HUMANITY IN THE DESERT
Why human beings should have chosen such a place as the desert for
their habitation is a mystery without a solution. Possibly the
forefathers of the present dwellers of the region fled thither to
escape the oppression of tribes more powerful and war-like than their
own. Be that as it may, there dwell in the Great Mojave and in the
Colorado deserts several tribes of men who, according to their
traditions, have made their home there many centuries.
Up in the Death Valley region is a tribe known as the Panamint Indians.
They live in rude huts built of sticks and mud, and they subsist upon
the most disgusting of foods. At a certain season of the year Owen's
Lake and several smaller saline lakes in that region abound with a
white grub--the larva of a two-winged fly, _ephydra
Californica_--called by the Indians "Koochabee." The Indians visit the
lakes at the season of the year when the grub is most plentiful, and
from the shores of the lakes they gather them where the waves throw
them up in windrows several inches deep. The grubs are dried and are
then pulverized in rude stone mortars. The powder is used in making a
sort of bread which is highly prized as an article of food.
[Illustration: A CHEMEHUEVI INDIAN AND COYOTE
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
Snakes and lizards are also cooked and eaten by the Panamints, and
their vegetable diet consists chiefly of leaves and buds of cactus
plants and other wild herbs. They are not agriculturists and are but
indifferent hunters. They seem contented with their lot and evince no
desire to leave the desert for a more habitable region.
The Seri Indians are found at the extreme southern portion of the
desert. At one time there were considerable numbers of them in the
Colorado Desert, but in 1779 the Mexican Government, then in possession
of the territory, removed them to the island of Tiburon, where the
greater number now live. A few families are to be found, however, in
the vicinity of the "Volcanoes" in the Colorado Desert.
The Seri Indians are unreasoning, treacherous, and indolent. The women
of the tribe command great respect from the men, and the family
relationship is always traced through the mother. In the language or
dialect of the tribe there is no equivalent to the word "father,"
although there is for "mother." Little attention is paid to the death
of a male member of the tribe, but when a woman dies the funeral
ceremonies are elaborate.
The Cocopahs are another banished tribe, now occupying the desert
region south of the boundary line between the United States and Mexico.
Not many years ago their chief village was a few miles from Yuma, which
town was their trading-post. Smallpox broke out in the Indian village,
but the Indians continued to visit Yuma and soon carried the disease
thither. When the authorities learned the source of the infection they
forbade the Indians to come to the town, and to insure obedience to the
command, a mounted guard was placed about the Indian village. Two
Indians one day eluded the guards and walked into Yuma. Then the edict
of banishment went forth. The Indians were driven from their homes and
across the border into Mexico, and the village and all effects left
behind became food for the flames.
[Illustration: A CHEMEHUEVI DWELLING
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
The Cocopahs, as a rule, are of fine physique, hardy, and nimble, but
like all desert tribes they are unprogressive.
A peculiar burial custom prevails among these Indians. As a rule they
wear their hair long--a custom with all of the Western tribes--but upon
the death of a relative it is cut. If the deceased was a distant
relative the hair is but slightly shortened. If a very near relative it
is cut close to the head. The nearness of kinship is easily determined
by the length of hair of the mourners.
A still more curious custom prevails in connection with the marriage
ceremony. Before a Cocopah girl may become a bride she must be buried
over night in the earth.
A hole is first dug in the sand deep enough to admit her in a sitting
posture. Then a fire is built in the pit and is made to burn till the
earth is thoroughly warmed. It is then extinguished, and the bride
enters the grave and is buried to the neck in the earth. Here she
remains till the morning, when she is ready for the marriage ceremony.
Occupying the region between these dwellers of the extreme southern
portion of the desert and the tribe first described are the Mojave
Indians and the Yumas. The Indians of these tribes are of good
stature, but they are dull, coarse, and unprogressive. They live in
rude huts, curiously constructed of twigs, stones, and mud. The
occupation of the men consists in an occasional visit to the fertile
country in search of game, or to the mountains in search of turquoise,
a gem much prized by nearly all the Indian tribes. The women make
baskets and toys, blankets, and beaded ornaments to sell to curio
dealers, whose agents make frequent visits among them to gather up
these articles.
They live upon fish taken from the Colorado River, game taken in their
occasional hunting excursions, and upon dishes prepared from cacti. A
sort of government is maintained. They have their chiefs and medicine
men, the latter being second in power and importance. The medicine men
practice the healing art, depending more upon mysterious rites and
incantations than upon herbs and medicines for their cures. Among the
Indians of the northern desert it is the custom, as it is with some
other Western tribes, to execute the medicine man when he shall have
lost his third patient.
[Illustration: A CHEMEHUEVI SQUAW AND CHILD
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
The Chemehuevi Indians are also desert-dwellers. They depend chiefly
upon nature to supply them with food and other necessities. The desert
cactus furnishes a large proportion of their food. The fibers of the
plants are woven into a coarse cloth, which gives them clothing, and
mud and sticks form the material for their houses. Like the other
desert tribes, they know of no more desirable spot for an
abiding-place; and no greater sorrow could come to them than to be told
that they were to be transported to a land of "green fields and running
brooks." The desert is their home. They know its peculiarities and its
mysteries; it keeps them and lets them live, and they love it. Why
should they long for that which is strange, and for which their natures
are not adapted?