SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION—BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
THE SIA.
BY
MATILDA COXE STEVENSON.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction 9
Cosmogony 26
Cult societies 69
Theurgistic rites 73
Rain ceremonial of the Snake society 76
Rain ceremonial of the Giant society 91
Four-night ceremonial of the Giant society for the healing
of a sick boy 97
Rain ceremonial of the Knife society 101
Society of the Quer´ränna 112
Rain ceremonial of the Quer´ränna society 113
Other societies 116
Society of the cougar 118
Society of Warriors 121
Songs 123
A rain song of the Shū´wi Chai´än (Snake society)
A song of the Shū´wi Chai´än (Snake society) for healing the
sick 125
A rain song of the Sko´yo Chai´än (Giant society) 126
A song of the Sko´yo Chai´än (Giant society) for healing the
sick 127
A rain song of the His´tiän Chai´än (Knife society) 128
Portion of a rain song of the His´tiän Chai´än (Knife
society) 129
A rain song of the Quer´ränna Chai´än 130
Prayer for sick infant 130
Childbirth 132
Mortuary customs and beliefs 143
Myths 146
The Coyote encounters disappointment 147
The Coyote and the Cougar 154
The Coyote and the Rattlesnake 156
The Skatona 157
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
PL. I. A view of Sia, showing a portion of village in ruins 8
II. Plaza, Sia 10
III. Sisters; cleverest artists in ceramics in Sia 12
IV. Group of Sia vases 14
V. The Oracle 16
VI. Stone house showing plaster on exterior 22
VII. Stampers at work 24
VIII. Pounders completing work 26
IX. I-är-ri-ko, a Sia fetich 40
X. Personal adornment when received into third degree of
official membership in Cult society (_A_, Ko-shai-ri;
_B_, Quer´-rän-na; _C_, Snake society 70
XI. Hä´-cha-mo-ni before plume offerings are attached (_A_,
hä´-cha-mo-ni and official staff deposited for Sûs
sĭs-tin-na-ko; _B_, hä´-cha-mo-ni and official staff
deposited for the sun; _C_, hä´-cha-mo-ni and official
staff deposited for the cloud priest of the north; _D_,
hä´-cha-mo-ni and official staff deposited for the
cloud priest of the west; _E_, hä´-cha-mo-ni and
official staff deposited for the cloud priest of the
zenith) 74
XII. Hä´-cha-mo-ni with plume offerings attached (_F_,
hä´-cha-mo-ni deposited for the Sia woman of the north
and of the west; _G_, hä´-cha-mo-ni offered to the
cloud woman of the cardinal points; _H_, gaming block
offered to the cloud people; _I_, hä´-cha-mo-ni and
official staff deposited for the snake ho´-na-ai-te of
the north) 76
XIII. Hä´-cha-mo-ni with plumes attached (_A_, deposited for
cloud priest of the north; _B_, deposited for
Ho-chan-ni, arch ruler of the cloud priests of the
world; _C_, deposited for cloud woman of the north;
_D_, bunch of plumes offered apart from hä´-cha-mo-ni;
_E_, bunch of plumes offered apart from hä´-cha-mo-ni) 78
XIV. Altar and sand painting of Snake society 80
XV. Altar of Snake society 82
XVI. Ceremonial vase 84
XVII. Vice ho´-na-ai-te of Snake society 86
XVIII. Altar and sand painting of Giant society (_A_, altar;
_B_, sand painting) 90
XIX. Altar of Giant society photographed during ceremonial 92
XX. Ho´-na-ai-te of Giant society 94
XXI. Sick boy in ceremonial chamber of Giant society 96
XXII. Altar and sand painting of Knife society 98
XXIII. Altar of Knife society photographed during ceremonial 100
XXIV. Ho´-na-ai-te of Knife society 102
XXV. Altar of Knife society, with ho´-na-ai-te and vice
ho´-na-ai-te on either side 104
XXVI. Shrine of Knife society 108
XXVII. Shrine of Knife society 110
XXVIII. Altar of Quer´-rän-na society 112
XXIX. Altar of Quer´-rän-na society 114
XXX. Ho´-na-ai-te of Quer´-rän-na society 116
XXXI. Sia masks (A, masks of the Ká-ᵗsû-na; B, mask of female
Ká-ᵗsû-na; C, masks of the Ká-ᵗsû-na) 118
XXXII. Sia masks (A, masks of the Ká-ᵗsû-na; B, masks of female
Ká-ᵗsû-na) 120
XXXIII. Prayer to the rising sun 122
XXXIV. Personal adornment when received into the third degree of
official membership of Cult society (A, spider; B,
cougar; C, fire; D, Knife and Giant; E, costume when
victor is received into society of Warriors; F, body of
warrior prepared for burial, only the face, hands, and
feet being painted) 140
XXXV. Ceremonial water vases; Sia (A, a cross emblematic of the
rain from the cardinal points; B, faces of the cloud
men; C, faces of the cloud women; D, clouds and rain;
E, vegetation; F, dragonfly, symbolic of water) 146
Fig. 1. Sia women on their way to trader’s to dispose of pottery 12
2. Sia women returning from trader’s with flour and corn 13
3. Pauper 18
4. Breaking the earth under tent 21
5. Women and girls bringing clay 22
6. Women and girls bringing clay 23
7. Depositing the clay 24
8. Mixing the clay with the freshly broken earth 25
9. Women sprinkling the earth 26
10. The process of leveling 27
11. Stampers starting to work 28
12. Mixing clay for plaster 29
13. Childish curiosity 30
14. Mask of the sun, drawn by a theurgist 36
15. Diagram of the White House of the North, drawn by a
theurgist 58
16. The game of Wash´kasi 60
17. Sand painting as indicated in Plate XXV 102
18. Sand painting used in ceremonial for sick by Ant society 103
19. Sia doctress 133
20. Mother with her infant four days old 142
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate I
A VIEW OF SIA, SHOWING A PORTION OF VILLAGE IN RUINS.]
THE SIA.
BY MATILDA COXE STEVENSON.[1]
INTRODUCTION.
All that remains of the once populous pueblo of Sia is a small group
of houses and a mere handful of people in the midst of one of the
most extensive ruins of the Southwest (Pl. I) the living relic of an
almost extinct people and a pathetic tale of the ravages of warfare and
pestilence. This picture is even more touching than the infant’s cradle
or the tiny sandal found buried in the cliff in the canyon walls. The
Sia of to-day is in much the same condition as that of the ancient cave
and cliff dweller as we restore their villages in imagination.
The cosmogony and myths of the Sia point to the present site as their
home before resorting to the mesa, which was not, however, their first
mesa home; their legends refer to numerous villages on mountain tops in
their journeying from the north to the center of the earth.
The population of this village was originally very large, but from its
situation it became a target during intertribal feuds. A time came,
however, when intertribal strife ceased, and the pueblo tribes united
their strength to oppose a common foe, an adversary who struck terror
to the heart of the Indian, inasmuch as he not only took possession of
their villages and homes, but was bent upon uprooting the ancestral
religion to plant in its stead the Roman Catholic faith. To avoid this
result the Sia fled to the mesa and built a village, but the foe was
not to be thus easily baffled and the mesa village was brought under
subjection. That these people again struggled for their freedom is
evident from the report of Vargas of his visit there in 1692:
The pueblo had been destroyed a few years before by Cruzate, but it
had not been rebuilt. The troops entered it the next morning. It
was situated upon the mesa of Cerro Colorado, and the only approach
to it was up the side of the plateau by a steep and rocky road. The
only thing of value found there was the bell of the convent, which
was ordered to be buried. The Indians had built a new village near
the ruins of the old one. When they saw the Spaniards approach they
came forth to meet and bid them welcome, carrying crosses in their
hands, and the chiefs marching at their heads. In this manner they
escorted Vargas and his troops to the plaza, where arches and
crosses were erected, and good quarters provided them. He caused
the inhabitants to be assembled, when he explained to them the
object of his visit and the manner in which he intended to punish
all the rebellious Indians. This concluded, the usual ceremonies of
taking possession, baptism and absolution, took place.[2]
And the Sia were again under Spanish thraldom; but though they made
this outward show of submitting to the new faith, neither then nor
since have they wavered in their devotion to their aboriginal religion.
The ruins upon the mesa, showing well-defined walls of rectangular
stone structures northwest of the present village, are of considerable
magnitude, covering many acres. (Pl. II.) The Indians, however, declare
this to have been the great farming districts of Pó-shai-yän-ne (quasi
messiah), each field being divided from the others by a stone wall, and
that their village was on the mesa eastward of the present one.
The distance from the water and the field induced the Sia to return
to their old home, but wars, pestilence, and oppression seem to have
been their heritage. When not contending with the marauding nomad
and Mexican, they were suffering the effects of disease, and between
murder and epidemic these people have been reduced to small numbers.
The Sia declare that this condition of affairs continued, to a greater
or less degree, with but short periods of respite, until the murders
were arrested by the intervention of our Government. For this they are
profoundly grateful, and they are willing to attest their gratitude in
every possible way.
The Sia to-day number, according to the census taken in 1890, 106, and
though they no longer suffer at the murderous hand of an enemy, they
have to contend against such diseases as smallpox and diphtheria, and
it will require but a few more scourges to obliterate this remnant of
a people. They are still harassed on all sides by depredators, much as
they were of old; and long continued struggle has not only resulted in
the depletion of their numbers, but also in mental deterioration.
The Sia resemble the other pueblo Indians; indeed, so strikingly alike
are they in physical structure, complexion, and customs that they might
be considered one and the same people, had it not been discovered
through philological investigation that the languages of the pueblo
Indians have been evolved from four distinct stocks.
Sia is situated upon an elevation at the base of which flows the Jemez
river. The Rio Salado empties into the Jemez some 4 miles above Sia
and so impregnates the waters of the Jemez with salt that while it is
at all times most unpalatable, in the summer season when the river is
drained above, the water becomes undrinkable, and yet it is this or
nothing with the Sia.
For neighbors they have the people of the pueblo of Santa Ana, 6
miles to the southeast, who speak the same language, with but slight
variation, and the pueblo of Jemez, 7 miles north, whose language,
according to Powell’s classification, is of another stock, the Tañoan.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate II
PLAZA, SIA.]
The Mexican town of San Ysidro is 5½ miles above Sia, and there
are several Mexican settlements north of Jemez. The Mexican town of
Bernalillo is on the east bank of the Rio Grande, 17½ miles eastward.
Though Protestant missionaries have been stationed at the pueblo of
Jemez since 1878, no attempt has been made to bring the Sia within the
pale of Protestantism. The Catholic mission priest who resides at Jemez
makes periodical visits to the Sia, when services are held, marriages
performed, infants baptized, and prayers offered for the dead.
The missions at Cia and Jemez were founded previous to 1617 and
after 1605. They existed without interruption until about 1622,
when the Navajos compelled the abandonment of the two churches
at San Diego and San Joseph of Jemez. About four years later,
through the exertions of Fray Martin de Arvide, these missions
were reoccupied, and remained in uninterrupted operation until
August 10, 1680. The mission at Cia, as far as I know, suffered no
great calamity until that date. After the uprising of 1680 the Cia
mission remained vacant until 1694. Thence on it has been always
maintained, slight temporary vacancies excepted, up to this day.
The mission of San Diego de Jemez was occupied in 1694 by Fray
Francisco de Jesus, whom the Indians murdered on the 4th of June
of 1696. In consequence of the uprising on that day, the Jemez
abandoned their country, and returned, settling on the present site
of their pueblo only in 1700. The first resident priest at Jemez
became Fray Diego Chabarria, in 1701. Since that date I find no
further interruption in the list of missionaries.[3]
The Sia are regarded with contempt by the Santa Ana and the Jemez
Indians, who never omit an opportunity to give expression to their
scorn, feeling assured that this handful of people must submit to
insult without hope of redress. Limited intertribal relations exist,
and these principally for the purpose of traffic.
Though the Sia have considerable irrigable lands, they have but a
meager supply of water, this being due to the fact that after the
Mexican towns above them and the pueblo of Jemez have drawn upon the
waters of the Jemez river, little is left for the Sia, and in order
to have any success with their crops they must curtail the area to
be cultivated. Thus they never raise grain enough to supply their
needs, even with the practice of the strictest economy according to
Indian understanding, and therefore depend upon their more successful
neighbors who labor under no such difficulties. The Jemez people have
no lack of water supply, and the Santa Ana have their farming districts
on the banks of the Rio Grande. Is it strange, then, that two pueblos
are found progressing, however slowly, toward a European civilization,
while the Sia, though slightly influenced by the Mexicans, have,
through their environment, been led not only to cling to autochthonic
culture but to lower their plane of social and mental condition?
The Sia women labor industriously at the ceramic art as soon as their
grain supply becomes reduced, and the men carry the wares to their
unfriendly neighbors for trade in exchange for wheat and corn. While
the Santa Ana and Jemez make a little pottery, it is very coarse in
texture and in form; in fact, they can not be classed as pottery-making
Indians. (Pl. III.)
As long as the Sia can induce the traders through the country to take
their pottery they refrain from barter with their Indian neighbors.
(Pl. IV.) The women usually dispose of the articles to the traders
(Figs. 1 and 2), but they never venture on expeditions to the Santa Ana
and the Jemez.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Sia women on their way to the trader’s to
dispose of pottery.]
Each year a period comes, just before the harvest time, when no more
pottery is required by their Indian neighbors, and the Sia must deal
out their food in such limited portions that the elders go hungry in
order to satisfy the children. When starvation threatens there is no
thought for the children of the clan, but the head of each household
looks to the wants of its own, and there is apparent indifference to
the sufferings of neighbors. When questioned, they reply: “We feel sad
for our brothers and our sisters, but we have not enough for our own.”
Thus when driven to extremes, nature asserts itself in the nearest
ties of consanguinity and the “clan” becomes secondary. At these times
there are no expressions of dissatisfaction and no attempt on the part
of the stronger to take advantage of the weaker. The expression of
the men changes to a stoical resignation, and the women’s faces grow
a shade paler with the thought that in order to nourish their babes
they themselves must be nourished. And yet, such is their code of
hospitality that food is always offered to guests as long as a morsel
remains.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate III
SISTERS; CLEVEREST ARTISTS IN CERAMICS IN SIA.]
So like children are these same stoical and patient people that the
tears of sorrow are quickly dispelled by the sunshine of success.
When their crops are gathered they hold their saints’ day feast, when
the Indians from near and far (even a few of the unfriendly Indians
lending their unwelcome presence) surfeit at their board. These public
dances and feasts of thanksgiving in honor of their patron saint,
upon the gathering of their crops, which occur in all the Rio Grande
pueblos, present a queer mixture of pagan and Christian religion. The
priest owes his success in maintaining a certain influence with these
people since the accession of New Mexico to the United States, by
non-interference with the introduction of their forms and dances into
the worship taught by the church. Hence the Rio Grande Indians are
professedly Catholics; but the fact that these Indians and the Mission
Indians of California have preserved their religions, admitting them
to have been more or less influenced by Catholicism, and hold their
ceremonials in secret, practicing their occult powers to the present
time, under the very eye of the church, is evidence not only of the
tenacity with which they cling to their ancient customs, but of their
cunning in maintaining perfect seclusion.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Sia women returning from trader’s with flour
and corn in exchange for pottery.]
When Maj. Powell visited Tusayan, in 1870, he was received with marked
kindness by the Indians and permitted to attend the secret ceremonials
of their cult. The writer is of the opinion that he was the first and
only white man granted this privilege by any of the pueblo Indians
previous to the expedition to Zuñi, in 1879, by Mr. Stevenson, of the
Bureau of Ethnology.
The writer accompanied Mr. Stevenson on this occasion and during his
succeeding investigations among the Zuñi, Tusayan, and the Rio Grande
Pueblos. And whenever the stay was long enough to become acquainted
with the people the confidence of the priestly rulers and theurgists
was gained, and after this conciliation all efforts to be present at
the most secret and sacred performances observed and practiced by
these Indians were successful. Their sociology and religion are so
intricately woven together that the study of the one can not be pursued
without the other, the ritual beginning at birth and closing with death.
While the religion of the Rio Grande Indians bears evidence of contact
with Catholicism, they are in fact as non-Catholic as before the
Spanish conquest. Their environment by the European civilization of
the southwest is, however, slowly but surely effecting a change in the
observances of their cabalistic practices. For example, the pueblo of
Laguna was so disturbed by the Atlantic and Pacific railroad passing by
its village that first one and then another of its families lingered
at the ranch houses, reluctant to return to their communal home, where
they must come in contact with the hateful innovations of their land;
and so additions were made to render the summer house more comfortable
for the winter, and after a time a more substantial structure
supplanted the temporary abode, and the communal dwelling was rarely
visited except to comply with the religious observances. Some of these
homes were quite remote from the village, and the men having gradually
increased their stock of cattle found constant vigilance necessary to
protect them from destruction by the railroad and the hands of the
cowboy; and so first one and then another of the younger men ventured
to be absent from a ceremonial in order to look up some stray head of
cattle, until the aged men cried out in horror that their children were
forgetting the religion of their forefathers.
The writer knew of but one like delinquent among the Zuñi when she was
there in 1886. A son of one of the most bigoted priests in the village
had become so eager to possess an American wagon, and his attention was
so absorbed in looking after his cattle with a view to the accumulation
of means whereby to purchase a wagon, that he dared to absent himself
from a most important and sacred ceremonial, notwithstanding the
current belief that for such impiety the offender must die within four
days. The father denounced him in the strongest terms, declaring he
was no longer his son. And the man told the writer, on his return to
the village, “that he was afraid because he staid away, and he guessed
he would die within four days, but some of his cattle had strayed
off and he feared the cowboy.” The fourth day passed and the man
still lived, and the scales dropped from his eyes. From that time his
religious duties were neglected in his eagerness for the accumulation
of wealth.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate IV
GROUP OF SIA VASES.]
Thus the railroad, the merchant, and the cowboy, without this purpose
in view, are effecting a change which is slowly closing, leaf by
leaf, the record of the religious beliefs and practices of the pueblo
Indian. With the Sia this record book is being more rapidly closed, but
from a different cause. It is not due to the Christianizing of these
Indians, for they have nothing of Protestantism among them, and though
professedly Catholic, they await only the departure of the priest to
return to their secret ceremonials. The Catholic priest baptizes the
infant, but the child has previously received the baptismal rite of its
ancestors. The Catholic priest marries the betrothed, but they have
been previously united according to their ancestral rites. The Romish
priest holds mass that the dead may enter heaven, but prayers have
already been offered that the soul may be received by Sûś-sĭs-tin-na-ko
(their creator) into the lower world whence it came. As an entirety
these people are devotees to their religion and its observances, and
yet with but few exceptions, they go through their rituals, having but
vague understanding of their origin or meaning. Each shadow on the
dial brings nearer to a close the lives of those upon whose minds are
graven the traditions, mythology, and folklore as indelibly as are the
pictographs and monochromes upon the rocky walls.
An aged theurgist whose lore was unquestioned, in fact he was regarded
as their oracle (Pl. V), passed away during the summer of 1890. Great
were the lamentations that the keeper of their traditions slept, and
with him slept much that they would never hear again. There are, now,
but five men from whom any connected account of their cosmogony and
mythology may be gleaned, and they are no longer young. Two of these
men are not natives of Sia, but were adopted into the tribe when
young children. One is a Tusayan; the other a San Felipe Indian. The
former is the present governor, amiable, brave, and determined, and
while deploring that his people have no understanding of American
civilization, he stands second only to the oracle in his knowledge of
lore of the Sia. The San Felipe Indian is a like character, and if Sia
possessed a few more such men there might yet be a future for that
pueblo.
While the mythology and cult practices differ in each pueblo there is
still a striking analogy between them, the Zuñi and Tusayan furnishing
the richer field for the ethnographer, their religion and sociology
being virtually free from Catholic influence.
The Indian official is possessed of a character so penetrating, so
diplomatic, cunning, and reticent that it is only through the most
friendly relations and by a protracted stay that anything can be
learned of the myths, legends, and rites with which the lives of these
people are so thoroughly imbued and which they so zealously guard.
The theurgists of the several cult societies, upon learning that the
object of the writer’s second visit to Sia was similar to that of the
previous one, graciously received her in their ceremonials, revealing
the secrets more precious to them than life itself. When unable to give
such information as she sought they would bring forth their oracle (the
aged theurgist) whose old wrinkled face brightened with intelligent
interest as he related without hesitancy that which was requested.
The form of government of all the pueblos is much the same, they being
civil organizations divided into several departments, with an official
head for each department.
With the Sia (and likewise with the other pueblos) the ti´ämoni,
by virtue of his priestly office, is ex officio chief executive
and legislator; the war priest (he and his vicar being the earthly
representatives of the twin war heroes) having immediate control and
direction of the military and of tribal hunts. Secret cult societies
concerning the Indians’ relations to anthropomorphic and zoomorphic
beings are controlled each by a particular theurgist. The war chief,
the local governor, and the magistrate as well as the ti´ämoni and
theurgists have each a vicar who assists in the official and religious
duties.
While the Zuñi priesthood for rain consists of a plurality of priests
and a priestess, the priest of the north being the arch ruler, the Sia
have but one such priest. With the Zuñi the arch-ruler holds his office
through maternal inheritance; with the Sia it is a life appointment.
The ti´ämoni of Sia is chosen alternately from three clans—corn,
coyote, and a species of cane. Though the first priest was selected by
the mother Ût´sĕt, who directed that the office should always be filled
by a member of the corn clan, he in time caused dissatisfaction by his
action towards infants (see cosmogony), and upon his death the people
concluded to choose a ti´ämoni from the coyote clan, but he proved
not to have a good heart, for the cloud people refused to send rain
and the earth became dry. The third one was appointed from the cane
clan, but he, too, causing criticism, the Sia determined they would be
obedient to the command of their mother Ût´sĕt, and returned to the
corn clan in selecting their fourth ti´ämoni, but his reign brought
disappointment. The next ruler was chosen from the coyote clan, and
proved more satisfactory; but the people, deciding it was best not to
confine the selection of their ti´ämoni to the one clan, appointed the
sixth from the cane clan, and since that time this office has been
filled alternately from the corn, coyote, and cane clans until the
latter became extinct. The present ti´ämoni’s clan is the coyote, and
that of his vicar, the corn. Their future appointments will necessarily
come from these two clans, as practically they are reduced to these.
The ti´ämoni and vicar are appointed by the two war priests, the vicar
succeeding to the office of ti´ämoni.
The present ti´ämoni entered his office without having filled the
subordinate place, his predecessor, a very aged man, and the vicar,
likewise old, having died about the same time. When the selection of
a younger brother or vicar has been made, the vicar to the war priest
calls upon the incoming ruler, who accompanies him to the house of the
appointee to fill the office of vicar to the ti´ämoni. The younger
war priest, followed by the ti´ämoni elect, who precedes the vicar,
goes to the ancestral official chamber of the ti´ämoni, where the
elder war priest, the theurgists of the several cult societies, with
their vicars, have assembled to be present at the installation of
the ti´ämoni. The war priest arises to meet the party, and, with the
ti´ämoni immediately before him he says: “This man is now our priest;
he is now our father and our mother for all time;” and then addressing
the ti´ämoni he continues: “You are no more to work in the fields or
to bring wood, the theurgists of the cult and all your other children
will labor for you, our ti´ämoni, for all years to come; you are not to
work, but to be to us as our father and our mother.” “Good! good!” is
repeated by the theurgists. The war priest then presents the ti´ämoni
with the ensign of his office—a slender staff, crooked at the end and
supposed to be the same which was presented to the first ruler by the
mother Ût´sĕt—the crook being symbolic of longevity. Upon receiving
the crook the ti´ämoni draws the sacred breath from it and the war
priest embraces him and sprinkles the cane with meal with a prayer that
the thoughts and heart of Ût´sĕt may be conveyed from the staff to
the newly-chosen ruler (Ût´sĕt upon presenting this cane to the first
ti´ämoni of this world, gave with it all her thoughts and her heart),
and now he, too, draws from the cane the sacred breath. The theurgists
rise in a body, each one embracing the ti´ämoni and sprinkling meal
upon the staff, at the same time drawing from it the sacred breath. The
civil authorities next, and then the populace, including the women and
children, repeat the embracing, the sprinkling of meal, and the drawing
of the sacred breath.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate V
THE ORACLE.]
The following day all the members of the pueblo, including the
children, collect wood for the ti´ämoni, depositing it by the side of
his dwelling.
The Sia are much chagrined that their present ti´ämoni (who is a young
man) participates in the hunts, works in the fields, and is ever ready
to join in a pleasure ride over the hills. This is not the tribal
custom; the ti´ämoni may have a supervision over his herds and fields,
but his mind is supposed to be absorbed with religion and the interests
of his people, and he never leaves his village for a distance,
excepting to make pilgrimages to the shrines or other of their Meccas.
This young ruler is a vain fellow, having but little concern for the
welfare of his people, but he is most punctilious in his claim to the
honors due him.
The theurgists hold office for life, each vicar succeeding to the
function of his theurgist, who in turn appoints, with the approbation
of the ti´ämoni, the member whom he thinks best fitted to fill the
position of vicar.
For the selection of the civil and subordinate military officers
the ti´ämoni meets with his vicar, and the war priest and vicar in
the official chamber of the ti´ämoni, in the month of December, to
discuss the several appointments to be made; that of war chief and
his assistant, the governor and lieutenant-governor, the magistrate
and his deputy. After the names have been decided upon the theurgists
of the secret cult societies are notified and they join the ti´ämoni
and his associates, when they are informed of the decision and their
concurrence requested. This is always given, the consultation with the
theurgists being but a matter of courtesy. The populace then assemble,
when announcement is made of the names of the new appointees. These
appointments are annual; the same party, however, may serve any number
of terms.
[Illustration: FIG. 3—Pauper.]
The war chief performs minor duties which would otherwise fall to the
war priest. It is the duty of the war chief to patrol the town during
the meetings of the cult societies and to surround the village with
mounted guardsmen at the time of a dance of the Ka´-ᵗsu-na. A Mexican,
especially, must not look upon one of these anthropomorphic beings. The
war chief also directs the hunt under the instruction of the war priest
and vicar. It is not obligatory that he participate in the hunt; his
vicar, as his representative or other self, may lead the huntsmen. The
governor sees that the civil laws are executed, he looking after the
more important matters, leaving the minor cases in the hands of the
magistrate. He designates the duties of his people for the coming day
by crying his commands in the plaza at sunset.
Wizards and witches are tried and punished by the war priest; and it
has been but a few years since a man and his wife suffered death for
practicing this diabolical craft. Their child, a boy of some twelve
years, Fig. 3, is a pauper who at times begs from door to door, and at
other times he is taken into some family and made use of until they
grow tired of dispensing their charity. The observations of the writer
led her to believe that the boy earned all that he received. Socially,
held in contempt by his elders, he seems a favorite with the children,
though this unfortunate is seldom allowed the joy of childish sport. He
is, however, a member of one of the most important cult societies (the
knife) belonging to its several divisions.
The clans (há-notc) now existing among these people are the
Yá-ka Corn
Shurts-ŭn-na Coyote
Tá-ñe Squash
Há-mi Tobacco
Ko-hai Bear
Ti-ä´-mi Eagle
There is but one member of the eagle, one of the bear, and one of the
squash clan, and these men are advanced in years. There is a second
member of the squash clan, but he is a Tusayan by birth. The only clans
that are numerically well represented are the corn and coyote. There is
but one family of the tobacco clan.
The following are extinct clans:
Shi-kĕ Star
T́a-wac Moon
O´-sharts Sun
Tä´ñe Deer
Kurtz Antelope
Mo´-kaitc Cougar
Hĕn´-na-ti Cloud
Shu´ta Crane
Ha´-pan-ñi Oak
Ha´-kan-ñi Fire
Sha´-wi-ti Parrot
Wa´pon White shell bead
ᵗ´Zi-i Ant
Ya´un-ñi Granite
Wash´-pa Cactus
The writer could not learn that there had ever been more than
twenty-one clans, and although the table shows six at the present time,
it may be seen from the statement that there are virtually but two.
Marrying into the clan of either parent is in opposition to the old
law; but at present there is nothing for the Sia to do but to break
these laws, if they would preserve the remnant of their people,
and while such marriages are looked upon with disfavor, it is “the
inevitable.” The young men are watched with a jealous eye by their
elders that they do not seek brides among other tribes, and though
the beauty of the Sia maidens is recognized by the other pueblo
people, they are rarely sought in marriage, for, according to the
tribal custom, the husband makes his home with the wife; and there is
little to attract the more progressive Indian of the other pueblos
to Sia, where the eagerness to perpetuate a depleted race causes the
Sia to rejoice over every birth, especially if it be a female child,
regardless whether the child be legitimate or otherwise.
When a girl reaches puberty she informs her mother, who invites the
female members of her clan to her house, where an informal feast is
enjoyed. The guests congratulate the girl upon having arrived at the
state of womanhood, and they say to her, “As yet you are like a child,
but you will soon be united with a companion and you will help to
increase your people.” The only male present is the girl’s father.
The news, however, soon spreads through the village, and it is not
long before offers are made to the mother for the privilege of sexual
relations with the girl. The first offers are generally refused, the
mother holding her virgin daughter for the highest bidder. These are
not necessarily offers of marriage, but are more commonly otherwise,
and are frequently made by married men.
Though the Sia are monogamists, it is common for the married, as well
as the unmarried, to live promiscuously with one another; the husband
being as fond of his wife’s children as if he were sure of the paternal
parentage. That these people, however, have their share of latent
jealousy is evident from the secrecy observed on the part of a married
man or woman to prevent the anger of the spouse. Parents are quite as
fond of their daughters’ illegitimate offspring, and as proud of them
as if they had been born in wedlock; and the man who marries a woman
having one or more illegitimate children apparently feels the same
attachment for these children as for those his wife bears him.
Some of the women recount their relations of this character with as
much pride as a civilized belle would her honest offers of marriage.
One of the most attractive women in Sia, though now a grandmother, once
said to the writer:
When I was young I was pretty and attractive, and when I reached
womanhood many offers were made to my mother for me [she did not
refer to marriage, however], but my mother knowing my attractions
refused several, and the first man I lived with was the richest
man in the pueblo. I only lived with three men before I married,
one being the present governor of the village; my eldest child is
his daughter, and he thinks a great deal of her. He often makes
her presents, and she always addresses him as father when his wife
is not by. His wife, whom he married sometime after I ceased my
relations with him, does not know that her husband once lived with
me.
This woman added as an evidence of her great devotion to her husband,
that since her marriage she had not lived with any other man.
These loose marriage customs doubtless arise from the fact that the Sia
are now numerically few and their increase is desired, and that, as
many of the clans are now extinct, it is impossible to intermarry in
obedience to ancient rule.
The Sia are no exception to all the North American aborigines with whom
the writer is acquainted, the man being the active party in matrimonial
aspirations. If a woman has not before been married, and is young, the
man speaks to her parents before breathing a word of his admiration
to the girl. If his desire meets with approbation, the following day
he makes known to the girl his wish for her. The girl usually answers
in the affirmative if it be the will of her parents. Some two months
are consumed in the preparations for the wedding. Moccasins, blankets,
a dress, a belt, and other parts of the wardrobe are prepared by the
groom and the clans of his paternal and maternal parents. The clans
of the father and mother of the girl make great preparations for the
feast, which occurs after the marriage. The groom goes alone to the
house of the girl, his parents having preceded him, and carries his
gifts wrapped in a blanket. The girl’s mother sits to her right, and
to the right of this parent the groom’s mother sits; there is space
for the groom on the left of the girl, and beyond, the groom’s father
sits, and next to him the girl’s father. When the groom enters the room
the girl advances to meet him and receives the bundle; her mother then
comes forward and taking it deposits it in some part of the same room,
when the girl returns to her seat and the groom sits beside her. The
girl’s father is the first to speak, and says to the couple, “You must
now be as one, your hearts must be as one heart, you must speak no bad
words, and one must live for the other; and remember, your two hearts
must now be as one heart.” The groom’s father then repeats about the
same, then the girl’s mother, and the mother of the groom speak in
turn. After the marriage, which is strictly private, all the invited
guests assemble and enjoy a feast, the elaborateness of the feast
depending upon the wealth and prominence of the family.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Breaking the earth under tent.]
Tribal custom requires the groom to make his home with his wife’s
family, the couple sleeping in the general living room with the
remainder of the family; but with the more progressive pueblos, and
with the Sia to a limited extent, the husband, if he be able, after a
time provides a house for his family.
The Sia wear the conventional dress of the Pueblos in general. The
women have their hair banged across the eyebrows, and the side locks
cut even midway the cheek. The back of the hair is left long and done
up in a cue, though some of the younger women, at the present time,
have adopted the Mexican way of dividing their hair down the back and
crossing it in a loop at the neck and wrapping it with yarn. The men
cut their hair the same way across the eyebrows, their side locks being
brought to the center of the chin and cut, and the back hair done up
similar to the manner of the women.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Women and girls bringing clay.]
The children are industrious and patient little creatures, the boys
assisting their elders in farming and pastoral pursuits, and the girls
performing their share of domestic duties. A marked trait is their
loving-kindness and care for younger brothers and sisters. Every
little girl has her own water vase as soon as she is old enough
to accompany her mother to the river in the capacity of assistant
water-carrier, and thus they begin at a very early age to poise the
vase, Egyptian fashion, on their heads.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate VI
STONE HOUSE, SHOWING PLASTER ON EXTERIOR.]
There is no employment in pueblo life that the women and children seem
so thoroughly to enjoy as the processes of house building. (Fig. 5.)
It is the woman’s prerogative to do most of this work. (Fig. 6.) Men
make the adobe bricks when these are to be used. In Sia the houses are
adobe and small bowlders which are gathered from the ruins among which
they live. It is only occasionally that a new house is constructed.
The older ones are remodeled, and these are always smoothly plastered
on the exterior and interior, so that there is no evidence of a stone
wall. (Pl. VI.) The men do all carpenter work, and the Sia are
remarkably clever in this branch of mechanism, considering their crude
implements and entire absence of foreign instruction. They also lay the
heavy beams, and they sometimes assist in other work of the building.
When it became known that the writer wished to have the earth hardened
under and in front of her tents the entire female population appeared
at the camp ready for work, and for a couple of days the winds wafted
over the plain the merry chatter and laughter of young and old.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.—Women and girls bringing clay.]
The process of laying the tent floors was the same as the Sia observe
in making floors in their houses. A hoe is employed to break the earth
to about eight inches in depth and to loosen all rocks that may be
found (Fig. 4). The rocks are then removed and the foreign earth, a
kind of clay, is brought by the girls on their backs in blankets or the
square pieces of calico which hang from their shoulders (Figs. 5 and
6) and deposited over the ground which has been worked (Fig. 7). The
hoe is again employed to combine the clay with the freshly broken earth
(Fig. 8); this done, the space is brushed over with brush brooms and
sprinkled (Fig. 9) until the earth is thoroughly saturated for several
inches deep. Great care is observed in leveling the floor (Fig. 10),
and extra quantities of clay must be added here and there. Then begins
the stamping process (Fig. 11). When the floor is as smooth as it can
be made by stamping (Pl. VII), the pounders go to work, each
one with a stone flat on one side and smooth as a polishing stone. (Pl.
VIII.) Many such specimens have been obtained from the ruins
in the southwest. When this work is completed the floor is allowed to
partially dry, when plaster made of the same clay (Fig. 12), which has
been long and carefully worked, is spread over the floor with the hand,
and when done the whole looks as smooth as a cement floor, but it is
not so durable, such floors requiring frequent renovation. The floor
may be improved, however, by a coating of beef’s or goat’s blood, and
this process is usually adopted in the houses (Fig. 13), little ones
watching their elders at work inside the tent.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.—Depositing the clay.]
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate VII
STAMPERS AT WORK.]
Two men only are possessors of herds of sheep, but a few cattle are
owned individually by many of the Sia.
The cattle are not herded collectively, but by each individual owner.
Sometimes the boys of different families go together to herd their
stock, but it receives no attention whatever from the officials of the
village so long as it is unmolested by strangers.
The Sia own about 150 horses, but seldom or never use them as beasts of
burden. They are kept in pasture during the week, and every Saturday
the war chief designates the six houses which are to furnish herders
for the round-up. Should the head of the house have a son sufficiently
large the son may be sent in his place. Only such houses are selected
as own horses. The herdsmen start out Saturday morning; their return
depends upon their success in rounding up the animals, but they usually
get back Sunday morning.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.—Mixing the clay with the freshly-broken
earth.]
Upon discovering the approach of the herdsmen and horses many of the
women and children, too impatient to await the gathering of them in the
corral, hasten to the valley to join the cavalcade, and upon reaching
the party they at once scramble for the wood rats (_Neotoma_) which
hang from the necks of the horses and colts. The men of the village are
also much excited, but they may not participate in the frolic. From the
time the herders leave the village until their return they are on the
lookout for the _Neotoma_, which must be very abundant judging from
the number gathered on these trips. The rats are suspended by a yucca
ribbon tied around the necks of the animals. The excitement increases
as the horses ascend the hill; and after entering the corral it reaches
the highest point, and the women and children run about among the
horses, entirely devoid of any fear of the excited animals, in their
efforts to snatch the rats from their necks. Many are the narrow
escapes, but one is seldom hurt. The women throw the lariat, some of
them being quite expert, and drawing the horses near them, pull the
rats from their necks. Numbers fail, but there are always the favored
few who leave the corral in triumph with as many rats as their two
hands can carry. The rats are skinned and cooked in grease and eaten as
a great delicacy.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.—Women sprinkling the earth.]
COSMOGONY.
The Sia have an elaborate cosmogony, highly colored with the heroic
deeds of mythical beings. That which the writer here presents is simply
the nucleus of their belief from which spring stories in infinite
numbers, in which every phenomenon of nature known to these people is
accounted for. Whole chapters could be devoted to the experiences of
each mythical being mentioned in the cosmogony.
In the beginning there was but one being in the lower world,
Sûs´sîstinnako, a spider. At that time there were no other animals,
birds, reptiles, or any living creature but the spider. He drew a
line of meal from north to south and crossed it midway from east to
west; and he placed two little parcels north of the cross line, one on
either side of the line running north and south. These parcels were
very valuable and precious, but the people do not know to this day of
what they consisted; no one ever knew but the creator, Sûs´sĭstinnako.
After placing the parcels in position, Sûs´sĭstinnako sat down on
the west side of the line running north and south, and south of the
cross line, and began to sing, and in a little while the two parcels
accompanied him in the song by shaking, like rattles. The music was low
and sweet, and after awhile two women appeared, one evolved from each
parcel; and in a short time people began walking about; then animals,
birds, and all animate objects appeared, and Sûs´sĭstinnako continued
to sing until his creation was complete, when he was very happy and
contented. There were many people and they kept close together, and did
not pass about much, for fear of stepping upon one another; there was
no light and they could not see. The two women first created were the
mothers of all; the one created on the east side of the line of meal,
Sûs´sĭstinnako named Ût[´]sĕt, and she was the mother of all Indians;
he called the other Now[´]ûtsĕt, she being the mother of other nations.
Sûs´sĭstínnako divided the people into, clans, saying to certain of
the people: “You are of the corn clan, and you are the first of all;”
and to others he said: “You belong to the coyote, the bear, the eagle
people,” and so on.
[Illustration: Bureau of Ethnology. Eleventh Annual Report PLate VIII
POUNDERS COMPLETING WORK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—The process of leveling.]