities in the empire, and to such of +his lords and ministers as had business to transact with him." +[Footnote: Native Races of the Pacific States, ii, 174-178.] + +In this account, although founded upon those of Diaz and Cortes, and +showing nothing essentially new, we have the final growth of the +story to the present time, but without any assurance that the limits +of its possible expansion have been reached. The purification of our +aboriginal history, by casting out the mass of trash with which it +is so heavily freighted, is forced upon us to save American +intelligence from deserved disgrace. Whatever may be said of the +American aborigines in general, or of the Aztecs in particular, they +were endowed with common sense in the matter of their daily food, +which cost them labor, forethought, and care to provide. The picture +of Indian life here presented is simply impossible. Village Indians +in the Middle Status of barbarism were below the age of tables and +chairs for dinner service; neither had they learned to arrange a +dinner to be eaten socially at a common table, or even to share +their dinner with their wives and children. Their joint-tenement +houses, their common stores, their communism in living, and the +separation of the sexes at their meals, are genuine Indian customs +and usages which explain this dinner. It was misconceived by the +Spaniards quite naturally, and with the grotesque results herein +presented; but there is no excuse for continuing this misconception +in the presence of known facts accessible to all. + +There is no doubt whatever that Montezuma was treated with great +consideration by all classes of persons. Indians respect and +venerate their chiefs. As their principal war-chief, Montezuma held +the highest official position among them. He is represented as +amiable, generous, and manly, although unnerved by the sudden +appearance and the novel and deadly arms of the Spaniards. He had +charge of the reception and entertainment of Cortes and his men, +who requited him savagely for his hospitality and kindness. But +when his home-life is considered, he fared no better than his +fellow-householders, sharing with them their common dinner. These +accounts, when divested of their misconceptions, render it probable +that Montezuma was living with his gentle kinsmen in a house they +owned in common; and that what the Spaniards saw was a dinner in +common by this household, which, with the women and children, may +have numbered from five hundred to a thousand persons. When the +scattered members of the household had been summoned, the single +daily meal was brought in by a number of persons from the common +cook-house in earthen bowls and dishes, and set down upon the floor +of an apartment used as a place for dinner in the fashion of Indians. +Indians as they were, they doubtless took up these bowls one by one, +each containing the dinner of one person divided at the kettle. They +ate standing, or it may be sitting upon the floor, or upon the +ground in the open court. Indians as they were, the men ate first +and by themselves, and the women and children afterwards. After +dinner was over, they were diverted, probably, with music and dancing, +and made themselves merry, as well-fed Indians are apt to do. That +the same dinner, conducted in a similar manner, occurred at all the +houses in the pueblo, large and small, once a day, there can +scarcely be a doubt. + +The dinner of Montezuma which has gone into history, and been read +for three centuries with wonder and admiration, is an excellent +illustration of the slender material out of which American +aboriginal history has been made. It shows, moreover, as a warning, +what results flow from great misconceptions through the constructive +faculty of authors. + +A confederacy of three Indian tribes, speaking dialects of the same +language, was precisely what the Spaniards found in Mexico, and this +was all they found. They had no occasion in their accounts to +advance a step beyond this simple fact. A satisfactory explanation +of this confederacy can be found in similar Indian confederacies. It +was a growth from the common institutions of the Indian family. +Underneath these delusive pictures a council of chiefs is revealed, +which was the natural and legitimate instrument of government under +Indian institutions. No other form of government was possible among +them. They had, beside, which was an equally legitimate part of this +system, an elective and deposable war-chief (Teuchtli), the power to +elect and to depose being held by a fixed constituency ever present, +and ready to act when occasion required. The Aztec organization +stood plainly before the Spaniards as a confederacy of Indian tribes. +Nothing but the grossest perversion of obvious facts could have +enabled Spanish writers to fabricate the Aztec monarchy out of a +democratic organization. + +Without ascertaining the unit of their social system, if organized +in gentes, as they probably were, and without gaining any knowledge +of the organization that did exist, they boldly invented for the +Aztecs a monarchy, with high feudal characteristics, out of the +reception of Cortes by their principal war-chief, and such other +flimsy materials as Montezuma's dinner. This misconception has stood, +through American indolence, quite as long as it deserves to stand. + +Since the foregoing was written, the investigations of Mr. +Bandelier "On the Social Organization and Mode of Government of the +Ancient Mexicans" have been published. With the new light thus +thrown upon the subject, this chapter should have been re-written. +He shows that the Aztecs were composed of twenty gentes or clans. +"The existence of twenty autonomous consanguine groups is thus +revealed, and we find them again at the time of the conquest, while +their last vestiges were perpetuated until after 1690, when Fray +Augustin de Vetancurt mentions four chief quarters with their +original Indian names, comprising and subdivided into twenty +'barrios'. Now the Spanish word 'barrio' is equivalent to the +Mexican term 'calpulli.' Both indicate the kin, localized and +settled with the view to permanence." [Footnote: Twelfth Annual +Report of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, +1880, p. 591.] + +This organization, as was to have been expected, lies at the +foundation of their social system. He names the following as among +the rights, duties, and obligations of the kinship: + +I. The kin claimed the right to name its members. + +II. It was the duty of the kin to educate or train its members to +every branch of public life. + +III. The kin had the right to regulate and to control marriage. + +IV. It was one of the attributes of the kin to enjoy common burial. + +V. The right of the kin to 'separate worship' appears not only +established within the kin's territory, but it is also recognized +even at the central medicine-lodge of the tribe. + +VI. The kin was obligated to protect and defend the persons and +property of its members, and to resent and punish any injury done to +them, as if it were a crime committed against the kin itself. + +VII. The kin had the right to elect its officers, as well as the +right to remove or depose them for misbehavior. + +[Footnote: Twelfth Ann. Rept. Peabody Museum, pp. 615-638.] + +He also regards the four "brotherhoods" who occupied the four +quarters of the pueblo as probably phratries. [Footnote: ib., p. 584.] +He also shows that the government was under the control of a council, +Tlatocan, composed of a body of chiefs. [Footnote: ib., p. 646, et +seq.] + +One of the most interesting results of this investigation is the +discovery of a class of persons unattached to any gens, "outcasts +from the bond of kinship." [Footnote: ib., p. 608, et seq.] Such a +class grows up in every gentile society, when as far advanced as the +Aztecs were. It finds its analogue in the Roman Plebeians. This +remarkable essay will abundantly repay a careful study. + +When we have learned to speak of the American Indians in language +adapted to Indian life and Indian institutions, they will become +comprehensible. So long as we apply to their social organizations +and domestic institutions terms adapted to the organizations and to +the institutions of civilized society, we caricature the Indians and +deceive ourselves. There was neither a political society, nor a state, +nor any civilization in America when it was discovered; and, +excluding the Eskimos, but one race of Indians, the Red Race. + +[Relocated Footnote 1: In the Despatches of Cortes the term King +"El rey" is not used in speaking of Montezuma, but Senhor and cacique. + +The Valley of Mexico, including the adjacent mountain slopes and +excluding the area covered by water, was about equal to the State at +Rhode Island, which contains thirteen hundred square miles; an +insignificant area for a single American Indian tribe. But the +confederacy had subdued a number of tribes southward and +southeastward from the valley as far as Guatemala, and placed them +under tribute. Under their plan of government it was impossible to +incorporate these tribes in the Aztec confederacy; the barrier of +language furnished an insuperable objection; and they were left to +govern themselves through their own chiefs, and according to their +own usages and customs. As they were neither under Aztec government +nor Aztec usages, there is no occasion to speak of them as a part of +the Aztec confederacy or even as an appendage of its government. The +power of the confederacy did not extend a hundred miles beyond the +Pueblo of Mexico on the west, northwest, north, northeast, or east +sides, in each of which directions they were confronted by +independent and hostile tribes. + +The population of the three confederate tribes was confined to the +valley, and did not probably exceed two hundred and fifty thousand +souls, including the Moquiltes, Xochomileos, and Chaleans, if it +equaled that number, which would give nearly twice the present +population of New York to the square mile, and a greater population +to the square mile than Rhode Island now contains. The Spanish +estimates of Indian populations were gross exaggerations. Those who +claim a greater population for the Valley of Mexico than that +indicated will be bound to show how a barbarous people, without +flocks and herds and without field agriculture, could have sustained +in equal areas a larger number of inhabitants than a civilized +people armed with these advantages.] + +[Relocated Footnote 2: My learned friend, Mr. Ad. F. Bandelier, of +Highland, Ill., has arrived at the same conclusion, substantially, +as stated in the conclusion of his recent "Memoir on the Social +Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans," 12th +Annual Report of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and +Ethnology. Cambridge, 1880, p. 699. + +"Taking all this together, and adding it to the results of our +investigations into the military organization of the ancient Mexicans, +as well as of their communal mode of holding and enjoying the soil, +we feel authorized to conclude that the social organization and mode +of government of the ancient Mexicans was a military democracy, +originally based upon communism in living."] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +RUINS OF HOUSES OF THE SEDENTARY INDIANS OF YUCATAN +AND CENTRAL AMERICA. + + +At the epoch of their discovery, Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala +were probably more thickly peopled than any other portion of North +America of equal area; and their inhabitants were more advanced than +the remaining aborigines. Their pueblos were planted along the +rivers and streams, often quite near each other, and presented the +same picture of occupation and of village life which might have been +seen at the same time in the valley of the Rio Grande, of the Rio +Chaco, and probably of the San Juan, and, at a still earlier period, +of the Scioto. They consisted of a single great house, or of a +cluster of houses near each other, forming one pueblo or village. In +some cases, four or more structures were grouped together upon the +same elevated platform; and where there were several of these +platforms, each surmounted with one or more edifices, one of them +was devoted to religious, and a portion of another to social and +public uses. But there is no reason for supposing, from any ruins +yet found, or from what is known of the people historically, that +any one pueblo contained, at most, ten thousand inhabitants. No one +tribe, or confederacy of tribes, had risen to supremacy within +either of these areas by the consolidation of surrounding tribes. +They were found, on the contrary, in the same state of subdivision +and independence which invariably accompanies the gentile +organization. Confederacies in all probability existed among such +contiguous pueblos as spoke the same dialect, as the Cibolans were +probably confederated, and as the Aztecs, Tezcucans, and Tlacopans +are known to have been. Such confederacies, however, could not have +reached beyond a common language of the tribes confederated. + +The great houses of stone of the Village Indians within the areas +named, and particularly in Yucatan and Central America, have done +more than all other considerations to give to them their present +position in the estimation of mankind. They are the highest +constructive works of the Indian tribes. It may also be again +suggested that, from the beginning, a false interpretation has been +put upon this architecture, from a failure to understand its object +and uses, or the condition and plan of domestic life of the people +who occupied these structures. The design and object for which these +edifices were constructed still await an intelligent explanation. + +The highest type of architecture which then existed among the +aborigines in any part of America was found in the regions named; +particularly in Yucatan, Chiapas, and Honduras. Speaking of Yucatan, +Herrera remarks that "the language is everywhere the same," the Maya +being the language of its principal tribes, but "the whole country," +he continues, "is divided into eighteen districts." [Footnote: +History of America, l. c., iv, 161.] + +If this reference is to a classification by tribes, it shows that +the Mayas had fallen, by the process of segmentation, into this +number of independent groups; the pueblos in each district being +united under one government for mutual defense. It seems probable, +however, that the group was smaller than a tribe. It is difficult in +some cases to determine, from Herrera's language, whether he refers +to native or Spanish divisions. In like manner, speaking of Chiapas, +he remarks, that "this province is divided into four nations of +different languages, which are the Chiapanecans, the Toques, the +Zelsales, and the Quelenes, all of which differ in some particulars.... +There are in it twenty-five towns, the chief of them called Tecpatlan, +i.e., (among the Toques).... The nation of Zelsales has thirteen +towns.... the Quelnes have twenty-five towns." [Footnote: ib., iv, +189.] + +Sixty-three pueblos in three of the four tribes who occupied the +small territory of Chiapas is a very large number, except on the +supposition that each pueblo consisted usually of a single great +house, like those in New Mexico, which is probable; but even then it +seems excessive. It tends, however, to show the mode of occupation +and settlement of the Village Indians in general. They planted their +pueblos on the water-courses, where such existed, each tribe or +subdivision of a tribe gathering in a cluster of houses, four or +five in number, or in a single house; and, as may he inferred from +the descriptions of Las Casas, so near together on the same rivulet +that had not the native forest obstructed the view they would have +been in sight of each other for miles along its banks. The scattered +ruins of these pueblos in Yucatan at the present time, often +consisting of a single large structure, confirms this view. + +The tropical region of Yucatan and Central America, then as now, was +undoubtedly covered with forests, except the limited clearings +around the pueblos, and, apart from these pueblos, substantially +uninhabited. Field agriculture was of course unknown, as they had +neither domestic animals nor plows; but the Indians cultivated maize, +beans, squashes, pepper, cotton, cacao, and tobacco in garden beds, +and exercised some care over certain native fruits; cultivation +tending to localize them in villages. Herrera remarks of the Village +Indians of Honduras that "they sow thrice a year, and they were wont +to grub up great woods with hatchets made of flint." [Footnote: +History of America, iv., 133.] + +Without metallic implements to subdue the forest, or even with +copper axes, such as were found among the Aztecs, a very small +portion only of the country would have been brought under cultivation, +and that confined mainly to the margins of the streams. + +Las Casas, bishop of Chiapas, who was in Yucatan and Chiapas about +1539, after remarking of the people of the former country that they +were "better civilized in morals and in what belongs to the good +order of societies than the rest of the Indians," proceeds as, +follows: "The pretence of subjecting the Indians to the government +of Spain is only made to carry on the design of subjecting them to +the dominion of private men, who make them all their slaves". +[Footnote: An Account of the First Voyages, etc., in America, Lond. +ed., Trans., p. 52.] + +And, again, he quotes from a letter of the bishop of St. Martha to +the King of Spain, to this effect: "To redress the grievances of +this province, it ought to be delivered from the tyranny of those +who ravage it, and committed to the care of persons of integrity, +who will treat the inhabitants with more kindness and humanity; for +if it be left to the mercy of the governors, who commit all sorts of +outrages with impunity, the province will be destroyed in a very +short time." [Footnote: ib., p. 61.] + +There are two material questions which require priority of +consideration: First, whether or not the houses now in ruins in +Yucatan and Central America were occupied at the time of the Spanish +conquest; and, second, whether or not the present Indians of the +country are the descendants of the people who constructed them. +There is no basis whatever for the negative of either proposition; +but it is assumed by those who regard the so-called palace at +Palenque and the Governor's House at Uxmal as the ancient residences +of Indian potentates that great cities which once surrounded them +have perished, and, further, that these ruins have an antiquity +reaching far back of the Spanish conquest. + +Mr. Stephens adopts the conclusion "that at the time of the conquest, +and afterwards, the Indians were living in and occupied these very +cities." [Footnote: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, ii, 348, 375.] + +He also regarded the present Indians of the country as the +descendants of those in possession at the time of the conquest. He +might have added that as the Maya was the language of the aborigines +of Yucatan at the epoch of the discovery, and is now the language of +the greater part of the natives who have not lost their original +speech, there was no ground for either supposition. Herrera remarks +of the inhabitants of Yucatan, that the "people were then found +living together very politely in towns, kept very clean ... and the +reason of their living so close together was because of the wars +which exposed them to the danger of being taken, sold, and sacrificed; +but the wars of the Spaniards made them disperse." [Footnote: +History of America, iv, 168.] This last statement is very significant. +Mr. Stephens, whose works and whose observations are in the main so +valuable, is responsible to no small extent for the delusive +inferences which have been drawn from the architecture of Yucatan, +Honduras, and Chiapas. If he had repressed his imagination and +confined himself to what he found, namely, certain Indian pueblos +built of dressed stone, and in good architecture, which are +sufficiently remarkable just as they are, in ruins, and had omitted +altogether such terms as "palaces" and great cities, his readers +would have escaped the deceptive conclusions with respect to the +actual condition of society among the aborigines which his +terminology and mode of treatment were certain to suggest. + +It is sufficiently ascertained that within a few years after the +conquest of Mexico, Yucatan and Central America were overrun by +military adventurers whose rapacity and violence drove the harmless +and timid Village Indians from their pueblos into the forests; thus +destroying in a few years a higher culture than the Spaniards were +able to substitute in its place. Nothing can be plainer, I think, +than this additional fact, that all there ever was of Palenque, Uxmal, +Copan, and other Indian pueblos in these areas, building for +building and stone for stone, is there now in ruins. + +There are reasons for believing, from the more advanced condition of +their house architecture, that Yucatan was inhabited by Village +Indians from an earlier, and for a much longer, period than the +valley of Mexico. The traditions of the Yzaes of Chichenisa, +possibly Chichen Itza, and of the Cocomes of Mayapan, related by +Herrera, [Footnote: History of America, iv, 162, 163, 165.] claim a +more ancient occupation of Yucatan than the Aztec traditions claim +for the occupation of the valley of Mexico. The type of village life +among the American aborigines was adapted to a warm climate, and +presented in this area its highest exemplification. + +The notices of the great houses in Yucatan are brief and general in +the Spanish histories. Speaking of its eighteen districts, Herrera +remarks that "in all of them were so many, and such stately stone +buildings, that it was amazing, and the greatest wonder is, that +having no use of any metal, they were able to raise such structures, +which seem to have been temples, for their houses were always of +timber and thatched." [Footnote: ib., iv, 162.] + +This last statement is not only at variance with a previous one +quoted above, but is another of the numerous misconceptions which +impair so greatly the value of the Spanish histories. The people +undoubtedly resided in these houses, which were adapted to such a +use only, and were also in the nature of fortresses, thus proving +the insecurity in which they lived. Some portion of the tribe may +have resided in inferior and common habitations in the vicinity of +these pueblos, and under their protection; but the great houses of +stone were built for residences and not for temples, and were the +homes of the body of the people. There were many of these pueblos, +nearly all of them composed of one or two large structures, +sprinkled over the face of the country in eligible situations after +the manner of Village Indian life. The same adaptation to communism +in living in large households is found impressed upon all the houses +now in ruins in these areas. They are joint-tenement houses of the +American type, and very similar to those still found in New Mexico +and on the San Juan. At the epoch of the Spanish conquest, they were +occupied pueblos, and were deserted by the Indians to escape the +rapacity of Spanish military adventurers by whom they were oppressed +and abused beyond Indian endurance. Instances are mentioned by +Herrera where large numbers destroyed themselves to escape the +exactions of Spanish masters, whom they were unable to resist. +[Footnote: History of America, III, 346.] + +The numerous pueblos in ruins scattered through the forests of +Yucatan and southward are so many monuments of Spanish misrule, +oppression, and rapacity. + +The most extensive group of ruins in Yucatan is that at Uxmal. Its +several structures are known as the "Governor's House"; the +"House of the Nuns," which consists of four disconnected buildings, +facing the four sides of a court; the "House of the Pigeons," +consisting of two quadrangles; the "House of the Turtles"; the +"House of the Old Woman"; and the "House of the Dwarf", with some +trace of smaller buildings of inconsiderable size, and one or two +pyramidal elevations unoccupied by structures. Of these, the +"Governor's House" may have been the Tecan, or Official House of the +Tribe, from the unusual size of the central rooms The "House of +the Dwarf" was probably designed for the observance of religious +rites. The remaining structures were evidently the residence +portions of the pueblo. + +Among the Aztecs, three kinds of houses were distinguished: 1. Calli, +the ordinary dwelling house, of which the "House of the Nuns" is an +example. 2. Ticplantlacalk, the "Stone House," which contained +council halls, etc., of which the "Governor's House" is an example. 3. +Teocalli, "House of God," such as the "House of the Dwarf." The +estufas in New Mexican pueblos took the place of the last two in +Mexico and Yucatan. + +Ground plans of the principal structures will be given for +comparison with those in New Mexico. The pyramidal elevations on +which they stand are situated quite near each other, and form one +Indian pueblo. The houses are constructed of stone laid in courses, +and dressed to a uniform surface, with the upper half of the +exterior walls decorated with grotesque ornaments cut on the faces +of the stone. Foster states that "these structures are composed of a +soft coralline limestone of comparatively recent geological formation, +probably of the Tertiary period." [Footnote: Prehistoric Races of +the United States, p 398] + +The so-called idols at Copan are the largest stones worked by the +Central Americans. They are about eleven feet high by three feet +wide and three feet deep, each face being covered with sculptures +and hieroglyphics. In a field near the ruins, and near each other, +are nine of these elaborately ornamented statues. By the side of +each is a so called altar, about six feet square and four feet high, +made of separate stone. These Idols and Altars have been supposed to +have some relation to their religious system, with human sacrifices +in the background. From their situation and character it may be +conjectured that we have here the Copan cemetery, and that these +idols are the grave-posts, and these altars are the graves of Copan +chiefs. The type of both may still be seen in Nebraska in the +grave-posts and grave-mounds by their side, of Iowas and Otoes, and +formerly in all parts of the United States east of the Mississippi. +If Mr. Stephens had opened one of these altars he would, if this +conjecture is well taken, have found within or under it an Indian +grave, and perhaps a skeleton, with the personal articles usually +entombed beside the dead. It was customary among the Northern +Indians for the chosen friend of the decedent, with whom he formed +this peculiar tie, to erect his grave-post, representing the chief +exploits of the departed upon one side, with ideographs and his own +upon the opposite side. "The stone," Mr. Stephens observes, +"of which all these altars and statues are made, is a soft grit-stone." +[Footnote: Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, 1-153.] Norman had +previously described the material used as a "fine concrete limestone." +[Footnote: Rambles in Yucatan, p 126.] + +Elsewhere, with respect to the nature of the tools for cutting this +stone, he remarks that "flint was undoubtedly used." [Footnote: ib., +p 184] Stephens makes a similar statement. The exact size of the +stones used is not given, but they were not large. Norman remarks of +Chichen Itza that "the stones are cut in parallelopipeds of about +twelve inches in length and six in breadth, the interstices filled +up with the same materials of which the terraces are composed." +[Footnote: Rambles in Yucatan p 127] He also speaks of "huge blocks +of hewn stone used in the doorways." [Footnote: ib. p. 128] + +A soft coralline limestone could be easily worked with flint +implements when first taken from the quarry, and would harden after +exposure to the air. The size and nature of the stones used is some +evidence of limited advancement in solid stone architecture. + +These structures, as reproduced in engravings by Stephens and +Catherwood, may well excite surprise and admiration for the taste, +skill, and industry they display, and the degree of progress they +reveal. When rightly understood, they will enable us to estimate the +extent of the progress actually made, which was truly remarkable for +a people still in barbarism, and no further advanced than the Middle +Status. + +[Illustration: Side elevation of pyramidal platform of Governor's +House] + +We have seen that the style of architecture in New Mexico brought +the Indians to the house tops as the common place of living. At +first suggested for security, it became in time a settled habit of +life. The same want was met in Yucatan and Chiapas by a new +expedient namely a pyramidal platform or elevation of earth twenty, +thirty and forty feet high upon the level summits of which their +great houses were erected. These platforms were made still higher +for small buildings. A natural elevation being when practicable +selected the top was leveled or raised by artificial means, the +sides made rectangular and sloping and faced on the four sides with +a dry stone wall, the ascent being made by a flight of stone steps. +It was not uncommon to find two such platforms and sometimes three, +one above the other, as shown in the figure. These platforms, called +terraces, were the gathering and the lounging places, of the +inhabitants. + +The edifices in the regions named are almost invariably but one +story high, and but two rooms deep, the walls being carried up +vertically to an equal height on the sides and ends, and terminating +in a flat roof. The doorways opened upon the platform area or +terrace when the building was single, and where it was carried +around the four aides of an inclosed court they opened usually upon +the court. As their elevation above the level of the surrounding +area invested them with the character of fortresses, they were +defended on the line or edge of the terrace-walls, or, rather, at +the head of the flight of steps by means of which the summit-level +was reached. Neither adobe brick, nor rubble masonry, nor timber +roofs could withstand the tropical climate, with its pouring rains +during a portion of the year. Stone walls and a vaulted ceiling were +indispensable to a permanent structure. There were, doubtless, +pueblos of timber-framed houses with thatched roofs here and there +in Yucatan, Chiapas, and Honduras, as there were further south +toward the Isthmus; but the prevailing material used was stone, as +the number of small pueblos in ruins still attest. Upon these +elevated platforms they enjoyed the same security as the Village +Indians of New Mexico upon their roof-tops and within the walls of +their houses. They were also raised above the flight of the +mosquitoes and flies, the scourge of this hot region. Considering +the surrounding conditions, single-storied houses upon raised +platforms was a natural suggestion, harmonizing with a style of +architecture, the communal character of which was predetermined by +their social condition. For the details of this architecture +reference must be made to published works, which are easily +accessible, its general features and the principles from which they +sprang being the only subjects within the scope of this inquiry. + +The front elevation of the Governor's House at Uxmal, shown in the +engraving, and which was taken from Stephens' work, will answer as a +sample of the whole. It stands upon the upper of three platforms, of +which the lowest is five hundred and seventy-five feet long, fifteen +feet broad to the base of the middle platform, and three feet high. +The second is five hundred and forty-five feet long, two hundred and +fifty feet broad to the base of the upper platform, and twenty feet +high. The third is three hundred and sixty feet long, thirty feet +broad in front of the edifice, and nineteen feet high. The upper one +is formed upon the back half of the middle platform, of which last +Mr. Stephens observes that "this great terrace was not entirely +artificial. The substratum was a natural rock, and showed that +advantage had been taken of a natural elevation as far as it went, +and by this means some portion of the immense labor of constructing +the terrace had been saved." [Footnote: Incidents of Travel in +Yucatan, i, 128.] + +The three terraces with their sloping walls are shown in the +engraving, the house standing upon an elevation forty-two feet above +the surrounding area. The ascent from terrace to terrace was made by +flights of stone steps, which are not distinctly shown. When newly +constructed and inhabited, this structure, from its commanding +situation, its great size, and conspicuous terraces, must have +presented a striking appearance. It is doubtful whether any of the +Aryan tribes, when in the Middle Status of barbarism, have produced +houses superior to those in Yucatan. + +The house is symmetrical in structure, three hundred and twenty-two +feet long, thirty-nine feet deep, and about twenty-five feet high. +It has eleven doorways, besides two small openings in front, and +contains twenty-two apartments, two of which are each sixty feet long. +The rear wall is solid, and in the central part is nine feet thick. +A parallel wall through the center divides the interior into two +rows of apartments, of which those in front are eleven feet six +inches deep and twenty-three feet high to the top of the arch, and +those back of them are thirteen feet deep and twenty-two feet high. +Both inside and out the walls are of dressed stone laid in courses. +No drawings of the rooms in the Governor's House are furnished in +Mr. Stephens' work. The back rooms are dark, excepting the light +received through the front doorway. + +"The House of the Nuns," says Mr. Stephens, "is quadrangular, with a +court yard in the center. It stands on the highest of three terraces. +The lowest is three feet high and twenty feet wide; the second, +twelve feet high and forty-five feet wide; and the third, four feet +high and five feet wide, extending the whole length of the front of +the building. The front [building] is two hundred and seventy-nine +feet long, and above the cornice, from one end to the other, is +ornamented with sculpture. In the centre is a gateway ten feet eight +inches wide, spanned by the triangular arch, and leading to the +courtyard. On each side of this gateway are four doorways with +wooden lintels opening to apartments averaging twenty four feet long, +ten feet wide, seventeen feet high to the top of the arch, but +having no connection with each other. The building that forms the +right or eastern side of the quadrangle measures one hundred and +fifty-eight feet long; that on the left is one hundred and +seventy-three feet long, and the range opposite, or at the end of +the quadrangle measures two hundred and sixty-four feet. These three +ranges have no doorways outside but the exterior of each is a dead +wall, and above the cornice all are ornamented with the same rich +and elaborate sculptures." [Footnote: Incidents of travel in Yucatan, +i, 299.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 53.--Ground plan of the House of the Nuns.] + +Altogether, these four structures contain seventy-six apartments, +which vary in size from twenty to thirty feet long, and from ten to +twelve feet wide. There are twenty single apartments, and twenty +five pairs of apartments, half of which, as in the Governor's House, +are dark, except as they are lighted from the doorways connecting +with the rooms in front. In the fifth structure, not described, +there are six pairs of similar apartments. In the building on the +right there are six rooms connecting with each other, one of which, +the frost room, is shown in Fig. 54. This number of connecting rooms +is so unusual in Yucatan architecture as to attract attention. Each +of the four edifices would accommodate from six hundred to one +thousand persons, after the fashion of Village Indians. + +In this view of the interior of a room in the House of the Nuns, Fig. +54, which was taken from Stephens' work, is shown the form of the +triangular ceiling common in all the edifices in Yucatan and Chiapas. +It is a triangular arch above the line of the exterior cornice, +without a keystone, and with the faces of the stones beveled, and +forming a perfect vault over each apartment. But it has this +peculiarity, that a space a foot or more wide in the center is +carried up vertically about two feet, and covered with a cap of stone, +so that the side walls which form the vaulted ceiling do not come +together so as to rest against each other. The mechanical principle +is the same as in the New Mexican arch, but is here applied in a +more extended and more difficult scale. It is the most remarkable +feature in this architecture, mechanically considered. When we come +to know that this vaulted ceiling was constructed over a core of +solid masonry within the chamber, afterwards removed--which was the +fact--it will be seen that these Indian masons and architects were +still feeling their way experimentally to a scientific knowledge of +the art of arts. A projecting cornice or median entablature is seen +above the doorway on the exterior face of the wall, which balances +somewhat the interior inward projection of the ceiling as it rises, +and, since the wall is carried up flush with the cornice, the +down-weight of the super-incumbent mass sustained the masonry. The +room shown is thirty-three feet long, thirteen wide, and +twenty-three feet high to the cap-stone, and the room communicating +with it is of the same width, and nine feet long. The apartments +back of these are of corresponding size. [Footnote: Incidents of +Travel, etc., i, 308.] + +There were originally lintels of hard sapote wood over the doorways, +upon the decay of which a portion of the masonry has fallen. Those +over the doorways through the partition walls are found in place. +The proof of the comparatively modern date of these structures is +conclusive from these facts alone. + +It will be observed that there are six single apartments in the +building on the right of the "House of Nuns" which have no +connection with the remaining rooms of the building, and that the +others are in pairs, a back room connecting with the one in front, +and neither with any others. It seems to show very plainly, in the +plan of the house itself, that it was designed to be occupied by +distinct groups composed of related families, each group a large +household by itself. If the communal principle in living existed in +fact among them, its expression in the interior arrangement of the +house, and in this form, might have been expected. This striking and +significant feature runs through all the structures, in these areas, +of which ground-plans have been obtained. + +The triangular ceiling, in effect is an attempt to extend the lintel +in sections across the vault of a chamber in the place of joists, and, +so far as the writer is aware, the only attempt ever made by any +barbarous people to form a ceiling of stone over ordinary residence +rooms. In a wall and ceiling formed in this manner, and carried up +several feet above the apex of the triangular arch, there would be +no lateral thrust outward of the masonry. + +It should be stated that there are neither fire-place, chimneys, nor +windows in any of these houses; neither have any been found, so far +as the writer is aware, in any ancient structure in Yucatan or +Central America. Fires were not needed for warmth; but since they +were for cooking, it shows very plainly that no cooking was done +within these houses. A presumption at once arises that their inmates +prepared their food in the open court, or on the middle terrace, by +household groups, making a common stock of their provisions, and +dividing from the earthen cauldron, like the Iroquois. The +communistic character of these houses is shown by their great size, +and by the separation of the rooms, generally in pairs, having no +connection with the remainder of the house. Each pair of rooms would +accommodate several married pairs with their children; and so would +each single apartment, according to the mode of life of the Village +Indians. Moreover, communism in living appears to have been a law of +man's condition both in the Lower and in the Middle Status of +barbarism. Among the Iroquois, one regular meal each day was all +their mode of life permitted; hunger being allayed by hominy kept +constantly prepared, or such other food as their domestic resources +allowed. It is not probable that the Aborigines of Yucatan were able +to superadd either a regular breakfast or a supper. These belong to +the more highly developed house-keeping of the monogamian family in +civilization. + +Another custom, usual in the Lower Status of barbarism, seems to +have been continued in the Middle Status; namely, of the men eating +first and by themselves, and the women and children afterwards. +Without a knowledge of tables or of chairs, the dinner was of +necessity a solitary affair between the person and his earthen bowl +or platter. The time, however, for the dinner was the same to all +the men, and afterwards to the women and children. Herrera, in his +summary of the habits of the people of Yucatan, drops the remark +incidentally, that at their festivals the women "did eat apart from +the men." This is precisely what would have been expected had +nothing been said on the subject. [Footnote: History of America, iv, +175.] + +There are some proofs bearing directly upon the question of the +ancient practice of communism in these Uxmal houses. They are found +in the present usages of the Maya Indians of Yucatan, the +descendants of the builders of these houses, which they may +reasonably be supposed to have derived from their ancestors. At +Nohcacab, a short distance east of the ruins of Uxmal, there was a +settlement of Maya Indians, whose communism in living was +accidentally discovered by Mr. Stephens, when among them to employ +laborers. He remarks as follows: "Their community consists of a +hundred labradores or working men; their lands are held in common, +and the products are shared by all. Their food is prepared at one hut, +and every family sends for its portion; which explains a singular +spectacle we had seen on our arrival [in 1841], a procession of +women and children, each carrying an earthen bowl containing a +quantity of smoking hot broth, all coming down the same road, and +dispersing among different huts.... From our ignorance of the +language, and the number of other and more pressing matters claiming +our attention, we could not learn all the details of their internal +economy but it seemed to approximate that improved state of +association which is sometimes heard of among us; and as thus has +existed for an unknown length of time, and can no longer be +considered experimental, Owen and Fourier might perhaps take lessons +from them with advantage.... I never before regretted so much my +ignorance of the Maya language." [Footnote: Incidents of Travel, etc., +ii, 14.] + +A hundred working men indicate a total of five hundred persons who +were then depending for their daily food upon a single fire, and a +single cooking-house, the provisions being supplied from common +stores, and divided from the kettle. It is not unlikely a truthful +picture of the mode of life in the House of the Nuns, and in the +Governor's House at the period of European discovery. Each group +practising communism, for convenience and for economy, may have +included all the inmates of a single house, or its occupants may +have subdivided into lesser groups; but the presumption is in favor +of the larger. Evidence has elsewhere been adduced of the existence +of the organization into gentes among the Mayas, with descent in the +male line, from which it may be inferred that the occupation of +these houses was on the basis of gentile kinship among the families +in each, the fathers and their children belonging to the same gens, +and the wives and mothers to other gentes. All the facts seem to +indicate that communism in living was practiced among the Village +Indians in general upon a scale then unknown in other parts of the +world, because they alone represented the culture and mode of life +of the Middle Status of barbarism. The dinner of Montezuma, before +considered, is an illustration. + +[Illustration: Fig. 55.--Ground Plan of Zayi.] + +Near Uxmal are the interesting ruins of Zayi, which present a new +feature in Yucatan house architecture. Upon a low eminence are three +independent structures, the second within and above the first or +lowest, and the third within and above the second, presenting the +appearance, in the distance, of a single quadrangular edifice in +three receding stories. But each stands on a separate terrace, and +is built against the one within, which rises above it, except the +inner one, a single edifice occupying the summit. The outer +quadrangle stands on the lowest terrace. The measurements of the +several buildings are indicated on the plan. Together they contain +eighty-seven apartments, assuming the parts in ruins to have +corresponded with the parts preserved. The rooms, as usual, are +either single or in pairs. An external staircase upon the front and +rear sides interrupts the buildings on these sides from the lower +terrace to the upper. The dots in the apertures indicate columns, +which are found in this and several other structures. In case of +attack, the outer quadrangle was not defensible; but its inhabitants +could retire to the second terrace above, and defend their fortress +at the head of the staircases, which were the only avenues of +approach except by scaling the outer quadrangle, a very improbable +undertaking. + +[Illustration: Fig. 56.--Cross-section through one apartment.] + +Attention has been called to this pueblo, which would accommodate +two thousand or more persons, for a special reason. It seems to +furnish conclusive proof of the manner in which these great edifices +were erected in order to construct the peculiar triangular stone +ceiling, which is the striking characteristic of this architecture. + +To understand the problem, the annexed cross-section of a single +room will afford some aid by showing the relations of the walls to +the chamber and its ceiling. The chamber, with its vaulted ceiling, +was constructed over a solid core of masonry, laid simultaneously +with the walls, which was removed after the latter had seasoned and +settled. It tends to show that with small stones of the size used, +about a foot long and six inches thick, the triangular ceiling as it +projected toward the center in rising, required the interior support +of a core to insure the possibility of construction by their methods. +Once put together over such a core and carried up several feet above +the top of the arch, the down weight of the superincumbent mass +would articulate and hold the masonry together. It shows further +that the essential feature of the arch is wanting in this contrivance. + +The proof of this assertion is found in the actual presence of the +unremoved core in one of these edifices in all of its apartments. +Mr. Stephens found every room of the back building on the second +terrace filled with masonry from bottom to top, left precisely as it +was when the building was finished. He remarks that "the north half +of the second range has a curious and unaccountable feature. It is +called the Casa Cerrada, or 'closed house,' having ten doorways, all +of which are blocked up on the inside with stone and mortar.... In +front of several were piles of stones which they [his workmen] had +worked out from the doorways, and under the lintels were holes +through which we were able to crawl inside; and here we found +ourselves in apartments finished with walls and ceilings like all +the others, but filled up, except so far as they had been emptied by +the Indians, with solid masses of mortar and stone. There were ten +of these apartments in all, two hundred and twenty feet long and ten +feet deep, which thus being filled up made the whole building a +solid mass; and the strangest feature was that the filling up of the +apartments must have been simultaneous with the erection of the +buildings; for, as the filling in rose above the tops of the doorways, +the men who performed it never could have entered to their work +through the doors. It must have been done as the walls were built, +and the ceiling must have closed over a solid mass." [Incidents of +Travel, etc., ii, 22.] + +It does not seem to have occurred to Mr. Stephens that the masonry +within each room was a core, without which a vaulted chamber in this +form could not have been constructed with their knowledge of the art +of building. It shows the rudeness of their mechanical resources as +well as the real condition of the art among them, but at the same +time increases our appreciation of their originality, ingenuity, and +industry. They were working their way upward experimentally in +architecture, as all other peoples have done, having richly earned +the right to point with pride to these structures as extraordinary +memorials of the progress they had made. + +An important conclusion follows, namely, that this "closed house" +was the last, in the order of time, erected in this pueblo, and had +not been emptied of its core and brought into use when the Spanish +irruption forced the people to abandon this pueblo. It would fix the +period of its construction at or after A. D. 1520, thus settling the +question of its modern date and removing one of the delusions +concerning the antiquity of the ruins in Yucatan and Central America. +This structure is as much decayed as any other in Yucatan. There are +many other structures even better preserved than this. + +A brief reference to Palenque will conclude this notice, but without +dealing with the facts as fully as they deserve. There are four or +five pyramidal elevations at this pueblo quite similar in plan and +general situation with those at Uxmal. One is much the largest, and +the structures upon it are called the "Palace." It has generally +been regarded as the paragon of American Indian architecture. As a +palace implies a potentate for its occupation, a character who never +existed and could not exist under their institutions, it has been a +means of self-deception with respect to the condition of the +Aborigines which ought to be permanently discarded. Several distinct +buildings are here grouped upon one elevated terrace, and are more +or less connected. Altogether they are two hundred and twenty-eight +feet long, front and rear, and one hundred and eighty feet deep, +occupying not only the four sides of a quadrangle, but the greater +part of what originally was, in all probability, an open court. The +use of the interior court for additional structures shows a +decadence of architecture and of ethnic life in the people, because +it implies an unwillingness to raise a new pyramidal site to gain +accommodations for an increased number of people. Thus to +appropriate the original court so essential for light and air as +well as room, and which is such a striking feature in the general +plan of the architecture of the Village Indians, was a departure +from the principles of this architecture. Nearly all the edifices in +Yucatan and Central America agree in one particular, namely, in +being constructed with three parallel walls with partition walls at +intervals, giving two rows of apartments under one roof, usually, if +not invariably, flat. Where several are grouped together on the same +platform, as at Palenque, they are severally under independent roofs, +and the spaces between, called courts, are simply open lanes or +passageways between the structures. An inspection of the ground plan +of the Palenque ruins in the folio volume of Dupaix, or in the work +of Mr. Stephens, will be apt to mislead unless this feature of the +architecture is kept in mind. There are in reality seven or eight +distinct edifices crowded together upon the summit level of the +platform. Mr. Stephens speaks of it as one structure. "The building," +he remarks, "was constructed of stone, and the whole front was +covered with stucco and painted.... The doorways have no doors, nor +are there the remains of any.... The tops of the doorways were all +broken. They had evidently been square, and over every one were +large niches in the wall on each side, in which the lintels had been +laid. These lintels had all fallen, and the stones above formed +broken natural arches." [Footnote: Central America, &c., ii, 310-312.] + +The interior walls in two rooms shown by engravings were plastered +over. Architecturally, Palenque is inferior to the House of the Nuns; +but it is more ornamental. It also has one peculiar feature not +generally found in the Yucatan structures, namely, a corridor about +nine feet wide, supposed to have run around the greater part of the +exterior on the four sides. The exterior walls of these corridors +rest on a series of piers, and the central or next parallel wall is +unbroken, except by one doorway on each of three sides and two in +the fourth, thus forming a narrow promenade. One of the interior +buildings consists of two such corridors, but wider, on opposite +sides of a central longitudinal wall. All the rooms in the several +edifices are large. In one of the open spaces is a tower about +thirty feet square, rising three stories. The Palenque structures +are quite remarkable, standing upon an artificial eminence about +forty feet high, and large enough to accommodate three thousand +people living in the fashion of Village Indians. + +The plan of these houses, as well as of those in Yucatan, seems to +show that they were designed to be occupied by groups of persons +composed of a number of families, whose private boundaries were +fixed by solid partition walls. They are exactly adapted to this +mode of occupation, and this special adaptation, so plainly +impressed upon all this architecture, leads irresistibly to the +conclusion that they were occupied on the communal principle, and +were, consequently, neither more nor less than joint-tenement houses, +of a model which may be called, distinctively, that of the American +aborigines. None of these edifices are as large as those on the Rio +Chaco, nor does either of them possess equal accommodations with the +Pueblo Bonito, which possessed six hundred and forty rooms. +[Footnote: Lieutenant Simpson's Report, Senate Ex. Doc., 1st Sess., +31st Congress, 1850, p. 81.] + +But in this warm climate, and with the raised terraces used as +gathering places, more persons could manage to live in equal spaces. + +Each structure, or group of structures, thus elevated, was a fortress. +They prove the insecurity in which the people lived; for the labor +involved in constructing these platform elevations, in part, at least, +artificial, would never have been undertaken without a powerful +motive. One of the chief blessings of civilization is the security +which a higher organization of society gives to the people, under +the protection of which they are able as cultivators to occupy +broad areas of land. In the Middle Status of barbarism they were +compelled to live generally in villages, which were fortified in +various ways; and each village, we must suppose, was an independent, +self-governing community, except as several kindred in descent, and +speaking the same dialect or dialects of the same language, +confederated for mutual protection. An impression has been +propagated that Palenque and other pueblos in these regions were +surrounded by dense populations living in cheaply constructed +tenements. Having assigned the structures found, and which +undoubtedly were all that ever existed, to Indian kings or potentates, +the question might well be asked, if such palaces were provided for +the rulers of the land, what has become of the residences of the +people? Mr. Stephens has given direct countenance to this +preposterous suggestion. [Footnote: Central America, &c., ii, 235.] + +In his valuable works he has shown a disposition to feed the flames +of fancy with respect to these ruins. After describing the "palace," +so called, at Palenque, and remarking that "the whole extent of +ground covered by those [ruins] as yet known, as appears by the plan, +is not larger than our Park or Battery" [in New York], he proceeds: +"It is proper to add, however, that considering the space now +occupied by the ruins as the site of palaces, temples, and public +buildings, and supposing the houses of the inhabitants to have +been, like those of the Egyptians and the present race of Indians, +of frail and perishable materials as at Memphis and Thebes, to +have disappeared altogether, the city may have covered an immense +extent." [Footnote: Incidents of Travel, Central America, Chiapas +and Yucatan, ii, p. 355 ff.] This is a clear case of suggestio falsi +by Mr. Stephens, who is usually so careful and reliable and, even +here, so guarded in his language. He had fallen into the mistake of +regarding these remains as a city in ruins, instead of a small +Indian pueblo in ruins. But he had furnished a general ground plan +of all the ruins found of the Palenque pueblo, which made it plain +that four or five structures upon pyramidal platforms at some +distance from each other, with the whole space over which they +were scattered about equal to the Battery, made a poor show for +a city. The most credulous reader would readily perceive that it +was a misnomer to call them the ruins of a city; wherefore the +suggestions of Mr. Stephens, that "considering the space now +occupied by the ruins as the site of palaces, temples, and public +buildings, and supposing the houses of the inhabitants made ... of +frail and perishable materials to have disappeared ... the city +may have covered an immense extent." That Mr. Stephens himself +considered or supposed either to be true may have been the case, +but it seems hardly supposable, and in either event he is +responsible for the false coloring thus put upon those ruins, +and the deceptive inferences drawn from them. + +These structures are highly creditable to the intelligence of their +builders, and can be made to reveal the manner of their use and the +actual progress they had made in the arts of life; but they never +can be rationally explained while such wild views are entertained +concerning them. Until the actual character and signification of +these ruins are made known, such opinions may be expected to prevail +concerning them. They spring from the assumed existence of a state +of society far enough advanced to develop potentates and privileged +classes, with power to enforce labor from the people for personal +objects. There is no evidence whatever in support of such an +assumption. It is quite probable that small numbers belonging to +every pueblo lived a portion of the year in the forests in temporary +habitations, engaged in cultivation, or in hunting and fishing; but +enough is known from the brief accounts of the early explorers to +show us that the body of the inhabitants of Yucatan and Central +America were gathered in pueblos or villages. Moreover, they were +animated by the same spirit as the Cibolans in what related to +personal independence. Rather than live in subjection to Spanish +taskmasters, the very Indians who erected these houses with so much +labor, as Coronado states of the Cibolans, "Set in order all their +goods and substance, their women and children, and fled to the hills, +leaving their towns, as it were, abandoned," [Footnote: Herrera, +History of America, iii, 346, cf. 348.] preferring a return to a +lower stage of barbarism rather than a loss of personal freedom. In +1524 Cortex sent an officer "to reduce the people of Chiapas, who +had revolted, which that commander effectually performed, for, when +they could resist no longer, these desperate wretches cast +themselves with their wives and children headlong from precipices, +so that not above two thousand of them remained, whose offspring +inhabit that province at this time." The inhabitants of Palenque may +have been included in this description. [Footnote: ib., iv, 169.] + +The profiles of the Palenque Indians, copied by Stephens from +representations in plaster in different parts of the several +structures, show that they were flat-heads, like the Chinook Indians +of the Columbia River; their foreheads having been flattened by +artificial compression. Herrera, speaking generally of the +inhabitants of Yucatan, remarks, "that they flattened their heads +and foreheads." [Footnote: ib., iv, 169.] Whether it was a general +practice does not appear, aside from the Palenque monuments, and the +off-hand statement of Herrera. + +Another important question still remains, namely, whether or not the +Indians of Yucatan and Central America had reached the first stage +of scientific architecture, the use of the post and lintel of stone +as a principle of construction in stone masonry. The Egyptians used +the post and lintel, whence their architecture has been +characterized as the horizontal. The Greeks did not get beyond this, +although they brought in the three orders of architecture. The round +and the pointed arch, used as principles of construction, with all +they gave to architecture, were beyond even the Greeks. Speaking of +the Governor's House, Mr. Stephens remarks, that "the doors are all +gone, and the wooden lintels over them have fallen." [Footnote: +Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, i, 175.] + +"In some of the inner apartments, the lintels were still in place +over the doorways, and some were lying on the floor, sound and solid, +which latter condition was no doubt owing to their being more +sheltered than those over the outer doorway." [Footnote: ib., p. 178.] +The same is true of the House of the Nuns, and of a number of other +structures figured and described in Mr. Stephens' works. But lintels +of stone are found in some houses. Thus, of one of the buildings at +Kabah, he says: "The lintels over the doors are of stone." [Footnote: +ib., i, 398.] + +In this case there was a stone column in the middle of the doorway, +and the lintel was in two sections. Norman, speaking of the ruins at +Chichen Itza, remarks that the "doorways are nearly a square of +about seven feet, somewhat resembling the Egyptian; the sides of +which are formed of large blocks of hewn stone. In some instances +the lintels are of the same material." [Footnote: Rambles in Yucatan, +p. 128.] + +They used sapote wood usually for lintels, a wood remarkable for its +solidity and durability. It may safely be said that the lintel of +wood was the rule in Yucatan, and not the exception. While they +understood the use of the stone lintel, which alone was capable of +affording a durable structure, its common and ordinary use was +beyond their ability. The use of stone of the size required, +overmatched their ability in stone masonry, as a rule. It cannot, +therefore, be said that the post and lintel of stone became a +principle of construction in their architecture. As the Mayas, who +constructed these edifices, were in the Middle Status of barbarism, +it was not to have been expected that their architecture would reach +the scientific stage. + +American aboriginal history and ethnology have been perverted, and +even caricatured in various ways, and, among others, by a false +terminology, which of itself is able to vitiate the truth. When we +have learned to substitute Indian confederacy for Indian kingdom; +Teuchtli, or head war-chief, sachem, and chief, for king, prince, +and lord; Indian villages in the place of "great cities"; communal +houses for "palaces," and democratic for monarchic institutions; +together with a number of similar substitutions of appropriate for +deceptive and improper terms, the Indian of the past and present +will be presented understandingly, and placed in his true position +in the scale of human advancement. While the Aryan family has lost +neatly all traces of its experiences anterior to the closing period +of barbarism, the Indian family, in its different branches, offered +for our investigation not only the state of savagery, but also that +of both the opening and of the middle period of barbarism in full +and ample development. The American aborigines had enjoyed a +continuous and undisturbed progress upon a great continent, through +two ethnical periods, and the latter part of a previous period, on a +remarkable scale. If the opportunity had been wisely improved, a +rational knowledge of the experience of our own ancestors, while in +the same status, might have been gained through a study of these +progressive conditions. Beside this, before a science of ethnology +applied to the American aborigines can come into existence, the +misconceptions, and erroneous interpretations which now encumber the +original memorials must be removed. Unless this can in some way be +effectually accomplished, this science can never be established +among us. + +Our ethnography was initiated for us by European investigators, and +corrupted in its foundation from a misconception of the facts. The +few Americans who have taken up the subject have generally followed +in the same track, and intensified the original errors of +interpretation until romance has swept the field. Whether it is +possible to commence anew, and retrieve what has been lost, I cannot +pretend to determine. It is worth the effort. + +Finally, with respect to the condition and structures of the Village +Indians of Yucatan and Central America, the following conclusions +maybe stated as reasonable from the facts presented: + +[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote relocated to chapter end.] + +First: That the Family among them was too weak an organization to +face alone the struggle of life, and therefore sheltered itself in +large households, composed probably of related families. + +Second: That they were probably organized in gentes, and, as a +consequence, were broken up into independent tribes, with +confederacies here and there for mutual protection; and that their +institutions were essentially democratic. + +Third: That from the plan and interior arrangement of these houses +the practice of communism in living in households may be inferred. + +Fourth: That the people were Village Indians in the Middle Status of +barbarism; living in a single joint-tenement house or in several +such houses grouped together, and forming one pueblo. + +Fifth: That hospitality and communism in living were laws of their +condition, which found expression in the form of the houses, which +were adapted to communism in living in large households. + +Sixth: That all there ever was of Uxmal, Palenque, Copan, and other +pueblos in these areas, building for building, and stone for stone, +are there now in ruins. + +Seventh: That nothing herein stated is inconsistent with the +supposition that some of these structures were devoted to religious +uses. + +Finally: That a common principle runs through all this architecture, +from the Columbia River and the Saint Lawrence, to the Isthmus of +Panama, namely, that of adaptation to communism in living. + +When we attempt to understand the "Palace at Palenque" or the +Governor's House at Uxmal, as the residences of Indian potentates, +they are wholly unintelligible; but as communal joint-tenement houses, +embodying the social, the defensive, and the communal principles, we +can understand how they could have been created, and so elaborately +and laboriously finished. It is evident that they were the work of +the people, constructed for their own enjoyment and protection. +Enforced labor never created them. On the contrary, it is the charm +of all these edifices, roomy, and tasteful and remarkable as they are, +that they were raised by the Indians for their own use, with willing +hands, and occupied by them on terms of entire equality. Liberty, +equality, and fraternity are emphatically the three great principles +of the gens, and this architecture responds to these sentiments. And +it is highly creditable to the Indian mind that while in the Middle +Status of barbarism they had developed the capacity to plan, and the +industry to rear, structures of such architectural design and +imposing magnitude. + +I have now submitted all I intended to present with respect to the +house architecture of the American aborigines. It covers but a small +part of a great subject. As a key to the interpretation of this +architecture, two principles, the practice of hospitality and the +practice of communism in living, have been employed. They seem to +afford a satisfactory explanation of its peculiar features in +entire harmony with Indian institutions. Should the general reader +be able to acquiesce in this interpretation, it will lead to a +reconstruction of our aboriginal history, now so imperatively +demanded. + +[Relocated Footnote: Whether the Indian tribes of any part of North +America had learned to quarry stone to use for building purposes, is +still a question. In New Mexico there is no evidence that they +quarried stone. They picked up and used such stones as were found in +broken masses at the base of cliffs, or as were found on the surface +and could be easily removed from their bed. In Central America, if +anywhere they must have quarried stone, in the strict sense of this +term, but as yet there is no decisive evidence of the fact. It will +be necessary to find the quarries from which the stones were taken, +with such evidence of their having been worked as these quarries may +exhibit. The stones used in the edifices in Yucatan and Central +America are represented as a "soft coralline limestone," and, in +some cases, as in that of the Copan Idols, so called, of a "soft +grit stone." It requires the application of more than ordinary +intelligence and skill to quarry stone, even of this character. The +native tribes had no metals except native copper gold and silver, +and these were without the harness requisite for a lever or chisel; +and they had no explosives to use in blasting. Other agencies may +have been used. We find the stone lintel for the doorway beyond +their ability for ordinary use, and that for the want of it, they +were unable to erect permanent structures in stone. The art of +quarrying stone is gained by mankind before civilization is gained, +but it must commence in rude form before more effective means are +discovered through experience. If any of the American Indian tribes +had advanced to this knowledge, and possessed the skill and ability +to quarry stone, it is important that the fact should be established, +and that they should have credit for the progress in knowledge +implied by this skill and ability. Dressed stone from the walls at +Uxmal, Palenque, and elsewhere in Yucatan and Central America should +be proved by applying the square to find whether a level surface and +a true angle were formed upon them. It should also be ascertained +whether the walls are truly vertical, and also whether they had +learned to make a mortar of quicklime and sand. Before our +adventurous writers use in connection with our native tribes and +their works such terms as "civilization, great cities, palaces, and +temples," and apply such imposing titles as "king, prince, and lord" +to Indian chiefs, they should be prepared to show that some at least +of their tribes had learned the use of wells and how to dig them, +and how to quarry stone, to prepare a mortar of lime and sand; to +form a right angle and a level face upon a stone, and lay up +vertical walls. These necessary acquisitions precede the first +beginnings of civilization.] + + + + +INDEX. + + + A. + + Abert, J. W., cited + Aboriginal history perverted + Acosta, J. de, cited + Adair, J., cited + Adobe houses, ruins of + mortar + Aleuts, communal dwellings + hospitality of the + Altars, Mound-Builders' + Amidas, P. + Ancient society, uniformity in the plan of + Anonymous Conqueror + Arroyo pueblo + Arickarees + Athenian tribes, coalescence of + Atolli + Aztec Confederacy + Aztecs, cremation among the + eating customs of the + extravagant accounts concerning the + governmental institutions of the + houses of the + social system of the + + + B. + + Bachofen, Professor + Bancroft, H. H. + cited + Bandelier, A. F., cited + Barlow, Arthur + Bartram, John, cited + Brasseur de Bourbourg, C. E. + + + C. + + Calpulli + Caribs, communal dwellings of the + houses of the + Carver, J., cited + Casa Cerrada or closed house + Castanyada, S. de N., cited + Catlin, G., cited + Champlain, S. de, cited + Chiapas, village of + Chickasas, gentes and phratries + Chilluckittequaw, hospitality of the + Chimneys, absence of + unknown in Yucatan and Central America + Chinooks, houses of the + Chocta, gentes and phratries + Chopunish, house of the + Cibola, Seven Cities of + site of the + Clahclellahs, houses of the + Clan, the Scottish + Clarke, J. S. + Clatsops, houses of the + Clavigero, F. S. cited + Columbus, Christopher + Communal dwellings + of tribes in Lower Status of barbarism + of tribes in savagery + of Village Indians of New Mexico + Communism among ancient Mexicans + in living + in relation to dwellings + Confederacies, origin of + Confederacy confined to a common language + Iroquois. See Iroquois Confederacy. + of the Aztecs + Creek + Dakota + Moki + Ottawa + the nearest analogue of nation + Copan grave posts + idols + Coronado, F. V., cited + Core used in the architecture of Yucatan + Cortez, F. + cited + Coues, E., cited + Creek Confederacy + Creek Indians, communal dwellings of the + Crees + Cremation among Mound-Builders + practice of, among the Aztecs + Mayas + Tlascalans + Crossman, Captain, cited + Culture periods + Curia, the Roman + Cutler, J. G. + + + D. + + Dakota League + lodge described + Dakotans, communism of the + Dall, W. H., cited + Dankers, Jasper, cited + Delawares, communism of the + eating customs of the + hospitality of the + Descent in female line in archaic period + De Soto, Hernando, cited + Diaz, Bernal, cited + Dwellings, communal. See Communial dwellings. + + + E. + + Earth works, object of the + size of the + Embankments as base of houses + Emory, General W. H., cited + Eskimos + Ethnic or culture periods + Exaggerations in the accounts of the ancient Mexicans. + + + F. + + Feudalism, absence of in America + Food, joint ownership in + Foster, J. W. + Frontenac, L. de B. + Funeral practice, organization at. + + + G. + + Galbraith, F. G. + Garcilasso de la Vega + Gardens, artificial + Gens, archaic form + as it exists among American aborigines + founded upon kin + intermarriage in, prohibited + Iroquois + rights, privileges, and obligations + number of persons in + rights, privileges, and obligations of + stages of development + the Greek + the Latin + the Sanskrit + Gentes and tribes formed by natural growth + Chickasas + Chocta + Dakotan + Iroquois, number of + list of + Maya + Mohegan + named after animals + Ojibwa + Omaha + similar in different tribes + Tlingit + transfer of, between phratries + Gentile organization + society distinguished from political + Gorman, S., cited + Government, growth of the idea of + plan of among American aborigines + stages in the development of + Governor's House + Granganimeo + Grave posts of chiefs + Greenbalgh + cited + Grenville, R. + Grijalva, J., cited + Guerra, C., cited + Gyneocracy among the Iroquois. + + + H. + + Halls unknown in Indian architecture + Hayden, F. V. + Heckewelder, J. cited + Heffernan + Herrera, A. de, cited + Hiawatha + High-Bank pueblo described + Hindus, communal customs among the + Hospitality general among Indians of America + law of + of the Aleuts + Delawares + Indians of California + Mexico, Central and South America + Ohio + South America + Carolina + the Columbia + Northwest + Iroquois + Mandans + Mayas + Nez Perces + North Carolina Indians + Onondagas + Pimas + Southern Indians + tribes of the Missouri + Upper Mississippi + Village Indians of New Mexico + House architecture modified by climate + Household, number of persons in + House life of the Indians + of the Dwarf + Nuns at Uxmal + Old Woman + Pigeon + Turtle + Houses of Central America + capacity of the + of Indian tribes north of New Mexico + the Aztecs + California Indians + Caribs + Chinooks + Chopunish + Clahclellahs + Clatsops + Indians of Columbia Valley + + Houses of the Kutchin + Makah Indians + Mandans and Minnetarees + Maricopas and Mohaves + Nyack Indians + Pueblo Taos + Uxmal + Village Indians + Virginia Indians + ruins of, in Yucatan and Central America + safe against Indian assault + Howitt, A. W., on Australian customs. + + + I. + + Idols at Copan + Indian society unlike European + Indians, house life of the + of Mexico and Central America, communal dwellings of the + tenure of lands + New Mexico, communal dwellings of the + land customs of the + Northwest coast, communal dwellings of the + Peru, communism of the + Southern, communal dwellings of the + eating customs of the + Inheritance, customs of + Iroquois, communal dwellings of the + communion among + confederacy + cohesive principles of + democratic + founded on kinship + general features of the + origin of the + seat of the central tribes + Council, annual meeting of the + decisions of the + objects of the + eating customs of the + gens + rights, privileges, and obligations + gentes, number of the + list of the + hospitality of the + houses of the, described + lands of the + Long-House + migration of the + mother rights + number of, in existence + number of the + phratries + phratry, functions and uses + objects of the + sachemships of the + table of the + sachems, names bestowed upon + tribal epithets + government + war chiefs + Ives, J. C., cited. + + + J. + + Jackson, W. H. + cited + Jaramillo, Juan, cited + Joliet, L. + Jones, S., cited + Jose, J. + Jus gentilicium. + + + K. + + Kern + Kinship, rights and duties of, among the Aztecs + rights, duties, and obligations of + Kin the basis of gentes + Kootenays + Kutchin, houses of the. + + + L. + + Lands, division of + of the Iroquois + ownership of, in common + severalty + of Village Indians, rights in + tenure of, among ancient Mexicans + Languages, stock, number of + great number of, among American aborigines + verbal, incapable of permanence + Lapham, J. A. + Las Casas, B. de, cited + Latin and Sabine gentes, coalescence of + Lewis and Clark, cited + Lintels of Pueblos of Mexico + wood and stone + Lolsel + Long-House of the Iroquois described + Onondaga described + symbol of the Iroquois Confederacy + + + M. + + Maine + Maize indigenous to America + Makah Indians, houses of the + Mandan drying scaffolds + houses, interior of the + ladders + Mandans, communal dwellings of the + eating customs of the + hospitality of the + houses of the + Marcos, Friar + Male labor, first appearance of + Maricopas, houses of the + Marquette, J. cited + Marsh, O. C. + Maximilian, Prince + Mayas, communism in living + of the + cremation among + gentes of the + hospitality of the + of Yucatan + Meals, customs relating to + separation of the sexes at + Mexican houses, size of the + usually two stories high + land ownership, conclusions concerning + Mexicans, ancient inheritance among. + + Mexican tribes, migration of the + Mexico, pueblo of + council-house + largest in America + Migration of the Iroquois + Migrations occur through physical causes + Miller, D. J. cited + Minnetarees, houses of the + Mishonginivi, pueblo of, described + Mitchell, H. L. + Mohaves, houses of the + Mohegan gentes and phratries + Moki confederacy + house, interior + Pueblos + Montezuma + a war chief + house of + Montezuma's dinner + palace + Mortar, use of among American Indians + Mound-Builders + arts and industries of the + circular enclosures of the + cremation among the + derived from Village Indians of New Mexico + earth-works, uses of + houses of the + in Middle Status of barbarism + migrations of the + migrations of, affected by climate + modification of house architecture + probable number of + probably derived from New Mexico + social organization of the + structure of, in Ohio + Mound, Grave Creek + Mounds at Mound City + Murphy, H. C. + + + N. + + Nation, a coalition of tribes + National Assembly, functions of + Ncerchokioo + Nez Perces, hospitality of the + Norman, B. M., cited + Nyack Indians, houses of the. + + + O. + + Ojibwa gentes + lodge, description of + Omaha gentes + Onondaga, Long-House of the, described + Onondagas, hospitality of the + Onondaga village described + Organization, social and governmental + Otoes + Ottawa confederacy + Ownership of lands in severalty. + + + P. + + Palenque architecture + so-called palace of the + Parker William, a Seneca chief + Peru, tenure of lands in + Phrata of the Albanians + Phratric organization at funerals + Phratries, Chickasas + Chocta + composed of kindred gentes + Mohegan + of the Iroquois + Thinklit + Phratry, existence of the, in Mexico and Central America + in the military organization + Iroquois, functions and uses + objects of + marriage in the + older than the confederacy + the + Pimas, hospitality of the + Plant life in the Rocky Mountains + Pomeiock, village of, described + Powell, J. W. + Powers, Stephen, cited + Powhattan Village, communal dwellings of the + Prescott, W. H. + Pueblo of Chettro Kettle, size of the + Mexico + Pueblos, number of persons in + of North American, number of inhabitants + Yucatan and Central America, population of + size of + + + Q. + + Quatmozin + Quelenes. + + + R. + + Raleigh, Sir Walter + Religious beliefs + seclusion + Rights in lands among the Indians of Taos + Robertson, cited + Round towers + Ruins, east of the Rio Grande + in McElmo Canyon + the San Juan district + near base of Ute Mountain + in Mexico + of houses in New Mexico + the pueblo of Bonito + Hungo Pavie + Alto + Chettro Kettle + Penyasca Blanca + Pintado + Una Vida + Wejegi + Zayi + Arroyo + on the Animas River + outline plan + of + + + S. + + Sachems of the Iroquois, names bestowed upon + Sachemships of the Iroquois Confederacy + table of + + Sahagun, B. cited + Sandhill crane + San Juan district, ancient occupation of the + geographic relations of the + Valley, altitude of + Santo Domingo, pueblo of + Sauks, communal dwellings of the + Schulz, Carl + Secotan, village of, described + Seneca-Iroquois. See Iroquois. + Senel + Sept, the Irish + Shawnees, removal of the + Shoshones, hospitality of the + Sibley tent, aboriginal origin of the + Simpson, J. H. + cited + Sitgreave, L. + Shuyter, Peter, cited + Smet, P. J. de + Smith, John, cited + Social and governmental organization + Society, organization of + Sokulks, commercial dwellings of the + Spanish accounts of Aztec society + histories, how they should be regarded + Squire, E. G., cited + Squire and Davis, cited + Steck, M. + Stephens, J. L., cited + Stevenson, J. + Stevenson, Mrs. J., description of Zunyi, by + Stones of Pueblo dwellings + Swan, C. + Swan, J. G., cited + Symbol of the Iroquois Confederacy + Syndyasmian family. + + + T. + + Taos, houses of + Indians, organization of + pueblo of described + Teepan, or official house of the tribe + Tenbroeck, cited + Teuchtli + Tlingit, gentes and phrates + Tiotohatton, size of + village of, described + Tlascalans, cremation among + the four lineages of the + Toques + Towers, round + Tribal government of the Iroquois + stages of + Tribe composed of gentes + functions and attributes of + the + Tribe, the characteristics of + Tribes and gentes continually forming + formed by natural growth + evolved from each other + in savagery, continual dwellings of + Tribute and tribute lands. + + + U. + + Uxmal, Governor's House at + described + House of the Nuns at + ground plan + room described + structures of + + + V. + + Vega, Garcillasso de la, cited + Village Indians, houses of the + of New Mexico, arts of + religious beliefs of + Voyage to New York in 1679-1680 by Dankers and Sluyter. + + + W. + + Walker, F. A., on the Iroquois + Ward, J., cited + Whittlesry, C. + Wocoken, island of + Wolpi, pueblo of + Wright, A. + Wyth, J., cited. + + Y. + + Yucatan and Central American agriculture + architecture + confederacies + general condition of the aborigines + household life in + Indians, condition and structures of + languages of + population of + villages designed as fortresses + ruins of houses in + village life + + Yzaes + Maya Indians of + + Z. + + Zaya, apartment in + architecture + ground plans of + ruins of + Zelsales + Zempoala described + Zunyi, pueblo of + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Houses and House-Life of the American +Aborigines, by Lewis H. Morgan + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSES OF ABORIGENES *** + +This file should be named 8112.txt or 8112.zip + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Robert Prince, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/8112.zip b/8112.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3b978c --- /dev/null +++ b/8112.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3a8160 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #8112 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8112) |