The chapter on the traditional history of Tusayan, which is the individual compilation of Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff, is an important and interesting contribution relative to the history, migrations, and mythology of the people. The traditions are, however, used with proper caution, the fact being recognized that they seldom contain distinct information, but are often of high value from their incidental allusions and in their preservation of the conditions of the past which influenced the lines and limitations of their growth.
The classification and account of the Pueblo phratries and gentes form an important contribution to anthropology, and the discussion upon the origin and use of the kivas is more explanatory and exhaustive than any before made on that subject. This word of the Tusayan language is adopted to take the place of the Spanish term “estufa,” which literally means a stove, and is misleading, because it strictly applies only to the sweat houses which lodge-building Indians use. The kiva is the ceremonial chamber of the ancient and modern Pueblo peoples. They are found wherever the remains of Pueblo architecture occur, and are distinguished from the typical dwelling rooms by their size and position and generally by their form. The author dwells instructively upon the antiquity, excavation, access, exterior masonry, orientation, and general construction, furniture, and ornaments of these remarkable chambers, and upon the rites connected with them. He also gives an original and acute suggestion to account for the persistence of the structural plan of the kivas by its religious or mythologic signification.
The designation of the curious orifice of the sipapuh as “the place from which the people emerged,” in connection with the peculiar arrangement of the kiva interior with its change of floor level, suggested to Mr. Mindeleff that these features might be regarded as typifying the four worlds of the genesis myth that has exercised such an influence on Tusayan customs. He was also led to infer that it typifies the “four houses” or stages described in their creation myths. The sipapuh, with its cavity beneath the floor, is certainly regarded as indicating the place of beginning, the lowest house under the earth, the abode of Myuingwa, the Creator; the main or lower floor represents the second stage; and the elevated section of the floor is made to denote the third stage, where animals were created. At the New Year festivals animal fetiches were set in groups upon this platform. It is also to be noted that the ladder to the surface is invariably made of pine, and always rests upon the platform, never upon the lower floor, and in their traditional genesis it is stated that the people climbed up from the third house (stage) by a ladder of pine, and through such an opening as the kiva hatchway. The outer air is the fourth world, or that now occupied.
Another apt observation is connected with the evolution of ornament, and was prompted to the author by the common use of small chinking stones for bringing the masonry to an even face after the larger stones forming the body of the wall had been laid in place. This method of construction in the case of some of the best built ancient pueblos resulted in the production of marvelously finished stone walls, in which the mosaic-like bits are so closely laid as to show none but the finest joints on the face of the wall, with but little trace of mortar. The chinking wedges necessarily varied greatly in dimensions to suit the sizes of the interstices between the larger stones of the wall. The use of stone in this manner probably suggested the banded walls that form a striking feature in some of the Chaco houses. In connection with these walls the seams of stone of two degrees of thickness, which are observable in the cliffs, naturally suggested to the builders their imitation by the use of stones of similar thickness in continuous bands. The ornamental effect of this device was originally an accidental result of adopting the most convenient method of using the material at hand.
The author exhibits the result of thoughtful study in his expressed views upon the mooted questions of racial origins and diffusions. He noted that some of the ruins connected traditionally and historically with Tusayan and Cibola differ in no particular from those stone pueblos widely scattered over the southwestern plateaus which from time to time have been invested by travelers and writers with a halo of romance and regarded as the wondrous achievements in civilization of a vanished but once powerful race. These abandoned stone houses found in the midst of desert solitudes excited the imaginations of early explorers to connect the remains with “Aztecs” and other mysterious peoples. From this early implanted bias arose many ingenious theories concerning the origin and disappearance of the builders of the ancient pueblos.
In connection with the architectural examination of some of these remains many traditions were obtained from the living members of the tribes, several of which are published in the present paper, and which clearly indicate that some of the village ruins and cliff dwellings have been built and occupied by ancestors of the present Pueblo Indians at a date well within the historic period. Both architectural and traditional evidence are in accord in establishing a continuity of descent from the ancient Pueblos to those of the present day. Many of the communities are now made up of the more or less scattered but interrelated remnants of gentes which in former times occupied villages on the present or neighboring sites.
Mr. Mindeleff’s conclusions may be condensed as follows:
The general outlines of the development of architecture, wherein the ancient builders were stimulated to the best use of the exceptional materials about them both by the difficult conditions of their semidesert environment and by constant necessity for protection against their neighbors, can be traced in its various stages of growth from the primitive conical lodge to its culmination in the large communal village of many-storied terraced buildings which were in use at the time of the Spanish discovery, and which still survive in Zuñi. Yet the various steps have resulted from a simple and direct use of the material immediately at hand, while methods gradually improved as frequent experiments taught the builders to utilize more fully the local facilities. In all cases the material was derived from the nearest available source, and often variations in the quality of the finished work are due to variations in the quality of the stone near by. The results accomplished attest the patient and persistent industry of the ancient builders, but the work does not display great skill in the construction or the preparation of material.
The same desert environment that furnished an abundance of material for the ancient builders, from its inhospitable character and the constant variations in the water supply, also compelled the frequent use of this material in the change of house and village sites. This was an important factor in bringing about the degree of advancement attained in the art of building. The distinguishing characteristics of Pueblo architecture may therefore be regarded as the product of a defensive motive and of an arid environment that furnished an abundance of suitable building material, and at the same time the climatic conditions that compelled its frequent employment.
The cultural distinctions once drawn by writers between the Pueblo Indians and neighboring tribes gradually become less clearly defined as they have been intelligently studied. An understanding of their social and religious system establishes the essential identity in their grade of culture with that of other tribes. In many of the arts, too, such as weaving and ceramics, these people in no degree surpass many tribes who build ruder dwellings. Though they have progressed far beyond their neighbors in architecture, many of the devices employed attest the essentially primitive character of their art, and demonstrate that the apparent distinction in grade of culture is mainly due to the exceptional condition of their environment.