The simple batter may be baked in small cakes on a hot stone. Juniper
ashes may be added to make the cakes blue. The dough may be rolled in
corn husks and baked in the ashes or large cakes may be baked in hot
pits. If fine and coarse corn meal are mixed, rolled into little balls
and boiled in a pot of stew, tasty dumplings result.
A real delicacy results when the corn bread is sweetened with saliva. In
making this sweet bread a portion of the corn meal is chewed by the
women until the saliva changes the starch to sugar. When this chewed
meal is mixed with the rest of the meal and baked in corn husks, a sweet
bread results. If the chewed batter is rolled up in fresh corn leaves
and boiled, the resulting dumpling-like balls are the sweetest food
known to the people. The chewed foods are real delicacies and are made
especially for honored guests.
In addition to the corn dishes, there is a great variety of other foods.
Meat of all kinds is roasted, boiled or stewed. Broths, soups and stews
are common. Boiled beans and baked squash are always part of a feast and
any of these articles may be cooked in combination. In addition there
are wild plant dishes; boiled greens, boiled or baked roots, stewed
fruits, roasted seeds or ground pinon nuts.
Fall is the time when there is the greatest abundance and variety of
foods and the feasts that accompany the ceremonies are sumptuous
affairs. The finest dishes are passed down into the kivas to the
priests. Guests eat in the open courts around the cooking fires and
drowsily belch their gratitude for the food and hospitality.
In the evening the people gather around the many small fires that send
dancing shadows across the roof of the great cave. From some of the
kivas comes the chanting of the priests; from others come the more
uncertain voices of the boys as they learn the endless songs. Some of
the groups around the fires are also singing but most of them are
quietly talking, gambling and sleeping.
The canyon is lighted by the bright rays of a golden harvest moon and
the cliffs echo the voices of the singers, not only from Cliff Palace
but from all the other cliff dwellings up and down the canyons. The
great green mesa is filled with happy, thankful people and troubles seem
far away. The gods are pleased with the efforts of the industrious
Indians.
As autumn fades into winter the people of Cliff Palace face it with
confidence. Winter is always an ordeal but they are well-prepared. There
is an abundance of food and there is ample clothing. Great piles of wood
have been gathered and the houses have carefully been rechinked. There
will be suffering and many deaths during the cold months that are ahead
but spring is just beyond.
7
WINTER
Winter is the least enjoyable of all seasons for the people of Cliff
Palace. It is a long, quiet, cold season, when the witches plague the
people with their evil deeds. There is much sickness and suffering and
often the sadness of death hangs over the town. Those who are active and
healthy do not mind it so much, but it is an uncomfortable season for
the children and an agonizing time for older men and women who suffer
from rheumatism and arthritis.
During the late fall the weather has grown colder and colder and now in
December comes true winter. Cold winds sweep down from the mountains to
the north, bringing the snow: soon the mesa tops are white. In the
vicinity of Cliff Palace it seldom gets deep. When it reaches a depth of
a foot, it is considered heavy, but if it reaches a depth of two feet or
more the people talk excitedly about it and the old men begin to recall
the heavy snows of by-gone days. The snow will not remain on the ground
all winter for the mesa slopes to the south and the rays of the sun beat
directly down upon it. The first December snow will soon melt and the
mesa tops will be dry for a time. Then another snow storm will turn it
white again but that, too, will melt away and so it will continue
through the winter. Occasionally, there will be warm days when the mesa
tops will be muddy and small streams of water will come trickling down
the cliffs.
As the cold increases the people gradually become accustomed to it.
Their houses are never perfectly warm and comfortable so their strong,
healthy bodies become hardened to the chill of the shadowy cave.
Sometimes the night temperatures drop close to, or even below, zero.
Since the cave faces west the sun does not come in until the middle of
the afternoon and during the morning the temperature rises very little.
When the sun finally comes into the cave in the afternoon it brings a
sudden warmth and for a couple of hours the people are almost
comfortable.
There are old men in the town who can remember when all of the people
lived in pueblos on the mesa top and they never stop telling about those
better days. The moment the sun came up in the morning the temperature
began to rise and all through the day it warmed the open pueblos. The
old men insist the people were happier then, the witches were less
troublesome and there was less sickness. Remembering those sunny days
the old men mutter about the depressing shadows that chill Cliff Palace
during the winter.
Dozens of small fires burn constantly in the cave and those fires, in
addition to the natural warmth of hundreds of closely crowded people,
dull the sharpest edge of the cold. Clothing is the final defense and as
the severity of winter increases, more and more is worn.
Cotton cloth, feather blankets and buckskin robes are worn in every
conceivable manner except as actual tailored garments. The nearest
approach to tailored clothing is an occasional slip-over buckskin jacket
without sleeves. Sometimes a robe is slit in the center and slipped,
poncho-like, over the head. Pieces of feather cloth, cotton cloth or
buckskin are tied about the body as close-fitting jackets or draped,
skirt-like, from the waist. Large, soft feather blankets and buckskin
robes are draped over the shoulders and drawn in about the body. Short
leggins are made of buckskin, or woven of human hair, to add to the
comfort of the lower legs.
Taken as a whole, they are a raggedy-looking crowd but the clothing does
give protection against the cold. The people have tanned buckskin in
abundance, there is considerable cotton cloth and each person has at
least one feather robe. By utilizing these in every possible way the
desired effect is achieved, even though neat tailoring is unknown.
Shadowy though the cave may be, it is free of wind and snow and while
complete comfort may seldom be attained, except in the kivas, most of
the people become accustomed to the chill. But those who are naturally
weak and those who are weakened by illness or age suffer greatly from
the cold of winter.
There is less activity than during any other season. When the mesas are
fairly clear of snow the men often go after firewood and they always
keep enough on hand to last through a long period of deep snow. When the
people first moved into the cave, firewood was close at hand. The slope
in front of the cave was covered with pinon and juniper trees and the
mesa top above the cave was heavily forested. But now, after generations
of use, there are no trees left near the town and the men must go far
across the mesa top for firewood. This is a problem that always faces
the people for during the winter vast amounts of wood are used.
Sometimes villages must be deserted because of the failure of the supply
of firewood.
When the men bring the wood in from the mesa, they carry it to the top
of the cliff at either end of the cave. After shouting to make sure no
one is below, they hurl the logs over the cliff to crash on the rocks
below. The shattering crash saves much chopping with stone axes and the
women gather the splintered pieces and store them in the cave.
Winter is a good season for hunting and when the snows are not too deep
the young men often go out in search of deer and mountain sheep. Deep
snows on the high northern rim of the mesa have forced the animals down
to the lower parts and the men do not have far to go for their game.
When they are not busy gathering wood and hunting, the men spend most of
their time in the kivas. They have a decided advantage over the women
and children in this one respect for the kivas are completely
comfortable. Being entirely underground, and with only the one small
door in the roof, a kiva is kept perfectly warm by a small fire in the
central firepit. Fresh-air comes down the ventilator shaft to drive the
smoke out through the door and the lower part of the room is never
smoky. The floor is covered with mats and skins and the men loaf, sleep
and work in perfect comfort. Unmarried boys who have been initiated into
the religious societies live in the kivas most of the time during the
winter and the married men often sleep in them. They are far more
comfortable than the houses.
Women and children, having few kiva privileges, are forced to spend
their time in the courts, where they huddle around the fires, and in the
houses. Few of the houses have fires inside for in the small,
unventilated rooms the smoke is almost unbearable. Sometimes an older
person prefers the discomfort of smoke to the misery of the cold and a
fire is built in a house. A smoky, soot-blackened room results.
At night the women and children snuggle close together for warmth. The
floor of the house is covered with skins, blankets and heavy mats woven
of reeds, juniper bark or yucca fibers. Sometimes deep, soft layers of
corn shucks and tassels are spread on the floor and the blankets are
spread on them. The last person into the room reaches back out through
the door, picks up the thin sandstone door slab that is leaning against
the wall, and fits it carefully into the opening. With the soft floor
coverings and plenty of warm blankets and skins the closely-snuggled
women and children spend the cold nights in comparative comfort.
During the warmer seasons the people arose at dawn but now they stay in
bed until a much later hour. Actually they are more comfortable in their
beds and since there is no important work to be done, there is no need
for early rising.
As soon as the women stir out of their blankets, they start the fires
and when there is sufficient warmth the children crawl out to huddle
about the flames. On each fire a large jar of water is heating and when
it finally boils a special corn meal, which was made from fresh corn at
harvest time, is stirred in. This makes a thin corn gruel and mugs of
the nourishing hot drink are passed to the waiting children. By
mid-morning the breakfast of corn bread and meat is ready and the men,
most of whom have spent the night in the kiva, join their families
around the fires. Late in the afternoon the second meal of the day is
served and it is always more elaborate; meat, corn bread, beans, and
squash in various combinations, seasoned with dried fruits, roots and
berries which were gathered in abundance during the fall. Food is a most
important factor in the fight against the rigors of winter and the women
spend long hours around the cooking fires.
There is no water problem during the winter. Ice and snow are brought in
and melted and springs which have a southern exposure continue to flow.
Less water is needed than at any other season so the women spend very
little time obtaining the necessary supplies. Most of their time is
occupied with corn grinding, cooking, and the care of the smaller
children. Occasionally a woman weaves a basket but pottery is seldom
made during the cold season. Principally, the women are occupied with
keeping their families warm and well fed.
For the men, winter is an easy time. Once in a while they leave the cave
to go hunting and wood gathering or to trot off to another village to
gamble or witness a ceremony but for the most part they seldom stray far
from their warm, comfortable kivas. There they work leisurely at their
various crafts, producing the many things they need. Winter is a fine
time for weaving since it can be done in the kiva. Many ceremonies are
performed during the winter months, not only the regular ceremonies
which are performed at exactly the same time each year, but countless
healing ceremonies which are conducted whenever there is sickness in the
town. Winter is also a fine time for training the boys in ceremonial
ways and there is much story-telling, singing and chanting as the boys
broaden their religious background.
In the early winter one important ceremony is held when the priests
"turn back the sun." Every day since early summer the sun has moved
farther and farther south along the western horizon. At last, in late
December, he has reached the point beyond which he must not be allowed
to go. The priests know the spot well: it is on the horizon directly
over a certain mark on the opposite canyon wall. When the sun reaches
this spot each year the priests perform the ceremony that causes him to
cease his southern journey and start back to the north again. If the
priests fail to please the Sun Father, or if he is angry with the
people, he will continue his journey to the south and perpetual cold and
darkness will envelope the earth. Never yet have the priests failed;
always the sun has been pleased and after reaching that certain spot he
has reversed and started back to the north to bring the long days and
the warmth of summer.
When the Sun Watcher finds that the setting sun has reached the proper
spot, the Crier Chief makes the announcement and the priests begin their
ceremony. Day after day it continues until they see that the sun has
started back to the north. There is great rejoicing in Cliff Palace: the
sun has heeded the prayers and is coming back. The happy people marvel
at the power of their priests who have never failed in this important
duty.
As winter progresses and the cold increases, witches become more and
more active and there is much sickness in the town. Throughout the
winter the medicine men and the medicine societies are busy in their
efforts to counteract the evil powers of the witches who cause all
serious diseases. Minor ailments, which the people can understand, are
not considered to result from witchcraft. If a person gets a grain of
sand in his eye, if a child gets a bone caught in its throat, or if a
child has a sudden stomach-ache from overeating, it is considered to be
the natural result of something the people can see and understand. But
the serious illnesses, which strike so mysteriously, are not natural and
are considered to result from the evil practices of witches. Only the
medicine men, with their supernatural powers, can combat the
witch-caused diseases and the medicine men and the medicine societies
are busy with their healing ceremonies. During the winter witches always
seem to be more active and as a result there is more sickness and death
than at other times. The people are often uneasy and there is not the
happiness which was so prevalent during the other seasons. It is not
simply because there is sickness and suffering--it is more because of
the fear which is in the hearts of the people. Any person may be a witch
and usually it is impossible to tell who is causing the trouble.
Children suffer a great deal and all through the winter they sniffle and
cough with colds. Sometimes the colds settle in the sinuses, in the ears
or even in the lungs, bringing complications against which the priests
are powerless. Often the end is slow in coming. When a cold settles in
the middle ear and an abscessed mastoid results, the terrible agony may
last for weeks before the inevitable result brings an end to the
suffering. Sometimes the end comes quickly and a mother hardly realizes
that her baby is sick before it is gone.
Many of the older people are suffering from the agony of decayed and
abscessed teeth. All their lives they have been eating the gritty corn
bread that has come from the soft grinding stones. As a result, their
teeth are badly ground away; sometimes they are ground down to the gums.
With the loss of the tooth enamel, decay has come and now aching and
abscessed teeth are the result. Here is an old fellow with a great
cavity in each molar; half of them are throbbing with pain as the cold
air hits the exposed nerves. Here is an old man suffering the agony of
three abscessed upper teeth; at night he walks the floor moaning with
pain. This old fellow's lower right canine tooth developed a cystoid
abscess; it has eaten through his cheek causing an ugly running sore on
his face. In one house is an old woman who long ago lost all her teeth;
years of chewing on her gums have caused them to recede until now her
nose and chin almost touch. Yonder is an old man who for months has had
an aching molar. In order to ease the pain he has been chewing on the
other side and now those teeth are so badly ground away that they too
are aching. So it is throughout the city. Decayed, abscessed and
impacted teeth, pyorrhea and other dental ailments are common.
The medicine men have little success in their efforts to combat the
agony of an aching or abscessed tooth. Finally, if the patient can no
longer bear the pain, the tooth is extracted and in this the suffering
person has two choices. One method is to knock the tooth out. One end of
a piece of bone or hard wood is placed against the base of the tooth and
an obliging neighbor taps the other end sharply with a stone axe.
Instantly the tooth is gone! The other method of extraction is equally
simple. A long, strong piece of sinew is obtained and one end is tied
securely around the aching tooth. The other end of the sinew is tied to
a large rock. Then the rock is thrown away. And with it goes the tooth!
If the patient is unable to face the drastic extraction, the tooth is
simply allowed to abscess and slough away. Sometimes an aged person
loses every tooth in this manner. One after another they abscess and
slough out until at last the helpless victim is able to relax in the
blessed state of painless toothlessness.
Many of the people, especially the older ones, are suffering from
rheumatism and arthritis. There are many specific causes but often it is
merely the breakdown that comes from a life of exposure and hard work.
The people age early and although there are a few very old men and women
in the town the average life expectancy is low. Before middle age is
reached many are unable to bear their share of the work. Limbs are
swollen and stiffened with arthritis and rheumatism, and spines are
stiffened or even partially or completely solidified with arthritis.
When these conditions come, the bent and crippled oldsters seldom
venture far from the cave. They are cared for and honored by their
children and their clan relatives.
In addition to the many diseases that afflict the people, there are
often injuries. During the winter, snow and ice gather in the toe-holds
on the cliffs and climbers, becoming momentarily careless, sometimes
crash on the rocks below. Fractured skulls, arms and legs result and
their treatment gives the priests some of their most serious problems.
Compound fractures result in fatal infections and the medicine men can
do little in the case of a serious fracture of the skull. Simple
fractures of the lower arm or leg are often treated successfully. Thin
splints of wood are bound to the limb to hold the bones in position and
after the break has healed, full use of the member is often regained. A
fracture of the upper arm or leg is seldom treated with success for the
powerful muscles pull the bones out of the position and, if the victim
survives, a crippled limb results. Over in the north end of the town
lives a young lady of nineteen who suffered an accident of this type.
Returning from the spring one day with a heavy jar of water on her head,
she missed her step and fell over a low cliff. Her left femur was broken
just below the hip. Instead of knitting properly, the broken ends of the
bone slipped past each other and grew together side by side, with a two
inch overlap. The young lady is able to hobble about with the aid of a
crutch but her left leg is two inches shorter than the right.
The medicine men wage a constant battle against the diseases and
injuries which afflict the people. Against some of the diseases they
have little success: it simply means that the witches who are to blame
are too strong. In other cases the medicine man wins and the patient
recovers. Ailments which originate in the mind are common and are easily
cured. Since the people live in constant fear of witches, they often
feel they have been bewitched by some evil person. This causes them to
imagine strange ailments and the medicine men are called upon to
counteract the evil spell. Such ailments are easily treated for the
patient's faith in the medicine man and the constant promise of a cure
soon drive away the imagined troubles.
When a person becomes ill, a family council is held and it is decided
that a medicine man, or doctor, must be called. The father, or some male
relative, mixes a small amount of corn meal with powdered turquoise and
wraps it in a corn husk. This he takes to the medicine man and, placing
it in his hand, tells him what is wanted. The medicine man agrees to
come in the evening. During the day the family prepares food, while the
doctor prays and prepares his medicines. In the evening the doctor comes
to the patient's home and prepares for the examination. Smearing ashes
on his hands, as protection against witches, he removes the patient's
clothing and feels over his body, searching for the cause of the
illness. Upon completing his diagnosis, the doctor mixes a medicine of
powdered herbs and water and gives it to the patient to drink. Then,
after assuring the patient that he will recover, the doctor leaves.
If, however, the patient fails to recover and grows worse, the entire
medicine society is called in. Again, the father takes corn meal and
powdered turquoise to the medicine man and requests that the society
perform a healing ceremony. If the patient's condition is critical, the
doctor agrees to bring the members of the society in the evening. If
there seems to be no immediate emergency, he agrees to bring them after
four days have passed.
During the four-day period, preparations are made. The priests pray and
get their ceremonial equipment ready and each morning, in order to
cleanse themselves, drink emetics that cause them to vomit. The family
of the sick person prepares great quantities of food so the priests may
be fed and all members of the family cleanse themselves by vomiting each
morning. If the emetic does not cause vomiting, a long feather is thrust
down the person's throat until the desired result is obtained.
On the evening of the fourth day the patient is taken into the kiva of
the medicine society. Two men, armed with bows and arrows, are stationed
outside the kiva to keep witches away. On the kiva floor the priests
have made a small painting by using corn meal of different colors and
around the painting are prayersticks, fetishes of the curing animals,
rattles, eagle feathers, bags of herb medicines and other ceremonial
equipment. Upon entering the kiva, the patient sits down or, if he is
very ill, lies down in front of the meal-painting.
The doctors, faces painted and wearing only their loincloths, are seated
behind the painting. They are singing and the songs, which continue for
some time, are an effort to induce the spirits of the curing animals,
the mountain lion, bear, badger, wolf, eagle and shrew to enter the
kiva. These animals have great supernatural healing powers and their
spirits must be present in the kiva. As the singing continues, two
doctors step out and do a short dance, then another doctor comes forward
to prepare the medicine. Stirring some of the powdered herbs into a bowl
of water, he ladles it out to the patient and all other persons in the
kiva.
Now it is time for the most important part of the ceremony: they must
find the object which is causing the disease. One of the doctors rubs
ashes on his hands and begins to search the patient's body for the
object which a witch has shot into it. After careful search, he locates
the object and sucks it out of the patient's body. Spitting the object
into his hand, he shows it to everyone. It is a centipede!