In The Old Houses, Found When The White Man First
Visited The Pueblos, There Was No Means Of Entrance To The First Stories
Save By Means Of The Ladders Which Stood Outside Against The Walls, And
Thence Through Hatchways Made In The Roofs.
This was for the purpose of
defence against hostile tribes, who were constantly warring with these
home-loving Indians in order that they might steal from them the fruits of
their persistent labor and thrift.
The ladder, during times of expected
attack, could be lifted upon the second story, out of reach, and thus these
houses became the forts of their inhabitants. Nowadays entrances are
provided on the ground floor, and this house at El Tovar follows the modern
custom, as well as the later innovation (which of course is essential in
this building) of using glass for windows. For convenience and safety,
another anachronism is tolerated in the electric light. In practically
everything else, the building is a true model of a Hopi community house.
With these people, the women are generally and mainly the builders of the
houses, the men merely assisting in the heavier work.
Quaint Stairways. In addition to the quaint ladders, quainter steps, cut
into flat or round trunks of cottonwood trees, are used. Stone steps
connecting the two upper stories, are also built outside in the partition
walls. The chimneys are constructed, in true pueblo fashion, of pottery
water ollas, the bottoms of which have been broken out. Three or more of
these, fastened with cement or mortar, are placed one above another. On the
roofs are wood piles, as at Oraibi, and also picturesque strings of red
peppers drying in the sun.
Navaho Silversmith. The entrance doorway is low, and the steps lead one
down into the first room, in true Oraibi style. This room is occupied by
the Tinne peshlikai, or Navaho silversmith, and Navaho blanket weavers. The
smith, though using some modern tools, still follows the time-honored
methods of his brother craftsmen. The silverware he makes will be more
fully described in the special chapter devoted to the subject, as will also
the blanket weaving of his wife and children.
Details of Construction. In this room there are several features of
interest. First notice the construction of the building. The roof is
supported by a massive upright, in a crotch, or V, on which the cross
rafters rest. Lesser poles are placed upon these at right angles, which in
turn support arrow-weed, willows, and other light brush. In the genuine
Hopi construction, mud is then plastered or laid thickly over these
willows; but as these rooms contain valuable collections of goods, a modern
roofing has been used, which, however, does not in any way detract from the
"realness" of the building.
Fireplace. In the corner is one of the quaint hooded fireplaces, with the
raised hearth, exactly similar to several I have sat before in Oraibi,
while my hospitable hostess prepared some Hopi delicacy or substantial food
to tickle the palate or appease the hunger of her welcomed guest.
Mealing Stones. On the left is a quartet of corn-grinders, walled in from
the floor by stone slabs laid in cement. In every pueblo house, a "battery"
of these mealing stones is to be found, and it is one of the commonest of
sights to find the women and girls on their knees, with the grinder in
hands, rubbing it briskly up and down with the swing of the body, while
every few moments, with a deft movement of the hand, the grain is thrown
between the grinder and the stone beneath. The motion reminds one much of
that required over the washing board. While thus at work, the Pueblo women
sing some of their sweetest songs.
Hair Dressing. Occasionally when a Hopi mother, whose daughter has reached
maidenhood, is located in the Hopi House, one may chance to find her
engaged in turning the heavy black hair of her "mana" into the big whorls
on the side of her head which are the Hopi emblem of maidenhood and purity.
The mother herself wears her hair in two pendant rolls. These are the
symbols of fruitfulness and chastity.
It is interesting also to see them make piki, a process elsewhere fully
described.
Various Baskets. In the various rooms on the ground floor, the observing
and curious will find quite a number of quaint architectural devices. The
chief attractions to most visitors are the various Indian goods. There are
baskets made by every Indian tribe in North America, Navaho wedding baskets
made by Paiutes and used also by Apaches as medicine baskets; Havasupai,
Pima, Hopi, and Katchina plaques; Hupa and Poma carrying baskets; Haida,
Makah, Mescalero, Apache, Mission, Chimehuevi, Washoe, and a score of
others. Here are pinion covered water-bottles of Navaho (tusjeh), Havasupai
(esuwa), and Apache (tis-ii-lah-hah). Note the vast difference in the
native names for practically the same thing.
Hopi Katchinas. The Hopi Ethnologic Collection (on second floor) is the
best in the world, with the exception of the collection in the Field
Columbian Museum, Chicago. In this collection are a large number of
katchina dolls. Of these katchinas much might be written. They are ancient
ancestral representatives of certain Hopi clans who, as spirits of the
dead, are endowed with powers to aid the living members of the clan in
material ways. The clans, therefore, pray to them that these material
blessings may be given. "It is an almost universal idea of primitive man,"
says Fewkes, "that prayers should be addressed to personations of the
beings worshipped. In the carrying out of this conception men personate the
katchinas, wearing masks, and dressing in the costumes characteristic of
these beings. These personations represent to the Hopi mind their idea of
the appearance of these katchinas or clan ancients. The spirit beings
represented in these personations appear at certain times in the pueblo,
dancing before spectators, receiving prayer for needed blessings, as rain
and good crops."
Powamu and Niman:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 40 of 85
Words from 39640 to 40646
of 85893
