[20] On the linguistic stocks of the pueblos, consult our volume xix, p. 266, note 90 (Gregg).—Ed.
[21] Bandelier, "Final Report," Archæological Institute of America Papers, American Series, iii, pp. 121-136, considers the pueblo population at the time of the Spanish conquest to have been about twenty-five thousand. The present population of New Mexican pueblos, exclusive of the Moki, is about nine thousand.—Ed.
[22] The pueblo of Pecos was situated thirty miles southeast of Santa Fé, and at the close of the seventeenth century had a population of two thousand, being the largest pueblo in either New Mexico or Arizona. It was visited as early as 1540 by Alvarado, a lieutenant of Coronado. In 1598, the inhabitants rendered submission to Oñate, and a mission was established among them for which a large church was built in the seventeenth century, its ruins being still conspicuous. In the revolt of 1680 the Pecos remained neutral; but soon thereafter decline in numbers set in, and by 1837 but eighteen adults were left. A fever swept away the majority of these, when in 1840 the remnant of five men sold their lands to the government, and retired to their kinsmen at Jemez. A son of the tribe was found in 1880 among the Mexicans of the village of Pecos, a small, comparatively modern town. Bandelier discredits the Montezuma myth, which he considers a Spanish-Mexican importation. See Archæological Institute of America Papers, American Series, i, pp. 110-125. He found among the ruins, however, evidences of the existence of the sacred fire.—Ed.
[23] The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal worship. The sun-father and moon-mother are revered—not the orbs themselves, but the spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this subject, Bandelier, op. cit., iii, pp. 276-316.—Ed.
[24] The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as religion is interwoven with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a sense a civil official as well. He is chosen because of fitness, frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and his education in the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is for life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be deposed. The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the severity of the duties, which involve much fasting and abnegation.
The estufa is not always subterranean. It originated before the introduction of Christian family life, in a common home for the male members of the pueblo. It has become the council house of the tribe. Some pueblos contain more than one; unless rites are in progress, it is a bare, rude room usually unornamented. For details, consult John G. Bourke, Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona (New York, 1884).—Ed.
[25] Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified by the introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the friars, so that the monogamous family is now the rule among the sedentary Indians; although there are still in force certain clan restrictions in the choice of the mate.—Ed.
[26] Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache, engaged in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the cacique, who has, as Gregg relates, certain protective and religious functions.—Ed.
[27] Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872, but met with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian children to learn English. There are in the territory at present (1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two industrial boarding schools.—Ed.
[28] For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii, p. 73, note 44. The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive type; after the Spanish conquest, the separate houses of the other pueblos were gradually adopted.—Ed.