stock, and the only one of that group living entirely on the plains.
Their language and traditions show that they are a comparatively
recent offshoot from the Shoshoni of Wyoming, both tribes speaking
practically the same dialect and until very recently keeping up
constant and friendly communication. Within the traditionary period
the two tribes lived adjacent to each other in southern Wyoming, since
which time the Shoshoni have been beaten back into the mountains by the
Sioux and other prairie tribes, while the Comanche have been driven
steadily southward by the same pressure. In this southern migration the
Pe′nätĕka seem to have preceded the rest of the tribe. The Kiowa say
that when they themselves moved southward from the Black-hills region,
the Arkansas was the northern boundary of the Comanche.
In 1719 the Comanche are mentioned under their Siouan name of Pa′douca
as living in what now is western Kansas. It must be remembered that
from 500 to 800 miles was an ordinary range for a prairie tribe,
and that the Comanche were equally at home on the Platte and in the
Bolson de Mapimi of Chihuahua. As late as 1805 the North Platte was
still known as Padouca fork. At that time they roamed over the country
about the heads of the Arkansas, Red, Trinity, and Brazos rivers, in
Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. For nearly two hundred years
they were at war with the Spaniards of Mexico and extended their raids
far down into Durango. They were friendly to the Americans generally,
but became bitter enemies of the Texans, by whom they were dispossessed
of their best hunting grounds, and carried on a relentless war against
them for nearly forty years. They have been close confederates of
the Kiowa for perhaps one hundred and fifty years. In 1835 they made
their first treaty with the government, and by the treaty of Medicine
Lodge in 1867 agreed to go on their present reservation, situated
between Washita and Red rivers, in the southwestern part of Oklahoma;
but it was not until after the last outbreak of the southern prairie
tribes in 1874–75 that they and their allies, the Kiowa and Apache,
finally settled on it. They were probably never a large tribe, although
supposed to be populous on account of their wide range. Within the last
fifty years they have been terribly wasted by war and disease. They
numbered 1,512 in 1893.
The gentile system seems to be unknown among the Comanche. They have,
or still remember, thirteen recognized divisions or bands, and may
have had others in former times. Of these all but five are practically
extinct. The Kwă′hări and Pe′nätĕka are the most important. Following
in alphabetic order is the complete list as given by their leading
chiefs:
1. _Detsăna′yuka_ or _No′koni_. This band, to which the present
head chief Quanah Parker belongs, was formerly called _No′koni_,
“wanderers,” but on the death of Quanah’s father, whose name was also
No′koni, the name was tabued, according to Comanche custom, and the
division took the name of _Detsăna′yuka_, “bad campers,” intended to
convey the same idea of wandering.
2. _Ditsä′kăna_, _Wĭ′dyu_, _Yäpä_, or _Yä′mpäri′ka_. This division was
formerly known as _Wĭ′dyu_, “awl,” but for a reason similar to that
just mentioned the name was changed to _Ditsä′kăna_, “sewers,” which
conveys the same idea, an awl being the substitute for a needle. They
are equally well known as _Yäpä_, the Comanche name of the root of the
_Carum gairdneri_, known to the Shoshoni and Bannock as _yampa_, or
sometimes as _Yämpä-ri′ka_, a dialectic form signifying “yampa eaters.”
The whole Comanche tribe is known to the Shoshoni under the name of
_Yä′mpaini_ or _Yämpai-rĭ′kani_, “yampa people” or “yampa eaters.”
The Yäpä are sometimes known also as _Etsitü′biwat_, “northerners,”
or “people of the cold country,” from having usually ranged along the
northern frontier of the tribal territory; a fact which may account for
the Shoshoni having designated the whole tribe by their name.
3. _Kewa′tsăna._ “No ribs;” extinct.
4. _Kotsa′i._ Extinct.
5. _Ko′tso-tĕ′ka._ “Buffalo eaters,” from _ko′tso_, buffalo, and
_tĕ′ka_, the root of the verb “to eat.”
6. _Kwa′hări_ or _Kwa′hădi_. “Antelopes.” This division was one of the
most important of the tribe, and was so called because its members
frequented the prairie country and the staked plains, while the
Pe′nätĕka and others ranged farther east on the edge of the timber
region. They were the last to come in after the surrender in 1874.
The Kwa′hări, Ditsä′kana, and Detsăna′yuka were sometimes designated
together by the whites as northern Comanche as distinguished from the
Pe′nätĕka, who were known as eastern or southern Comanche.
7. _Motsai′._ Perhaps from _pä-motsan_, “a loop in a stream.” These and
the Tĕna′wa were practically exterminated in a battle with the Mexicans
about 1845.
8. _Pä′gatsû._ “Head of the stream” (_pä_, a stream); extinct.
9. _Pe′nätĕka_, or _Penä′nde_. “Honey eaters.” These and the Kwa′hări
were the two most important divisions in the tribe. They lived on the
edge of the timber country in eastern Texas, and hence were frequently
known to the whites as eastern or southern Comanche. They had but a
loose alliance with their western kinsmen, and sometimes joined the
Texans against them. Other Comanche names for them are _Te′yuwĭt_,
“hospitable;” _Tĕ′‛kăpwai_, “no meat,” and _Ku′baratpat_, “steep
climbers.”
10. _Po′hoi._ “Wild-sage people,” i. e., Shoshoni. This is not properly
the name of a Comanche division, but of some immigrant Shoshoni from
the north incorporated with the Comanche.
11. _Tänĭ′ma._ “Liver eaters,” from _nĭm_ or _nüm_, liver. This band is
extinct, only one old man being known to survive.
12. _Tĕna′wa_ or _Te′nähwĭt_. From _tĕ′näw’_, “down stream.” Extinct.
See _Motsai′_ above.
13. _Wa-ai′h._ “Maggot.” Extinct.
The Comanche were nomad buffalo hunters, constantly on the move,
cultivating nothing from the ground, and living in skin tipis.
Excepting that they are now confined to a reservation and forced to
depend on government rations, they are but little changed from their
original condition. They are still for the most part living in tipis
of canvas, and are dressed in buckskin. They were long noted as the
finest horsemen of the plains, and bore a reputation for dash and
courage. They have a high sense of honor, and hold themselves superior
to the other tribes with which they are associated. In person they are
well built and rather corpulent. Their language is the trade language
of the region, and is more or less understood by all the neighboring
tribes. It is sonorous and flowing, its chief characteristic being a
rolling _r_. It has no _l_. The language has several dialects, and
is practically the same as that of the Shoshoni in the north. Their
present head chief is Quanah Parker, an able man, whose mother was an
American captive. His name, _Kwäna_ or _Kwai′na_, signifies a sweet
smell.
Having taken but little part in the Ghost dance, the Comanche have but
few songs in their own language, but these are particularly pleasing
for their martial ring or soothing softness. They call the dance
_A′p-Anĕ‛ka′ra_, “the father’s dance” (from _a′pă_, father; _nĕ‛ka′ra_,
a dance), or by another name which signifies the “dance with joined
hands.”
SONGS OF THE COMANCHE
1. +Heyo′hänä Häe′yo+
[Music]
He′e′yo′!
Heyo′hänä′ Häe′yo!
Heyo′hänä′ Häe′yo!
Te′äyä′ torä′bi ai′‛-gi′na—He′e′yo′!
Te′äyä′ torä′bi ai′‛-gi′na—He′e′yo′!
Te′äyä′ toa′hä tä′bi wo′n‛gin—Ăhi′ni′yo′!
Te′äyä′ toa′hä tä′bi wo′n‛gin—Ăhi′ni′yo′!
_Translation_
_He′e′yo′!
Heyo′hänä′ Häe′yo!
Heyo′hänä′ Häe′yo!_
The sun’s beams are running out—_He′e′yo′!_
The sun’s beams are running out—_He′e′yo′!_
The sun’s yellow rays are running out—_Ähi′ni′yo′!_
The sun’s yellow rays are running out—_Ähi′ni′yo′!_
This song was probably sung at daylight, when the first rays of the sun
shone in the east, after the dancers had been dancing all night. The
introductory part is a suggestion from the songs of the mescal rite, to
which the Comanche are so much attached. Although the words convey but
little meaning, the tune is unique and one of the best of all the ghost
songs on account of its sprightly measure.
_Te′äyä_ refers to the sun’s rays or beams; _torä′bi_, a possessive
form of _tä′bi_, sun; (_mû′ä_, moon); _toa′hä_, from _a′häp_, yellow;
_ai′‛-gi′na_ and _wo′n‛gin_ or _wa′n‛gin_, running out, streaming out.
2. +Ya′hi′yû′niva′hu+
Ya′hi′yû′niva′hu
Hi′yû′niva′hi′yû′niva′hu
Ya′hi′yû′niva′hi′na′he′ne′na′
Hi′ya′hi′nahi′ni′na′
Hi′yû′niva′hu
Hi′yû′niva′hi′yû′niva′hu
Ya′hi′yû′niva′hi′ya′he′ne′na′.
This song has no meaning, but is of the lullaby order, with a sweet,
soothing effect.
3. +Yani′tsini′hawa′na+
Yani′tsini′hawa′na!
Yani′tsini′hawa′na!
Hi′niswa′vita′ki′nĭ,
Hi′niswa′vita′ki′nĭ.
_Translation_
_Yani′tsini′hawa′na!
Yani′tsini′hawa′na!_
We shall live again,
We shall live again.
The term _hi′niswa′vita′ki′nĭ_ signifies “we are coming to life again,”
or “we shall live again;” from _nüswa′vitaki′nĭ_, “I am beginning to be
alive again.”
4. +Ni′nini′tuwi′na+
Ni′nini′tuwi′na hu′hu
Ni′nini′tuwi′na hu′hu
Wäta′tsina′na hu′hu
Wäta′tsina′na hu′hu
Ni′hima′tsi asi′si
Ni′hima′tsi asi′si.
This is the Arapaho closing song (Arapaho song 52), as adopted by the
Comanche, to whom, of course, it has no real meaning. It is given here
as an example of the change which comes to an Indian song when adopted
by an alien tribe.
THE PAIUTE, WASHO, AND PIT RIVER TRIBES
PAIUTE TRIBAL SYNONYMY
_Hogăpä′goni_—Shoshoni name, “rush arrow people” (_hogăp_, a small
water reed; _pägă_, “arrow”).
_Nüma_—proper tribal name, signifying “people” or “Indians;” the
same name is also used for themselves by the Shoshoni and
Comanche.
_Pai-yu′chimŭ_—Hopi name.
_Pai-yu′tsĭ_—Navaho name.
_Palŭ_—Washo name.
_Paiute_ or _Piute_—popular name, variously rendered “true (_pai_)
Ute” or “water (_pä_) Ute”—pronounced among themselves _Paiuti_.
+Note.+—The northern bands of the Paiute are frequently included
with Shoshoni and others under the name of Snakes, while the others
are often included with various Californian tribes under the
collective name of Diggers.
SKETCH OF THE PAIUTE
CHARACTERISTICS
The Paiute belong to the great Shoshonean stock and occupy most
of Nevada, together with adjacent portions of southwestern Utah,
northwestern Arizona, and northwestern and southeastern California.
The Pahvant and Gosiute on their eastern border are frequently, but
improperly, classed as Paiute, while the Chemehuevi, associated with
the Walapai in Arizona, are but a southern offshoot of the Paiute and
speak the same language. With regard to the Indians of Walker River
and Pyramid Lake reservations, who constitute the main body of those
commonly known as Paiute, Powell claims that they are not Paiute at
all, but another tribe which he calls Paviotso. He says: “The names by
which the tribes are known to white men and the department give no clue
to the relationship of the Indians. For example, the Indians in the
vicinity of the reservation on the Muddy and the Indians on the Walker
River and Pyramid Lake reservations are called Pai or Pah Utes, but
the Indians know only those on the Muddy by that name, while those on
the other two reservations are known as Paviotsoes, and speak a very
different language, but closely allied to, if not identical with, that
of the Bannocks.” (_Comr., 45._) The Ghost dance originated among these
Indians in the neighborhood of Walker river, from whom the songs here
given were obtained, and for convenience of reference we shall speak
of them under their popular title of Paiute, without asserting its
correctness.
The different small bands have little political coherence and there
is no recognized head chief. The most influential chiefs among them
in modern times have been Winnemucca, who died a few years ago, and
Natchez. Wovoka’s leadership is spiritual, not political. The Indians
of Walker river and Pyramid lake claim the Bannock as their cousins,
and say that they speak the same language. As a rule they have been
peaceable and friendly toward the whites, although in the early sixties
they several times came into collision with miners and emigrants,
hostility being frequently provoked by the whites themselves. The
northern Paiute are more warlike than those of the south, and a
considerable number of them took part with the Bannock in the war of
1878. Owing to the fact that the great majority of the Paiute are
not on reservations, many of them being attached to the ranches of
white men, it is impossible to get any correct statement of their
population, but they may be safely estimated at from 7,000 to 8,000
and are thought to be increasing. In 1893 those on reservations, all in
Nevada, were reported to number, at Walker River, 563; at Pyramid Lake,
494; at Duck Valley (Western Shoshone agency, in connection with the
Shoshoni), 209. Nevada Indians off reservation were estimated to number
6,815, nearly all of whom were Paiute.
[Illustration: +Fig. 101+—Paiute wikiup.]
As a people the Paiute are peaceable, moral, and industrious, and are
highly commended for their good qualities by those who have had the
best opportunities for judging. While apparently not as bright in
intellect as the prairie tribes, they appear to possess more solidity
of character. By their willingness and efficiency as workers, they have
made themselves necessary to the white farmers and have been enabled
to supply themselves with good clothing and many of the comforts of
life, while on the other hand they have steadily resisted the vices of
civilization, so that they are spoken of by one agent as presenting the
“singular anomaly” of improvement by contact with the whites. Another
authority says: “To these habits and excellence of character may be
attributed the fact that they are annually increasing in numbers,
and that they are strong, healthy, active people. Many of them are
employed as laborers on the farms of white men in all seasons, but
they are especially serviceable during the time of harvesting and
hay-making.” (_Comr., 46._) They would be the last Indians in the world
to preach a crusade of extermination against the whites, such as the
messiah religion has been represented to be. Aside from their earnings
among the whites, they derive their subsistence from the fish of the
lakes, jack rabbits and small game of the sage plains and mountains,
and from piñon nuts and other seeds which they grind into flour for
bread. Their ordinary dwelling is the wikiup or small rounded hut of
tulé rushes over a framework of poles, with the ground for a floor and
the fire in the center and almost entirely open at the top. Strangely
enough, although appreciating the advantages of civilization so far as
relates to good clothing and such food as they can buy at the stores,
they manifest no desire to live in permanent houses or to procure
the furniture of civilization, and their wikiups are almost bare of
everything excepting a few wicker or grass baskets of their own weaving.
The Paiute ghost songs have a monotonous, halting movement that
renders them displeasing to the ear of a white man, and are inferior
in expression to those of the Arapaho and the Sioux. A number of words
consisting only of unmeaning syllables are inserted merely to fill in
the meter. Like the cognate Shoshoni and Comanche, the language has a
strong rolling _r_.
GENESIS MYTH
At first the world was all water, and remained so a long time. Then the
water began to go down and at last Kura′ngwa (Mount Grant) emerged from
the water, near the southwest end of Walker lake. There was fire on its
top (it may have been a volcano), and when the wind blew hard the water
dashed over the fire and would have extinguished it, but that the
sage-hen (_hutsi_—_Centrocercus urophasianus_) nestled down over it and
fanned away the water with her wings. The heat scorched the feathers on
the breast of the sage-hen and they remain black to this day. Afterward
the Paiute got their first fire from the mountain through the help of
the rabbit, who is a great wonder-worker, “same as a god.” As the water
subsided other mountains appeared, until at last the earth was left as
it is now.
Then the great ancestor of the Paiute, whom they call _Nümi′naă′_,
“Our Father,” came from the south in the direction of Mount Grant,
upon which his footprints can still be seen, and journeyed across to
the mountains east of Carson sink and made his home there. A woman,
_Ibidsíi_, “Our Mother,” followed him from the same direction, and
they met and she became his wife. They dressed themselves in skins,
and lived on the meat of deer and mountain sheep, for there was plenty
of game in those days. They had children—two boys and two girls. Their
father made bows and arrows for the boys, and the mother fashioned
sticks for the girls with which to dig roots. When the children grew
up, each boy married his sister, but the two families quarreled until
their father told them to separate. So one family went to Walker lake
and became _Aga′ih-tĭka′ra_, “fish eaters” (the Paiute of Walker
lake), while the other family went farther north into Idaho and became
_Kotso′-tĭkăra_, “buffalo eaters” (the Bannock), but both are one
people and have the same language. After their children had left them,
the parents went on to the mountains farther east, and there _Nüminaă′_
went up into the sky and his wife followed him.
THE WASHO
Associated with the Paiute are the Washo, or _Wâ′siu_, as they call
themselves, a small tribe of about 400 souls, and having no affinity,
so far as known, with any other Indians. They occupy the mountain
region in the extreme western portion of Nevada, about Washo and Tahoe
lakes and the towns of Carson and Virginia City. They formerly extended
farther east and south, but have been driven back by the Paiute, who
conquered them, reducing them to complete subjection and forbidding
them the use of horses, a prohibition which was rigidly enforced until
within a few years. Thus broken in spirit, they became mere hangers-on
of the white settlements on the opening up of the mines, and are
now terribly demoralized. They have been utterly neglected by the
government, have never been included in any treaty, and have now no
home that they can call their own. They are devoted adherents of the
messiah, but usually join in the dance with the nearest camp of Paiute,
whose songs they sing, and have probably no Ghost songs in their own
language. We quote a gloomy account of their condition in 1866. The
description will apply equally well today, excepting that their numbers
have diminished:
This is a small tribe of about 500 Indians, living in the extreme
western part of the state. They are usually a harmless people, with
much less physical and mental development than the Paiutes, and
more degraded morally. They are indolent, improvident, and much
addicted to the vices and evil practices common in savage life.
They manifest an almost uncontrollable appetite for intoxicating
drinks. They are sensual and filthy, and are annually diminishing
in numbers from the diseases contracted through their indulgences.
A few have learned the English language and will do light work
for a reasonable compensation. They spend the winter months about
the villages and habitations of white men, from whom they obtain
tolerable supplies of food and clothing. The spring, summer, and
autumn months are spent in fishing about Washo and Tahoe lakes and
the streams which flow through their country. They also gather
grass seed and pine nuts, hunt rabbits, hares, and ducks. There
is no suitable place for a reservation in the bounds of their
territory, and, in view of their rapidly diminishing numbers
and the diseases to which they are subjected, none is required.
(_Comr., 47._)
THE PIT RIVER INDIANS
Another group of Indians closely associated with the Paiute on the
northwest consists of a number of small tribes, known collectively to
the whites as Pit River or Hot Springs Indians, holding the basin of
Pit river in northeastern California from Goose lake to the junction
with the Sacramento. Among their tribes or bands are the Achoma′wi,
Huma′whi, Estakéwach, Hantéwa, Chumâ′wa, Atua′mih or Hamefku′ttelli,
Ilma′wi, and Pa′kamalli. (_Powers_, _Tribes of California_.) They are
at present supposed to constitute a distinct linguistic group, but it
is probable that better information will show their affinity with some
of the neighboring Californian stocks. With the exception of a few at
Round Valley reservation, California, none of them are on reservations
or have any official recognition by the government. They probably
number 1,000 to 1,500 souls. The northern bands have suffered much from
Modoc slave raids in former days, and are much inferior in physique
and intellect to those lower down the river, who were the terror of
northern California thirty years ago, and who are described by recent
observers as good workers, intelligent, brave, and warlike. (_A. G. O.,
9._)
SONGS OF THE PAIUTE
1. +Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′+
Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′!
Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′!
Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′!
Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′!
Gosi′pa′ hävi′gĭnû′,
Gosi′pa′ hävi′gĭnû′.
_Translation_
The snow lies there—_ro′răni′!_
The snow lies there—_ro′răni′!_
The snow lies there—_ro′răni′!_
The snow lies there—_ro′răni′!_
The Milky Way lies there,
The Milky Way lies there.
This is one of the favorite songs of the Paiute Ghost dance. The tune
has a plaintive but rather pleasing effect, although inferior to the
tunes of most of the ghost songs of the prairie tribes. The words as
they stand are very simple, but convey a good deal of meaning to the
Indian. It must be remembered that the dance is held in the open air
at night, with the stars shining down on the wide-extending plain
walled in by the giant sierras, fringed at the base with dark pines,
and with their peaks white with eternal snows. Under such circumstances
this song of the snow lying white upon the mountains, and the Milky
Way stretching across the clear sky, brings up to the Paiute the same
patriotic home love that comes from lyrics of singing birds and leafy
trees and still waters to the people of more favored regions. In the
mythology of the Paiute, as of many other tribes, the Milky Way is the
road of the dead to the spirit world. _Ro′răni′_ serves merely to fill
in the meter.
2. +Dĕna′ gayo′n+
Dĕna′ gayo′n, Dĕ′na ga′yoni′,
Dĕna′ gayo′n, Dĕ′na ga′yoni′,
Bawă′ doro′n, Ba′wă do′roni′,
Bawă′ doro′n, Ba′wă do′roni′.
_Translation_
A slender antelope, a slender antelope,
A slender antelope, a slender antelope,
He is wallowing upon the ground,
He is wallowing upon the ground,
He is wallowing upon the ground,
He is wallowing upon the ground.
This song evidently refers to a trance vision in which the sleeper saw
an antelope rolling in the dust, after the manner of horses, buffalo,
and other animals.
3. +Do′ tĭ′mbi+
Do′ tĭ′mbi, Do′ tĭ′mbi-nä′n,
Do′ tĭ′mbi, Do′ tĭ′mbi-nä′n,
Tĭ′mbi bai′-yo, Tĭ′mbi ba′i-yo-ä′n,
Tĭ′mbi bai′-yo, Tĭ′mbi ba′i-yo-ä′n.
_Translation_
The black rock, the black rock,
The black rock, the black rock,
The rock is broken, the rock is broken,
The rock is broken, the rock is broken.
This song may refer to something in Paiute mythology. _Nä′n_ and _ä′n_
are unmeaning syllables added to fill out the measure.
4. +Päsü′ wĭ′noghän+
Päsü′ wĭ′noghän,
Päsü′ wĭ′noghän,
Päsü′ wĭ′noghän,
Wai′-va wĭ′noghän,
Wai′-va wĭ′noghän,
Wai′-va wĭ′noghän.
_Translation_
The wind stirs the willows,
The wind stirs the willows,
The wind stirs the willows,
The wind stirs the grasses,
The wind stirs the grasses,
The wind stirs the grasses.
_Wai′-va_ (or _wai_ in composition) is the sand grass or wild millet of
Nevada (_Oryzopsis membranacea_), the seeds of which are ground by the
Paiute and boiled into mush for food.
5. +Pägü′nävä′+
Pägü′nävä′! Pägü′nävä′!
Tûngwü′kwiji′! Tûngwü′kwiji′!
Wûmbe′doma′! Wûmbe′doma′!
_Translation_
Fog! Fog!
Lightning! Lightning!
Whirlwind! Whirlwind!