As one enters Antelope valley, following the Holbrook road, he finds
himself in what was formerly a densely populated region of Tusayan.
This valley in former times was regarded as a garden spot, and the
plain was covered with patches of corn, beans, squashes, and chile.
The former inhabitants lived in pueblos on the northern side, high up
on the mesa which separates Jeditoh valley from Keam's canyon. All of
these pueblos are now in ruins, and only a few Navaho and Hopi
families cultivate small tracts in the once productive fields.
The majority of the series of ruins along the northern rim of Antelope
valley resemble Awatobi, which is later described in detail. It is
interesting to note that in the abandonment of villages the same law
appears to have prevailed here as in the other Tusayan mesas, for in
the shrinkage of the Hopi people they concentrated more and more to
the points of the mesas. Thus, at East Mesa, Sikyatki, Kachinba, and
Küküchomo were destroyed, while Walpi remained. At Middle Mesa,
Chukubi and Payüpki became ruins, and in Antelope valley Awatobi was
the last of the Jeditoh series to fall. There has thus been a gradual
tendency to drift from readily accessible locations to the most
impregnable sites, which indicates how severely the Hopi must have
been harassed by their foes. It is significant that some of the oldest
pueblos were originally built in the most exposed positions, and it
may rightly be conjectured that the pressure on the villagers came
long after these sites were chosen. The ancient or original Hopi had a
sense of security when they built their first houses, and they,
therefore, did not find it necessary to seek the protection of cliffs.
Many of them lived in the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, others at
Kishuba. As time went on, however, they were forced, as were their
kindred in other pueblos, to move to inaccessible mesas guarded by
vertical cliffs.
Of the several ruins of Antelope valley, that on the mesa above
Jeditoh or Antelope spring is one of the largest and most interesting.
Stephen calls this ruin Mishiptonga, and a plan of the old house is
given by Mindeleff.
The spring called Kawaika, situated near the former village of the
same name, was evidently much used by the ancient accolents of
Antelope valley. From this neighborhood there was excavated a few
years ago a beautiful collection of ancient mortuary pottery objects,
which was purchased by Mrs Mary Hemenway, of Boston, and is now in the
Peabody Museum at Cambridge. These objects have never been adequately
described, although a good illustration of some of the specimens, with
a brief reference thereto, was published by James Mooney[47] a few
years ago.
Among the most striking objects in this collection are clay models of
houses, dishes, and small vases with rims pierced with holes, and
rectangular vessels ornamented with pictures of birds. There are
specimens of cream, yellow, red, and white pottery in the collection
which, judging by the small size of most of the specimens, was
apparently votive in character.
The ruins called by Stephen "Horn-house" and "Bat-house," as well as
the smaller ruin between them, have been described by Mindeleff, who
has likewise published plans of the first two. From their general
appearance I should judge they were not occupied for so long a time as
Awatobi, and by a population considerably smaller. If all these
Jeditoh pueblos were built by peoples from the Rio Grande, it is
possible that those around Jeditoh spring were the first founded and
that Awatobi was of later construction; but from the data at hand the
relative age of the ruins of this part of Tusayan can not be
determined.
There are many ruins situated on the periphery of Tusayan which are
connected traditionally with the Hopi, but are not here mentioned. Of
these, the so-called "Fire-house" is said to have been the home of
the ancestors of Sikyatki, and Kintiel of certain Zuñi people akin to
the Hopi. Both of the ruins mentioned differ in their architectural
features from characteristic prehistoric Tusayan ruins, for they are
circular in form, as are many of the ruins in the middle zone of the
pueblo area. With these exceptions there are no circular ruins within
the area over which the Hopi lay claim, and it is probable that the
accolents of Kintiel were more Zuñi than Hopi in kinship.
Many ruins north of Oraibi and in the neighborhood of the farming
village of Moenkopi are attributed to the Hopi by their traditionists.
The ruins about Kishyuba, connected with the Kachina people, also
belong to Tusayan. These and many others doubtless offer most
important contributions to an exact knowledge of the prehistoric
migrations of this most interesting people.
Among the many Tusayan ruins which offer good facilities for
archeological work, the two which I chose for that purpose are Awatobi
and Sikyatki. My reasons for this choice may briefly be stated.
Awatobi is a historic pueblo of the Hopi, which was more or less under
Spanish influence between the years 1540 and 1700. When properly
investigated, in the light of archeology, it ought to present a good
picture of Tusayan life before the beginning of the modifications
which appear in the modern villages of that isolated province. While I
expected to find evidences of Spanish occupancy, I also sought facts
bearing on the character of Tusayan life in the seventeenth century.
Sikyatki, however, showed us the character of Tusayan life in the
fifteenth century, or the unmodified aboriginal pueblo culture of this
section of the Southwest. Here we expected to find Hopi culture
unmodified by Spanish influence.
The three pueblos of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and Walpi, when properly
studied, will show the condition of pueblo culture in three
centuries--in Sikyatki, pure, unmodified pueblo culture; in Awatobi,
pueblo life as slightly modified by the Spaniards, and in Walpi, those
changes resulting from the advent of Americans superadded. While
special attention has thus far been given by ethnologists mainly to
the last-mentioned pueblo, a study of the ruins of the other two
villages is of great value in showing how the modern life developed
and what part of it is due to foreign influence.
A knowledge of the inner life of the inhabitants of Tusayan as it
exists today is a necessary prerequisite to the interpretation of the
ancient culture of that province; but we must always bear in mind the
evolution of society and the influences of foreign origin which have
been exerted on it. Many, possibly the majority, of modern customs at
Walpi are inherited, but others are incorporated and still others, of
ancient date, have become extinct.
As much stress is laid in this memoir on the claim that objects from
Sikyatki indicate a culture uninfluenced by the Spaniards, it is well
to present the evidence on which this assertion is based.
(1) Hopi legends all declare that Sikyatki was destroyed before the
Spaniards, called the "long-gowned" and "iron-shirted" men, came to
Tusayan. (2) Sikyatki is not mentioned by name in any documentary
account of Tusayan, although the other villages are named and are
readily identifiable with existing pueblos. (3) No fragment of glass,
metal, or other object indicative of the contact of European
civilization was found anywhere in the ruin. If we add to the above
the general appearance of age in the mounds and the depth of the
débris which has accumulated in the rooms and over the graves, we have
the main facts on which I have relied to support my belief that
Sikyatki is a prehistoric ruin.