The Native Races (Vol. 1-5). Hubert Howe Bancroft
ESTUFAS.
The sweat-house, or as the Spaniards call it, the estufa, assumes with the Pueblos the grandest proportions. Every village has from one to six of these singular structures. A large, semi-subterranean room, it is at once bath-house, town-house, council-chamber, club-room, and church. It consists of a large excavation, the roof being about on a level with the ground, sometimes a little above it, and is supported by heavy timbers or pillars of masonry. Around the sides are benches, and in the center of the floor a square stone box for fire, wherein aromatic plants are kept constantly burning. Entrance is made by means of a ladder, through a hole in the top placed directly over the fire-place so that it also serves as a ventilator and affords a free passage to the smoke. Usually they are circular in form and of both large and small dimensions; they are placed either within the great building or underground in the court without. In some of the ruins they are found built in the center of what was once a pyramidal pile, and four stories in height. At Jemez the estufa is of one story, twenty-five feet wide by thirty feet high. The ruins of Chettro Kettle contain six estufas, each two or three stories in height. At Bonito are estufas one hundred and seventy-five feet in circumference, built in alternate layers of thick and thin stone slabs. In these subterranean temples the old men met in secret council, or assembled in worship of their gods. Here are held dances and festivities, social intercourse, and mourning ceremonies. Certain of the Pueblos have a custom similar to that practiced by some of the northern tribes, the men sleeping in the sweat-house with their feet to the fire, and permitting women to enter only to bring them food. The estufas of Tiguex were situated in the heart of the village, built underground, both round and square, and paved with large polished stones.809
HOW FOOD IS OBTAINED.
From the earliest information we have of these nations they are known to have been tillers of the soil; and though the implements used and their methods of cultivation were both simple and primitive, cotton, corn, wheat, beans, with many varieties of fruits, which constituted their principal food, were raised in abundance. The Pueblos breed poultry to a considerable extent; fish are eaten whenever obtainable, as also a few wild animals, such as deer, hares, and rabbits, though they are indifferent hunters.810 The Pápagos, whose country does not present such favorable conditions for agriculture are forced to rely for a subsistence more upon wild fruits and animals than the nations north of them. They collect large quantities of the fruit of the pitahaya (cereus giganteus), and in seasons of scarcity resort to whatever is life-sustaining, not disdaining even snakes, lizards, and toads.811 Most of these people irrigate their lands by means of conduits or ditches, leading either from the river or from tanks in which rain-water is collected and stored for the purpose. These ditches are kept in repair by the community, but farming operations are carried on by each family for its own separate benefit, which is a noticeable advance from the usual savage communism.812 Fishing nets are made of twisted thread or of small sticks joined together at the ends. When the rivers are low, fish are caught in baskets or shot with arrows to which a string is attached.813 The corn which is stored for winter use, is first par-boiled in the shuck, and then suspended from strings to dry; peaches are dried in large quantities, and melons are preserved by peeling and removing the seeds, when they are placed in the sun, and afterward hung up in trees. Meal is ground on the metate and used for making porridge, tortillas, and a very thin cake called guayave, which latter forms a staple article of food amongst the Pueblos. The process of making the guayave, as seen by Lieutenant Simpson at Santo Domingo on the Rio Grande, is thus described in his journal. "At the house of the governor I noticed a woman, probably his wife, going through the process of baking a very thin species of corn cake, called, according to Gregg, guayave. She was hovering over a fire, upon which lay a flat stone. Near her was a bowl of thin corn paste, into which she thrust her fingers; allowing then the paste to drip sparingly upon the stone, with two or three wipes from the palm of her hand she would spread it entirely and uniformly over the stone; this was no sooner done than she peeled it off as fit for use; and the process was again and again repeated, until a sufficient quantity was obtained. When folded and rolled together, it does not look unlike (particularly that made from the blue corn) a hornet's nest—a name by which it is sometimes called." The Pimas do all their cooking out of doors, under a shed erected for the purpose. They collect the pulp from the fruit of the pitahaya, and boiling it in water, make a thick syrup, which they store away for future use. They also dry the fruit in the sun like figs.814
The Pueblos and Moquis are remarkable for their personal cleanliness and the neatness of their dwellings.815
PUEBLO WEAPONS.
Their weapons are bows and arrows, spears, and clubs. The Pueblos use a crooked stick, which they throw somewhat in the manner of the boomerang; they are exceedingly skillful in the use of the sling, with a stone from which they are said to be able to hit with certainty a small mark or kill a deer at the distance of a hundred yards. For defense, they use a buckler or shield made of raw hide. Their arrows are carried in skin quivers or stuck in the belt round the waist.816 Bows are made of willow, and are about six feet in length, strung with twisted deer-sinews; arrows are made of reeds, into which a piece of hard wood is fitted.817 The Pimas wing their war arrows with three feathers and point them with flint, while for hunting purposes they have only two feathers and wooden points.818 It has been stated that they poison them, but there does not appear to be good foundation for this assertion.819 Clubs, which are used in hand-to-hand combats, are made of a hard, heavy wood, measuring from twenty to twenty-four inches in length. In former days they were sharpened by inserting flint or obsidian along the edge.820
WAR CEREMONIES.
The Pimas wage unceasing war against the Apaches, and the Pueblos are ever at enmity with their neighbors, the Navajos. The Pueblos are securely protected by the position and construction of their dwellings, from the top of which they are able to watch the appearance and movements of enemies, and should any be daring enough to approach their walls, they are greeted by a shower of stones and darts. As an additional protection to their towns, they dig pitfalls on the trails leading to them, at the bottom of which sharp-pointed stakes are driven, the top of the hole being carefully covered.821 Expeditions are sometimes organized against the Navajos for the recovery of stolen property. On such occasions the Towns-people equip themselves with the heads, horns, and tails of wild animals, paint the body and plume the head.822 Lieutenant Simpson mentions a curious custom observed by them, just previous to going into action. "They halted on the way to receive from their chiefs some medicine from the medicine bags which each of them carried about his person. This they rubbed upon their heart, as they said, to make it big and brave." The Pueblos fight on horseback in skirmishing order, and keep up a running fight, throwing the body into various attitudes, the better to avoid the enemies' missiles, at the same time discharging their arrows with rapidity.823 The Pimas, who fight usually on foot, when they decide on going to war, select their best warriors, who are sent to notify the surrounding villages, and a place of meeting is named where a grand council is held. A fire being lighted and a circle of warriors formed, the proceedings are opened by war songs and speeches, their prophet is consulted, and in accordance with his professional advice, their plan of operations is arranged.824 The attack is usually made about day-break, and conducted with much pluck and vigor. They content themselves with proximate success, and seldom pursue a flying foe.825 During the heat of battle they spare neither sex nor age, but if prisoners are taken, the males are crucified or otherwise cruelly put to death, and the women and children sold as soon as possible.826 The successful war party on its return is met by the inhabitants of the villages, scalps are fixed on a pole, trophies displayed, and feasting and dancing indulged in for several days and nights; if unsuccessful, mourning takes the place of feasting, and the death-cries of the women resound through the villages.827
PUEBLO TRADE.
For farming implements they use plows, shovels, harrows, hatchets, and sticks, all of wood.828 Baskets of willow-twigs, so closely woven as to be water-tight, and ornamented with figures; and round, baked, and glazed earthen vessels, narrow at the top, and decorated with paintings or enamel, are their household utensils.829 For mashing hulled corn they used the metate, a Mexican implement, made of two stones, one concave and the other convex, hereafter more fully described. Among their household utensils there must also be mentioned hair sieves, hide ropes, water-gourds, painted fans, stone pipes, and frame panniers