There is none of the bluster that will come with the male rains of late
summer. Day and night it falls, and the earth, well-loosened by the
winter frosts, drinks up the moisture.
There is happiness in Cliff Palace for an abundant harvest is now almost
assured. The men gather in small groups along the front terraces,
chatting gaily as they watch the rain. In their minds they see the
grains of corn swell and burst, to send thin green shoots toward the
light. In spite of the rain and mud some of them trot up to the mesa
tops to look at the fields. They know exactly how the fields look but
still they must see them. Nothing has happened. The earth is taking up
the moisture, weeds are shooting out of the ground, but none of their
plants have broken the surface. Drenched, they return to the cave to
spread the word that all is well up on the mesa top.
The rainy days are days of rest for the men but they are days of
strenuous activity for the women and girls. All of the great water jars
must be filled and stored away. As soon as the spring rains are over the
dry period will begin. It may be two months before there is another drop
of rain so the storage of abundant supplies of water is of vital
importance.
In the canyon below Cliff Palace is a series of dams. The first one is
just below the trash pile at the front of the cave while the last one is
far down the canyon. Several of the dams are quite large, five or six
feet in height and over twenty feet in length. These dams are not like
the farming terraces up on the mesas. They are for water storage, so
they are kept cleaned out and are not allowed to silt up. Being made of
large stones, chinked with smaller stones and adobe, they act as perfect
barriers for the rain water that drains down the canyon. All of the dams
have been cleaned out and repaired during the spring and the rain soon
fills each one to overflowing. The great pools of water thus retained
sometimes last the people of Cliff Palace until the summer rains come.
In addition to the storage pools the women also store great quantities
of water in their jars. Hundreds of the large vessels have been made;
each woman has several. As the rain sends streams of clear water
cascading down the cliffs the women fill these jars and set them away in
the cave, each one covered with a close-fitting stone lid. Scattered
through the city are innumerable small rooms that are too small for
living purposes. They are for the storage of corn and beans. Many of the
rooms are still full of grain but some were emptied last winter and they
now make a perfect place for storage of the precious jars of water. Long
before the spring rains are over the jars are all filled and safely
stored away.
As the rains begin to show signs of subsiding the men keep watchful eyes
on the dams in the canyon. Some are built higher, others are
strengthened so that when the rains cease and the dry weather begins
they will be holding every possible drop of water. The great pools are
shaded by cliffs and trees and they will keep the water cool and fresh
far into the summer. With the water that is contained in the pools and
the water jars, and the daily flow from nearby springs the people have
little fear of water shortage.
After several days of almost continuous rain the skies clear and the sun
beats down on a damp, green world. The warmth and moisture cause every
growing thing to reach for the sky. Weeds spring up everywhere and after
a few days the red soil of the fields is broken by the green shoots of
sprouting plants. There is a splendid stand; the gods of fertility have
heard the prayers of the people.
As spring slips into summer the people of Cliff Palace seem happy and
contented. Everything indicates that a normal, prosperous year is in
store for them and they should face it with light hearts. For the most
part they do and during the spring there has been much gaiety and
happiness in the town. But often the smiles are only on the
surface--underneath is a deep, ever-present fear. Sometimes, when all
goes well, this fear is almost forgotten. Then something happens and
everyone is reminded of the evil beings who are always present--witches!
From earliest childhood each person has been taught to fear these
creatures. Witches are evil human beings who have great supernatural
power. They have only one desire--to harm and destroy people. Almost all
diseases are caused by witches. They shoot objects into people whom they
wish to harm; stones, rags, thorns, insects, bits of bone or even flesh
from a corpse. Sometimes they even steal a person's heart. When a witch
uses his power against anyone, death is the result unless a medicine man
breaks the evil spell.
Witches may injure a person or they may work against the entire
community. They bring on epidemics, they cause floods and high winds and
they can even keep the rain from falling. A witch may not always be in
human form; sometimes it takes the form of a dog, a coyote or an owl.
But always it is a menace because of the desire to harm and destroy.
Only the medicine men can recognize witches and overpower them, for they
have the same power as the witches. But the medicine men work for the
people and there is a constant struggle between them and the evil
beings. If a person is ill, the medicine man sucks out the object which
a witch has shot into his body. If a witch steals someone's heart, the
medicine man searches for it and restores it to the afflicted person.
Since the people of Cliff Palace know that witches are always present
they try never to offend anyone. A next-door neighbor, even a member of
one's own family, may be a witch and to offend him would be to invite
disaster. Any person may be a witch so the people are suspicious of all
unusual actions. If a man is jealous or constantly unhappy, if he roams
about at night, or if he is seen lurking outside a house where someone
is ill, he may find himself accused of witchcraft. For such a man life
becomes a miserable affair. He is shunned by everyone and finally may be
driven from the town. Or he may be punished severely and, if he persists
in his evil ways, may be executed.
During the spring the witches have caused only a little trouble in the
town. There has been some illness and a few people have died but it was
nothing compared to what we shall see when winter comes. That is the
time when the witches will be most active.
As spring ends the people are well satisfied with what they have
accomplished for all the necessary work has been done. Houses have been
repaired, new houses have been built and several young couples have
married. Hunting has been good and the trading journeys, except for the
loss of one party, were successful. Several new fields were cleared,
much pottery was made and sufficient water is in storage. The fields
have all been planted and, above all, the spring ceremonies have been
performed.
The people of Cliff Palace are happy and contented as Spring turns into
summer.
5
SUMMER
Summer is an easy time for the people of Cliff Palace, a warm, lazy
time. There are certain tasks to be performed but there is also much
leisure time for sleeping in the shade, gossiping, gambling and trading.
There is not the restless activity which was so evident during the
spring. Life proceeds at a slow, easy pace.
The early summer is dry and warm. Little rain can be expected until in
July; sometimes it does not come until August. The crops in the fields
must live on the moisture stored in the earth and the people must live
on the water they have stored in their pools and water jars, and the
daily flow from the springs. Water is always the critical problem but
this year conditions are very favorable.
June is often the hottest month of the summer. The sky is cloudless and
the sun beats down day after day, drawing the moisture out of the earth.
In the sun the temperature is high but the shade is cool and pleasant.
The air is dry and a light breeze always blows across the mesa tops. The
shade of even a small tree brings relief from the warmth of the sun.
Little clothing is worn. The women have small aprons of dangling yucca
fiber strings while the men may wear loin-cloths of buckskin or cotton
cloth. Children wear nothing at all. Yucca fiber sandals usually are
worn by both men and women when they leave the cave but they are not
essential about the city itself. The people of Cliff Palace are not
clothes conscious and with their rich brown skins they need no
protection from the sun. Even the men, who spend long hours in the sunny
fields, need no covering.
The farmers are all smiles for their crops are growing prodigiously.
Corn, beans and squash are growing well. Weeds are also prospering and
the men pull them up or chop them out with their digging sticks. If the
weeds are not destroyed, they take moisture that the crops need.
Every morning, not long after sunrise, the men trot up to the fields.
For a few hours they work industriously, chopping weeds or loosening the
soil around the plants. Earth is kept piled up around the stalks of
corn. It was planted almost a foot deep and this heaping up of the earth
around the hills puts the roots even farther underground. At that depth
there is an abundance of moisture in the soil.
Along towards noon, when the sun is high over head and the heat becomes
noticeable, the men end their labors. Some of them trot back down to the
cave for a late breakfast. Others, whose fields are farther from the
town, have brought their lunches and they spend the warm midday hours in
the shade of the trees which border their fields.
These men have a deep, inborn love for farming. They are descended from
a thousand years of successful farmers and a fanatical desire to make
things grow is in their blood. They often go to the fields when there is
nothing to be done. The weeds have been cut, the soil is well loosened,
everything is just right. Still the men go to the fields to spend the
hours among the growing things. Every hill of corn, every bean plant
receives individual attention. Endlessly the men work about the fields,
even though they only pick an occasional bug off the plants.
During the midday siesta the men often gather in little groups and while
away the hours telling of crops of the past or dreaming of the harvest
that is to come. Those hours are not always spent idly for there are
many tasks the men can do as they sit in the shade. One man may chip
arrowheads; another may whittle away on his new bow. Here a man is
patching his sandals while his neighbor puts a new blade on his digging
stick. Much can be accomplished during these hours when the sun is high
and the shade is welcome.
The fields are never left without watchers. All day long someone is on
guard and even during the night the young men and boys take turns
watching the precious crops. Rabbits and squirrels eat the beans, and
ravens and crows pull up the tender young corn plants. In a few hours a
field can be ruined. Later on in the summer, crows, jays and ravens will
tear at the ears of corn and eat great holes in the tender squashes.
Even the coyotes like the squashes and as one of the animals trots
through the field he may take great bites out of half a dozen. Faced
with this danger, the farmers are forced to watch the fields day and
night. The unmarried boys build brush shelters in the fields and spend
much of the summer there, dreaming of the chubby little maidens for whom
they will soon be farming.
[Illustration: Modern Indian corn grown by ancient methods in the
Mesa Verde experimental field]
[Illustration: Remains of terraces which provided garden plots for
the early farmers]
The boys do not like to spend the night in the fields for witches are
most active during the hours of darkness and it is a bad time to be away
from the town. When a coyote howls or an owl hoots, they know it may be
a witch so they throw more wood on their fires and smear ashes on their
foreheads to keep the witches away.
As the dry weather of summer continues the people show much concern over
the water supply. They know that if the late summer rains come normally,
they will have more than enough. But if, as sometimes happens, the rains
fail to come, they will be in serious trouble. They prepare for this
possibility by carefully conserving the supplies. In order to save the
water that is stored in the jars and in the pools below the cave the
springs are utilized to the utmost. There are many of these springs
along the canyon walls at the foot of the cliffs. One of the finest is
across the canyon, under the great ceremonial building where the priests
hold their most important ceremonies. It is almost half a mile by trail
to the spring but it has a strong flow of water. In spite of the long,
tiresome journey, the water must be saved. That is one of the tragedies
in the lives of the men. They are forced to carry the water home from
distant springs--on their wives' heads.
Each morning the women make the round of the springs to gather the water
that has accumulated. At each place where there is a seepage they have
made a basin of well-tamped blue shale. The water does not seep readily
through this shale and a pool of clear water results. The best springs
are visited several times a day so that the pools do not overflow. With
their long-handled ladles the women dip the water into their jars, some
of which hold as much as five gallons. The heavy jars are then borne
home on their heads. Years of practice have given them strong necks,
straight backs and a smooth, flowing stride. They chat happily as they
trot home with their burdens: life is gay and easy with nothing to do
but carry water up out of the canyon. By carrying the water jars on
their heads the women have their hands free when they climb the rows of
toe-holds that are cut into the more precipitous cliffs. Ladders that
lead up over the terraced houses are simple: the water carriers trot up
them without deigning to touch their hands to the poles.
Each woman has a small pad of yucca fibers, shaped like a large
doughnut, which she places between her head and the water jar. This pad
helps in balancing the burden and keeps her calloused head from cracking
the precious jar.
Every effort is made to conserve the water supply, for as the warm
weather continues the springs begin to dwindle and the pools shrink.
There is no repairing and building of houses; water cannot be spared for
the mortar. Pottery is seldom made at this time for that, too, requires
water. By using it only for human needs the supply can be drawn out for
months if necessary.
In addition to their water carrying activities the women are also busy
gathering the edible plants that are so common during the summer. These
plants add variety to the diet and help to conserve the stores of grain.
In June the mesa tops are covered with flowers of all kinds and the
women admire them and call them by name as they search for the plants
that have value as food or medicine. The leaves and fruit of the prickly
pear are eaten; also the beautiful waxy flowers and the tender flower
stem of the yucca. Lily bulbs, wild onions, beeweed, sumac berries and
Mormon tea are only a few of the natural products which the women
gather. They know every seed, root, bulb, berry and plant that has value
and they search the mesas and canyons in order to obtain these
additional foods and flavors.
Occasionally the women interrupt the usual routine of their daily tasks
in order to give birth to babies. It is a pleasant diversion for
children are highly prized in this society. A woman continues her
regular work almost until time for the happy event. Being strong and
active she ordinarily goes through it without great difficulty. Her
mother is in charge of the affair but if all does not go well, a
medicine man is called in to chant her through her troubles.
Shortly after birth the baby is bathed and is rubbed with juniper ashes
to protect it from witches and other evil influences. It is then placed
on a bed of hot sand and a perfect ear of corn is kept always beside it.
For twenty days the mother and child are kept in the house away from
strong light and every fifth day the mother's hair is washed with yucca
suds and she is bathed with water in which juniper twigs have been
boiled.
At sunrise on the twentieth day the child's head is washed. Then its
grandmother on its father's side takes it to the top of the cliff and
with a little ceremony of prayer, dedicates it to the Sun Father. On
this day it is named and since all of its aunts and both grandmothers
have the privilege of giving it a name, the baby may receive a dozen.
One name finally wins out and the others are forgotten.
For several months the child is kept on a cradle board most of the time.
This is merely a thin, smooth board to which the child is bound with
soft folds of cotton cloth or buckskin and a lacing of strings. No
pillow is provided and the soft, pliable head rests on the hard board
month after month. The result is obvious. Gradually the back of the head
flattens until it fits the board.
This change of head shape has no effect on the child except in the
matter of appearance. As the skull presses in at the back it bulges out
over the ears. The brain adjusts itself to the changing shape of its
container and suffers no ill effects. As a result of the use of this
hard cradle board, all of the people have the deformity on the back of
the head. Sometimes it is terrific and the head is as wide as it is
long.
The cradle board makes the care of the child very simple. The mother may
carry it on her back as she goes about her work. She may hang it on a
tree or on a roof pole or lean it up against the house. When the child
is on its cradle board it is in no danger of rolling off the roof or
over a cliff. Occasionally it is taken off the cradle and the juniper
bark pad that serves as a diaper is changed. When the child reaches the
age where it must learn to walk, it will be released from the cradle and
will be placed in the constant care of an older sister or some other
little girl of its clan.
For the first six or seven years, children lead carefree lives. They
have no responsibilities and nothing is expected of them except that
they survive and be happy. If they do wrong they are seldom punished
physically but are talked to at great length. And quite often they are
frightened into good behavior by tales of witches and what they do to
bad children.
All of the children are up at dawn and the day's play begins. The very
young ones must stay within the cave where they climb over the houses
and play on the roofs and in the courts. After they are a little older
they play on the canyon slope below the cave and finally they are big
enough to play along the cliffs beside the town. All through the day the
echoes of their voices and laughter fill the canyon.
At the age of six or seven, this life of constant play ends and they
begin to learn, by imitating their parents, all they must know to fit
into the life of the community. A little girl follows her mother
wherever she goes and imitates her in every activity. When the mother
makes pottery her small daughter makes crude, miniature pieces: when the
mother bakes corn cakes her little shadow bakes tiny cakes of mud and,
after a time, is allowed to use the precious corn meal itself. When the
mother goes to the spring the little girl trots at her heels and soon
she is carrying small jars of water on her head. She spends long hours
at the grinding bin and equally long hours caring for younger brothers
and sisters. As she grows older, she accepts more and more
responsibility and finally, when marriage comes, she is an accomplished
housewife.
In the same manner the small boy goes through a long period of training.
At sunrise he tumbles out of his blankets to listen and watch
attentively as his father says his morning prayer and tosses an offering
of corn meal or corn pollen to the gods of dawn. He follows his father
to the fields and as soon as he is old enough, accompanies him on
hunting trips. When his father makes bows, arrows, flint knives, bone
awls and the many other tools, the boy imitates him, in miniature, and
gradually learns all the necessary crafts.
Most important of all to the youth is his religious education and this
is in the hands of his "ceremonial father." When the boy was born one of
his mother's brothers was selected for this task and he is responsible
for the religious training of his young nephew. The two spend long hours
together as the uncle tells the legends and beliefs of the tribe. Since
there is no written language, these can be learned only through hearing
them repeated over and over. During the first years of training the boy
learns only the general things which all the people may know but when he
is twelve or fourteen he is ready for the secret part of his religious
training. Under the sponsorship of his "ceremonial father" he is taken
into one of the kivas and initiated into the secret society to which his
"ceremonial father" belongs. Now he is taught the secrets of the society
and its ceremonies and soon he begins to take part in the ceremonial
work. From this time on the kiva plays an important part in the young
man's life. He goes there not only for ceremonial purposes but to work,
loaf, gamble or even to sleep. If his mother's house is crowded with
younger children, he may sleep in his kiva most of the time until he
marries. And even after marriage he may sleep within the safe confines
of the kiva during occasional periods of strife in his home.
As the dry weather continues the men keep an anxious eye on the sky.
Certain conditions must develop before the rains can come. In June there
is a sigh of relief from the farmers. The sky is no longer a solid
canopy of blue. Along the northeastern horizon great white clouds begin
to appear. At first they are small but each day they grow larger. Soon
they are tremendous, billowy, white thunderheads that boil up until they
cover half the sky. Soon they will break and the worries of the farmers
will be over.
The crops are growing well. By the end of June the corn is almost knee
high and the men thin it out. The weak stalks are pulled out of each
hill leaving the five or six strongest ones. The fight against weeds is
continued but during most of the summer the men have a great deal of
time for other activities.
During the times when they are not completely occupied with their farms
they work at their various crafts and as a result there is much trading.
Each man needs certain things such as turkey feather blankets, cotton
blankets, jewelry, tanned buckskin, sandals, leggings, bows, arrows,
planting sticks, stone knives and scrapers, yucca fiber cords and ropes,
axes, hammers, and countless other things. Some of the men can and do
make any or all of these things. Most of the men, however, specialize on
the things they can do best and trade for their other necessities.
In one house lives a man who makes splendid arrowheads. Next door is an
old fellow who is famous for his cotton blankets. Upstairs is an axe
maker and still higher, in the third story house, is a man who
specializes in tanning buckskin. Across the court is a young fellow who
is especially adept at twisting yucca fibers into cords and ropes. In
another part of the city is one who makes feather blankets; somewhere
else is a jeweler. Some of the men make a number of different things but
few of them make all of the items they need.
The result of this semi-specialization is that there is much trading.
This is true not only within Cliff Palace but also between the various
villages. Within a mile of the large city are more than thirty cliff
dwellings. Up the canyon to the north are ten and directly across the
canyon, within easy calling distance, are two very small ones. Around
the point behind the great, mesa-top, ceremonial building are five, down
the canyon are eleven and in the next canyon to the east are several
more. In more distant canyons are hundreds of other villages, large and
small.