The legend of the overthrow of Awatobi is preserved in detail among
the living villagers of Tusayan, and like all stories which have been
transmitted for several generations exist in several variants,
differing in episodes, but coinciding in general outlines. In the
absence of contemporary documentary history, which some time may
possibly be brought to light, the legends are the only available data
regarding an event of great importance in the modern history of
Tusayan.
I have obtained the legends from Supela, Shimo,[68] Masiumptiwa, and
Saliko, and the most complete appears to be that of the last
mentioned. The others dilated more on the atrocities which were
committed on the bodies of the unfortunate captives, and the tortures
endured before they were killed. All show traces of modification,
incorporation, and modern invention.
_Destruction of Awatobi as related by Saliko_[69]
"The chiefs Wiki and Shimo, and others, have told you their
stories, and surely their ancestors were living here at Walpi
when Awatobi was occupied. It was a large village, and many
people lived there, and the village chief was called Tapolo,
but he was not at peace with his people, and there were
quarreling and trouble. Owing to this conflict only a little
rain fell, but the land was fertile and fair harvests were
still gathered. The Awatobi men were bad (_powako_,
sorcerers). Sometimes they went in small bands among the
fields of the other villagers and cudgeled any solitary
worker they found. If they overtook any woman they ravished
her, and they waylaid hunting parties, taking the game, after
beating and sometimes killing the hunters. There was
considerable trouble in Awatobi, and Tapolo sent to the
Oraibi chief asking him to bring his people and kill the evil
Awatobians. The Oraibi came and fought with them, and many
were killed on both sides, but the Oraibi were not strong
enough to enter the village, and were compelled to withdraw.
On his way back the Oraibi chief stopped at Walpi and talked
with the chiefs there. Said he, 'I can not tell why Tapolo
wants the Oraibi to kill his folks, but we have tried and
have not succeeded very well. Even if we did succeed, what
benefit would come to us who live too far away to occupy the
land? You Walpi people live close to them and have suffered
most at their hands; it is for you to try.' While they were
talking Tapolo had also come, and it was then decided that
other chiefs of all the villages should convene at Walpi to
consult. Couriers were sent out, and when all the chiefs had
arrived Tapolo declared that his people had become sorcerers
(Christians), and hence should all be destroyed.
"It was then arranged that in four days large bands from all
the other villages should prepare themselves, and assemble at
a spring not far from Awatobi. A long while before this, when
the Spaniards lived there, they had built a wall on the side
of the village that needed protection, and in this wall was a
great, strong door. Tapolo proposed that the assailants
should come before dawn, and he would be at this door ready
to admit them, and under this compact he returned to his
village. During the fourth night after this, as agreed upon,
the various bands assembled at the deep gulch spring, and
every man carried, besides his weapons, a cedar-bark torch
and a bundle of greasewood. Just before dawn they moved
silently up to the mesa summit, and, going directly to the
east side of the village, they entered the gate, which opened
as they approached. In one of the courts was a large kiva,
and in it were a number of men engaged in sorcerer's rites.
The assailants at once made for the kiva, and plucking up the
ladder, they stood around the hatchway, shooting arrows down
among the entrapped occupants. In the numerous cooking pits
fire had been maintained through the night for the
preparation of food for a feast on the appointed morning, and
from these they lighted their torches. Great numbers of these
and the bundles of greasewood being set on fire, they were
cast down the hatchway, and firewood from stacks upon the
house terraces were also thrown into the kiva. The red
peppers for which Awatobi was famous were hanging in thick
clusters along the fronts of the houses, and these they
crushed in their hands and flung upon the blazing fire in the
kiva to further torment their burning occupants. After this,
all who were capable of moving were compelled to travel or
drag themselves until they came to the sand-hills of
Mishoñinovi, and there the final disposition of the prisoners
was made.
"My maternal ancestor had recognized a woman chief (_Mamzrau
moñwi_), and saved her at the place of massacre called Maski,
and now he asked her whether she would be willing to initiate
the woman of Walpi in the rites of the _Mamzrau_. She
complied, and thus the observance of the ceremonial called
the Mamzráuti came to Walpi. I can not tell how it came to
the other villages. This Mamzrau-moñwi had no children, and
hence my maternal ancestor's sister became chief, and her
_tiponi_ (badge of office) came to me. Some of the other
Awatobi women knew how to bring rain, and such of them as
were willing to teach their songs were spared and went to
different villages. The Oraibi chief saved a man who knew how
to cause peaches to grow, and that is why Oraibi has such an
abundance of peaches now. The Mishoñinovi chief saved a
prisoner who knew how to make the sweet, small-ear corn grow,
and that is why it is more abundant there than elsewhere. All
the women who knew song prayers and were willing to teach
them were spared, and no children were designedly killed, but
were divided among the villages, most of them going to
Mishoñinovi. The remainder of the prisoners, men and women,
were again tortured and dismembered and left to die on the
sand hills, and there their bones are, and that is the reason
the place is called _Maschomo_ (Death-mound). This is the
story of Awatobi told by my old people."
All variants of the legend are in harmony in this particular, that
Awatobi was destroyed by the other Tusayan pueblos, and that
Mishoñinovi, Walpi, and probably Oraibi and Shuñopovi participated in
the deed. A grievance that would unite the other villagers against
Awatobi must have been a great one, indeed, and not a mere dispute
about water or lands. The more I study the real cause, hidden in the
term _powako_, "wizard" or "sorcerer," the more I am convinced that
the progress Christianity was making in Awatobi, after the reconquest
of the Pueblos in 1692, explains the hostility of the other villagers.
The party favoring the Catholic fathers in Awatobi was increasing, and
the other Tusayan pueblos watched its growth with alarm. They foresaw
that it heralded the return of the hated domination of the priests,
associated in their minds with practical slavery, and they decided on
the tragedy, which was carried out with all the savagery of which
their natures were capable.
They greatly feared the return of the Spanish soldiers, as the epoch
of Spanish rule, mild though it may have been, was held in universal
detestation. Moreover, after the reconquest of the Rio Grande pueblos,
many apostates fled to Tusayan and fanned the fires of hatred against
the priests. Walpi received these malcontents, who came in numbers a
few years later. Among these arrivals were Tanoan warriors and their
families, part of whom were ancestors of the present inhabitants of
Hano.
It was no doubt hoped that the destruction of Awatobi would
effectually root out the growing Christian influence, which it in fact
did; and for fifty years afterward Tusayan successfully resisted all
efforts to convert it. Franciscans from the east and Jesuits from the
Gila in the south strove to get a new hold, but they never succeeded
in rebuilding the missions in this isolated province, which was
generally regarded as independent.
From the scanty data I have been able to collect from historical and
legendary sources, it seems probable that Awatobi was always more
affected by the padres than were the other Tusayan pueblos. This was
the village which was said to have been "converted" by Padre Porras,
whose work, after his death by poison in 1633, was no doubt continued
by his associates and successors. About 1680, as we learn from
documentary accounts, the population of Awatobi was 800,[70] and it
was probably not much smaller in 1700, the time of its destruction.