A Less Active And Industrious People, Under Similar Circumstances, Would Soon Starve To Death, But The Moquis Are Self-Supporting And Have Never Asked Nor Received Any Help From Uncle Sam.

In the early morning the public crier proclaims in stentorian tones from the housetop the program for the day, which sends everyone to his daily task.

They are inured to labor and do not count work as a hardship. It is only by incessant toil that they succeed at all in earning a living with the scanty resources at their command, and the only surprise is that they succeed so well. There is scarcely an hour during the day or night that men and women are not either coming or going on some errand to provision the home.

The men travel many miles every day going to and from their work in the fields. If a man owns a burro he sometimes rides, but usually prefers to walk. What the burro does not pack, the man carries on his back. He often sings at his work, just as the white man does in any farming community, and his song sounds good.

The burro is the common carrier and, because of his sterling qualities, is a prime favorite in all of the pueblos. If he has any faults they are all condoned except one, that of theft. If he is caught eating in a corn field he is punished as a thief by having one of his ears cut off; and if the offense is repeated he loses his other ear in the same manner.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 115 of 141
Words from 30138 to 30402 of 37033