Part 59 (1/2)

[Sidenote: WAR CUSTOMS IN NORTH MEXICO.]

When one tribe desires the a.s.sistance of another in war, they send reeds filled with tobacco, which, if accepted, is a token that the alliance is formed; a call for help is made by means of the smoke signal. When war is decided upon, a leader is chosen, at whose house all the elders, medicine-men, and princ.i.p.al warriors a.s.semble; a fire is then lighted, and tobacco handed round and smoked in silence. The chief, or the most aged and distinguished warrior then arises, and in a loud tone and not unpoetic language, harangues his hearers, recounting to them heroic deeds. .h.i.therto performed, victories formerly gained, and present wrongs to be avenged; after which tobacco is again pa.s.sed round, and new speakers in turn address the a.s.sembly. War councils are continued for several nights, and a day is named on which the foe is to be attacked.

Sometimes the day fixed for the battle is announced to the enemy, and a spot on which the fight is to take place selected. During the campaign fasting is strictly observed. The Acaxees, before taking the war-path, select a maiden of the tribe, who secludes herself during the whole period of the campaign, speaking to no one, and eating nothing but a little parched corn without salt. The Ceris and opatas approach their enemy under cover of darkness, preserving a strict silence, and at break of day, by a preconcerted signal, a sudden and simultaneous attack is made. To fire an enemy's house, the Tepagues and others put lighted corn-cobs on the points of their arrows. In the event of a retreat they invariably carry off the dead, as it is considered a point of honor not to leave any of their number on the field. Seldom is s.e.x or age spared, and when prisoners are taken, they are handed over to the women for torture, who treat them most inhumanly, heaping upon them every insult devisable, besides searing their flesh with burning brands, and finally burning them at the stake, or sacrificing them in some equally cruel manner. Many cook and eat the flesh of their captives, reserving the bones as trophies. The slain are scalped, or a hand is cut off, and a dance performed round the trophies on the field of battle. On the return of an expedition, if successful, entry into the village is made in the day-time. Due notice of their approach having been forwarded to the inhabitants, the warriors are received with congratulations and praises by the women, who, seizing the scalps, vent their spleen in frantic gestures; tossing them from one to another, these female fiends dance and sing round the b.l.o.o.d.y trophies, while the men look on in approving silence. Should the expedition, however, prove unsuccessful, the village is entered in silence and during the dead of night. All the booty taken is divided amongst the aged men and women, as it is deemed unlucky by the warriors to use their enemy's property.[883]

Their household utensils consist of pots of earthen ware and gourds, the latter used both for cooking and drinking purposes; later, out of the horns of oxen cups are made. The Tarahumares use in place of saddles two rolls of straw fastened by a girdle to the animal's back, loose enough, however, to allow the rider to put his feet under them. Emerging from their barbarism, they employ, in their agricultural pursuits, plows with shares of wood or stone, and wooden hoes. The Ceris have a kind of double-pointed javelin, with which they catch fish, which, once between the p.r.o.ngs, are prevented from slipping out by the jagged sides.[884]

The Ah.o.m.oas, Eudebes, Jovas, Yaquis, and opatas weave fabrics out of cotton or agave-fibre, such as blankets or serapes, and cloth with colored threads in neat designs and figures; these nations also manufacture matting from reeds and palm-leaves. Their loom consists of four short sticks driven into the ground, to which a frame is attached to hold the thread. The shuttle is an oblong piece of wood, on which the cross-thread is wound. After pa.s.sing through the web, the shuttle is seized and pressed close by a ruler three inches in breadth, which is placed between the web and supplies the place of a comb. When any patterns are to be worked, several women a.s.sist to mark off with wooden pegs the amount of thread required. The Yaquis and Ceris manufacture common earthen ware, and the Tarahumares twist horse-hair into strong cords; they also use undressed hides cut in strips, and coa.r.s.e aloe-fibres.[885]

[Sidenote: PROPERTY OF CERIS, oPATAS, AND YAQUIS.]

No boats or canoes are employed by any of the natives of this region; but the Ceris, the Tiburones, and the Tepocas make rafts of reeds or bamboos, fastened together into bundles. These rafts are about eighteen feet long and tapering toward both ends; some are large enough to carry four or five men; they are propelled with a double-bladed paddle, held in the middle and worked alternately on both sides.[886]

Subsequent to the conquest, the opatas and Yaquis acc.u.mulated large flocks of sheep, cattle, and bands of horses; the latter are good miners, and expert divers for pearls. Their old communistic ideas follow them in their new life; thus, the landed property of the Tarahumares is from time to time repart.i.tioned; they have also a public asylum for the sick, helpless, and for orphans, who are taken care of by male and female officials called _tenanches_. Pearls, turquoises, emeralds, coral, feathers, and gold were in former times part of their property, and held the place of money; trade, for the most part, was carried on by simple barter.[887]

The Northern Mexicans make no pretensions to art; nevertheless, Guzman states that in the province of Culiacan the walls of the houses were decorated with obscene paintings. They are all great observers of the heavenly bodies and the changes in the atmosphere; the Yaquis count their time by the moon. They are good musicians, imitating to perfection on their own instruments almost any strain they happen to hear. Their native melodies are low, sweet, and harmonious. In Petatlan they embroidered dresses with pearls, and as they had no instrument for piercing the jewel, they cut a small groove round it, and so strung them. With pearls they formed on cloth figures of animals and birds.[888]

I find nowhere in this region any system of laws or government. There are the usual tribal chieftains, selected on account of superior skill or bravery, but with little or no power except in war matters. Councils of war, and all meetings of importance, are held at the chief's house.[889]

[Sidenote: MARRIAGE AND POLYGAMY.]

The Ceris and Tepocas celebrate the advent of womanhood with a feast, which lasts for several days. The Ahome maiden wears on her neck a small carved sh.e.l.l, as a sign of her virginity, to lose which before marriage is a lasting disgrace. On the day of marriage the bridegroom removes this ornament from his bride's neck. It is customary among most of the tribes to give presents to the girl's parents. The Tahus, says Castaneda, are obliged to purchase a maiden from her parents, and deliver her to the _cacique_,[890] chief, or possibly high priest, to whom was accorded the _droit de seigneur_. If the bride proves to be no virgin, all the presents are returned by her parents, and it is optional with the bridegroom to keep her or condemn her to the life of a public prost.i.tute. The Bauzarigames, Cabezas, Contotores, and Tehuecos practice polygamy and inter-family marriages, but these are forbidden by the Ceris, Chinipas, Tiburones, and Tepocas. Different ceremonies take place upon the birth of the first child. Among some, the father is intoxicated, and in that state surrounded by a dancing mult.i.tude, who score his body till the blood flows freely. Among others, several days after the birth of a male child, the men visit the house, feel each limb of the newly born, exhort him to be brave, and finally give him a name; women perform similar ceremonies with female children. The couvade obtains in certain parts; as for instance, the Lagunero and Ahomama husbands, after the birth of a child, remain in bed for six or seven days, during which time they eat neither fish nor meat. The Sisibotaris, Ahomes, and Tepehuanes hold chast.i.ty in high esteem, and both their maidens and matrons are remarkably chaste. The standard of morality elsewhere in this vicinity is in general low, especially with the Acaxees and Tahus, whose incestuous connections and system of public brothels are notorious. According to Arlegui, Ribas, and other authors, among some of these nations male concubinage prevails to a great extent; these loathsome semblances of humanity, whom to call beastly were a slander upon beasts, dress themselves in the clothes and perform the functions of women, the use of weapons even being denied them.[891]

Drunkenness prevails to a great extent among most of the tribes; their liquors are prepared from the fruit of the pitahaya, mezquite-beans, agave, honey, and wheat. In common with all savages, they are immoderately fond of dancing, and have numerous feasts, where, with obscene carousals and unseemly masks, the revels continue, until the dancers, from sheer exhaustion or intoxication, are forced to rest. The opatas hold a festival called _torom raqui_, to insure rain and good crops. Clearing a square piece of ground, they strew it with seeds, bones, boughs, horns, and sh.e.l.ls; the actors then issue forth from huts built on the four corners of the square, and there dance from sunrise to sunset. On the first day of the year they plant in the ground a tall pole, to which are tied long ribbons of many colors. A number of young maidens, fancifully attired, dance round the pole, holding the ends of the ribbons, twisting themselves nearer or away from the center in beautiful figures. Upon other occasions they commemorate, in modern times, what is claimed to be the journey of the Aztecs, and the appearance of Montezuma among them. Hunting and war expeditions are inaugurated by dances. Their musical instruments are flutes and hollow trunks beaten with sticks or bones, and accompanied with song and impromptu words, relating the exploits of their G.o.ds, warriors, and hunters. They are pa.s.sionately fond of athletic sports, such as archery, wrestling, and racing; but the favorite pastime is a kind of foot-ball.

The game is played between two parties, with a large elastic ball, on a square piece of ground prepared expressly for the purpose. The players must strike the ball with the shoulders, knees, or hips, but never with the hand. Frequently one village challenges another as upon the occasion of a national festival, which lasts several days, and is accompanied with dancing and feasting. They have also games with wooden b.a.l.l.s, in which sticks are used when playing. The players are always naked, and the game often lasts from sunrise to sunset, and sometimes, when the victory is undecided, the play will be continued for several successive days. Bets are freely made, and horses and other property staked with the greatest recklessness.[892]

[Sidenote: CUSTOMS IN NORTHERN MEXICO.]

Loads are carried on the head, or in baskets at the back, hanging from a strap that pa.s.ses across the forehead. Another mode of carrying burdens is to distribute equally the weight at both ends of a pole which is slung across the shoulder, _a la Chinoise_. Their conceptions of the supernatural are extremely crude; thus, the opatas, by yells and gesticulations, endeavor to dispel eclipses of the heavenly bodies; before the howling of the wind they cower as before the voice of the Great Spirit. The Ceris superst.i.tiously celebrate the new moon, and bow reverentially to the rising and setting sun. Nuno de Guzman states that in the province of Culiacan tamed serpents were found in the dwellings of the natives, which they feared and venerated. Others have a great veneration for the hidden virtues of poisonous plants, and believe that if they crush or destroy one, some harm will happen to them. It is a common custom to hang a small bag containing poisonous herbs round the neck of a child, as a talisman against diseases or attacks from wild beasts, which they also believe will render them invulnerable in battle.

They will not touch a person struck by lightning, and will leave him to die, or, if dead, to lie unburied.[893]

[Sidenote: MEDICAL TREATMENT.]

Intermittent and other fevers prevail among the people of Northern Mexico. Small-pox, introduced by Europeans, has destroyed many lives; syphilis was introduced among the Carrizos by the Spanish troops. The Tarahumares suffer from pains in the side about the end of the spring.

The opatas of Oposura are disfigured by goitres, but this disease seems to be confined within three leagues of the town. Wounds inflicted by arrows, many of them poisoned, and bites of rattlesnakes are common.

Friends, and even parents and brothers leave to their fate such as are suffering from contagious diseases; they, however, place water and wild fruits within the sufferer's reach. To relieve their wearied legs and feet after long marches, they scarify the former with sharp flints. In extreme cases they rub themselves with the maguey's p.r.i.c.kly leaf well pounded, which, acting as an emollient on their hardened bodies, affords them prompt relief. The Carrizos cure syphilis with certain plants, the medicinal properties of which are known to them. As a purgative they use the grains of the _maguacate_, and as a febrifuge the _cenicilla_ (_teraina frutescens_). With the leaves of the latter they make a decoction which, mixed with hydromel, is an antidote for intermittent fevers. They also use the leaves of the willow in decoction, as a remedy for the same complaint. In Sinaloa, the leaf and roots of the _guaco_ are used by the natives as the most efficacious medicine for the bites of poisonous reptiles. The opatas employ excellent remedies for the diseases to which they are subject. They have a singular method of curing rattlesnake bites, a sort of retaliative cure; seizing the reptile's head between two sticks, they stretch out the tail and bite it along the body, and if we may believe Alegre, the bitten man does not swell up, but the reptile does, until it bursts. In some parts, if a venomous snake bites a person, he seizes it at both ends, and breaks all its bones with his teeth until it is dead, imagining this to be an efficacious means of saving himself from the effect of the wounds. Arrow wounds are first sucked, and then _peyote_ powder is put into them; after two days the wound is cleaned, and more of the same powder applied; this operation is continued upon every second day, and finally powdered lechugilla-root is used; by this process the wound, after thoroughly suppurating, becomes healed. Out of the leaves of the maguey, lechugilla, and date-palm, as well as from the rosemary, they make excellent balsams for curing wounds. They have various vegetable substances for appeasing the thirst of wounded persons, as water is considered injurious. The Acaxees employ the sucking processes, and blowing through a hollow tube, for the cure of diseases. The Yaquis put a stick into the patient's mouth, and with it draw from the stomach the disease; the Ceris of Tiburon Island also employ charms in their medical practice.[894]

I find nothing of cremation in these parts. The dead body is brought head and knees together, and placed in a cave or under a rock. Several kinds of edibles, with the utensils and implements with which the deceased earned a support while living, are deposited in the grave, also a small idol, to serve as a guide and fellow traveler to the departed on the long journey. On the lips of dead infants is dropped milk from the mother's breast, that these innocents may have sustenance to reach their place of rest. Among the Acaxees, if a woman dies in childbirth, the infant surviving is slain, as the cause of its mother's death. Cutting the hair is the only sign of mourning among them.[895]

[Sidenote: CHARACTER.]

The character of the Northern Mexicans, as portrayed by Arlegui, is gross and low; but some of these tribes do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. The Mayos, Yaquis, Acaxees, and opatas are generally intelligent, honest, social, amiable, and intrepid in war; their young women modest, with a combination of sweetness and pride noticed by some writers. The opatas especially are a hard-working people, good-humored, free from intemperance and thievishness; they are also very tenacious of purpose, when their minds are made up--danger often strengthening their stubbornness the more. The Sisibotaris, Ahomamas, Onavas, and Tarahumares are quiet and docile, but brave when occasion requires; the last-mentioned are remarkably honest. The Tepocas and Tiburones are fierce, cruel, and treacherous, more warlike and courageous than the Ceris of the main land, who are singularly devoid of good qualities, being sullenly stupid, lazy, inconstant, revengeful, depredating, and much given to intemperance. Their country even has become a refuge for evil-doers. In former times they were warlike and brave: but even this quality they have lost, and have become as cowardly as they are cruel.

The Tepehuanes and other mountaineers are savage and warlike, and their animosity to the whites perpetual. The Laguneros and other tribes of Coahuila are intelligent, domestic, and hospitable; the former especially are very brave. In Chihuahua they are generally fierce and uncommunicative. At El Paso, the women are more jovial and pleasant than the men; the latter speak but little, never laugh, and seldom smile; their whole aspect seems to be wrapped in melancholy--everything about it has a semblance of sadness and suffering.[896]

TRIBAL BOUNDARIES.

To the New Mexican group belong the nations inhabiting the territory lying between the parallels 36 and 23 of north lat.i.tude, and the meridians 96 and 117 of west longitude; that is to say, the occupants of the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Lower California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Northern Zacatecas, and Western Texas.

In the APACHE FAMILY, I include all the savage tribes roaming through New Mexico, the north-western portion of Texas, a small part of Northern Mexico, and Arizona; being the Comanches, Apaches proper, Navajos, Mojaves, Hualapais, Yumas, Cosninos, Yampais, Yalchedunes, Yamajabs, Cochees, Cruzados, Nijoras, Cocopas, and others.

The _Comanches_ inhabit Western Texas, Eastern New Mexico, and Eastern Mexico, and from the Arkansas River north to near the Gulf of Mexico south. Range 'over the plains of the Arkansas from the vicinity of Bent's fort, at the parallel of 38, to the Gulf of Mexico ... from the eastern base of the Llano Estacado to about the meridian of longitude 98th.' _Pope_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. ii., p. 16. From the western border of the Choctaw country 'uninterruptedly along the Canadian to Tuc.u.mcari creek and thence, occasionally, to Rio Pecos. From this line they pursue the buffalo northward as far as the Sioux country, and on the south are scarcely limited by the frontier settlements of Mexico.'

_Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner's Rept._, p. 8, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. iii. 'During summer ... as far north as the Arkansas river, their winters they usually pa.s.s about the head branches of the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas.' _Gregg's Com. Prairies_, vol. ii., p. 307.

'Between 102 and 104 longitude and 33 and 37 north lat.i.tude.'

_Norton_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1866, p. 146. 'About thirteen thousand square miles of the southern portion of Colorado, and probably a much larger extent of the neighboring States of Kansas and Texas, and Territory of New Mexico and the ”Indian country,” are occupied by the Kioways and Comanches.' _Dole_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1862, p. 34; _Evans and Collins_, in _Id._, pp. 230, 242; _Martinez_, in _Ind. Aff.

Rept. Spec. Com._, 1867, p. 487. 'En Invierno se acercan a Tejas, y en Estio a la sierra de Santa Fe.' _Berlandier y Thovel_, _Diario_, p. 251.

'Comanches ou Hietans (Eubaous, Yetas), dans le nord-ouest du Texas.'

_Gallatin_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1852, tom. cx.x.xiii., p.