First, let me say a word about rosaries, the invention of which has been attributed to St. Dominick, in Spain, and to St. Bridget, in Ireland. Neither of these saints had anything to do with the invention or introduction of the rosary, although each in his or her own province may have adapted to new and better uses a cord already in general service among all the peoples of Europe. The rosary, as such, was in general use in parts of the world long before the time of Christ. Again, the cords of the various religious orders were looked upon as medicine cords and employed in that manner by the ignorant peasantry.
Fig. 439.—Four-strand medicine cord (Apache).
In this chapter I will insert notes showing the use of such cords by other tribes, and follow with descriptions of the uses to which the cords of St. Francis and others were put, and with references to the rosaries of different races or different creeds; finally, I will remark upon the superstitions connected with cords, belts, and strings, knotted or unknotted, made of serpent skin, human skin, or human hair. The strangest thing about it all is that observers have, with scarcely an exception, contented themselves with noting the existence of such cords without making the slightest effort to determine why they were used.
There are certain cords with medicine bags attached to be seen in the figures of medicine-men in the drawings of the sacred altars given by Matthews in his account of the Navajo medicine-men.
Cushing also has noted the existence of such cords in Zuñi, and there is no doubt that some at least of the so-called "fishing lines" found in the Rio Verde cliff dwellings in Arizona were used for the same purposes.
Describing the tribes met on the Rio Colorado, in 1540-1541, Alarcon says: "Likewise on the brawne of their armes they weare a streit string, which they wind so often about that it becommeth as broad as one's hand."[533] It must be remembered that the Indians thought that Alarcon was a god, that they offered sacrifice to him, and that they wore all the "medicine" they possessed.
In 1680, the Pueblos, under the leadership of Popé, of the pueblo of San Juan, were successful in their attempt to throw off the Spanish yoke. He made them believe that he was in league with the spirits, and "that they directed him to make a rope of the palm leaf and tie in it a number of knots to represent the number of days before the rebellion was to take place; that he must send this rope to all the Pueblos in the kingdom, when each should signify its approval of, and union with, the conspiracy by untying one of the knots."[534]
I suspect that this may have been an izze-kloth. We know nothing about this rebellion excepting what has been derived through Spanish sources; the conquerors despised the natives, and, with a very few notable exceptions among the Franciscans, made no effort to study their peculiarities. The discontent of the natives was aggravated by this fact; they saw their idols pulled down, their ceremonial chambers closed, their dances prohibited, and numbers of their people tried and executed for witchcraft.[535] Fray Geronimo de Zarate Salmeron was a striking example of the good to be effected by missionaries who are not above studying their people; he acquired a complete mastery of the language of the pueblo of Jemez, "and preached to the inhabitants in their native tongue." He is represented as exercising great influence over the people of Jemez, Sia, Santa Ana, and Acoma. In this rebellion of 1680 the Pueblos expected to be joined by the Apache.[536]
The izze-kloth of the Apache seems to have had its prototype in the sacred string of beans with which Tecumseh's brother, the Shawnee prophet, traveled among the Indian tribes, inciting them to war. Every young warrior who agreed to go upon the warpath touched this "sacred string of beans" in token of his solemn pledge.[537]