[Illustration: FIG. 545.--Food-bowl. FIG. 546.--Water-jar.
(Showing open or joined space in line near rim.)]
On every class of food- and water-vessels, in collections of both
ancient and modern Pueblo pottery (except, it is important to note, on
pitchers and some sacred receptacles), it may be observed as a
singular, yet almost constant feature, that encircling lines, often
even ornamental zones, are left open or not as it were closed at the
ends. (See Figs. 545, _a_, 546, _a_.) This is clearly a conventional
quality and seemingly of intentional significance. An explanation must
be sought in various directions, and once found will be useful in
guiding to an understanding of the symbolic element in Pueblo ceramic
art. I asked the Indian women, when I saw them making these little
spaces with great care, why they took so much pains to leave them
open. They replied that to close them was _a´k ta ni_, "fearful!"--that
this little space through the line or zone on a vessel was the "exit
trail of life or being", _o´ ne yäthl kwái na_, and this was all. How
it came to be first left open and why regarded as the "exit trail,"
they could not tell. If one studies the mythology of this people and
their ways of thinking, then watches them closely, he will, however,
get other clews. When a woman has made a vessel, dried, polished, and
painted it, she will tell you with an air of relief that it is a "Made
Being." Her statement is confirmed as a sort of article of faith, when
you observe that as she places the vessel in the kiln, she also places
in and beside it food. Evidently she vaguely gives something about the
vessel a personal existence. The question arises how did these people
come to regard food-receptacles or water-receptacles as possessed of
or accompanied by conscious existences. I have found that the Zuñi
argues actual and essential relationship from similarity in the
appearance, function, or other attributes of even generically diverse
things.[2]
[2] I would refer those, who may wish to find this characteristic
more fully set forth, to the introductory pages of my essay on
Zuñi Fetiches, published in the second volume of Contributions to
North American Ethnology by the Bureau of Ethnology; also to a
paper read before the American Academy of Sciences on the
Relations to one another of the Zuñi Mythologic and Sociologic
Systems, published, I regret to say, without my revision, in the
Popular Science Monthly, for July, 1882.
I here allude to this mental bias because it has both influenced the
decoration of pottery and has been itself influenced by it. In the
first place, the noise made by a pot when struck or when simmering on
the fire is supposed to be the voice of its associated being. The
clang of a pot when it breaks or suddenly cracks in burning is the cry
of this being as it escapes or separates from the vessel. That it has
departed is argued from the fact that the vase when cracked or
fragmentary never resounds as it did when whole. This vague existence
never cries out violently unprovoked; but it is supposed to acquire
the power of doing so by imitation; hence, no one sings, whistles, or
makes other strange or musical sounds resembling those of earthenware
under the circumstances above described during the smoothing,
polishing, painting, or other processes of finishing. The being thus
incited, they think, would surely strive to come out, and would break
the vessel in so doing. In this we find a partial explanation of the
native belief that a pot is accompanied by a conscious existence. The
rest of the solution of this problem in belief is involved in the
native philosophy and worship of water. Water contains the source of
continued life. The vessel holds the water; the source of life
_accompanies_ the water, hence its dwelling place is in the vessel
with the water. Finally, the vessel is supposed to contain the
treasured source, irrespective of the water--as do wells and springs,
or even the places where they have been. If the encircling lines
inside of the eating bowl, _outside_ of the water jar, were closed,
there would be no exit trail for this invisible source of life or for
its influence or breath. Yet, why, it maybe asked, must the source of
life or its influence be provided with a trail by which to pass out
from the vessel? In reply to this I will submit two considerations. It
has been stated that on the earliest Southwestern potteries decoration
was effected by incised or raised ornamentation. Any one who has often
attempted to make vessels according to primitive methods as I have has
found how difficult it is to smoothly join a line incised around a
still soft clay pot, and that this difficulty is even greater when the
ornamental band is laid on in relief. It would be a natural outgrowth
of this predicament to leave the ends unjoined, which indeed the
savage often did. When paint instead of incision or relief came to be
the decorative agent, the lines or bands would be left unjoined in
imitation. As those acquainted with Tylor's "Early History" will
realize, and myth of observation like the above would come to be
assigned in after ages. This may or may not be true of the case in
question; for, as before observed, some classes of sacred receptacles,
as well as the most ancient painted bowls, are not characterized by
the unjoined lines. Whether true or not, it is an insufficient
solution of the problem.
[Illustration: FIG. 547.--Conical or flat-bellied canteen.]
It is natural for the Pueblo to consider water as the prime source of
life, or as accompanied by it, for without the presence of living
water very few things grow in his desert land. During many a drought
chronicled in his oral annals, plants, animals, and men have died as
of a contagious scourge. Naturally, therefore, he has come to regard
water as the milk of adults, to speak of it as such, and as the
all-sufficient nourishment which the earth (in his conception of it as
the mother of men) yields. In the times when his was a race of cliff
and mesa dwellers, the most common vessel appertaining to his daily
life was the flat-bellied canteen or water-carrier. (See Fig. 547.)
This was suspended by a band across the forehead, so as to hang
against the back, thus leaving the hands as well as the feet free for
assistance in climbing. It now survives only for use on long journeys
or at camps distant from water. The original suggestion of its form
seems to have been that of the human mammary gland, or perhaps its
peculiar form may have suggested a relationship between the two.
(Compare Figs. 548, 549.) At any rate, its name in Zuñi is _me´ he ton
ne_, while _me´ ha na_ is the name of the human mammary gland. _Me´ he
ton ne_ is from _me´ ha na_, mamma, _e´ ton nai e_, containing within,
and _to´m me_. From _me´ ha na_ comes _wo´ ha na_, hanging or placed
against anything, obviously because the mammaries hang or are placed
against the breast; or, possibly, _mé ha na_ may be derived from _wó
ha na_ by a reversal of reasoning, which view does not affect the
argument in question. It is probable that the _me´ he ton_ was at
first left open at the apex (Fig. 549._a_) instead of at the top (Fig.
549._b_); but, being found liable to leak when furnished with the
aperture so low, this was closed. A surviving superstition inclines me
to this view. When a Zuñi woman has completed the _me´ he ton_ nearly
to the apex, by the coiling-process, and before she has inserted the
nozzle (Fig. 549._b_), she prepares a little wedge of clay, and, as
she closes the apex with it, she turns her eyes away. If you ask her
why she does this, she will tell you that it is _a´k ta ni_ (fearful)
to look at the vessel while closing it at this point; that, if she
look at it during this operation, she will be liable to become barren;
or that, if children be born to her, they will die during infancy; or
that she maybe stricken with blindness; or those who drink from the
vessel will be afflicted with disease and wasting away! My impression
is that, reasoning from analogy (which with these people means actual
relationship or connection, it will be remembered), the Zuñi woman
supposes that by closing the apex of this _artificial_ mamma she
closes the exit-way for the "source of life;" further, that the woman
who closes this exit-way knowingly (in her own sight, that is)
voluntarily closes the exit-way for the source of life in her _own_
mammæ; further still, that for this reason the privilege of bearing
infants may be taken away from her, or at any rate (experience showing
the fallacy of this philosophy) she deserves the loss of the sense
(sight) which enabled her to "_knowingly_" close the exit-way of the
source of life.
[Illustration: FIG. 548. FIG. 549.
Conical canteen compared with human mammary gland.]
By that tenacity of conservative reasoning which is a marked mental
characteristic of the sedentary Pueblo, other types of the canteen, of
later origin, not only retained the name-root of this primeval form,
but also its attributed functions. For example, the _me´ wi k‘i lik
ton ne_ (See Fig. 550) is named thus from _me we_, mammaries, _i kí
lïk toì e´_, joined together by a neck, and _to´m me_.
Now, when closing the ends (Fig. 550, _c_, _c_) of this curious vessel
in molding it, the women are as careful to turn the eyes away as in
closing the apex of the older form. As the resemblance of either of
the ends of this vessel to the mamma is not striking, they place on
either side of the nozzle a pair of little conical projections,
resembling the teats, and so called. (Fig. 550, _b_.) There are four
of these, instead of, as we might reasonably expect, two. The reason
for this seems to be that the _me´ wi k’i lik ton ne_ is the canteen
designed for use by the hunter in preference to all other vessels,
because it may be easily wrapped in a blanket and tied to the back.
Other forms would not do, as the hunter must have the free use not
only of his hands but also of his head, that he may turn quickly this
way or that in looking for or watching game. The proper nourishment of
the hunter is the game he kills; hence, the source of his life, like
that of the young of this game, is symbolized in the canteen by the
mammaries, not of human beings, but of game-animals. A feature in
these canteens dependent upon all this brings us nearer to an
understanding of the question under discussion. When ornamental bands
are painted around either end of the neck of one of them (Fig. 550,
_b_), they are interrupted at the little projections (Fig. 550, _b,_).
Indeed, I have observed specimens on which these lines, if placed
farther out, were interrupted at the top (Fig. 550, _a a_) opposite
the little projections. So, by analogy, it would seem the Pueblos came
to regard paint, like clay, a barrier to the exit of the source of
life. This idea of the source of life once associated with the canteen
would readily become connected with the water-jar, which, if not the
offspring of the canteen, at least usurped its place in the household
economy of these people. From the water-jar it would pass naturally to
drinking-vessels and eating-bowls, explaining the absence of the
interrupted lines on the oldest of these and their constant occurrence
on recent and modern examples; for the painted lines being left open
at the apexes, or near the projections on the canteens, they should
also be unjoined on other vessels with which the same ideas were
associated.
[Illustration: FIG. 550.--Double lobed or hunter canteen.]
So, also, it will be observed that in paintings of animals there is
not only a line drawn from the mouth to the plainly depicted heart,
but a little space is left down the center or either side of this
line (see Figs. 551, 552), which is called the _o ne yäthl kwa´ to
na_, or the "entrance trail" (of the source or breath of life).
[Illustration: FIG. 551.--Painting of deer.]
[Illustration: FIG. 552.--Painting of sea-serpent.]
By this long and involved examination of _one_ element in the
symbolism of Pueblo ceramic decoration, we gain some idea how many
others not quite so striking, yet equally curious, grew up; how, also,
they might be explained. Their investigation, however, would be
attended with such intricate studies, involving so many subjects not
at sight related to the one in hand, that I must hasten to present two
other points.
Much wonder has been expressed that the Pueblos, so advanced in
pottery decoration, have not attempted more representations of natural
objects. There is less ground for this wonder than at first appears.
It should be remembered that the original angular models which the
Pueblo had, out of which to develop his art, bequeathed to him an
extremely conventional conception of things. This, added to his
peculiar way of interpreting relationship and personifying phenomena
and even functions, has resulted in making his depictions obscure. In
point of fact, in the decoration of certain classes of his pottery he
has attempted the reproduction of almost everything and of every
phenomenon in nature held as sacred or mysterious by him. On certain
other classes he has developed, imitatively, many typical decorations
which now have no special symbolism, but which once had definite
significance; and, finally, he has sometimes relegated definite
meanings to designs which at first had no significance, except as
decorative agents, after ward using them according to this
interpretation in his attempts to delineate natural objects, their
phenomena, and functions. I will illustrate by examples, the last
point first.
[Illustration: FIG. 553.--The fret of basket decoration.]
[Illustration: FIG. 554.--The fret of pottery decoration.]
[Illustration: FIG. 555.--Scroll as evolved from fret in pottery
decoration.]
Going back to basketry, we find already the fully developed fret. (See
Fig. 553.) I doubt not that from this was evolved, in accordance with
Professor Hartt's theory, the scroll or volute as it appears later on
pottery. (See Figs. 554, 555.) To both of these designs, and
modifications of them ages later, the Pueblo has attached meanings.
Those who have visited the Southwest and ridden over the wide, barren
plains, during late autumn or early spring, have been astonished to
find traced on the sand by no visible agency, perfect concentric
circles and scrolls or volutes yards long and as regular as though
drawn by a skilled artist. The circles are made by the wind driving
partly broken weed-stalks around and around their places of
attachment, until the fibers by which they are anchored sever and the
stalks are blown away. The volutes are formed by the stems of red-top
grass and of a round-topped variety of the _chenopodium_, drifted
onward by the whirlwind yet around and around their bushy adhesive
tops. The Pueblos, observing these marks, especially that they are
abundant after a wind storm, have wondered at their similarity to the
painted scrolls on the pottery of their ancestors. Even to-day they
believe the sand marks to be the tracks of the whirlwind, which is a
God in their mythology of such distinctive personality that the
circling eagle is supposed to be related to him. They have naturally,
therefore, explained the analogy above noted by the inference that
their ancestors, in painting the volute, had intended to symbolize the
whirlwind by representing his tracks. Thenceforward the scroll was
drawn on certain classes of pottery to represent the whirlwind,
modifications of it (for instance, by the color-sign belonging to any
one of the "six regions") to signify other personified winds. So,
also, the semicircle is classed as emblematic of the rainbow (_a´ mi
to lan ne_); the obtuse angle, as of the sky (_a´ po yan ne_); the
zigzag line as lightning (_wi´ lo lo an ne_); terraces as the sky
horizons (_a´wi thlui a we_), and modifications of the latter as the
mythic "ancient sacred place of the spaces" (_Te´ thlä shi na kwïn_),
and so on.
[Illustration: FIG. 556.--Ancient Pueblo "medicine-jar."]
By combining several of these elementary symbols in a single device,
sometimes a mythic idea was beautifully expressed. Take, as an
example, the rain totem adopted by the late Lewis H. Morgan as a title
illumination, from Maj. J.W. Powell, who received it from the Moki.
Pueblos of Arizona as a token of his induction into the rain gens of
that people. (See Fig. 557, _a_.) An earlier and simpler form of this
occurs on a very ancient "sacred medicine jar" which I found in the
Southwest. (See Fig. 556.) By reference to an enlarged drawing of the
chief decoration of this jar (see Fig. 557), it may be seen that the
sky, _a_, the ancient place of the spaces (region of the sky gods),
_b_, the cloud lines, _c_, and the falling rain, _d_, are combined and
depicted to symbolize the storm, which was the objective of the
exhortations, rituals, and ceremonials to which the jar was an
appurtenance.
[Illustration: _a._ Modern Moki rain symbol.
_b._ Enlarged decoration of "medicine-jar."
FIG. 557.--Decoration of ancient medicine-jar compared
with rain symbol of modern Moki totem.]
Thus, upon all sacred vessels, from the drums of the esoteric medicine
societies of the priesthood and all vases pertaining to them to the
keramic appurtenances of the sacred dance or _Kâ´ kâ_, all decorations
were intentionally emblematic. Of this numerous class of vessels, I
will choose but one for illustration--the prayer-meal-bowl of the _Kâ´
kâ_. In this, both form and ornamentation are significant. (See Fig.
558.) In explaining how the form of this vessel is held to be symbolic
I will quote a passage from the "creation myth" as I rendered it in an
article on the origin of corn, belonging to a series on "Zuñi
Breadstuff," published this year in the "Millstone" of Indianapolis,
Indiana. "Is not the bowl the emblem of the earth, our mother? For
from her we draw both food and drink, as a babe draws nourishment from
the breast of its mother; and round, as is the rim of a bowl, so is
the horizon, terraced with mountains whence rise the clouds." This
alludes to a medicine bowl, not to one of the handled kind, but I will
apply it as far as it goes to the latter. The two terraces on either
side of the handle (Fig. 558, _a a_) are in representation of the
"ancient sacred place of the spaces," the handle being the line of the
sky, and sometimes painted with the rainbow figure. Now the
decorations are a trifle more complex. We may readily perceive that
they represent tadpoles (Fig. 558, _b b_), dragonflies (Fig: 558, _c
c_), with also the frog or toad (Fig. 558); all this is of easy
interpretation. As the tadpole frequents the pools of spring time he
has been adopted as the symbol of spring rains; the dragon-fly hovers
over pools in summer, hence typifies the rains of summer; and the
frog, maturing in them later, symbolizes the rains of the later
seasons; for all these pools are due to rain fall. When, sometimes,
the figure of the sacred butterfly (see Fig. 559, _a b_) replaces that
of the dragon-fly, or alternates with it, it symbolizes the
beneficence of summer; since, by a reverse order of reasoning, the
Zuñis think that the butterflies and migratory birds (see Fig. 560)
_bring_ the warm season from the "Land of everlasting summer."
[Illustration: FIG. 558.--Zuñi prayer-meal-bowl.]
Upon vessels of special function, like these we have just noticed,
peculiar figures may be regarded as emblematic; on other classes, no
matter how evidently conventional and expressive decorations may seem,
excepting always, totemic designs, it is wise to use great caution in
their interpretation as intentional and not merely imitative.
A general examination, even of the most modern of Pueblo pottery,
shows us that certain types of decoration have once been confined to
certain types of vessels, all which has its due signification but an
examination of which would properly form the subject of another essay.
[Illustration: FIG. 559.--Paintings of sacred butterfly.]
[Illustration: FIG. 560.--Painting of "summer-bird."]
Happily, a work collateral to the one which I have here merely begun,
will, I have reason to hope, be carried to a high degree of perfection
in the forthcoming monographs on the exhaustless ceramic collections
of the United States National Museum by Mr. William H. Holmes. This
author and artist will approach his task from a standpoint differing
from mine, reaching thereby, it may be, conclusions at variance with
the foregoing; but by means of his wealth of material and illustration
students will have opportunity of passing a judgment upon the merits
of not only his work, but of my own.
[Illustration: FIG. 561.--Rectangular type of earthen vessel.]
In conclusion, let me very briefly refer to two distinctive American
types of pottery, unconnected with the Southwestern, which,
considered in conjunction with those of the latter region, seem to
me to indicate that the ceramic art has had independent centers of
origin in America. For the sake of convenience, I may name these types
the rectangular (see Fig. 561) or Iroquois, and the bisymmetrical or
kidney-shaped (see Fig. 562), of Nicaragua. The one is almost constant
in the lake regions of the United States, the other equally constant
in sections of Central America. In collections gathered from any tribe
of our Algonquin or Iroquois Indians, one may observe vessels of the
tough birch- or linden-bark, some of which are spherical or
hemispherical. To produce this form of utensil from a single piece of
bark, it is necessary to cut pieces out of the margin and fold it.
Each fold, when stitched together in the shaping of the vessel, forms
a corner at the upper part. (See Fig. 563.) These corners and the
borders which they form are decorated with short lines and
combinations of lines, composed of coarse embroideries with dyed
porcupine quills. (See Fig. 564) May not the bark vessel have given
rise to the rectangular type of pottery and its quill ornamentation to
the incised straight-line decorations? (Compare Fig. 561.)
[Illustration: FIG. 562.--Kidney-shaped vessel, Nicaragua.]
[Illustration: FIG. 563.--Iroquois bark-vessel.]
So, too, in the unsymmetrical urns of Central and Isthmean America,
which are characterized by the location of the aperture at the upper
part of one of the extremities and by streak-like decorations, we
have a decided suggestion of the animal paunch or bladder and of the
visible veins on its surface when distended.
[Illustration: FIG. 564.--Porcupine quill decoration.]
If these conjectures be accepted as approximately correct, even in
tendency, we may hope by a patient study of the ceramic remains of a
people, no matter where situated, to discover what was the type of
their pre-ceramic vessels, and thereby we might also learn whether, at
the time of the origin of the potter's art or during its development,
they had, like the Pueblos, been indigenous to the areas in which they
were found, or whether they had, like some of the Central Americans,
(to make a concrete example and judge it by this method) apparently
immigrated in part from desert North America, in part from the
wilderness of an equatorial region in South America.
* * * * *