Kwahu, the Hopi Indian boy

Front matter

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Part I. Childhood

I. A Baby is Named 19

II. In Mischief 28

III. The Traders 37

IV. Playing War 45

V. KWAHU MADE LEADER 54

VI. Buli the Butterfly and Kwewe ... 63

VII. The Sacred Sipapu 72

VIII. An Adventure with Kwewe 85

IX. The Famine 91

X. The Hunted and the Hunters . . . .103

XI. Home Again 119

Part II. Youth

XII. KWAHU TELLS TABO A SECRET

XIII. The Wuwutcimti .

XIV. In Awatobi XV\i The Wedding .

XVI. Building the Bride's House

125 135 144 •57 171

CONTENTS

XVII. The Telling of Tales

XVIII. Unrest and Danger

XIX. A Battle at Walpi .

XX. An Indian Revenge

XXI. Happy .

PAGE I 80

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL-PAGE PICTURES BY ELIZA CURTIS

: A Signal from Kokop announced its Rising "

• A Chorus of Cries from the Babies filled the Air " 'The Women were getting ready for the Trading" 1 His Body . . . seemed to hang in Mid Air"

• She crawled down backwards to the Bottom "

• He looked steadily at the Ferocious Animal " ; An Indian Girl, sitting on the Ground"

1 Perched on a Bowlder, he spent Hours in this Way "

• He knew that he had received his Answer" .

■ There, in the Big Vessel, was the Blue-Corn Maiden "

■They saw the Arrow strike its Mark" .

; And thus all the Men of Sikyatki perished "

24 29

65 89

'55 189 210 231

ILLUSTRATIONS OF HOPI INDIAN HANDIWORK

Smithsonian Institution, WasMngton, D.C.

Prayer Plumes Walpi Water Jugs .

Walpi Basins and Bowls Walpi Bowl with Handle Walpi Musical Instrument Walpi Baskets Hopi Indian Bone Needles Walpi Water Vases Meal Baskets from Walpi Wooden Instruments from Walpi Wristlets from Walpi Walpi Ladles

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Zufii Water Bottle .

Squirrel Sticks from Walpi Hopi Iridi \ Prayer Sticks Zufii Clay Pitcher .

Zufii Bird Effigies .

Medicine Boxes from Sikyatk Clay Images from Zufii .

Zufii Mortar and Stone .

Pigment Pots from Sikyatki Water Vase from Zufii .

Headdress from Walpi .

Sacred Effigies from Walpi Clay Statuettes from Walpi Clay Figures from Laguna Zuni Eating Bowls .

Walpi Water Jars .

Walpi Dance Ornaments Zufii Cooking Vessels Bone Instrument from Walpi Dance Rattles from Walpi Stone Axes from Zufii Vases from Sikyatki Necklace from Walpi Walpi Floor Mat .

Hopi Indian Basket Moi i asin oi I lopi Indian Clay Vessel from Walpi ,

49. 53

62,

. 82

9'

102,

103,

9, 208,

5- 137.

•35-

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Introduction

The Hopi Indians live in the northeastern part of Arizona. They are called pueblo or village Indians- because, instead of having wigwams or tipis, they live in composite stone houses.

The first mention of the Hopi in history, as far as known, appears in Spanish records. In the year 1540, Coronado, an official of New Spain (now Mexico), having arrived at Cibola (Zuni), sent a number of his soldiers under command of Pedro de Tovar, with a Catholic priest, to the northwest in search of other villages with treasures. Tovar did not find riches, bu t he did discover the pueblos now known as Hopi.

Kwahu is supposed to have lived shortly before the coming of Coronado to Zuiii. While he is only an imaginary boy, the story attempts to give, as far as possible, a true account of the

Hopi Indian life of the time. Brave little Kwahu is as worthy of a place in our hearts as Cinderella, Robin Hood, and our other story friends.

The records tell us that the Spaniards found four Hopi villages in 1583. One of these, Oraibi by name, still remains approximately where it then was, while the ruins of Walpi, where Kwahu is supposed to have lived, may be seen in the foothills below the present site.

Ruins of several of the other pueblos ascribed to Hopi clans have been discovered in recent years. Some of them are near where the Hopi now live, others are far away. Pueblo ruins are found as far north as the Rio Colorado, and as far west as Flagstaff, Arizona. They occur as far south as the Verde Valley, and the Tonto Basin, and their eastern extension is the Rio Grande, in New Mexico. The pottery of the ancient Hopi pueblos near Walpi is the finest in texture and decoration found north of Mexico, and much of it has been dug up in several of these <»1<1 villages.

Arizona has, in various localities, high, rocky tablelands called " mesas." It was on top of these mesas that some of the ancient pueblos were built. The groups of buildings were several stories high. There were many rooms, all of them small, — probably because wood for timbers was scarce.

The houses were arranged like terraces. The roofs of the lowest row served as front yards for the houses above. The roofs of these were the front yards of the houses above, and so on. The lower stories had no lateral doors. The people climbed in and out through a hole in the roof, by means of ladders. The upper houses were, and still are, reached by ladders or by steps built against the outside walls and resting on the roofs of the houses below.

The fireplaces were shallow boxes in the corners, or pits in the middle of the floor. In the latter case, the smoke worked out through the hole in the roof. The floors were paved with stone or plastered with adobe mud.

The group of houses forming a Hopi pueblo was oblong, square with a central court, or arranged in rows. The shape was modified by the form of the mesa on top of which the houses were built, or by the configuration of the foothills.

Hopi is a short form of the word.Hopitu. It means "peaceful ones." The full Indian name of the tribe is Hopitu Shinumu, or " peaceful all people."

The Hopi have always been peaceful, although brave. If unfriendly tribes attacked their homes or destroyed their scant crops, they would fight for their rights. They have, however, never sought trouble with other tribes, nor fought unless compelled to do so.

The Spaniards estimated that the Hopi Indians numbered about 50,000, which was probably too large At the present time there are less than 2000 in all.

As we see them to-day, the Hopi are rather short, but they are muscular and quick-motioned. They have reddish brown skin, high cheek bones, slanting, dark eyes, and straight, broad noses. Their mouths are large, but with a gentle expression. When babies, they are fastened to cradle boards, consequently the lower back part of the head is somewhat flattened.

Usually the hair is straight and black. Sometimes it is brownish, and often it is wavy. Most of the men wear their hair " banned " in front, or cut in "terraces" on each side. The long hair behind is gathered into short braids and tied at the neck.

The married women wear their hair in two coils which hang down on the shoulders. The young girls dress their hair in whorls at the sides of the head. The whorls are made to imitate the squash blossom. When they marry, they change the arrangement to coils like their mothers'. They usually marry when quite young.

The Hopi have considerable artistic taste, are hard workers and good farmers. They have become keen at making a bargain. They are a happy, hospitable people, fond of fun and practical jokes. They seldom forget a kindness. They believe in bogies, wizards, and witches, and they have great faith in good and bad signs. They rarely steal, and they condemn lying. Murder is unknown. The children are respectful and obedient, and never punished by their parents. The governing body of the Hopi is a council of clan elders and chiefs of religious societies. There is a village chief, a speaker chief, and a war chief; but there has never been a supreme chief of all the Hopi pueblos. There seems to be no punishment for any crime but witchcraft, to which almost any great crime can be charged by these people. No punishment of a witch or wizard is known to have been inflicted in Walpi in recent years, but stories are told of how, in earlier times, persons disappeared mysteriously or were killed when accused of witchcraft. In Kwahu's day, this was very likely not uncommon.

Beautiful folklore stories are told among the

Hopi. These have come down from the olden times, by word of mouth from mother to daughter, and from father to son. They believe in many beings with magic power superior to men. Their songs and prayers to these supernatural beings are very beautiful. They believe in a life after death in an underworld, but not in a future punishment.

The Hopis show great skill in weaving and dyeing their baskets and their embroidered blankets, belts, and kilts. Their weaving is beautiful and of many kinds. The pottery is fair though not so fine nor so well painted as that made by their ancestors. They make very peculiar masks and other articles from hides, to be worn during their many religious dances and ceremonies. They carve and paint dolls, dressing them with cloth and bright feathers. They manufacture mechanical toys of considerable ingenuity for use in their dramatic entertainments. Some of these toys, imitations of birds and animals, are wonderfully lifelike.

The Hopi knew nothing of horses, sheep, or iron implements before the advent of the Spaniards in 1540.

In the year 1880, Mr. William Keam and his brother, Thomas V. Keam, opened a trading store and sold American goods to the Hopi, which led to great changes among them.

Most of the Hopi now have doors and glass windows in their houses. They use wagons, stoves, matches, and lamps. They dress in factory-made calico. They buy sugar, flour, and coffee from American traders. The money obtained for trinkets, pottery, baskets, and blankets, which they sell to tourists, supplies them with many other comforts.

A large number of Hopi families have left the pueblos on the lofty mesas and have settled among the foothills. There are schools at Keam's Canyon and at each mesa. The children are taught to speak and read English, and the Hopi Indians are fast learning to live as do civilized Americans.

Part I CHILDHOOD

Prater Plumes

KWAIIU

Chapter I

It was an hour before sunrise of a solemn and important day. In the Hopi Indian village of Walpi, situated high above the desert on top of a rocky mesa, or plateau, all the people were astir. The baby son of the great chief was to be named. The men, the women, some of them carrying babies on their backs, and the children, all were gathered where they could look down upon the big open space before them. This space was a great court in the middle of a group of stone buildings, many stories high, in which all the people of the village lived. There, in the center of a wide circle of friends and neighbors, the sacred birth fire was burning brightly. Its flickering flames cast strange spots of light upon the bronze faces and naked bodies of the assembled Indians.

In the home of Kokop, the chief, his mother was busily preparing the baby for the naming ceremony. All through the previous night Yuna, the baby's mother, had sat sleepless beside its crude cradle, guarding it; but now the godmother took full charge. At the first sign of light in the east she took a bowl filled with finely ground cornmeal, and with the cornmeal drew four parallel lines on each wall of the house, first on the north wall, then on the west, the south, and the east walls, and finally on the ceiling and the floor. This was "building a house" for the baby. Next, she placed a feather from the breast of an eagle upon the lines she had made on the floor, and on this feather she placed a bowl filled with a suds made of yucca roots.

The baby's mother knelt beside the bowl with her long, straight, black hair falling into the suds. The godmother took an ear of corn, dipped it in the suds, and touched the mother's head with the end of the ear. This she repeated four times. Then all the female relatives of the baby's father did the same thing, even to the smallest girl. While the other women stood in a circle around her, the godmother then washed the head of Yuna in the yucca suds and bathed her legs and arms with an ointment made by boiling juniper boughs.

The mother remained kneeling while another earthen bowl was placed before her. Into this second bowl a number of hot stones were placed. The godmother first wrapped a blanket around Yuna, entirely enveloping her, after which she poured upon the hot stones a quantity of the juniper ointment. A dense steam was thus produced which entirely hid Yuna from the view of the silent, watching relatives. The purification of the mother was completed.

The head of the baby was next washed with the same ceremony as that used upon the mother. A prayer of thanks was repeated for the new life given to them, and another prayer was offered for the future of the child. Then the entire little body, except the head, was rubbed with warm ashes mixed with water. Next, it was wrapped in a piece of coarse cotton cloth and strapped to a narrow board so that he would be sure to grow up straight and strong.

The baby was now ready for the naming ceremony. All waited silently for a signal from Kokop, who was sitting on the top of a house opposite the doorway of his home and watching for the rising of the sun.

At length the glow of the sun showed on the distant eastern horizon. A signal from Kokop announced its rising.

Old Acmo, Keeper of the Sacred Well, and one of the wise men of the village, stepped from the circle of Indians, and, facing the east, said :

"The eyes of a child are not strong. It is well that a fire should light the dim trail at the start. Four days has this sacred pile burned that there might be no dark places. Let now a name be given."

As old Acmo ceased speaking, the mother walked slowly from her doorway, scattering sacred meal in a straight line to show the way the child should walk to please the gods. She went to where the fire burned and scattered its embers in all directions to drive away evil spirits. Then she reentered her house, and immediately the godmother stepped out, carrying the child upon its board. She held it low over the straight lines of sacred meal that she had scattered, its head directed forward. She placed the infant where the fire had been, made a circle around him with sacred meal to protect him, held what was left of her handful of meal to the infant mouth, and then threw the meal in the direction of the rising sun. Yuna, who had followed the godmother, also bearing a handful of meal, said a short prayer over her meal and cast it also in the direction of the sun. Then both women stepped aside.

Next came a strange and hideous procession of Indians, wearing the heads and skins of the creatures of the mountains and of the desert that the boy would hunt when he grew up. Suddenly, as they circled around the child, they started a terrible din, imitating the growls and calls of animals and

"A Signal from Kokop announced its Rising" 24 birds, while the others added to the uproar by shaking huge rattles made of gourds containing quartz crystals.

The medicine man then stepped to the center of the circle, and the noise ceased.

He lighted a great pipe and blew whiffs of smoke to the north, the west, the south, the east, straight up in the air, and then towards the earth. This he did to make sure of the good will of the Spirits of the Sky and Those Above that made the thunder, the lightning, the clouds, and the rain, and controlled the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Through all the deafening noise, the infant lay blinking in the sun, his little red face screwed up in queer wrinkles and his fists doubled up tightly. He did not cry and was not at all disturbed by the strange proceedings. His large, round, black eyes seemed to stare at something in the sky. The Indians looked up, and there, directly above where the child lay, a giant eagle was slowly circling.

"It is a good omen," said old Acmo. "The eagle is a mighty bird. See, it comes to greet its brother ! The boy will be great chief !"

The boy was named Kwahu, which means Eagle.

Later in the day all his relations gathered at the home of the chief to partake of a feast. Each matron and maiden among the relations made a present of a small blanket to the baby.

Five months later, Kwahu was unstrapped from his board. He learned to walk before a year had passed, while other children of his age were still crawling.

One day, when he was just past three, he toddled into the room where a council was being held. In his right hand he tightly clutched a small, live snake.

"See!" said old Acmo. "I have said Kwahu will be great chief. Look ! He is not afraid !"

Kwahu grew rapidly in size and strength. When he had reached his fifth year he could outrun all the other boys of his age, and he had learned to shoot straight with a bow and arrow.

The men frequently talked about him when he was out of hearing. They marveled at his wise little sayings ; they remembered the prophecy of old Acmo, and predicted that Kwahu when he grew to manhood would be a great, wise, and good chief.

Chapter II In Mischief

Old Acmo and Kokop sat in the shade smoking. The women were at work in the central open spaces of the village. Several boards, to each of which a baby was strapped, had been placed in a group against the side of a house, out of the way but not out of sight of the mothers. Many little children were playing on the ground near the two men ; and at one side, Kwahu and several other boys of about seven years were lazily watching a number of girls who were crushing minerals and grinding and pounding lumps of different colored clay or bowls of berries. From these materials their mothers would later make the paints used in decorates

A Chorus of Cries from the Babies filled the Aik ing bowls, jars, and bottles, and in dyeing the cotton cloth which the men had woven.

"The boy Kwahu grows rapidly, straight in mind and straight in body," said old Acmo, "and the thoughts that he speaks are good."

"I want him to grow up," said Kokop, thoughtfully, "so that when I no longer walk the earth and am numbered among the Lost Others, he may take my place as chief and lead his people with bravery, kindness, and wisdom. He must learn to be unselfish, so that he will be welcome at the camp fires of the friendly."

"He has much mischief in his ways," said Acmo, "but he does no harm."

Just then a chorus of cries from the babies filled the air. The two men looked towards them and saw Kwahu daubing their faces with paint. At the same instant, several of the women started to the rescue of their infants ; but they were not quick enough to catch Kwahu, who, after daubing the last baby, darted away to safety.

Later in the day, when Kwahu returned to the house, he round it filled with women. They were

IN MISCHIEF 31

the friends of his mother, Yuna, and were helping her to get ready for some traders who were expected from another tribe. A runner, coming in advance, had announced that they would arrive before many suns had set. The coming of traders from an outside tribe was a rare event, and all the people in the village were accordingly much excited.

Yuna was busy weaving a basket of split yucca leaves. These baskets were so closely woven that they would hold water, and the leaf strips did not have to be dyed, but were left the yellowish brown natural color.

The runner sat eating his meal . Kwahu seated himself close beside him and asked him many questions.

"Do you come from far away?" he asked.

The runner was a boy about twice the age of Kwahu, strong, clear-eyed, and good-natured. He had been born in Hopiland ; but when he was still a child, his parents had been killed in a Ute raid, and the Utes had stolen him. Later, he made his escape from the Utes and had wandered a long distance into an unknown country, where he had been found by some strange Indians and adopted into their tribe. He had learned their language while not forgetting his own — a rare thing among Indians, for they are seldom able to understand the language of another tribe, Wk their accomplishments in this jjB direction being limited to a Wf few trade words of some tribe W to which they are distantly related or with which they came in constant contact.

It was the first time that this boy had served as a courier for his tribe. He was to remain in Walpi till the arrival of the traders and act as their interpreter. He was very proud of having been chosen for this service, and was quite willing to talk about his journey. "I have come many days' journey," he said to Kwahu, "from the land of the settingsun, where the rivers are deep and broad, and where the great sea strclchi's farther than the eye can reach. I have come across mighty mountains where the snow man-

IN MISCHIEF 33

tie rests on the peaks even after the corn is green in the valleys below. And I have come through great forests where the trees are so high that it strains the eye to behold the topmost leaves."

Kwahu's mind was filled with wonder.

"Why do your people come so far to trade?" he asked.

" It is because the people in Hopiland make many things which we have not and cannot make," answered the runner. "It is wise then that our traders come hither, for we also have some articles that you have not."

Kwahu thought more of the honor of being selected as a runner than of the trading „ ^^ that the young courier announced.

"I shall some day be a runner," he said to the boy from the other tribe.

"You are the son of a chief," the runner answered ; "and when your years are more, you will no doubt be a runner. When that time comes I shall have my own tipi ; and I wish now that if you journey into my country, you will come to my tipi and smoke with me."

For several days the men, women, and girls of the village were very busy making things for the day of trading. Kwahu learned a great deal about the things that were made in his tribe and the way in which they were made. He watched the girls knead the soft clay which the women afterwards molded by hand into different-shaped bowls, jars,

and other vessels. After the vessels were molded, he saw the women rub off the rough places with smoothing stones and then carry them to the sunny places where they were left until they became thoroughly dry and hard. He noticed that some of the bowls and jars thus made were used in the household for cooking or storage, and these had smooth edges. Other vessels were used in the various religious ceremonies of the tribe, and these had edges that were terraced to represent the clouds.

He watched his mother as she was making paint from the minerals and colored clay which the girls had ground ; and he learned that on the vessels to

IN MISCHIEF be used for food beautiful devices in black, red, and orange were being painted, while on the vessels to be used in religious ceremonies strange figures were drawn of gods and stars, and mystic symbols that he could not understand.

In the evening, when the other women had gone home, Kwahu sat by his mother and saw her spin the cotton which was grown in small quantities in the field near where the corn was planted. She made a long, thin stick revolve by rubbing it on her thigh while she held the raw cotton in the other hand, and he marveled as the mass of white fibers was turned into long threads and wound around the revolving stick. It seemed like magic to him, and later he saw his father weave these threads or yarn into blankets and pieces of cloth. The weaving was done with bone needles on a loom made of cedar boughs, stripped of bark. Some of the cotton yarn used was white, some was dyed brown, some was red, and some was yellow. A separate needle was used for each color, and as the weaving progressed, strange designs appeared in the blankets.

Kwahu was so tired on the night before the traders were to arrive that he fell asleep before the Spirits of the Sky had put the moon and the stars in the heavens to watch for the return of the sun.

Chapter III The Traders

Kwahu was awakened in the morning by hearing the song of the maidens as they ground corn into meal. He hastened to the doorway, rubbing his eyes, and listening to the last high notes that told of the triumph of the rising sun over the mist and the darkness.

The song had scarcely ended when Kwahu heard a shrill call like that of a hawk ; it was repeated three times, and then, after a short pause, twice again. It was the signal by which the long-expected traders announced their approach to the village. He hurried with Tabo, who was his closest friend, to the side of the mesa, where the strangers were climbing slowly up the steep trail.

The first to reach the top was Ho-na-ni, a chief, who was followed by his wife, carrying on her shoulders a large package wrapped in deerskins. Behind these came many others, the men followed by women carrying in various ways the things that they had brought to trade.

Kokop and old Acmo, the medicine man, together with other Hopi warriors, met them. They led the visiting Indians to one of the large kivas, or underground rooms. There, while all sat in a wide circle, they smoked a peace pipe together. Kokop gave Ho-na-ni the seat of honor. The visiting chief filled the peace pipe, puffed on it twice, and handed it to the Indian who sat nearest on his right. Thus is was passed from mouth to mouth until all those around the circle had smoked. Then it was returned from the Indian on the extreme end of the circle to the man on his left, and so on back around the circle. When finally it reached the visiting chief, he cleaned it, refilled and relighted it, and started it again upon its rounds. It was never passed in front of the guest of honor.

While the men were smoking and exchanging news, the women were getting ready for the trading which was to begin later in the day, after a feast had been cooked for the visitors.

THE TRADERS

The visiting women carried their bundles into the open square, in the shade of the walls of the pueblo, and opened them. The Hopi women carried their wares to the same place. The Hopi tribe had turquoise, or "blue stones, " as the Indians called them, blankets, woven cotton cloth, eagle feathers, mats and baskets of woven yucca fiber and of reed, many kinds of painted bowls, jars, bottles, and delicate vases, and beautifully tanned deerskins.

These they exchanged with the visitors

for bracelets, armlets, necklaces, and finger rings, made of sea shells, and bright colored pebbles, for seeds of corn, for tortoise shell ornaments, and for combs made from the backbones of fishes.

After a feast, the trading began and continued until after the sun had disappeared in the west.

In the twilight, the boys sat on the edge of the stone terrace that formed the roof of Kwahu's home

'in; Women ui.u qi fting read's; fob the Trading"

in

THE TRADERS 41

and at the same time the front yard of Tabo's home on the tier or story above. Below them they could see some of the men from the party of traders engaged in games with the young men of Walpi. Some were shooting arrows through a hoop as it was rolled across the open square. Others were running foot races, tossing hoops over a stick driven in the ground, or wrestling.

Presently, a group of women came across the mesa, carrying heavy earthen jars of water poised upon their shoulders. Several of the women, including Tabo's mother, also were carrying their babies, slung on boards ; for the Indian women take their babies with them wherever they go. The babies are strapped to boards until they are five or six months old. Then they are carried in blankets, which the mothers sling over their backs.