I believe that at the time of the Spanish discovery of Tusayan by
Pedro de Tobar in 1540, there were only five Tusayan towns--Walpi,
Awatobi, Shuñopovi, Mishoñinovi, and Oraibi. Later, Awatobi was
destroyed, and shortly after 1680 Walpi, the only East Mesa town,
together with Mishoñinovi and Shuñopovi, on the Middle Mesa, were
moved to the elevated sites they now occupy. Oraibi, therefore, is
probably the only Tusayan pueblo, at present inhabited, which occupies
practically the same site that it did in 1540.
In their excavations for the foundations of new houses the present
inhabitants of Oraibi often find, as I am informed by Mr H. R. Voth,
the missionary at that place, vessels or potsherds of ancient Tusayan
ware closely resembling that which is found in the ruins of Sikyatki
and Awatobi.
The mission building at Awatobi, known in the church history of New
Mexico and Arizona as San Bernardo or San Bernardino, was reputed to
be the largest in Tusayan, and its walls are still the best preserved
of any mission structure in that province. This, however, does not
imply that the church structures of Tusayan are well preserved, for
the mission buildings at Walpi have wholly disappeared, while at
Oraibi little more than a pile of stones remains. Of the Shuñopovi
mission of San Bernabe there are no standing walls save at one end,
which are now used as a sheep corral.
The mission of San Bernardino de Awatobi was built on the southern
side of the eastern part of the pueblo on the edge of the cliff, and
its walls are the only ones of Awatobi now standing above ground. From
the situation of these walls, as compared with the oldest part of
Awatobi--the western mounds--I believe that San Bernardino mission
was, when erected, beyond the limits of the pueblo proper--a custom
almost universally followed in erecting pueblo mission
churches--necessary in this instance, since from the compactness of
the village there was no other available site. The same was true of
the missions of Oraibi and Shuñopovi, and probably of Old Walpi. As
time passed additional buildings were erected near it, this eastward
extension altering the original plan of the town, but in no way
affecting the configuration of the older portion.
From its commanding position on the edge of the mesa the mission walls
must have presented an imposing appearance from the plain below,
rising as they did almost continuously with the side of the cliff,
making a conspicuous structure for miles across Antelope valley, from
which its crumbling walls are still visible (plate CVIII).
When compared with the masonry of unmodified pueblo ruins the walls of
the mission may be designated massive, and excavation at their
foundations was very difficult on account of the great amount of
débris which had fallen about them. With the limited force of laborers
at my command the excavations could not be conducted with a great
degree of thoroughness.
In the middle of what I supposed to have been the main church there
was much sand, evidently drift, and in it I sank a trench 10 feet
below the surface without reaching anything which I considered a
floor. We found in excavations at the foundation of the church walls
fragments of glass, several copper nails, a much-corroded iron hook, a
copper bell pivot, and fragments of Spanish pottery. From the
character of these objects alone there is no doubt in my mind of the
former existence of Spanish influence, and the method of construction
of the mission walls and the addition constructed of adobe containing
chopped straw, substantiate this conclusion. Supposing, from the
architecture and orientation of other New Mexican missions, that the
altar was at the western end, opposite the entrance to the church, I
sank a trench along the foundation of the wall on that side, but
encountered such a mass of fallen stone at that point that I found it
impossible to make much progress, and the fact that the floor was more
than 10 feet below the surface of the central depression led me to
abandon, as impossible with my little band of native excavators, the
laying bare of the floor of the church.
[Illustration: FIG. 255--Ground plan of San Bernardino de Awatobi]
The ground plan (figure 255) of the mission resembles that of the Zuñi
church, and is not unlike the plans of the churches in the Rio Grande
pueblos. The tall buttresses, which rise 15 or 20 feet above the trail
up the mesa on the southern corner, are, I believe, remnants of
towers which formerly supported a balcony. During a previous visit to
Tusayan I obtained fragments[72] of the ancient bell, which are now on
exhibition in the Hemenway section of the Peabody Museum at Cambridge.
The stone walls of the mission were rarely dressed or carefully
fitted, the interstices being filled in with loose rubble laid in
adobe. There was apparently a gallery over the entrance to the
building overlooking many smaller buildings, which evidently were the
quarters of the resident priest. The construction of the walls was
apparently a laborious task, as many of the stones are large and must
have been brought a considerable distance. These stones were laid in
adobe, and apparently were plastered without and within, although
little evidence of the former plastering may now be seen. At the
northwestern corner, however, there still remain well-made adobe
walls, the clay having been intermixed with straw. From the general
appearance of these walls I regard them as of late construction,
probably long after the destruction of the mission.
An examination of the plan of the mission building shows that it was
oriented about north and south, with the entrance toward the latter
direction. Compared with many other pueblo missions, this would seem
to be an exceptional position. In my excavations I naturally sought
the probable position of the entrance and, opposite it, the recess for
the altar. It is evident, from the form of the standing walls, that an
entrance from the east would be blocked by standing walls, and the
axis of the building is north and south. The theory that the door was
at the south has much in its favor, but there are several almost fatal
objections to this conclusion.
If, however, we suppose that the entrance was in the south wall, the
high walls still standing above the trail up the mesa would then
recall the façades of other missions. The rooms east of the largest
inclosure, by this interpretation, would be outbuildings--residence
rooms for the padres--one side of which forms the eastern walls of the
church edifice. The form of the Awatobi church, as indicated by the
walls still standing, is very similar to that of Zuñi, notwithstanding
the orientation appears to be somewhat different.
Excavations failed to reveal any sign of the altar recess at either
the northern or the western end, which is not surprising, since the
walls are so poorly preserved in both these directions. It was,
moreover, very difficult to make a satisfactory examination of the
foundations of the walls at any point on account of the fallen
stories, which encumbered the floor at their bases.
From the appearance of antiquity it seems probable that long before
the mission buildings were erected a ridge of many-storied houses
extended eastward from the pueblo on the northern side of a level
space or court, in which there were, either then or later, ceremonial
chambers or kivas. The southern side of this open space was the site
of the mission, but was then unoccupied. This open space recalls the
large court at Walpi, where the Snake dance occurs, but it was
considerably broader, one side being formed by the structures which
rose from the edge of the mesa. In course of time, however, the
mission buildings were erected on this site, and a wall connecting the
ridge of houses on the north and the outhouses of the mission was
made, thus inclosing the court on all four sides. It was into this
inclosure, through a gateway, the buttresses of which still remain,
that the assailants passed on that eventful night when Awatobi was
destroyed.
There is good evidence that a massacre of Awatobians occurred in the
southeastern angle of the eastern part of the pueblo, just east of the
mission. If so, it is probable that many of the unfortunates sought
refuge in the outbuildings of the church. Suspecting that such was the
case, I excavated a considerable space of ground at these places and
found many human skulls and other bones thrown together in confusion.
The earth was literally filled with bones, evidently hastily placed
there or left where the dead fell. These bodies were not buried with
pious care, for there were no fragments of mortuary pottery or other
indication of burial objects. Many of the skulls were broken, some
pierced with sharp implements. While it is true that possibly this may
have been a potter's field, or, from its position east of the mission,
a Christian burial place, as at Zuñi, the evidence from the appearance
of the bodies points to a different conclusion. According to the
legends, the hostiles entered the pueblo through the adjacent gateway;
their anger led them especially against those of the inhabitants who
were regarded as _powako_ or sorcerers, and their first acts of
violence would naturally have been toward those who sought refuge in
the buildings adjacent the church. Near this hated "Singing-house" the
slaughter began, soon extending to the kivas and the whole of the
eastern section of the village. There was no evidence of murderous
deeds in the rooms of the western section of the old pueblo, and the
legends agree in relating that most of the men were in kivas, not far
from the mission, when the village was overthrown. There is no
legendary evidence that there were any Spanish priests in the mission
at the time of its destruction, and there is no record extant of any
Spaniards losing their lives at Awatobi at the time of its
destruction, although the fact of the occurrence, according to
Bandelier,[73] was recorded.
The traditional clans which inhabited Awatobi were the Awata (Bow),
Honani (Badger), Piba (Tobacco), and Buli (Butterfly). The Bow people
appear to have been the most important of these, since their name was
applied to the village. Their totemic signatures, in pictographic
form, may still be seen on the sides of the cliff under Awatobi, and
in the ruins was found a fine arrowshaft polisher on which was an
incised drawing of a bow and an arrow, suggesting that the owner was a
member of the Bow phratry. Saliko, the chief of the woman's society
known as the Mamzrautû, insists that this priesthood was strong in the
fated pueblo, and that a knowledge of its mysteries was brought to
Walpi by one of the women who was saved.
It is claimed by the folklorists of the Tataukyamû, a priesthood
which, controls the New-fire ceremonies at Walpi, and is prominent in
the Soyaluña, or the rites of the winter solstice, that the Piba or
Tobacco phratry brought the fetishes of that society to Walpi, and
there are many obscurely known resemblances between the Mamzrauti and
the Wüwütcimti celebrations in Walpi which appear to support that
claim. The Piba phratry is likewise said to have come to Walpi
comparatively late in the history of the village, which fact points
the same way.
Undoubtedly Awatobi received additions to its population from the
south when the pueblos on the Little Colorado were abandoned, and
there are obscure legends which support that belief; but the largest
numbers were recruited from the pueblos in the eastern section of the
country.[74]