Francis Klett

“ A pleasant day with this isolated band of self-supporting, half-civilized people, was profitably spent, many facts being gained regarding themselves, their ancestors, their peculiar manners and customs, as well as respecting their language. ”

“ Several tribes of Pueblo Indians have been contaminated by contact with the Spaniards, but the Zuni are still pure, and free from taint through Spanish influence. They are simple, though ceremonious in manners—the latter trait undoubtedly acquired from occasional association with their Latin conquerors. They are extremely hospitable, and, after short acquaintance, are apt to prepossess the stranger and to command his respect. The females are chaste, reserved, extremely modest and rather shy, avoiding, when possible, the gaze of the stranger. ”

“ They are by no means to be compared to the nomadic tribes of red-skins, everywhere infesting the prairie, plain, and mountain of the far West, for murder and plunder. Like other Pueblo tribes, these people show marked and distinctive peculiarities, not that they differ essentially in type from the other branches of the great aboriginal families, but as regards their originality in costume, and their strong conservatism. ”

“ The Zuni authorities are a governor and high priest; the latter is called the cacique, who, besides being the oracle of the tribe, is their temporal as well as spiritual ruler. No outward personification of their Divine Being is made use of; but, entering their estufas (temples) with a bueno corazon (good heart) , they simply pray for some blessing, looking to no visible object as a medium of intercession between themselves and their God. ”

“ The Zuni language is much like that of other Pueblo Indians, but the words are, apparently, rather indefinite, requiring much facial contortion and bodily gesticulation to make their sentences perfectly intelligible. They have no schools. Their hieroglyphical writings may be seen in many places, while all along the Cañons de Choca and de Chelle are traces of the ancient march of this people. ”

“ The Americans," he continued, "have ever been our friends, and are good and excellent people. I have been in Washington, and have seen such men as Monroe and Calhoun, and have been in the halls of Congress. ”

“ Although perhaps these Indians, like all Pueblos, do not impress the stranger very favorably on first sight, on closer acquaintance one is forced to yield to the conviction that they are among Nature's noblemen—that they are the descendants of a race long freeholders of the soil of the North American Continent, and are every way worthy of confidence and respect. ”

“ ANOTHER interesting branch of the aborigines of North America is that of the Zuni, a thriving tribe, inhabiting a remote section of the Western United States. This people belongs to the Pueblos, a semi-civilized remnant of the Aztec Empire. Their home is in an uninviting portion of the desert district of New Mexico, about 200 miles southeast of the Moquis settlements. ”

“ The heavens punish us by long drought for allowing them to remain on the Colorado Chiquito. My cacique, who prays for rain, and who is the spiritual and temporal ruler of this people, watches the sun daily, and is much distressed because no rain falls. He (the cacique) attributes the drought to the presence of the Mexican on our soil."
Pedro Pino bade us tell the Great Father that he wanted a "perpetual title to the Zuni country, which," he said, "had been handed down to us by our forefathers, through all time." Further, he remarked: "We are peaceable, and do not make war ”

“ The domestic animals of the Zuni are goats, fowl of all kinds, a few head of cattle and donkeys—every family owning several of the latter, which, while serving for transporting wood great distances, as well as for riding, are used chiefly in cultivating the fields. ”

“ Their want of personal cleanliness, however, was apparent, and is certainly singular, in view of the neatness which pervades their dwellings.
One cannot but admire their regard for truth, their industry, unobtrusive disposition, hospitality and respect for strangers. Their hatred of the Mexican is intensely bitter, and is not concealed. On every favorable occasion they give vent to expressions indicative of outraged feelings by reason of the persecutions that have been inflicted upon them by their enemies ”

“ The operator squats on the ground, using for a shuttle a stick to which the wool for the cross-threads is fastened. The operation of weaving is skillfully performed, although a long time is required in the manufacture of one of their blankets. ”