Frijoles: A Hidden Valley in the New WorldHendron, J. W. (Jerome William)
History
Frijoles: A Hidden Valley in the New World
Hendron, J. W. (Jerome William)
Cliff-dwellers -- New Mexico; Frijoles Canyon (N.M.)
It undoubtedly took some readjustment to live in the cliffs again after
a century of acculturational contact with the Spanish. Just how many
Indians or how large a group returned to the Canyon homes is not known.
But by this time we see that the Indian had acquired a few things from
the Spanish either by trade or thievery. This little group brought with
them pieces of metal and wooden objects of possible foreign origin,
objects brought in by the Spanish to the Rio Grande. One such object,
which we found, was a two-pronged pick of viburnum, elaborately carved
on top with a sharp steel blade. It was not much longer than a hair-pin
and reminded one of such. Its use is still puzzling. And the Indians
brought woolen cloth which was definitely post-Spanish. The Spaniards
had brought the sheep to New Mexico. The weave of the cloth was such
that it could not be mistaken. Could it have been from a Spanish garment
or was it Indian-made? It is even possible that these people were
wearing woven garments of wool when they reoccupied the Frijoles.
The little community was a poor one. There is no doubt about it. The
Indian made fire in the same old way with fire drills. A blunt round
piece of wood was turned so fast in the groove of a flat piece of wood
that fire was produced. These people used cultivated tobacco at this
time—a variety never before discovered in the Southwest of this early
age. During a moment of temptation, the writer rolled a cigarette from
part of this Indian mix which he found buried in a small red bowl. He
smoked it without any ill effects. It looked like tobacco, smelled like
tobacco and tasted like tobacco. Discarded fragments of pipes were found
which had bowls of hard wood burned through. Moccasins of deer skin sewn
together with sinew were found. Could they have been made in Frijoles
Canyon or were they brought into the valley by these Indians? Whichever
was the case, they were worn out. One pair was half-soled—not like our
half-soles today, but on the inside. A new piece of buckskin had been
cut and fitted and sewn to the inside of one of the worn-out moccasins
which had been discarded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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