The Indians of the Painted Desert Region: Hopis, Navahoes, Wallapais, HavasupaisJames, George Wharton
Religion
The Indians of the Painted Desert Region: Hopis, Navahoes, Wallapais, Havasupais
James, George Wharton
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New
Men and women both dress the buckskins for which the Havasupai is so
famous. Amole root is macerated and beaten up and down in a bowl of
water until a good lather and suds are produced. Then the operator
takes a mouthful of the liquid and squirts it over the skin, which he
manipulates and softens, rubs, scrubs, and pulls with his fingers and
feet, moistening it again and again as occasion requires. Wild catskins
are treated in the same way.
From this excellent buckskin the men make moccasins for themselves and
their women. The first time I saw Kohot Navaho he was sitting naked,
upon a blanket outside his hawa, his three wives near by, they cutting
and preparing peaches for drying, he busily engaged making a pair of
moccasins. The sole is of two or three thicknesses of heavy rawhide, to
which the uppers of buckskin are deftly sewn, with strings of catgut or
deer intestines, the holes being made by a bone awl.
Every summer trading-parties of both Hopis and Navahoes come down to
the village, bringing blankets, ponies, pottery, and the like, for
exchange. In 1898 there were three separate bands of Navahoes and two
of Hopis. Trading is a serious process. Laws of barter or sale are
first made, before the traders open their packs, and all the people are
expected to abide by these loosely promulgated laws without question.
Then the hawa of the Havasupai host is turned into a store. Poles are
suspended in every possible direction on which to show off the blankets
to best advantage. A crowd of chattering men and women stand outside,
or, now and again, come inside, during the whole day, and at night-time
the men who have done business come in, squat on the ground, and spend
the hours in smoking, tale-telling, and gossip.
There is difficulty in the Havasupai mind at trading for more than one
thing at a time. If you wish to buy six articles from the same Indian,
you cannot pay a lump sum for the six. Each one must be traded and paid
for separately.
In most things there is no fixed standard of price. Fictitious values
are placed upon articles of no value whatever, but to which the Indian
mind has attached singular virtue and importance. On the other hand
baskets, which require days to manufacture, taking no account of the
time and arduous labor expended in gathering the materials, dyes, etc.,
for that purpose, are sold at varying prices, but nearly always far too
low to begin to compensate them for the efforts expended.
Yet they are keen traders in their way. "What can I get out of him?"
is the normal attitude of mind, and the price is made to correspond to
what the seller imagines is the ability of your pocket.
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