Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744Fewkes, Jesse Walter
History
Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744
"My maternal ancestor had recognized a woman chief (_Mamzrau
moñwi_), and saved her at the place of massacre called Maski,
and now he asked her whether she would be willing to initiate
the woman of Walpi in the rites of the _Mamzrau_. She
complied, and thus the observance of the ceremonial called
the Mamzráuti came to Walpi. I can not tell how it came to
the other villages. This Mamzrau-moñwi had no children, and
hence my maternal ancestor's sister became chief, and her
_tiponi_ (badge of office) came to me. Some of the other
Awatobi women knew how to bring rain, and such of them as
were willing to teach their songs were spared and went to
different villages. The Oraibi chief saved a man who knew how
to cause peaches to grow, and that is why Oraibi has such an
abundance of peaches now. The Mishoñinovi chief saved a
prisoner who knew how to make the sweet, small-ear corn grow,
and that is why it is more abundant there than elsewhere. All
the women who knew song prayers and were willing to teach
them were spared, and no children were designedly killed, but
were divided among the villages, most of them going to
Mishoñinovi. The remainder of the prisoners, men and women,
were again tortured and dismembered and left to die on the
sand hills, and there their bones are, and that is the reason
the place is called _Maschomo_ (Death-mound). This is the
story of Awatobi told by my old people."
All variants of the legend are in harmony in this particular, that
Awatobi was destroyed by the other Tusayan pueblos, and that
Mishoñinovi, Walpi, and probably Oraibi and Shuñopovi participated in
the deed. A grievance that would unite the other villagers against
Awatobi must have been a great one, indeed, and not a mere dispute
about water or lands. The more I study the real cause, hidden in the
term _powako_, "wizard" or "sorcerer," the more I am convinced that
the progress Christianity was making in Awatobi, after the reconquest
of the Pueblos in 1692, explains the hostility of the other villagers.
The party favoring the Catholic fathers in Awatobi was increasing, and
the other Tusayan pueblos watched its growth with alarm. They foresaw
that it heralded the return of the hated domination of the priests,
associated in their minds with practical slavery, and they decided on
the tragedy, which was carried out with all the savagery of which
their natures were capable.
They greatly feared the return of the Spanish soldiers, as the epoch
of Spanish rule, mild though it may have been, was held in universal
detestation. Moreover, after the reconquest of the Rio Grande pueblos,
many apostates fled to Tusayan and fanned the fires of hatred against
the priests. Walpi received these malcontents, who came in numbers a
few years later. Among these arrivals were Tanoan warriors and their
families, part of whom were ancestors of the present inhabitants of
Hano.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account